El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-14

old fashioned harpsichord Of a century
and more ago.
one might imagine that the dreamer
of a recurrent dream would after
while become aware, at least IN some
degree, Of its unreallty- But TINS is
not so. It seems just as real the IWen-
tieth time as the first-even though its
incidents have become so familiar that
the dreamer knows IN advance exactly
what is going to happen 11ueeu, TINS
very knowledge, where a Dau cream is
concerned, renders the vision more
Seeing Oneself Dead.
Such a case mentioned by professor
Pfister) is that of a man VINO mas
himself in a forest Of -leaIieSS trees. he
has been there before, IN ms creams,
and he has an impression that some
thing terrible is going to happen. There
is a deathlike aspect ABOUT the sur
roundings. No song of birds is heard,
nor chirp of insects. me dry, dead
grass crackles under the dreamers
feet Presently he sees a man ap-
preaching. and is seized with SEN
satiOn of horror The man cOnIrOnts
him, and his face is that OF a oead per-
son, with eyes CLASSY anu 1PIess SION
less. It is the dreamers own race
Then he wakes up.
Does this vision signify that the
dreamer, in a past state OF existence,
actually met death undeF suen cILcum-
Stances ana III SuCAA So -
question is AT least interesting. Yet
another instance Of the Kihu Is mat OF
a man who dreams Jnal ne IS attend
ing his own funeral the services are
always exactly the same, Ne loIes Ger
tain peculiarities Of the caSket contain
ing his body: and the route pursued in
going to the cemetery is always
through the same streets. invariably
he awakes just as the customary hana-
fuI of earth is thrown upon the coffin
seemingly startled into consciousness
by the hollow sound 1t makes
PeOD1e often dream cOmpIacently and
cheerfully of things WLlch LII them
with horror on awakening. The best
Of men do in dreams cruel and i'm
moral deeds. Professor PTlster at
tributes this to a marking PACK or
the mind to period IN the distant
mast Derhaps thousands OF years ago.
we do not realize how much better
morally speaking, we are today than
orr forebears who lived, say, in the
middle ages. When we dream, we re-
sumo together with ancient memories
the moral and mental point of view Of
a more or less remote antlqully-at all
events, to some extent
Queer Dream of n Physician.
Says professor Pflster; nave a
friend He is a physician Like most
other. people, he has recurrent dreams.
But his only striking dream of this
kind takes him back to a baronial cas-
tie of a period which he supposes to be
about the year 1900 A ID.
'aThe castle is cold, and dark, and
damp. Windows are few and small;
no attention whatever is paid to venti-
IatiOh, and the air is filled with smoke
from poorly constructed fireplaces- The
floors are covered with rushes which
abound in fleas. Down the middle Of
the main hall runs great table,
thanked by rude benches There are no
knives or forks; there are no plates or
dishes; there are no drinking vessels
F7anE a1es
is dipped into the trencher, and every
body drinks from his neighbours horn
presently, by one Of those sudden
translations peculiar to dreams, my
fiend finds himself walking through
the streets of city of the same epoch
They are not paved The second stories
of the houses extend out over the side
walks, in order that the inmates may
be able to throw an kinds of filth and
waste into the middle Of the street
without endangering the comfort Of
paSSersby. There is no system of sew
age disposal and the condition of at
fairs from sanitary standpoint is
friEhtful.
"a swinging sign, crudely painted,
invites my friend into an imam es-
Establishment corresponding in purposes
Of hospitality to the modern hotel, but
Olrt1er and WOrSe-kept than the average
stable of today. Night has suddenly
fallen, and each guest gathers up a
bundle Of ruShes from the floor,
spreads out his cloak, and, lying down
upon II, goes TO sleep (the strongest
nearest to the fire., thus virtually con
verting the common room into a vast
bed
Makes Study of the Dream.
about this time my friend wakes
up. But he says that nothing he has
ever read has conveyed to his mind so
vivid and impressive a notion Of con-
dttions OF living as they were a few
hundred years ago. The dream is not
only interesting but instructive. When
ever it comes back, he goes through it
again with an eagerness for practical
infOrmatiOn-half conscious, as it
would seem, that he is enjoying an
exceptional opportunity for profess
sionaI study. When he considers the
number of rats harbOred in the ancient
castle, and the excellent opportunities
they had for securing food, he is not
surprised that One-fOurth Of the en-
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