Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1896-09-01
DREAM MYSTERIES.
WAY BE sHAoowY MEMORIES OF PRE-
WoUs EXISTENCE.

Little Satisfaction Found In the Many
Explspstions Given For the Formation Of
the Phantasmagoria Which Como to Us
- We Sleep.
In thoughtful. well written article
IN Dreams and Their Mysteries" in
The North American Review, Elizabeth
Bisland reminds us that we are SO ia.
niliar with the phenomena of sleep
that the strangest dreams come as no
surprise. She says. truly:
"Prove that you have the hypnotic
power to make a man feel pain or pleas.
IRE without material cause; that You
Fan force him to believe himself q sol.
dier, say, or q woman. or that he is
three feet high, or two persons at once,
and he will cape upon this occult mas
terry with awe and wild surprise-he
who every "a hours of his life, with no
more magic potion than healthy fatigue,
with no greater wonder working weapon
than pillow. may create for himself
phantasmical delusions beside which all
mesmeric suggestions are but the fat
test OF dull commonplace.
Because people are afraid Of being
thought superstitious with regard to
dreams there has been an unscientific
avoidance Of the whole topic, which is
no less superstitious and puerile, the
consequence Of which foolish revulsion
has been that one Of the most curious
functions Of the brain is still in period
Of universal investigation-left unex-
amined and unexplained Some dab
bling there has been in the matter, but
so far no tenable explanation has been
offered Of those strange illusions of
sleep with which all mankind is famil-
lar. The results up to this time of this
dabbling arc for the most part Of little
more value than the contents of the
greasy. we'll thumbcd dreambooks that
formed the only and dearly beloved Ii
brary Of eighteenth century milkmaids
and apprentices. The greater portion of
such labor as has been bestowed on the
subject has been mainly directed toward
efforts to prove the extreme rapidity
with which the dream passes through
the mind. and that it is some trivial
outward cause ut the moment of rous-
ing from slumber, such as a noise, q
light or the like, which wakes the
brain to this miraculous CELEBRITY of i'm
aginative creation.
The general conviction that dreams
occur only ut the instant of the awaken.
ing shows how little real attention has
been bestowed upon the matter. since
the most casual observation of 1.-The dog
that hunts in dreams" would show that
he may be chasing the wild deer and
| following the roe in the gray kingdom
of seeming without breaking his slum-
bers. He will start and twitch and give
tongue after the phantom quarry he
dreams himself pursuing. But given the
truth of any one of these assertions, still
the heart of the mystery has not yet
| been plucked out, since it is not ex.
| planned why noise or n CLEAN Of light
such as the senses are quite familiar
with in waking consciousness-should
Mt the moment Of rousing cause the
brain to create with inconceivable ra'
pidity series Of phantasmagoria in
order to explain to itself the familia,
phenomena of light or sound.
1t is broadly asserted by many thai
the memory retains each and every ex'
perience which life has presented for its
contemplation, but this is hardly true
1t makes to certain extent a choice
and chooses oftentimes with apparent
caprice. To demonstrate the truth o.
this, let one endeavor to recall the frs
impression retained by his childisl
mind, and it usually proves to be some
thing extremely trivial.
A lady, Intercepted as to this, de
clared her first clear memory was ,
sense of the comfort to her tired littl,
2-year-old body Of the clean linen sheet
of the bed at the end Of the most perilou
and adventurous journey, and Of who's
startling incidents her memory had pre-
served nothing. Again this capriciou
faculty will seize on some few higl
/ lights in a vivid picture and reject al
the unimportant details. As rule
however. it is the profound STRINGS o
the emotions which wake tho memor..
to activity. A woman never forgets he
first lover. A man to the end of his lif
can recall his first triumph.
Miss Bislaud believes that we inheri
many Of the memories that come to us
waking rs well as sleeping. Every on
has fck many times in his life n sens
Of familiarity with incidents that hav
had no place in his own experience an
has found it impossible to offer any eS
PLANTATION for the feeling. Coming sud
denly around n turn of a hill upon
fair and unknown landscape, his hear
may bound with a keen sense Of recoG
milton Of its unfamiliar outlines. In tn
! midst Of tinsling sense of emotion
: sensation Of the whole incident being
mere dull repetition will rob it of i,
joy or pain. \ sentence begun by
friend is recognized as trite and old be
fore it is half done. though it refers {
matters new TO the nearer 4 sound.
perfume, a sensation, will awaken fee
lngs having no connection with the OK
: caSion.
! In sleep the brain is peculiarly actiy
In certain directions. not being distrac,e
by the multitude of impressions con
stantly conveyed to il by the live sense:
a,,i Sr-,th