636 SLEEP-WAKING, 



asked what was the matter (having been then one hour in the 

 trance), not having the slightest recollection of any thing that 

 had passed, and wondered at his arm being tied up, and at the 

 blood, &C." 1 



Here sight, hearing, and touch, as well as the sense of weight 

 and resistance, were active ; and all was forgotten. 



According to the newspapers, a year or two ago, John Green, a 

 plasterer, accused Mary Spencer at the Town Hall, Southwark, 

 before Alderman Thorp, of stealing from him a pair of trowsers 

 which he was carrying home at ten o'clock at night, through 

 High Street, in the Borough, fast asleep. 



" He deposed that, after finishing his work, he went to see 

 some friends at Pimlico, and was accosted by a female ; he had 

 at the time a bundle under his arm. He knew no more of 

 what transpired until between one and two o'clock on Sunday 

 morning. 



" Alderman Thorp. What ! were you so drunk that you cannot 

 tell what happened ? 



" John Green (with great simplicity). I was not drunk, your 

 worship ; I was fast asleep. (Laughter.) 



" Alderman Thorp" (with greater simplicity, though officially 

 one of those who are presumed competent to determine who are 

 the fittest persons to be physicians and surgeons and teachers in 

 St. Thomas's and other hospitals, and who generally allow them- 

 selves to be led by one whom they have made treasurer and con- 

 sider fit to guide them in their judgment, having himself in most 

 instances already retired from business). " You cannot be serious. 

 I never heard of such a thing, as a man walking through a 

 crowded thoroughfare, like the Borough High Street, without 

 being disturbed. 



" John Green. What I have stated, your worship, is true ; I 

 am unfortunately too frequently afflicted with fits of somnam- 

 bulism ; and, for greater security from robbers, I always make 

 what articles I carry fast to my arm, so that if any one attempt 

 to snatch it from me it would awaken me. 



" Alderman Thorp. But how do you know the prisoner is the 

 party who accosted you in the Borough ? If you were asleep, 

 you could not see her. 



' Lancet, vol. i. 



