Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-16
WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF.
Composed OF Memory Pictures Stored Away
Like Photographic Negatives

Like Photographic Negatives
SsNTIHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF
w is not at all difficult TO determine"
said q psychologist TO a STAR writer.
They are composed Of the memory pic
lures which are stored away in the brain
from birth until death. In sleep one wanders
amid scenes which are the shadows OF actual
views and landscapes beheld at one time or
another in waking moments. The sights one
witnesses and the people who move and have
their ghos;-like being in that mysterious world
OF fancy form a sort of paantasmagoria, mid
winch the dreamer goes about, sometimes OBJ
serving with interest or wonder and az other
'imes engaging in conversations. 1t is all
renecuon OF the waking life that is past,
aI1houSh occasionally combinations Of Old i'm
yessiSns give rise TO new and original
..houghts- Not a Few great ideas of invention
Aa '.1 sprung from visions of the night
me operations of the brain IN sleep afford
- ,Ps.cno-pnysiclst a most interesting sub
yeSt OF study. Apparently one ALWAYS dreams
wnie asleep, because the brain can never stop
sninhlng; but dream life. being merely a re-
necuon OF actual waking existence, is natur-
a.y shadowy and less vivid. The landscapes
s een arc usually viewed In sort of twilight;
taSes vi persons are IN most cases blurred and
ihclstlnct Now and then, in NV own dreams
take up something to read. like a newspaper
article. ana find myself very much ANNOYED
az eApericnclng great difficulty in perusing the
subject matter. simply because am unable TO
make II up with sufficient rapidity as 1 20
along.
THE MECHANICAL Pact OF THE BRAIN
at is the mechanical part of the brain which
is active during sleep. At all events, the intel
Egence does not seem to be awake. Ths facultv
which We call the judgment is off duty. and
hence one does not perceive the absur,ltv of
many dreams. Nevertheless one certainly
does not lack perception OF the humorous
under such conditions. L, myself. have many
a time been reused from slumber by INV
own laughter at some ridiculous occurrence.
My belief Is that We frequently take part in
very interesting conversations while dreaming
ana the extraordinary part of IL is that We are
obliged TO perform both parts in such dia-
logue. 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 waking that is apt
to arrive IN the morning before one gets out
OF bed. One realizes then very often that one
Is dreaming. and while doing so observes with
interest whatever goes on. The trouble Is that
the very exortion OF this conscious attention is
apt to wake one up. Often have L felt the
L
had finished a particularly pleasant or amusing
dream, but the task of trying to stay asleep
under such circumstances Is a very difficult
one.
Upon waking up after a nights sleep cne
usually has the impression of a very brief time
passed since he went TO bed. This may be
simply for the reason that the comparatively
dim and shaduwy dream events have not left
any vlvlG Impressions upon the memory. For
all we can tell, ~ may be that the doIEys of our
sleeping moments seem during their progress to
occupy an extended Ieriod. In exceptional cases
persons have imagined during a comparatiyely
brief sleep that they had lived for wears. De
Quincy. the celebrated opium eater. tells how
In a single night he passed whole centuries shut
Up inside OF Egyptian tombs in company with
clammy crocodlies and in other equally un-
pleasant situations.
soMETHIHG ABOUT BAD DREAMS
IL have 70 doubt that in what we call bad
dreams We often undergo a great deal Of very
intense suffering. Wien was little boy was
much afflicted with them, and I finally became
so accustomed to them that l came to realize
their nnreality in my sleep. Then 1 did T. OF
mind them any longer and. being of an imag-
NATIVE turn OF mind. ! cultivated them with a
view TO making them as horrible possible.
got so at length that with me going 70 bed
was almost as entertaining going 10 the cir
GUS lnasEuch as could conjure up moro won
derfal spectacles than were ever offered 10 the
public by Barnum or Eorepaugh. curious
point about my own dreams is that. although L
am certainly person OF most moral and proper
behavior In my waking moments. am addicted
while asleep to committing the most astonish-
ing impropr;eties.
"A person who suffers habitually from night
mares is apt to be a cause of distress TO other
people as well as to himself. Once upon a time
L was making visit at the house of some
friends In Perth Amboy. y. j. In the middle
OF the night was reused from a sound sleep
by most appalling yellS of murder and rob-
beers. jumping out of bed l started to the
rescue, but was unable TO find the door of the
room. Perhaps you lave known what il is 20
lie lost IN strange room at night The Que 1
occupied was not very big. but l spent ten
minutes trying to find my way out of il. and
without success. No match was at hand.
Finally, having heard no more shrlehs. made
up my mind that If there mad been a tragedy
1t was all over by that time. and, despairing OF
discovering way out OF my apartment. went
to bed and asleep again. The next morning |
learned at the breakfast table that my host had
merely had one OF the bad dreams to which he
was accustomed. Ia such q case think that
guest ought to be warned beforehand"