75 
DREAM. 
plied, that our not being able to afccrtain the end which 
may be anfwered by a fuppofed fact, can in no cafe 
operate as a weighty argument againtt its reality; fince it 
is impodible for us to doubt the exigence of fo many phe¬ 
nomena, the final caufe of which we are, at the fame time, 
perfectly at a lofs to difcover. Befides, thefe nocturnal 
linpreffions cannot but be allowed to happen to all men, 
although they fiiould be entirely effaced by the light of 
day. The long dream of human exiftence ought not to 
be regarded as entirely deflitute of at lead collateral evi¬ 
dence of this fact; although, at the conclufion of it, all 
its occurrences and variety of emotions arc buried in the 
oblivion of the grave. 
“ It is commonly remarked, that the tendency to dream¬ 
ing diminilhes in proportion as we are lefs expofed to 
caufes of corporeal irritation. But thefe caufes always 
operate in a certain degree; this tendency therefore can 
never be counteracted. In proportion as the ftimuli of 
light, noife, &c. are removed, deep is obferved to be 
accompanied with lefs fenfibility; but thefe ftimuli can 
■in no cafe be entirely removed, confequently this fenfibi¬ 
lity can in no cafe be entirely extinguifhed : hence not 
only men, but brutes, are obferved to dream. An ob¬ 
jection may arife, that if the mind be in fadt influenced 
by every imprefiion that is made upon the body, it mud 
be fubjeCt to an inconceivable number of them every in- 
ftant of our exiftence. But this, however incredible it 
may fecm, is really the faCt, although it muft be allowed 
that we are unable to attend to mere than one idea at 
the fame time; or, in other words, that, however vafl 
the affemblage of fimultaneous imprefiions, they invaria¬ 
bly coalefce, and affume in this way the appearance of 
unity. No imprefiion is /oft, although many are prevent¬ 
ed from conveying a f'eparate report to the mind, by rea- 
fon of the predominance of fome more violent imprefiion. 
Every one of thofe faint notes, which in a concert of mu. 
iic we are unable diftinClly-to perceive, has flill, there 
can be no doubt, an effeCt in fwelling and modifying the 
prevailing found. That which aCts in fo flight a degree 
upon our bodies, that we fiiould not in general be at all 
aware of its operation, would be perceived diftinftly by 
the mind, if we were placed in a fituation that was quite 
infulqted" from ail other imprefiions. If, for inftance, 
every fenfe, except that of hearing, were completely 
clofed, and all other found annihilated, the falling of a 
feather upon the earth would, beyond all doubt, be 
heard at an inconceivably greater diftance than that at 
which we now perceive the report of a cannon. 
“ No one will deny, that thought is, in the ftricteft 
fenfe of the expreflion, independent of the will ; fince it is 
obvious, that at no time can we choofe whether we will 
think , or not. But respiration, the circulation of the blood, 
and every other action of the fyftem which is independent 
of the will, continues during deep. Shall we then, con¬ 
trary to analogy, prefume, that thought alone, of all the 
involuntary fundi ions, is fufpended during that (late? 
That we never ceafe to think, is an opinion we are jufti- 
fied in maintaining, until fome argument can be brought 
to'demonflrale the negative of the propofition. We can¬ 
not conceive of the foul as confiding in any thing but 
what we call thought ; and hence thought appears to be the 
eifence of the fpirit or foul within us, which is, confidently 
with its immortality, ever adlive and awake even during 
our founded fiumbers. Had the ingenious phyfiolpgift 
Andrew Baxter, attributed the imprefiion of dreams upon 
the dormant fenforium, to the adlive minidration of the 
foul of fpirit within us, rather than to the minidration of 
fpirits dedined to attend upon it, there is little doubt 
but his hypotliefis would have been better received: for 
whatever it be that operates upon the mind in dreams, 
it has fo completely the diredlion of the deeping body, 
as to make it perform adlions far beyond its ability when 
awake; fuch as to open cafements and climb the roofs_of 
houfes; to defeend the mod difficult and dangerous pre¬ 
cipices; to write even in the dark; and purfue paths and 
i 
avenues in the dead of night, through which, whert 
awake, it could not poffibly proceed, without a lantern 
and a guide : witnefs the many adonifhing though well- 
founded facts that are related of fomnambulids, or deep- 
walkers.” 
