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After detailing the preparations he had made for the successful prosecution of his journey, and giving an account of his progress during the first five hours after his departure, by which time he had arrived at the second glaciere, called the Glaciere de la Cotè, the Colonel thus continues his narrative: "Our dinner being finished, we fixed our cramp irons to our shoes, and began to cross the glaciere; but we had not proceeded far, when we discovered that the frozen snow which lay in the ridges between the waves of ice, often concealed, with a covering of uncertain strength, the fathomless chasms which traverse this solid sea; yet the danger was soon in a great degree removed, by the expedient of tying ourselves together with our long rope, which, being fastened at proper distances to our waists, secured from the principal hazard such as might fall within the opening of the gulf. Trusting to the same precaution, we also crossed upon our ladder, without apprehension, such of the chasms as were exposed to view; and sometimes stopping in the middle of the ladder, looked down in safety upon an abyss which baffled the reach of vision, and from which the sound of the masses of ice, that we repeatedly let fall, in no instance ascended to the ear. In some places we were obliged to cut footsteps with our hatchet; yet on the whole the difficulties were far from great, for in two hours and a half we had passed the glaciere. We now with more ease, and much more expedition, pursued our way, having only snow to cross; and in two hours arrived at a hut, which had been erected in the year 1786 by the order and at the expense of M. De Saussure."

At this hut the travellers slept; and the following is a very striking account of the night scene which was observed at this elevated station: "At two o'clock I threw aside my blankets, and went out of the hut to observe the appearance of the heavens. The stars shone with a lustre that far exceeded the brightness which they exhibit when seen from the usual level; and had so little tremor in their light, as to leave no doubt on my mind, that if viewed from the summit of the mountain, they would have appeared as fixed points. How improved in those altitudes would be the aids which the telescope gives to vision !→indeed

the clearness of the air was such, as led me to think that Jupiter's satellites might be distinguished by the naked eye; and had he not been in the neighbourhood of the moon, I might possibly have succeeded. He continued distinctly visible for several hours after the sun was risen, and did not wholly disappear till almost eight."

With the morning dawn the com→ pany proceeded on their expedition: and the following passage will convey a very distinct idea of the dangers and horrors to which this journey is exposed. "Our route was across the snow; but the chasms which the ice beneath had formed, though less numerous than those that we had passed on the preceding day, embarrassed our ascent. One in particular had opened so much in the few days that intervened between M. De Saussure's expedition and our own, as for the time to bar the hope of any further progress; but at length, after having wandered with much anxiety along its bank, I found a place which I hoped the ladder was sufficiently long to cross. The ladder was accordingly laid down, and was seen to rest upon the opposite edge, but its bearing did not exceed an inch on either side. We now considered, that should we pass the chasm, and should its opening, which had enlarged so much in the course of a few preceding days, increase in the least degree before the time of our descent, no chance of return remained. We also considered, that if the clouds, which so often envelope the hill, should rise, the hope of finding, amidst the thick fog, our way back to this only place in which the gulf, even in its present state, was passable, was little less than desperate. Yet after a moment's pause the guides consented to go with me, and we crossed the chasm. We had not proceeded far, when the thirst, which, since our arrival in the upper regions of the air, had been always troublesome, became almost intolerable. No sooner had I drank than the thirst returned, and in a few minutes my throat became perfectly dry. Again I had recourse to the water, and again my throat was parched. The air itself was thirsty: its extreme of dryness had robbed my body of its moisture."

After surmounting a succession of similar dangers, and continuing to experience the same disheartening sensa

tions, the company at length arrived at about 150 fathoms below the level of the summit. Their feelings at this moment are well depicted in the following passage. "The pernicious effects of the thinness of the air were now evident on us all: a desire, almost irresistible, of sleep came on. My spirits had left me: sometimes, indifferent as to the event, I wished to lie down; at others I blamed myself for the expedition; and, though just at the summit, had thoughts of turning back without accomplishing my purpose. Of my guides many were in a worse situation; for, exhausted by excessive vomiting, they seemed to have lost all strength, both of mind and body. But shame at length came to our relief. I drank the last pint of water that was left, and found myself amazingly refreshed. My lungs with difficulty performed their office, and my heart was affected with violent palpitation. At last, however, but with a sort of apathy which scarcely admitted the sense of joy, we reached the summit of the mountain; when six of my guides, and with them my servant, threw themselves on their faces, and were immediately asleep."

