WI TH M A N Y ACC O U N TS O F E X PE R I E N C E S

S E N T BY C O R R E S PO N DE N T S

AN D T W O C H A PT E R S C O N T R I BU T E D M A I N LY

FR O M T H E JO U R N A LS O F T H E PSY C H I C A L R E S E A R C H

S O C I E T Y O N T E LE PAT H I C AN D PR E M O N I T O R Y DR E A M S

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39 P T E R N O ST E R R O W , LO N DO N N E W . YO R K

AN D BO M BAY 9 . 1 01
 CO N T E N T S .

CH A P T E R I .

WH AT SC I ENC E HA S To S AY A B O U T T H E M

CH A P T E R I I .

A
T H E I R A SS O C I T I O N W I T H ID EA S OF I M M O RTA LI T Y

CH A P T E R III .

A
D IV I N T I O N S FROM A
D RE M S

CH A P T E R IV .

C A SS I I A T I O N
L F C OF THE M O RE FRE Q U EN T D R E M S A
CH AP T E R V .

I N T E R PR E T A T I O N S

CH A P T E R VI .

A
T E L E P T H I C AN D D U L A PE R S ONA IT L Y

CH A P T E R VI I .

P R E M ON I T O R Y A
D RE M S
 C H A PT E R I .

W H AT S C I E N C E HA S TO S AY A BO U T T HEM .

I O UG H T to explai n wh y I b ei n g a person w i t h out any

l
,

of th e scientifi c attai nments that w oud fi t o ne for t h e

task take i t on m e to write of dreams I t occurred to
,
.

m e that th ere were certai n ki nds O f dream s com mo n

to nearly every one E v ery on e ( usi n g th e word i n
.

a l iberal sense and not i n th e g rud g i n g spirit of t h e

,

man who obj ected to n i nety ni ne ducks bei n g spoken

-

O f as a round h undred ) is fam il iar w ith the dream of

fallin g over a precipice A g reat many peopl e kno w

.

the dream that they are fl yi n g Few h av e not .

dreamed that they have entered a pol ite assembly i n

a costume very much m ore appropriate to a T urkish
bath th an to thei r visionary surround ings and there
l
,
.

are many oth er comm on g eneral y fam il iar d ream s

, , .

A nd th is bei n g so I was struck by th e fact that no

,

one seemed to have tried to find the commo n cause O f

each ki nd respectivel y of fam il iar d reams I f th ree .

quarters of manki n d say dream many times i n thei r

, ,

l ives that th ey are fall in g O ver precipices and hal f ,

mankind dream nearly as O ften that th ey are fl yi n g ,

then it seems only reasonable to th i n k tha t som e

’

2 ON D REAMS .

tolerably constant cause must produce the o ne and ,

some oth er constant cause the oth er Th ere seemed .

at least a stron g probability that this was so A nd .

s eei ng that no better qual ified person than mysel f

a ppeared i ncl ined to tackle th e probl em so su gg ested ,

—
I took upon m yself rush in g i n wh ere an g els seemed
fearful of treadin g — to wri te an essay i n Long m an s
’

l
Mag az zne brie fy stating the problem and asking for
'

l
I ,

igh ts L i g hts came in abundance that was rather

.
,

dazzling and st up i fy i ng I was delu g ed With l etters

.

o n the subj ect I had rashly asked peopl e to h elp me

.

b y givi ng me thei r own experiences and ideas As .

a resul t I was so pelted with experi ences as to bew ilder

m y own ideas compl etely and make the daily burden ,

of the postman almost too heavy for h im to bear .

T h e experiences were interesting th e ideas were i 1

l
,

um i nat i ng I can never be suffi cientl y g rateful to those

.

w h o took th e wholly g ratuitous pai ns of c om m u ni c at

i ng them to me B ut what came to me as th e most

.

s triking illum ination O f all was th e discovery that the

s ubj ect possessed so much g eneral i n te res t I t w as .

q uite astonishi ng A nd it is
. th is discovery that has
m ade m e so very bold as to attempt th is volume ,

d iscussin g the whole subj ect of dreams i n a more or

l
ess comprehensive thou g h altogether i n a popular
,

w ay . When I essayed m y fi rst essay on th e dream

problem that I have stated above I was assailed by ,

one critic ( usi n g rather heavy blud g eon s for the beating
O f a butterfly ) b ecaus e I d isplayed i g norance of the

w ritin g s O f the learned on the subj ect of dreams

g enerally I t would
. have needed extraordi nary acute
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM .

ness on my part to conceal such i g norance M ore .

i g nor ant few men could have been S i nce then I have .

fi
read wi th th e feebl e g rasp that a hopel essly unsci en
,

t i c brai n has O fmatters s cienti fic as mu ch as I could ,

lay hands on of what th e learned have wri tten But .

my criti c need not have blud g eoned so h eavi l y for I ,

fail to discover that th e part icular problem as I stated ,

i t was ever tackl ed or apparentl y ever real ised by

, , , ,

the learned and certain ly at th at ti m e i t was w ith no

,

idea of treati ng th e subj ect o f dreams compreh ens ively ,

even from th e m ost popular poi nt of V i ew that I ,

wrote A nd now m y g rasp on th e s ci entifi c details

.
,

bein g bu t feebl e I shall not try to explai n to anybody

,

else what I h ave not been able to explai n to mysel f ,

and shall avoid as far as poss ible all references to

di fferent nerv es of the body and cells O fth e b rai n that
fulfil differen t fu nctions A few words touch i n g on
.

t h e physiological aspect of th e subj ect are alm ost

i nev itabl e i f we are to g et any i dea of th e stuff th at
d ream s are made o f I f any one wh o has not yet
.

studied th e phys iology of th e subj ect is disposed to do

so he may have fat pasture of the ki nd for h is brai n
l
,

‘ ‘
i n the works of M aury ( Le S om mei ez [es R éves) O f
l
,

M acario ( D u S omm ez d es R éves et d e [a S omnambu

’

ll
, ,

of V o k h e t and O f Wu ndt O f our ow n .

countrymen D r C arpenter and S ir H H olland have

, . .

perhaps said most that i s to be unders tood by th e

‘
g eneral reader but i t is not e asy i n mos t poi nts to go
,

behi nd or beyond Maury s book wh ich is as interestin g

’

and i ntelligible as it is instructi ve althou g h i t i s ,

doubtful wheth er the factor wh ich he su gg ests as the

4 ON D REAMS .

ch ief one i n determ i ni n g th e l i nes that dreams will

take is l ikely to be accepted by th e g reat maj ori ty .

O f that however later

, ,
.

I n the fi rst place i t seems almost necessary before ,

w e can get any cl ear idea of what happens when we

dream that we should try to clear up our notions as
,

to what happens w hen we sleep What does g oing .

to sleep mean ' I t is not easily answered But even .

before answeri n g th is question we are met by th e

question wh ether we dream all th e wh ile that we are
sl eepin g . I t is a question that th e learned have
answered very variously so much so that th eir answers
,

seem fairly to balance each oth er and we are left with

,

a tolerably open sheet on wh ich to set our own con

v i c t i ons down .There are those who hol d that we
only dream at th e very moment O f awakin g but ,

thou g h i t is certai n that dreams make such mi nce

meat of time and space th at we can dream of events
extendin g over hou rs and miles i n a few seconds it is ,

no less certai n that th e m i nd is O ften hard at work

during sl eep — we speak we move lau g h and so on
, ,

long before the moment for wakin g I f th is is to

.

be called a dream and certai nly i t is the common use

,

O fthe term makin g it equ ivalent with any operation

,

of th e mind duri n g sleep ( no matter how compl etely

the sleeper for g ets i t when h e wakes up ) then i t i s
O bviously certai n that dreami n g is not confi ned to the

moment O fwaki n g O n th e other hand i f by dream

.
,

we are to mean only an operation O fthe mi nd duri ng

sleep O fwh i ch the dreamer is conscious wh en h e awakes ,

then t h e probl em remai ns unanswered ; al thou g h it is

 W H A T SC I E NCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM .

to be said that most peopl e on bei n g suddenl y woken

, ,

awake i nvariably to find that th e sudden waki n g has

broken O ffa dream and th is seems to make i t very
,

probabl e i ndeed that th e mi nd is unconsciously acti ve

all th e wh il e that we sl eep but that i t is comparati v el y
,

seldom that a memory of its acti vi ty remain s w ith us

when w e awake When w e awake g raduall y i n a
.
,

normal manner i t is l ikely that as we re g ai n full us e

,

of our sensory apparatus th e i mp ress ions it conveys to

us gradually efface those feebl e o nes that have com e
to us duri n g sl eep and so we forget th e latter I n
,
.

case of a sudden awakeni ng m emory and attentio n ,

become active before any aw akening sensory i mpres

sions h ave i ntervened to obl iterate th e im pressions
ma de i n sleep I n ci dentall y th e question ari ses as to
.

the meani ng w e are to g iv e th e word dream “

It
would be far more conven ient to restri ct i t to operatio n
O fth e m i nd duri n g sleep th at is remembered on awak

i ng ; but s ince i n common parlance we use i t O f any

, ,

operation of th e m i nd duri ng sleep ( th ou g h for g otten

by ourselves on awaki n g ) of wh ich O thers can tak e
notice ( as w e say of do g s that th ey dream whe n
“ ”

they yap and move i n thei r sl eep ) i t is better perhaps ,

to use i t for th e present at l east i n i ts com mo n

, , ,

sense al thou g h i f we adopt th e V iew that th e m i nd

, ,

i s active th rou g hout all the sleepi n g hours w e m us t ,

look on “
dream i n g i n th at sense as a co nstan t
accident O f sleep .

S leep so far as we can understand i t is a m ean s

, ,

of repairi n g fati g u e by rest C h em i call y des cri bed i t

.
,

is the repai ri n g O f th e waste i n tissues nerves and ,

6 ON D REAM S .

cells caused by oxidation T h e rate of th e circulatio n .

is lessened and th e heat O f th e body is lowered O n

,
.

the other hand th e heat of th e brai n is i ncreased and

, ,

there is a greater fl ow of b lood into its cells than i n

the normal wakin g state T h is i nflux O f th e blood i s .

found to produce curiousl y enough on e of two al most

, ,

O pposite conditions — a comatose con g estion that ac

companies perhaps produces perhaps is sl eep or a

, , ,
'

hyper ex citabil ity such as we are very fam iliar with

-
,

wh en we lie awake wi th hot head and cold feet And

l
.

i t also happens and generally h appens ( perhaps a

,

ways ) i n sleep th at some of th e cells of th e b rain ,

wh ich correspond on the psych ical side to certai n

m ental faculties are i n the state O f comatose conges
,

tion wh il e others cells correspondi n g to other facu l t ies

, , ,

are in th e state of h i g her excitab ili ty A nd furthe r .

it would appear that i t i s al ways those faculties of

attention will j udgment reasoni ng wh ich we may
, , , ,

call the higher facul ties that becom e comatose duri n g ,

sleep wh ile the i maginative faculty becomes hyper

,
.

excitable I t may be diffi cult to see why th e i nflux of

.

blood sh ould produce congestion i n th e one and th is

hyper excitability i n th e oth er There is a scientifi c
-
.

explanation which it does not matter to give here

, .

Perhaps it may best be understood by the familiar

ana l ogy of gout a complaint that we see produced
,

equally by over rich ness or by penury of blood ( opposite

-

conditions of blood produci ng almost th e same effect )

’
as i n the case of th e di fferent parts of th e sl eeper s

b rai n almost O pposi te results come from th e sam e

c ondition of the circulation A s th e ci rculation to the .
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM .

outer th e peripheral n erves is lowered duri ng sl ee p

, , ,

th e senses w ith wh ich th ey communicate becom e l es s

act ive .

S o wh en a man falls asleep he is i n th is condition

s o far as h is m ental processes are concerned : h i s
reasoni n g power ( wh ich we may take to include wil l
and j ud g ment and so on di fferent psycholo g ists hav e
, ,

such di fferent divisions all purely for convenien ce sake

,

really of these facul ti es ) and h is attention are prac t i

,

cally g one th ey are comatose th ey are fast asleep

, , ,

whereas his i magi nati on is abnormally active and

wide awake and h is senses are in th e condition o f
-
,

s em i acti vity i n wh i ch we fi nd them wh en we begi n to

-

“ ”
come to after a dose of anmst h et i c T hat seem s .

to b e a not unfai r account of th e condition of th e

sleeper o nly— th is is i mportant to remember i n con
,

si d eri n
g th e dream question — h e d id not g o to slee p
w ith his m i nd i n th e conditio n O f a tam/a m m It .

was not vacant I t was occupied with somethi n g I t

. . .

is not as i f the sleeper crossed a l i ne wh en h e fell

asleep and l eft all h is prev ious chai n O f connected
,

though t beh ind h i m o n th e other s ide of th e l i ne I t .

i s hard to say that th ere is any hard and fast l ine of

th e ki nd and i n any c ase i t is quite certai n that i f
,

th ere be th e m i nd g oes on m akin g i ts chai n l i n k by ,

l i nk as th e sl eeper crosses the l i ne I n fact we may

,
.

say that from bi rth to death ( and for au g h t we kno w

both before b irth and after death ) w e all are forging
our l ife -lon g cha i n of associated ideas w ithout a break .

A break O f course th ere i s i n th e shape of a new ,

startin g -poi nt now and agai n when th e chai n i s i n

, ,
8 ON D REA MS .

t errup t ed by some O bj ect stri king the senses which

breaks off the association and starts a new l ine of
,

though t ; but if we are to carry the metaphor o n

, ,

these points of departure would be better marked by

som e differe nce i n th e l i nk — say b y an iron ring i nstead
of the ordi nary link — i n the one long chain rather than ,

by a new chain altogeth er .

I can qu ite well imag i ne that i t w ill occur to som e

o ne to ask me seeing that
,
l
h ave j umbled up will and
j udgment ( these are not always enti rely but g enerally ,

a nd al ways i n som e g reat degree i n abeyance i n ,

d reams ) to g ether u nder the head of reasoni ng w h y ,

I should have bothered to keep attention separate .

I t will be seen I thi nk that attention is sometimes

, ,

p resent i n dreams so that,

we look on at and are con
s cious O f ourselves dream i n g wh ile the other h igher,

reasonin g faculties are quite i n abeyance and also th at ,

the faculty of attention i s som eti mes q uite i n abeyance

even in some waki ng states as for i nstance i n th e , , ,

fi
state of reverie ( name derived from th e dream the ,

ve as being so li ke it
,
) when we pursue a trai n of
thou g ht quite unconsciously and only wh en recalled
,
“

t o ourselves ,
”
—
as w e say th at is when ou r attention ,

i s drawn to what we are doing— do we rea l ise our

m ental action .

The t w o ways in wh ich th e l engthy chai n of l i fe

l ong thou g ht is forged prevail i n our sleepi n g mental
o perations no less than i n our wakin g ones that is to ,

sa
y there is : ( a) the association of ideas workin g on
a nd on i ndefinitel y until i t is interrupted by ( 6 the
)
a ppe arance of some obj ect O fsense that ei ther m i ng les
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM .

i tsel f wi th th e previous seri es of ideas and impress ions

o r starts a new series Th ese i nterruptions occu r l ess
.

often i n sl eep than i n th e waki ng state for m any obvious

reasons — usually we sl eep i n quiet i n the dark i n th e , ,

absence of obj ects to stri ke th e senses ; and also th e

nerves that com mu nicate with th e senses are i n a s tate
o f lowered sensibil ity owi ng to th e slower circulatio n
, .

A ll th is g i ves th e oth er way as th e cooks say a

“
, ,

m ore free chance and th e reasoni n g facul ty that would

, ,

tell us when th e association of i deas is leadi n g us to

i m possibil ities b ein g i n abeyan ce our m i nd wanders
, ,

on from absurdity to absurdi ty of i magi native concep

t ion th at is not match ed i n all th e thousand and on e

A rabian N ights S om e of th e writers and M aury I

.
, ,

th i nk amon g th em di vide th e central i ncitements

, ,
“

t o dreami n g i nto t wo h eads B y central i n citem ent

.
,

it should b e said is m eant th e i nci tem ent— th e starti n g

,

o ff— of a dream i n th e brai n itsel f T hus any dream.

arisi n g from th e association of i deas would be said to

be started from a central i n citem ent B ut th ey also .

i nvent another ki nd of central i nci temen t i n form of ,

som e physi cal l y su g gested tho ug ht S uch a th i n g m ay

.

occu r but i t is not very easy to see i n the fi rst place

, , ,

h ow th e people know th at th e dream started from an

ac C l
id ent a physi cal ch an g e i n th e b rai n rath er than
elsewhere ; nor s econdly
, what speci al advanta g e or
,

co nvenience is g ai ned by disti n g uish i n g a dream start

i n g from a sensational cause i n th e b rai n itsel f fro m
a dream s tarti n g from any oth er sensational cause .

T he use ful d ivision to m ake seems to be b etween th e

dream ope ration th at i s a s impl e conti nuatio n of the
10 ON D REAM S .

chain of associated ideas and impressions and th e dream

that is started or modified by some obj ect appeali ng to
one or other of the nerves Th is s impl e division .

covers all the ground and i t i s not easy to see th e

,

advantag e of complicati ng it H artley i ndeed makes .

, ,

a third headin g or class under whi ch h e puts ideas

,

and impressions lately received among th e originati ng

causes of dreams b ut i t is evident that these fall under
,

the h ead of association of i deas and impress ions .

Maury s theory of associated fibres i n the brai n spon

’

t aneou s
y lsu g gestin g i mpressions is too subtl e for u s
here The appeal to our senses need not of course
.
, ,

come from any outward obj ect M ore often probably .

it comes from somethi ng i n our ow n body some worry ,

of th e di g estive busi ness some musc l e growin g cramped

,

after lyi n g lon g i n one position too much warmth o r , ,

too much cold and so on B ut th e oth er cases i n .

,

wh ich a sleeper s dream h as been occasioned or al tered , ,

by a l ight brought i nto th e room a noise i n th e room , ,

and so on are too many and well establ ished for us to

,

doubt that they occur even i f our ow n experience did

,

not co nfirm th em .

The M arquis d H erv ey who made a profound study

’

O f the whol e ques tion of sl eep and d reams took th e ,

V i ew that sl eep meant merely th e los s of all sense ( I

am purposely statin g h is case very crudely ) the brai n ,

remaining i n its normal acti vi ty I t is a V iew how .

,

ever wh ich M aury combats wi th perfect success as

l
, ,

th e genera verdi ct allows pointing out on th e one ,

hand that th e avenues to the brai n by way of th e

senses are by no means alto g ether blocked i n sleep
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH E M . 11

and on the oth er h and that the activi ty of th e brai n i n

sleep is by no means of i ts normal ki nd .

I t may appear very s i n g ular an d i ndeed i t is most

,

curious that a s im ilar state of sl eep ( and o f rep ai r of

,

waste ) is i nduced i n th e members O f th e body by an

l
i n fux o f blood to the vessels b elo w th e normal am ount
l
,

as i n the brai n by an excessiv e i n fux of th e blood ( for

i t is correct enou g h to say that al l parts of th e body

fi
fi
sleep i n the chem i cal s en se of the word ) but M aury
, ,

‘
po i nts ou t that th ere i s a con g estion y em m zg ue and
’

also a conges tio n andm zg ue as h e calls th em Ag ai n

’

.
, ,

we may m ake th is seem l ess strange by rememberi n g

th e analo g y of the two gouts of the rich man and of ,

th e poor man as we call th em

, .

I t is th e V i ew of th e M arquis d H erv ey i n som e ’

degree following as a natural se quen ce on h is th eory

that s leep m eans l i ttl e else than th e abeyan ce of sensa
tion th at dreams becom e more distinct i n proportion
,

as the sleep becomes deeper T he co mmon phrase of

.

”
deep dreamless sl eep h e would therefore take to be
a contradi ction i n terms I t i s not v ery easy i n th e
.

first pl ace to fi x an exact m ean ing to the term deep

i n F ren ch p rofond
“ L — ’
as appl ied to sleep I n com .

mon tal k we us e it I thi nk i n t w o senses We us e

, ,
.

i t i n th e fi rst pl ace O f a sleep that migh t be better

“
called quiet wh en th e sleeper shows n o sign of any
,

m ental agitati on n o to ssi n g n o m umbl i n g of words ;

, ,

and i n anoth er sense we us e i t Of a sl eep from wh i ch

th ere is d i ffi culty i n awakin g th e sl eeper T h e t wo .

s ens es are di fferent for som etimes i t i s easy to wake

,

a sl eeper out of a very qu i et sleep and di ffi cul t com ,

12 O N D REAMS .

p arat i v e lto
y ,
wake h i m out of a sleep that gives i n

d i cat i ons of bei ng troubl ed S o we cannot do g matise.

'
about this M aury i n opposition to d H erv ey con
.
, ,

tends that a quiet sleep is dreamless but i t is h ard to ,

see that he proves it any more than d H erv ey strictly

’

speakin g proves his contention on th e opposite s ide ;

but the fact th at w h enever we wake a man suddenl y
( unl ess he be one of the very exceptional people who
never retai n when they awake any conscious ness of
, ,

any mental O peration duri ng sleep ) he alway sawakes to

find that h e was dreami n g is strong evidence surel y , , ,

against there being such a thi n g as dreamless sl eep at

all I t is not a littl e remarkabl e too and it i s evidence
.
,

that tells m uch i n favour of th e M arqu is d H erv ey s ’ ’

view that the dreams of wh i ch w e give the clearest

,

i ndications to those who are watch in g our sleep are

not as a rule those wh ich remain m ost clearly i n our
waki ng memory T he som nambul ist I bel ieve al most
.
, ,

i nvariabl y forg ets not onl y all that he did i n h is sleep ,

but al most al l th e trai n of thought that l ed up to h is

somnambul istic actions I f you wake a tossin g or a
.
,

tal king sleeper h e O ften will be found to retai n bu t a

very vag ue memory of the cause of h is troubled move
ments and mumblings F ar m ore l ikely are you as the
l
.
,

M arquis d I erv ey says and as all our evidence shows

’ -
, ,

to get a lucid account of a dream from a man whose

sleep has apparentl y been quite unvexed I t i s a .

commonplace observation that all memory of a dream

vanish es with wonderful quickness unless i ts incidents ,

be j otted down ru n over i n the m i nd or told to another

, , ,

im mediately on awaki ng B ut i n this there is no

.
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH E M . 13

mystery ; T h e fact that the faculty of attention i s

practi cally i n abeyance full y accou nts for it and per ,

haps th e wonder is rath er that any mem ory of mental

operations i n sleep sh oul d remai n at all i n th e waki n g
m ind than that i t sh oul d qui ckly vanish .

B es ides thes e ori g i nati n g causes of dreams th at we

have m entioned M au ry has a w hole class of creations
, ,

phantoms or whatever we are to cal l th em to wh i ch

l
, ,

h e ascribes a v ery preponderatin g i n fuen ce i n th e pro

duction of dreams A s described by h im th ere i s not
.
,

th e very sl i g htest doubt that they m ust h ave such

a preponderatin g i nfluence Y et he surely makes a
.

m istake i n th inki n g that as h e describes them th ey

are factors i n th e dream experi ence of ordi nary m en
and wom en . H e devotes a whole chapter to thes e
ph antoms under th e h eadi n g of
,
“
H allu cinations
H y pnag og i ques T h e mi nd of th e doz i n g man h e
”
.
,

says ( h e speaks of h is ow n m ind i n parti cular and ,

cl early h e deem s h is experi ence to be part O f the

com mon lot of man ) is bes et wi th a whol e host o f
,

h allucinations of appearances of people and places .

I n th e sense that th e m i nd between wakin g and sl eep

, ,

g oes on with its associatio n of ideas modified an d ,

perhaps altered entirely b y some sound diml y h eard

as sleep draws on this is of course true and part of
, ,

comm on experience but u ntil th e attention so far fall s

,

i nto ab eyance that we m ay be sai d to be actually asl eep

'

( for the bo undary l ine between sl eepin g and waki ng is

not fi xed hard and fast ) we do not I th i nk— th at is t o ,

say th e maj ority O f us do not — ever fi nd oursel ve s

taki n g part i n a conversation say with people we , ,

14 ON D REAMS .

kno w to be dead nor comm it any of the outrages on

,

common sense ( consequent on m istakin g th e i mages

-

that our ideas sug g est for O bj ecti ve real it i es ) such as

w e com mit i n sleep and s uch as M aury would h ave us
l
l
'

bel ieve that we comm it i n th e society o f those H a uc i

nations H ypnag og i ques A considerable number of
persons notwithstandin g seem to h av e b een conscious
, ,

of these hallucinations th es e creations of what they

,

“
do not wish us to call a d ream world but may per ,

“ ”
m it us to call a d oze world and curi ously enough
z
,

some of th e people wh o seem to have been mos t con

scious of them h ave been som e of th e learn ed people
who have wri tten o n the subj ect Th e G ermans have .

fi fi
i nvented a special name for th e phantoms of th e doze
world the a/Zzwznafzmzs yj mag og zg ues of M aury
’ ' '

l l
, ,

namely the S c z/um m ez é z d er g enerall y v isual imag es

’

, ,

occasioned as i t is p resum ed by sensations aroused

, , ,

in th e absence of external causes by some physical ,

commotion of th e nerves th emselves Y et i n spite of .

some learned argument i n favour of these i mages being

th e stuff of wh ich dreams are com monly composed i t ,

i s exceedin g ly doubtful wheth er more than a small

m inority ( among whom by th e bye is to be reckoned
,
- -
,

the notabl e i nstance o f Goeth e ) are aware of these

images at a l l W ith most of us i t would seem more
.

probable that association of i deas is suffi cient to account

for the raw material of most of our dreaming .

There is one very curious th i ng about the way in

which our ideas d uring sleep are associated wi th the
ideas that were i n our minds short l y before we went
“
to sleep I t i s the common experience of every
.
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH E M . 15

s choolboy as L ord M acaulay sai d that th e rep

, ,
“
.

l i nes to be learned by h ea rt for repetition i n the morning

school — i f conned over only carel essly over n i g ht will

fi
o ften be found clear i n h i s m i nd i n th e mornin g Th is .

would not be so curious i f we coul d nd any i ndi cation

that th e boy s mi nd was occupied with th ese l i nes
’

duri n g h i s sl eep B ut i n every case t h at has come

.
m

m y w ay at least — th e boy has dec l ared that h e d id not

“
dream of s uch rot as as h e i s l i kely to call i t ,

at all O f cri cket or football h e m ay have dreamt but

.
,

certai nly not of th e rep‘ A nd yet i t assuredly looks

.
’

as i f h is m i nd m us t h ave been busy un know n to h i m ,

sel f w ith that unsavoury s ubj ect d uri n g sleep or else

,

h ow can h e com e to know i t so m uch better ' T here

is h ere an u nexplai ned mystery as it seems to m e ; ,

nor can I fi n d that any of th e scientifi c books th ro w

any real l igh t on i t I t is a com m on observation
.

about dreams h ow absol utely th eir cause i s beyond

our control W e cannot determi ne what they shall be
.

about b y fixing our m i nd on any parti cular subj ect

,

before w e drop off to sleep nor can we after waki n g

, ,

out of a pleasant dream prolong i t by th i nki n g of i ts

, ,

i ncidents wh en we agai n fal l asleep I am well aware

, .

th at there are exceptio ns to th is rule — peo pl e who

cl aim and no doub t j ustly to be abl e to i nfluence i n
, ,

a great measure th e course o f thei r dream in g thou g hts ,

but they are i n a very s mall m i nori ty The rule mos t

c ertai nly is as I hav e stated We cannot by taking
.
,

,
.
,

thou g ht as w e go to sleep exercise any control over

,

th e course of our subsequent dreams S o true i s th is .

,

that among th e many wh o have written to m e there

 16 O N D REAM S .

are two who say that i f th ey sp ecially wish to avoid

dreaming of a certai n subj ect that th ey th i nk li kel y to
en g a g e their m inds during sleep they deliberately con
,

centrate th eir thou g hts on th is subj ect as they lay thei r

h eads on the pillow with th e certai nty that th is would
, .

prevent its occurrence i n their dreams avery remark

—
able statement i ndeed as i t s eems to me i n vi ew of
,

the well know n facts about th e school boys

-
etc .
,

wh ich seem to argue so stron g l y i n th e opposite sense .

I t would almost seem to su g gest the in ference that

t wo disti nct mental operations g o on whi le i n sl eep

that th ere is one set of ideas of wh ich we Mi n k un ,

consciously and anoth er set of wh ich we consciousl y

,

d ream ; and further that wh ile we are l i kely to thi n k

,

of the ideas on wh ich our attention was set shortl y

be fore g oing to sleep we are not on th e whole at all
, , ,

l ikely to d r eam of them O n th e other hand w e are

.

very apt i n dreams to recur to all those i deas and i m

pressions With wh ich our m inds are zabz ua/Zy occupied ll
’

thou g h not those to wh i ch we have given a recent and

forced attention j ust as th e schoolboy thou g h h e has ,

“
lately concentrated h i msel f on h is rep more often .
,

dreams of the cricket and football wh ich are th e mor e

natural and habi tual occupation of h i s m i nd .

A ttention and study as we hav e said weaken as

, ,

we drop off to sleep I t i s very com mon with m ost

.

of us I th i nk as we lay our h eads on the pillow to

, , ,

“
say to ourselves more or l ess consciously now h ere
, ,

I am g oin g to sleep at th e end of another day ; let s

,
’

see what I have done i n i t A nd a mental review

O f the d y s work be g ins — and commonly ends as
’

a ,
,
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH E M . 17

the attention w eakens —wi th th e contemplation of th e

i nci d ent i n i t that has i nterested us most and thi s i n
'

spite o f all our i ntenti on to keep our m i nds concen

t rat ed on a particular obj ect We may conj ecture
.

that the explanation of the exceptional cases noticed

above ( o f a man dream i n g O f th e subj ect that he h as
sug g ested to h is m ind as h e laid h i msel f down to
sl eep ) may be that th is subj ect happe ns to be th e one
w ith wh ich h is mi nd has been most occupi ed duri n g
th e day th e most remarkable i ncident of h is day O f
,
.

course th is th eory is rath er contrad icted by th e ex

eri enc e of th o se who i nsure avoidance i n th ei r dreams
p
of a certai n subj ec t by fi x i n g th ei r m i nds on i t as they
l i e down b ut perhaps a g ai n thei r experience is too
, , ,

exceptional to be re g arded as any val id ar g ument on

th e g eneral question .

“
T h e sch ool boy does not dream O f h is rep It .

’
is to be noted that wh en a man s m i nd has been so
engrossed i n h is work that i t becomes th e subj ect
matter of h is dreams h is sl eep i s s eldom re fresh i n g
,

and h is state is morbid T h is is to be expl ai n ed o n

.

the physi cal s ide by sayi n g that th e apparatus em

ployed i n h is daily work does not g et its natural rest ,

does not sl eep in fact and g et th e ch em ical const i t u

,

tion of i ts fibres and cells repai red .

T here is not the l eas t doubt that when we be g i n

to i nvesti g ate th is whol e matter of dream in g matter ,

th at we are obl i g ed to i nvesti g ate mostly by notin g

'

our ow n symptoms we h av e to be particularl y on ou r

,

g uard a g ainst sel f deception I t is so easy to imag in e

-
.

that we have v isual h al luci nations or whatever we ,

2
 O N D RE AM S .

please to term them so easy even to en coura g e our ,

s elves by unc onscious sel f su g gestion to have them -

.

A t every stag e we have to regard ourselves with th e

g reatest suspicion as not only possible but
, v er
y p ro , .

babl e frauds for th e purpose of such an inquiry

, , .

A nd th is being so it i s perm issibl e that we should,

m ete out at least equal measure of th is critical sus

p i c i on to the account of thei r symptoms that others

g ive us I t i s very di ffi cult for us to avoid becomin g
.

sli g htly neurotic when our attention is continuousl y

fixed on our own nerves ( wh ich are apparatus that w e
never ou g h t to th ink about at all ) and we are aroused
to more than a suspi cion o f neuroti c tendency in
M aury who has given us perhaps the most complete
,

survey of the whol e question by some of his state ,

ments of his ow n symptoms both i n th e sleeping and ,

the waking state B ut i f any one desire a fuller and

.

fi
more exhaustive treatment than even M aury g i v es
l
of the ee /m znat i om j¢ nag og zg ues h e had bes t read
' °

l
y

M B aillarg er s arti cl e D e i nfl uence de l etat i nter

.
“ ’ ’ ’

m ed i ai re a la veille et au sommeil sur la production

et la marc h e des hallucinations i n the A nna/es
‘
med i copsy eé o/og i g ues d a sy szem e n er v eu
- xf M aury

o n th is point says :
“
O n voit on son g e ( j ust befo re ,

g oing to sleep ) des personnes et des O bj ets auxquels

on n av ai t pas pensé depuis des années ( when he
’

“ ” “ ’

says on voit he means I suppose in the m ind s

, ,

eye for he specially says devant mes paup i eres

,
” “

fermées ) A nd h e goes on C es apparitions sont la

l
.

