The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-03-03

The following passages are from brief
review, in London paper, Of Sir Ben
iamin. Brodie's Psychological Inquiries
Dreams are next discussed, as also the
problem, :. What is sleep 2" which our
author declares ilrsoluble. The sense of
WEAKNESS appears ceafned TO those func-
tions over which the will has power all
involuntary actions are continued through
our resting as well as waking hours
Sleep aecumaiates the nervous foree,
which is gradually exhausted during the
day. But these are words only; for who
can define or explain the nervous foree?"
Darwin's axiom, THAT the essential part
of sleep is the suspension of volition,"
still holds good. and is accepted as salts
factory. Talking and moving in sleep,
though apparently phenomena irrecon-
cilable with this theory, are not so in re-
alify; for there are degrees of sleep, and
these things only occur where the sluin-
Der is imperfect. 1t may be urged. again.
that the mere absence of volition would
not produce that insensibility to sight
and sound which is the Characteristic of
the sleeper. But few persons are aware
how much the win is concerned in the
reception of impressions on the senses
One who is absorbed in reading or writ
ing viii not hear words addressed TO him
in the ordinary tone, though their phys
ical effect on the car must be the same as
usual
Dreams are inexplieable: Lord Brough-
am suggested that they took place only
in the momentary state of transition from
sleep to waking. But facts contradict
this theory, since persons viii matter TO
themselves, and utter inarticulate sounds,
indicative of dreaming, at intervals of
several minutes. The common puzzleas
to how dreams, apparently long, can pass
in moment of time, presents no diff
Guilty to the psychologist. Life is not
measured by hours and days, but by the
number of new impressions received;
and the limit to these is in the world
without us, not in the constitution of our
minds. To child, whose Imagination
is constantly excited by new objects,
twelve months seem q much longer peri
cd than to man. As we advance in
life, time flies faster. The butterfly, liY-
ing for single season, may really enjoy
alonger existence than the tortoise, whose
years exceed acen!ury. Even between
the busy and the idle among human be-
ings there exists similar difference,
though less strongly marked.
1t has been usually held that large
heads are more powerful thinking ma
chimes than small ones and, as gen.
eral rule, experience justifes the conclu-
sion. But Newton, Byron, and others,
were exceptions to it; and it is quite GER
tain that a large brain may be accom-
panied with the most dense stupidity.
Many remarks scattered through this
little treatise are worth the recollection of
all ages and classes, 1.-THE failure of
the mind in old age says Sir Benjamin.
sis often less the result of natural decay
than Of disuse." Ambition has ceased
to operate commitment brings Incidence;
incidence decay of mental power, ennui
and sometimes death. Men have been
known to die, literally speaking, ofdisease
induced by Intellectual vacancy. onthe
other hand, the amount Of possible men
tai labor is far less than many persons
imagine. If professional men are ena-
bled to work twelve or fifteen hours dali
", that is because most of their business
has become, from habit, a mere matterof
routine From four to six hours is,
probably, the utmost daily period for
which real exertion Of the mind can be
carried on.