The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-10-17
Curious Things About Dreams.

| Is it not curious fact that dreams are all
the creations of our own minds--that we our
selves originate the forms and faces that look
on us, and perhaps terrify us-that we think
the thoughts that others seem to speak with
their lips-that we and no Others are the au-
thors Of the comedy that is acted before us, or
of the terrible tragedy in which we ourselves
are the only suferers3
There is another very curious thing about
dreams, and that is the short period OF time in
which they occur. This has been often meas
nred4by nre noting, for example, the hour or min
ute whef, one has fallen asleep dreamed long
dream, and awoke. Many remarkable instances
Of this has been given. I shall aod to those one
| from my OWE experience. Very late one night,
when wearied in body and in mind, was die
tating to a friend what required to be sent to
press early next morning. spoke sentence,
and suddenly fell asleep. dreamed very
long and complicated dream, and then awoke,
feeling quite refreshed, but for moment utter,
" confused as: to- where was, or what had
been doing. Recovering myself, began to
apologize to my friend for having so long de-
tained him at that hour of the hight, express
ing the hope that he had been able to employ
himself proftably in preparing his college ex,
ercises, when at last, turning round-for ne had
been writing with his back to me-he asked me
| with an expression of wonder, and almost
| alarm, if I felt unwell or what did l mean! l
wondered much more when heard that he had
never lifted his pen, nor had ceased writing,
and that / was aroused by his repeating the
last word of the sentence, so that l could not
possibly, have slept over three or four seconds
And thus long dream, which seems to occupy
night, has often been found to have occupied,
perhaps, only few seconds before waking
This may account for fact often noticed by
men recovering from drowning, That just before
becoming unconscious, their whole life seemed
suddenly to pass before them like panarama,
and time was nothing in the; rapldity OF
thought. fsa H;bE
There is one experience which we have ac-
quired, / believe, from our dreams as from no
other source, and that is our awful suffering
through fear: Who ever was smitten when
awake with such abject terror, such dread
alarm from sights of horror, from dangers dim,
impalpable, mysterious, Overwhelming, as IN
nightmare? We seem to encounter death Ii
its worst forms, TO combat terrible foes, to en-
dure agonies or torment, to be prosecuted by
every savage Or demoniacal power-the wild
beasts of the desert, the hideous forms of SER
pent life and of ocean life, while we are all the
time utterly powerless and deserted. Even the
dearest friends turn away, and we are alone
amidst all that can fill the soul with such fear
that the hero of hundred fights starts up
with cry of terror, and the greatest emperor
screams like child What wonderful de-
scription is that of such dream given by Eli
phaz, the Temanite, in the Book of Job J. ="
eNow thing Vas secretly brought to me,
and mine ear received little thereof In
thoughts fron, the visions of the night, when
deep sleep falieth on men, fear came upon me,
and trembling, which made all my bones to
shake. Then spirit passed before my face /;
the hair of my flesh stood up; it stood still,
but could. not discern the form thereof; an
image was before mine eyes; shere was ST.
lence" g-se r.
It is very likely that you will sagely remark
that all those terrible dreams of ours have been
caused by some triae-some indiscretion. /
have no doubt this is generally the case. Some
of you may. have seen an excellent caricature
of George Cruikshank's representing man
asleep on his back, with an expression OF agony
on his face, while black pig sits on his chest,
and looking at him; asks: 'tWhy did you eat
pork for support" A most pertinent question:
which might be varied by asking sufferers from
nightmare why did you eat "cheese," or "pie
crust or this or that dainty, which causes you
now. to suferi And it surely is worth learning,
as taught SO Hyidly by such: night agonies,
what an effect the body has on the mind, how
what we call .trife, affecting the nicely adjust
ed and finely tempered organization OF the one
will afectthe other, and = small morsel perhaps
of toasted cheese make the immortal spirit Of
the greatest statesman as we'll as the greatest
boy experience horror of. great darkness
So look sharp after the body. by obedience to
Gods will regarding it, and you will save
much, suffering in the soul. ~ ..;.i.....t
Another curious fact about, dreams is that we
very seldom, if ever, dream about what chiefly
occupies our minds during the day. This
side OF the brain, SO to speak, is wearied, and
sleeps soundly !; while that portion which was
idle during the day remains awake, and works
at night. Accordingly, if we want to know
what has given rise to our, dreams, we must
search the most trivial of our day thoughts (;
but, alasl the trivial are so numerous that we
seldom have patience to search l0Eg enough to
discover the tiny cup of water which at night
our fancy magnifes into an ocean tossed by a
storm. Hence dreams from different sources
may assume nearly the same form. For exam
pie, when one of my boys was i'll with scarla-
tina, ] had a shocking attack of nightmare, IN
which, was attempting in vain to drag him
from house on fire, and from Which 1 awoke
with a sense of horror at seeing ham perish in
the flames while appealing to me for help. L
went UP to his room, and was told by his nurse
that ne was IN refreshing SteSP, ouI Ihat ho
had sprung up in the night with a scream, say
Ing that his room was on fire. ] was deter
mined R if possible, to trace out the origin of 50
strange coincidence, and searched among the
triaesS Of the past day. Recalling my thoughts,
I remembered that at a crowded meeting the
previous evening I had conjectured what would
be done in the ill-constructed building if it
took FIRE, and how could possibly rescue my
family, who were seated in the iamost part OF
it. So much for my part. But what OF my
boys share? On making minute inquiries. L
ascertained that the physician attending him
had casually remarked in his hearing the day
before, Although this room is very comforta,
ble have dislike to all garret rooms reached en- .
remark re- he had heard and noticed. Thus our
dreams, so much alike, occurring the same
night, originated in different yet similar trifing
| ;nc;dents of the previous day