’
preu ve que associ at i on pl us ou moi ns log ique des
idées ne saurait expl iquer tous les ré v es ; car c est e
’
l
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM . 19

p h é nom é ne de ll
’
l
u ha c i nat i on
qu i s y h yp nag og i ques
’

poursuit . L a pre uve p roof i s al ways a m i g h ty

”
,
”
,

b i g wo rd I t m eans a deal A nd w ith th e h i g h es t

. .

respect to M M aury i t certainly s eems too bi g a word

.

for th e kind of eviden ce h e o ffers us here j ust as also , , ,

car seems to be a word of far more stri ct lo g i cal

“ n

sequen ce th an w e can fi nd j ustified by th e force O f

th e argument I t does not i n the l east follow because
.
,

we can not trace th e association o f i deas ri g h t on from

thei r source to th is or that ph eno menon or li nk i n th e ,

chai n that th e phenomenon was of necessi ty s u gg ested

,

by someth in g outs ide that associatio n ; i ndeed the

o rdinary mi nd is rath er surprised than otherwise when ,

suddenly aski n g i tsel f th e questio n as O ften h appens ,

“
Wh at i n th e world made m e th i nk of such or such
a fact or person ' i t succeeds i n answerin g the
”

question i n traci n g th e trai n of th ou g h t to i ts source

,
.

A nd i f there b e th i s di ffi culty i n traci n g the course of

waki n g thou g ht h ow m uch more l i kel y th at there
,

would be di ffi cul ty about traci n g th e m uch looser ,

irresponsi bl e and u ncontrolled su gg estions of ideas

duri n g sleep when th e attention was scarcely al ive
,

at all for th e ti me bei n g to take notice o f i t

, , .

a
T h e operation of th e attention has so lar g e an effect
i n determ ini ng sleep or wakefulness th at no oth er

fi
mental facul ty h as so much A very dull sermon or .

book that lets th e attention flag is an excellent sopori c .

I f we are wakeful with th e attention concentrated

, ,

despite ourselves on some worry the best m eans of

, ,

dispelli n g th e wakeful ness is to read a book that shall

d istract th e attention to another t op1c Th e same .
20 ON D REAMS .

function is i ntended to be performed by t he sheep

personally I always fi nd it more amusi ng to turn these
kyp fl ag og zg ues
'

into pigs — going one by

one thro ug h a g ate The pigs rush and squeal m ore
.

amusi ngly than th e sh eep and I th i nk divert th e

, , ,

attention better C oncentration O f m ind even the

.
,

l istenin g for an exp ected sound is fatal to sleep ,

.

A bsence of concentration is its condition I t is not .

a synonym of sleep for after the attention falls i nto

,

abeyance th e semi -comatose condition of th e senses

has to supervene before one falls asleep A very .

curious fact is related to me out of the experience of

one of th e many peopl e wh o have been g ood enough
to help me with instances about dreaming I t is to .

the effect that when the wri ter falls l i g htly and for a
sh ort time asleep he always fi nds that his dreams are
,

of events that have happe ned lately Wh en on th e .

contrary he is awakened from a sound sleep he always ,

finds his dream occupi ed with events that happened

long a g o almost as i f th e thou g h t i n the sou nder sleep
,

went back to some of the deeper layers o f remin iscence ,

to speak in th is m etaphorical way about it I t is a .

case th at is the more worth notin g because ( were i t

found to be confirmed by O thers ) it seems as if it migh t
th row some new li g h t on th e many probl ems that still
beset the whole i nquiry I t does however requi re a
.
, ,

g ood deal of corroboration to make i t of any val ue for

,

the drawin g of inferences ; but i f i t should be found to

be a typical condition in dreams it m ust seem as i f
,

it had some connection wi th the tendency so often

O bserved i n th e very O d l
whose inte l lectual powers
,
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH EM . 21

are fail i n g to remember events that happened lon g

,

a g o far more clearly than th e ev ent O f yesterday .

I t is worth remark too and i s not alto g eth er al ien

, ,

from our subj ect that th e perception of ti me wh ich is so

,

alto g ether wanting i n dreams depends almost entirel y

on the attention The atten tion i s i n abeyance i n
.

dream s ; and so too th e perception of time T h e

, , .

typical case and h istori cal i ns tance is that of L ord

H olland wh o fell asleep wh ile a book w as bein g read
to h im awo ke to hear the fi nish o f the sentence that
,

h e had heard begun and i n th e m omentary i nterval

,

dreamed a dream extend i n g over a considerable ti me .

Th e loss of perception O ftim e is not of course restri cte d

to a dream state al thou g h i t is in that condition that
,

i t is most constantly and compl etely exh i bited I n .

m i nutes or even h ou rs of wakin g reverie not to speak

l
l
, , ,

of th e tran ce and th e l i ke ab normal states we lose a ,

idea of time ; and confess as much more or les s ,

consciously i n com mon talk when the clock stri kes

, ,

or the di nner bell sounds to arouse us and we ej ac u , ,

“
late B y J ove I had no idea it was so late I
,

I t is more than p ro babl e that th e whole conceptio n

of time depending on th e exercise O f the attention
, ,

wh ich is an exercise of th e reasoni n g power s carcel y ,

exists amon g th e lo west nations of m anki nd and i s ,

developed pro g ress ivel y with th e development of th e

reason i n g faculty E v idently a compl ex state of
.

society requi ri n g a ni ce fitti n g O f the various dutie s

,

o f th e day fix ed meal ti mes and th e rest dem ands a

, ,

far closer attention to th e occupation of tim e than i s

required i n t h e pastoral nomadic or the hunter state , .
22 ON D REAMS .

A n A merican who had been much amon g th e I ndian

,

tribes described to me th ei r i ndi fference to time as

,

somethin g almost divi ne to use h is own word A

“
,
”
.

band of th e Pawnees he said would sometimes encamp ,

for a while i n the neighbourhood of h is home -stead on

their way to a certai n forest wh ere th ey found suitable
poles for their wi g wams A nd sometimes they woul d
.

g o on the next day or sometimes they would stay for

,

a month or even th ree years ( that was the lon g est

,

period that h e named to m e ) before movi ng on to

complete th e business on which they had set out .

N or did they seem to be actuated by any motive for

stayin g or for movi n g N 0 plan invol vin g any con
.

cern w ith ti me seemed to hav e entered i nto their

heads u nless it were to mov e on when thei r present
,

W i g wa m poles should actually fall to pieces My .

i nformant added that tho ugh he and all the nei g hbour
h ood were on excellent terms with the I ndians they ,

were g reatl y reli eved wh en they d id at len g th decide

on a move because th ey were one and all expert a
, nd , ,

u nscrupulous horse thieves Th e whole story illus

-
.

trates an i ndifference to tim e that may i ndeed be

described as “
divi ne or equal l y we l l as dream
,
“

”
like
I n a work to digni fy by such a name a book so
,

“
entirely popular as this it is not perhaps worth ,

w h ile to go deeper i nto th e physiolo g ical side of sleep

and dreamin g Wi thout some l i ttle sketchy attempt
.

o f the kind it did not seem very easy to brin g the

reader up ( or down ) to that equal s tate of ignorance

w ith th e writer which is necessary i f they are to under
 W H A T SC I ENCE H AS T O SAY A B OU T TH E M . 23

stand each othe r in th e chapters that follow I f any

.

are brave enou g h to g o furth er i nto th e subj ect i n th e

’
writer s company th e latter bel i eves he can promis e
,

th em l ess dry and di smal entertai nment i n th e pages

to come .
 C H A PT E R II .

T H EI R AS SO C I AT I O N W I T H I D EA S OF I MM O RT A LI T Y .

W H E N man first came to such power m ind as to be Of

able to look on at h is own mental operations and take

i ntelli g en t co g nisance O f them h is first dream must ,

have been a very funny experience H e did not set .

out equipped as we are wi th a very perfect system O f

, ,

psycholo gy a syste m so perfect that we chan g e i t for

,

th e better daily with each new book of each new

psycholo g ist S O th is primitive man waki n g up one
.
,

morni n g from the fi rst dream the first experience of ,

the kind O f wh ich h e had an i ntelli g ent consciousness ,

“
says to his wi fe I have seen my father whom w e ,

saw killed a year a g o H e came and tal ked to m e

.

last ni g h t.
”

S O th is makes a new departure i n the ideas of the

man and h is wi fe about the nature of man N O doubt .

he had not form ulated h is ideas very clearly but such ,

as they were h ere was a disti nct and defini te addition

,
.

H is father whom he had seen killed had come and

, ,

talked to him H is father therefore was not dead

.
, , .

A nd yet he had seen the father s body or one of h is ’

bodies die and perish

, I t was evident therefore
.

that h is father was composed of t wo bein g s one O f ,

TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M M O R T AL IT Y . 25

wh i ch was dead and the other still al ive and capable

, ,

of reappearance T hence the prim i tive dreamer

.

would quickl y co me to th e i dea of th e survival of

a part of the man of one side o f h is being so to
, ,

speak O f it after the d eath of the other

,
H ow .

lon g after we do not know nor when th e idea ,

o f i m mortal i ty of everl asti n g deathl essness o f th e

, ,

soul came i n T his is probably a very much late r

.

notion and we fi nd S ocrates wh o is not to be re g arde d

, ,

alto g eth er as a pri meval savag e i ntroduci n g the idea ,

as a new one and one so stran g e as to requi re som e

,

l i ttle apolo g y for its i ntroduction i n th e last book o f

l
,

me R ep ué zc T h e l i fe of th e man after death wh ich

'

.
,

i s perh aps as n ear as w e can g et modern words to

express th e idea of th e savag e about h is dead father s ’

appari tion i n a dream is one th i n g and th e immortal ity

, ,

of the soul th e idea that i t l ives endlessly qui te

, ,

another th i n g I t is th e former idea that th e dream

.

su gg ested to th e m ind of pri m iti ve man T he sug g es .

t ion may h ave led eventuall y to the latter idea but ,

there was a length of m ental travell in g to be done

before arriv in g th ere I n th e meanti me prim itive man
.
, ,

to wh om the world was open i n g l i ke an oyster had ,

o ther and more i m mediate th in g s to occupy him In .

o ne dream h e saw h is father whom h e had previously ,

seen killed I n th e next dream h e saw thin g s at a

.

g reat distance away from the place i n wh ich h e was

sleepi n g When h e a w
. oke we may suppose h im tellin g
h is wi fe that h e had been a j ou rney in to a far country
and never h ad travell ed so qui ckl y before O n wh i ch .

h is wi fe would contradict h i m and say that he had

26 ON D REAMS .

been here in th is place asleep all the time A t first

, , , .
,

probably the man denied th is and the wi fe would not

, ,

ins ist for the woman s ri g hts and especially her d ivi ne
,
’

ri g ht to contradict h er h usband had not y et been i n ,

vented T he instrum ent of conviction i n those days

.

was not th e syllogism but a stout stick so the wi fe ,

woul d acquire the art that modern women have lost , ,

of s ilenc e B ut after a wh ile the husband would learn

.

from others besides h is w ife others as well equi pped ,

as hi msel f with th e weapon of pri mitive convi ction ,

that h e h ad not sti rred from beside h is fi re even ,

though he appeared to h i mself to h ave gone to a far

country S o th en he would acqu ire anoth er idea
.
,

supplementary to h is notion about the life of h is

fath er s soul after death H e woul d arg ue that wh il e
’
.

he himsel f to all appearance w as alto g ether here ,

asleep by h is fi re i t was in real ity only hal f of h i msel f

,

that remai ned h ere th e other hal f j ourneyi ng off to a

,

far country and s eeing s trange t h in g s Th e conclu .

sion of that agai n was that man was composed of t wo

, ,

parts of wh ich one wou l d stay asleep by the fire and

,

the other g o wanderin g and i t was l ikel y that this ,

same other part that went wanderi n g whe n the fi rst

part was asleep also went wanderin g when the fi rst
,

part was dead and thus s impl y and naturally th e ap

, , ,

p a ri t i on of dead peopl e is accounted for I t is all n ice .

and easy A s ingular point to be notic ed about i t all

.

fi
is that it is only i n sl eep or i n trance or death that th e
t wo parts seem able to disconnect themselves su f
l
c i ent
y for th e one to g o wanderi ng O f
f independently
of th e other A nd i n this we see the be g innin g s of
.
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS O F I M M O R T AL IT Y . 27

th e idea of the proph eti c trances th at hav e pleased th e

notions of man i n all countries at a certai n stage o f
i ntellectual progress .

Prim iti ve man bein g observant as he h ad to be, ,

i f h e was to l ive did not fail to notice that i n thos e

,

conditions sleep trance death wh en th e soul ( so to

, , , ,

speak of h is notion for conveni e nce sake ) went wander

,

i n g t h ere was a di fference i n th e manner of breath i n g

, ,

from th e manner i n whi ch th e man breathed wh en

awake and when h is soul did not wander I n sl eep .

th e breath i n g was slower and more regular reduced ,

a g ai n i n trances whether of t h e cataleptic or most

,

other natures fi nally qu iescent alto g eth er as d eath

, ,

cam e on T he i n ference was natural and i nev itabl e

.

that th ere was a close con nection and perhaps identity

between soul and breath so that we g et the words ,

spiritus ani ma pneu ma and so on i n L ati n G reek

, , , , , ,

S anscrit S lavonic T uranian and whatsoever lan g uag e

, , ,

of manki nd you will — i n every case the words are more

or l ess interchan g eabl e and synonymous for soul and
breath Th e b reath was th e outward and palpabl e
.

sign of life that ceased w ith death as th e soul le ft its

’

tenement .

A nd yet the soul seldom appeared naked I t usuall y .

appeared clad w ith som e ki nd of coverin g always of ,

th e kin d that i t had worn d urin g li fe —or would ag ai n

w ear in li fe i f i t w ere but th e soul of some sleepi n g
, ,
,

not of some dead person appe aring Th is is a con .

sideration that l eads to another l in e of the prim iti ve

man s thou g h t Th e late P rofessor C handler Professor
’
.
,

of M oral P hilosoph y as I t I S cal led ( there used not to

,
28 ON DREAMS .

be m uch eth ics or morality about it ) at O xford used , ,

to say of those that tried to found any argument on

,

’
a l ife after death from the appearance of dead persons
g hosts that if g hosts proved anyth ing they proved
,

too much for they not only proved that the man was
i mmortal but that his hat and coat were immortal too
, ,

for whenever you m et a ghost you always found it

decently dressed Therefore he said ghosts proved
.
, ,

i f anythi n g too much I t seems a l ittle too much i t

.
,

i s true for our mental swallow but it was not at all too
, ,

much for the savage I f ever there was a proverb that

.

expresses wisdom garnered by h ard experience i t is

“
that which tells us that appearances are deceptive
The primitive man had not the fai ntest inkl in g of t h is
solem n truth H e believed all that appeared to hi m
.

with the simpl icity of a new boy i n h is fi rst term at

sch ool I n many ways he was v ery i ke that boy j ust
. l ,

be g innin g i n the lowest form in a strange school

, , .

We must g o back to have another look at that dreaming

man with h is w ife by h is side taki n g notes to be u fed ,

with much caution subsequently by reason of the ,

i nstrument of conviction .

H e would go to sleep and th ere would appear to ,

him i n h is d ream the vision of h is do g wh ich h e had

, , ,

buried or eaten a week ago when a wild beast had

, , ,

killed it N aturally therefore he says to his wife

.
, ,

when he awakes : Ponto —to translate the dog s

“ ” ’

name —“
is li ke my father h e too has a soul that is ,

alive for he has been to see me

, S O that w as
quickly settled —anima l s also have a soul that does
not die when th eir bodies d ie B ut there is yet more .
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M MO R T AL IT Y . 29

than th is A week ag o this primitive man lost h is

.

axe of stone fathoms deep i n the river as h e swam

, ,

across H e could not find i t by div i n g : i t was com

ll
.

p e t e y dead to h im lost for ever ,

Y et h e went to .

sleep and i n h is dream i t appeared to h i m H e did

,
.

not see i t down i n th e depths of th e ri ver or el se ,

there would have been nothing stran g e I t would .

merel y have meant that h is soul h is second sel f , ,

went wandering and saw i t th ere bei n g a bette r ,

diver than h is body B ut h e saw th e axe hangin g

.

up o n th e tree bou g h where he always used to han g

i t I t was th ere S o th is proved that l i ke h is fath er
. .
, ,

and his do g h is axe too had a soul a second sel f

, , ,

—
that could move about i t seemed a constant attribut e
of th ese souls to h ave much g reater freedom of move
ment than th e bodies to wh i ch they belonged — i t was
proved by th e si mpl e fact that he had seen i t ; for i f
prim itive man had not ass i milated the proverb that
appearances were decepti ve h e had a most perfect
faith in that rather contradi ctory one of our coi n in g
“ ’
that says seei ng s bel ievi ng H e bel ieved becaus e
h e saw That was all A nd from th is belief several
. .

rather si ngular results followed H e saw that h is .

father had a l ife after death A nd i n th at l i fe after .

death he had no reason to doubt that h is father re

quired the th i ngs that had been necessary for h is
exist ence in th is l ife Th e prim itive man h ad no
.

idea of an a fter l ife i n wh i ch t h ere was no eating an d

drin kin g H ad such a l i fe suggested itsel f to his
.

m ind h e would have fi g ured it as a li fe hardly worth

,

th e l ivin g seein g that h is pri ncipal j oys i n th e l i fe

,
30 ON D REAMS .

that was famil iar to h im were j ust these eatings and

drinkings H is father h e would assume would have
.
, ,

need for the th ings that were essential to h is sub

sistence h ere ; su ch for instance as h is axe and h is
, ,

fire stick A nd since these th i n g s too h ad a life aft er

.

fi
death ( as was apparent by th e v is ion i n dreams of the
axe that h e had seen drowned and the rest i ck that
he had seen b urned ) there w as the l ess difficulty i n
conceivi ng h is father us i n g them i n the l ife after
death A nd in order th at they should be ready at
.

fi
h is hand in that future life th e custom g rew of bury
,

i ng t h e material axes and rest i c k s and so on with

people when th ey died so that the souls of th e dead
sho u
,

ld take the souls of th ese th i ngs w i th them to th e

S pi rit world T he buryin g of the axes and so on pro
.

bably did not mean that the pri mi tive people thought
’
the man s soul took away the actual material axes into
th e spi rit world—there was i ndeed constant d isproof
of th is i n th e u ndoubted fact that the axes remained
i n the g rave— but the notion was that th e spi ri t man
used th e spiri t axes and that these were th e h andier
,

for h is use if the material part o f them could be laid

beside h is material part O f course it is rath er hard
.

work trying to explain m ental processes i n th e

lang uage of quite a di fferent psychology from that
o f the person who thou g h t by the mediu m of th es e

processes O ne can but do on e s best and ask the

.
’

reader s good and intell i g ent h elp i n trying to g et

’

the thi n g intelligible I n th is notion of t he souls

.

o f the material th i ngs there does not seem to be any

i m mediate foreshadowi ng of the Platoni c notion of
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M MO R T AL IT Y . 31

28am th ough th is too i mpl ied th e existence of a spirit

,

ki nd of axe i n a s upernatural world B ut th e Platon i c

,
.

idea seems to have bee nthat there ex isted som ewh ere ,

i n some supernatural world a s i n g le and very perfect

,

axe that was the type or model of al l th e i mperfect

,

and terrestrial axes —givi ng the m i nd of man who

i nvented th e axe h is fi rst s ug gestion I t is quite a
di fferent notion fromthat of th e pri mitiv e man wh o
.

conceives a supernatural existence of each axe and

material th ing of present use — an existence su gg ested
to h im by th e appearance of th ese th i n g s i n h is
dreams T he notions are quite distinct I t n eeded
. .

another th eory to be th e con necti n g l i nk bet ween th e

t wo . I f no very clos e relat i onsh ip is to be traced
’
between th e pri miti ve man s ideas of the obj ect souls
and th e ideas that Plato recorded from th e mouth O f
S ocrates i t is far otherwi se with anoth er set of
,

classical ideas l ess famous than those advanced by

‘

S ocrates but wh i ch have had much more influence

,

on modern thought T hey are th e ideas that we

.

associate with the nam e of D emocri tus T he re

l
.

at i onsh i p of th ese i deas to P lato s i deas

’
as those ,

wh ich S ocrates is supposed to have enuni cat ed are

g enerally termed is not very di ffi cul t to trace but i t
, ,

is not much to the p resent purpose What is more .

i nterestin g is that those ideas of D emocritus are a

most i mportan t l i nk between pri m itive and modern
thou g ht and make the h is tori cal chai n comp lete
, .

We have seen the pri mitive man specul at i n g abo ut

th e apparitions that came to h i m i n d reams and ,

i nferri ng from them the souls of men beasts plan ts , ,

32 ON D REAMS .

and i nani mate obj ects I t had not yet however

.
, ,

happened to h i m to look on at hi msel f th in kin g so ,

to say to wonder how th e mach inery of thou g ht wen t

,

on A s soon as man be g an to look at hi mself from

.

that point of view metaphysics commen ced and they

,

commenced w ith the ideas of D emocritus Th e .

question that D emocri tus asked hi msel f ( and it was

a question th at it h ad not occurred to man to ask
before ) was h ow h is soul ( as we should say h is mi nd ) ,

‘
got the perceptions of external obj ects H i therto .

man had taken all th is for g ranted S uch and such .

an external O bj ect existed I t was there before h is

.
,

eyes N aturally h e saw it he was conscious of it

.
, .

T o D emocri tus and to th e school of wh ich h is nam e

,

is typical it occurred that i t was not so natural i n th e

, ,

“ “ ”
sense of i nevitable and expl icabl e ; and th e
more they be g an to consider the question th e more ,

di fficul t it appeared to be to answer it The i nterest .

of thei r poi nt of v iew consists quite as much i n the

fact that th ey asked themselves the question as i n
the answer th ey worked out for i t for i t was th e fi rst
,

ti me so far as Western H i story at all events shows

,

us that man ever did put such a question to h imself

, .

That he should have done so th en marks O ffth e date

and th e school and the philosopher as makin g a new ,

epoch i n the his tory of hu man thought M an took a .

disti nct step upwards towards th e g ods and the pure

,

l i g ht when first the question was put forth

,
.

The question i tself would su ffi ce to warrant that

the answer should claim our i nterest even i f th e answer ,

i n itself had no interest B ut the answer had an i nterest

.
,
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M M OR T AL IT Y . 33

l
particu arl y in co nnection wi th our present s ubj ect be ,

cause i t is supposed to have b een d rawn from th e notion

of those very obj ect souls wh ich prim itive man i nvented
to accoun t for h is dream v ision s I t was a notion .

fam iliar enou g h to th e ph ilosophers of earl y G reece .

E verywh ere i n th e ancien t world we fi nd th e custom o f

buryin g th in g s l i kely to be useful to the deceased i n
, ,

th e g rave alon g wi th h im kept up lon g after an act iv e

,

belief that h e really would use th em had passed away .

S ometimes th e thi ngs were not even useful but onl y ,

symbol ic S uch were th e j ewellery th at th e E truscan s

.

bu ried wi th thei r dead and th e l i ttle toys that w e d i g

,

up from the m ummy g raves of th e Eg yptian I t is . .

said that to th is d ay th e E squimau x b ury toy canoe s

w ith th e deceased .Th e early C h ristians placed play
thin g s and weari n g apparel i n a g rave and even now ,

th e G erman and th e I rish peasan ts bury th ei r dead

w ith a coi n i n th e hand or mouth T h e com mon.

practi ce of the E n g lish poor of layi ng coppers on the

eyes of th e dead may have a li ke origi n thou g h these ,

serve a practical purpose too .

A question from that very learned an d v ery i n

t erest i ng book ( th e t w o do not by any m eans al way s

. l
g o to g ether) M r T y or s Pr i m i t i ve Cu ure i n wh ich
’
l
l ,
,

all these th i n g s are discussed and i nstances cited at .

g reat len g th shows wh at th e custom was i n th e days

,
.

of old Greece .
“
L ucian h e writes i s sarcastic
, , ,

but scarcely u nfai r i n h is com m ents on the G reek

,
“

funeral ri tes speaki n g of th ose who sl ew horses and

,

slave girls and cupbearers and burned or burie d

-
,

cloth es and ornam ents ( th e burnin g was a reco g nised

”

3
34 ON D REAMS .

means of sending to th e spiri t world and both the ,

buryi n g and the burn i n g were th e custom w ith th e

A ryan peoples generally) as for use and serv ice i n
“

the world below ; of the meat and dri nk offeri ngs on

the tombs wh ich serve to feed the bodiless sh ad es i n '

H ades of the splendid g arments and g arlands O f th e

d ead that they m i g ht not suff
,
er cold upon the road ,

o r be seen naked by K erberos ( Perhaps w e.see

s ome remnant of the custom of garlandi n g the dead

i n the wreath s and flowers of the modern E n gl ish

funeral ) “
. F or K erberos h e g oes on was i ntended
,
“

the honey cake deposited with th e dead ; and th e

obol us placed i n the mouth was the toll for C haron ,

save at H erm ione i n A rg ol is wh ere men thou g ht

,

there was a short descent to H ades and therefore ,

provided th e dead with no coi n fo r th e gri m ferryman .

H ow such ideas could be realised may be seen i n th e ,

story of E uk rat es whose dead wi fe appeared to h i m

,

to demand one O f h er g olden sandals which had been ,

d ropped underneath th e ch est and so not burnt for

,

h er with th e rest of her wardrobe ; or i n the story of

P eriander whose dead wi fe M el issa refused to g ive
, , ,

an oracular response for she was shiverin g and naked

, ,

because the g arments buried with h er had not bee n

b urnt and so were of no use ( the idea bein g that the
,

O bject souls were set free by th e burn i ng to g o to ,

“
the spirit world) wh erefore Periander plundered the
C orinth ian women of their best clothes burned th em i n a ,

g reat trench with prayer and now obtai ned h is a nswer

, ,

I nstances migh t be m ultipl ied without end but ,

enou g h is said to show that the notion of the souls of

TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M MO R T AL IT Y . 35

obj ects was v ery ready to th e h and of D emocritus and

h is s ch ool whatever de g ree of creden ce th ey g ave to
,

th e rel i g ious points involved and o f th ei r notion they

mad e use to form a theory of the man ner i n which
man percei ved external obj ects T h e obj ects accord .
,

i n g to the theory on wh ich they answered th e question

th ey had su gg ested to th emsel ves were conti nually ,

th rowin g off l i kenesses of th emsel ves souls of them ,

selves O r ideas accordi n g to th e term that D emocritus

, ,

used T hese l i kenesses absorbed the air of th e atmos

.

h e re and enteri n g i nto th e soul of th e recipi ent en

p , ,

abled h i m to perceive th e obj ect .

F antastical enough maybe ; but wh eth er the ,

answer of D emocritus is acceptabl e i n any de g ree by

modern though t i t i s certai n that modern thou g h t
,

be g an when he and hi s fellows posed thei r great and

still not very adeq uately ans wered question Th e .

notion h owever that th ere was some ki nd of O bj ecti ve

, ,

real ity i n th e speci es som e obj ecti ve real ity i n our

,

“
idea of an axe say surv i v ed down to a very late date
, ,

i n th e h istory of human thou g ht certai nl y well i nto ,

th e ni neteenth century T h is notion th ou g h it is

.
,

perhap s as aki n to th e idea o f Plato as to th at of

Dein oc ri t us certai nl y ow es its ori g i n to th e latter
‘

p h ilosopher and th e th eory su gg ested to h im by the

prevalent notion of the souls of obj ects I t is th e .

ulti mate triumph of modern thought to real ise the

i dea or g eneral co nception as som eth in g purel y
, ,

abstract w ith no m aterial s ide to it at all except th e

, ,

subtle ch an g es i n th e brai n cells and th e nerves that ,

communi cate wi th them i n the recipi ent , .

36 ON DREAM S .

O ne point of some i nteres t that is raised by th i s

ancient custom of buryi ng unburnt th e dead man s ’

weapons wives and so on with h i m i n h is g rave is

, ,

that it obviousl y impl ies the notion that the soul the ,

second self is not d issevered from the body once and

,

for all at th e moment O fdeath I f th is were th e bel i ef

.
,

th ere would be no motive i n buryin g th e weapons

along w ith a body from wh i ch all l i fe h ad g one and
which could never possibly have any use for them .

The idea clearly is that th e soul or second sel f may

come back for a time at least to the terrestrial body
, , ,

and so have the opportun ity of taki ng the second self

or soul of th e axes I t is no doubt a notion that has
.

grown from or been encouraged by the idea th at the

, ,

soul leaves th e body for a wh ile i n sleep and i n trance

and that the severance during death is g reater i n poi nt
of de g ree rather than ki nd Th e idea that th e soul
.

h overs over and haunts for a wh il e th e spot i n th e

v i cini ty of wh ich th e body is buried is one that has
lived on down to times far remote from those of the
primitive savage To our modern ideas as to L ucian
.
, ,

it seem s a l ittl e hard to sacrifice th e wi fe and the cup

bearers The custom was not confi ned to th e G reeks
. .

I t was common to man y nations Th e best known .

record is contai ned i n H erodotus s description of th e

’

burial O fa S cyth ian king We might th ink that they

.

could have reconciled humanity with good service to

’
the defunct by the fiction that th e wi fe s soul could go
to th e dead husband while she slept — a j ourney that
would have presented no diffi culty to thei r notions
but they had no place for th e sentimental and perhaps
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M MO R T AL IT Y . 37

exagg erated value of h uman l ife especially the l i fe o f ,

a wi fe or a slave that our modern notions g ive M ore

, .

over th ere is always th e troubl e th at from sleep one

’
wakes and the soul returns H erodotus s description
, .

of th e S cyth ian ki n g s funeral is on e of the mos t

’

tremendous i n al l l i terature T h ey took th e dead .

ki n g h is favouri te wi fe cup bearer ch ar g er and a

, ,
-
,

’
number of h is guards out i nto th e desert many days ,

j ourney .T he ki n g they b uri ed i n h is g rave with ,

g old and sil ver ornam ents utensils weapons and , ,

g arments They kill ed his h orse h is wi fe and h is

.
,

cupbearer and lai d th em i n th e g rave bes ide h im

,
.

T h en with th is as a centre in a ci rcum ference arou nd

, ,

th ey k illed and staked s itti n g o n thei r dead horses

, ,

th e horses th emselves staked so as to stand upri g ht ,

fi fty of h is bodyguards and so i n th e sil ence and

, ,

sol it ude of th e des ert th ey left them What a s igh t .

,

wh at a company for the lo ne trav eller to chance upon ,

th e dead king on h is horse secondl y h is wi fe and cup,

bearer and around still si lent and stark th e g uards

i n thei r g ri m equestrian ci rcle 'I t st ri kes one as th e
, , , ,

most horrible description to be found i n l iteratu re an d ,

i t g ain s i n th e element of horror from th e si mple matter

o f fact man ner of H erodot us s description who allo ws ’

himsel f no adj ecti ves for its picturi n g just th e stark

l
l
.

facts suffi ce T h is i s an affai r that only i nci d ent a v

.

fi
comes i nto a tal k abou t dreams but assuredly i t i s ,

excellent material for a most t erri c ni g htmare T he ’

slau g hteri n g of the h orses evidently i mpl ies a bel ie f

that they h ad souls wh ich coul d accompany thei r
masters an d serve them i n th e l ife after death .
38 ON D REAMS .

O n th e whole then and taki ng i nto the account

, ,

all these various considerations it is not at all too ,

much to say that dreams were certainly the larg est

factor in natural reli g ion towards i nducing i n primitive
man a belief not i ndeed i n immortality— there is no
,

evidence that he conceived the life after death as likely

to endure for ever— but i n ex istence for a while at
l east after th e body that he was best acquainted with
h ad died I t is sin g ular i n comparatively h ow few
.
,

religions there is any beli ef i n th e existen ce of th e soul

before i ts birth i n the terrestrial body ; and th is is
possibly to be accounted for on the g rounds that
dreams would naturally show the sl eep er noth ing of
wh ich h is waki n g sense had not had co g nisance ,

noth i ng that is to say that he had not seen heard or

, , , ,

so on or combinations that the i magi nation could

,

weave out of th in g s of sense .

