The Portland daily press., 1878-12-05
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
SLEEPING AND DREAMING.

SLEEPING AND DREAMING.
DIR. s. G Gordon delivered the third lecture
In the Y. M. G. A. course at their hall on Con
gress street last evening, on the above subject.
La commencing his lecture Dr.. Gordon
quoted from Young the well known lines com
mencipg:
"I1red Natures sweet restorer, balmy sleep.''
which goes to show that even the poet of Queen
Anne's day recognized the fact that whereas
sne tissues OF tue body generally are restored
even wnile waste is going CD, brain and per-
vons waste require sleep to restore them A.
an illustration of this, the day laborar bv a
short respite fcom toll repairs ths destruction of
muscle and Is ready for labor again, and as
long as labor is not excessive reDajrs kean n.cs
with loss. while the student, professional man,
and In TACT all brain workers who are WASTING
brain and nerve tissue must have slean tn re
pair its waste. The necessity of sleep for DIFF
ferent ages OF lif9 was next touched upon, the
young requiring more THAI the adult and the
adult more than old age, az the Young are re-
CURED not onlg to repair waste but also to fur
nish new ma erial for growth, while in old age.
the brain being less active, waste goes on less
rapidly. Daring waking hours the brain is
not al rest, whether we are consc GUS Ct the
Iact or NOT. strong mental emotion, great re-
sponsbillties may enable us to resist thu power
OF sleep Tor a time, but sooner or later all COM
binatlons OF circu instances, evsn the ex rame of
physical suffering, will not prevent sleeD The
soldier VIII sleep on his post notwithstanding
he knows death to bs the penalty. Whole reg.
iments slept on the march to Corunus, and IN
our peninsula campaign Powder bows slept
While handling powder during the battle of the
Nilo Dam eos, although exposed to the tor
ture OF the rack, slept and claimed that he snf-
fered most when his sleep was disturbed by a
change of torture. AS an instance of now long
man can live without sleep, the case was
cited of Chinese merchant who was kent
under guard and prevented from doing HIS
existed nineteen days. At the beginning of
the eighth day he mplored to be put to death
in any manner the humanity or fsrocity of his
guard might suggest. In this connection the
Doctor condemned the habit of parents insisting
upon early rising on the part of children, thus
starving the nervous system as much as if
they stopped their eating food b.fors they
were So listed.
The causes Of sleep were formerly believed to
BE- such as gave excess Of blood Ia the brain
during sleep over waking hours, but more re-
cent Investigations by Hammond and others, by
experiments on men and animals whose brains
had bsen removed by accident or design, show
this to be an error These observations show
less amount of blood in the brain during sleep.
and therefore whatever tends to drive the blood
from the brain produces sleep. Eating before
retiring calls the hood to the digestive organs
and favors Sleep We are always sleepy after
hearty meal Hot water TO the feet draws
the blood to the extremities and favors This
theory. Some people find m0notonous sounds
tend to produce sleep, as proven By workmen in
mill, or By the Pensioners of a prosy pastor
How do we go to sleep? We lose muscular
power first, as indicated By nodding, closing the
eyes, even before other senses are lost The
special senses pass from our control ia the fol-
lowing order. Sight first, then taste, smell,
hearing, and, last of all, touch. We wake ia
the reverse order. Touching a sleeping person
srouses him more effectually than any other
way. He hears next, then smells tastes and
finally rubs his eyes open, and sees. As rule
in healthy. normal sleep the brain is absolutely
at rest. Toe spinal chord retains its sensation
SO that it responds to causes operating on the
special senses which do not awaken; thus we
lnstnctvely turn IN bad, get up and walk about
without awakening. Dreams result from par
tial awakening when the Imagination ann
memory alone come into action, and these seem
to run riot uncontrolled b. the will or iudg-
ment. Our dreams, if Analysed car fally, will
De found TO depend upon some facts of which
we were cognizant when awake, aud these
facts are lucoherently and anonymously
brought together iu the dream. illustrations
Of dreams produced By special operations upon
the senses were givea. In closing the doctor
showed the power Of sleep in controlling dis
eases, 10 preventing ms anity in nervous dis
eases, and quoted the poem of Sake commeuc-
ing
''God bless the man who first invented sleep"
REV. DIR. BoLLEs's LEcT RE.
"The Land of Scott and Burns was the subject of
Rev. DR.. Boles's lecture at Grand Army Hall last
night, which was profusely illustrated by the stere-
opticon under the hands of Mr. Fuller. There was
only a small audience present, owing to the rain,
but those who did attend were well repaid.
The doctor commenced by speaking of the interest
taken in Scotland, through its long contest for
supremacy with the English; through the romantic
interest created by the Gaelic tribes of their High.
lands; through its sterile soil which seemed to have
given to its great leaders their adamantiDe rmuess OF
characters, ami finally, by the genius whose mantle
had been thrown over thu land Its soil is prec-
ious by reason OF its minstresy its heroic struggles
embamed in the poeSy of Scott, and its low life
made beautiful by Burns. Its people wherever they
have gone coonists have enriched the nationali-
ties with which their blood has commingled. The
lecturer then proceeded to give ilusrat of Edn-
bug, both old town and new, presented views of
Hollywood Palace including the shabby old state bed
OF Mary, shovel the monument to Sir Walter Scott
the odd houses eight stories in height in the old
town ;and then took his hearers trip through the
Trosachs bS the way of Sterling Castle, Calender,
Lochs Katrine and Lom0nd, to Glasgow. Then fol-
lowed views OF Scotch mountain scenery, followed by
an excursion to Abbotsford-Slr Walters home
Merose and DIybuTgh Abbeys Then came scenes in
the north connected with the history and literature
OF the country such as Killiecrankie, Glencoe and
with pictures of the cottage in which Burns's life
was passed, the Bridges of Ayr and Doom and the
house where Burns died.
INDUSTRIAL EVILS.
Col. j. Fl. Blood of New York lectured last even
ing at Con yress Hall on "IndustIial Evils" About
eeventy-fve persons were present. The lecturer
read his lecture from manuscript in dry monotonoas
tone, and failed to command the attention of the
small audience.
The arguments set firth by Col. Blood were the
stock arguments of the Greenbackers of the most
extreme type. He prophesed that unless the
demands of the Greenback party were compiled with
within a year the people would demand nothing less
than that the bonds be gwen up This is a govern
ment of the rch not Of the people. The rich do not
pay the taxes, but thu down trodden oppressed
people do Let the rich take warning by the fate of
the Southern Shareholders. The industries of to-
day are in state of slavery. The foul hand of
contraction is throttling industry. Aggregation of
wealth causrd by enormous iuse est Is pIunging ms
into ruin Aha usual TRADE against banks and
bankers was INDUCED 10, and the familiar arguments
of the fl 1t money aivoc.,es repeated.
In order that the audience might follow the
speaker the New Era was distributed about the hall
with published abstract of the lecture.