He was
insensible to the light of every candle excepting the one upon
which his attention was fixed.
Tuke tells of a school-boy who being unable to master a
school-problem in geometry retired to bed still thinking of the
subject; he was found late at night by his instructor on his
knees pointing from spot to spot as though he were at the
blackboard. He was so absorbed that he paid no attention to the
light of the candle, nor to the speech addressed to him. The next
morning the teacher asked him if he had finished his problem, and
he replied that he had, having dreamt it and remembered the
dream. There are many such stories on record. Quoted by Gray,
Mesnet speaks of a suicidal attempt made in his presence by a
somnambulistic woman. She made a noose of her apron, fastened one
end to a chair and the other to the top of a window. She then
kneeled down in prayer, made the sign of the cross, mounted a
stool, and tried to hang herself. Mesnet, scientific to the
utmost, allowed her to hang as long as he dared, and then stopped
the performance. At another time she attempted to kill herself by
violently throwing herself on the floor after having failed to
fling herself out of the window. At still another time she tried
poison, filling a glass with water, putting several coins into
it, and hiding it after bidding farewell to her family in
writing; the next night, when she was again somnambulistic, she
changed her mind once more, writing to her family explaining her
change of purpose.
Pages:
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725
1726
1727
1728
1729
1730