Primitive man was by no means satisfied w ith our

s imple divi sion of soul and body H e conceived i n .

some cases of two so uls and even th ree or four There .

was th e soul that could go about clothed with the body ,

so to speak O f it i n sleep or death — th e soul that he

,

saw when h e dreamed Then there was th e soul of

.

wh ich the outward and v isible s ign w as the breath .

I n some systems of prim itive psycholo g y these souls

w ere identified as we have seen and as the words
, ,
'

( m i m e s zr zt u
'

s and so on i mply B ut i n other systems

,p .

they were held to be distinct souls S ome of the .

A frican savage races deem i t dangerous to wal k by

the side of a river lest the shadow thrown upon the
w ater be seized by crocodiles A ll accounts ag ree .
TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I MMO R TAL IT Y . 39

t h at it i s th e shadow not th e refl ection that i s liabl e

, ,

to b e seized to the man s undoin g ; but perhaps it i s a

’

point not suffi ciently ascertai ned and perhaps di ffi cul t ,

to ascertai n from those who speak a pri mitive and

stran g e lan g uag e I n L ati n um éra and i n our use o f
.
,

shade th e shade of the departed — w e fi nd evidence

—
of the i denti ty of one o f the souls with shadow There .

arose a trouble as we may assume out of th e idea that

, ,

the soul of th e man with i ts body cloth i n g it went

, ,

to some far distant country wi th th e souls of wives ,

chargers battle axes and so on and yet appeared to a

, ,

l ivi n g man i n h is sleep O ne way of g etti n g over th e

.

di ffi culty was to suppose that the soul made a very

rapid j ourney and came to appear before the sleepe r
on earth A nother way i n the lan g ua g e of the cookery
.
,

books was to th i nk that wh ile one soul remai ned i n

,

the far distant coun try i n happy huntin g g rounds , ,

E lysian fields or however th e place was imag i ned

, ,

there was another soul that haunted for a wh ile at ,

l east th e neighbourhood of th e place i n wh ich th e

,

body was buri ed and appeared from tim e to t ime to

,

peopl e i n thei r sl eep We still see th is notion surv i v

.

i n g of ghosts haunti ng the place where th e bodies they

used to i nh abit are i nterred Therefor e it appears .

that there were i n some psycholo g ies no less than fou r

souls corresponding to th e breath the shadow th e
, , ,

apparition seen by the sleeper and the soul conceived ,

to b e a way i n E lysian fields or H ades ; and the last ,

t wo of th ese ideas are derived from the appari tion o f

dead fol ks to l ivin g sleepers wh ich may al so h ave ,

.

su gg ested th e notion of someth in g that did not di e .

40 ON D REAMS .

with th e body appertainin g to the first t w o ideas as

well S ome A fricans also beli eve i n a soul that goes
.

to l iv e i n an animal in th e bush When we come to

.

systems of psycholo g y arri ved at a more advanced

stage of mental evolution dreams are found to g ive
,

su gg estions of a rather different ki nd I t is not a

l
.

ittle diffi cult to kno w the de g ree to wh ich we are

i ndebted to pri mitive psychologies for our own
more developed ideas of the soul but together with ,

any inheritance we may have received from earl ier

s u g gestions w e see m i n g li ng a new set of ideas i n

w h ich dreams have had much to say I t i s i n dreams .

that the soul accord ing to the pri mitive notion ( the
,

m i nd as we may perhaps call it or the i ma g ination )

, ,

s eems i n some ways to act w ith greatest freedom to ,

b e least bothered and confi ned by the body I t has .

therefore su g gested itsel f naturally enough that the

apparent partin g of the soul and body duri n g sleep is
but a temporary parallel to what happens permanentl y
when th e body dies The s i g ht so to speak of the
.
, ,

sou l leaving the body and wanderin g to far regio ns

during sleep sugg ests the conceptio n of what happens
,

in death wh ich is regarded as a prolonged sleep ( this

,

again i s evidenced by th e way i n which we speak O f

the eternal sleep and so on ) only that th e separation
o fsoul and body is re g arded as more complete duri ng

d eath as i t is also permanent

, The dream state
.
,

t herefore is regarded at once as an evidence and a

,

foretaste of th e i mmortality O f the soul when it shall

b e freed of i ts cloggi ng terrestrial prison I t is righ t .

here to speak of the immortality of the s ou l for by the ,

TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M M O R TAL IT Y . 41

tim e this idea that we are referrin g to had come i nto

the psychologi es the idea of the eternal li fe of the
,

soul as d isti nct from a m ere prolon g ation of l i fe h ad

, ,

also been developed I t was th e apparent separation

.

o f the soul ( as th ey chose to re g ard it ) from th e body

durin g sleep that seeme d to certain speculators one o f
’

th e stronges t evidences of th e soul s i ndependence of

th e bod y and of a possibility of its separate l i fe The
, .

v iew is best expressed perhaps by B ishop N ewton i n ,

h is D zsser mfzons i n the followi ng words

’ '

, I t i s ev ident
that th e soul is i n a g reat m easure i ndependent of the
body even wh il e she is wi thi n th e body s i nce th e
,

deepes t sleep that possesseth the one can not affect the
other ; and whil e th e avenues of th e body are closed ,

the soul is still i ndued with sense and perception and ,

th e impressions are often stron g er and th e i mages

more lively when we are asleep than when awake .

T h ey must necessarily b e two distinct and di fferent

s ubstances whos e natu res and properties are so very
,

d ifferent that W h ile th e one shall sink u nder th e burden

and fatigue of the day th e oth er shall be fresh and
active as the flames ; wh il e th e one shall be dead to
the world th e other shall be rangi ng the universe
, .

Why then should the death of the one be any more

, ,

th e death of th e oth er than the sleep of th e one is th e

sleep of th e other ' S i nce th e soul can thi nk and ac t
i n th is manner wi thout th e body even wh il e u nited to
i t why should sh e not be abl e to th ink and act i n a
,

more enlar g ed and more exalted man ner when separated

from the body or u n ited to a spiritual body that shall
,

no lon g er hi nder her O perations ' S ince the soul hath

42 ON D REA MS .

her disti nct j oys and sorrows pleasures and pains

, ,

while the body i s senseless and asleep wh y should she ,

not be c apable of th e same when th e body shall be no

more '
Thus h is lordship the B ishop and although all th is
,

psycholo g y the idea of th e soul bein g indued with

,
“ ”

sense and so on sounds a sad muddle to us who

,

have had our ideas of the depe ndence of m ind and

body a g ood deal furth er analysed and developed ,

still the passage gives an excellent notion of the way

in which dreams su ggested the i ndependence of soul
and body Why then should the death of the one
be any more the death of the other than th e sleep of
the one is the sleep of the other ' T his se ntenc e

fi
puts the poi nt of view before us briefly and d istin ctl y
l
.

S ea e d quotes t h is passa g e from B ish op N ewto n ,

i n a chapter headed O n D reams as A r guments for

“

I mmortality and follows it with a q uotation from

,

L etters to a Germ an Pri ncess on D i vers S ubj ects

i n Phys ics and Philosophy surely a princess would
-

h ave to be German to be entertained with so fearful

fi
soundi n g a correspondence S leep furnishes some
thing l ike an ex ampl e ( pre g urat i on) of th e state of
the soul after death as the union of soul and body i s
,

then i n a g reat measure in terrupted yet the soul ,

ceases not fro m activity bein g employed in th e

,

production of d reams These are usually disturb ed by

.

the remaini ng i nfluence wh ich the senses exercise and

we know by experien ce that th e more th is i nfluence
is suspended wh ich is th e case i n profound sleep th e
, ,

more regular and connected are our dreams .

TH E I R ASSOC I A TI ON W ITH I DEAS OF I M MO R T AL IT Y . 43

T hus afte r death we shall fi nd oursel ves i n a

more per fect state of dream i n g wh ich noth i n g shal l
,

be able to d ecompose I t will consis t of represen

.

t at i ons and meani n g s perfectly well sustai ned .

D ecompose is g ood F or th e rest th e vi ew of

.

th e correspond ent by nam e L eonhard E uler of the

, ,

R oyal German L ady that dreams are ,

“
usually d is
tu rbed by the remaini n g i nfluence wh i ch the senses
exercise is no doubt as accu rate as h is i n ference
”

therefrom is si n g ular Wheth er our d re am s are

.

more re g ular and connected i n proportion as our

sleep i s more profound wh ich M r E uler says i s a
,
.

th i n g well proved by co mmon experi ence is i n fac t ,

an i nteresti n g speculation on which th ere w ill be about

as many O pi nio ns as there are dreamers save that ,

a certain number of people hold th e v iew that i n

profound sl eep we do not dream at all B ut th is .

evidentl y is by no means th e vi ew of M r E uler as .

commu nicated to h is G erman pri ncess on wh om all

must hav e compassion for the formidable nature o f
h er correspo ndence .

Porphyrius and M acrobius tell us of a fancy of th e

ancients th at th e souls of th e dead dwell i n the G alaxy
or M ilky Way as we call i t and th es e i t is accordi n g
, , ,

to Pythag oras that descend to th e earth and appear

,

to m en i n dreams .

We O f the twenti eth century have been brou g h t

up with our ideas on subj ecti v e and obj ecti ve com
p a l
rat i v e
y so fully grown that i t is v ery hard for u s
,

to pu t ourselves i nto th e m ental attitude of our savage

forefath er B ut the more we can succeed i n so doin g
.
44 ON DREAMS .

the more we shall see I think th at i t was not only

, ,

natural b ut even i nevi table that h e should take of

, ,

dreams the V iew that all evidence derived from ob

serv at i ons of th e savage tribes of to -day leads us to

suppose that he did take the view that th e apparitions

,

ma nifested i n them were real — i n the sense that they

were l ivi ng and v isible beings — and g ranted that the , ,

i nference followed no less of necessity that i f he saw

, , ,

visions o f people whom he knew to be dead these ,

people were l iv 1ng agai n i n a l i fe after d eath and ,

capable of re visi ting the earth in th eir bodily shape

-
, ,

and i n the garments ( thou g h in those days that was a

l ess consideration than it is now ) wh i ch th ey used to
‘
wear when on earth I n a word he had the stronges t
.
,

grounds for i nferrin g at once i mmortal ity ( or at least

the l ife after death ) and also some thi n g that was equi
valent to the resurrection O fthe body .

I t is an i nteresting speculation thou g h one that ,

does not lead to mu ch sol idity of conclus ion what th e ,

course of h uman psycholo g y would have been had it

never h appened to man to perform mental operations
duri ng sl eep of wh i ch he retains consciousness o n
awakin g H ad the worl d been peopled by men and
women who never dreamed it would have been not ,

a l ittle di fferent . A s h istory makers dreams have-

,

played a bi g part We are such stuff as dream s are

.

”
made on is scarcel y as true as i f it were a l ittle
“
i nverted to We are such stu ff as dreams have made
7)
US
 C H A PT E R III .

D IV I N A T I O N S F OR M D R EA M S .

F ri d ay ni g h t s dr eam
’
on S at urd ay t ol d
l
,

I s su r e t o com e t rue , be i t neve r so o d

.

— N U R SER Y R H YME .

THE idea that dreams m eant som eth i ng that th ey are ,

sent for a particul ar purpos e to warn us a g ai ns t a

calam ity that th reatens to approach or to poi nt out to
us a parti cular duty to perform i s made very fam il iar ,

to us by th e B ibl e story T herei n we read repeated ac

.

counts ofol d men seei ng v isions and youn g men dream

i ng dreams and i t seems to have been th e com mon
,

and natural opinion of that tim e that th ese appearances

co uld not h av e occurred for nothin g O ften i t is qu i te .

‘
a d ifferent v iew from that we hav e seen h eld by sava g e
races that th e appearances seen i n dream s were actually
,

substantial th i n g s th at they were really seen with th e

,

eyes and not as we bel i e v e fanci ed I n some cases

, , ,
.

God or H is A ngel are spoken of as actually appearing .

B ut anoth er v iew prevails joseph saw i n a dream

.

the sheaves of corn bowi n g to th e monster sheaf H e .

“
saw i t i n a dream that is to say saw i t with the eye
, ,

not of sense but of the m ind H e di d not suppose as

.
,

th e savage would have thoug h t that he h imself—h im ,

46 ON D REAMS .

self but part of h imself h is secondary sel f only —had

, ,

g one during sleep to a cornfield and seen sh eaves really

, ,

behaving in th is astonishing way A pparently he knew .

quite well that his eyes had not seen these th ings at
all but that h is m ind had fancied th em S o far h is
,
.

poi nt O f view was j ust what ours would be to day -

.

B ut from that point h is opinion would begin to show

a great divergence F or whereas most of us would
.

dismiss the whole th in g from our mind perhaps with ,

the observat i on that it was a funny dream he on

“
,

the other hand was convi nced that this dream could
,

only have come to hi m by supernatural i nspiration :

h e held that it was sent to h im for some purpose to ,

warn him of some comi ng event and it behoved him ,

i n humble gratitude for the premonition to do h is best ,

to fi nd out why it h ad been sent and what it was i n

tended to foretell Well with the result we are all
.
,

well acquainted I t is a typical i nstance of the ana

.

lo g ical i nterpretation of a dream a system that was ,

held in very high favour by most of the ancient oneiro

’

critics or interpreters of dreams B ut before we take

,
.

a glance i n a cursory w ay at th e different oneiro

, ,

fi
critical systems it will b e rather interesti ng to not ice
l
,

the divisions marked by S ea e d of the dreams that

fi
t h e B ibl e has though t worthy of mention I t is not
l
.

always easy to follow Sea e d very exactly Thou g h .

h is book shows an i mmense amo unt of research it ,

h ardly seems as if the results were put before th e reader

fi
as ki ndly as clearly and i n as systemati c a manner as
l
, ,

h e has something of a right to expect S ea e d thus .

describes the bibl ical dreams under th ree headings .

 D I V I NA TI O NS FROM DREAMS 47

I D reams that come from God

. .

2 Dreams that come from an ag ent of th e devil pre

.

tending to be an an g el or from a human false proph et .

3 A ccidental
. dreams as w e may call them i e , . .
,

dream s not purposely sugg ested .

A nd the fi rst of these head in g s is a g ain to be sub

divided i nto ( a) dreams i n wh ich God H imsel f is
mani fested and ( é ) dreams i n wh i ch the divi ne m essage
,

is brou g ht by an an g el .

fi
A s references to th e th ird the accidental kind of
l
,

dreams S ea e d quotes job x x 8

,
H e shall fl y away .

as a dream and shall not be fou nd ; yea h e shall be

, ,

chased away as a vision of the ni g ht Psalm l xxii i 2 0 . .

“
A s a dream when one awaketh ; so O L ord wh en , ,

thou awakest thou shal t despise thei r ima g e I saiah .

xxix 7 8.
,
The multi tude of all th e nations that fi g ht
agai nst A riel even all that fight ag ai nst her and her
,

m unition and th at distress her shall be as a dream

, ,

of a n igh t vision I t shall even be as wh en a hungry

.

man dreameth and behold he eateth but h e awaketh

, , , ,

and his soul i s empty : or as when a thirsty man ,

dreameth and behold he dri nketh ; but he a waketh

, , , ,

and behold h e is fai nt and hi s soul h ath appetite

, , ,

so shall the multitude of all th e natio ns be that figh t

fi
ag ainst M ount Z ion
l
.

S ea e d adds “
2 p rop er of such passag es D r 1 , .

‘
L ee j udiciously observes wh en the sacred wri ters do
not refer to di vin e rev elation or to the means by wh ich ,

i t is imparted w e observe h ow carefully they indicate

,

thei r clear appreciation of th e fact that ord i nary dreams

and visions are al to g ether val ueless ’
48 ON D REAMS .

fi
A t the same tim e i t is to be noted as a significan t
fact that all the passag es quoted by S ea e d as showi ng l ,

that th e B ible writin g s entertained the idea of a class

of dreams that were altogeth er w ithout importance ,

are taken from writers o f comparativ el y late date ,

from job Psalms and I saiah and wh ile there is of

, , ,

course no doubt whatever that dreams have been

,

re g arded as a means of communication between God

and man all through the ag es of the B ible story and ,

even down to th e present day still th ere is not a l ittle

l
l
,

doubt whether at th e date of the earl i er books a

dreams were not re g arded as commu nications fro m
the supernatural sometimes conveyi n g a direct and
,

simple message sometimes as i n joseph s case con

, ,
’

v e in i nstruction by analogy that could only b e

y g
understood by study and skilled i nterpretation A nd .

wh ereas i n the oldes t dreams we commonl y find God

speakin g i n person to th e dreamer i n the later we ,

commonly find th e commun ication made by th e ag ency

of an an g el as i f the D iv i ne M aj esty wi thdrew itsel f
,

further and furth er from th e ken of i ts si nful creatures .

fi
A s i nstances of h is first class of bibl ical dreams
l
,

S ea e d quotes Genesis xx 3 : God cam e to A bimelech

“
.

i n a dream by ni g ht and said to h im B ehold thou

, , ,

art but a dead man for th e woman wh ich thou has t

,
.

’ ”
taken ; for sh e is a man s wi fe Genes is xxxi 2 4 : . .

“
God came to L aban the S yrian i n a dream by ni g h t ,

and said unto h im T ake h eed that thou speak not t o

,

J acob eith er g ood or bad ; and I K i n g s ii i 5 : I n

” “
. .

G ibeon the L ord appeared to S olomon i n a dream

by n i g ht : and God said A sk what I shall g ive thee
,
”
 D I V I NA TI ONS FRO M D REAMS . 49

A s i nstances the a ng el i c com mu ni cation i n

Of
‘

d reams we have Genesis xxx i I I

,
“
A nd th e an g el .

of God spake u nto m e i n a dream sayi n g J acob and

’

, ,

I said H ere am I
, and from th e N ew T es tamen t
,
’

S t M atth ew i 2 0 : B ehold th e a ng el O f t h e L ord

.
“
.

‘
appe ared u nto h i m i n a dream sayi n g J oseph th ou , ,
,

son of D avid fear not to take unto thee M ary th y

,

w i fe. L ater J oseph was warn ed of G od i n a

,

dream ( wheth er directly or by agency of an an g el

we are n ot told ) and ag ain Th e angel of the L ord
“
,

appeared to J oseph i n a dream sayi n g A rise and ‘

, , ,

take the youn g C h ild and H is moth er and flee int o ,

Eg ypt and be th ou there till I bri ng thee word for

, ,

H erod w ill seek th e youn g ch ild to destroy h im St .

’
.

M atth ew i i 1 3 . .

O f dreams o f th e second class th ose sent b y t h e ,

devil or i nspired by false proph ets we have D eu tero , ,

momy xi i i I 2 3 wh ere i t says :

.
, , I f th ere arise amon g
,

you a proph et or a dream er of dreams and giveth ,

thee a si g n or a wonder and the si g n or the wonder ,

com e to pass wh ereof h e spake unto thee sayi n g L et

, , ,

us g o after oth er gods wh ich thou h ast not known

’

, ,

and let us serve them thou shalt not hearken unto th e .

words of that prophet or that dreamer o f dreams for ,

the L ord you r God proveth you to know wh ether y e ,

.

love th e L ord your G od with al l your h eart and w i th

all your soul I t would see m however as i f th i s
.

clause th e L ord your God proveth you rath er pre

“ ”

cluded the idea that th e suggestion was of diabolical

fi
ori g i n but no doubt th e vi ew of th e bibli cal w rite rs
,

was that al l evil was at least erm i i ted by God for ,

50 ON DREAMS .

H is own inscrutabl e purposes To open up this li ne .

fi
of i nquiry would take us i nto th e intermi nable problem
as to the origi n of good and evil S ea e d takes his . l
second instance under th is class from J eremiah xxi i i .

“
2 5 where it says
,
I have h eard what the prophets
,

said that prophesy lies in my name saying I have

, , ,

d reamed I have dreamed

,
H ow long shall th is b e i n
.

t h e heart of the prophets that prophesy lies yea they ,

are prophets of th e deceit of their ow n heart ; which

th ink to cause my people to forget my name by their
dreams which th ey tell every man to hi s neighbou r as
, ,

th ei r fathers have forgotten my name for B aal The .

prophet that hath a dream l et him tell a dream and ,

he that hath my word let hi m speak my word faith fully .

What is the chaff to th e wheat 'saith the L ord I s .

n ot my word l ike as a fire ' sai th th e L ord ; and like a

hammer that breaket h the rock i n pieces ' T herefore ,

behold I am against th e prophets saith the L ord that

, , ,

steal my words every one from h is neighbour B ehold

, .

I am against the proph ets saith the L ord that use , ,

their tongues and say H e saith B ehold I am a g ainst

, .

th em th at prophesy false dreams saith the L ord and , ,

do tell th em and cause my people to err by thei r l ies

, ,

and by their l ightness ; yet I sent them not nor com ,

m and ed them therefore they shall not profit th is

people at all saith the Lord l And the ri g hteous
,

wrath of J eremiah finds expression no less i n the ,

words of Z echariah x 2 F or the idols have spoken

.

van ity and the di viners have seen a lie and have told
, ,

false dreams they com fort i n vain .

N O W if there existed th is trouble of dreams that ,

 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM D REAMS . 51

were sent by G od and others no t sent by H im but by ,

the devil pretendin g them to be God s ow n messag e

’

th en the necessity for some test that would disti nguish

th e true from the fals e becomes apparent at once .

T he test accordi ng to th e best authorities such as

l l
,

Am y ra d us i n h i s D i scours snr es song es d i v i ns d ent ,

‘
i t est p arte d ans Z E e (
r i t n re a work published i n 1 6 2 5
’

at S aumur ) is whether the i nstructions and advice that

they contai n make for g ood or for ill —a cri terion
unfortunately that i t cannot al ways h ave been possibl e
to apply for th e tendency could only be determ ined
,

by th e result wh i ch migh t not be manifest until lon g

,

after th e tim e for taki n g action accordin g to th e

i nti mation of th e dream was lon g past We can well .

i magi ne persons with th e best w ill in th e world taki n g

th e advi ce su gg ested i n a dream bel ieving its tendency
,

to be for g ood then fi ndi n g i t lamentably ill i n th e

,

“
resul t Th e comment then would be : Th i s was a
.

dream not from th e A uth or o f g ood but O f evil

”
.

E v idently some much more immediate test was re

qu i red for practi cal purposes than th at wh i ch M oyse
l
, ,

Am i raut or Am y ra d us su gg ests and it becomes ,

o b vious at once h ow valuable th e services o f th e

i nterpreter O f dreams would become on th is vi ew of ,

th ei r si g n ificance even if th ey contained di rect i ntima

,

t ions and w ere not merely of the class of dream l ike

t h e stories that g ive i nti mation by analo g y I ndeed .

th e more simple and u nmistakabl e the d irections th e ,

more necessary i t m i g ht seem to know whether th ei r

source was g ood or evil A noth er test wh i ch A my
l
.
,

ra d u ,
s by collating various texts supposes to have
,
52 ON D REAMS .

been appl ied was based o n the assumption that a

,

proof of th e D ivine origin of a dream was that i t

conveyed an intimation of such th i n g s that God al one
could be supposed to know them Presumably th is .

excluded knowledge that other men migh t possess ,

al thou g h the dreamer himsel f did not possess i t — as ,

for instance an event lying i n the future wh i ch coul d

,

be known to no man B ut claim to th is knowl edge

.

was always put forward i mpl icitly and often avowedly

, ,

by the false prophets so that here a g ain t h e t est seems

,

to fail and the need for th e expert interpreter s services ’

to be imperative S ometimes as we see the dreams

.
, ,

were so hard to interpret ( it is true those were rather

of the analogy kind than the direct intimations ) that
they p uzzled the expert until a master of the craft
,

appeared as i n the competition on dream i nterpreta

,

tion that w e see D aniel and the wise m en of B abylon

takin g part in and in th is case it would seem that the
key to the puzzle was communi cated from a D i vi ne
source no less th an the d ream that set th e puzzle .

O ften i nterpretations i n exactly di fferent sense were

given by di fferent experts as occurs i n oth er sciences
, ,

with th e result that a further D ivi ne communication

would seem to be needed i n order to decide wh ich o f
the t wo were the true i nterpretation ; and here ag ain
we presume the E vil O ne m igh t come in and si mulate
th e attributes of D iv inity so that th e whole matter
,

seems very difficult and the value of the trustworthy

i nterpreter scarcely to be over estimated The most -
.

complete l ist of D ivi ne dreams so to speak of th em

, ,

that is of dreams divinely inspired is given by A my ,

 D I V I NA TI ONS F RO M D RE AMS . 53

ral
u quoted above
d s, H is work ori g i nally pub l ished
.
,

i n F rench at S aumur was translated i nto E n g lish b y

,

J ames Lowd e i n 1 8 7 6 Geo g raph ical exploration had

.

not extended its l imits very far i n those days and the
primitive man had not been studied in the person o f ,

existi ng savage races with the care that has been

,

g iven since to h is comprehension wh ence w e hope to ,

learn someth in g of the primeval i nfancy of our nobl e

selves M ore knowled g e i n dream a ffairs has there
l
.

fore come to us si nce t h e date of Am y ra d us s writin g ’

and on e of the facts that we perhaps can see more

cl early than h e could i s that wh en you had done with
,

“
D ivi ne d reams you had very few l eft over i n the
”

opinion O f dreamers of som e ancient races H omer .

fi
says in a comprehensive way that d reams come fro m
l
Z eus S ea e d says that H omer was aware o f th e
.

necessity ( th ere seems a touch of unconsci ous humour

about this ph rase ) of disti n g uish i n g between th e onar ,

— —
or onei r os th e divi nely sent messa g e and the mere
“
,

m eanin g less emi n mo wh ich was i ncidental to any

’
v

sleepi n g i nd ividual T he g ods and g oddesses wh o

”
.

were i nterested g enerally from moti ves that were

,

frankl y personal i n th e success of th is or th e oth e r

,

champion o f the T roj an war constantly had recours e

,

to sendin g dream messa g es to those they favoured o r ,

sometimes delusive messages to thos e that they wish ed

to bri n g to a bad end The fi rst book O f the I l iad is
.

especially i nt erest i ng i n th e li g h t i t throws o n th e

views of th e ancient G reeks on dreams Th e G recian .

host is stricken with plag ue A pollo has doubtless .

sent it upon th em B ut what h ave they done to ear n

.
54 ON D REAMS .

h is displeasure ' That is th e question that agitates

the common m i nd A chilles comes forward wit h a
.

suggestion for discovering how they have merited such

punish ment A tr ue priest or p rophet ( where agai n
.

is the expert to decide between the true and th e false ' )

is to go after due ceremonies to some holy place
, , ,

“
g ood for dreams there having made sacrifice and
,

prayer he will lay himself down to sleep on the ski n

,

of the sacrificed beast and piety requires a l l to believe

,

that i f these rites be duly O bserved A pollo w ill appear

to h im i n h is dreams and reveal th e rea son of the
D ivi ne anger The G reeks credited th ei r gods with
.

a very cat -l ike affection for certai n local ities so i t is ,

all of a piece with their general system of theology ,

that certai n places should be especially good for

d reams good for the god appearing to sleeping men
, .

S uch places were the temples of A mph iaraus and of

Podali rius O f course our own fol k lore and leech
.

fi
crafts are full of invocations for dreams but the locality
l
,

is seldom held so important S ea e d i ndeed quotes .

D endy : The mode rn F ranciscans after th e cere

“
,

mony O f M ass th ro w themselves on mats already

,

consecrated by th e slumber of some holy visionary ,

and wi th this foolery they wait the D ivi ne inspiration

”
of their dream B ut this is not quite the same th ing
.

as attributing a special virtue to a special place for i t ,

would seem that wh erever the hol y mat were conveyed

i ts effi cacy i n producing the divine l y i nspi red dream -

w ould not be affected .

I n the O dyssey A thene is busy with dreams ,

fashionin g an image li ke I phigenia to go and comfort

 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM DREAM S . 55

Penelope i n a dream Th e recipe for th e dream

.

making is i nteresti ng The goddess does not person

.

ally assume th e form of I ph i g enia and g o h ersel f ,

whi ch would seem to be the s implest way but makes ,

an imag e l i ke th e lady and sends that ,

Perhaps .
,

however sh e was tryi n g various recipes at th e ti me

, ,

for when she wants to gi ve some g ood advi ce to

N ausi caa she does in h er o wn divine person take
, ,

th e shape of the dau g h ter o f D ymas and so appear ,

to th e sleeping maiden B ut i t is si g n ificant that i n

.

neither case does that plan wh ich to us would seem

th e simplest o f all for a goddess to take for such a
purpose appear to su gg es t itsel f to her to make th e
, ,

sl eeper bel ieve that I ph igenia i n the one instan ce

,

and D ymas daughter i n th e oth er had come to them

’

,
.

That make bel ieve idea would be an anachronism

- .

The psycholo g y o f that day h ad not i nvented such a

th i n g To make a person see th is or that i n a dream
.
,

fi
the th i n g had to appear before h i m
l
.

S ea e d does very well to poi nt out th e very close

resemblance between th e l ying spiri ts denoun ced by
M i caiah and the dream sent by Z eus at request of
T hetis to i nduce A gamem non to lead the Greeks to
,

battle i n order that th ey m i g ht become aware of the

loss thei r power sustai ned by th e absence of A ch illes
( Th etis ’
son ) wh o was still sul king i n h is tent A s
l
.

su red i t must have been very hard in those days to

y
know wh at to bel ieve and what to disbelieve i n sleep ,

ing as well as i n waki n g .

Th e G reeks of the H om eri c C ycl e had th ei r ana

lo g ical dreams as well as th e di rect communication
, ,
56 ON D REAMS .

even as th e bibl ical people When poor Penelope

.
,

much over -wooed g rass -widow is so grievously troubled

,

by the g reedy suitors for her hand who i n course

“
, ,

of hard wooin g are l i ke to eat her out of house and

,

home she has a dream i n wh ich she sees twenty

,

geese attacked and slai n by a spl endid eagle SO .

obvious an analo g y as a goose for a wooer seems for

—
some wh ile to have escaped her noti ce we may sup
pose her mind sli g h tly worn by the nocturnal work of
u ndoin g the web she weft by day — but at length the
s ignificance of th e identity of numbers a goose to , \

e ach of the twenty suitors is forced on h er out of the

,

mouth of the eag l e h imsel f wh o tells h er th at i n h i m

,

h er husband is personified Who more aptly repre

l
l
.

s ented after a i n her eyes by the ea g le the royal

'
,

bird of Z e us than the god -like U lysses

, The whole
blessed meanin g of the vision became patent — U lysses
l
would come ho me ike an eag l e and destroy the
horrible wooers U lysses i n h is proper shape first
.

confi rmed and then made g ood th e eag le s words ’

.

But of course i t was all i n the way of a parable so ,

to say — an alle g ory I t was not a direct message

. .

’
I t was j ust on a par with J oseph s vision of the
—
sheaves a type of the analo g ical dream .

The Grecian tragedians even E uripides wh o could

,

laugh at the gods on occasion seem to have accepted

,

the divine i nspiration of d reams althou g h i t is hard to

,

s ay h ow much stock a playwright takes i n the notions

that he puts i nto h is creatures h eads H erodot us ’

.

d oes not comm it himsel f much on th e matter h is ,

attitude ,if he were a member of th e Psych ical R e

 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM D REAMS . 57

s earch S oci ety would be emi nentl y a non com mittal

,
-

one but all down all the pages of h is h istory ram

, ,

blin g as it does from G reece th rough all the islands to

A sia and A fri ca everywh ere we fi nd th e peopl e h e
,

portrays earnest bel ie v ers i n the dream as a message

s ent from the gods We do not s eem to hear so
.

m uch i n h is company of th e bad the delusi ve d ream

, , ,

but th e attention that is pai d to the i nstructions of

d reams i n g eneral is strict even to p iety Plato was .

a poet a creator I t would be h ard for such a man

, .
,

w ith so ri ch an i ma g i nation to escape th e att racti ve

,

t heory wh ich h e found ready made that the g ods ,

spoke to men i n dreams H is vi ews on the subj ect .

are very fully discussed in th e T i maeus and h is ,

conclusion is d isti nct that knowled g e i s divi nely

communicated by dreams and the manner of com ,

m uni c at i on accordi n g to his conception is i nterestin g

, ,
.