We have only room for one other extract, in which an account is given of the effect produced upon the mind of the spectator by the view from the vast height to which the travellers had attained. "When the spectator begins to look round him from this ele vated height, a confused impression of immensity is the first effect produced upon his mind; but the blue colour, leep almost to blackness, of the canopy bove him, soon arrests his attention. e next surveys the mountains, many which, from the clearness of the air, al to his eye within a stone's throw fr him; and even those of Lombardy see to approach his neighbourhood: wh, on the other side, the vale of Chaouni, glittering with the sunbear is to the view directly below his fe, and affects his head with giddinessOn the other hand, all objects of whi the distance is great and the level lo are hid from his eye by the blue vaur which intervenes, and through hich I could not discern the Lake of heva, though, at the height of 15,700glish feet, which, according to Sautre, was the level on which I stood; the Mediterranean sea must have en within the line of vision. They was still, and the day

so remarkably fine, that I could not discover in any part of the heavens the appearance of a single cloud."

In this expedition the latitude of Mount Blanc was very accurately determined, and some experiments were also made respecting the power of a burning-glass at the summit of the mountain, compared with its effect in the vale of Chamouni. The chief interest of the narrative, however, is derived from the information which it communicates respecting the dangers of the journey itself, and from the corroboration it has given to the testimony of other travellers respecting the effect produced upon the human body in such elevated situations. We do not know that any account has yet been published of the attempts which have been made, subsequent to that of Colonel Beaufoy, to accomplish the same journey, but we have reason to believe, that of late years the summit of the mountain has been frequently gained.

ACCOUNT OF THE REMARKABLE CASE OF MARGARET LYALL,

Who continued in a State of Sleep nearly Six Weeks.

By the Rev. JAMES BREWSTER, Minister of Craig.

(From the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Read Feb. 19, 1816.)

Manse of Craig, Feb. 16, 1816.

MY DEAR BROTHER, THE enclosed account was drawn up at the request of Robert Græme, Esq. when all the circumstances were fresh in my own recollection, and that of all with whom I had occasion to confer on the subject. Since you requested me to send you a correct copy of the whole case, I have renewed my inquiries among the friends of the young woman, and submitted my account to several persons, who were most capable of supplying any omissions, or correcting any mistakes. I can confidently vouch for the general accuracy of the statement, but would not wish its credibility to rest entirely on my single testimony. I have therefore procured the signature of the young woman's father, and of several gentlemen, with whom you are more or less acquainted, and who frequently saw her during her illness. The account of her recovery, on the 8th of

62

August, indeed, rests wholly on the
testimony of the father, which there is
not the smallest reason to doubt. I
am sensible that many of the circum-
stances which I have mentioned may
appear to be unnecessarily minute, or
even altogether unimportant; but, in
detailing so remarkable a case, I did
not think myself qualified or entitled
to select according to my own judg-
ment; and considered it to be my
business, as a reporter, merely to re-
late, as clearly and correctly as possi-
ble, whatever was observable in the
situation of the patient. I have noted,
also, her previous employment, the
places where she resided, and some of
the individuals who attended to her
case, partly to render the account
more intelligible, and partly to enable
others to make farther inquiries for
themselves. I may mention farther,
in case you may not be aware of the
circumstance, that there is a similar
case recorded in the Transactions of
the Royal Society of London for 1705,
vol. xxiv. p. 2177. Yours, &c.
To Dr Brewster.

JAS. BREWSTER.

MARGARET LYALL, a young woman about twenty-one years of age, daughter of John Lyall, shoemaker in the parish of Marytown, served, during the winter half-year preceding Whitsunday 1815, in the family of Peter Arkley, Esq. of Dunninald, in the parish of Craig. At the last-mentioned term, she went as servant to the Rev. Mr Foote of Logie; but, in a few days after entering her place, was seized with a slow fever, which confined her to bed rather more than a fortnight. During the latter part of her illness she was conveyed to her father's house; and, on the 23d of June, about eight days after she had been able to leave her bed, she resumed her situation with Mrs Foote, who had, in the mean time, removed to Budden, in the parish of Craig, for the benefit of seabathing. She was observed, after her return, to do her work rather in a hurried manner; and, when sent upon any errand, to run or walk very quickly, as if impatient to finish whatever she had in hand. Her health, however, appeared to be perfectly restored, except that her menses were obstructed. On Tuesday morning, June 27th, about four days after her return to service, she was found in bed in a deep sleep, with the appearance of blood having

