244 MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



I do not here speak of abnormal or pathological 

 conditions, or of extraordinary phenomena, hut of a 

 normal and common condition. If there is any 

 novelty in the assertion, it is owing to a "want of 

 observation and reflection, and to not attempting to 

 trace the real nature of the phenomena in which we 

 take part, and which occur every day. The habitual 

 inaccuracy of observation has led to the use of many 

 proverbs and aphorisms in the interpretation of things 

 which have been transmitted from one generation to 

 another, and are now accepted as indubitable axioms. 

 These are to be found in every branch of know-ledge, 

 and we have an instance in the popular and scientific 

 aphorism, that in dreams images appear to be real, 

 and that in the waking state they always continue to 

 be mere thoughts and ideas. 



This is not the fact, since, putting illusions and 

 hallucinations out of the question, thoughts and ideas 

 sometimes assume the character and nature of real 

 objects, just as they do in dreams. This fact con- 

 stitutes the link and gradual assimilation of the two 

 states, since in no series of phenomena natura facit 

 saltum. 



When, for instance, as often happens, we abandon 

 ourselves to a train of thought, and our perception 

 of surrounding objects is weakened by inattention, 

 we become as it were unconscious, and are only intent 

 on the thoughts and ideas which move us. Since no 

 definite object constrains the will to rule and guide 



