This patient WEIS the subject or many sub sequent attacks, in every one of which the anger against S— revived; until the current of thought changed, no longer running exchr sively upon what related to her brother, but becoming capable of direction by suggestions of various kinds presented to her mind, either in conversation, or, more directly, through the several organs of sense. On one occasion, the attack having come on whilst she was alone, she managed to make her way down stairs, along a passage, and out into the garden by a back-door, although completely paraplegic,— a very curious instance of sleep walking. So nearly did her condition, in some of these attacks, approach the waking state, that the case might then be almost regarded as one of double that very curious affection, of which the sub ject seems to lead two distinct lives, A and B, in neither remembering what takes place in the other, but each state being, as it were, continuous with itself.
The preceding case is well adapted to illustrate the general characters of the som nanibulistic condition : we have now to notice some of those peculiar phenomena which are presented in individual cases. The first of these to which we shall advert, is the extraordinary exaltation of the sensibility to external impressions through one or more of the organs of sense ; which would seem to result, in some instances, from the concentra tion of' the attention upon that one class of impressions, but which, in other cases, is independent of any such state of attention.* We have ourselves been particularly struck with this, in the somnambulism induced by the " hypnotic " process of Mr. Braid, to which we shall presently refer. We have seen unequivocal proof that the sense of smell has been exalted to an acuteness at least equalling that of the most keen.nosed ruminant or carnivorous animal ; that the eense of hearing has been rendered equally acute ; and that the sense of touch has been exalted, especially in regard to temperature, to a degree that would he scarcely credible, were not the phenomena in perfect keeping with the exaltation of the other senses. We are not aware that the sense of sight has ever been thus acted on. In most soin nambulists it is altogether suspended ; and those who claim to possess the power of clairvoyance, reading words inclosed in opaque boxes, &c., do not refer their power of doing so to any unusual acuteness of' their visual organs, but attribute it to the develop ment of an entirely new faculty, for the operation of which any such optical instru ment as the eye is altogether unnecessary. Among the senses most commonly exalted in somnambulism, is that " muscular sense " by which all our voluntary movements are guided ; and this seems to be so much in creased in acuteness, as quite to replace the visual sense, in the perfortnance of many of those operations for which sight is ordinarily requisite. Thus we find that sleep-walkers make their way over the roofs of houses, steadily traverse narrow planks, and even clamber precipices; and this with far less hesitation than they would do in the waking state. The fact seems to be, that they are utterly unconscious of the danger they are incurring ; and that the whole attention being fixed without any distraction upon the indications of the muscular sense, the requi site movements are performed under its guidance with steadiness and certainty. So, again, it is well known that somnambulists will write with their usual degree of neatness and regularity, when prompted to do so either by their own train of thought, or by some suggestion from without ; and this, when it is perfectly certain that they cannot see. We have ourselves witnessed this in hypnotic experiments on two individuals, and made quite sure that vision could not be affording any assistance, by holding a large book between the eyes and hand of the writer. Not only were the lines well written,
and at the proper distances, but the i's were dotted and the t's crossed ; and in one instance, the writter went back half a line to make a correction, crossing off a word, and writing another above it, with as much correctness as if he had been guided by vision. The guidance of the muscular sense in this case may be compared to that which we ourselves receive from it, when ascending or descend ing a pair of stairs, or traversing a passage, to which we have previously been accustomed, in the dark ; we know when we have come to the end, without having counted our steps, or in any way observed our progress, simply by the information we receive through the muscular sense. To the suspension, com plete or partial, of the activity of one or more of the organs of sense, which may occur spon taneously, or may be induced by calling ofF the attention from it, reference has already been made.
The next point to be noticed is the readiness with which the train of thought may be guided, during the state of somnambulism, by the principle of suggestion. This is more, perhaps, the case in artvicial or induced than in nature/ somnambulism ; for in the latter there is fre quently', as already pointed out, some domi nant idea or set of ideas, from which the attention of the somnambulist cannot easily be distracted, In the former, the mind is like a weathercock, without the least fixity or self-control, but liable to be turned in any direction by the impressions to which it is subjected. It is one of the most curious and important of Mr. Braid's discoveries, that the suggestions conveyed through the muscular sense are among the most potent of any in determining the current of thought. Let the face, body', or limbs be brought into the atti tude expressive of any particular feeling, or into a condition at all corresponding with that in which they would be placed for the performance of any voluntary action, and the corresponding mental state is at once called up. Thus, if the hand be placed upon the vertex, the somnambulist will frequtntly, of his own accord, draw his body up to its fullest height, and throw his head slightly back ; his countenance then assumes an expression of' the most lofty pride, and his whole mind is obviously possessed by the feeling. Where the first action does not of itself call forth the rest, it is sufficient to straighten the legs and spine, and to throw the head somewhat back, to arouse the feeling and the corresponding expression to its full intensity. During the most complete domination of this emotion, let the head be bent forward, and the body and limbs gently flexed; and the most pro found humility then takes its place. So, again, if the angles of the mouth be gently separated from one another, as in laughter, a hilarious disposition is immediately generated ; and this may be immediately made to give place to tnoroseness, by drawing the eyebrows towards each other and downwards upon the nose, as in frowning. Not only have we witnessed all these effects repeatedly pro duced upon numerous " hypnotised " sub jects, but we have been assured by a most intelligent friend who has paid special atten tion to the psychological part of this enquiry, that having subjected himself to Mr. Braid's manipulations, and been only partially thrown into the " hypnotic " state, he distinctly re members everything that was done, and can retrace the uncontrollable effect upon his state of mind which was produced by this management of his muscular apparatus.