Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-31
DREAMS OF PROPHECY.
An Aching Nerve That Precedes Dis
ease Often Causes Them.
FIRST APPROACH OF PARALYSIS.
Epileptic Commissions Follow the Misty Tale
of an Iron Crown.
PHENOMENA OF THE sHADOWY REALM
WRITTEN FOR THE DIsPArcH.1

Impressions made upon the senses are fire.
quently the starting points of dreams, but
though all nations have, to greater or less
extent, in all ages of the world,
believed in the prophetic nature of
dreams, we now know that the relation, in
stead of being one of prophecy and fulfill
ment, is simply that of cause and effect
Very slight impressions made upon the
sense during sleep are exaggerated by the
partially awakened brain.
For several years past have made in
quiries of patients and others relative to
their dreams, and have thus collected
large amount of material bearing upon the
subject. With reference to the point under
consideration, the data in my possession are
exceedingly important and interesting.
Among the cases which have thus come
under my observation of diseases being
preceded by morbid dreams are the follow
ing:
Dreamed He Was Cut in Two.
A gentleman, two days before an attack
OF hemiplegia, dreamed that he was cut in
two exactly down the mesial line from the
chin to the perineum. BY some means
union of the divided surfaces was obtained,
but he could only move to one side On
awakening little numbness existed in the
side which he had dreamed was paralyzed.
This soon passed off, and ceased to engage
his attention. The following night he had
a somewhat similar dream, and the next
day, toward evening, was seized with the
attack which rendered him hemiplegic
Another dreamed one night that man
in
came TO him and struck him violently on
the leg. He experienced no pain, however
and the man continued to beat him. In the
morning he felt nothing with the excep-
tlon of slight headache. Nothing unusual
was observed about the leg, and all went on
well until, on the fifth day, he had an apo
plectic attack, accompanied with hemipIegia,
including the leg which he had in his dream
imagined to have been struck.
A young lady dreamed that she was seized
by robbers and compelled to swallow melted
lead. In the morning she felt as well as
usual, but toward the middle of the day was
attacked with severe tonsilitis.
Pulled His Hair Out.
A young man informed me that day or
two before being attacked with acute menin-
gifts he had dreamed that he was seized by
banditti while travelling in Spain, and that
causing him great pain. A lady of decided
good sense had an epileptie seizure which
was preceded by singular dream. She had
gone to bed feeling somewhat fatigued with
the labors of the day, which had consisted
in attending three or four morning recep-
tions, winding up with dinner party. She
had scarcely fallen asleep when she dreamed
that an old man clothed in black approached
her, holding an iron crown of great weight
ceived that it was her father, who had been
dead several years, but who, ,e features she
distinctly recollected. Holding the crown
at arms length he said:
t'My daughter, during nv lifetime was
forced to wear this crown. Death relieved me
of the burden, but it now descends to you"
Saying which, he placed the crown on her
head and disappeared gradually from her
and an intense feeling of construction in her
head. To add to her distress she imagined
that the rim of the crown was studded on
the inside with sharp points which wounded
her forehead so that the blood streamed
down her face.
Hers Was an Inherited Dream
She awoke with agitation, excited, but felt
nothing uncomfortable. Looking at the
clock on the mantel piece she found that
she had been in bed exactly 30 minutes. She
returned to bed and soon fell asleep but
was again awakened by similar dream.
On this occasion the apparition reproached
her for not being willing to wear the crown.
She had been in bed this last time over three
hours before awaking. Again she fell asleep.
and again at broad daylight she was awak-
ened by like dream. She now got up, took
a bath, and proceeded to dress herself with
her maids assistance. Recalling the par
ticulars of her dream, she recollected that
she had heard her father say one day that in
his youth. while being in England, his native
try he hRaT rn anil
commissions, consequent on fall from
tree, and that he had been cured by having
the operation of trephining performed by a
distinguished London surgeon.
Though by no means superstitious, the
dreams made deep impression upon her,
and her sister entered the room at the time
she proceeded to detail them to her. While
thus engaged she suddenly gave a loud
scream, became unconscious and fell on the
floor in a true epileptic convulsion. This par
oxysm was not a severe one. 1t was followed
in about a week by another and, strange to
say, this was preceded as the other by a
dream of her father placing iron crown
on her head and of pain being thereby pro-
duced. Since then several months have
elapsed and she has had no other attack,
owing to the influence of the bromide OF
potassium which she continues to take.
In the case OF a gentleman formerly under
my treatment for epilepsy the fits are in
variably preceded by dreams Of difficulties
with the head, such decapitatioE, hanging,
perforation with an auger, etc.
A lady previous to an attack of sciatica,
dreamed that she had caught her foot in
spring trap and that before she could be
freed it was necessary to amputate the MEM
ber. The operation was performed, but as
she was released a large dog sprang at her
and fastened his teeth in her thigh. She
screamed aloud and awoke in her terror.
Nothing unusual was perceived about the
leg but on getting up in the morning there
was slight pain along the course of the sciatic
nerve, and this, before evening, was devel-
oped into well marked sciatica.
1t would be very easy to pursue the SUBJ
jecJ further, but enough has been said to
show that the so-called prophetic Dreams"
like all others, have their origin either in
made upon some one or more OF
the special senses or i'll recollections OF
previous impressions. We are therefore
obliged to dismiss, without any founda-
tion in fact, the notion that dreams have
anything OF the nature of true prophecy
about them. As to the other alleged extra
ordinary dreams, such as those indicating
the occurrence of events of which the per-
son has no actnal knowledge, can only say
that without denying the possibility of such
they have not yet been shown
to be real. As have said before in other
relations there is nothing impossible outside
the domain of mathematics, but there are a
great many things apparently possible
which have not yet been satisfactorily
established, and until proven it is well to
hold our acceptance of their reality in abey-
ance. WILLIAM A. HAMMOND NJ. u.