Perceivi n g that the natural i ntelli g e nce is i n abeyance

d uri n g sleep h e conceives that the communi cation i s
,

m ad e to the lower th e sensual soul — as w e may

, ,

perhaps say directly to t h e senses H e percei ves th e

, .

li keness i n the conditions of sleep trance and ecstasy , ,

i n all wh ich al ike th e operations of th e mi nd are some

what i n abeyance and conceives that onl y under th ose
,

conditions are the divi ne communications made I t is .

a v iew o f divi ne i nspi ration wh ich h as h eld i ts g round

al
l down th e ag es B u t for the correct understandi n g
.

of the comm unications when made h e conceiv es that

, ,

the rational i ntelli g ence is requi red and clearly in ti ,

mates that th is correc t understand ing is more l ikely

to be reach ed by others than by those wh o h ave
58 ON DRE AMS .

—
received th e communications by an expert class of
interpreters i n fact —apparentl y w ith the idea th at
th e h ighest critical facul ty i s not likely to c o exist with -

th e faculty of recei vi ng th e communications To put .

it i n popular modern phrase the dreamy person i s not

,

l ikely to be correct l y cri tical —a concl usio n i n wh ich

we shall be abl e to a g ree I t is al most as m uch as
.
-

to say that th e creati ve and cri tical faculties are

seldom g iven to one person i n th e hi g hest perfection .

A ristot l e whose m ind is as typical of the cri ti cal

,

’
disposition as Plato s of th e creative takes the vie w of ,

th e subj ect that we should perhaps expect to find i n a

philosopher of his time and tem per H e treats th e .

popular theory w ith a ki nd of conscious indulgence i n ,

an essay on divi nation i n dreams saying that it i s ,

“
not i ncredible that th e gods may com municate wi th
man i n sleep Th e S toi c ph ilosophers as a rul e co n
.
, ,

sid ered i t only natural to suppose th at they would do so .

A l i ke opinion was h eld i n the R ome of th e re

publ ic and th e empire C icero for all h is sayi ng that
.
,

he could not understand how augurs — those who pro

h esi ed from the fl i g ht of birds and th e like significant
p
ph enomena— could pass one another i n the street with
out a grin had some disposition to th i nk that divine
,

communi cation i n dream s was not i mpossible and h is ,

views on the whole question work out to much the

same conclusion as that of A ristotle Y et all these .

writers later than th e date of the di rect i ntimation

,

recorded in the H omeri c poems discuss the intima ,

fi
tions given i n dreams as belonging to the second class
l
of S ea e d s bibl ica l dreams th e communi cati ons given
’

,
 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM DREAMS . 59

i n an all e g ory as by th e sh eaves of J oseph th e geese

, ,

of Penelope Th e D ei ty was not m ade man i fest

.
,

eith er personally or by th e appearance of th e mes

sen g er Th e i ntimation was given i n form O fa parabl e
.
,

so to speak and i t required th e ser v ice of an expert to

,

i nterpret i ts meani ng accurately .

T hese peopl e th e S toi cs and the rest of th em di d

, ,

not know i n their philosoph y th e person wh om th e

compass ionate S cotch di vi ne spoke of as th e pui r
“

’
de il and th is is probably th e reason that w e do not
fi nd them much perturbed wi th th e notion that a d ream
might be s en t purposely to delude T h e questio n o f
.

th e source of th e dream does not seem to have troubled

their i nterpreters much as its s ecret m ean in g m i g h t
,

worry th ei r skill i n deciph eri n g B u t wh en we com e

.

to the C hristian F athers as th ey are called wi th whom

, ,

th e devil was a very real and i mportant personage

i ndeed th en we seem to come back a g ai n to th e old
,

story T h ey h eld i t as a truth beyond question that

.

th e D iv i ne will and D i vin e kno wl ed g e often were

com muni cated to man i n dreams but at th e sam e time ,

deemed that dreams were O ften sent by th e evil on e

for h is own evil purposes O f th e S toi cal ph ilosoph ers
.
,

th ere was at l east one E nni us who thou g h t th e whole

, ,

busi ness of soothsayin g and dream i nterpreti ng what

fi
a modern s choolboy wo uld cal l all rot
“
H e con
,
l
sid ered i n th e words of S ea e d that they all ,
“
au g urs , ,

”
astrologers d reamers and i nterpreters of dreams
,

were to be despised as vai n pretenders to more than

human skill Th is i s an extremel y modern v iew of
th e affai r .
60 ON D REAMS .

B ut thou g h E nn ius in this bravely impious opinion

, ,

thus stands apart from all h is breth ren of the old

philosoph ies w e do not find a sin g le one of the patristic
,

fil
C hristians so g reatly dari ng I t is not poss ible or pro
.

t ab e to quote many of them S t Thomas A qui nas

. .

is distinctly of the O pi nion that God communicates

H i s will to men i n their dreams and mentions J oseph ,

and D aniel as amo ng those wh o have been skilled i n

th e business of i nterpreti ng th e D ivine meaning thus
O bscurely revealed H e has no doubt that dreams
.

fi
give glimpses into futurity ; but he is much troubl ed
by the di f culty that crops U p on the very threshold ,

as to kno wing wh eth er th e dreams are sent from

fi
heaven or its antipodes H e poi nts out the sufficientl y
.

obvious di ffi cul ty but does not su gg est any very ef ca

,

c i ou s wa
y of solving it C alvi n too on ei e that
.

g c v s , ,

God may still as he undoubtedly did i n many i nstances

,

recorded i n H oly Writ communicate w ith m en in thei r

,

dreams and further preaches the duty of p raying for

,

g ood and helpful dreams and for del iverance from

those that are evil .

’
T he question that thi s touches of man s moral ,

responsi bility for the nature of h is dreams is one that ,

terribly vexed th e casuists of the M iddle Ag es and

the R eformation D reams scarcely fall withi n the pro
.

vince of eth ics i n thei r modern conception We dream .

of committi ng the most fearful crimes yet do not think ,

ourselves i n any degree guilty Th e old divi nes did .

not take this lenient V iew of the matter at all A ctually

l
.

they show disposition to revert to the O d primiti ve

idea of t h e reali ty of the dream apparitions for these
 D I V I NA TI ONS FROM D REAMS .
61

evil apparitions they professed to regard i n some ,

i nstances not merely as being i nspi red sent or su g

, ,

g ested by evil demons but actua l l y as éei ng evi l

,

demons who onl y appeared whe n th e soul was freed

, ,

as i n sleep from its terrestrial trappin g s

,
M any .

learned pages are devoted to consideration of th e best

means of exorcising wheth er by prayer or other less
,

si mple methods these evil appari tion s for whose

, ,

appearance th e dreamer was deemed none the l ess

responsible or but l ittl e l ess responsible because of
, ,

th e supposed reality of thei r ex istence A l i ttl e less .

responsible perhaps i s th e way to ph rase it for there

, , ,

is a curious blend i n the manner i n wh i ch some of th e

old writers re g arded the case I t was partly the man s.
’

m isfortune and partly h is fault that h is sleep was

, ,

beset by th ese demons A fter all wh o can expect to

.
,

have converse with th e devil and h is ag ents and be

hel d g uiltless ' Th is vie w was not so very illogical
when all is said B ut i t shows a si n g ular return to
.

th e old muddl e between the obj ective and subj ectiv e .

Th e notion that we are i n some measure at least

, ,

responsibl e for the general nature of our dreams is i n

much more accord with modern ideas on th e subj ect
than th e notion of th e obj ective real ity of th e appari
tion. I t is ar g ued that we can i n some measure
determ i ne th e nature of our dreams by the subj ects
that we voluntarily present to our waki ng th o ug hts j ust
before g oin g to sleep There is however a great
.
, ,

deal O f evidence on th e other si d e too Th e idea of .

suggestin g to o ursel ves th e subj ect matter of our dreams

by our thou g hts as we lay ourselves down to sleep
62 ON D REAMS .

appeals very strongly to a p r i or i opinion U nf

l
. or

tu nat e y the sardonic translation o f a p ri or i

“
as i n
,

i g norance is not always far from the truth and

,

experience shows conclusively that at r i er i arg ument

i n this case i s not to be appl ied very generall y .

A lmost everybody w e sh ould ima g ine has tried the

, ,

simple experiment directi ng h is though ts to one trai n

,

as he drops off to sleep i n th e expectation or hope

,

that his dreami ng thou g hts w ill fol low obediently I n.

h ow many cases has th e resul t been accordi ng to th e

hope ' I n a very small m i nority we may confidently
,

say O ut of th e great many with whom th e present

.

writer has corresponded on the matter O f dreams i n

general and certai n poi nts of their details i n partic ular
, ,

t wo only maintain th eir abili ty to control i n any de g ree

thei r dream ing thoughts by th e directions gi ven them

as th ey g o to sleep . The great maj ori ty con fess
themselves unable to direct th ei r dreams in any degree
at all ; wh ile one says that he has fou nd the rul e so
constant that h is dream does not occupy i tsel f with
the subj ect that was most i n h is mi nd when h e fell
asleep that i f th ere should be any subj ect of whi ch he
,

fears that i t may occupy and annoy h im during sleep

he purposely fixes h is m ind on th is subj ect as h e puts
his head on th e pillow i n th e certai n convi ction that
,

whatever other disagreeable topics may occur to h i m

i n sleep h is dreams will be free at least of th is one
,
.

The way in wh i ch we most often make attempts to

control our dreams by th e direction gi ven to o ur
thoughts as we fall asl eep is i n th e attemp t to con ti nue
a pleasant dream from which we have been roused ,
 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM D REAMS . 63

but mos t of us kno w h o w utterly u nabl e we are to

give ou rselves this pl easure thou g h i t is to b e admi tted
,

that there are a few excepti onal cases of people who

clai m to be able to rene w a p l easant dream at will .

I f then we are to adm it that w e g e nerally speaki ng

, , ,
.

have no control whatever over our dreams w e nat ur ,

ally cannot adm it that we have any responsibil i ty i n

th e matter They l i e outs ide th e provi nce of eth ics
.

alto g eth er and i ndeed it i s a common remark that i n

,

dreams we find ourselves enti rel y without any moral

sense We h ave no conscience Th is is illustrated
. .

by th e famous i nstance cited by M iss F P C obbe . .

( and elsewhere quoted ) who has written

, on dreams
m ost i nteresti n g l y of th e mildest mannered v illain
“
,

”
that ever cut a throat i n other words of a m an O f
, ,

a most harmless and g entle dispos ition who dreamed ,

that h e ran a friend th rou g h th e body w ith a s word ,

and was so far from bei n g stricken wi th remorse at

h is act that h e noticed w i th a ki nd of artisti c satis
faction that th e end O f th e s word stuck out the best
’

part of a foot beyond the poor vi ctim s back Th i s i s .

a typical i nstance of i ts ki nd O n th e other hand.

,

al though th e m oral sense is so utter l y lacki n g i n th e

dream itsel f and though we are g enerally unable to
,

c ontrol th e course of any particular dream i t i s still ,

not i mpossible nor i mprobable that o n th e whol e a

, ,

g ood man w ill b e prone to d ream g ood dreams and

a bad man bad dreams— us in g these epith ets in th e
eth ical sense A lthou g h th ere may be marked excep
.

t ions as i n the case of th e g ood man wh o ran h is

,

friend through the body and rej oi ced i n the skill wi th

64 ON D REAMS .

wh ich h e did the deed still on the whole i t is unlikely

, , ,

that t h e peaceable citizen will as often i ndulge in dream s

of th e j oys of burglary let us say as he wh o is a
, ,

bur g lar to h is trade D reams will probably on th e

.
,

who l e be i n ag reement wi th th e general bent of a

,

man s mind just as in th e case that is referred to else

’

where of th e celebrated cricketer whose wi fe i s often

startled by h is sitting up i n bed th rowi n g up h i s
arm and shouti n g N o ball 'i n a stentorian voi ce
,

Whether th is is because he often umpires i n boys

mat ches or because he is or was haunted by a con , ,

stant fear of being no -balled ( h e was however famous , ,

for h is batting rather than h is bowl ing ) in any case ,

the dream is almost beyond doubt the result of t h e

bent of h is mi nd toward thin g s p ertaini n g to cricket .

This a g ai n is an i nstance that may almost certai nly

, ,

be taken as typica l and going to prov e that on th e whol e

the stuff of d reams is apt to be the stuff of a man s ’

wakin g thoughts A nd perhaps to admit this thou g h

.
,

it is not g oing so far as to admit that a man has any

moral responsibility for the sins of though t he commits
i n dreams is yet goin g so far as to adm it that dreams
, ,

and the subj ects with wh i ch they are occupied may ,

be taken as an indication O f th e g eneral moral state

of the dreamer Th is is an aspect of the subj ect that
.

has not escaped the notice of moral isi ng divines .

They urge that a man s besetti n g s in whi ch h e may

’

not have suspected may be revealed to h im by form

,

i ng a recurrent topic of his dreams and thus dream s ,

may act as valuable danger si g nals to a man to show

h im the tem ptations wh ich i t behoves h i m sp ecially t o
 D I V I NA TI ONS FROM DREAMS . 65

g uard agai nst They may give h im i ndicati ons O f h is

l
.

s i ri t u wh eth er we consider such i nti mations

'

p a st at e ,

to proceed directl y from God or whether we regard ,

th em as a natural consequence of the nature of man

and the law under wh ich he l ives A ll these are .

curious speculations wh ich are interesting to note no ,

matter w hat de g ree of credence we are disposed to

give the theori es that th ey discuss .

I t is worthy of notice too that th e i nti mations and

, ,

premonitions supposed to be given by dreams ( it i s

not too much to speak of th em as premoniti ons for ,

’
intimation of a man s spiri tual or moral state surely
does g ive sol id g rounds for forecasting h is futur e
action ) are not confined to th e spiritual or moral
sph ere I t has been deemed that th ey g ive i ntima
.

tions about h is physi cal heal th too wh i ch are h idden , ,

both from th e sufferer h imsel f and from h is advisers

i n his normal waki ng state Thus i f a man shall ,

dream hi mself to be su fferin g from an affection of th e

heart say or of th e brain i t has been deemed that
, , ,

th is g ives rise to a reasonable expectation that h e

actually will be attacked by disease i n th e o rg an that
he has dreamed to be affected and th is is not m erel y
an opin ion that prevailed at th e date of the fantasti c
notions about dreams when th e most far fetch ed
,

i nterpretations were put upon th em but even sinc e ,

th e days that d reams have been considered with wha t

fi
we are now pl eased to Call an intelli g ent and scientifi c
.
- —
eye A quasi sci ent i c explanation i s g iven to th e
effect that as th e body i n sleep is more freed from th e
,

control of th e reason so i t is th e more sensitive to

,

5
66 ON DREAM S .

conditions affecti ng th e nerves Thus in certai n

.
,

experiments the sleeper has been pricked by a pi n

,

and has dreamed that h e was pierced by a spear ( the

same prickin g s do not always produce the same pi erc
ings be i t observed but th e dreamer does sometimes
, ,

respond i n th is way and th is response is to be taken

,

as typical of the facts on wh ich the ar g ument we are

c onsideri n g is based
) I n dreams then
. i t sometimes
, ,

h appens that the body is aff ected by somethi n g that

corresponds to hyper aesth esia and i n thes e conditions
-
,

i t is not alto g ether i mpossible that it may feel and be

conscious of the first sl i g h t attacks of i ncipient d isease
wh ich would have passed unnoticed i n the waki n g
state and may therefore fairly be taken as premonitions
,

w h ich would not have been received at all but for the
i ntimation g iven durin g the dream I t i s even poss ible
.

that i n someth in g of a similar state of l iab il ity to moral

temptation the dreami n g mi nd may be consci ous o f
,

an evil impulse wh ich would have had no e ffect on i t

i n the wakin g s tate and may concei vably be a fo re
,

w arning of a weakeni ng of the moral fi bre a growin g

l
,

iab ility to temptation of a certai n ki nd wh ich would ,

never have been suspected but for the h i nt g iven in

t h e dream .I n both cases fore -warned m ay be fore

,

armed and the dreamer who has received these hints

,

may act upon them and stren g then either his moral or
l
his phys ica nature accordingly as one or th e other is
,

threatened a g ainst the i mm i nent attack

,
We may .

fi nd i n fact nat ure speakin g to us i n dreams where

, , ,

the more prim itive man ( past the first phase of utte r
confusion of O bj ective and s ubj ective ) conce ived that
 D I V I NA TI ONS F ROM DREAMS . 67

the supernatural was speakin g ; and so fall i nto l i ne

with th e g eneral scheme of ment al evolution wh ich
sees more and more clearl y th e forces o f natu re i n
phenomena where the earl i er speculator saw super
natural forces .

O bviously i t i s quite possibl e to widen out th e

,

ar g ument w e have been lookin g at u ntil i t ceases to

have much practical force A dre am is perhaps more
.

directly and im mediately th e resul t of what a man has

eaten drunk or what he has been doi n g duri n g th e
, ,

day and i t is possible to ar g ue that had h e not been ,

such and such a man as h e was h e would not h ave

,

eaten or drunk such and such th in g s and therefore ,

would not have had such and su ch a dream but th is ,

seems to be w iden in g the ar g um ent to a d e g ree that

is not far short of fatuous and makes i t worth l ittle
,

attention .

I t is evident that there are t wo di vi sions of th e art

that has to do with dre am i n g i n th e opi nion o f th e
,

chroniclers . There is th e art o f i nterpreti n g the

dream wh en i t has been received an d also the art of
,

i nduci n g th e required dream that is to say th e dream

,

that s hall g ive the requi red answer O f th is latter

.

kind is the recipe for sleepi n g i n th e templ e of A pollo ,

as advised by A chilles ; o f sleepi n g on th e consecrated

mat as it is related that the F ranciscans used to do ;
,

and even to th is day i n parts of th e C on ti nen t th ere

is qu ite a bris k sal e of the li ttle books g ivi n g di rections
h ow to produce the dream that shall tell you th e wi n
n ing numbers i n th e S tate lotteries T hat all do not .

w i n we can onl y ascribe to thei r lack o f faith i n not

, .
68 ON DREAMS .

buyi n g and readi n g the l ittle books or not followin g ,

with su ffi cient piety their precepts when read Th ere .

i s a brief but adequate prescription for dream in g of

h im or her who loves you i n H alliwell s N ursery ’

Ha m which contai ns besides th e rhymes F i resi d e

l
y e s , , ,

Ta es and accounts of many old E n g lish customs

,

i ncludi n g a useful smatterin g of wh i te magic such as ,

the divinin g from dreams F or old E ngl ish i nter

.

p ret at i ons of dreams no book is ,

better than S ax on

Leeond oms wh ich has a whole chapter i n t h e ori g inal

,

A n g lo -S axon w ith the translation facing i t on t h e

,

opposite pag e devoted to d ream i n terpretations very

, ,

direct and simple wi th no reason g iven for the arbi trary

,

meani n g s attached A fuller account of the means

.

for produci n g th e dreams required is g iven i n B rand s ’

l l
fi
Pop uar A nt i qui t i es I t is curious i n that curious O d
.
,

book to see the d ivin in g rod for water nd i ng treated

,
-

as a survival of superstition thou g h now many years , ,

fi
’
after the book s publ i cation there i s a revived tendency
l
,

to faith in th e use of th e water - nd er and h is haze

twi g.
 C H A PT E R IV .

C LA S S I FI C AT I O N OF THE M O R E FREQ UEN T D REA M S .

PA R T L

IT is now ag ain necessary at th e be g in nin g of th i s

,

chapter that I sh ould make s ometh in g that i s i n th e

,

nature of what th ey call i n Parl iament a personal

”
ex planation ,
not at all because i t can have any
i nterest on that account but i n order to show h ow i t
,

is th at I am able to O ffer to th e reader the man y

O pi nions and illustrations of the commoner kinds of

dreams wh i ch seem to me to g ive this chapter a special

value—a value th at it scarcel y could have i f i t were a l
l
the work of one hand and certai nly could not hav e i f
,

i t were all the work of my hand M ore than a yea r .

ag o I wrote i n Long man s M ag azi ne an articl e wh ich I

’

”
h eaded A F irst E ssay i n D reams ; and by way of
“

explain in g th e obj ect O f th at fi rst essay and i ts results ,

I perhaps can do no better than quote the essay itsel f ,

by kind perm i ss i on of the publ ish ers v irtually i n ex ,

t enso rej ectin g only such part s as are not appropri at e

,

to the volume form or that treat o f questions discusse d

elsewhere i n the book .

B y way of puttin g the reader i nto a posi tion t o

70 ON DREAMS .

—
u nderstand what i t is all about a position more or
—
less essential to h is comfort let us begin strai g ht
away w ith a category o f the most universal and
frequent classes of dreams so far as my l ittle knowledge,

g oes There is
.

I The falling dream — you are fallin g over a pre

.

c i p i ce or down the stairs .

2 The flyi ng dream— th e dream that you can

.

The dream of more or less i nadequa t e cloth i n g

3 .

that you are not properly cloth ed .

4 The dream of not bei n g abl e to g et away from

.

some beast or i nj urious person or th i ng that is pur

, ,

su in g you .

5 Th e dream
. of bei n g drawn i rresistibly to som e
dan g erous place such as a fi re , .

6 Th e dream that some darl in g wish has been

.

g ratified .

7 Th e dream
. of being about to g o a j ourney ,

and bein g u nable to g et your th in g s i nto you r trunks ,

C tC .

N o doubt there are a great many more The l ist .

fi
could probably be lengthened considerably That is .

wh y i t is that I called th is a rst essay i n the hope ,

that many people mi g h t supply much new material fo r

a second essay I n a ro ugh and ready way and so
.
,

’
far as a plai n man s ignorance m igh t permit I tried to ,

j ot down the classes according to th e relative frequency

of the dreams I n th is respect one has to make a
.

distinction for whereas one kind of dream may happen

,

t o be dreamt very often by the same person and so ,

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REAM S . 71

h ave a c lai m to frequent occurrence another ki nd may

,

b e dream t by the same person onl y once or twice

w ithin h is remembrance but may happen to have
,

been dreamt by a g reat many persons I t i s th e latter .

ki nd offrequency that is most interesting and ou g h t ,

fi
to be si g nifi cant i f only we could tell what i ts si g ni
,

canc e is . F or it is an O bvious in ference that i f th e ,

same d ream has occurred to very many people i t is ,

l i kely to have h ad a com mon cause i n each case or , ,

at l east i n most of the cases Th e natural comment

, .

on th is would be th at i f we fi nd the same dream

occurrin g to a great many th e probabil i t y is that it i s
,

a recoll ection of an i ncident c om mon i n th e l i fe of

a g reat many B ut 111 ans wer to th is very obvious
.
,

theory it is to be observed that the first case of all

, ,

wh ich I con ceive to be th e most frequent is scarcel y ,

an i nst ance of an i ncident common to th e l ives o f

a g reat many ; for the fall in g over a precipi ce i s not
the sor t of th ing that happens more than once at a ,
l
l
events in the l iv es of any but a very few S o t h e
, .

comm on cause is probably not quite so simple or

obvio us as th is and as to what it may be one must
, ,

still l eave th e world to conj ecture The only even .

prob abl e i n ference i s that a common cause exists I ts .

natu re is h ardly to be guessed .

The cause of th e oth er kind of frequency is perhaps

equ ally obscure but less i nterestin g for i t is compara
l
, ,
'

t i v e y easy to suppose that a c ert ai n person sh ould

often suffer certai n emotions or sensations that would

be l ikely to produce a repetition of the same dream i n
a person of h is temperament That th e same dream
.
72 ON D REAMS .

should repeat itsel f wi th persons O f all kinds of

temperaments i s far more s in g ular .

There are those wh o d eclare that they never dream

at all but i n order to understand what they mean by
th is i t is necessary to understand what drea m in g itsel f
actually means D ream in g does not merely mean i n
.

the correct sense of the term that the mind is carry i ng

,

on some ki nd of operations durin g sleep but a lso that ,

on awakin g it should retai n a consciousness ofwhat i t

was thi nkin g about during sleep A nd i n this regar d
.

i t is to be observed that when we are suddenly

,

awakened it always seems to most of us as i fwe had

,

been awakened out of a dream that is ex ce edin g ly

v ivid for the immediate moment I t is one of th e .

most notable features of dreams that they vanish very

quickly from our recollections a few mi nutes after we
have thus been awakened and we strive i n v ai n to
,

re gai n our grasp of what our m ind had bee n doi n g

l
while we were asleep O n the oth er hand ) if the
.

awakenin g has been g radual it is probable that, i n the

,

leisurely process of the m ind s revivi n g i nterest to the

’

th in g s of waki n g li fe it unconsciously loses its grasp

,

of what i t had been doin g i n the sleepi ng state F rom .

this it would seem likely that th ose wh o declar e that

they never dream do not really di ffer from the great
,

maj ority of us who are dreamers by any di fferen ce of

the operations of the mind wh ile they are as eep but l , .

rather that they are eith er slow i n awakin g so t h at t h e

'

m ind loses remembrance of what it had been doing

w h ile they slept or else that they lose th ei r rem e m
,

b rance more quickly than most owing to some di ffer

,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FRE QUEN T D REAMS . 73

l
ence ofm ent a constitution I t would perhaps be curious
.

to obse rv e wheth er those wh o say they do not dream

h ave any special characteristics i n common whi ch ,

would serve to explai n th is Th e entire subj ect th us

.

’
raised o f the mi nd s remembrance of its experiences
, ,

is a curious and interestin g one The com mon case .

of temporarily forgetting a name wh ich w e pai nfully ,

s earch for i n vai n u ntil it suddenly flashes across us

,

wh il e we are thi nkin g of somethin g quite di fferent is ,

familiar enough and yet more si n g ular is th e ultimate

,

success i n recall in g a melody of which all or part has

,

escaped us and evaded us for a lon g wh il e I t all .

g oes to show that th e mi nd has stored up with in it

recollections of various ki nds wh ich the will is not
always potent enou g h to summon i nto consciousness ,

but wh ich someth in g ( probably some O ften unsus

ec t ed association of i deas ) accidentall y recalls B ut
p .

w e are wanderin g i nto fields o f speculation outsid e ou r

beat I t is essential however to real ise that dreams
.
, ,

have properly speakin g no bein g unless they can be

, ,

remembered wh en w e awake Wi thout this a dream .

can not be said to have occurred i n any sense that is ,

humanly speakin g i ntell igible any more than th ere ,

can be deemed to be an y continuity of the e g o or ,

o f the individual existence except on th e assumption

,

that i n the future l i fe we are to have remembrance of

our bein g i n this l i fe .

I t scarcely needs to be observed that th e g reat

‘

maj ority o f the classes i nto wh ich we have put dreams

are of the kind that would be described as bad dreams
rather than good Two of the classes only sugg est
.
74 ON D REAMS .

pleasurabl e emotions ; the dream of flying which ,

always g ives a feeli ng O f satisfaction and the dream

,

that a darl ing wish has been fulfilled I n my ow n

.

ch ildish days the darl in g wish of my l ife was to posses s

a watch and i n dreams i t happened to me over and
,

over ag ai n to have th is g ood g ift bestowed on me ,

thou g h such a mi g hty event did not happen i n real

wakin g li fe till many a year afterwards ; and i t was
often the matter of my keenest debate wh ether it was
better i n ultimate result to have a good dream or a
bad one so sore was the disappointment when I awoke
,

to find the unsu bstantiality ofthe good gift that I had

supposed to be given me O n the other hand i n cas e
.
,

of the bad dreams that were so often the consequence

of the fearful i ntemperance of ch ildhood i n such matter s
as j am tarts and unripe apples the relief of waking to
,

find that all the dread ful ima g inings were without
foundation — that one was not between a dragon s claws ’

or at th e foot O fa precipice — was worth almost all th e

sufferin g of the previous imagi nary pan g s .

There i s scarcely a question but t h at the most

'

frequent and universal of a l l the forms O f bad dreams

consists in the fancy th at we are falling down a precipice

fi
of prodi g ious height or someti mes it may be only th e
,

moderate yet suf crent height of an ordi nary staircase

,
.

A nd yet i n any case the height does not make much

di fference for j ust as th e I rishman — the proverbial
,

—
I rishman is fabled to have said that i t was not the
falling that hurt h im but th e sudden stopping at the
bottom so here in th is falling dream we invariably
, , ,

esc ape th e hurt that would naturally result from th e

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T DREAMS . 75

sudden stopping at the bottom because i n these dream ,

experiences no one has ever yet been known to come

to th e bottom at all I t i s popularl y said that i f on e
.

did dream of comi ng to th e bottom one would die bu t

fi
that is not easily proved because the only man i n any
,

position to speak decidedly and of rst-hand experience

on the subj ect would be by the hypoth esis one of the
, , ,

dead men who tell no tal es The fact remai ns that .

n o on e has ever y et dreamed h imsel f to th e bottom

ofth e precipice thou g h th e dream of bei n g i n m i d ai r
,
1 -

is so very frequent and though one is conscious of a

,

vague and d reamy surprise that one does not mind th e

fall ing so much as on e expected A ll th ese sensations .

are most excellently worked i nto that best of books O f

l l
dreams A i ce i n Wond er and Th e fidel ity to th e
, .

vag ue inconsequent manner of d reams i n the way i n

wh i ch all the i ncidents take place is its h i g hest artisti c
triumph .

T he number of people who fly i n thei r dreams i s

not nearly as lar g e accordi n g to an y computation that
,

I have been able to make as th e number who fall , .

P erhaps the proportion is about as one to th ree T hat .

is not to say that th e same people do not both fall and

fly I ndeed th e fall in g dream seems al most universal
.
,

amon g those who are conscious of dreami n g at all .

A nd it is vi rtually i mpossible that the flying dream

should be as common as the fall in g d ream because i t ,

is d isti nctly pleasurabl e and satisfactory whereas th e ,

maj ority of dream s are emi nently di sag reeable Th ere .

1
But see p ag e 11 8 .
 6 ON D REAMS .

are many more bad dreams than good even as appears ,

from th e above category and the bad are far more ,

often repeated There is a peculi ari ty about the flyi n g

.

dream that seems to be very constant O f all those .

whom I have asked about th e matter and who are ,

conscious of the flying d ream at all hardly one has ,

ever known himsel f to make any h igh flights in his

dreams O ne almost always fl ies ow with a skimmi ng
. l ,

manner slightly but only sl i g htly above the heads of

,

pedestrians A nd o ne s cri ti cal attitude i n a dream

.
’

’
towards one s own performance is al ways i nteresting
to note both i n re gard to th i s parti cular class of dream
,

and even more towards one of th e other classes I t

l
.

is an attitude that is well b rough t out in A i ce i n

l
Wond er and where A l i ce i s made to exclaim or to
l
l
,

th ink wh il e sh e is fall in g
,
H ow brave they will a ,

th ink i t of me at home not to mi nd a great fall l i ke

,

th is. We all have th is feel in g I fancy i n the fall in g ,

dream a pleased surprise that i t hurts us so littl e A nd

, .

in regard to th e flyin g dream we are all conscious of

a sense of satisfaction of superiori ty to our poor crawl
,

i ng fellow mortals on the earth by virtue of our capaci ty

for fl i g ht even though i t be lowly flight B ut we are
, .

not unduly el ated or proud and i t i s one of the mos t ,

constant and curious characteristics of dreams that all

our experi ences i n th em are som ewhat at a lo wer
t emperature th e same i n ki nd but di ff
,
erent i n de g ree
th an they would be under l ike circumstances occurrin g
i n waking l ife T hus althou g h th e pedestrians over
.

whose heads we skim using our arms win g l ike -

, ,

w ith a kind of swi mming action appear to be a ,

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 77

l ittle surprised and disposed to admiration of us yet ,

th ey do not express anyth ing l ike th e degree of

s urprise and adm iration that th ey wo uld infallibly
ev ince i f th ey saw us i n th is aerial disport i n real
li fe
.

The most stri ki n g i nstance of the subnormal tem

erat ure of th e dream emotions so to cal l i t i s given
p , ,

in th e pai nful class of dream wh ich may be labelled

th e i n adequately clothed dream I n th is class o f
.

dream i t occurs to us to come down from our bed

rooms to m ingle i n society even sometimes to be
, ,

presented at court or to take part i n the hi g h est and

most solem n functions i n a costume that we should
,

deem scarcel y adequate i f we had been j ust roused

from our beds by a shout of F i re ' Th e degrees ”

of this comparati ve nudity are very vari ous and i t is ,

remarkabl e that i t i s most unus ual so far as I can ,

l earn for any h uman bei n g ( that is to say i n the tem

,

perate climates ) i n his dreams to appear before h is

fellows i n an absolutely A rcadian or idylli c lack of
costume ; but the costume i s commonly very i nadequate ,

so inadequate that the police would very ri g htly i nter

fere i n the bare i nterests of decency I ndeed that
.

fear the apprehension of police i nterference for the

,

sake of publi c morals is a factor i n th e g eneral un

,

easi ness that we feel i n ou r dreams of fi nd ing oursel ves

l
l
goi ng abroad i n such d ésaaoi e F or we are conscious
.

