The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1942-01-21

oNllf anu tlSh ollly NALOuSh
his column.
are all Cor nearly ALL caused by
the exposure Of the sleeper's back
to cold? My data on the subject
are fairly copious, covering the OBJ
servations Of more than forty-five
years, but they are purely person
al. Naturally, therefore, the view
l advance is tentative-a kind Of
working hypothesis.
Cold Draft on Back
my attention was first drawn
TO the matter in the winter Of 1895,
when | was a student of medicine
at the University of Toronto.
need not describe the imagery of
the dream of extreme terror which
aroused my curiosity at that time.
When | came awake, found that
a January northwester was blow
ing in through the open window
and striking me in the upper part
of the back, from which the bed
clothes had slipped. 1t was fully
an hour before (by lying on my
back | succeeded in overcoming
the feeling Of cold and fear. In
the intervening years | have ex-
perienced scores Of nightmares al
most invariably due TO similar
conditions. The only exceptions
can think Of are nightmares caused
by difficulty in breathing, quite
rare in my case.
"Some eight or nine years ago
looked up the literature of pavor
noctuTTtus, / thought it very poor
stuff for the most part, like the
early guesses concerning the etio-
logy of malaria and yellow fever.
| have reason to believe that no
marked advance has been made re-
Gently in the scientific study of
night fears.
Couldn't my theory be put to
the test in one or more college
dormitories? 1t would be easy, |
should think, for a research stu
dent to direct stream of cold air
or spray along the spines (espe-
cially over the upper dorsal YER
tebrae) of his sleeping fellow COL
legians and to take note Of the re-
actions.
"If it could be proved that night
fears are caused by peripheral
stimuli, a number of important
deductions would follow concern
ing the nature of the emotions in
general, the INTERPOLATION of fear
and anger, the means and preven-
ton and the treatment of pduor
nocturnus. Above all, we should
then have substantial reasons for
changing the attitude of parents
toward this affection. feel sorry
for this and that young mother
(steeped in ignorance and super
stition) reused from slumber in
the cold, dark hours by her Shrek
ing offspring"
/ am glad to publish this letter
in order to bring the subject up
for discussion and also to empha-
size what is said-that terrifying
dreams do not harm the health and
that while mothers may feel ap-
prehensive about them, and even
superstitious, there is no real rea-
son for this, and the harm the
dream does is what you make 1t.
1t would seem natural to sup
pose that the activities Of the day
condition the mental activities Of
the night, or perhaps to put it in
larger sense, the activities of
lifetime condition our mental ac-
tivities in sleep. But that is very
difficulty to prove, and also very
difficult TO correct on that basis.
| think it is possible that peri
pheral stimuli might have much
more to do with causing dreams
than long-dead experiences.
1t is always comforting to me to
remember that we only probably
dream in the last five or ten min
utes before we awaken.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
N. A. C.:-"Will fruit and fruit
juices cause the face Of a person
who is bothered with pimples to
break out?"
Answer: No. Fruits are gen.
orally recommended as part Of a
diet that these people can eat
safely. They are warned against
fats and sweets. but not against
fruits.