flowed from her nose; and about half
a Scotch pint of blood was perceived
on the floor, at her bed-side. All at-
tempts to awaken her were utterly
ineffectual; and she was conveyed in
a cart to her father's house, about half
a mile distant from Budden. Dr Gib-
son, physician in Montrose, having
been called, a pound of blood was
taken from her arm; but she still re-
mained in the same lethargic state,
without making the slightest motion,
or taking any nourishment, or having
any kind of evacuation, till the after-
noon of Friday, the 30th day of June,
when she awoke of her own accord,
and asked for food. At this period
she possessed all her mental and bo-
dily faculties; mentioned distinctly,
that she recollected her having been
awakened on Tuesday morning at two
o'clock, by a bleeding at her nose,
which flowed very rapidly; said, that
she held her head over the bed-side
till the bleeding stopped; but de-
clared, that, from that moment, she
had no feeling or remembrance of any
thing, and felt only as if she had taken
a very long sleep. An injection was
administered with good effect, and she
went to sleep as usual; but, next
morning, (Saturday, July 1,) she was
found in the same state of profound
sleep as before. Her breathing was so
gentle as to be scarcely perceptible;
her countenance remarkably placid,
and free from any expression of dis-
tress; but her jaws were so firmly
locked, that no kind of food or liquid
could be introduced into her mouth.
In this situation she continued for th
space of seven days, without any me
tion, food, or evacuation either of urie
or fæces.

At the end of seven des
she began to move her left hand; ad,
by pointing it to her mouth, signted
a wish for food. She took refily
whatever was given to her, and shwed
an inclination to eat more tha was

thought advisable by the medial at-
tendants. Still, however, shedisco-
vered no symptoms of hearig, and
made no other kind of bodi move-
ment than that of her left had. Her
right hand and arm, particurly, ap-
peared completely dead and devoid of
feeling, and even when priced with a
pin, so as to draw blood, rver shrunk
in the smallest degree, or idicated the
slightest sense of pain. it the same
tinie, she instantly drevback the left
arm, whenever it was tached by the
point of the pin. She'catinued to take

food, whenever it was offered to her; and when the bread was put into her left hand, and the hand raised by another person to her mouth, she immediately began to eat slowly, but unremittingly, munching like a rabbit, till it was finished. It was remarked, that, if it happened to be a slice of loaf which she was eating, she turned the crust, when she came to it, so as to introduce it more easily into her mouth, as if she had been fully sensible of what she was doing. But when she had ceased to eat, her hand dropped upon her chin or under lip, and rested there, till it was replaced by her side, or upon her breast. She took medicine, when it was administered, as readily as food, without any indication of disgust; and, in this way, by means of castor oil and aloetic pills, her bowels were kept open; but no evacuation ever took place without the use of a laxative. It was observed, that she always gave a signal, by pushing down the bedclothes, when she had occasion to make any evacuation. The eye-lids were uniformly shut, and, when forced open, the ball of the eye appeared turned upwards, so as to shew only the white part of it. Her friends shewed considerable reluctance to allow any medical means to be used for her recovery; but, about the middle of July, her head was shaved, and a large blister applied, which remained nineteen hours, and produced an abundant issue, yet without exciting the smallest symptom of uneasiness in the patient. Sinapisms were also applied to her feet, and her legs were moved from hot water into cold, and vice versa, without any appearance of sensation. In this state she remained, without any apparent alteration, till Tuesday the 8th day of August, precisely six weeks from the time when she was first seized with her lethargy, and without ever appearing to be awake, except, as mentioned, on the afternoon of Friday the 30th of June. During the whole of this period, her colour was generally that of health; but her complexion rather more delicate than usual, and occasionally changing, sometimes to paleness, and at other times to a feverish flush. The heat of her body was natural; but, when lifted out of bed, she generally became remarkably cold. The state of her pulse was not regularly marked; but, during the first two weeks, it was generally at 50; du

