Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-10-20
QUEER DREAMS.

A Characteristic of dreams which, as
the rather materialistic Dr.. Clarke
says, hints at life that has neither
beginning nor end, and is bounded by
no limbs which human thoughts can
compass" is the rapidity with which
events happen in the dream world.
Thus, W hen asleep and dreaming, we
live an entire lifetime in a minute
in space of time that is scarcely more
than a second we pass through ex-
periences that could not be duplicated
in this objective sphere in hours, per-
haps in years. Count Lavalette relates
that one night. when Imprisoned ana
under sentence of death, he dreaneu
that he stood for five hours at a Paris
street corner, where he witnessed a
continuous succession of narrowing
scenes Of blood, every one of which
wrought his soul to the highest pitch
Of excitement. When he woke he found
that he had been asleep less than two
minutes. In more recent experiment
made expressly to test the truth of
these theories-the subject was
aroused from sleep by few drops of
water being sprinkled upon his fore
head. 1t took but an instant to accom-
plish this result, and yet, in that in
calculably brief space of time, the
man dreamed of going on an excur-
sion; of an accident by which he was
plunged into lake. and, during the
long struggle to escape death that fol-
lowed, all experiences of his life SEEM
ed to flash before him, just as they are
said to appear to a person who is actu-
ally drowning.
Dreams are tricksters. Prof. itch
ener of Cornell Univerity, tells with
gusto of his experience. AS a specialist
in psychology he has interested him
self in dreams. Like a true scientist,
he once set about gathering data. He
wanted to know what caused dreams,
where they came from, what they
meant, and all that. He determined to
watch himself when he slept and to
awake h mself at once when he found
himself dreaming something of value.
So. with a notebook on a writing table
near his bed, he forced himself 10
waken for several nights and to write
down. while the dream impressions
were vivid, his remembrances of the
details, and by study of the room,
hn nd nh 60
attempt to arrive at the possible
causes of his dreams.
He was getting on famously. One
night he had a particularly vivid
he forced himself to awake and imme-
diately write down clearly everything
about it. Then went back to sleep
again. The next morning he arose and
was astounded to see that his note
sheet was blank. He remembered pos
itively the notes he had set down
thereon in the middle of the preceding
night. The next night again he again
wrote down his notes after his
dreams, only to have the same I'M
canny sensation the next morning at
finding nothing recorded
The strange circumstance set him
to bordering. That night he impressed
upon his mind before dropping off in
to slumber that he must awaken with
his first dream, or If not with that
his second dream. Subsequently this
strong ante-sleeping command de-
livered to himself was present all
through his dream consciousness.
When tie first scenes of a vivid dream
came before his fancy he felt himself
awaken and he set about writing down
the facts upon the pad at his trale. 1t
was then that from some source o. III
ner consciousness he felt the command
again to awake. although he seemed
at the time to be in full possession o.
his normal faculties. His eyes opened
and the secret was out. He found him
self lying in bed. where he had been
all that night. His rising after each
dream had become so much a routine
that he had dreamed that he had
arisen and had made the notes and his
dream was so clear that it seemed re-
ality.-Outing.