In this second condition, behind the tightly closed lids, the pupils of the eyes are convulsively turned upward. The body is almost entirely without sensation or power of thought. Especially characteristic of lethargy is the hyper-excitability of the nerves and muscles (_hyperexcitabilite neuromusculaire_), which manifests itself at the slightest touch of any object. For instance, if the extensor muscles of the arm are lightly touched, the arm stiffens immediately, and is only made flexible again by a hard rubbing of the same muscles. The nerves also react in a similar manner. The irritation of a nerve trunk not only contracts all the small nerves into which it branches, but also all those muscles through which it runs. Finally, the somnambulistic condition proceeds from catalepsy or from lethargy by means of a slight pressure upon the _vertex_, and is particularly sensitive to every psychical influence. In some subjects the eyes are open, in others closed. Here, also, a slight irritation produces a certain amount of rigor in the muscle that has been touched, but it does not weaken the antagonistic muscle, as in lethargy, nor does it vanish under the influence of the same excitement that has produced it. In order to put an end to the somnambulistic condition, one must press softly upon the pupil of the eye, upon which the subject becomes lethargic, and is easily roused by breathing upon him. In this early stage, somnambulism appears very infrequently. Charcot's school also recognize the existence of compound conditions, the history of whose symptoms we must not follow here. These slightly sketched results, as well as a number of other facts, were only obtained in the course of several years; yet in 1882 the fundamental investigations of this school were considered virtually concluded. Then Dumont-Pallier, the head of the Parisian Hospital Pitie, came forward with a number of observations, drawn also exclusively from the study of hystero-hypnotism, and yet differing widely from those reached by the physicians of the Salpetriere. In a long series of communications, he has given his views, which have in their turn been violently attacked, especially by Magnin and Berillon. I give only the most important points. According to these men, the hyper-excitability of the nerves and muscles is present not only in the lethargic condition, but in all three periods; and in order to prove this, we need only apply the suitable remedy, which must be changed for each period and every subject. Slight irritations of the skin prove this most powerfully. A drop of warm water or a ray of sunshine produces contractions of a muscle whose skin covering they touch.