Thofe phydologids who contend that dreams are in¬ 
fluenced by the nervous fluid, and that fomnambulifrrt 
is a difeafe proceeding from a morbid affeftion of the 
nerves, have, in a medical view, much reafon in their 
theory. One of the mod- driking invedigations of this 
kind, is'extant in a report made to the Phyfical Society 
of Laufanne, by a committee of gentlemen appointed to 
examine a young man who was accudomed to walk in his 
deep. “ The difpodtion to dream, feems, in the opi¬ 
nion of this committee, to depend on a particular affec¬ 
tion of the nerves, which both feizes and quits the pa¬ 
tient during deep. Under the influence of this affebtion, 
the imagination reprefents to him the objebts that flruck. 
him while awake, with as much force as if they really 
affected his fenfes; but does not make him perceive any 
of thofe that are actually prefented to his fenfes, except 
in fo far as they are connected with the dreams which en- 
grofs him at the time. If, during this date, the imagi¬ 
nation has no determined purpofe, lie receives the im- 
preflion of objedts as if he were awake ; only,- however, 
when the imagination is excited to bend its attention to¬ 
wards them. The perceptions obtained in this date are 
very accurate, and, when once received, the imagination 
renews them cccafionally with as much force as if they 
were again acquired by means of the lenfes. Thefe aca¬ 
demicians fuppofe, that the impreffions received during 
this date of tiie fenfes, difappear entirely when the perfon 
awakes, and do not return till the return of the fame 
difpodtion in the nervous fydent. Their remarks were 
made on the fieur Devaud, a lad thirteen years and a half 
old, who lives in the town of Vevey, and who is fubjebt 
to that dngular affettion or difeafe called fomnambulifni y 
or deep-walking. This lad poffeffes a drong and robufl 
conditution, but his nervous fydem appears to be tr ;an- 
ifed with peculiar delicacy, and to difcover marks of the 
greated fenfibility and irritability. His fenfes of fmeli, 
tade, and touch, are exquidte ; lie is fubjebt to firs of 
immoderate and involuntary laughter, and lie fomecimes 
weeps without any apparent caufe. He does not waik in 
his deep every night; feveral weeks fometiines pafs with¬ 
out any appearance of fuch a fit. He is lubjebt to the 
difeafe generally two nights fuccedively, one fit lading 
for feveral hours. The longed are from three to four 
hours, and they commonly begin about three or four 
o’clock in the morning. The fit may be prolonged, by 
gently paffing. the finger or a feather over his upper lip, 
and this flight irritation likewife accelerates it. Having 
once fallen afleep upon a flaircafe, his upper lip was 
thus irritated with a feather,-when he immediately ran 
down the deps with great precipitation, and refumed all 
his a/rcuftomed activity. This experiment was repeated 
feVeral times. 
“This young lad thinks he has obferved, that, on the 
evenings previous to a fit, he is fendble of a certain hea- 
vinefs in his head, but efpecially of a great weight in his 
eyelids. His deep is at all times unquiet, but particularly 
when thefe fits of fon.inanibulifm are about to feize him. 
During his deep, motions are obfervable in every part of 
his body, with darting and palpitations; he utters broken 
words, fometimes fits up in his bed, and afterwards lies 
down again. He then begins to pronounce words more 
diftinctly, he riles abruptly, and abts as he is infligated 
by the dream that then poffeffes him. The departure of 
the fit is always preceded by a few minutes of calm deep. 
He then awakes like a perfon who has dept quietly. It 
is dangerous to awaken him during the fit, efpecially if 
it is done fuddenly ; for then he fometimes falls into con- 
vulfions. Having vifen one night with the intention of 
going to eat grapes, lie left the houfe/paffed through the 
town, and got into a vineyard. He was followed by per- 
fons 