O f a measure of uneas in ess w e can feel that we did

,

wron g i n not putting on this or th at absolutely indis

pensabl e portion of our wardrob e before we left our
room but it is as noth i n g to th e utter shame and
,
78 ON DREAMS .

horror that would overwhel m us were we really to find

ourselves i n such condition A nd i n the same de g ree
.

the shock that our appearance g ives our unfortunate

friends amon g whom We show ourselves i n s uch g uise
is not a circumstance to the pai n those sensiti ve souls
would feel if our appearance were a real ity i nstead o f
a subj ective fancy Y et we retai n a su fficient sense
.

of shame to be conscious o f a very real relief when we

wake to find that we have not behaved ourselves i n
such a manner as to be th e repro bation of every ri g ht
minded man and woman A lmost as common perhaps
.
, ,

as the flyi n g dream ( and possibly i nstances of the

naked dream ou g h t to be classed fou rth rather than
third on th e scale of frequent occurrence ) is the dream ,

that we are pursued by som e lio n or monster and ,

that all our e fforts to escape are frustrated by an i n

expl icable paralys is of ou r limbs o r by some substance
of a sticky nature like strawberry j am or birdlime
, ,

throu g h whi ch it is our unhappy fate to have to move

knee -deep The paralysis q ui te painless of the l imbs
.
, ,

is the form under whi ch I personall y am compelled

, ,

’
to await the bogey s remorsel ess approach ; I have
never had the experience of th e strawberry j am about
th e feet but I am told by others ( perhaps th ey have
,

been brou g h t up on a more clayey soil ) that this i s the

way i n wh ich the troubl e besets them A nd i n any.

case it is satis factory to thi nk that i n this i nstance

ag ain th e d enou
'
ment never comes
’
Perhaps as before
.
, ,

it would have fatal res ults if it were to happen B ut .

j ust as the monster is about to lay its fearful claw on

us we awake and a g ai n the sense of relief makes i t
,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE F REQUEN T D REAMS . 79
’

al most worth wh ile to have endured th e previous

s u fferin g T here is a variant to th is ; and i n th is
.

variant form it was a common and dread ful experien ce

of my ow n ch ildhood wherein i nstead of bei n g pu r
, ,

sued wh ile one s e fforts to escape are clo gg ed one i s

,
’

remorselessly and mysteriousl y drawn towards the

fearful obj ect Whatever i t may be that obj ect itsel f
, ,

remai nin g stationary S om e force l ike hypnotism

.

( thou g h the actual name o f hypnotis m had hardly

been i nvented i n my ch ildhood ) seemed to impel me
to wal k despite m y wishes to a certai n l andin g o n
, ,

the mai n staircase whereon the breakfast urn used i n

,

my dreams to appear swollen to a hu g e size and eu

, ,

ci rcled l ike B runh ild with a wall of flame Towards

, , .

this dreadful O bj ect ( perhaps m y fin g ers had bee n

burnt by the urn sometime or other ) I found m ysel f
bound to wal k w ith slow steps i n spite o f my ow n ,

horror of its flami n g fiery furnace and the prayers of

m y nurse wh o used to stand with me on the landi n g
below whence I be g an my rel uctant ascent towards
,

the flames and th e um I remember that I never

.

could understand h ow i t was that she did not stretch

out a hand and pull me back from th e horrid j ourney ,

but sh e never did I cannot understand i t even now

. .

I n consequence of th is dream and i ts attendant h orrors ,

the breakfast u rn i tsel f harmless and rotund C opper

,

body g rew to be associated w i th pai ns and terror I

, .

took an i ntense child ish disl ike to th e th ing and pro ,

bably many will be able to recall a l ike experience o f

a harmless inanimate O bj ect becom i n g endued with
actively terrible attributes I nani m at e obj ects are not
.
th e only harmless th in g s that the waki ng or dreami n g
fancy of ch ildren e ndows w ith such imag i nary terrors
that they become a pri ncipal part O fwhat may be called
the bo g ey dream I n many of my dreams the r oe
“
. l
of bogey was played by a middle -aged g entleman
whom I constantly used to meet alon g th e road but ,

whom I never spoke to i n my l i fe nor did he ever ,

address a sin g le word to me I did not nor do I now.

, ,

know h is profession posi tion i n life ( I th ink he be

,

longed to what we should call the middle class ) nor

his name H e had a reddish curlin g be ard and all
.
, ,

the very l ittle later k nowled g e that I picked up of h im

showed him to be a benevolen t and perfectly harmless
person Y et thi s unfortunate man I had selected for
.
,

some reason not known to mysel f even as the bo g ey ,

of my dreams I had no fear of h i m at all i n real l ife

.
,

yet i n dreams i t was g enerally he wh en it was not the ,

ur n that was the i ncarnation of all terror to me T his

,
.

i n itsel f is a sin g ular reflection but what I th ink i s ,

even more stri ki n g and not a little pai nful is th e con

, ,

s ideration of th e possibil ity that you very gentl e ,

reader or I wh o deem ourselves ki ndly of h eart and

, ,

would not harm a fly much less a h uman ch ild may

l
, ,

be posin g ni g ht y as the horror and th e bo g ey not of

’
one but of many ch ildren s l ives I t is a humiliating
, .

and distressin g refl ection L et us hope it has no

.

foundation i n the truth A fter all th is red —

. headed , ,

middle -ag ed bog ey of my ch ildhood may have been

less innocent than h e appeared may have h idden a ,

black heart beneath h is rufous exterior B ut I do not .

th ink so I th in k it was the amaz in g imagi nation of

.
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE F REQUEN T DREA MS . 81

childhood that invested h i m w ith a maj esty of terrors

to wh ich he had no j ust claim .

R ather analagous to th e dream of i nadequate

“
cloth i ng is the d ream that w e may nam e th e trai n
”
fever dream . H erein we find ourselves about to
g o on a j ourney but one of th e bag s or boxes i nex
ll
,

p i ca b y decl i nes to g et itsel f packed i n spi te of

, all
the best endeavours of self and servants I t i s l ike .

the waki n g experience of all those of us who are

occasionally but not o ften enough to make th e
,

process easy and familiar obl iged to pack for our

,

selves — the experi ence that whenever we strap up

the last veh icl e for l u gg a g e we i mme d iately find
anoth er suit of clothes dema ndi ng to be packed
a suit of whose existence there w as no previous
sign . I n dreams i t is not o nly a su it but a whol e ,

portman teau load that will not get i tsel f packed A s .

fast as one th i n g is put i n another is created to be

put i n after it and after the whole has been packed
,

quite full it is often found i n som e mysterious way

to be qu ite empty ag ai n and all the th in g s i n a
,

muddl e o n the fl oor .

A nother form of the bo g ey d ream and i n a ,

small way a pecul iarly d istress in g one was probably ,

pecul iar to myself personally but no doub t oth ers

, ,

h ave th ei r own pecul iar forms that are analagous to

it
. I used as a boy to keep numbers O f caterp illars
, , ,

i n th e hope— someti m es gratified often frustrated ,

of their developing i nto perfect moths and butterfl ies

to grace my collection Th e pecul iar form of bogey
.

dream to whi ch I have referred consisted i n the

6
82 ON DREAMS .

l
l
escape of a these capti ves wh ich occupie d thei r
,

new freedom in crawlin g over my person i n great

numbers . The sensation of being crawled over by

”
multitudes of caterpillars of the woolly bear texture
was peculiarly i rri tating and distressing .

’
I t is singular that i n spite of C hildhood s perpetual
,

fear of g hosts a dream i n wh ich g hostly fi g ures play

l
,

the roe of bogey is seldom known The bo g eys

.

almost always take the form of some famil iar perso n

or O bj ect often ludicrously innocent of O ffence
,
.

A lthough i t is O bviously true that dreams have

a way of concernin g themselves with O bj ects and
scenes famil iar to us i n wakin g sense it is aston i sh .

in g h ow utterl y i nconsequent is th e order of events ,

and h ow entirely we lose all moral sense and all

sense of proportion i n them I t is nearly certain
.

’
that the world of a sane man s dreams resembles
not a l ittle th e mental wakin g world of th e mad
man The similarity of th e conditions is more fully
.

discussed elsewhere .B ut thou g h i t is t rue that

the troubles and circumstances wh ich occupy our
wakin g thoughts also have a way of invading our
d reams still i t is singular h ow perpet ual l y and al most
,

i nvariably we are defeated i n any e ffort to command

our thou g hts i n any particular trai n when we lay
our heads on the pillow D reams seem to come and
.

go of their own accord free from t he domi nion of

,

our vol ition I f we are awakened from a dream

.
,

i t is nearly always i n vain that we try to pursue

its course when we turn agai n to sl eep Y et it is .

evident that the mi nd is unconsciously occupied

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T D REAM S . 83

durin g sl eep wi th the subj ects last presented to it

i n waking hours oth erwise h ow are we to account
,

for the before mentioned fact that a schoolboy wh o h as

very i mperfectl y learned a piece o f repetition over
n igh t will hav e it perfectl y pat i n th e mornin g ' A nd
d reams do follow i n th eir own vag ue dreamy way
, , ,

t he g eneral bent of th e waki ng thou g h t as is i nd icated

,

by the case that we ci ted of the famous cri cketer w h o

’
often used to umpire at boys matches and would startle
,

h is wife not a l i ttl e at n i g hts by starti n g u p i n bed

throwi ng up h is right arm and shouti n g no ball '
,

“ ”

i n a stentorian voice . T he loss of the moral sense

is perhaps the most startl i n g of the m any curious
phenomena o f dreams and th ere is not the sli g htest
,

doubt that the mildest mannered bo g ey o f a ch ild s

’

dream the most i nnocen t and blameless man i n real

,

l ife must often have surprised h i msel f by the atrocious

,

actions that he is capable of committi n g without any

reproach of conscience i n h is dreams .
 C H A PT E R IV .

PA R T I I .

THE correspondence that I receiv ed i n respons e to

th e invitation set out in Part I of th is chapter seem s
.

to contai n matter of i nterest that may be g rouped

conveniently under several d isti nct h eads ; there are
some suggestions directly responsive to the quest ion
of the causes of th e dreams ; some dreams that h ad
—
escaped my ow notice or that did not seem of
n

suffi cient frequency to be worthy of a class to th em

selves—have been shown to deserve recognition i n
the form of a separate class ; su gg estive and i nter
esting additions to th e dreams with i n the classes
that I drew up have been contributed ; besides many
comments on the subj ect as a whole that are full of
i nterest althou g h they do not advance one s general
,
’

understandi ng of th e way that th e di fferent well ,

distinguished dreams com e about A mong the most

, .

i nterestin g and most mysterious of th e additional

, ,

kinds that have been suggested to me is what we

may cal l the dream withi n a dream
“
Y ou dream ”
.

that you are dream in g you seem to awake still i n

, ,

your dream out of th e one dream and you go on

, ,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T D REAMS . 85

with the oth er and when real ly awake are co nscious

,

both O fthe outer and of the i nner dream so to speak .

Th is is an experi ence that has never come to me

personally bu t i t is mentioned by man y corre
,

s ond ent s and therefore should have som e claim to

p
be placed i n a class by i tsel f were i t not that i f i t , ,

has a common cause i n most cases of its occu rrence

, ,

i t m us t su rely be so very subtle and compl ex a cause

that w e may quite despai r o f traci n g i t Perhaps to .

be m entioned i n association wi th th is dream with i n

“
a dream question is the question of dual person
al ity whi c h a correspondent for whose O pi nio n I ,

am bound to have more than ordinary respect su g ,

g ests as an explanation of som e of the phenomen a

o f dreams We are tol d and on such g ood auth ori t y
.
,

that i t i s hard to disbel ieve i t that i n th e case of

l
,

certai n hypnotic subj ects studi ed at th e S a t pet ri ere

,

“
and elsewhere a dual personali ty as i t is called
, , ,

has been developed T hat i s to say for i nstance

.
, ,

that a young peasant gi rl of B rittany typical of h er ,

class and perfectly i g norant of any classical lan g ua g e ,

w ill i n a certai n s ta g e O fth e hypnoti c trance i mag i n e

, ,

hersel f to be let us say a p ri est of th e M iddle Ag es

, , ,

and g abble M onkish L atin O f course i t sounds

.
,

utterly i ncredibl e b ut the fact i s abundantly testified

, ,

and I bel ieve i t is said that cases hav e even bee n

known i n wh ich at a further sta g e of th e hypnoti c
,

tra nce a th i rd personali ty h as been devel oped wh erei n

, ,

t h e patient acts thi nks and speaks i n a manne r

, , ,

perfectly a g reein g with this thi rd metempsychosis ,

as one m igh t al mos t call it and perfectly disti nc t ,

86 ON DREAM S .

from th e action thought or speech exhibited either

,

i n the natu ral state or in the earl ier stage of the

hypnotic trance H owever that may be it is on
.
,

the dual personality m erely that my correspondent

, ,

i n whom I put much faith takes h is stand suggestin g , ,

i t as an explanation and i n h is opi nion th e most pro

,

bable explanation of some dream phenom ena F or

,
.

example the i nstruction of youth has occupied much

,

of h is time duri ng the life here be l ow H e has .

dreamed —according to th e well known tendency that ,

was noticed in th e first part of th is chapter Ofdreams ,

to concern themselves with the stuff of wakin g

thou g hts —that he was lecturing to an assemblage
of sufficientl y th ick -headed students endeavouri ng ,

with some measure of success to make them com

prehend an i nvolved ar g ument or subtle point when ,

suddenly j ust as his eloquence and lucidi ty had

,

gained their i nteres ted attention the whole train of ,

his though t and t h ei r own was confou nded by a

“
raucous voice shouting behi nd h is back The Prince
'
,

th e Prince M ake way for the Pri nce

. Th e Prin ce ”
,

as it turned out was R anj

,
i t si nj
h i Pri nce of cri cketers, ,

and the scene instantly sh i fted as i t only does i n ,

dreams or D rury L ane to L ord s pavil ion and the ,

’

Prince himse l f appeared i n th e semblance of a fat

l
o d —
I ndian N abob anyth ing but a sharp short slip - .

V ery well th en argues my friend th is is only to be

, ,

explained on the supposition of a j oi nt authorsh ip a ,

dua l personal ity of whom th e one the good and

, ,

i ntellectual M r J ekyll is co nducting h is dream lecture

.
,
'

i n orderly fash ion until i t is suddenl y spoiled by the

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 87

i ntrusion O f the Ph ilisti n e and raucous voiced M r -

.

H yde with h is cric ket .

Ag ain the same dreamer quotes me another dream

pointi n g i n h is opi nion to a l ike conclusion
, , H e is .

a suffi cient F rench scholar to read F rench fluently ;

occas io nally wh en in the cou ntry fi ndi n g h is v ocabu
, ,

lary or at least h is idiom a l ittle lackin g for w a

, nt of
,

practi ce I n h is dream h e fi nds h imsel f thus moder

.
,

ately equipped w ith F rench conversing with a

.

Parisian speaki n g the lan g uag e wi th th e deli cacy

and swi ftness of fi nished perfection N ow and agai n .

th e E nglish man has to ask the F rench man to repeat

more slowly N ow h ow i s i t possi bl e my friend in
.
, ,

e ffect asks m e that I could put i nto the mouth of m y

,

Parisian that perfect and beautiful F rench and at ,

th e same time coul d find i t now and ag ai n beyond me

to understand i t ' S urely th is ag ai n must be a case
of dual personali ty— myself bei ng mysel f w ith the
F rench of S tratford atte B owe my dream man
- - -
, ,

with hi s perfect Parisian my second my dual sel f , , .

I do not a g ree with m y fri end i n this for all my ,

respect for h is opinion I could not respect h i m so

.

much i f I could not venture frank l y to disagree with

h im I n the firs t place I suspect th is fl uent Parisian
.
,

with h is perfect idiom and fluency alto g ether Y ou ,

.

see the only evidence that we have of th e idiom and

,

th e fluency is the effect they produced on th e mi nd of

my dream i n g fri en d That h e sh ould imag in e a man
.

speakin g beauti ful F rench to h im is eas y enough to ,

comprehend that h e should accord ingly have di ffi cul ty

i n understandin g h is quick speech and should ask for a
88 ON D REAMS .

repetition is only i n accord with what woul d be h is

,

natural conception of a conv ersation i n which h e and a

born Parisian took part There is noth ing di fficult to
.

imagine i n this but o n the oth er hand what i s difficult

, ,

to imag i ne is that he was a better F rench schol ar

asleep than awake or that th e dual personal ity is the
,

correct explanation F ar easier to credit accordin g to

.
,

my th inking that h e i magined the F renchman s diction ’

to be more perfect than he could have made i t '

,

A nd th is very consideration bri ngs us into touch

with a remarkable fact of dreams that has been noticed
-

long ag o the extremely moderate cali bre of d ream wit

, ,

dream i ntellect dream humo ur and the mental opera

,

tions of dreams alto g ether I t has often been observed

.

that in dreams we seem to have hit now and agai n on

a wonderfully illumi natin g thought a remarkably neat ,

epigram or a solution of a problem that has baffl ed

everybody - perpetual motion has probably been solved
again and a g ain by d reamers — but whenever one has
awaked with any exact remembrance of those achieve
ments they have proved to waking cri ticism the merest
,

drivel and only vaguely coherent This at least is my .

personal experienc e of the i ntellectu al efforts of dreams ,

and on the whole I thi nk that i t i s confi rmed by general

consensus O n th e other side it is only fai r that I
.

should quote i nstances to th e contrary and among

th em I may i nclude certain passages in some of the
l etters that correspondents were good enough to wri te
m e about the fi rst essay F eats of considerable
.

i ntellectual energy one writes have been satis

l
, ,

f ac t ori y accomplished i n dreams e

g a friend of
,
th e . .
,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REA MS . 89

w riter once composed a parody on S cott s Lay of t ae

’

l
Last M i nst re and remembered i t quite well i n the
morning S choolboys and school g i rls too have worked
.
,

out problems i n thei r d reams wh ich have defeated

thei r best efforts i n consciousness and they remem
,

bered th e workin g and sol utions with satisfactory

”
results th e next day .

fi
O n th is poin t it is to be said that the fact of com
po sin g a parod y on th e Lay of re Last M i nst re does l
not i n i tsel f of necessity amount to a great intellectual
performance I t is only the quality of the perform
.

ance that should be the measure of i ts g reatness and ,

of that the writer gives us no assu rance To remember

.

th e parody i n th e morni ng was indeed a feat bu t i t ,

w as a feat of th e waki ng rather than th e d reaming

, ,

intel l ect. I n re g ard to the solution of probl em s by

boys and gi rls duri n g sleep I can only say that I h ave
,

h eard few i nstances i n support O fit although i t is very

,

t rue and the fact has been noti ced more than once
,

al ready that a piece of repetition con ned over at ni g h t

,

and very imperfectl y known then is sometimes remem

,

bered quite p at for early school th e next morni ng .

There is a strong i n ference that i t must have occupi ed

the mi nd durin g sleep but that does not brin g i t wi th
,

i n the sph ere of dream i n g as defined by an operation

of th e mi nd duri n g sleep of wh ich one is consci ous on
awaki n g I t i s one of th e most curious poi nts i n th is
.

connection that i t sh ould have thus occupied the m i nd

duri ng sleep wi thout consciousness of that occupation
,

being retai ned C ommon fairness d emanded th at I

.

s h ould put on record this s tatement of my corre

90 ON D REAM S .

s
p ond ent ,
although i t does not agree with m y own
experience nor w ith the experience that I bel ieve to
,

be general There is th e old tale of C oleridge i t i s

ll
.
,

true and h is K uoa K i an ; but in the fi rst place i t is

,

to be noted that this poem i f composed i n sleep at all , ,

was composed i n the unnatural sleep of opium and i t ,

is perm itted to suspect that wh ile the scenes described ,

were doubtless dreamt th e lan g ua g e i n whi ch they.

’
were put on paper occurred to the poet s mind as
h e wrote I f by feats of considerabl e i ntellectual
.

”
energy my correspondent referred only to th e range
of thought i t would accord with th e common experience
,

of all dreamers but referri ng it to the power and qual ity

,

of the thought as i t is referred i n the case of solution

,

of hard problems i t is almost certainl y at variance with

,

what we commonly find to be the facts L awyers are .

said to have written i n thei r dreams lucid opinions of

cases submi tted to them Th is i f true and th e ev i .
, ,

dence is strong is very wonderful but to accept i t as

,

true does not prevent our recording it as very exc ep

l
t i ona nor inva l idate very seriously th e s tatement that
,

most of the inte l lectual feats whi ch stri ke us as so

bril l iant i n dreams appear folly to our waki n g criticism .

The people who have written on dreams seem generally

to h ave accepted without much suspicion every state
ment as to th e feats of i ntel l ect performed of problems ,

so l ved and the rest i n dreams They ou g ht at least

, ,
.

to have weighed on the other hand th e illumi nati ng

, ,

thoughts the splendid h umour that seem to be dis

, ,

covered to us i n dreams and wh ich yet on waking we , ,

find to be th e height of i mbeci l ity Th is is a fact that .

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REA M S .
91

ought to have raised a certai n suspi cion about th e

qual ity of th e feats said to h av e been done wh ile th e
best part of th e m ind was not in w orkin g order I n .

case an y sh ould doubt that i t i s a fact that the quality ,

o f dream h umour and dream composition i s not g ener

ally h i g h I may perhaps quote on e or two l etters from
,

correspondents to bear m e out ; but I do not th i nk

that many who have looked into the matter at al l wil l
require much confirmation of th e statem ent “
S ens e .

of humour one writes i n dreams is anoth er curiou s

, , ,

th i n g I t is strange how exceedin g ly amu sed one may

.

be with som e exquisite j oke that waken in g may prove ,

to be hopelessly com monplace or more O ften gib , ,

”
berish .M ore O ften gibberish i s I am afraid the , , ,

usual verdict of the wide awake criti c on al l the m ental

efforts that hav e seemed to h i m so fi ne and g rand i n
h is sleep I n anoth er class of dreams writes anoth er
.
,

correspondent th e dreamer imag i nes co nversation i n

“
,

wh ich h e or some other person says things so amusi n g

that they actually lau g h i n the ir sleep H e does not
.
”

say however that h e has ever been largel y rewarded

, ,

when h e has sent thes e efforts of humour to Punca ,

or any of the comic papers on awaki n g Y et anoth er ,

.

says Th is dream was a long one ( I have spoken of

’

l “
i t e sewh ere) and under its i nfluence I wro te a lot of
i

do gg erel wh ich exists somewhere amon g st m y papers ,

and be g ins
T w as i n t h e ear l y m or ni ng w h en d eam s th ey say a e t r ue
’
, r r ,

Just as t h e sun was ri si ng t ur ni ng t h e g ey t o b l ue

”
, r .

T his is really a fi ne poeti c effort as j udged by th e

ordi nary standard of dream composi tion I am told .
92 ON DREAMS .

by one of my correspondents that the present method

of shot -making w as discovered by some one i n a
dream : A man dreamed of taking up some hei g h t
“

a sieve or col ander and pouri n g molten lead th rou g h

into water beneath and found that the morsels of lead
,

were quite round wh i ch led to the experiment of

,

making lead by th is dream process S ir Walter

S cott I think refers to th is i n some of h is writi n g s ;
l
, ,

but th e chance discovery can scarcely be ca led a g reat

intellectual feat ; neither can dreamin g the winner of
the D erby B oth are valuable dreams Th e trouble
. .

i s that so many people have dreamt th e wrong wi nners

of the D erby A nd that on the contrary is not a
.
, ,

valuable but a very expensive dream if acted on with

, ,

m uch conviction of its truth J ames Payn d reamed

l
.

o f h is Lost S i r M assi ng o er d — ost i n a hollow tree

trunk B ut none of these are exactly i ntellectual feats

. .

They are rath er to be called lucky fanci es A nd in .

th is modifi ed sense i t is not to be doubted that much

good work has b een done thanks to dream sug g es,

tion . A s M acario says “

M any successful l iterary
,

and scientific efforts have been inspired by an i ntel

lectual dream ( wh at h e means by an i ntellectual
d ream i n such context g oodness knows no doubt and
, ,

Macario may but I do not The translation is i n the

l ll l
.
,

M ed i ca C r i t i c and Psy cao og i ca journa for A pril , ,

Galen and H ermas he quotes as having done

g reat things by working on ideas that have come to

fi
them i n dreams That is conceivable enou g h B ut
l
. .

when S ea e d writes : Thus V oltaire made a dupl i

“

cate of the fi rst canto of the H enri ad e ; th e D i vi na

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T D REA M S .
93

Commeai a is said to have been i nspi red by a dream ;

’

’
l
C oleridge s K uaa K /i an was unquestionably com
l t d duri n g a d ream and Tartini s S nat a d u
’

l
p e e ; o

D i aoe is a plagiarism from a violi n played by a dream

devil — i r seem s very much easi er to accept the ex
planation of the way i n wh ich the D i v i ne Com edy i s
h ere stated to be due to a dream i nfluence than to ,

fi
accept th e mode ( not of sug g est i on o a dream but of
l
y
actual creat i on i n a dream wh ich S ea e d seems to
,

look on as synonymous ) i n wh ich th e last two com

posi tions are said to have been made T he one i s .

i n telligible and conceivable not contradi cted by other

,

d ream experience ; th e latter idea i s altogether

opposite to such experience an d makes a very bi g
,

demand ap r i or i on creduli ty Probably enou g h i t

, , .
,

i s that very abeyance of th e rational faculty wh ich

puts cri ticism so much at fault i n dreams that permits ,

to the dreamin g though ts thei r imm ens e their unre ,

st ri c t ed ran g e a range untram melled by the hard and

,

fast laws of fact and poss ibil iti es w ith th e resu l t that
,

th e dreams of som e who are most prosaic thi n kers i n

the wakin g state are marked by th e mos t extensi ve
flights of the i magi nation A striki ng i nstance worth
.
,

recording for th e si ngularity of the dream itsel f as

well as its illustrative beari ng o n th is general quality
,

of dreams occurred withi n th e wri ter s knowledge A

,
’
.

fri end of h is of most cal m and ph i l osoph ical cast of

,

mind dreaming that h e saw h i s face i n a m irror

, ,

was surprised to fi nd it covered with grime On .

nearer i nspection he was yet more startled ( wi th th e

m ild sub normal surpri se of the dream state ) to see that
,
-
94 ON DREAMS .

each g rime mark had th e shape of a ti ny handpr i nt ,

th e th umb mark i n each prin t being a little defecti ve .

T here was a basi n handy i n wh ich h e washed h is

,

face and the water forth wi th became bemudded by

,

the g ri me which gradually settled to the bottom of the

basin and as it settled made i tself i nto the shape of
, , ,

many l ittle hands perfectl y formed save that each hand

w as a li ttle defective by reason of a deformed and
s tunted thumb M y friend could thi nk O fno occasion
.

of th is dream that shows imag i native power so stran g el y

,

vivid I t is not easy to tell the extent to wh i ch novel

.

i st s have drawn from their dream i magination but ,

probably their debt is consi d erab l e A vowedly T ur .

g eni eff and S tevenson did so and J ames Pa

, y n as ,

we have said saw i n a d ream the mai n i ncident

,

in the los in g of Lost S i r M assi ng oerd Probably .

many another l i kely enou g h without bein g aware to

,

what extent has drawn from th e same source and of

,

course A li ce both i n Wonderland and the L ookin g

,

glass moves th rou g h pure and simple dreamland B ut

,
.

that is anoth er matter from sayi ng that th e i nci dents

were actually dreamed .

I n i nvesti g ati n g the stuff o f our dreams i t is not ,

always easy t o remember that we m ust j ud g e them ,

and account for them by other standards than we

apply to our consideration of the workin g of our
waking i ntellect I t is this di fficulty I fancy that led
.
, ,

my friend to i nfer that there was with i n h im a dual

personality only i n evidence when he slept of which
, ,

the one individual was capable of talking pure Parisian .

I t is so impossible to say h ow we know or th ink we ,

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAM S .
95

kno w our dream creations to be what they are F or

,
.

fi
i nstance , to quote anoth er correspondent whose O pi nion
deserves every considerat i on w e nd ourselves i n ,

H arley S treet ; i t is full of shops yet we know that i t ,

i s H arley S treet ; o r i n some ot h er street and we ,

know i t to be th at street and yet i nstead of houses , , ,

there are th e trunks of beech trees on either h and .

I n th e lo g ic mon g er s langua g e we have th e denota

-
’“

tion but the connotation is all adri ft W e may

,
” “ ”
.

suspect that my friend s purest Parisian was l i ke the ’

shops of H arley S treet wh ich when awake ( i f ever , ,

i t is ) has n ever a shop in its lon g dull length T his

, .

friend is one of th e m any wh o has kno w n the dream

withi n a dream to m e unknown That dream is worth
, .

transcrib ing for th e sake of the explanation that he

,

su gg ests for i t I was ch atti n g is h is account of th e

.
,
”

dream with a school friend the scene a familiar wal k

, ,

by a river We were s moki n g and I relati n g some

.
,

th ing that had com e i nto my l i fe si nce I had seen h i m .

S uddenly feeli n g unaccountably d rowsy I said F red ‘

, , , ,

old boy th e su n is unbearably hot let s have a nap

, ,
.

’
I ll get u nder this bush T he scene had chan g ed as
.
’

it does i n dreams Th e bush was a wh i n the ri ver

.
,

became bunkers and li nks F red turned i nto h is brother ,

G eor g e T hi s transformation did not affect me and I

.
,

laid mysel f u nder the wh i n and was asleep at on ce .

fi
I n that sleep I had an i nner dream and thou g h fo gg y ,

and ill d e ned I was able at the breakfast table to

-
, ,

g ive some o utl i ne of i t to those around Th e ex

l
.

planat ion that my friend sugg ests i s as fol ows “

that
by some movemen t o f an arm o r body while in the
96 ON D REAMS .

original or normal d ream I had drawn th e sheet over

,

my head and become hot and half-suffocat ed ; but

bei ng g radual th e sensation did not waken me Th e
, .

second dream must have been almost instantaneous ,

for I could not long have suffered the sem i asphyxia -

tion and when i t could no longer be endured by a

, ,

motion of the arm I may have unveiled as I had ,

covered my breath ing apparatus and burst i nto oxygen

, ,

”
i nstead of carboni c acid gas .

The explanation whether or no i t be accepted i s

, ,

ingenious .

O f course th is matter of the d ream with i n a dream

is very subtle and we have to be careful lest we g et
i nto trouble with our phrases in tryin g to explai n i t .

I rather think that th is is j ust what has happened to

one of my correspondents who writes With regard
‘
to double dreams — the ki nd that I have spoken of
“
as dreams withi n dreams when a dream is ex
e ri enc ed and then narrated i n a second dream are we
p ,

sure there is such a thi ng ' F or i nstance some morn ,

in g s I seem to have dreamed of quarrell ing wi th a

relative and then i n another dream of meeting h i m
, , ,

and remarkin g about the first dream ( B ut su rely .

”

this is s imply an affai r of two dreams not of a dream ,

with in a dream The dream with in a dream means

.
,

if anyth ing that you dream you are dreami ng are

,
—
dreaming there and then Th e other seem s only to .

mean that you dream about a previous dream quite a ,

”
different affai r ) But d id th e first dream my corre
.
,

s ond ent continues

p rea l ly occur,
at all
“ ' O r had I not
only one dream that I met so and so and told hi m I
,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T DREAM S .
97

had dreamt of quarrelli n g with h i m ' T he narration

creates t h e supposed fi rst dream We h ave no other .

ev idence o f it Well that may very wel l be but i t

.
, ,

does not seem to matter much does not seem to bear ,

on th e topic i n hand i f the dream is in any case only

,

a rem iniscence of a previous one T hat hardl y con .

st i t ut es what we mean by a dream with i n a dream .

Putti ng th is theory aside my correspon den t g oes

,
”

“
on ,
I may say I have had these doubl e dreams not
i n frequently and usual ly related th em at th e breakfas t
,

table O nce and onl y once I had a tripl e dream

.
, , ,

when I dreamed someth ing dreamed of relati n g i t ,

and dreamed th at I was d ilati n g on m y double dream .

A t least such was my i mpressi on o n awakin g but b y

, ,

th e above theory I only dreamed th at I had a doubl e

d ream This is very cu ri ous
. .

I n discussi n g these rather i ntricate dealin g s of the

m ind it is very di ffi cult not so much to escape a ta ng le
,

i n one s ow n head as to avoid creati ng a tang l e i n th e

’

reader s O ne may be very clear about th e matter

’
.

