Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1851-07-24
singuiarities in Dreaming.

The assistance supposed to be some
times furn shed in sleep towards The so
luton uf problems which puzzled the wa
hing sense, opens up curious subject
of inves,ira ion. Cases Of the KIND have
been recorded upon undouhtod author
~ Hence some philosophers, like Sii
Thomas Brown and Addison, have been
induced to suppose that the soul IA tins
state IS partially disenGaged fr'H the
earumbrauce OF the body. and lherelofe
more ni, igent. which Is mete fancy
III pneiical fiction. surely 1t Is absurd
TO suppose that the soul, which we invest
with such high aud perfect attributes,
should commit such frivolous and ira
,lonal acts as those Which take place So
consuulp ia pur dreams. " Methlnks, %
observed Lock, every dtowsy nod
shakes this doctrinc.' All we remark
is, that some of the ordinary mental fac
uiies act in such cases with increased
energy. But beyond this we cannot 60.
We are informed by Labanls, thai Fnuh
lin on several OCCASIONS mcuuohed 10
him that he had been assisted IA ms
dreams on the issue of many a1urs ln
which he was engaged. 80, also, on
dlac, while wrillug his IS Cours Il Etu-
dos, ," states thai he was frcqaouly obhg
ed TO leave chapter incomplete, and
retire 10 bed aud on waking, he found
it, on more than one OCCASION, duIahmg
in his head. Cmducci, upon leaving
bis deep aud complicated calculations
unfinished alter having rc'trd To SSH.
often .ound their results uuiolded TO- sun
in his dreams Voitaire assures us nui
he. like Ia Fontaiue, composed verses
frequently in his sleep, which hcrcmcn.
bered on awaklug. llr. Johnson states
thai ne once IN a dream had a contest OF
wit with some other persons and that he
was mortified by imagining that bus OPP
ponenl had the beuer Of him. Coler-
idge in dream, composed the wild aud
beautiful poem OF " Kubla Hhae,' winch
was suggested to hm by passage he
was reading in Purchas Plgumlgc,"
when he tell asleep. On awaou5 ne
had n distinct recollection Of toe whole,
ami, taking pen, ln6 anl paper, Instant
~ and eagerly wtoie doan ne Ines
which have been So mucl admitted
One of the most striking clrcamstnL-
ccs connected with the human mud L.,
the extreme lightning rdpldry ol rs
thoughts even III our waking hours tut
the Transactions which appear To take
place IA eur dreams are accomplished
with still more iucacula5ic aplIty
the relations of space, the dutauon ol
time, appear to be alike anmmlieJ we
are transported Ia an instant to the most
distant regions of the earth and The g.
vents Of ayes are condensed mo the
span of ii few seconds. he accldculai
Jafung OF door. or any noise, Will, al
the same moment 1t iwnkens a person,
suggest Use Incidents otan entire dream.
licnce some PERSONS ord 81 gnam
IN parlIcalar-have supposed udl all
Our dreams lake place IA the tHusnlou
al 10 erVals between sleep and waking.
A gentleman dreamed mat he aad cn-
listed as a soldier joined his regiment
desert ]. was unprecedented. curucd back
uied condemned to be shot and al last
led "ui llT execution. After all the H.
sual cpam'ons, gun WIS hred; h"
awoae "uh the report aud lou ID laat
a NOISE N an adjoining room had, ~ the
same moment, produced the dream and
awakened him. The same want OF any
notion of the duration of ume occurs
more or less in all dreams; hence our
ignorance when we awake, Of The length
OF the ni4ht A friend of Dr. Aber-
cromhle's dreamed that he had crossed
the Atlantic and spent d fortnight IA A
mercl. ln embafklna on Msreiurn, he
te.l llto the sea. and, awahlug with the
irIht, discovered he had not been ten
minutes asleep. d" lately dreamed
SAYS DR. Macuish, tha made a voyage
--remnlned some days IN Calcuti1-rc-
TUNED hore-theu took s.ip for E,lat.
where ! visited the caiaracls OF tae 4 le,
Grand Caro-, and the Pyramids and 10
interview with Mahomct Ali, Cleopl'a.
and Alexander the Great" An ihis " u.s.
the work Of a single hour, or even few
minutes. In one of the dreams which Mr.
DE- Quincy descrlbes-when under the
influence oil opium the sense of space
and in the end of time were," he states,
" both powerfully affected. Buildings,
landscapes, &c, were exhibited IA pro-
portions so vast as the bodily eye is not
fitted TO receive. Space swelled, and
was applied TO a sense of unuuerablc
inGmly.
his, however, did not disturb me SO
much as The vast expansion of une.
sometimes seemed 10 have llved Tor scy
euty OF one hundred wears va one ul-ht,
nay, sometimes had feelings rcprcsri.la-
tive of. millennium, pass m luat ume :,
or. however, of duration Tar beyond the
hmls Of an! human experience"
Col. Crockett in a Quandary.
| never but once" said lbe Colonel