St. Paul daily globe., 1885-04-06
GEN. GRANT,s DREAM.


are often produced by the waking associa-
tions which preeede them. Doubtless this
was the case with Gen. GRANT's dream on
Saturday night, wherein he was rambling in
strange land and without money, and then
returning home to borrow money of his
wife and finding her nearly as poor as him
self. The poor old general has been worry
ing over his financial losses in the WARD
business and doubtless the dread of leaving
his wife and family in dependent condi--
ton has also been preying upon his mind.
He can remember the days of their poverty
when it was struggle, to keep the wolf from
the door of their humble cottage at st. Louis,
SO it is not surprising the spectre should
haunt him in his dreams. The narcotics
which have been given him to induce sleep
may also have had share in shaping the
dream for him.
There is something singular about the Gre
alton OF thoughts which occupy the mind
during sleep. As a matter of interest to
those who have onjectured the condition of
the brain in profound sleep and in that in
which dreams occur, we recall case
reported by Mr.. PERouIN observed in
hospital in Montpelier in 1891.
A female aged 26 had lost portion of her
scalp, skull bone, and dura mater under an
attack of malignant disease, by means of
which portion of the brain was exposed in
such manner as admitted of inspection.
When this patient was in dreamless sleep
her brain was motionless and lay within the
cranium When the sleep was imperfect
and the mind was agitated by dreams, her
brain moved and protruded from the cra-
mum, forming cerebral hernia This pro-
trusion was still greater whenever the dreams
as reported by herself were most active ;Sand
when she was awake and engaged in lively
conversation it attained its largest develop
ment. 1t is now conceded by all scientific
authorities that all our mental operations
which are independent of the will continue
during sleep. Although the predisposing
causes OF dreams are diverse, yet they are
generally referable to some peculiar condition
OF the body. and are often called into action
through the agency of the external senses.
Dr. GREGORY relates that having occasion to
apply bottle of hot water to his feet upon
retiring for the night, he dreamed that he
was making journey to Mount 'Etna and
found the heat insufferable. DR.. REID had
blister applied to his head and dreamed
that he was scalped by Indians. Persons in
whom one of the senses is defective fire.
quently have their dreams modified by the
circumstance. DARWIN relates the case
of deaf gentleman who in his
dreams always appeared to converse
by means OF the fingers or in writing. He
never had the impression of hearing speech,
and for the same reason one who has been
blind from his birth never dreams of visible
objects. curious psychological phenom-
enon connected with dreams is the complete
humiliation of ordinary ideas of time and
space. A whole lifetime is sometimes COM
pressed within a dream of a few minutes,
and space swells and ampliies to an extent
of unutterable infnity. DR.. ABERCRoMBIE
relates case of a gentleman who dreamed
he had enlisted as soldier, joined his regi-
ment, went to a foreign field, deserted, was
apprehended, carried back, tried, condemned
to be shot, and was at last led out to execu-
LlOn. AIter Tie usual preparation gun was
fired, and he awoke with the report to dis
cover that the cause of his disturbance was a
noise in the adjoining room. Illustrating
how the idiosyncrasi of individuals will give
shape to their dreams, TIRTiNIA, the
distinguished violinist, composed his
DEVILS Sonata under the inspiration
of dream, in which the devil
appeared to him and invited him
to trial of skill upon his own instrument
which he accepted, and awoke with the mu-
sic of the sonata so vividly impressed upon
his mind that he had no difficulty in commit
ting it to paper. In like manner CoLERIDGE
composed his poem Kubla Khan in a
dream. The earliest mention of dreams Is
in the Scripture and the poems of HOMER, in
both of which a supernatural origin is gen.
orally ascribed to them. BY the aucients
dreams were almost universally regarded as
coming from the other world. A great num-
ber of instances are on record in the Greek
and Latin classics of remarkable dreams,
which show how widely the faith in the spir-
itual nature of dreaming was disseminated