River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1883-09-13
REMARKABLE DREAMS.
Some Strange Stories of Dreams as
Prophetic Symbols, &c.


At the French lottery offices, says
London Society, it used to be a custom
to keep a separate register of the lucky
numbers which had been suggested by
dreams, they were so numerous and SO
remarkable. Never did a day pass with
out adding to the wonderful record, and
faith in dreams grew in consequence
even more rapidly than the list did in
the register. 1t was 50 in England while
the lotteries existed, and is so abroad,
where they still exist. Many strange
stories Of this kind are told.
Among remarkable dreamers we have
authors who, continuing the occupation
of the day, have composed during the
night while asleep. In this way Vel
taire composed his verses to M. Touron.
From the most ancient times dreams
have been regarded as pothetic symbols
capable of useful and important inter-
pretations, and many astonishingly
strange stories are told in which their
significance was apparently demonstra-
ted. Anciently they were bl oadly divid-
ed into good and evil dreams, and means
for securing the one or avoiding the other
were soemnly adopted. Pliny said anise-
seed placed on the pillow so that the
sleeper smelled it would prevent
dreams from being disagreeable, while
the seed of pycnocomen, taken IN doses
of one drachm in wine, produced night
mare. B tn Pliny and Aristotle regar-
ded dreams as most frequent inthe
spring and autumn. Among the an
clients dream interpreting was a regular
trade, and Artemidorus is credited with
exalting it into a science by the publica.
ton of his five books of "0neirocrstics"
first printed in Greek, at Venice in the
year 1918, aud sometimes called the
dreamers bible"
Galen tells us Of man who dreamed
that his left thigh had become stone,
and who soon after lost the use of it by
dead palsy; of another, one of his pa
tients, who dreamed that he was in a
vessel full of blood, which he accepted
as a sign the man ought to be bled, by
which means q serious disease under
which he labored was cured.
Cicero is the authority for q remarka-
bic dream. related by Valerius Maxim
us, of two travellers who put mp in Mega
ra, one at an inn, the other at the house
of a friend. At night one dreamed that
the Other came to him in q state of aW-
full agitation, Saying his host was attemp-
ting to murder him, and imploring his
aid. This made a deep impression and
awoke him.. but. treating 1t as "only
dream" he again went
to sleep. His friend once
more appeared, saving the crime was
committed and his body had been con-
cealed under dungheap, from which
he desired him to remove it. In the
morning early he went to arouse his
companion and resume their journey,
and as he entered the courtyard met q
carter removing load of dung, which
he insisted upon examining.
The body of his murdered friend was
found in it, the crime was exposed and
the murderer executed. We may add
that as no record exists of Cicero's visit
ing Megara-and it is most improbable
that he ever did so-he may have mere
ly repeated this old Greek story from
he rsay, although there is nothing in il
more astonishing than we have in the
proceed ing records.
Pliny, on better authority, tells as
strange a story Of one OF his own slaves
who, while sleeping among his fellows,
dreamed that two men in white came
into the slaves sleeping place, shaved
their (the slaves) heads and escaped as
they had come. In the morning be
found the dream realized.
One dreamer an Old woman oil
Marseilles visited church every day,
passed almost her entire time before a
certain altar--dreamed that she had
seen transformed into lamp eternally
turning before it and herself made as
sure of lis realization as she could by
leaving in her will the money for sus-
pending there a silver lamp; but this
was hardly q fare case of prophetic
dreaming
A remarkable dream story is told by
the present German Emperor. He
dreamed one night that Kur Spring
Karisbad, a man gave him small china
cup to drink from which contained a
deadly poison. He laughed in the morn
ing when he drank at the Kur Spring
the cup was presented to him by a
charming young girl, whom he was sure
could never contemplate murder. For
the first timet however, on that morn
ing, instead of the girl, a man appeared
and handed him the cup. The emperor
hesitated, but, looking into the
the mans kindly face, he smiled to him
self and took the draught.
"Of course it did not harm me" says
Emperor William, "but, on the contrary
my stay at Karisbad, instead of proving
fatal, was very beneficial"