The true northerner., 1878-02-22

recollection Of physician that had treated hin
In his infancy.
Eighth experiment: drop OF water was
allowed to fall on his forehead. He dreamed
that he was in Italy, that he was very warm
and that he was drinking the wine OF Or
Veto.
Ninth experiment A light, surrounded by
piece OF red paper, was repeatedly placed
before his eyes. He dreamed of a tempest
and lightning, which suggested the remem-
brance of a storm he had encountered in the
English channel in going from Morlaix to
Havre."
A DIR. Gregory having applied bottle of hot
water to his feet one night, dreamed that he
was looking into the crater of volcano, and
was almost stihed by the heat. Another
physician, having applied blister TO his head,
dreamed that he had been scaiped by In
dians.
On the 2ist OF January, my house became
over-heated, and wishing to know what infu-
ence the increased temperature would have
upon the sleep OF the household purposely
omitted to air the rooms before retiring. and
did not mention the subject to any one On
comparing notes at breakfast / found that
every one in the house had dreamed about the
same thing-all imagined that they were trav-
cling, and that the season was summer. 1t
was the first time in many months that had
dreamed, being a sound sleeper and had no
hesitation in attributing it to the heat
Violent heat, rs in scarlet fever, erysipelas
etc., will cause dreams Of scorching fire ; cold
or running rivers or Of regions of ice and
snow. Any sudden noise awakening one from
sleep is apt to start a train of thoughts, which
would require hours for its fulfllment. and
perhaps, for its narration, and yet occurs in a
second the ending OF which is the noise which
produced 1t. This shows the rapidity with
which the brain sometimes acts during Sleep
but the brain acts with equally as great
rapidity In the case OF one dreaming. Any one
who has come within an "ace of drowning" if
may use the expression, knows full well that,
In the moment or two before help arrives or
unconsciousness ensues, every important act of
his life, be it long or short, and even things
which had long ago passed from the memory
are brought vividly before the mind, the narra-
tive Of which would take hours. and perhaps
days. On two occasions have had personal
experience OF the truth of this assertion.
Why do women. as rule, dream more than
men? The explanation of this fact is that
men generally are sound seepers, and the
senses are thus blunted and do not as readily
take cognizance of externali impressions, where
az, on the contrary, women, as a rule, are of
timid nature, always expecting something to
happen, and sleep lightly, and their senses be-
ing awake, so TO speak, are easily affected by
any slight cause, and dream is the result
Dreams are characteristic of the idiosyncrasy
of the dreamer. AS was stated few moments
ago, the miser dreams Of his wealth, the lover
of his sweetheart etc. Deaf persons, in their
dreams, always talk with their fingers, the
blind from birth never dream Of visible objects.
Dreams usually, not always by any means,
are wanting in conference and unsub-
stantial in reasoning. We seem to reason while
dreaming, but when we awake we find our rea-
soplng unsound or ridiculous 60 is COM
mon occurrence for the mind in dreaming to
associate objects and events which could not
in reality have an associated existence" and we
fancy that certain scenes and images are en-
trely new, but If we can retain them when
awake we soon recall to mind the objects which
suggested them. DIR. Winslow SAYS: "In
dreaming, as in certain forms Of dsordered
minds, phases of intellectual vigor and states OF
mental acuteness are developed which are not
normal manifestations during the waking
hours, and were not known to exist in condi-
tions of healthy thought. The most exquisite
creations of the poetic fancy have been engen-
dered under these circumstances, and concep-
tions suggested 10 the dreamy consciousness
which have paved the way to fame and fortune.
During the hours Of sleep the intellect has with
rapid facility solved subtle questions which had
puzzled and perplexed the mind when in full
and unfettered exercise Of its waking facul.
ties" Some authors deny this, but we can cite
as examples Newton, Condorcet, Coleridge and
others.
Opium when taken for the first time gen.
orally gives rise to the most frghtful and dis
gusling dreams after one becomes habituated
to its use the dreams are of the most pleasing
and beautiful character.
To what agency dreams such as the follow
ing are due is not known: A gentleman away
from home dreamed that his wife was taken
suddenly very i'll, and was crying to him to
hurry home il he wished to see her alive.
This dream was repeated several times during
the night. In the morning he received a tele-
o,,I
requesting him 10 return home Immediately.
He did so but, alas arrived too late. Such
dreams are not rare. How shall we account for
them? 1t may be that dreams are still sent to
us by the God above, or it may be a mere CO.
incidence. We never hear the opposite side,
where persons have vivid dreams of the sick
ness or death of friends, which turn out to be
false The popular saying is, "Dream of the
dead and you will hear from the living ! also,
"Dreams go by contraries," and "Dream of
death, you'll hear of a wedding"
Dreams are valuable to a certain extent to
the physician as means OF diagnosis and
prognosis Frightful or hurried and violent
dreams indicate congestion OF blood to the
head sign Of delirious insanity or apoplexy.
Quiet, pleasant dreams usually denote a slight
illness or a change for the better. Dreams in
which one sees monsters or devils making
faces at him are considered indication of dis
ease of the liver or bowels. When phantoms
appear IN the dreams or black spectres II IL con-
sidered bad omen. "Arnauld de Villeneuve
dreamt one night that black cat bit him op
the side. The next day an anthrax appeared
on the part bitten. A patient of Galen's dreamt
that one of his limbs was changed into stone.
Some days after this leg was paralyzed. Such
was also the case of woman Of whom Gunther
has spoken she dreamed that she was being
beaten with whip. In the morning she bore
LESSONS like scars" Dreams about rain are
often signs of diseased mucous membranes and
dropsy. Painful sensations in dreaming refera-
BILE to any organ OF the body usually denote
disease of that organ. Dreams of falling, OF
being torn Wy wild beasts, attacked by robbers
ETC., usually precede an attack Of epilepsy.
Baron Won Feuchtersleben says that "dreams
of dogs, after the bite of mad dog, often
precede the appearance Of hydrophobia, but
may be only the consequences Of excited inn
agination." Speaking of dogs. you are per-
haps all aware that the lower animals dream.
Dogs frequently dream, aud from the charac-
ter Of the bark we can easily determine wheth-
er they are pleased or angry.
In conclusion, gentlemen, allow mo to state
that / have brought this subject before you
this evening, not because had much that was
new to offer. but to call attention to the fact
that the apparently simple phenomena of
sleep and dreams is but little understood.
Much more might have been said, but the
essayist has no desire to unduly trespass on
your time, nor longer interfere with your Sleep
and Dreams