To  be  put  on  our  guard  is  to  be  armed  in  such  cases."*

In  some  forms  of  cerebral  irritation  and  capillary  con-
gestion the  patient  feels  an  intense  and  overpowering
desire  to  sleep.  He  experiences  a  heavy  and  drowsy  sensa-
tion, but  is  unable  to  close  his  eyes  in  slumber  for  many
minutes.  He  often  continues  for  hours  in  this  state
of  semi-sleeplessness  or  morbid  drowsiness,  without
actually  sleeping  or  feeling  at  all  refreshed.  This  con-
"dition  of  the  brain,  if  permitted  to  continue  for  any
lengthened  period,  is  productive  of  much,  and  often
fatal,  mental  and  bodily  mischief.
Cases  of  what  may  be  termed  idiopathic  sleeplessness
occasionally  occur,  in  which  the  intellect  is  not  (for  a
period),  in  the  slightest  degree  disordered.  Persons
have  been  known  to  remain  in  this  state  of  insomnia  for
several  weeks,  never  closing  their  eyes  for  jive  continuous
minutes  in  sleep!  In  one  female  patient  the  state  of
sleeplessness  arose  from  a  severe  shock  which  she  had
received,  consequent  upon  finding  her  husband,  in  the
middle  of  the  night,  dead  by  her  side,  he  having  retired
to  bed  apparently  in  excellent  health.  In  these  cases,
the  patients  are  seldom  heard  to  complain  of  the  want
of  sleep ;  they  appear  to  experience  none  of  the  usual
sensations  of  bodily  and  mental  fatigue,  physical  uneasi-
ness, and  discomfort,  which  follow  ordinary  states  of
partial  and  incomplete  repose.
•  "  Clinical  Medicine,"  fcy  Dr.  Graves.
604  MORBID   PHENOMENA    OP    SLEEP.
Persons  actively  engaged  in  literary  pursuits,  and  whose
occupations  absorb  a  large  amount  of  nervous  energy  and
energetic  thought,  are  subject  to  conditions  of  insomnia.
