Giddiness

Abstract

A TRUE theory of the cause of giddiness ought to explain the following extreme experience, which deserves record in print. The method was first told to me by a friend; I once tried it myself successfully in a mitigated form, and will assuredly not repeat the experiment, and I persuaded a philosophical friend to try it also, with much the same result. Stand in the middle of a soft field where you can't hurt yourself by tumbling on the ground or against anything; avoid having your best clothes on, and secure appreciative spectators. Then put both hands one above the other on the top of your umbrella or walking-stick, and bend down until your forehead rests on the back of your hands. Thus your legs will be vertical, your body will be more or less horizontal, and the umbrella will be vertical. Shut your eyes. Then get a friend, by touching your hips, so to guide you that you shall circle three times, with a sidelong gait, round the vertical umbrella as an axis. Finally raise your head quickly, and try to walk straight as though nothing particular had happened. What will occur is a frightful giddiness and feeling of sickness, a sense of the ground rising up tumultuously on all sides, a wild rush to save yourself, and a headlong tumble.