The record-union., 1894-03-13
WHAT DREAMS ARE. MADE OF
Evidence That the Mind Reasons to
the Cause Rather Than From 1t.


the Cause Rather Than From 1t.
did it ever occur to you that when we
dream our minds operate backward?''
said scientific man yesterday. 81 mean
by this that the cause which gives the i'm
preston to the sleeper's mind that makes
him begin to dream is always the climax of
the vision. We can find many examples
that will sustain this theory. Take, for
instance, 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 in con-
tact with the floor. Between the time he
receives the fall and the moment he
awakes-in this short period almost in
finitesimal-his mind follows out the inn
preston received by the fall, reasoning to
it as climax. Thus, when he comes to
his senses be 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 at exactly that moment. | 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 incidents lead
ing up to the explosion have seemed to
take up such great length Of time, that
| have often wondered at the rapidity of
thought while in sleep. In a moment in
cidents can be reviewed which it would
axe hours to act out.
Il know of friend who fell asleep
while looking at clock one afternoon
and began trip to New York in a
dream. He remembered vividly the ride
from his house to the depot; how he was
stopped by 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 ru / to catch the train; how he sat
in the parlor car and enjoyed the scenery,
remembering all the stations until he ar
rived at GreenSburg, when friend asked
him to join game OF poker; how he
played each hand, the pleasant recollec-
lion of several times holding four aces
being plainly in his mind; how he con-
tinued playing without interruption eX-
cept for dinner until he arrived at Phila-
delphia, when he counted over some 500
in winnings. Then he remember hav-
ing met friend while eating in Broad
street station, who talked upon a leading
topic in politics; then he got on the train
and began reading magazine which he
had purchased at the newsstand, finally
arriving at Jersey City. He had just got
on the ferry-boat when his wife came in
and woke him. He rubbed his eyes, and,
thinking he had been asleep for some
time he looked up at the clock, when he
found that but three minutes had elapsed
since he fell asleep. In these three min
utes he had made journey to New
York, seeing everything as vividly as if
real. tell this just to show the wonder
full activity of the brain OF a sleeping per-
son, and in support of my theory that in
a dream the mind reasons to cause
rather than from lt."-St. Louis Re-
public.