SOMNOLENCY. This is a state of body which the sturdy impostor has in several instances assumed; he pretends to be in a state incapable of any muscular motion; he is constantly in bed, retaining that posture in which his limbs are placed, or may happen to fall; his great aim is to appear unconscious of the external world; the interesting case of this kind related by _Dr. Hennen_[562] must be considered as the master-piece of imposture. A person of the name of _Drake_, in the Royal African Corps, assumed an appearance of total insensibility, under which he resisted every kind of treatment; he resisted the shower bath as well as shocks of electricity; but on a proposal being uttered in his presence to apply the actual cautery, his pulse rose; and on preparations being made to remove him to Bethlem hospital, an amendment soon manifested itself. SYNCOPE. It seems probable that certain persons have possessed a controlling power over the action of the heart; _Dr. Cleghorn_, of Glasgow, mentions in his lectures the case of a person whom he knew, who could feign death, and had so completely the power of suspending, or at least, moderating the action of the heart, that its pulsation could not be felt; this man, it appears, some years afterwards, died suddenly. The story of _Colonel Townshend_ is well known, who, in the presence of _Dr. Cheyne_ and some other physicians, put on all the appearance of death, and was resuscitated of his own accord; in this instance it is said that neither pulse nor respiration could be perceived for more than half an hour; he, however, actually died on the same evening. _Dr. Hennen_ relates a most interesting case of violent palpitation of the heart, which was produced by the man’s own efforts. _Dr. Hennen_ found that he could at any time render the affection very imperfect by throwing the patient’s head well back, so as to destroy that voluntary combination of muscular action, which he believes to have produced the palpitation; “we must suppose,” says he, “that this person had the power of throwing the muscles which narrow the chest into sudden and strong action, at the moment when the apex of the heart made its stroke upwards;” after a serious admonition, _Dr. Hennen_ sent the man back to his duty, and as he afterwards remained without any murmur or complaint, we must consider his obedience as a tacit acknowledgment of his guilt. Some persons have pretended that they have no pulsation at the wrist, and they occasion its cessation by pressure on the artery, or by taking a full inspiration, and continuing to retain the breath as long as possible.[563]