Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-22
SCIENCES EXPLANATION,
Dreams Are Mental Vibrations Caused b
Indigestion, Pain, Fever and Noise.

SCIENCE'S EXPLANATION.
Dreams Are Mental Vibrations Caused by
Indigestion Pain, Fever and Noise.
From the London Telegraph
What the actual scientific view of dreaming
now Is may be inferred from lecture which
was recently delivered on the subject at the
Royal Institution by DR.. b. w. Richardson. In
the poets view dreams visitors from the
ivory gate, or, as Shakespeare calls them,
children of an idle BRAIN" but science is more
prosaic and teaches that dreams may be, after
all, nothing more than the common vibrations
OF terrestrial media acting upon corporal
vibratorium,' like the sound heard on wire in
tension long after it has been struck by the
musician. "All musical instruments dream,
says Dr. Richardson, latter we cease to play on
them and il we bring the microphone into
use we can hear the dream. This is as near
poetry as science will permit US to approach in
explaining the phenomena of thought going on
during sleep; for the accomplished lecturer pro-
ceeded to inform his audience that dreams
are all explainable on physical grounds--there
Is no mystery about them save that which
springs from 'bli9dness to facts After
dividing dreams into subjective and objective
and mixtures of both, he went on to class among
the hrstspecies dreams produced by indigestion
pain or fever; while objective dreams are those
started by noises or other events going on out
side the sleeper. This is a fair sample of the
ruthless way in which science disposes of super
stition." Against the imaginative view of the
significance of dreams men of science protest.
and will probably continue to protest as long
as there are any men of science left. They quote
the old lady in the Spectator" who believed
that the earthquake of Lisbon had some mys-
terious but quite unexplained connection with
the factthat few days before she had happened
to spill some salt at table. Yet, if we obey Dr.
Richardson. and abandon all confidence in
dreams as harbingers of the future, what is to
become of writers of fiction? There is no plan
for getting a hero out Of a scrape so effcacious
as making somebody else dream that he re-
quires assistance and appear just at the nick
of time to render it. Again. if the author wants
to prepare us gently for the fact that some
nice, but inconvenient, character is going to
perish, he does it by letting him dream of his
own approaching dissolution. after which a
cloud of unaccountable melancholy settles down
on him until the presentiment Is fulfilled. 1t
is kind Of novelists to break the news of an APP
preaching catastrophe In this sort of way and
if they were taken to task on scientific grounds
they would probably defend themselves bv as
sorting that, although presentments often turn
out utterly mistaken. percentage of them
must. even on scientific grounds, happen to be
fulfilled, and that they have Che right to select
these lucky shots and write about them. II
might, perhaps. be useful step, if we desired
to Danish popular superstitons. to forbid novel
lists in future to mention dreams or visions or
presentments at all; and, if the output of fic-
ton dwindled in consequence, ii is not all GER
tain that this would be an occurrence greatly to
be deplored. Science has already driven the
hctlonist up into a corner by depriving him of
the support which plot used 70 receive from
! the introduction OF a timely specter. and if
dreams are to go the way of ghosts. it is
obvious that novel writers will find the area of
their imaginative energy painfully circum-
scribed
Perhaps the most practical lesson taught at
the Royal Institution lecture one which may
assist lis to know which of our dreams are signs
that something Is wrong with our bodily organ
Hation. As a rule, said the lecturer it is bet
ter not to dream at ALL Dreamlessness is
usually symptom of all-round health. A
childs dreams are invariably signs of disturbed
health and should be regarded with anxiety
For adults it is good thing to know that we
may be sure that our brains being over
strained when our nightly dreams relate to
events of the day. and if we actually seem in
sleep to be continuing our daily work this is a
danger signal which must never be disregarded.
When we feel wearied in the morning VERY
likely 1t results from dreams tina. we have for
gotten, and then the best thing TO do il to take
exercise. Without coming to any decided opin-
Ion rs TO the supernatural meanings attributed
TO dreams we can at least profit by these prac-
teal hints. Considered products of bad
digestion dreams cannot be reasonably ex-
pected to tell US anything OF a useful character
or TO supply us with any warning, except one
directed against the continuance of depraved
dietetic habits. II il Is true that the sleep of
health is dreamless then it becomes difficult to
believe that the only persons to whom visions
III sleep are vouchsafed should be the
| victims of indigestion. 1t is always
puzzle FOR persons OF an unlmaginative
turn Of mind to understand how the future,
which does not yet exist can be supposed to
have any effect on the present, and it must be