’
onesel f and yet express one s view i n suc h a way that
,

it is very fo gg y to other people I am only too much .

.

afraid that th is will often be the case i n what I mysel f

have written on th e subj ect for me to cavil at all at,

What seems to me ( and probably by m y own want O f

'

comprehension ) the occasional fo gg iness of some of

the correspondents who have been g ood enough t o
send me their experi en ces M aury wh o seems t o .
,

have been th e greatest experimentalist i n dreams that

has g iven his results to th e publ i c experimented by ,

g ivi n g a sleeper pin pri cks to make h i m dream of spear

98 ON D REAM S .

th rusts—that is the type of h is experiments and —

“
sometimes th e sleeper dreamed of spear th rusts quite
g ood but sometimes O fsomething qui te different and
, ,

sometimes of nothin g at all — that is h e could remember,

nothin g when he awoke S o what M aury proved.

amounts to someth in g li ke this ne gative concl us ion

l
,

that the same sensat i ona cause will not always produce
the same dream effect A nd let it be said h ere at
.
,

once for fear of m isunderstandi n g throu g h inattention

, , ,

that this is not the same as provin g that the same

dream i s not alw ays produced by the same cause I t .

does not directly touch that question .

The definition of dream that I ventured on i n m y

tentative essay was a mental operation i n sleep that is
remembered on awaki n g O bj ection to thi s may well
.

be taken on the g round that mental operations of one

person while asleep are often made O bvious by speech
or action to anoth er thou g h the sleeper w ill perh aps
,

have no knowled g e of them when he awakes Whether .

t h is is to be called a dream depends — ou what ' On

the meani n g we ascribe to th e word N ow i f we take .
,

the V iew that mental operations go on all th e wh il e

we sleep but that i n so-called dreamless sleep we forget
,

“ ”
them then i t i s evident that we must l imi t dreams
,

to the mental operations we remember O therwise it .

becomes a name of one constant aspect of sleep wh ich ,

is not what we want B ut if we take th e view that

.

these mental operations g o on interm ittently then ,

“
dreams may have a meanin g distinct from sleep
” “
,

as indicatin g the moments in wh ich those O perations

do go on Whether they g o on all the while or
.
CLASS I F I CA TI O N OF T H E MO RE F REQUEN T D REAMS .
99

i nterm ittentl y there seems to be a di vision of opinion

amon g th e clever people O pi nions seem so equally
.

divided that they seem to cancel each other fai rly— i t

is not the first ti me that th e opi nions of the learned
have been so div ided nor th e first time that i t has
,

been noticed ( D ean S wi ft i n h is pleasant way noticed

, ,

i t) — so that w e are l eft wi th a sh eet tol erably blank to

put ou r l i ttle opinions on a very happy conditi on .

S i r H enry H ol land for i ns tance i s of opi nion that

, ,

there i s no such th i n g as dreamless sleep but that we

, ,
l
l
d ream unconsciously a the while that we are sleepi n g .

Ag ai nst his opi nion we may put th at o f D r A rthu r .

D urham wh o not onl y th i nks that there is such a

,

th in g as sl eep without dreami n g but actually maintai ns,

that no sleep i s sou nd i n wh ich a dream occurs S i r .

B enj ami n B rodie i s of S i r H enry H olland s opi nion

’

and to make the balance l evel we may cite L ord

, ,

B rou g h am wh ose view is that we dream only at the

,

mom ent of transi tion from sleep to wakeful ness I .

cannot find that eith er M aury or S ch erner express an

opi nion on the point but i nstances may be cited on
,

th e one side or th e oth er to the end of the chapter

, .

T he case of L o rd H olland so often told who wen t to

, ,

sleep when some one was tal ki n g to h im woke up to ,

hear the end of the sentence of wh ich h e h ad heard

the be g i nnin g before he fell asleep an d i n th e moment ,

ary interval dreamed a dream whose i ncidents traversed

much time is O ften quoted i n favour o f L ord B ro ug ham
, ,

as showin g that i t is just at the moment of waking that

w e dream What th is case which is typical of many
.
,

i nstances real ly does show appears to be m erely th is

,
1 00 ON D REAM S .

- which is amply shown by many dreams that i n —

dreams the limits of time and space do not exist that ,

we can dream to put it popularly as fast as we can

, ,

t h ink the i ncidents of the dream drama succeedi n g

,

each other as quickly as thou g ht can move from one ,

continent or from one century to another T his fact .

,

which is established by all experience is exactly what ,

would be expec ted ap r i or i a comfortable state of ,

th ings that does not always exist for th e flattery of our

poor reason .

I t is a sin g ular th in g that these learned men

should have com e so terribly to lo ggerheads about
th e question Those who oppose L ord B rougham
.

and D r . D urham cite the case of a man or a dog

dreaming in sleep from wh ich they do not wake i m
“
mediately T hey obv iously dream
. in the popular ,

sense of th e word The man tal ks i n h is sleep th e

.
,

do g growls and trembles and as obvious l y they do , , ,

not dream at the moment only o f transition from sleep

t o wakeful ness This seems to knock th e bottom
.

clean out of the ar g ument of L ord B rougham and

Co . A nd so it really would i f th is twitch ing and ,

growlin g of th e do g th is talkin g of th e man were to

, ,

be taken as signs of dreaming properly so ca l led -

.

W e shall find I th ink that th is i s only popu l arly

, , ,

and im properly to b e called dreamin g and also find

, ,

that i n this case as in so many others si nce the days

,

that L ocke wrote h is famous essay on Words i t

“ ”

l
,

is because of the d ouoe ent ente th e double meanin g , ,

of th e word they are discussi ng rather than any real ,

difference of O pin ion that the lear ned have disagreed

, .
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REA MS . 10 1

When w e want to get at th e real meanin g o f a word

_

fi
one reco g nised plan is to look up its etymolo g y
l
.

“
D ream says S ea e d “
is an A n g lo -S axon noun ;
i n S axo n ( someth i ng quai ntly spelt with what looks
li ke a di g amma ) and i n both lan g uag es having a
“

primary m eani n g of melody j oy g ladness ,

( Th i s , .

fi
does not seem to harmon ise altogeth er wi th ou r ideas
of nightmare ) “
T he D utch form S ea e d g oes on
.

'
l ,

“
is d room the S wed ish d rom w ith a direct sub
, ,

assumption of idleness and vacuity ( th is looks li k e

fi
g etti ng nearer our idea ) and the G erman t raum
“

l
.

A nd th en S ea e d proceeds to some rather surprisin g

statements in V i ew of some of the i nstances o f so
,

called dream in g that h e cites elsewhere

“ ” “
D is .

m issi n g th e word we may i n one sentence epi tomis e

,

all the cu rrent defi ni tions of th e th i ng F or all men

l
l
.

' i

are so we ag reed upon th is matter that i t is rath er ,

that th ei r experiences vary than that their ideas are

,

dissi m ilar . W e shall fi nd enou g h of contrariety of

”
O pini on by and -by ; but it will not be now and h ere
-
.

“
Then follows th e definition of dream especially to
be noted E very lexicographer from th e ti me of
S ui d as has consented that an ordi nary d ream is t h e
ll
,

i ntellectual activi ty of a sleepin g person w/ u c z eaves

its t races i n tke waé i ng consci ousness I hav e

i tal icised the last clause wh ich seems to make all the
,

di fference .

I t is very evident that dream i n th is sense is not , ,

properly appl ied to the operations o f the man wh o

talks i n h is sleep or of th e do g wh o g rowls and
,

twitches unless we can prove that thei r wakin g

,
1 00 ON D REAM S .

“ —
which is amply shown by many dreams that i n
dreams the l imits of time and space do not exist that ,

we can dream to put it popularly as fast as we can

, ,

t h ink the i ncidents of the dream drama succeed ing

,

each other as quickly as thou g ht can move from one ,

continent or from one century to another T his fact .

,

wh ich is establ ished by all experi ence is exactly what ,

would be expec ted ap r i or i a com fortable state o f ,

th ings that does not always exist for the flattery of our
poor reason .

I t is a sin g ular thi ng that these learned men

should have com e so terribly to lo gg erheads about
T h ose who oppose L ord B rou g ham
i

th e question .

and D r D urham cite th e case of a man or a do g

.

dreaming i n sleep from wh ich they do not wake i m

“
mediately T hey O bvi ously dream
. i n the popular ,

sense of th e word Th e man tal ks i n h is sleep th e

.
,

do g g rowl s and trembles and as obviously they do , , ,

not dream at the moment only o f transition from sleep

t o wake ful ness This seems to knock th e bottom
.

clean out of the ar g ument of L ord B rou g ham and

C o A nd so it really would i f th is twi tch in g and
.
,

growl in g of th e do g th is tal kin g of th e man were to

, ,

be taken as signs of dreami ng properly so ca l led -

.

W e shall fi nd I th i nk that th is i s only popularl y

, , ,

and im properly to b e called dreamin g and also find

, ,

that i n this case as in so m any others since the days

,

that L ocke wrote h is famous essay on Words it “ ”

l
,

is because of the d ouoe ent ente th e double meanin g , ,

of th e word they are di scuss in g rather than any real ,

di fference of opi n ion that the learn ed have disagreed

, .
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REA MS . 1 01

When we want to get at the real mean in g o f a word

fi
one reco g nised plan i s to look up its etymolo g y
l
.

D ream says S ea e d is an A n g lo -S axon noun ;

“ ” “

i n S axo n ( someth i n g quai ntly spelt with what looks

li ke a di g amma ) and i n both lan g ua g es havin g a
“

primary m ean in g of melody j oy g lad ness ,

( Th i s , .

fi
does not seem to harmon ise alto g eth er wi th ou r ide as
o f nightmare ) “
T he D utch form S ea e d g oes on
.

'
l ,

“
is d room the S wedish d rom w ith a direct s ub
, ,
~

assumption of idleness and vacui ty ( th i s looks l i k e

fi
g ettin g nearer our idea ) and the G erman t raum
“

l
.

A nd then S ea e d proceeds to some rather surprisin g

s tatements in vi ew of some of the i nstances o f so
,

called dream in g th at h e cites elsewhere

“ “
D is .

m issi n g th e word we may i n one sentence epi tomis e

,

all the cu rrent defi ni tions of th e th i n g F or all me n .

—
are so well a g reed upon th is matter that it is rath er
“

that th ei r experiences vary than that their ideas are

,

dissi m ilar . W e shall fi nd enou g h of contrariety of

”
opinion by -and by ; bu t i t will not be now and h ere
-
.

“ ”
Then follows th e defin ition of dream especially to
be noted E very lexi co g rapher from the ti me of
S uid as has consented that an ordi nary d r eam is th e
l
,

i ntellectual activi ty of a sleepin g person t oni c/z eaves

i ts t races i n t ne wak i ng consci ousness I hav e .

i tal icised the last clause wh ich seems to make all the
,

di fference .

I t is very evident that dream i n this sense is not “

, ,

p roperly appl ied to the operations of th e man wh o

talks i n h is sleep or of th e do g wh o g rowls and
,

twitches unless we can prove that thei r wakin g

,
1 02 ON DREAMS .

consciousness retai ns memory of th e operations of

wh ich these sleeping movements and so unds were the
signs I t is hard to g et any proof of th is i n the dog s
.
’

c ase ,
but i n the case of th e human bei n g I have
always found that if he is left to sleep even for som e ,

ten minutes only after ceasing tal kin g i n h is sleep

, ,

the dream out of wh ich he will tell you you have

awoken him will have no relation that can be per ,

c ei v ed with the trai n of thou g h t that his sleepi ng

,

words showed to be i n h is mind ten m i nutes before .

Wi thout further arg umen t or hammerin g away at ,

what is evident and not likely to be dispu ted it may

, ,

be said that when we s ee a m an tal ki n g or a do g

g rowl ing i n its sleep such signs are
,
not evidence
of dreams properly so-called that is to say i n th e ,

dictionary sense at all ,

A nd yet w e al ways call
.

them dreams i n common language S O that there .

really seem to be two senses i n which the word is

used th e correct and the popular— the correct being
,

“
the i ntellect ual activity of a sleeping person wh ich
leaves its traces i n the waki n g consciousness and ,

the popular the intellectual activity of a sleepin g

“

person wi thout the final modi fying clause

,
.

A nd th is double sense su ffi ciently accounts for all

the log g erheads to wh ich th e l earned have come .

The sleepin g do g s growls th e sl eeping man s words

’

,
’

are signs of the intellect ual activity of a sl eepi n g

“

person but are not signs of i nte l lectual activity

,
” “

which leaves i ts traces on th e waking co nsciousness

B efore we can g et any indication about th is modifying
clause we must wait till th e sleeper wakes A n d a l l
,
.
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 1 03

experience so far as I have been abl e to g ath er it

, ,

shows that th e only i ntellectual activi ty duri ng sleep

wh ich leaves t races i n the wakin g consciousness i s th e
activ ity that i mmediately precedes the wakin g— i n th e
transitional s tage of L ord B rou g ham I n th is sense .

th en th e strict sense of the word

,
“
dream Dr , .

D urham s implied V i ew th at there i s much sleep

’

without dreami ng has also to be admitted as correct

, .

O n the oth er hand th e fact that i f we are awoken

,

suddenly from sleep w e always seem to find ourselves

”
i n the m idst of i ntellectual activi ty no matter h ow
“
,

deep th e sleep seems to show no less conclusi vely

,

“ ”
that i n the popular sense of th e word dream we do
g o on dreami ng all th e time and i n th is sense S ir
,

H enry H olland and S i r B enj ami n B rodi e and al l their

followi n g are no less ri g h t i n sayin g that there is no
such thin g as sleep wi thout dreamin g T he B rou g ham .

ites seem to have the stron g er position as based on ,

the more correct mean in g of the word but as for al l

th eir di fferences it is qui te certai n that misunderstand
,

i n g as to the business they are fi g hting about is th e

real cause of their trouble I t i s doubtful if th e learned
.

are suffi ciently grateful when they are brough t i nto

accord by a process that wh ile it show s them both
to be ri g ht yet shows them both no l ess to have been
al most equally wrong A t all events for us who look
.
,

on and applaud the battle i t is interestin g to know

,
'

th e real causes that brough t i t about .

N ow for all that I am proud enough to thi nk

,

I know the meanin g that ou g ht to attach to the word

”
dream and th e departure from that correct meaning
,
1 04 ON DREAMS .

wh ich popular usage has sanctioned still i n order to , ,

avoid the confusion and trouble of constant definition ,

I have g o ne on usin g the word i n th e popular way ,

except where th e case has especially seemed to requi re

that th e sense of th e word should be defi ned strictly .

L ikely enough I shall agai n and agai n fal l int o the

mistake that I have j ust poi nted out as seemi ng to
have entrapped my betters but at least I shall have
,

th e consolation of feeli ng that I stumble in company

that is far too g ood for m e A fter th is di sc ussion i n
.

c hase of a d efi nition we may hark back to th e true l ine

o f the hunt . I t is a fact very well known and one ,

t hat we h ave had a look at before that wh en th e ,

h igher mental faculties wh ich really do exercise a

,

c onsiderabl e control over th e lower i n sane waki n g

l ife are i n abeyance t he lower m ental processes be

, ,

come much more acti v e the i mag i nation ran g es with

,

out m c h eck followin g each su gg estion of associated

,

idea or of sense without any reference to th e laws o f

,

reasonable probabil ity or possi bility That is why w e

.

g et the littl e hand -pri nts with the defecti ve thumb

,
l
marks the K ub a K h an s gardens and the rest of th e
’

works of imagi nation I t is i mpossible to forecas t the

.

direction or th e length which the train of ideas sug

g ested by association i n dreams may take even i f one ,

c an perceive th e fi rst stimulus that set them working ;

b ut i t certai nly does seem as i f there must be some

common stimul us of each of th e more common and
easily defined classes of dreams and as if the common

l
,

s timulus ou g h t not to be so subtl e as to elude us unti

t h e end of time .
C LASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 105

I t would ru n this volume to qu ite an i mpossible

len g th i f I were to attempt to g ive an accou nt of any
th i n g l i ke all the i nteresti n g dreams and d ream facts ,

apart from th ose wh ich fall under th e headings I have

suggested that correspondents have been ki nd enou g h
,

to send me I will be content w ith m en tioni n g a few

.

of th e more i nteresti n g and fi rs t I will take one that

,

i s curiousl y illustrative of a fact that is well known i n

deed b ut very i nteresti n g both on i ts beari n g on the
,

dream state i n particular and on g eneral psycholo g i cal

phenomena S ome small ar ticl e had been lost— I
.

fo rg et now what ; let us say a key— belon g in g to on e

of t wo sisters who were travelli n g to g ether I t could .

nowh ere be found B ut one ni g h t one of th e sisters

.

d reamed that sh e saw th e key i n th e p oc ket of h er

travellin g bag S he told th is d ream on wakin g to
.
, ,

th e other “
. A nd have you looked i n th e pocket '
the sister asked N o I have not said sh e for the
.
,
“

v ery good reason that th ere i s n o pocket in m y travel

l in g bag .
“ “
Well said the oth e r there is a pocket
,

”
i n m ine I will j u st have a look th ere on the ch ance
.

and there th e key was found Th e i nference is

.

th at the dreamer had seen ( with the eye of sense ,

thou g h not with th e eye of observation ) the key put

i nto th e pocket E ven when th e key was so found
.
,

she had no recollection of seei ng i t placed there but ,

the brai n had uncons ciousl y recorded th e sensation i n ,

course of sleep i t had stumbled on that record and by ,

good luck th e sleeper on awaki ng chanced to remember

the mental operation th at had taken place durin g sleep .

I t is a si n g ular and almost alarm i n g refl ection that ou r

1 06 ON D REAMS .

brains are stored with countless such records of whic h

we know nothing nor ever shall know unless th e
,

association of ideas or some pecul iar mental state bring

them to our notice I n re g ard to all th is s ide of the
.

subj ect M iss C obbe writes very i nterestingly and sug

g est i v e
y l
i n the essays on U nconscious C erebration
and on D reams respectively that are included i n
l
, ,

h er volume nam ed D ar wi ni sm i n M ora s The dream .

state with its apparently ready obedience to each

,

su ggestion ar i s i ng from association of ideas would ,

seem to be very analo g ous to the state of hypnotic

trance I n both th ere is the same suspens ion of th e
.

powers of reason and attention with an i ncrease that

, ,

is very probably a consequence of some of those ,

mental fac ulties that we are bound to deem lower I t .

is also worth noti ng that th e mental operations of the

sane dreamer hav e a close resemblance to the opera
tions of th e waki ng mind of a perso n suffering from

fi
that kind of dementia that comes either from an i n
su f c i ent or an excess ive supply of blood i n the brai n .

A nd now to take up the argument more d irectly

,

i n connecti on with the point of view wh ich s uggested

the firs t tentative essay I would say that there seem
,

to me to be other classes that can be added out of t he ,

mass of correspondence that I have received to thos e ,

set down at first S everal of these the dream of

.
,

strange and beautiful scenery the dream of death the

, ,

dream of a certain house of acting i n a story and the

, ,

dream of hearin g disti nctly a voice i n the room seem ,

defi ned enough to sugg est that nearly all the cases
com ing under one of these headings have a common
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T D REA M S . 1 07

cause The dream with i n a dream and several others

.

would seem to be of sufficiently freq uent occurrence ,

i f that were all that is required to make them worth y ,

a class to th emselves but probably th ey are produced

,

by causes that are too complex to g i ve the most remote

h ope of discovering the commo n stimulus i n th e di f fer
ent cases .

A l thou g h many correspondents have been ki nd

enou g h to sugg est causes for th e di fferent well defi ned
and common ki nds of dreams I hardly th i n k that any ,

of th em are wholly satisfactory o n the other hand th e

i nstances that th ey adduce and of wh i ch I will set out
,

a few g rouped under thei r proper headin g s in Part

, ,

I I I of th is chapter cannot fail to be of i nterest and

.
,

may even be of val ue i n traci ng th e s timulus that gives

ri se to each dream of the same class A s reg ards th e .

fall in g dream tha t is fi rst on th e l ist the common

, ,

account g iven of it is that i t is caused by a form of

i ndi g estion which produces pressure on th e h eart and
consequent sending of blood to th e brai n w ith a j erk .

B ut why th is should make us i mag i ne we are fall i ng i s

stil l left unexplai ned and I fail to see that th is ex
,
“

”
planatio n puts us farther on our road I t is t o be .

observed that wh en we say that we i ma g ine we are

”
fall i n g we g iv e a true account of the dream bu t when ,

we say we
“
feel as i f we were falli n g w e giv e i n all , ,

probabil ity an untrue account F or we do not know

,
.
,

the great maj ori ty of us what the sensation is of fa l li n g

,

from a g reat heigh t What happens to us i n th e

.

falli n g dream is th erefore someth i ng that g ives us th e

i mpression that we i mag i ne we should experi ence i n
1 08 ON DREAM S .

falli ng from a height That is all we can say O n e

. .

of my corresponde nts does i ndeed sug g est that th e

dream is a survival from th e time when w e lived i n
trees and a ch ief anxiety of our l ives was the fear of
,

fall i ng out of them i n sleep B ut I am not aware that .

monkeys ofte n fall from trees i n their sleep ; and even

so we ceased bein g monkeys some time ago I f we .

analyse our i mpression of fall in g from a h eigh t we

shall find I th ink that a ch ief factor i n i t is the mov i n g
, ,

u pward past our eyes of stationary obj ects as the side

, , ,

of the precipi ce etc I f any quaint trick were to be

, .

played by our ci rculation or any oth er i nfluence o n , ,

our optic nerves durin g sleep so as to g i ve us th is ,

i mpression of th ings movi n g up wards past us we ,

should at once as it seems to me have material for

, ,

th e construction of the falling dream A lso i t would .

account for th e si n g ular fact that so few ( thou g h there

are exceptions ) of the dreamers of th e fall ing dream
ever come to th e bottom for we may suppose that ,

most of us are awoken by th e vividness of th e i m

pression of th e stationary obj ects g oin g upward past
our eyes O f course I only hazard th is as th e merest
.

unconfirmed conj ecture wh ich only claims the meri t

,

of bei n g in my h umbl e opi nion a better explanation

, ,

than any other that I have yet heard or seen .

I t is also an explanation that w ith a sl i g h t differ ,

ence perhaps migh t account for the flying dream

,
.

A ny i nfluence on the opti c nerve that mi g ht make us

appear to see obj ects m ovin g horizontally belo w us
might concei vably g ive us the i mpression that we
were movin g horizontally above them ; and I should
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 109

very much l i ke to h ear wh ether eith er or both th ese

dream s come wi th i n t h e c at eg ory of th e dreams known
'

to bl i nd persons for if either class of th ese so comm on

,

dreams were cons tantly ex clu ded from thei r cate g ories ,

th e inference would be stron g that the dreams were

connected wi th the opt i c nerves I bel ieve i t to be a
.

tolerably ascertai ned fact as it is i n accordance wi th

,

2; p r i or i probability that bl i nd persons never i ma g i ne

,

themselves i n thei r dreams to be seei n g T hei r .

dreams are confined to i mpressions of th e senses that

th ey possess i n wakin g l i fe I ncidental ly I m ay say
.

that amon g all my correspon dents to most of whom ,

th e flyi n g dream is fam iliar one only ( and i t is th e

,

only i nstance I have ever h eard o f) flies at any con

l
si d erab e h ei ht
g . A ll th e rest of th e world skim with ,

a floati n g motion j ust over the pedestrians h eads o r

,
’

skate or sl ide sometimes i n an uprigh t posture j ust

, ,

above the g round T he prone pos ition of the body

.

duri ng sleep is an explanation that i s su gg ested fo r

the ordinary flying dream but one th at s carcel y strikes
,

m e as bei n g very satis factory .

I n regard to th e dream of inadequate cl oth in g I ,

regre t to say that one or t wo of m y correspondents

adm it appeari n g i n their dreams in a condi tion of utter
nudi ty yet with no properly correspondi ng sense of
,

shame A sense of shame there is yet i n no de g re e

.
,

adequate to th e offen ce ; and wh ile on th is poi nt I

may say that wh ereas one corr e spondent av ers that
,

th e moral sense is active in the dream state so that ,

sh e feels acute rem orse for her ev il acts i n th e very ,

g reat maj ority of i nstances it seems to be i n utte r

1 10 ON DREAM S .

abeyance so that th e mildest mannered and most

,

tender consc i enced commi t atrocious crimes without

a regretful afterthought .

I th ink th e bes t known illustration of th is almost

utter abeyance of the moral j ud g ment i n dreams ( i t
is of course only of a piece wi th th e almost utter
abeyance of the attentive faculty ) is that c ited before
from M iss F rances Power C obbe wh o writes of a ,

friend of hers a wel l known man and a g entleman as

, ,

well as a g entle man who i n a dream i magi ned h imsel f

, , ,

t o run a friend th rough th e body with a sword and ,

so far from repenti n g of h is deed when done was ,

conscious of a certai n satis faction as at an artisti c

,

piece of spittin g i n seein g a foot or so of th e blade

,

sticking out throu g h the friend s back ’

Th is case .

has been publ ished already I have not the publ ica
.

t ion here to refer to but to th e best of my recollectio n

,

there had not been i n th e dream or i n l ife th e sli g h test

d iscussion or quarrel between the friends such as ,

w ould give rise to the an g ry emotio n that would

g ive a conceivabl e cause for the act of murder I t .

was done i n cold blood on a sudde n impulse and

, ,

t h e murderer took an a estheti c del ight in the fi ne

art with wh ich th e murder w as done .

Th i s is an extreme case of the absence of moral

s ense but on that very account it i s typical
, I t is .

supported by i nstances too many to name by i n ,

s tances for wh ich most w ill fi nd a parallel i n their

ow n dream ex p erience . I t may be noted that in a l

l
c ases of execution or threatened punishment by j usti ce ,

such as we shall see are not i nfrequent i n dreams the ,

CLASS I F I CA TI O N OF TH E MO RE F REQUEN T DREAMS . 1 11

l
v icti m a ways supposes h i s i nnocence or at l east does ,

not suppose h is g uilt I thi nk I h ave onl y a s i n g l e

.

correspo ndent out of th e number th at have been g ood

enough to wri te thei r experien ces to m e wh o main tai ns ,

that sh e ( th e writer is a lady ) h as an y sense of remorse

for th e many and various outra g es on moral ity th at
w e seem to com mit i n our dream s T h e conclusion
.

is that any real sense of moral j ud g ment or respons i

l
bi i t y i s v ery rare i ndeed that th e absence of th e
,

eth ical attitude is th e rul e as could only be expect ed

, ,

seei n g that th e ethi cal j ud g m ent cannot consist with

the al most total abeyan ce of th e rational attention
wh i ch we have seen to characterise th e mental
operations of dreams .B y way of explanatio n of
.

th e dream of i nadequate cloth i n g i t is su gg ested ,

that it is produced by th e fact that ou r n i g ht d resses

are as a rul e of a l i g h t material perhaps g iving th e
,

i mpression that we are li g htl y clad ; but the blankets

are com fortabl y thi ck and i f we are to accept th i s
,

hypothesis we ou g ht to find wh en we awake from ,

th is d ream that we have th row n off most of th e

,

bed -cl oth es wh i ch I do not th i nk is th e case ; and

,

ag ai n we ou g ht to dream th is parti cular d ream more

often i n warm weather wh en one s bedcloth i n g is
,
’

l i g h t than i n wi nter wh en it is heavy

, ,
B ut thi s .

a g ai n does not seem to ag ree with the evidence .

N eith er do th e chan g es i n the temperature nor i n ,

deed an y external s ensational Causes seem to g ive

adequate explanat i on of any o f the wel l defined
classes of dreams al though it is poss ible to i nduce
,

a sleeper to answ er you by addressi n g h im a question

1 12 ON DREAM S .

t hat seems suited to the c oh rse of h is mental opera

tions as you i nfer it from h is more or less coherent
talkin g .B ut broadly it may be said I th i nk that
, , ,

there is no ascertai nabl e common external cause for

any of th e dream s i n thes e classes T he dream of.

I nadequate clothing I ventu red to suggest as due to

,

an idea i nspired by some i nconvenience that had

actually occurred as a person com ing i nto a room
,

u nexpectedly wh il e on e was dressing the i ntruder , ,

maybe mistaking it for h is ow n room

,
I was .

perhaps properly and certai nl y indignantly rebuked

, ,

by one of my correspondents for the su gg estion .

Y et conceivable cases of the ki nd are infi nite .

The dream of the gratification of a darlin g wish

permits a very similar explanation and perhaps pre ,

sents less di ffi culty than any other class i n the

cate g ory A nd the dream of unsuccessful packi ng
.
,

that mi g h t perhaps be better termed th e dream o f

exaggerated trivial i nconvenienc e ( cl er g ymen dream
that they lose their place i n church for an hou r
to g ether and so on ) arises probably enough from a
,

remembrance of similar i nconveniences actually oc ,

curring which the unrestricted dream imagination

,

ma g nifies according to i ts manner .

Th e dream that a beast or bo g ey pursues you

and that you suffer from a paralysis preventing yo ur
escape as well as the dream that you are drawn
,

irresistibly to a burnin g fiery furnace or other um

desirable place may arise from a recollection of
,

ch ildish terrors aided as has been su g gested to me

, , ,

’
by the comparative inabil ity to mov e one s li mbs in
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T DREA M S . 1 13

sleep . M y correspondent wh o ascribes th e falli n g

,

dream to an i nh eri tance from our anthropoi d days ,

has no troubl e i n explai ni n g th e bo g ey dream i n a

li ke fash ion . F rom my own experience I am
satisfied that th e bo g ey dream is nearly i f not quite , ,

al ways caused by physical discom fort wheth er arisin g,

from th e operations of di g estion or th e position o f

th e body ; but I cannot fi nd that any particular form
of th e bo g ey dream follows any particular form o f
th e physi cal discom fort .

A startl in g ki nd of bogey is su gg ested by a ch ild s ’

dream that th e t icket collector came to th e door of

th e railway carria g e wi th the fac e o f a monste r .

Th is dream m i g h t b e th e pun i sh ment of consci en c e

for travellin g fi rs t class wi th a th i rd class ticket .

B y no effort of will I th i nk are we able to su g ges t

, ,

dreams to ourselves O ne correspondent I have quoted

.

as tellin g m e that if he w ishes to avoid dreami ng o f

any parti cular subj ect h e concentrates h is las t waki n g
though ts on i t i n the assuran ce that it will then not
recur i n h is dreams B ut reason and vol ition are not
.

al ways th ou g h th ey are g en erally fast asl eep for

, , ,

many of us are conscious of wi lli ng effectivel y th e

continuance of a pleasant dream althou g h we canno t
su l
,

gg est i t to ou rselves effectively i n the first n

stance nor renew i t after bein g fully awake M o re
, .

over when we come to mature years it happen s

,

now and then that w e have a recurrence of t h e

bogey dream or ni g htmare that so v exed our ch ild

h ood and therein i t occurs not v ery unfrequentl y
,

that we reco g n ise the torm ent to be a dream affai r

8
1 14 ON DREAMS .

and force ourselves to awake from it knowing a , ,

l
thou gh we know i t to be a dream ( a very singular
feature of the business ) that i t will conti nue to torment
us i f we let i t run its course This i f nothi ng else
.
, ,

would su ffi ce to S how that reason and vol ition are

not always i n complete abeyance durin g sleep and ,

further the fact that th is dream terror or nigh tmare

i s So much more common with ch ildren than adults
i s probably due i n great measure to the fact that
thei r less developed powers of reason and will are
‘
more easily and completely overcome in sleep To .

a rather s imilar cause we may perhaps attribute

the dreams of terror that attend the sleep of those
whose powers of m ind and will have been weakened
by illness by excessive dri nking or generally by
, , , ,

any abnormal and prolon g ed s trai n on th e nerves .

I will now proceed to quotation under their ow n

,

headin g s of the more i nterestin g instances of the

,

commoner kinds of dreams that correspondents have

been kind e nou g h to send me .
 C H A PT E R IV .

PA R T I I I .

A . I nst ances o f tae

“
Fa i ng l
l D ream .

