Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1892-02-16
TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1e. 1892.
OF WHAT ARE DREAMS?
SCENES lN THAT WORLD or MYS-
FERROUS FANCY.

| Composed % Msmsry Pictures stored
/ Away Like Photographic NegaItves-
The Mechanical Part OF the Brain
Something About bad Dreams.
Whist dreams are made of IS not az all
difficult 10 determine, said a psycholo-
gist to a Washington Star writer They
are composed of the memory pictures
which are stored away in the brain from
birth until death. La sleep one wandeIs
amid scenes which are the shadows Of
actual views and landscapes bebeld at one
:ims or another in waking moments. The
sights one witnesses and the people who
move and have their ghostlike being in
that mysterious world of fancy form
sort Of phantasmsgoris. mid which the
! dreamer goes about, sometimes observ-
ing with interest or wonder and at other
times engaging in conversations. 1t is
! all reflection OF the waking life that is
past. although occasionally combinations
Of old impressions give rise to new and
original thoughts. Not few great ideas
Of invention have sprung from visions OF
the night.
The operations of the brain in sleep
afford to the psychophysicist most in-
teresting subject of study. Apparently
one always dreams while asleep because
the brain can never stop thinking; but
dream life, being merely reflection of
actual waking existence, is naturally
! shadowy and less vivid. The landscapes
seen are usually viewed in a sort OF twi-
light; faces Of persons are in most cases
blarred and indistinot. Now aud then,
in my own dreams, take up something
to read, like newspaper article, aud ]
! find myself very much annoyed at ex-
periencing great difficulty in psrusing the
subject matter, simply because | am un-
able to make il up with sufficient rapdity
Us SO along.
| at is the mechanical part Of the brain
which is active during sleep. At all
events, the intelligence does not seem TO
be awake. The faculty which we call
| the Judgment is of duty, and hence one
does not perceive the absurdity Of many
dreams Nevertheless, one certainly
| does not lack perception of the humoi-
ous under such conditions. /, myself.
| have many a time been reused from
slumber by my own laughter at some
ddiCulous Occurrences. Ny belief is that
we frequently take part in very interest.
1 ting conversations while dreaming, and
the extraordinary part Of it is that We
are obliged to perform both parts in such
a dialogue, or even more when greater
number than two people are speaking,
although that is rare. All these things
are purely speculative questions, because
in the nature Of things we can secure
few reliable data on the subject
Study OF the phenomena Of dreams
can be best performed when one is in that
! curious state between sleeping and wax
ing that is apt to arrive in the morning
before one gets out of bed. One realizes
then very often that one is dreaming,
aud while doing so observes with interest
whatever goes on. The trouble is that
the very exertion OF this conscious atten-
tion is apt to wake one up. Often have
felt the utmost anxiety lest 1 shoulc
awake before had finished particular
ly pleasant or amusing dream, but the
task Of trying to stay asleep under such
circumstances is very difficult one.
Upon waking up after nights elecp
one usually has the impression Of Il very
brief time passed since lac went TO bed.
| This may be simply for the reason that
4 the comparatively dim any shadowy
dream events have not left and vivid inn
Rressions upon the memory. For all we
can tell, it may be that the doings of our
sleepy moments seem during their prog
I ress to occupy an extended period. In
| exceptional cases persons have imagined
during comparatively brief sleep that
they had lived for years. De Quincey.
/ the celebrated opium eater, tells how in
: single night he passed whole centuries
shut up inside of Egyptian tombs in com
pany with clammy crocodiles and in
many other equally unpleasant and hor-
1 ribls situations.
Il have no doubt that in what we call
bad dreams we often undergo a great
deal OF very intense suffering. When
was little boy | was much afflicted
with them, and finally became so ac-
customed to them that came to realize
their unreality in my sleep Then did
not mind them any longer. and, being of
an imaginative turn of mind, / culti-
waited them with view to making them
as horrible as possible. got so at length
| that with me going TO bed was almost as
entertaining as going to the circus, mas
much as ] could conjure up more won
| derfui spectacles than were ever offered
60 the public by Barnum or Forepaugh
A curious point about my own dreams
is that, although am certainly person
of most moral and proper behavior in
my waking moments, am addicted
while asleep to committing the most as
tonishing improprieties.
A person who suffers habitually from
nightmares is apt to be a cause of distress
20 other people as well as to himself.
Once upon time was making a visit
/ at the house OF some friends in Perth
| -Amboy, N. J. In the middle of the
night was reused from sound sleep by
most appalling yelIs Of murder and rob-
bers. Jumping out OF bed, started to
the rescue, but was unable to find the
door of the room. Perhaps you know
what it is 10 be lost In strange room at
night. The one ] occupied was not very
big, but I spent 10 minutes trying to
find my way out Of il, and without sue
cess. No match was at hand. Finally,