SLEEP-WAKING. 645 



her nostrils, a candle held so near her eyes as to burn the lashes, 

 the noise of a loud voice in her ears or of a stone thrown against 

 the back of her bed, she would nevertheless spring out of bed, and 

 keep " the middle way between the bedsteads as well as when 

 awake, and never come against them, turning dexterously round 

 between the bedsteads and a concealed closet without even groping 

 the way or touching the objects ; and after turning round, she 

 returned to her bed, covered herself with the clothes, and again 

 became as stiff as at the commencement. She then awoke, as if 

 from a profound sleep, and when she perceived, from the appear- 

 ance of the bystanders, that she must have had her fits again, 

 she wept the whole day for shame, and never knew what had 

 happened to her during the paroxysm." x 



In general patients are not easily awakened. Sometimes they 

 are. Dr. Pritchard knew a man, who was accustomed to attend a 

 weekly market, rise from his bed, saddle his horse, and proceed 

 as far as the turnpike, which, being shut, awakened him. I have 

 already given other examples. Although the persons mentioned 

 were awakened with impunity, immediate death has occasionally 

 been the consequence. Dr. Macnish mentions a young lady sub- 

 ject to sleep-walking, whose door one night was not, as usual, 

 secured, so that she walked out into the garden ; and there she 

 was awakened by some of the family who followed her. But the 

 shock was such that she almost instantly expired, y 



One evening, about twelve or eighteen months ago, at Dres- 

 den, a young lady was observed walking upon the top of a house. 

 The alarm was given, and a considerable concourse assembled. 

 Every precaution was taken to prevent her from receiving injury 

 in case of falling : the street was covered with beds, mattresses, 

 &c. Meanwhile, the young lady, apparently unconscious of 

 danger, came forward to the edge of the rooft smiling and 

 bowing to the multitude below, and occasionally arranging her 

 hair and her dress. After this scene had continued for some 

 time, and the spectators were in the utmost anxiety for her safety, 

 she at length proceeded towards the window of a room from 

 which she had come. In their alarm, some of her family had 

 placed a light in it, which the somnambulist perceived, and in 



x M. Sauvage de la Croix. Isis revelata, vol. i. p. 33f 

 y L c. p. 173. 



u u 4 