as at

On

ring the third and fourth week, about 60; and, on the day before her recovery, at 70 or 72; whether its increase was gradual was not ascertained. She continued, during the whole period, to breathe in the same soft and almost imperceptible manner first; but was observed occasionally, during the night time, to draw her breath more strongly, like a person who had fallen asleep. She discovered no symptoms of hearing, till about four days before her recovery, when, upon being requested (as she had often been before, without effect) to give a sign if she heard what was said to her, she made a slight motion with her left hand, but soon ceased again to shew any sense of hearing. Tuesday forenoon, the day of her recovery, she shewed evident signs of hearing; and by moving her left hand, intimated her assent or dissent in a tolerably intelligent manner; yet, in the afternoon of the same day, she seemed to have again entirely lost all sense of hearing. About eight o'clock on Tuesday evening, her father, a shrewd intelligent man, and of a most respectable character, anxious to avail himself of her recovered sense of hearing, and hoping to rouse her faculties by alarming her fears, sat down at her bed-side, and told her that he had now given consent, (as was in fact the case,) that she should be removed to the Montrose Infirmary; that, as her case was remarkable, the doctors would naturally try every kind of experiment for her recovery; that he was very much distressed, by being obliged to put her entirely into their hands; and would "fain hope," that this measure might still be rendered unnecessary, by her getting better before the time fixed for her removal. She gave evident signs of hearing him, and assented to his proposal of having the usual family-worship in her bedroom. After this was over, she was lifted into a chair till her bed should be

*

Lest it might be supposed, that this procedure of the father implied a suspicion on his part of some deception being practised by the young woman, it may be proper to state, that it was suggested by his own who had been affected many years before in experience in the case of another daughter, a very extraordinary degree, with St Vitus's dance, or, as it is termed in this country, "The louping ague;" and who was almost instantaneously cured by the application of

terror.

made; and her father, taking hold of her right hand, urged her to make an exertion to move it. She began to move first the thumb, then the rest of the fingers in succession, and next her toes in like manner. He then opened her eye-lids, and presenting a candle, desired her to look at it, and asked, whether she saw it. She answered, "Yes," in a low and feeble voice. She now proceeded gradually, and in a very few minutes, to regain all her faculties; but was so weak as scarcely to be able to move. Upon being interrogated respecting her extraordinary state, she mentioned, that she had no knowledge of any thing that had happened; that she remembered, indeed, having conversed with her friends at her former awakening, (Friday afternoon, 30th of June) but felt it a great exertion then to speak to them; that she recollected also having heard the voice of Mr Cowie, minister in Montrose, (the person who spoke to her on the forenoon of Tuesday the 8th of August,) but did not hear the persons who spoke to her on the afternoon of the same day; that she had never been conscious of having either needed or received food, of having been lifted to make evacuations, or of any other circumstance in her case. She had no idea of her having been blistered; and expressed great surprise, upon discovering that her head was shaved. She continued in a very feeble state for a few days, but took her food nearly as usual, and improved in strength so rapidly, that on the last day of August she began to work as a reaper in the service of Mr Arkley of Dunninald; and continued to perform the regular labour of the harvest for three weeks, with out any inconvenience, except being extremely fatigued the first day.

took her breakfast, and resumed her work as usual at Dunninald. On the 11th of October, she was again found in the morning in the same lethargic state; was removed to the house of her father, where she awoke as before, after the same period of fifty hours sleep; and returned to her service, without seeming to have experienced any inconvenience. At both of these times her menses were obstructed. Dr Henderson, physician in Dundee, who happened to be on a visit to his friends at Dunninald, prescribed some medicines suited to that complaint; and she has ever since been in good health, and able to continue in service.*

(Signed) JAS BREWSTER,

Minister of Craig.

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1816, Margaret Lyall, whose case is des On the morning of September 21, scribed above, was found in an out-house at Dunninald, hanged by her own hands. No cause could be assigned for this unhappy act. Her health had been good since the month of October 1815; and she had been comfortable in her situation. It was thought by the family, that a day or two After the conclusion of the harvest, preceding her death, her eyes had the apshe went into Mr Arkley's family, as pearance of rolling rather wildly; but she had assisted the day before in serving the a servant; and on the 27th day of table, and been in good spirits that evening. September, was found in the morning On the following morning, she was seen to by her fellow-servants, in her former bring in the milk as usual, and was heard state of profound sleep, from which to say in passing rather hurriedly through they were unable to rouse her. She a room, where the other maids were at was conveyed immediately to her fa- work, that something had gone wrong a ther's house, (little more than a quarbout her dairy; but was not seen again till ter of a mile distant,) and remained she was found dead about half an hour af exactly fifty hours in a gentle, butter. She is known to have had a strong deep sleep, without making any kind of evacuation, or taking any kind of nourishment. Upon awakening, she arose apparently in perfect health,

abhorrence of the idea of her former distress

recurring; and to have occasionally manifested, especially before her first long sleep, the greatest depression of spirits, and even disgust of life.

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