DREAMS. 



Ommi. 



Came* and 

 effects of 



:: A-.L::-. 



the contraction of the iri< ; but when we have dreamt 

 much of visible objects, this accumulation of sensorial 

 power in theorg.-"! ot'\ ision is lessened or prc.ciitcd, ami 

 we awake in tin- morning without being dazzled with 

 the light, after tin- irN has had time to contract itself." 

 (Zuonorm'ii. -eel. \\iii.) \Ve give this circumstance on 

 the authority of ]>r Darwin ; if correctly stated, it is 

 certainly by no i ncral ; but, ns it is adduced 



to support a particular theory, we should be disposed 

 to question it-- accuracy. 



l(>. Our dreams mure frequently relate to the scenes 

 anil occurrcnco of childhood and early youth, tl 

 those of later years. This is the case, whenever no 

 particular circumstances connected with our bodily sen- 

 sations, our mental habits, or events in which we have 

 been deeply interested, do not give rise to them. Our 

 jreneral dreams certainly present to us, in most in- 

 stances, what has happened in our youth. In this re- 

 spect they resemble the memory of old men, which is 

 usually much more retentive of the scenes and occur- 

 rences of early youth than of later years. Mr Stewart 

 remarks, that in youth our dreams commonly involve, 

 in a much greater degree, the exercise of imagination, 

 and affect the mind with much more powerful emotions, 

 than when we l>egin to employ our maturer faculties 

 in more general and abstract speculations." (Philoso- 

 phy of the Hiimun MinJ, 4to edit. p. 332.) Hence, as 

 our dreams partake of our mental as well as moral cha- 

 racter, the dreams of those who are much engaged in 

 philosophical studies, relate chiefly to reasoning and 

 speculation, where the influence of particular circum- 

 stances does not operate. 



All these facts regard the dreams themselves ; but 

 there are others respecting the evident and immediate 

 causes of dreams, or which relate to our impressions 

 and feelings, when we awake after dreaming, which re- 

 quire to be stated. 



1. Our dreams are often caused by bodily sensations: 

 It has been already noticed, that Aristotle remarked, 

 that a slight heat applied to the feet, when we are asleep, 

 often produced in our dreams the feeling of burning 

 coals ; and Mr Stewart relates a similar fact respecting 

 a friend of his, " who having occasion, in consequence 

 of an indisposition, to apply a bottle of hot water to his 

 feet, when he went to bed, dreamed that he was making 

 a journey to the top of Mount Etna, and that he found 

 the heat of the ground almost insupportable. Another 

 person having a blister applied to his head, dreamed that 

 he was scalped by a party of Indians." Sometimes sen- 

 futions give rise to dreams in a more direct manner, 

 and more similar to themselves : Smellie ment'ons a 

 student of medicine in the University of Edinburgh, 

 who was accustomed to talk and answer questions in his 

 sleep ; in consequence of which habit, some of his 

 friends whispered into his ear the name of a lady to 

 whom he was attached : at first he talked incoherently ; 

 ion his dreams evidently related to the object of 

 his affections : he thought he was under her window, 

 and he upbraided her for not appearing to him, as she 

 had frequently done before; at length becoming impa- 

 tient, he started up in )> and threw whatever 

 he could lay hold of, against the oppo-.ilc wall of his 

 chamber, evidently supposing it was the window of his 

 mi-tress's room: when tie was told next day what had 

 happened, he said he had only a faint recollection of 

 having dreamed about his mistress. (Snicltic, vol. ii. 

 [i. :)!).'!,.'" it.) I Vuttie relates a still more striking instance 

 of the effect of sensations in producing dreams ; A gen- 



tlem.in in the nnuy. was *> susceptible of audible hn- I" 1 

 ureasioiis during his sleep, that by speaking in hi- t ir, 

 his friends could make him dream of what they pi. 

 One night they carried him through all the i 

 duel, and at last, putting a pistol in his hand, he actually 

 fired it off, and w as awakened by the sound. (IV 

 MI Dreams.) If the bed-clothes tall off while we are 

 asleep, we frequently dream that we are naked. In 

 some cases, impressions on our senses appear 'to mix 

 with our diTams ; we frequently find the ineffectual 

 calls that are addressed to us, as well as other sounds, 

 mixing with them. 



i.'. Closely allied to this cause of dreams, are the sen- 

 sations we experience from the state of the vN'-.-ra. -to- 

 inaeh, \c. I'erhaps the most singular circtnns! 

 connected with the operation of those cau.-i > i~, th.it 

 an overloaded stomach sometimes produces dreams, in 

 which the person fancies himself strangled with reple- 

 tion, and at other times lie dreams that he is dying of 

 hunger ; but persons who have been deprived of their 

 usual food, generally .dream of eating: Tren 

 tlwt being almost dead with hunger, when confined in 

 his dungeon, his dreams every ni^ht presented to him 

 the luxurious and well plenished tables of Berlin, from 

 which he thought he wa> about to satisfy hiii. 

 There are other causes, evidently connected with our 

 sensations, whic.li give rise to dreams: thus if w~e lie in 

 an uneasy posture, particularly too low, if we have ti.o 

 many bed-clothes, or if any thing happens to obstruct 

 our respiration. It is well known also, that opium, 

 and other soporifics, if they do not produce very sound 

 sleep, give rise to dreams. Medical men runark, that 

 some temperaments are more subject to dreams than 

 others ; the sanguine more frequently than the phleg- 

 matic. 



3. The character of our dreams is greatly influenced 

 by our disposition ; hypoehondriacal persons have often 

 anxious dreams, and cheerful persons cheerful dreams. 



4. Our state of health seems to have considerable 

 effect, not only in producing dreams, but in giving 

 them their particular character. This fact is sufficient- 

 ly well known ; and medical men remark, that acute 

 diseases, particularly fevers, are often preceded and in- 

 dicated by disagreeable and oppressive dreams. 



5. Our dreams are influenced by our thoughts and 

 employments during the da}-, as well as by our general 

 habits of association and action. There are probably 

 few mathematicians who have not dreamt of an inte- 

 resting problem, and who have not even fancied that 

 they were investigating it with much success; the in- 

 stance of Condoroet has been already noticed. In like 

 manner, " those whose ambition leads them to the stu- 

 dy of eloquence, are frequently conscious, during sleep, 

 of a renewal of their daily occupations." Stewarl, p. 

 330. 



6. The particulars which pass before us in a dream 

 nre often forgotten, till at a distance of time some ana- 

 logous idea or transaction recoils them. 



7. We are apt to confound the impressions we havr 

 received in our dreams, with the thoughts and events 

 of real life; in some instances so completely, that we 

 are unable to determine whether what we remember be 

 a dream or not. 



8. Our mental feelings, as well as our bodily sensa- 

 tions, to which dreams give rise, often remain in full 

 force for some time after we awake: Of this, so far as 

 re~p(c1s |.,idjly sensations, all must be sensible, who 

 liave suddenly awakened from dreams of impending 



