SLEEP AND ITS COUNTERFEITS. 605 



The devil, enemy of Sister Claire, appeared at the command of her ordinary 

 exorcist, Father Eliz6e, and rendered her supple and ductile like a sheet of lead. 

 The exorcist hent her hody in various directions forward, backward, laterally 

 so that she almost touched the ground with her head. The demon kept her 

 in the posture in which she had been placed until she was moved again, during 

 which time she only slightly breathed through the nose and was insensible, for 

 the father pierced a fold of her skin with a pin without drawing blood or pro- 

 ducing pain. We also read of others who were "remarkable for their pliability. 

 In their sleep they could be manipulated like a sheet of lead, and preserved the 

 postures imparted to them until moved again." Elsewhere a nun possessed by 

 the demon Cismond lay on the ground in a strange trance ; her arms and legs 

 could be twisted about as if made of wool ; nothing could be extracted from 

 her ; the devil keeping her in this condition so as to prevent her confession. 



Though, as already mentioned, the Latin races appear to offer a 

 much more favorable field for the spread of nervous epidemics, we 

 read that England has not always been free from such manifes- 

 tations : 



"During "Wesley's sermons at Bristol," says Dr. John Chapman, in his work 

 " On Christian Revivals, their History and Natural History," " many used to fall 

 as if struck to the heart by the word of God. Men and women by the score 

 were lying on the ground, insensible like dead bodies." Singular nervous acci- 

 dents were likewise frequent among the American fanatics known as Shakers or 

 Jumpers, as well as among the Irish revivalists of Ballymena. 



As late as 1861, at the village of Morzine, a secluded commune in 

 the Alps of Savoy, there occurred a curious epidemic of hysteria with 

 all the characters of "demoniacal possession." The population of 

 these regions is extremely neurotic and superstitious. In a short time 

 nearly all the female population, excited by the exorcismal practices 

 of the clergy, fell a prey to the disease, and the scenes recalled the 

 worst days of Loudun. But at the beginning, when young girls were 

 chiefly affected, phenomena of ecstasy, catalepsy, and somnambulism 

 prevailed. The Government had finally to interfere, and the tempo- 

 rary dispersion and seclusion of the patients speedily restored their 

 mental equilibrium, and the locality has since resumed its habitual 

 tranquillity. 



As an instance of trances of a more contemplative tendency, I 

 shall give a short account of Louisa Lateau, of whose attacks Dr. 

 Lefebvre has given a good description : 



She used to pass into that condition without any warning. Suddenly, during 

 a conversation, or at her sewing-machine, she would become as if transfixed, the 

 eyes turned upward to the light. " Her expression is then one of deep atten- 

 tion or of distant contemplation. Her physiognomy, like her attitude, often 

 changes, and depicts feelings of joy or of sadness. Sometimes terror is ex- 

 pressed, or she turns slowly, as if watching the progress of an imaginary pro- 

 cession. Sometimes she stands, resting on the tips of her toes, with her hands 

 outstretched, as if to fly away. Her lips move, the eyes brighten, and her face is 

 illuminated by an ideal beauty. The stigmata in her forehead and hands bleed. 



