MAURY OX SLEEP AND DREAMS. 367 



dreams, that it is not easy ' either to despise the evi- 

 dence or to be convinced by it ' (ovre Kara^povrjo-ai 

 /5atoi>, oi/re iretAfPOf), But with his wonted sagacity 

 he indicates the reasons which justify distrust as 

 to a Divine interposition, thus partial and frivolous 

 in its alleged ministrations to man. He sees clearly 

 that the event is often the parent of the prophetic 

 dream, and that in the endless and complex relations of 

 human life it must needfully happen that coincidences 

 often occur without any real relation to the events ' so 

 associated. These chapters of Aristotle well deserve 

 perusal as evidences of the clear and acute intelligence 

 of this great philosopher. We have acquired more 

 knowledge of the physiology of sleep as a vital func- 

 tion, but in its connexion with dreams are little ad- 

 vanced beyond what he has told us. 



Cicero, in his second book, ' De Divinatione,' dis- 

 cusses the question whether there be a divine influence 

 occasionally embodied in dreams still more largely and 

 conclusively. Called upon to confront strong popular 

 superstitions, he meets them fairly and boldly. But 

 beyond this negative conclusion his treatise does little 

 to illustrate the phenomena or philosophy of the func- 

 tions in question. 



While revelling in the beauty of the poetry, ancient 

 and modern, which has found a theme in sleep and 

 dreams and none more fertile for fancy to work upon 

 we cannot look for any fresh knowledge from this 

 source. Lucretius, indeed, with his supreme mastery 

 of verse, comprises something of the philosophy of 

 dreams in his grand description of them. From Homer 



