|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 46
In both classes of cases a suggestion of some kind is required, and
then the act takes place independently of the will. There is another
analogous condition known by the Germans as _Schlaftrunkenheit_, and
to English and American neurologists as somnolentia, or
sleep-drunkenness. In this state an individual, on being suddenly
awakened, commits some incongruous act of violence, ofttimes a murder.
Sometimes this appears to be excited by a dream, but in others no such
cause could be discovered.
Thus, a sentry fell asleep during his watch, and, being suddenly
aroused by the officer in command, attacked the latter with his sword,
and would have killed him but for the interposition of the bystanders.
The result of the medical examination was that the act was
involuntary, being the result of a violent confusion of mind
consequent upon the sudden awaking from a profound sleep. Other cases
are cited by Wharton and Stille in their work on medical
jurisprudence, by Hoffbauer, and by myself in "Sleep and its
Derangements."
The following cases among others have occurred in my own experience:
A gentleman was roused one night by his wife, who heard the
street-door bell ring. He got up, and, without paying attention to
what she said, dragged the sheets off of the bed, tore them hurriedly
into strips, and proceeded to tie the pieces together. She finally
succeeded in bringing him to himself, when he said he had thought the
house was on fire, and he was providing means for their escape. He did
not recollect having had any dream of the kind, but was under the
impression that the idea had occurred to him at the instant of his
awaking.
Another was suddenly aroused from a sound sleep by the slamming of a
window-shutter by the wind. He sprang instantly from his bed, and,
seizing a chair that was near, hurled it with all his strength against
the window. The noise of the breaking of glass fully awakened him. He
explained that he imagined some one was trying to get into the room
and had let his pistol fall on the floor, thereby producing the noise
which had startled him.
In another case a man dreamed that he heard a voice telling him to
jump out of the window. He at once arose, threw open the sash, and
jumped to the ground below, fortunately only a distance of about ten
feet, so that he was not injured beyond receiving a violent shock.
Such a case as this appears to me to be very similar to those
described by Dr. Beard in all its essential aspects.
A few years ago I had a gentleman under my charge who would attempt to
execute any order given him while he was asleep by a person
whispering into his ear. Thus, if told in this way to shout, he
shouted as loud as he could; if ordered to get up, he at once jumped
from the bed; if directed to repeat certain words, he said them, and
so on.
I am not able to give any certain explanation of the phenomena of
miryachit or of the "Jumpers," or of certain of those cases of
sleep-drunkenness which seem to be of like character. But they all
appear to be due to the fact a motor impulse is excited by perceptions
without the necessary concurrence of the volition of the individual to
cause the discharge. They are, therefore, analogous to reflex actions,
and especially to certain epileptic paroxysms due to reflex
irritations. It would seem as though the nerve cells were very much in
the condition of a package of dynamite or nitro glycerin, in which a
very slight impression is sufficient to effect a discharge of nerve
force. They differ, however, from the epileptic paroxysm in the fact
that the discharge is consonant with the perception--which is in these
cases an irritation--and is hence an apparently logical act, whereas
in epilepsy the discharge is more violent, is illogical, and does not
cease with the cessation of the irritation.
Certainly the whole subject is of sufficient importance to demand the
careful study of competent observers.
* * * * *
THE GUM DISEASE IN TREES.[1]
[Footnote 1: Communicated to the _Medical Times_ by Sir James Paget.]
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|