I Tis to be noti ced that there i s besides th e actual ,

fallin g dream an experience akin to it that i s very

,

com mon namel y a sen sation Of fall ing some th ree o r

,

four feet wh il e half-awake

,
I t is qu ite pai nless ac
.
,

companied only by sl i g ht shock and I bel i eve that the ,

doctors ascribe i t to somethi n g that happens to th e

heart I t li es qu ite outside our subj ect for i t is not a
.
,

dream at all and i t is a l ittle curious that one o f the

,

v ery few of m y correspondents to whom th e fall ing

dream is unknown says that the sensation of a sudden
—
short drop wh ile half asleep and half-awake i s peculiarly
frequent wi th h im A noth er correspondent has a cu rious
.

d ream sensation whi ch he cl asses u nder the h ead of

the flyi ng dream bu t i t se ems equally well to come
,

under th e h ead of the falli n g dream and i ndeed to be , , ,

a sin g ular medley o f th e two T h is correspondent

l
l
.

writes as fo ovt s : “
As re g ards what you say about
’

flyin g i n you r dreams bein g a pl easurable sensation ,

i t never was so to me A s a child I have a v ivid

.

recollection of constantly flyin g downstai rs i n my

1 16 ON DREAMS .

dream but havi n g all the time a perfect terror of

,

dropping down and was only too thankful when I

,

”
found myself on t er ra fi rma at the bottom Th e .

flyin g with a fear of droppin g and a sensation of

,

terror therewith is surely so far more aki n to fall ing

, , ,

than flyin g as the t wo are commonly experienced in

,

the dream illusion and the true flying so to speak of , ,

it is g enerally so pleasant a sensation that it seems i n

,

this regard quite different from the experience of this

writer O n the other h and th e fact that the dreamer
.
,

landed that the fallin g ( so to call it as sh e calls it )

,

finished differentiates th is alto g ether from the typi cal

,

falli ng dream so that this has to be re g arded as a kind

,

of freak dream a cross between the fall ing dream and

,

the flyin g and with some qualities of both N either

, .

the typical falli n g nor the typical flyin g dream occur

in the experiences of this correspondent I t would .

seem however that th e reach ing the bottom of the

, ,

fall i n the fall i n g dream is not so unusual as I had

, ,

supposed for another correspondent writes :

,
“
With
regard to N o I class the writer of these notes knows
.
,

several people who have more than once reached the

bottom i n safety thou g h most dreamers wake with a ,

start j ust before the end of the fall A nother corres .

”

ponden t writes to me of an experi ence which consists

at first of falling but towards the end of th e fall its l ine
,

becomes less and l ess perpendicular until i t ends by a

kind of skating away alon g a horizontal l ine The .

curious finish to the fall i n so me measure seems to ally

the dream to the cross -bred fa l ling and flyi ng dream
noticed j ust above There seems a tendency for th e .
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 1 17

illus ion of actual fl yi ng to mer g e i nto a g l iding i n an

uprigh t posture as will be seen wh en we g o on to
,

discuss th e second class M iss F rances Power C obbe

.

writes I h ave read somewhere that the fallin g dream

arises wh en th e process of pressure of the blood vessel s
on th e brai n takes place with a j erk i nstead of g raduall y ,

and that we have i n fact a sort of mi niature apoplecti c

fit I t is evident that M i ss C obbe does not attach
m uch importance to th is the commonplace explanation
, ,

wh ich will perhaps i f i t explains anyth in g explai n

, ,

the sudden drop i n the half-asleep state equally well

i f not better than th e fall i n the dream state M iss .

“
C obbe also says that there i s a terrible kind o f disease
of th e brai n i n wh ich the otherwise sane pati en t
imag ines that a g reat chasm or abyss opens suddenl y
before h i m i n th e street or th e floor of his room and ,

h e retreats instantly i n h orror M iss C obbe s ugg ests

that th is may be merely an exa gg erated form of th e
fallin g dream B ut a g ai nst th is theory comes th e
.

consideration that M iss C obbe h ersel f ventures on i n

th e followi n g sentence that this dream ( th e fall in g
“
,

“
dream ) is very abrupt not led up to as most v iv id
, ,

dreams are by i ntroduci n g ci rcumstances and is always

, ,

followed immediately by waki n g Th is as i t appears

,

to me is very typical of th is falli ng dream and I do

, ,

not know any other dream that is quite l ike it i n th is ,

ci rcumstance of wh ic h the probable explanation ( th e

,

explanation at least which I sh ould su gg est ) is tha t

, ,

the ill us ion of fall in g bei n g so very vivi d not to say ,

distressing it is far more l ikely to remai n i n the waki n g

,

consciousness than any of the i ntrod uci ng ci rcum

1 18 ON D REAMS .

sta nces The fa l l over th e precipi ce i s a much more

.

striki ng incident than the wal k up to its edge wh ich ,

wal k very like l y occurs to our sl eeping fancy but is ,

not remembered when w e wake up Th e vividness .

of th e illusion of fall in g may even have an active effort

i n oblite ratin g the conscious ness of th e less vivid n l
t rod u c t or
y illusion T. his explanation I offer as merely
the vaguest conj ecture .

I n the most typical and frequent form of th e falling

dream one wakes before reach ing the botto m I nde ed
, .
,

as I have said el sewhere a common notion or saying

,

is that i f you dreame d of reach i n g the bottom you

l
woud t h en and there die presumably of nervous shock
, .

This can however by the nature of the case be again

, , ,

but a conj ecture of th e vag uest There is no proof .

t hat any one ever died such a death an d on th e other ,

side of the argument I have th e evidence of one

corre sponden t at least who reached the bottom not ,

i n any oblique glidi ng fa sh ion but with an impact ,

direct and clashin g l ike a lyddite shell Th is lady .

writes : Y ou say y ou have never heard of any one

“

falli ng wh o has arrived at the botto m I have arrived‘ .

’

with a crash have broken up i nto pieces and then I

—
, ,

a sort of detached eg o have picked up th e pieces and

glued them to g ether agai n N ow this is marvellous ;
”
.

it is mag nificent but it is not war — t h at is to say it is a

not the typical fallin g dream I t sounds more l i ke

.

war than dreami ng ; but we may dismiss it as not

being made i n the mould of the o rdinary falling dream .

I t is a freak and a mightily disagreeabl e one as we

, ,

may imagine A nother variant of th e falling dream ,

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T D REAM S . 1 19

a correspondent describes as follows : A s to th e “

falli ng dream I never awake i mmediately except when

, ,

I only seem to step over a step without any dream at ,

all im mediately after g oing to sleep

,
E v idently th is
is th e drop of a few feet i n the transi tion sta g e
“ ”
, ,

between sleep and wakefulness of another correspon ,

dent and is not as that correspondent says a dream

, , ,

at all H e proceeds
. I g enerally throw mysel f over
the precipice to escape someth i ng not always exactly ,

alarmi ng ( merely a borin g acquai n ta nce perhaps )

and th e res u
,

“
l t i s that at once I have the sensation
of bei n g carried away on a river m y sleep becom in g ,

dreamless
Th is is Someth i n g l i ke th e way i n which that other
correspon d ent experiences th e fall i ng dream the fa l l i n g ,

turni n g i nto a glidi n g and finish in g w i thout any shock

, ,

eve n witho u t su ffi ci ent shock to awake the dreamer

v ery di f ferent from th e lyddite sh ell business of th e
last cor respondent s al i g hti ng ’
I n thi s accou nt it i s
.

to be noted too t hat there are i ntroductory ci rcum

, ,
'

stances wh ich persuade the dreamer voluntarily to

,

throw h imself ov er the precipice ( i t i s well that no

precipices are at h a nd when we see c ertai n of our
friends approachi n g us in wakin g l ife oth erwise we ,

m i g ht b e tempted by th e example of th is dre amer to

h is heroic mode of getti ng free from th e friendly
attention ) T h is dream agai n is ev idently a freak or
.

departure from th e true type o f th e fall ing dre am

“ ”
.

“
Th e correspondent adds I remember th is ( i e that . .

there is th e river ready for hi s rece ption li ke t h e ,

feather bed that receives the v illai n who is hurled

-
 120 ON DREAMS .

'
over th e precipice at the A delph i Th eatre ) i n my
dreams and throw myself over wi th perfect confidence
,

and do not see anyth ing as I go down I ndeed I have .

no sensation of g oi n g down A fter the spri ng the

.

floating away comes at once E videntl y th is i s not

.

the true fall in g dream at all .

O ne correspondent who dreams obedientl y to rules , ,

the falli n g dream i n its typical form gives me a ,

s ugg ested cause of it wh ich is well worth noti ng

, ,

however much or l ittl e w e may be disposed to adopt

it
. T he first sentence O f that correspond ent that I ,

will quote imm edi ately is by way of an answer to a

,

s u gg es t ion o f my ow n that the fall ing dream mi g ht

b e the outcome of an optical delusion wh i ch showed

some O bj ect passi n g upwards from below Th is would .

satisfy the optical condition of a long fall and con

l
,

cei v ab y m ig h t arise from some momentary twitch of

the opti c nerve I have spoken of th is elsewhere

. .

M y correspondent writes thus : I n my own case I

“

do not in the fall ing dream see any obj ects at all
, , ,

either apparently risi n g or otherwise ; the sensation

is purely of physical fall in g ( Q uery — our fam iliarity
'
with th is sensation ) but without striki n g against
“

anyth ing rather as if the ground or bed were suddenly

,

removed from under me ( certai nly th is is a good des

c ri t i on)
p
“
I have felt someth in g not u nl ike i t when i n
a berth at sea when the sea was very rough and the
, ,

berth suddenly descended leaving me for a percept ible

, ,

fraction of a second behi nd This seems to suggest

.

another possible explanati on C an the sensation be

.

d ue to one s losing the bodil y impression of the bed

’
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE F REQUEN T DREAMS . 12 1

beneath one a l ittl e too soon before the brain i s

,

suffi cientl y un conscious not to be startl ed by th e

apparent loss of support to th e body ' Th e very ”

l eas t to say of th is i s that i t is a very in g enious theory .

M y ow n doubt is whether th e physiolo g i cal conditions

o fsleep will perm i t its acceptance .

A nother correspondent wri ti n g to m e of th e fall

i n g dream tells me that h I S experience of i t presents
,

features in most respects quite normal but di fferi n g ,

from type i n that I really reach the bottom and th e ,

sudden concussion awakes me Th is I had always .

attri buted to some m om entary cessatio n of the h eart s

action wh ich p robably caused the whol e dream

, .

fil
T h is i s th e popular account no doubt but i t i s hardly
l
, ,

sc i ent i c i a y accurate Y et another writer whose

.
,

experience of the falli n g dream seems to conform i n

g eneral to the type expresses i n th is way a departure
,

from i t I however al ways experience a cold terror

, , ,

wh ile falli n g and never wonder at any lack of fear

,
”
.

I g ather from all that my correspondents say that ,

this is a very rare departure from th e type A l i ce i n .

W onderland falli n g down th e rabb i t hol e and th i nkin g

h ow brave the peopl e at hom e would deem her not ,

t o be frighten ed is typi cal of the dream

,
O nly one .

m ore writer w ill I quote and then w e will cease to

,

fall wh ich is a stupi d action after all and commence

, ,

to fly wh ich i s much more en g aging Th is corre

, .

spond ent su gg ests that the falli n g dream is

“
purel y
”
physical I always bel ieved she writes ,
it to ,

be caused by th e relaxi n g of one s muscles as one sees

’

i n dog s and cats when fast asleep A tw itch o f the .

122 ON D REAM S .

l imbs w ill cause them to start v iol ently and perhap s ,

utter a sound of distress sometimes causing them t o ,

l
wake bu t not al ways and most clearly causing a
, ,

dream p resumably l ike that of fa li ng

, A re we t o .
’7

adm it th e adverb th e presumably and let i t g o

“
, ,

unchallenged ' A nd after all if We admi t the twitch

to be identical with the falling sensation ( and is not
the twitch famil iar to us as someth i ng d ifferent from
th e fall ') does not that leave a question beh ind S till ,

to be answered namely ,
“
What is the cau se of t h e
,

t witch ' S o let us leave th i s busi ness of fall in g

”
,

some of us glidin g on on arrival at th e bottom as i f ,

on skates and ice some of us landing dy namicall y

u
,

with a cra sh and a spl tte r of frag ments but most of

“

us never reaching the bottom at all our dream break ,

;

i n g off w ith us i n mid -ai r wh ich is most obviously , , ,

the proper si tuat i on i n wh i ch to be g in the mo re

ho nourable business of fl i g ht L ucifer and the devil s
l
l
.

fall but a go od an g els fly

, .

PA R T III

l
.

B — [nstances of t ne
.
“
F y i ng D ream .

A great m any of my correspondent s wh o have read ,

the essay that I th re w out tentati vely to attract record s

of dream experiences take m e to task very strongl y
,

for sayin g that the majority of dr eams are unpleasant .

I ndeed so many write to this effect that I am con

,

v i nc ed I must be wron g and that the maj ority of ,

m anki nd find a balance of pleasure over discom fort

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE F REQUEN T D REAM S . 12 3

i n dreamland ; a con cl usion that i s certainly more

comfortable than the g loomy one w h ich my own
“
experience led me to O ffer i n th e first i nstance I .

“
am sure writes one of these correspondents
,
that ,

many could speak of th e lovely dream world to wh i ch

th e I vory Gate ad mi ts them There are dream s of .

beau tiful s cenery such as th e w aking eyes h av e never

,

beheld of entrancin g musi c mostly h eard at a distance

, ,

-
ofheari ng agai n loved v o ices lon g hushed i n death
,
.

Th is last com es under the class of dreams fro m wh ich

th e waking i s sad B ut many oth ers are most refresh
.

i n g O ne is taken out of the narrow depressin g l ife

.
,

of the s ick room O ne i s wel l a gai n active seein g

.
, ,

and heari n g beauti ful th i n g s a

nd so on ,
A su ffi ci ent
”
.

proportion of correspondents w rite i n th is strain to

convince m e that the sad conclusion I drew ch iefly ,

from m y o wn nightmares was wron g and that dream

,

in g is to be recko ned on t h e side of th e pleasures of

l ife I do not know wheth er S ir J oh n L ubbock to
.
,

speak of h i m by th e name i n which he wrote and by

which he is best kno wn mentions dreaming amon g
,

the pl easures of l i fe i n h is cate g ory A mon g st th e .

pleasures of dreams ou g h t surely to be catalo g ued th is

most pleasant fancy of flyi ng .

T he type of i t that is to say its most g eneral form

, ,

is I thi nk a ski mmi n g i n a h orizontal pos ition with

l
, ,

some easy swi mm i ng ‘ ik e movement of the arms at ,

a height of say eigh t or ten feet either i n a room or ,

without T he ri sing off th e ground is effected by a

.

j ump ; and so many have the feel in g that th is risi ng

is assisted by drawi n g th e breath i n stro ngly and so ,
12 4 ON D REAMS .

e xpandi ng the l un g s as to sugg est that th is fly i ng

,

dream is caused by some action of the breath ing

or g a ns I t remains a conj ecture
. O f this typical .

flyi ng dream as of the fall in g there seem to be many

, ,

“
variants Th e flyi ng dream writes one corre
.
,

s ond ent
p
“
I O ften experienced but i n my vers ion th e
, ,

fl i g ht is never overhead I t is l ike a sensation of .

skating on air j ust above the ground rather than of

, ,

flyi ng that I have I move forward rapidly with

,
.
,

long s win g ing strokes ( with arms or wi th legs ) '

and feel surprised always either at my nev e r h aving
found out my powers i n this li ne before or at my ,

having neglected so del ightful a method of locomotion .

F or th e re is often a m emory of former dreams of

fl ight thou g h never as d ream s I thi nk Why I have ‘ .
, ,

done th is before I can t understand wh y I g ave it up

,
’ ’

( Th is is a common experience I th ink i n th e flying , ,

dream ) .
“
S ometimes my correspondent proceeds , ,

I soar slowly upwards and move about a room ( here ,

“
we pass into the typical form of flying dream ) for
such S oaring dreams have always their place i n-doors ,

wh ile the ai r -skating i f I may call it so is always, ,

outside Th is air —
. skati ng presumably in an upri g ht ,

posture seems to be not at a l l infrequent but more

, ,

commonl y occurring to those wh o do not know what

i t is to fly properly I t seems as it were the begin
.
, ,

ning of fl i g ht the sensations bein g very similar i n kind

,

though di ffering in degree both having i n common ,

the sensation of movi ng forward th rough th e ai r by

’
means that are not withi n man s power of locomotion
( with all excuses to the ev i t at i o ni ) l
st s i n waki ng li fe .
 CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T DREAM S . 12 5

One correspondent says : The flyi n g dream I have

“

never had ; th e nearest approach was floating down

th e stairs upright w ith m y hand on the balusters
, , ,

wi thout touch ing the steps with m y feet T his seems

to be the very i nfancy of th e art of dream -fl y i ng and ,

to belong almost as much to th e falli ng as to the fl yin g

fil
class I t is really scarcely more than a sl i g htly glori
.

ed fa l .

A nother cor respondent wri tes interestingly of th e

flyi n g dream thus Th e flyin g dream is most pleasant .

I n my dreams I am som etimes asked how I do it and ,

explai n that it is perfectly easy O ne h as only . to

raise onesel f from the ground and can th en skim along
( upri g ht ) ( the posi tion i n th is instance is really th e
only departure from th e type ) w ithout any exerti on .

Th ere seems to be a sl i g ht exertion i n raisi n g onesel f .

and i n getti n g up to a higher l evel but that is all ,

I .

am almost always i n a buildi n g but sometim es it is o f

,

enormous heigh t and I have often raised mysel f to th e

top I do not see thi n g s below me but look s traigh t
.
,

i n front or to th e side and notice details O farch itecture ,

”
etc . I t is very si ngular how often people dream of
fl i g h t w i th i n a buildin g— singular because it seem s so
u nnatural so unl ikel y so contrary to experie nce I n
, ,
.

e xperience when we see th i n g s flyi ng they are fl ying

, ,

out of doors with the exception of house fl ies and

,

an occasional moth The first idea that the word

.

“
fl i g ht su gg ests to us is fl igh t i n th e open air not i n ,

a room and g enerall y we notice fl i g ht of bi rds goin g

from tree to tree N ow i t never so far as I know
.
,

( and never i s a bi g word ) happens to any one to dream

12 6 ON D REAMS .

of flitti ng from tree to tree l i ke abird or from flower , ,

to flower l ike a butterfl y I t is al w ays a lon g ski m

,
.

mi ng fl ight sometimes aided by kicks on th e g round

, ,

as a bad swimmer aids hi mself to s wim i n shallow

water E vidently it does not ow e its origi n to dream
.

memori es of bi rds and fancyi ng ourselves capable of

th eir fl ight I t is fli ght sui g ener i s
. .

I n another letter I have an account of the flyin g

dream not unlike the last onl y that i n this case the,

air skatin g is done without any of those long powerful

-

strokes presumably of the feet and leg s that the

, ,

former speaks of i n fact without movement of limbs

,

at all so that i t were better described as ai r -slidi ng

,

than skating i f words can i ndicate i t at all The

, .

writer says : M y experience of th e flyi ng dream is of

”
a rapid movement at about a foot from the ground
( presumably i n an upright posture thou g h this i s not ,

“
mentioned ) without any motion whatever of th e
l imbs and is only exceeded in pleasurable sensation
,

by that of one wh ich m igh t be classed as the dream of

discoverin g new and beautiful scenery i n famil iar haunts
of one s wakin g hours —dream transformation of M y
’

daily walks and ancient neighbourhood I n every

i nstance whatever the position of the body and the
,

height of th e so-called fl ight i t would seem that the ,

sensation is a pleasant one even as we all ima g ine ,

that th e sensation of flight were we really able to fl y

, ,

would be del ightful A s a matter of fact the birds

.

who can fly seldom seem to do it for amusement The .

S kylark soars apparently for its pleasure wild ducks ,

fly in circles round towards roosting time and rooks ,

C LASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 12 7

and starli n g s perform evolutions that do not seem to

have any special purpose i n th e ai r ; but th ese are
exceptions from t h e general rul e that the bi rds onl y
use thei r wings to take them w here thei r busi ness calls
th em and do not g o flyi n g about for th e fun of flyin g
, ,

as we imagine we should do i f w e could O ur fligh t.

—
i n dreams so to call what really resem bles a fast
floating through the ai r rather than th e seri es of i m
—
pulsive movements that go to make fl i g h t is always
an amusement w e never seem to use th e power as a
base means of transi t m erely I t is som eth ing better
. .

A n exceptional case of the flyi n g dream i n respec t

,

of th e altitude of the heigh t is given by another corres

,

“
pondent who says T he flying dream I O ften dream ,

only I always fi nd mysel f fl yi ng at a great height and ,

a delightful se nsation i t i s I s ee m to dread g etti n g

.

'
nearer th e ground as I know I shall be u nabl e to ri se
,

ag ain and yet eventuall y somethin g dra g s me down

, ,

and when I g et near the earth I always awake Is

th is an i nstance of th e flyi n g dream passi ng i nto th e
fallin g dream ' I ts end has som e o f th e features of th e
fall i ng dream and we have seen cases of th e fall ing
,

dream apparently passin g i nto the flyi ng dream or at ,

least i n to th e air -skati n g or sl iding These i nstances

.

are to be noticed because i t is one of th e commonplace

,

remarks about dreams that in spite of th ei r i ncoh erence

,

they always follow th e same emotional cou rse Th at .

is to say that a pleasant dream is pleasan t from first

,

to last the imagi nation select i n g only th e though ts

,

that are pl easurabl e and stri ngin g th em togeth er i n

its ow n haphazard fash ion whereas i n an unpleasant
,
1 28 ON DREAMS .

dream the i magination picks up only th e unpleasan t

th ings that are su ggested This is a th eory to which .

I find many contradictory i nstances dreams often ,

passi n g from the pleasant to the disagreeable and v i ce

verse i The passin g from fall ing to flying and perhaps
'
, ,

v i ce verso are instances in poi nt for the fall ing dream , ,

althou g h g enerally unaccompanied with terror is th e ,

reverse of pleasant whereas the dream fl i g h t is always

,
-

pleasant however lowly it may be The idea that

, .

filling the lun g s and so g ivi ng onese l f th e feel ing o f

,

buoyancy helps i n levitation occurs in several of the

, ,

“
communications I have had under th is head T he .

flyi n g dre am writes one was common with m e som e

,
“
,

years ago but I used to fly by goin g s ideways not far

, , ,

say eighteen inches from the ground every now and

, ,

again givin g myself a fresh push on with my foot I .

fancied breath ing helped me but everything seemed ,

to depend on the vol ition of the will A s I used to .

g l ide by people I used to pity their having to walk

'
,

”
and wonder that I ever walked when I could go thus
Th is sense of wonder and compass ion is very typical
of the flying dream and scarcely less so is the idea
,

that a deal of the fl ight is done by hard wil l in g What .

is very unusual is th e sense of flyin g sideways Th e .

common sensation is of floatin g forward i n a horizontal

l i ne the body itself i n a horizontal attitude or far less
, , ,

often upri g ht
,
This side swimmi n g action with a
.
,

kick off th e floor now and then is quite abnormal , .

A noth er writer confirms the service that the will

seems to perform in the dream fli g ht as follows ,

“
With respect to dreams O f flying I have never h ad ,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T DREAMS . 129

them but I have O ften and often fel t i n my dream s

,

l
that I h ad a perfect power of swimm i ng throu g h th e

fi
ai r wi t t out any ood i y act i on but s impl y by a stron g
l
,
/ ,

e ort o
f vo i t i on S o v ivid h as
. th is impression been ,

that on awaki ng I have been for some tim e unable to

”
persuade mysel f that i t was only a dream I n spite .

of th e writer s preface to th i s account it is evident

’

th at h is is really th e flyi n g dream i n the sense

“ ”
,

perhaps too loose i n wh ich I h ave used th e term

,

as a class headi n g N ot only does th e account fal l

l
-
.

wi th i n the class but i t is fairl y typi ca of i t so far as

, ,

th e accoun t explains i tsel f Th e flyi n g dream has a .

distinct type of i ts ow n I t is apt as w e have seen .

, ,

to pass into th e fall i n g dream i n whi ch case i t seems

’

to lose its pleasurable character and becom e disa g ree

able B ut I do n ot th in k that i n any typi cal case of
.

th e flying dream i t gives oth er than a deli g htful sensa

tion . O ne of my correspondents it is true writes , ,

i n a contrary sense A s regards what you say about

flyin g dreams being a p easuraoe sensation it never l l ,

was so to me A s a child I hav e a v ivid recollection

.

of constantly flyi n g downstairs i n my d ream but havi ng ,

all the tim e a perfect terror of droppin g down and

fi
,
.

was only too thankful when I fou nd mysel f on ter ra

r ma at th e bottom .

Th is wh ich is g iven as a contradictory i nstanc e

, ,

i s really not to be re g arded i n that l ight for i t i s ,

.

ev ident that th is is a qui t e di fferent dream from t h e

'

typical flyin g dream I t i s i ndeed quite as l ike t h e

.

type of th e fall ing dream and i s to be looked on more ,

as an i nstance of the transition from the one class to the

9
13 0 ON D REAMS .

oth er .There is more of terror expressed i n th e

account of i t than is common even i n th e fal l ing dream
itself from the type of wh ich it is further separated by
,

the ultimate safe landi n g at the bottom B ut probabl y .

th is is really to be regarded as one of the unclassified

dreams which do not fall fairly under the one class or
the other for th is reason that the correspondent names
, ,

the partic ular staircase ( i n thei r house i n A men C ourt )

down wh ich she used to take this dream fl i gh t or fall .

T his s ensation of a disti nctly reco g n ised local ity of the

fall or fl ight is not typical of either th e fa ling or the
fl ying dream .I n g eneral there is the sensation of
l
fallin g or flyin g but not falli n g down any particular
,

precip ice or well nor fl yi ng to or from any parti cular

,

plac e Th ere are exceptions but th is is the rule and

.
, ,

th is si ng ular dream we are talki n g about must rank I ,

th i nk among the great number of the unclassified

, .

I t presents too many exceptions to come very ki ndly

u nder ei ther the fallin g or the flyin g h ead .

PA R T I I I .

C —
. ]nst ances of t /ce Dream of I u
nad eq at e l
C ot /t i ng .

I t is pai nful to have to record that further corres

o n d enc e incl i nes me to suppose that the aggravated
p
form of th is dream in wh ich we appear i n publi c i n
,

per fect nudity is less rare than I h ad thou g h t O ne

,
.

correspondent it w ill be seen apologises for the ag g ra

, ,

v at ed form i n which sh e envisa g es hersel f in th is dream

by saying that sh e is accustomed to draw from the nude .

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FRE QUEN T DREAM S . 13 1

That is better no doub t than no apolo g y at all I f

, ,
.

we can re g ard ourselves thus from the poi nt of view

,

of the artist w e are j ustified while in th e studio

, ,
in ,

feel in g no shame but s till the model of Q ueen G uine

, ,

vere does not g o forth i n P i ccadill y as sh e sat for the

equestrian p icture F or such doin g s as th ese we have
.

”
to g o to Th e N i g ht S ide of N ature or to th e dream
“
,

land with wh ich i t is about equally real N O doubt .

we are reconciled to th e parlous state th e more easily

because i t s eems to g iv e no offence T his I th i nk i s .
, ,

always the case I h ave coll ected no i nstance of th e

.

spectators rebuki n g the i nadequately clothed for thei r

nudity “
. When g oin g only h al f dressed wri tes on e-
,
”

( a cler g yman )
“
into
,
a room full of people i n my ,

dreams and dread fully conscious ( dreadfully conscious

,

expresses the typical feel i n g wel l th ere is no over ,

whelmin g sense of shame thou g h there is som e sl i g h t

distress ) of th e lapse from decency and g ood manners
'
,

nobody noti ces it i n the least S o tactful of them

.

I t is th e atti tude that the spectator al ways adopts

towards the poor hero of th is d ream A pecul iarly .

pai nful form of th e dream of inadequate cloth in g as ,

attacki n g the cler g y is related by another c orresp on

,

dent .
“
A clerg yman once told me h e wri tes that “
,
”
,

h e used to dream that h e was late for church undressed , ,

and unabl e to g et on th e gown to cover h is naked

”
l imbs . I n this case the dream of i nadequate clothing
seems to have been supplemented and agg ravated by
some of the vexations belon g in g properly to another
cl ass th e dream of tri vial i nconveniences Th e bei n g
, .

late does not enter into the typical idea of the dream
l
32 ON DREAMS .

of lack of dress I t is an outside extra ag gravation

.
,
.

B ut otherwise the dream was typical enough ; and

after th is who can doubt that the devil bus ies h imsel f
,

with sending dreams now even as h e did in th e M iddle

,

Ag es '
A n i n g en ious su gg estion of the cause producin g
this dream of inadequate cloth ing is given by a corres
pon d ent whom I am on the point of quoti n g I t is .

a sugg ested cause that perhaps may carry the more

weight because of the different de g rees of inadequacy
in the dream toilet wh ich we have seen to prevail the
, ,

delusion of complete nudity bei ng quite exceptional .

M y correspondent writes “
W ith re gard to t h e dream
of inadequate cloth i n g I have long had the idea ( very
,

open to question I know ) that i t is caused by the last

,

i mpression we recei ve of our own appearance before

goi n g t obed M ost people I think have a stage i n
.
, ,

thei r g oin g -to -bed operations at wh i ch th ey take

th i n g s rather easily brush their hair read a l ittle or
, , ,

th ink over the events of the day I t seems to me that .

th is appearance of oneself i n a state of semi undress -

( impressed more stron g ly by the refl exi on of th e bed

room m irror as we move about ) is abo ut the last

picture presented to the eye —th e picture wh ich
consequently tends to reappear i n sleep The only .

proof I can offer i n support of the theory is that in my ,

own dreams of this class I always fi nd mysel f at the

same stage of undressing and that th e one at which
,

I habitually pause I be l ieve that th is might be found

.

to be the same with oth er peop l e wh o suffer from th e

dream .
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 13 3

N ow th is is a very in g enious theory but it does ,

not quit e seem to work out ri g ht I n the firs t place no t .

many men I th ink ever contemplate themsel ves with

, ,

the N arc i ssus-li ke satis faction h ere su gg ested o n thei r ,

way to bed A s a rul e one is too sleepy or too cold

.
, ,

or too someth in g A lso one is perhaps not worth

.
,

looki n g at B ut those who do contemplate th emselves

.

on th e way to bed at a certai n stag e —th e hai r -brush i n g

,

—
stag e are women They si t lon g before a g lass
.
,

wh ile a maid or th ei r own hands brush their hai r but ,

thou g h I have i nquired so closely as one m ay i nquire ,

i nto a matter so delicate I have not been able to lear n ,

that th is particular sta g e rather than any other i s th e , ,

o ne at wh ich one appears i n dreams to be going into

th e best society nor is th ere any special sug g estion o f
,

the fl owin g locks wh ich ou g ht to accompany th e

appearance if th e fancy were so stri ctly connected wi th
the hai r brush i n g and mi rror gazi n g m oment A nd
- -
.

at the same ti me we fi nd that th is dream i s quite

common amon g m en wh o I do not th i nk have a habi t
,

of contemplati ng thei r reflection i n a state of sem i

toilette There is also th is to be said wh i ch i s poi nted
.
,

out at more length in anoth er chapter that the thoughts ,

that occupy the m i nd j ust be fore the moment of sleep -

are by no m eans those whi ch are l ikely to occupy th e

dream thou g ht T o this argument answer may be
.
,

made that this is not an affai r of th e occupation of th e

,

‘
mi nd with a subj ect but of th e scarcely conscious ,

noti ce taken by the eye of a famil iar obj ect and may ,

be th is i s a g ood answer
, B ut th ere i s a certai n .

obj ection to th e theory advanced to wh i ch I do not ,

13 4 ON DREAM S .

perceive any adeq uate answer ; and that is that the

real essence of th is d ream that wh ich is its distin g uish
,

i n g feature is not si mple nudity or sem i nudi ty but

,
-
,

semi -nudity ( let us take the typical form of it ) at th e

wrong time — without a suffi cient re g ard to those re
l at i v es on whi ch so much stress is laid by A ristotle ,

th e when the where and i n what man ner

,
I t is not .

simply that e dream e are naked or i n a semi dress

w w -

l
, ,

as i n the nég zg é appropriate to the hair-brush i ng stag e -

for which a woman has no reason to blush i n her

’
maid s presence but it is semi nudity i n th e presen ce
,
-

of conve ntional frock -coated society it is sem i nudity

, ,
-

not at the ri g h t time even though i t be the time

,
.

shortly be fore th e hour for sleep .

O ne of my correspondents —a lady I think — w h o ,

suffers from th e dream of i nadequate cloth ing in its

extreme form of absol ute nudity records that sh e ,

takes to he rself com fort of a philosoph ical ki nd by the

followin g quite logical reasoni ng : “
I usually console
myself by th inkin g that peo pl e shouldn t be there ’

w hen th ey are not wanted and that si nce they don t

’

’ ”
m ind I needn t
,
Th is is ph ilosophy at th e heroi c
.

height .

