The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1856-05-21
Sleep, Dreams, Mental Decay.

The following passages are from brie
review, in London paper, of Sir Benjamin
Brodie's Psychological Inquiries:
Dreams are next discussed, as also the
problem, 'What is sleep' which our author
declares insoluble. The sense of WEAKNESS
appears confined 10 those functions oveI
which the will has power; all involuntary
actions are continued through our resting as
we'll as our waking hours. Sleep accumu-
lates the nervous force, which is gradually
exhausted during the day. But these are
! words only; for who can define or explain
the nervous forcep Darwin's axiom that
the essential part of sleep is the suspension
of voliton,' still holds good, and is accepted
as satisfactory. Talking and moving in sleep,
though apparently phenomesa irreconciabls
with this theory, are not so in reality; for
there are degrees of sleep, and these things
| only occur where the slumber is imperfect.
II may be urged again, that the more absence
Of volition would not produce iha, insensibil-
ity TO sight and sound which is the charac.
terislic of the sleeper, but few persons are a
ware how much the will is concerned in the
Reception of impressions ia the senses. One
who is absorbed in reading or writing will
not hear words addressed 10 him in the ordi.
nary tone, though their physical effec. on the
ear must be the came as usual.
Dreams are inexplcable; Lord Brougham
suggested that they took place only in the
momentary state Of transition from sleep TO
waking. But facts contradict this theory,
since persons will multer 10 themselves, and
utter inarticulale sounds, indicative of dream.
ing, at intervals of several minutes. The
common puzzle is how dreams, apparently
long, can pass in moment of time, presents
no difficulty TO the ps, chologist. Life is no,
measured by hours and days, bu. by the
number Of new impressions received and
limit TO these ie in the world without Us, not
IN the CONSTITUTION OF our MINUS. TO u cfIfid,
whose imagination is constantly excited by
new objects, twelve months seem longer
period than to man. As we advance in life,
time flies faster. The butterfly, living for
single season, may really enjoy longer ex.
is,ence than the tortoise. whose years exceed
century. Even between the busy and the
idle among human beings, there exists a
similar difference, though less strongly mark
cd.
Il has been usually held that large heads
are more powerful thinking machines than
small ones; and as general rule, experience
jusiifies the conclusion. But Newton, Byron,
and others, were exceptions to it; and it is
quite certain that large brain may be ac-
companied with the most dense stupidity.
Many remarks scattered through this little
treatise are worthy the recollection of all
ages and classes. "The failure of the mind
in old age" says Sir Benjamin Brodie, "is
often less the resul. of mature decay than OF
disuse." Ambition has ceased to operate
contentmen, brings Incidence; Incidence de-
cay of mental power, ennui and sometimes
death. Men have been known to die, liter.
~i,y -r-~t;-e, IS i;..es. -indncad by intel
lectual vacancy. On the otuer nand, tne-
amount of possible mental labor is far less
than many persons imagine. lfproiessional
men are enabled TO work twelve or fifteen
hours daily, it lis because most Of their bust
ness has become, from habit, mere matter
of routine. From four TO six hours is prob
ably, the utmost daily period for which real
exertion Of the mind can be carried on.