The Washington bee., 1894-04-14
WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF.
Evidence That the Mind Reasons to the
Cause Rather Than From IT.

Evidence That the Mind Reasons to the
Cause Rather Than From It.
Did it ever occur to you that when
we dream our minds operate back
ward? said scientific man recent
ly. i mean by this that the cause
which gives the impression to the
sleepers mind that makes him begin
to dream is always the climax of the
vision. We can fEd many examples
that will sustain this theory. Take,
for instance, a man who falls out of
bed. He dreams, perhaps, that he has
fallen from precipice. The cause OF
this dream is the shock he receives by
coming III contact with the floor Be
tween the time he receives the fall and
the moment he aWakes-in this short
period, almost infinitesimal-hiS mind
follows out the impression received by
the fall, reasoning to it as climax.
Thus, when he comes to his senses
he remembers having had the vision
and wonders why he should have
fallen out Of bed just at the moment
he should have reached the bottom Of
the abyss. 1t would be folly to think
that he had been dreaming of falling
and then suited his actions to the
dream by doing so exactly that mo-
ment. I have had dreams in which
explosions occurred, and they were
caused by the noise Of a door being
slammed. The noise gave my mind
the impression of an explosion, and
SO reasoned to it. The details have
been so perfect and the series Of in
cidents leading up to the explosion
have seemed to take up such great
length Of time that I have often Won
dered at the rapidity of thought while
in sleep. In moment incidents can
be reviewed which it would take
hours to act out I know of a friend
who fell asleep while looking at
clock one afternoon and began trip
to New York in q dream. He remem-
bered vividly the ride from his house
to the depot; how he was stopped by
a friend who questioned him about
important business; how he got on the
train after having an alteration with
the baggageman in regard to charging
for overweight, all Of which compelled
him to run to catch train; how he
sat in the parlor car and enjoyed
the scenery, remembering all the sta
tions until he arrived at Greensburg,
when friend asked him to join in a
game of poker; how he played each
| hand, the pleasant recollection Of sew
| eral times holding four aces being
plainly in his mind; how he continued
| playing without interruption except
| for dinner until he arrived at Phila-
| delphia, when he counted over some
| $40O in winnings. Then he remem
bered having met friend while eat
| ing in Broad street station who talk
| ed upon a leading topic in politics;
then he got on the train, and began
reading magazine which he had pur-
chased at the news stand. finally ar
/ irving at Jersey City. He had just
got on the ferryboat when his wife
came in and woke him. He dubbed
his eyes, and, thinking he had been
asleep for some time he looked at the
clock, when he found that but three
minutes had elapsed since he fell
asleep. In these three minutes he had
made q journey to New York, seeing
everything as wildly as real. l tell
this just to show the wonderful ac-
tivity of the brain Of sleeping per-
son and in support Of my theory that
in "a dream the mind reasons to a
cause rather than from it.''-St. Louis
Republic