The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1920-02-20

nightmare. Some of walk or have walked In
our sleep; most of know people who do. And
few of us have Lad experiences similar to
that of James SapienZa that shiver at the
remembrance of them.
Those of us who have had such experiences
readily understand why ]. S. Plumb, manufac-
turing chemist Of Jersey City was impeed to
write the following letter to the prosecutor of
Newark:
II strikings reminded of a painful expe-
rience of mine many years ago, and I relate 1t
to you for what 1t may be worth bearing
what corroboratvely upon the Sapienza case.
EARLY In my married life in the habit of
sleeping with a revolver under the mattress at
the head of my bed. kept 1t there because it
was equally accessible but much less In danger
of accidental discharge when under my pillow.
'One night had wild dream of graphing
with a burglar, and was awakened by my wife's
scream, or by my own action. both. to find, to
my horror that had my wifes head under my
left arm while was digging for my revolver with
my right.
1T all in a minute. with no serious
damage being committed, but it a dreadful
thing, as had naturally grabbed my wife rough
ly. 1t made realize that might have killed
my beloved wife had secured the weapon before
fully awaking, as would have been quite probable
had it been little handler under the pillow.
Never again, l said and the revolver has been
banished to less accessible place"
The literature of dreams Is voluminous as Is
teries of that mystery we call sleep. Science.
attempting to classify dreams. has set aside a
class which it calls nightmares incubuses
To those which go beyond the limits of the ord-
nary nightmare 1t has applied the name som
nambulistc automatism." In this class in
Guided the nocturnal adventures in which persons
commit violent acts of which they retain walk
ing knowledge. Apparently the person is sleep
ing. He appears to have entered state which
is short of total oblivion yet beyond the dividing
line of consciousness. Evidently to them the
real and the unreal confused; the unreal
is to them as real real ITSELF Dream
suits in physical action.
Certain it is that we have little exact know-
edge of the essential nature of consciousness,
In waking hours We do know, how
ever. that merely portion of the mental life is
represented In clear consciousness. Many com
pex brain processes are carried in the pres
ence of consciousness so slight to be prac-
tically absent, and the organic functions of the
human machine performed without any con-
sciousness whatever,
There is a theory that dreams frequently
merely the working out of suppressed desires"
Several Of the crminologists, somewhat in cor
roboration of this theory. hold that the commits
sion of crimes during sleep is entirely possible
under certain conditions. They express the be-
lief that the power of suggestion is so strong that
in some cases of somnambustic automatism the
sleeper is the victim of selfhypnosis and carries
out the idea which in his waking moments had
obsessed him.
Says DR.. Smith Ely Jellffe of New York. au-
thor of a work which devotes considerable space
to disordered dreams: .WithOH, in any way
judging the facts in the Sapienzu ease, 1t must
be admitted that a crime like his under such cir
cumstances as alleged by the defendant is entirely
possible"
Assuming that James SapIenza has told the
whole truth is the unfortunate answerable
to the law Cor killing his wife?