CHAPTER YIII. 



DEEAMS AND DELUSIONS. 



IT is generally known that certain of the lower animals, such 

 as the dog, sleep in the same way-, at the same times, and 

 under the same circumstances as man himself does ; that is 

 to say, they usually sleep by night, or in darkness, and are 

 awake by day, or in the presence of light, natural or 

 artificial. 



And, to a certain extent, some of the disturbances of sleep 

 in other animals that are comparable with those of man 

 have also been long recognised. By observers of animals' 

 habits in all ages it has been noticed, for instance, that the 

 dog, cat, horse, parrot, canary, bullfinch, and some other 

 animals, dream, and the phenomena of dreaming in other 

 animals than man have been described. 



As regards the dog, and especially sporting dogs, such as 

 the harrier, the following facts have been noted, or the fol- 

 lowing inferences drawn. It appears to hunt in its dreams, 

 as was long ago remarked by Seneca and Lucretius. During 

 sleep movements of the tail and paws, sniffing, growling, 

 barking, occur. There is every reason to believe that there 

 is frequently during sleep in the sporting dog an imaginary 

 pursuit of imaginary game ; that this supposed pursuit gives 

 rise to actual physical and mental excitement, including, for 

 instance, eagerness, and panting for breath caused imme- 

 diately thereby ; and that this excitement sometimes causes 

 the animal to awake. At first it is bewildered to find its 

 actual position so different from that painted by a morbid 

 fancy no game where it expected to be ' in at the death,' 



