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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 circumstances 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 judgment; and considered it to be my business as a reporter, merely to relate, as clearly and correctly as possible, 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 further 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.

Margaret Lyall, a young woman about twenty-one years of age, daughter of John Lyall, shoemaker in the parish of Mary town, 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 sea-bathing. 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 attempts 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 Gibson, physician in Montrose, having been called, a pound of blood was taken from her arm; but she still remained in the same lethargic state, without making the slightest motion, or taking any nourishment, or having any kind of evacuation, till the afternoon 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 bodily 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 declared, 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 distress; 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 the space of seven days, without any motion, food, or evacuation either of urine or fæces. At the end of seven days she began to move her left hand; and, by pointing it to her mouth, signified a wish for food. She took readily whatever was given to her, and shewed an inclination to eat more than was thought advisable by the medical attendants. Still, however, she discovered no symptoms of hearing, and made no other kind of bodily movement than that of her left hand. Her right hand and arm, particularly, appeared completely dead and devoid of feeling, and even when pricked with a pin, so as to draw blood, never shrunk in the smallest degree, or indicated the slightest sense of pain. At the same time, she instantly drew back the left arm, whenever it was touched by the point of the pin. She continued to take