Reverie, Somnambulism, Hypnotism, Sleep. 801 



tion is a natural habit. Prof. Dr. Robert Hamilton, of Aberdeen, was 

 one of these. He was an author of numerous works, written in a clear, 

 accurate, and scientific style, but the preoccupation of his attention was 

 so engrossing, that sense impressions were only half perceived by him. 

 If he met his wife in the street he pulled off his hat and ' l apologized for 

 not having the pleasure of her acquaintance ; went to his classes in the 

 college on the dark mornings with one of her white stockings on the one 

 leg, and one of his own black ones on the other ; often spent the whole 

 time of the meeting in moving from the table the hats of the students 

 which they as constantly returned ; sometimes invited them to call on 

 him, and then fined them for coming to insult him. He would run 

 against a cow in the road, beg her pardon, call her ' madam, ' and hope 

 she was not hurt. At other times he would run against posts and chide 

 them for not getting out of his way. " These performances were bad 

 enough, but Carpenter relates a worse one. 



A story is told of a Philosopher who was addicted to the habit of 

 abstract meditations, that once being interrupted by a servant who 

 rushed in to tell him the house was on fire, coolly replied : "Go and 

 tell your mistress ; you know that I never interfere in domestic 

 matters !" 



A story of the mathematician G-auss, is still worse. His wife, to whom 

 he was deeply attached, was very sick. He was engaged in some ab- 

 struse calculations when the servant came to tell him his wife was worse 

 and wanted him. * 'I will come presently, " he said with his lips, but 

 his brain kept right on with his figures. After a while the servant came 

 again, his wife was worse; same reply, same effect. The servant at last 

 came to announce that his wife was dying, and if he did not come at 

 once he would never see her alive again. He raised his head and calmly 

 answered, " Tell her to wait till I come." This reply he had often, no 

 doubt, sent her before when his presence was required, and now it was 

 made automatically and with little or no consciousness of the import of 

 the message he had received. 



Somnambulism is a state in which a part of the cerebral cells are 

 awake while others are not, so that the voluntary acts are one-sided antf 

 under the undue domination of some idea or class of ideas to the exclu. 

 sion of others, which if they were awake and active would give a differ- 

 ent and more rational and consistent direction to the thoughts and 

 actions. 



The actions of the Somnambule, under the direction of a governing idea, 

 are what might be called eccentric, since they are dictated by only a 

 part of the ideas which should enter into the construction of the motor 

 will. When external impressions and suggestions are the governing force 

 as they sometimes are, these stimuli are not co-ordinated and balanced 



