The philosophy of sleep / [Robert Macnish].

  • Macnish, Robert, 1802-1837.
Date:
1834
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The philosophy of sleep / [Robert Macnish]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    192/320 (page 186)
    CHAPTER XI. PROTRACTED SLEEP. | HAvE already mentioned a few instances of indi- viduals remaining for days or weeks in a state of profound sleep. The nature of this extraordinary affection is in a great measure, unknown ; it arises, in most cases, without any obvious cause, generally resists every method that can be adopted for re- moving it, and disappears of its own accord. The case of Mary Lyall, related in the 8th volume of the “Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,” is one of the most remarkable in- stances of excessive somnolency on record. ‘This woman fell asleep on the morning of the 27th of June, and continued in that state till the evening of the 30th of the same month, when she awoke, and remained in her usual way till the Ist of July, when she again fell asleep, and continued so till the 8th of August. She was bled, blistered, im- mersed in the hot and cold bath, and stimulated in almost every possible way, without having any consciousness of what was going on. For the first seven days she continued motionless, and ex-