The times., 1899-08-13

Dreams. says Washington student OF
psychology, may be divided into three
classes: Those caused by internal action.
those brought about by external action. and
those which result from the strong iniu-
ence of another's will upon the sleeper
Psychology has become popular study
in Washington. and critical Investigations
are being conducted by certain scientists
here One of these investigators. in speak
ing with reporter for The Times. said:
Every thought that emanates from the
mind causes a flow of white matter from
the brain. thereby creating for itself an in
finitesimally fine but permanent channel.
and as the same thought is repeated this
channel grows gradually larger and the
passing of the thought is made easier and
more rapid. So it is explained why
thoughts which are of frequent occurrence
come freely at the bidding OF the viii.
while it requires tax of memory more or
less severe to recall thoughts that come to
us infrequently or after a long lapse OF
time AS an example: The thought two
and two make four comes without an ef-
fort, because the channel of that particular
thought is well worn by usage; but in
dealing with some abstrrse question with
which We are not familiar il only becomes
clear to US after much thinking
During the course Of life from infancy
on. the matter of the brain becomes per-
meated with a fine network of channels
crossing and recrossing each other as
one thought leads on TO another. So il is
that when we think OF some patieuIar
circumstance or incident the mind natur-
ally is led to another of similar nature,
or one which happened about the same
time. Thus the chain of thinking is car
ried on from thought TO thought.
Dreams are generally a repetition OF
thoughts unguided by reason. Those caused
by internal action, or brought about by
action within the body, are due entirely
to the action and state Of the stomach,
which in turn is affected by the quantity
and quality of food consumed.
The first ends or feeIeTs OF the nerves
are located in the walls OF the stomach,
and as the food is digested they draw up
the nourishment and distribute it through
out the nervous system TO replace the
waste that has taken place during the day.
If the stomach be surcharged with an
abundance of heating food. too much nour-
ishment is forced upon the brain, causing
an abnormal filling of the channels there
by expanding them, bringing them in touch
with others and causing the matter from
one to overflow into or to mix with the
fluid OF neighboring channels. Whenever
the fluid traveTseS a channel more or less
forcibly, the though which originated that
passage is reproduced more or less vividly
Hence ensues the general mixing up OF
thoughts which originally had no cOnnec-
tion with each other.
An overloaded stomach also causes a
flow OF blood to the brain, sent there by
nature to assist in assimilating the extra
nourishment. and the overcharged blood
vessels pressing upon the nerve channels
near the brain cause even more turbulent
disturbances. This accounts for the ad-
vice OF so many medical men that no con-
siderable quantity, especially OF animal
food, should be taken Immediately before
bedtime The crossing. recrossing and
the touching of these thought channels
brought about in this way produce the
absurd mixtures Of faneies that often come
TO US when we sleep
The stomach. too is a mill which keeps
on forever grinding. the walls acting as
the grindstones. When, therefore, there
is nothing between them, or, in other
words. when the stomach is empty, one
wall grinds upon the other. causing an
irritation OF the nerves, which produces
that peculiar sensation of falling from
some great height.
ITO understand how external action will
affect the dream of a sleeper il must be
borne in mind that those dreams which
seem to take hours. and even days, in
passing, really occupy but a minute frac-
tion of second If, therefore, we are
awakened by some loud, strident onise,
say by the cracking of whip, then be-
tween the time that the sound strikes our
ears while We are yet asleep 10 the time
that We are fully awake TO realize what
has caused the sound, few moments only
have elapsed, but those few moments were
sufficient to allow of a dream of appar-
emily several hours duration.
AS an example: A milkman driving Up
beneath an open bedroom window, cracks
his whip smartly. Immediately the thought
produced by the sound causes dream
The sleeper imagines himself a soldier,
who has fallen into the hands of the en-
emy. He is led out TO be shot He stands
blindfolded, with hands tied, before the
platoon or soldiers He hears the click
click-click as the rifles are cooked. He
hears the word given and the noise of the
volley rings out on his ears Then he
awakes with a start, to hear the rumble OF
the milkmans wagon wheels as he cracked
his whip and drove OF over some rough
cobblestones-"