his friends mistook
for delirium, and he gradually recovered, and the cuticle peeled off. From
these and a few other cases I have always esteemed insanity to be a
favourable sign in fevers, and have cautiously distinguished it from
delirium.

III. Another mode of mental exertion to relieve pain, is by producing a
train of ideas not only by the efforts of volition, as in insanity; but by
those of sensation likewise, as in delirium and sleep. This mental effort
is termed reverie, or somnambulation, and is described more at large in
Sect. XIX. on that subject. But I shall here relate another case of that
wonderful disease, which fell yesterday under my eye, and to which I have
seen many analogous alienations of mind, though not exactly similar in all
circumstances. But as all of them either began or terminated with pain or
convulsion, there can be no doubt but that they are of epileptic origin,
and constitute another mode of mental exertion to relieve some painful
sensation.

1. Master A. about nine years old, had been seized at seven every morning
for ten days with uncommon fits, and had had slight returns in the
afternoon. They were supposed to originate from worms, and had been in vain
attempted to be removed by vermifuge purges. As his fit was expected at
seven yesterday morning, I saw him before that hour; he was asleep, seemed
free from pain, and his pulse natural. About seven he began to complain of
pain about his navel, or more to the left side, and in a few minutes had
exertions of his arms and legs like swimming. He then for half an hour
hunted a pack of hounds; as appeared by his hallooing, and calling the dogs
by their names, and discoursing with the attendants of the chase,
describing exactly a day of hunting, which (I was informed) he had
witnessed a year before, going through all the most minute circumstances of
it; calling to people, who were then present, and lamenting the absence of
others, who were then also absent. After this scene he imitated, as he lay
in bed, some of the plays of boys, as swimming and jumping. He then sung an
English and then an Italian song; part of which with his eyes open, and
part with them closed, but could not be awakened or excited by any
violence, which it was proper to use.

After about an hour he came suddenly to himself with apparent surprise, and
seemed quite ignorant of any part of what had passed, and after being
apparently well for half an hour, he suddenly fell int