Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1870-10-13
Curious Dreams.
From Harper,s Bazar.

during sleep, we may adduce cases
of apparently very long dreams that
have been completed, from begin
ming TO end, in very few seconds,
aud which have been excited BY ex
ternal Influences. The following ex
amples of such dreams prove how
greatis the activity of the brain dur
ing sleep compared with the sctusl
lapse of time.
A person, who was suddenly
aroused from sleep by few drops
OF water sprinkled in his face, dream
ed of the events of an entire life, in
which happiness and sorrow were
mingled; and which finally termi-
mated with an sltercstion upon the
borders of an extensive lake, into
which his exasperated companion, af-
ter considerable struggle, succeed
ed in plunging him. DR.. Carpenter
mentions the case of clergyman
falling asleep in his pulpit during the
singing of psalm before the SER
mon, and awakening with the con-
viction that he must have slept for at
least an hour, and that the congrega-
ton must have been waiting for him;
but on referring to his psalm book,
he was consoled by finding that his
slumber had not lasted longer than
the singing of single line.
Sir Benjamin Brodie, in his s'Phy-
Geological Inquiries" 1854, men
tons the following fact OF the late
Lord Holland: "On an occasion
when he was much fatigued, while
listening to a friend who was read
ing aloud, he fell asleep and had a
dream, the particulars Of which it
would take him quarter of an hour,
or longer, to express in writing. AT
ter he awoke he found that he re-
membered the beginning of one SEN
tence, while he actually heard the lat
ter part of the sentence Immediately
following it; so that, probably, the
whole time during which he had
slept did not occupy more than a
few seconds"
A lawyer found 1t necessary to as
certain the exact age of client of
his, who was also his cousin. Their
grandfather, who was rather an &C.
centric person, had died when they
were boys. The lawyer often told
his cousin that if the grandfather
had been alive the desired informa-
ton could have been readily obtain
ed, and that he had dim recollec-
tion of having seen record kept by
the old gentleman, and of there be-
ing some peculiarity about it which
he could not recall. Some months
after the search had been given up
as hopeless he dreamed that their
grandfather came to him and said,
"You have been trying to find out
when j was born. Don't you
recollect that one afternoon, when
we were fishing, 1 read you some
lines from an Elzevir Horace and
showed you bow / had made fami
ly record out Of the book by insert,
ing a number of blank leaves ct the
end? Now, as you know, / devised
my library to the Rev. -. I was
a great fool for giving him books
which he will never read! Get the
Horace and you will discover the
exact hour at which j was born"
The lawyer, deeply impressed with
the dream, started by the first morn
ing train to visit the clergyman, who
lived in, q neighboring city: found
the Horace and at the end were
the pages constituting the family
record, exactly as had been de-
scribed in the dream. By no effort
of his memory could he recall to his
the incidents of the fish
ing excursion.
The following case, in which
other respects highly re.
markable-occurred twice on the
same night; came under the notice of
the writer of this article in the year
1848. Our readers may recollect
that, in the year just recorded, there
was a terrible case of murder, DR..
Webster, Professor of Chemistry in
Harvard College, being convicted for
the murder of his acquaintance-we
can hardly say his friend-Dr. Park
man. A lady-we will call her X.
we'll known in theliterary world,
and then residingin London, had,
some years previously, paid a long
visit to the United States, during
which she became intimately &C.
quainted with DR.. Webster and his
family, who showed her much kind
ness and attention. After her return
to England she continued to CORES
pond with the family; and one day,in
the early autumn of 184S, gentle
man related to DR.. Parkman called
upon her with an introduction from
Professor Webster. On that night
she went to bed at her usual hour, but
soon experienced a horrible dream.
She fancied that she was being urged
OJ LIZ w OOobCA W thoolSb ulIu III con-
cealing a set of human bones in a
wooden box; and she distinctly recol
lected that there was a thi gh- bone
which after failing to break it in
pieces, he vainly attempted to insert,
but it was too long. While they
we're trying to hide the box--as she
fancied, under her bed-she woke in
3 state Of terror and cold perspira.
ton. She instantly struck a light,
and tried to dispel the recollection of
ler horrible vision by reading. AT.
Ar a lapse of two hours, during
which she had determinedly fixed her
on the book, she put out the
lights, and soon fell asleep. The
same dream again occurred; after
which she did not dare-althoueh a
woman of singular moral and physi-
,al courage-to attempt to sleep any
more that night. Early on the fol
owing morning she called upon the |