in Medicine (from ἀπολήψις, oblivion, and ἀσύννημα, numbness, laziness), a disease consisting of a profound drowsiness or sleepiness, from which the patient can scarcely be awakened; or, if awakened, he remains stupid, without sense or memory, and presently sinks again into his former sleep.

LETHÉ (from λαβάνω, to hide or conceal), in the ancient mythology, one of the rivers of hell, signifying oblivion or forgetfulness; its waters, according to poetic fiction, having the peculiar quality of making those who drank them forget everything that was past.