dream is one, which greatly interests him. After he has awaked, the action he has passed through, appears, in his recollection of it, to be merely a dream, and not a reality. "A young nobleman, (says Dr. Abercrombie,) living in the citadel of Breslau, was observed by his brother, who occupied the same room, to rise in his sleep, wrap himself in a cloak, and escape by a window to the roof of the building. He there tore in pieces a magpie's nest, wrapped the young birds in his cloak, returned to his appartment, and went to bed. In the morning he mentioned the circumstances as having occurred in a dream, and could not be persuaded that there had been any thing more than a dream, till he was shown the magpies in his cloak." And this is noticed to be commonly the fact. What has been done has the appearance of being a dream. And there is no doubt that the mind of the somnambulist is in that particular state, which we denominate dreaming.

II,—In the second place, those volitions, which are a part of his dreams, retain their power over the muscles, which is not the fact in the sleep and the dreaming of the great body of people.-Consequently, whatever the somnambulist dreams, is not only real in the mind, as in the case of all other dreamers, but his ability to exercise his muscles enables him to give it a reality in action. Whether he dream of writing a letter, of visiting a neighbor's house of cutting and piling wood, of thrashing his grain, or ploughing his field, (acts which have at various times been ascribed to the somnambulist,) his muscles are faithful to his vivid mental conceptions, which we may suppose in all cases closely connected with his customary labors and experiences, and frequently enable him to complete what he has undertaken, even when his senses are at the same time closed up.

But the inquiry arises here, how it happens, while, in most cases, both senses and muscles lose their power, in these, on the contrary, the muscles are active, while the senses alone are asleep?- -In reference to this inquiry, it must be acknowledged, that it is involved at present in some uncertainty, although there is much reason to anticipate, that it may hereafter receive light from further investigations and knowledge of the nervous system and functions. There is

a set of nerves, which are understood to be particularly connected with respiration, and which appear to have nothing to do with sensation and with muscular action. There is another set, which are known to possess a direct and important connection with sensation and the muscles. These last are separable into distinct filaments, having separate functions; some being connected with sensation merely, and others with volition and muscular action. In sensation, the impression, made by some external body, exists at first in the external part of the organ of sense, and is propagated along one class of filaments to the brain. In volition and voluntary muscular movement, the origin of action, as far as the body is concerned, seems to be the reverse, commencing in the brain, and being propagated along other and appropriate nervous filaments to the different parts of the system. Hence it sometimes happens, that, in diseases of the nervous system, the power of sensation is, in a great measure, lost, while that of motion fully remains; or, on the contrary, the power of motion is lost, while that of sensation remains. These views help to throw light on the subject of somnambulism. Causes, at present unknown to us, may operate, through their appropriate nervous filaments, to keep the muscles awake, without disturbing the repose and inactivity of the senses. A man may be asleep as to all the powers of external perception; and yet be awake in respect to the capabilities of muscular motion. And aided by the trains of association, which make a part of his dreams, may be able to walk about and to do many things without the aid of the sight and hearing.

§. 167. Further illustrations of somnambulism.

III,—Further, we are not to forget here a remark on the sleep of the senses, a subject already briefly alluded to; and which is an exception to the general statement then made in regard to them. Both in somnambulism and in ordinary cases of dreaming the senses are not always entirely locked up; many observations clearly show, that it is possible for the mind to be accessible through them, and that a new direction may be given in this way to a person's dreams without awaking him. Hence somnambulists may sometimes

have very slight visual perceptions; they may in some slight measure be guided by sensations of touch; all the senses may be affected in a small degree by their appropriate objects, or this may be the case with some and not with others, without effectually disturbing their sleep.-These facts will be found to help in explaining any peculiar circumstances, which may be thought not to come within the reach of the general explanation which has been given.

IV, But this is not all. There are some cases, which are not reached by the statements hitherto made. There are not only slight exceptions to the general fact, that somnambulists, like persons in ordinary sleep, are insensible to external impressions, but occasionally some of a marked and extraordinary character. There are a few cases, (the recent instance of Jane Rider in this country is one,) where persons, in the condition of somnambulism, have not only possessed slight visual power, but perceptions of sight increased much above the common degree. In the extraordinary narrative of Jane Rider, the author informs us, that he took two large wads of cotton, and placed them directly on the closed eyelids, and then bound them on with a black silk handkerchief. The cotton filled the cavity under the eyebrows, and reached down to the middle of the cheek, and various experiments were tried, to ascertian whether she could In one of them a watch inclosed in a case was handed to her, and she was requested to tell what o'clock it was by it; upon which, after examining both sides of the watch, she opened the case, and then answered the question. She also read, without hesitation, the name of a gentleman, written in characters so fine, that no one else could distinguish it at the usual distance from the eye. In another paroxysm, the lights were removed from her room, and the windows so secured that no object was discernible, and two books were presented to her, when she immediately told the titles of both, though one of them was a book which she had never before seen. In other experiments, while the room was so darkened, that it was impossible, with the ordinary powers of vision, to distinguish the colors of the carpet, and her eyes were also bandaged, she pointed out the different colors in the hearth rug, took up and read several cards lying on the

see.

table, threaded a needle, and performed several other things, which could not have been done without the aid of vision."*

-Of extraordinary cases of this kind, it would seem, that no satisfactory explanation, (at least no explanation which is unattended with difficulties,) has as yet been given.

As quoted in Dr. Oliver's Physiology, Chap. 30.