The most apparent theory on which to exp l ai nthi s

dream of inadequate cloth ing is no doubt that one , ,

fi
i s actually i nadequately c l othed with bedclothes i n
su f c i ent for their purpose or at all events for goi n g
,

one s wa l ks abroad To th is effect one of my corres

’
.

p on d en t s says The dream of inadequate clothing I

must think arises from the fact that one i s inadequately
clothed for appearing i n publi c I have never had any .
CLA SS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T D REAMS . 13 5

one come i nto my room unexpectedly wh ile I was

'
dressi n g
. T his last remark is eviden tl y an answer
to a su g gestion that the dream was i nspired by an
i nopportune openin g of the door when th e toilet was
not complete “
I m ust con fess this wri ter g oes on
.
,

shamelessly that it does not trouble m e i n the l east

, ,

but I am personally concerned about my bare feet ,

and have shuffled them under the san d wh en bathi n g

on th e sea shore so that th ey m i g h t not be seen
-
, .

S ometi mes I am only afraid of th ei r bein g h urt .

Th e trouble about accepti ng the theory advanced

h ere is that i t does not j ump with th e facts S o far as .

I can make out we do not dream the nude dream so ,

to call i t with brutal brevi ty wh en we are under warm,

bedclothes nor does the general type of th is dream

,

seem to be appearance i n one s night g ow n or pyj amas ’

but appearance in a state of sem i day -toilette B ut -

.

th ere is some fuller discussion of th is delicate subj ect

elsewhere W ith regard to th e dream of i nadequate
.

clothin g as experienced by th is writer who sh u ffl es

,

bare feet under the sand it all looks as if it mi g ht be

,

fi
called more rightly a dream of bath ing a reminiscence ,

of preparation for sea bath in g than a dream of i nsuf

-
,

cient clothi n g L i g h t cl oth ing and i nsuffici ent cloth in g

.

are not th e same th i ng Th e cloth ing that is perfectly

.

adequate for bath ing is l i g h t ; but it is not adequate

for goi ng to ch urch or to court S i milarly on a hot .

nigh t i n summer th e bedcl othes will be l i g ht but m ay

‘
,

be quite adequate ; and th e class of dream we have

been ta l king about is typically one i n wh ich the cloth
ing is not adequate .
I 36 ON D REAMS .

PA R T I I I .

D . o f Me B og gy Dream .

The instances of th e bogey dream that corres ,

o nd ent s kindly have communica t ed are very many

p , ,

very varied and very curious There I S a special form of

,
.

th e bo g ey dream evidently recurrin g so often that I shall

group a few of its i nstances under a class by itsel f
the dream that one is dead and has curious p ast-mari a ”
e xperiences sometimes but not al ways
, ,
disag reeable , .

I am rath er sorry to th ink that dream death has never -

c ome within my ow n experience for there is no do u bt ,

t hat the sensations are novel and i nteresti n g Of .

course th e veritable terror of th e bogey belongs more

to the dreams of ch ildhood than of g rown up people -
,

an d it i s commonly said i ndeed that all dreaming is

, ,

much more frequent i n earl ier years say the first ,

fi fteen of l i fe than later Probably th e meaning of

,
.

this is that not until we come to years of a certain

d iscretion do w e fully realise that dreams are no more
than a delusion The full er knowledge enables us to
.

real ise unconsciously at the very moment of awaki ng

'
, ,

t h e unreality of the mental experience we have j ust

passed th rough wh i ch experience we t h erefore at once

,

cease to attend to and turn our thoughts to subj ects of

more natural i nterest Th e child on awaki ng has
.
, ,

not this instant fu l l appreciation of the fanci ful nature

o f h is sleeping thoughts ; and th erefore dwelling ,

o n the m longer i n the first of his waking thoughts ,

 CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T D REAM S . 13 7

impresses them on h is m ind and will more often than

, ,

the adul t have that waking consciousness of h is mental

,

operations i n sleep which we have seen to enter i nto

the stri ct defin ition of the word dream O n the t h eorv
.

that every mental operation occurri ng i n sleep is to be

call ed a dream the man probably d reams as often as
,

—
the ch ild i ndeed i t is probable that both dream in
th is sense al most i f not qui te continuousl y— but the
, ,

waki ng conscious ness of su ch operation of the m i nd

w ill remain with th e ch ild more often than wi th th e
adult. The ph rases sleepin g like a ch ild
“ “
the peace
,
”

ful sleep of ch ildren and so on in such common use

, , ,

are testi mony to the fact that the ch ild shows less
evidence to an onlooker o f its m ental O perations duri ng
sleep althou g h it i s g enerally agreed that ch ildren
,

dream i n th e true sense of th e word far more often

, ,

than the adult The bogey dream naturally is more

.

com mon ( bears a lar g er relation to th e total of dream

experiences ) wi th a ch ild than with an adul t for few ,

ch ildren are free enti rel y of a fear of th e dark or of ,

g h osts or burglars — fears that in the first place are

, ,

often put i nto thei r h eads by fool ish nurse -maids .

T his fear without the appearance of the obj ect that

,

i nspi res th e terror i s qui te t ypical o f the bo g ey dream

, .

T hus one correspondent writes I have had a d ream

of wal king i n som e neigh bourh ood where some wild
beast was at lar g e and bei n g very much afraid of
meetin g it but i t has never run after me
,
Well that ,

i s very much what happens to ch ildren and very ,

nervous grown up people too i f they have occasion to

-
,

wal k at night th rough a lonel y wood Th ey i mag i ne

.
13 8 ON DREAMS .

sounds shadows take the form of men l urking i n wa i t

,

beh i nd tree -trunks and so on until fear of someth in g ,

unseen quite overmasters them and th ey fairly turn

tail and run C hi l dren do it and confess i t ; adul ts
.
,

do it more often than they confess unless th ey are

l
,

much m isj udged A nother kind of terror very typica

.
,
.

of the ki nd of trouble that harasses us i n the bo g ey

dream is described by th e correspondent j ust quoted
,

I sometimes dream of tryin g to sh ut a door or

w indow to keep out som e danger robbers g enerally , ,
\

and being unabl e to secure the fasteni n g s A ny for m

of unreasonable i nabili ty to escape from th e terror that
is pursui n g is typical of th is class of dream O n the .

other hand I do not th in k that all fleei n g from a

,

terrible pursuit com es fairly under th is head For .

i nstance one friend writes to me : A dream I hav e

,
“

often had is of fl eeing from j usti ce w hose punish men t

I have m erited generally th ro ugh theft ; a candi d
,
”

confession that i t is to be hoped is coupled wi th a

conviction that dreams go by contraries The
same friend also says : I h ave often dreamt of battle .

I have fough t th rough it been wounded and so on , ,

al l in the most real isti c manner Th e real istic manne r ’

is perhaps what distinguishes th ese i nstances from t h e

typi cal bog ey dream Therein the terror is conceive d
.

as som eth ing un usual vag ue superstitious almost I t

, ,
.

i s noth ing so definite as j ustice E ven when childhood .

invests some harmless indiv idual ity with terror as i n ,

my own case the terror is of a supernatural kind

,
.

C hildhoo d s fancy and fears have i nvested i t with

’

terrors that do not properly belong to it as th ey ,

CLASS I F I CA TI O N OF TH E M ORE FREQUEN T D REA M S . 13 9

disti nctly do belon g to j us t ice presum in g that its ,

vengea nce has been i ncurred .

There i s one correspondent it i s true who wri tes , ,

I h ave no sense o f fear or terror I f I am pursued .

by an animal I al ways sooner or later escape from i t

or overcome i t i n som e way wh ich causes a g low of
”
pride. Th is absen ce of terror is very un usual i n th e
dream O n the other h and th e sense of rel ie f and j oy
.
,

at bei ng rid of th e bo g ey is much more frequent and ,

fi
al most typi cal of the dream where i t lasts l ong enou g h
for such a d ew ment and does not wake the sleeper
by the i ntensi ty of the terror I t is only natu ral th at .

a sleeper who re g ards the pursu it wi th th e calm ness

of th is corresponden t shoul d c arry on the dream to
th i s pleasan t fi nale B u t th e sense o f relief and
.

pl easure that com monl y comes as a consequence of

the danger evaded following on all the disa g reeable
,

sensations of fear is y et a g ain opposed to th e th eory

l
,

th at dream s fo l low a sin g le l ine of emot ion p easur ,

abl e or th e reverse T here is a disti nct change from

.

th e disagreeabl e to th e pleasant i n the emotion of

danger im m i n ent fol lowed by th e emotion of danger
escaped .

There i s often i n th is dream a knowledge that th e

“
wh ole affai r i s a dream and a del us ion yet at th e same ,

time i t i s accompan i ed with a terror th at th e sleeper

can not sh ake off H e knows that he can rid h imsel f
.

of th e terror i f he can b ut awake ; and yet in spite

, ,

of all his efforts h e is not a l w ays abl e to wake himsel f

,
.

S ometimes h e succeeds but generally i t is only after

,

severe effort and i n some cases even wh ile continu i ng

, ,
1 40 ON DREAMS .

to strugg le to awake he has to wait till some sensation

,

from without gives his wi ll the required energy as i n ,

the followi ng account wh ich may be taken as fai rly

typical of the bogey dream : “
I become s uddenl y
aware in my sleep of some unseen pres ence i n my
, ,

bedroom being at the same ti me conscious of the

,

g eography and details of the room I t is mostly a .

l iving presence I s uspect but the terror of the super ,

natural is su g gested T he obj ect of my terror always

.

remai ns i nvisible either h idden by cupboard door

, ,

hangin g drapery or b y remainin g below t helevel of

my vision as I l ie i n bed I ndi g nation coupled wi th .
,

a stran g e ch ild ish fear compels m e to shout words of ,

adj uration remonstrance or th reat ; but enunciation is

,

di ffi cult i n sleep as the ton g ue refuses to act ( th is be

,

“
i t observed is by no means always th e case ) and the
,

u nformed words seem to come from the th roat making ,

sounds most horrible as I am told A ll th e time I ,

.

know i t is a d ream and I h ave tried occasionally

, ,

but al ways i n vai n t o make som e movement of the

,

body so as to wake mysel f up ( I t is not a little .

’

curious the will th us h elpi n g i tself as it were by an

, , ,

action that i tsel f su g gests I t is an experience that is .

common wi th people w h o strive to wake th emselves

“
from a horrid dream ) H owever I have been so
.
,

often awoken by m y daughter rappi ng on the wall

of an adj oining room whenever sh e hears me that , ,

I find myself during th e process of the dream for

l
, ,

‘
m uat i ng th e w ish O h when is she g oi n g to rap that
, , ,

( u
’
I may awake agai n a very c rious and yet typical
experience ) I mmediately I hear the rappin g I a wake
CLA SS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T D REAM S . 14 1

and I usually fi nd that I h ave both ar m s across my

chest or else that I am lyi ng neither on my side nor
,

”
my back but m idway between both
,
.

“
I t is rath er hard to box th e compass so to ,

speak so finely as to unders tand exactly th e point o f

,

“ ”
anatomy m eant by m idway between side and back ,

but on th e whole th is dream i s very typ ical of the

bo g ey ki nd very interesti n g ,
Th is d ream m ore .
,

than any oth er may be attributed to bodily dis ,

comfort whether comin g from causes without as

, ,

from posi tion of body and l i mbs or from w ith in as , ,

lobster salad taken late at ni g h t Th e bo g ey dream .

,

i n fact i s th e g e nui ne ni g h tmare A nd yet on th is

,
.
,

very poi nt on e of m y corres pondents raises a very

,
.

“
curious question I t is i ndubi tabl e sh e ( a well
'
,

know n writer ) wri tes th at bad dreams are gen erally ,

“

caused by som e phys i cal condition specially th at of ,

th e di g estion E very one s experie nce bears thi s out

.
’
.

H ow is i t then that i n illness and i n cases where

, ,

digestion is specially at faul t good dreams should be ,

more frequent than bad ones P I t is of course poss ible

to deny the fact but by observation of my own dreams
,

i n illness and aski ng others for th ei r experience both ,

personal and such as th ey have been able to note i n

others it appears to me that th e fact as stated by th e
,

writer i s not to be denied that it is absolutely correct , ,

and that th e inference to be drawn from i t certai nly

seems to run count e r to the preval ent theory that
indigestion causes nigh tm are Perhaps i t i s only a .

certain kind de g ree or phase of i ndigestio n A t all

, , .

events th e question rai sed is j ust one of those that w e

,
142 ON DREAMS .

are surprised to find has not been answered lon g ago ,

i n all the years that science has lear nt to be scientific .

I fi nd I have been rather severely taken to task

by one or t wo correspondents for saying that it is very
rare to dream of g hosts several assertin g that g hosts
,

are a com mon form of thei r dream apparitions but i n ,

almost every case I find on reading a little further t h at

what they speak of as g hosts are really apparitions
“

of people wh o are i n fact dead but whom they do not ,

real ise i n thei r dreams to be dead They appear as

l
.

l iving people W l t l no su gg estion of th e supernatural

,

about th em and thu s as it seems to me hardly come

, , ,

under the descripti on of g host properly so called

“
, ,

“
for ghost essentially conveys the idea of the super
natural and o f the seer s knowl e
, d g e that it is super
’

natural I t i s j ust thi s knowled g e and i ts i nevi tably

.

accompanyin g terror th at w e do not have in our dream

wh en we seem to see apparitions of th e dead O ne .

correspondent wh o sees th is distinctio n a good deal

more clearly than most people seem to g rasp i t says ,

“
I h ave someti mes dreamt of actual g hosts ( what ”

th is means i s not quite clear but probably i t means

,

the recognised wh ite sheeted fi g ure of the graveyard )

-

“
and often of peopl e who have di ed not as g hosts , ,

but as i n bodily l ife and yet rememberin g all th e time

,

that they have died I have a great horror of this

.

dream O f co urse I also often drea m o f them as l ivi ng

.
,

without rememberi ng thei r deaths w hi ch is qui te di f ,

”
f erent
. O f course i t is that which makes all the
difference A nother dream of the true g host character
.

i s that of a dau g h ter wh o dreamed a cruelly realistic

C LASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 14 3

,
ll
dream i n wh ich her father who h ad at e y d i ed appeared ,

to
“
enter th e room carryi n g h is coffi n There were
many details of the appari tion too horrible to relate .

N aturall y th e d ream made a very deep and lasti n g

i mpression and frequently recurred Th e same person
s eems quite i n the habit of drea m
.
,

i n g of g hostl y visita
tions but such cases would appear to be al to g ether
,

exceptional and th e normal type is of the pursuit attack ,

or terror of some dan g erous beast or some presence

that has about i t someth i ng of the supernatural wh ile ,

there is an equally supernatural inabil ity to escape

u ntil the fearful th i n g gets very close when th e terror
,

seems to pass away and at th e sam e moment one

awakes . I t is quite comm on I th i nk for th e terror
, ,

to pass even before th e wakin g moment though i t

, ,

o ften also happens th at one seems to be awoken by

the very i ntensity of th e terror itsel f S ometim es th e

.

i nabil ity to escape takes rather ludicrous form s as of ,

th e feet being cau gh t i n strawberry j am I t is seldom

.
,

I th i nk that the apparent paralysis of the li mbs is total

,

o ne can generally move but not fast enough to give

,

o ne th e most distant chance of escaping O ne of the .

most absurd of th e entanglements that prevent escape

from the pursuing terror i s described as tryi ng to g et
“

th rough a door small enou g h for fowls on the level of

the floor and fi ndin g i t distinctly di fficult and i ncon
v eni ent only succeeding finally i n squeezing hal f
,

th rough the aperture ”

A quai nt variety of th e wild
.

beast terror descri bed by the sam e writer is i n the shape

o f a tame beast such as a domesti c cat or do g
“ ”

suddenly becom i ng w ild and attacki ng every one i n

1 44 ON DREAM S .

its vici nity especially the dreamer wi th sudden and

, ,

unaccountabl e ferocity I n some ways sim ilar is the

.

“
accoun t of another correspondent : The first dreams
I can remember i n my early childhood were of wolves .

‘
Th e wolves varied i n appearance between terriers
’

and g rizzly bears but they were always called wolves

, ,

and g enerally ate me Th is was unco m fortable but

not painful and never seemed to do me any harm '
.
,

”
,

Th is catch ing ( wh ich we must presume as a prelimi nary

stage even in such inconsequent affairs as dreams of
, ,

the eating even as the hare has to be caugh t before

,

being cook ed ) serves to distinguish th is dream from

the normal type of the bogey dream for the normal ,

bogey never catches th e dreamer M uch more l ike .

the typical bogey dream is this other wh ich th e sam e ,

writer contributes A horrible dream of my childhood

was of a book of most terri fyi ng s tories A t th e .

begin ni ng of the dream some one would produce the

book and read to me but in course of time I became
,

more or less associated with the heroi ne The stories .

varied but the book was always th e same

, I t is not
at all unusual for th e dreamer to identify himsel f with
some fictitious person of a play or novel A curious .

form of bogey is narrated by a correspondent already

quoted : O ne is often worked up into a frenzy of
“

despair by various obj ects i ncreasing enormously in

size such as a person or a trai n at the other side of
,

the room becoming alarmingly bigg er as it approaches

the unhappy dreamer A house on fire is with some
a common form of danger says the sam e correspondent
,

“
i n another part of the letter from whi ch i t seem s
,
CLA SS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAM S . 14 5

i mposs ible to escape and a sudden awakening to con

,

sc i ou
”
sness proves a very great and real rel ief Th is .

i s an i nstance of th e normal stationary bo g ey dream ,

as one may call it O n the oth er hand the i nstanc e

.
,

th at th is wri ter further quotes seems to show compl ete

departure from th e type : B ur g lars h idden away i n
“ ”
dark recesses o f rooms he says beh ind curtains
, , ,

etc usuall y followed i n th e dream by a wild and hope

.
,

l ess chase after the o ffender and also franti c efforts ,

to bar doors and wi ndows agai nst i nvaders of various

”
descriptions are most fruitful sources of terror Well .
,

i f terror there b e in th is i t would seem that th e bul k

,

of i t is res erved for the bur g lar after whom goes th e ,

I t is surel y th e chased
“ ”
wild and hopel ess chas e .

rather than th e chaser that ough t to be the terror

stricken and th is invers ion of the r oles di fferentiates
,

the dream entirely from the normal type of th e bo g ey

dream i n wh ich the terror of th e dreamer is one of th e
most conspicuous and constant features .

PA R T I I I .

E I f M D ream o r i v i a'm
f T [ m
’

. nst ances O e onae enees

F rom th e l etters that I have received I am quite

sure that I made rather too much of a specialised clas s
of th e j ourney dream —th e dream that you are
“ ”

packi ng and always by some perversity put i n you r

, ,

newly blacked boots or your spon g e bag with you r

- -

clean wh ite sh irts and no wrapping between or that

, ,

you r cab horse is struck with a paralysis that makes i t

-

10
1 46 ON D REA MS .

a l most impossible to catch even a S outh -E astern trai n .

The dreams i f they can be classified at all ou g ht t o

, ,

be classified rath er in re g ard to th e sensations and

e motions they excite than to the illusory obj ects that

appear as their exciting causes And I find a l i ke

.

e m otion of distress caused by many other fancies than

t h e fancy that we are missi ng a trai n I should there .

,

fore prefer to alter the title of th is class i nto that of

,

D reams of T ri vial I nconvenience I t is a class

t hat includes th e m issi n g of trains but I qui te see that
,

it is only by an acci d ent due perhaps to the fact that

,

I happen to travel pretty frequently that the dream ,

of trivial i nconvenience commonly a ffl icts me u nder

th is g uise Thus a correspondent writes :
.
“
T he
pack i n g dream is the one that pursues me but then ,

I travel a great deal and so I often go throu g h the

,

d i fficulties of not being abl e to close my tru nk because

i t i s too full A nother writes The j ourney drea m
,

is rare wi th me now but used to take th e form of not

,

b ein g able to find part of my dress ” ( presumably at

a moment wh en time to catch the train was val uable ) .

A typical i nstance of the dream of triv ial i nc on

v eni enc e is one that seems tolerably common with

clergymen They lose their place or their m emory

.
, ,

while preach i n g Thus one w rites

. O ne of my nu
pleasant dreams ( bein g a clergyman ) is that I am i n
church and cannot fi nd the C ollect or L essons or
,

Psalms and I stand for a full half hour turnin g over

,
-

the pag es backwards and forwards i n an ag ony and

, , ,

cannot get any further T he strange thin g is that the

.

people whom I momentarily expect to g et up and leave

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T DREAM S . 14 7

the church never seem to notice my dilemma Th i s

'

latter circumstance is very pecul iar I t would not be .

so pecul iar if i t were the experience of th is d reamer

only I n that case we migh t look on i t as an accident
. .

B ut it is i n fact typical of what takes place not i n th is ,

class of d reams only but also i n the dream of i nad e

,

quate cloth i ng A s th is same correspondent noti ces

.

When g oing only hal f d ressed i nto a room full of

-

peopl e ( i n my dreams ) and d read fully consci ous of th e

’
lapse from decency and good manners noéoay not i ces i t
l
,

”
i n t /ze east I t presents a very curious problem
.

“
th is th at th e peopl e who m I momentarily expect
,

to get up and leav e the church never seem to notice

my dil emma I t is very curi ous because th e whol e
,

scene is of course an i nvention of the m ind and yet ,

th e peopl e i n the church althou g h they are only

“
,
”

the puppets of th e m i nd that is i nventin g th e whole

show do not act i n the manner that the m i nd expects
,

them to act neither is th i s manner of actin g one that

,

any previous experience could unconsciously su gg est .

I t all seems to raise a psychological problem of as

much i nterest as di ffi culty I am too afraid of my own
.

ignorance to venture even a conj ectural explanation .

”
I t is true that one never seems to be surprised i n
dreams as another correspondent notices but it is
, ,

hardly to be thought that we endow all th e puppets

o f our dreams with th e attitude of nz ad m zrarz A t
’

l ’ '

least i f we do so th e r e ason seems far to seek

,
.

O ne form that the j ourney dream is apt to take

does not concern itsel f either w ith packing or with
vai n endeavour to catch a trai n that is on point of
1 48 ON D REAM S .

startin g but consists of futile efforts to fi nd the train

,
“

i n the bewilderi ng i ntricac ies of some n ightmare rail

w ay — probably C lapham j
fi
u nction I t does not seem .

that th is dream i n any of its forms often causes suf

l
, ,

c i ent y poignant discomfort to wake the dreamer but ,

I find that i t sometimes does so ( unless indeed the

very fact of its waking h im ought to put i t outside th e
l
class of t r i v i a i nconven ience ) A nd actually I fi nd .

this the case i n an i nstance al most exactly s imilar ,

except i n i ts aenoarn ent to th e d ream of th e clergyman

’
,

as narrated abov e I n th is second instance it is the

.

’
wife who writes of her husband s dream apparently ,

of no tri vial i nconveni ence with h im as follows “

My ,

husband who is rector of this parish is often tormented

, ,

by a dream that h e is reading th e services i n church

”
never i n the sermon ( Perhaps h e has suffi cient fervour
.

of extempore preach i n g to make th e loss of his pl ace

i n the sermon no matter of consequence ) H e fancies .

he is reading the service as usual when he happens ,

to l ift h is eyes from the book for a moment and when ,

h e looks back at the book he cannot find th e place .

H e stops sh ort turns the leaves backwards and for

,

wards gets i nto a fl urry fancies the book i s upsi d e

, ,

down turns it but still cannot read the righ t sentence

, , ,

the congregati on are all stari ng at h im i n astonish

ment and then in an a g ony of shame and confusion
, ,

h e awakes Perhaps we are to conclude that th is is a

.

clergyman of a much more sensi tive nature than th e

other so that what is to the other but matter of trivial
,

i nconvenien c e is to this one very much more C er

l
.

t ai n y th e latter is th e manner in whi ch it would be

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 14 9

viewed i n waki ng li fe by both ; i t is what we should

i

expect But for that very reaso n i t is not nearly as

.

typical as th e former of the dreams of tri vi al i ncon

v eni enc e I ndeed th e de g ree of the d istress that i t
.

occasions seems to take i t right out of that category

and exalt i t rather to the dign ity of a g enui ne ni g h t

fi
mare .

O ne correspondent writes : The dream of d i f

“

l
cut i es i n packing for a j ourney I have known bu t
, ,

not as often as d i ffi culti es i n reading wh ich you do

,

not mention This is worth a l ittle noti ce because,

there certai nly appears a tendency for the dream of

trivial inconvenience to repeat i tsel f i n the sam e form
with the same person Th us th e clergyman dreams
.
,

o f losi n g h is place the frequent traveller of troubles

,

over h is j ourney but i t does not often happen so far

,

as I can learn that the same person will have more

than one form of the trivial i nconvenience d ream at
all constantly H e either has trouble wi th h i s j
. ou rne
y
or with h is p l ace i n church or some other i nc onv eni
ence of the ki nd but one and the same perso n seldom
,

suffers one at one time one at another I t rathe r .

looks as i f the sam e ca use recurri ng i n sleep pro

, ,

d uc ed the same dream of trivial inconvenience pretty

constantly B ut the above is an i nstance of a dreamer
.

w h o has sometimes one fo rm and sometimes anothe r

of the dream o f tri vial i nconveni ence I am led to.

thi nk that such i nstance s are rare O ne wri tes to me

.

“
The packin g up and many s imilar dreams ( wh ich ”

looks as i f th is agai n was an i nstance of the same

dreamer sufferin g d ifferent ki nds of the dream of
15 0 ON DREAM S .

“
trivial i nconvenience ) I often have ; but I almost
always overcome the di fficulties in th e end
I do not th i nk that this successful fi nish is very
typical or usual The more usual thing is an awaken
.

i ng to a sense that the di ffi culties are ceasi n g to trouble

but not to any sense that they are sol ved I t is as i f .

the dream had g radually lost its real ity before we

awoke but of course this does not necessaril y i mply
,

that any length of time worth speaki ng of has passed

between our awakin g and the m ental pro cess i n sleep
wh ich we remember wh en we awake O ne would . .

conj ecture that the awaki n g was g radual i n th is th e ,

normal type of th is dream unli ke the swi ft recovery

,

of all the workin g facul ties wh ich seems to accompan y

the awaki ng i n consequence of a strong appeal to the
senses or o f a stron g emotion caused by the dream
process itsel f .

A nother curious and not very usual form of th e

dream of trivial inconvenience a corresponde nt nar
,

rates as follows : “ ‘
M y most usual troubled dream ’

not amountin g to nightmare i s of goi ng up narrow

l
,

rou g h stairs about unceilinged lo fts through ow garrets

, , ,

w i t h g aps i n the floori ng and findin g myself i n dismal

,

places w ith no exit but a crack or finger hole often ,

”
seei ng or feari n g some haggish horror The sigh t .

or the fear of the haggish horror m igh t well seem to

brin g this dream under th e head of the bogey dream ,

rather than that of the trivial i n conven ience were i t ,

n ot that th e writer expressly says that i t does not

amount to nightmare F or all that i t does seem that

.
,

w hen the “
hagg ish horror enters on the scene it
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T DREAM S . 15 1

m ust at once el evate the dream out of th e cl ass o f

trivial i nconvenience and perhaps the fact i s that w e
,

may take th e dreams as described here as fairly fall in g

under two heads th e one before th e entry of the
, ,

terror under the tri vial i nconvenience head the other

, , ,

after th e terror s appearance the bog ey headi ng I n

’

,
.

any case th e dream is a curious one the more so as I ,

should not g ath er from th e rest of th is wri ter s corre

,
’

s ond enc e
p that cl
, imbi n g about i n lofts and g arrets
makes part of h is ordinary walks i n l ife A nd th e .

dream of trivial i nconvenience generall y takes plac e

amid th e common surroundi n g s .

The only other form of the trivial i nconvenienc e

dream that seems to me worth any special noti ce is the
form i n wh ich i t seems apt to occur to peopl e who are
fond of sh ooti n g I t is th us that one corresponden t
.

describes i t and h is description i s typical enou g h

,

M y most frequent nigh tmare ( but it does not reall y ”

aspire to th e dign ity of nightmare ) is that I am

sh ootin g and that m y gun will not work S ometi mes
, .
.

i t com es to pieces in my hands sometimes I for g et ,

h ow to use it and as m y ni g h tmare gun is no ord inary

,

weapon but a curious and complicated structure this

, ,

is not to be wondered at I am perfectly certain th at .

i f that g un were to b e put i nto my wakin g hands I ,

should not be abl e to fi re i t Then ag ai n I a l ways .

, ,

bein g l eft eyed h ave to sh ut one eye when I shoot

-
,
.

'
I n my d reams I often sh ut th e wron g eye C uriousl y .

enough I was shooting one day th is autumn when I

,

was not v ery well E ver y thin g went wron g w ith me

.
,

and at last to my horror I found mysel f sh utting m y

, ,
152 ON DREAMS .

ri g h t eye exactly as in m y dreams The sensation of

,
.

waking ni g htmare w as one of the most disag reeable I

ever had but I have never dreamed that particular
,

d ream since The last sentences are interestin g

.

e nou g h but they go i nto a li ne of psychological

,

speculation whi ch does not strictly belong to d reams ,

al thou g h dreams cast a valuabl e l ight on it T o .

adhere by our own li nes it is to be noticed that th is

,

d ream is fairly typical of the dream of trivial i ncon

v eni enc e as it assails shooters A nother h as told me
.

t hat sometimes th e trigger seems to be made of i ndia

fi
rubber or some flaccid s ubstance so as to g iv e the ,

nger no power to pull the sprin g and release th e

s triker
. W ith another the striker s eems padded so ,

th at it will not explode the detonating char g e and ,

yet another tells me that i n dreams his gun often

h an g s fi re for an unconscionabl e time and th e doubt ,

whether or no i t means to go off long after the ,

trigger h as been pulled and the gun even been taken

from the shoulder is a very tryi ng form of suspense
, .

S o i t woul d be were they aware of i t to all wh o

, ,

m igh t happen to stand in i ts l i ne of fi re F rom all .

such eccentricit ies of the shot gun may the g ood M r .

Purd ey del iver us .

T he wri ter whom I have quoted on this shooter s

d ream speaks of i t as nightmare but really the tem ,

erat u re of th e discomfort does not rise to that of

p
n ightmare E vidently this e xperience of the shooter
.

rises i n th e scale of the disagreeable to j ust about the

s ame standard as th at of the clergyman who loses h is

p lace in church or the

,
trave l ler w h o cannot pack h is
CLASS I F I CA TI O N OF TH E M O RE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 15 3

clothes and misses trains Th ey are tri vial i nc on

.

v eni enc es wh en all is said .They are not in th e class

o f those nightmare bogeys that drive us i nto a cold
sweat of terro r but rather of that class of fam iliar
,

l ittle troubles that dri ve the layman to profani ty and

th e cler g yman to s uch li g hter efforts i n th e same l i ne
as the colou r of h is coat will perm it h im O ne does .

not swear at the bo g ey of one s n ightmare H e is

’
.

much too terri fyi ng .

PA R T I I I

fi
.

F —[nst ances of t ae D ream of t rang e ana

’
B eaut ifu l
S cenery .

S ome of the accounts that are g iven under the head

o f dreams of lovely and g eneral ly unknown scenery

are very curious Thus one correspondent who writes

.
,

w ith much l ucid su ggestiveness tells me ,

“
The :

dream of new and lovely scenery I have pretty often ,

and also the kindred o nes of fin di ng new ki nds of

flowers or of seeing absolutely unknow n colo urs
Th is last imag i nation seems so curious as scarcely to
be i ntell igible ( for th e evolution of the i mage o f a new
colour seems as di ffi cul t as the grasp of a fourth
dimension ) until we be g in to consider that dreami ng “

lfi
of a strange and unknown colour merel y means tem
a fznzbn that we are seeing an u
'

rari /i n t
p o y at
g e of n

known colour We do no t real ise the colour any

.

more than ( i n my assumption of what happened i n

h is d ream ) my fri end who dreamed that he put pure
15 4 ON DREAM S .

Parisian into th e mouth of a F renchman was capabl e

of speaki ng such F rench of Paris
“
We i magi ne ’

we have seen an unknown colour j ust as we imagi ne we ,

have performed some g reat i ntellectual feat have com ,

pose d some charm i n g or epigrammatic verse but t h e

verse that w e have supposed so pointed and so charm

fi
in g proves to our waki n g criticism i f we can recall
l
, ,

it the purest dri vel und e ed We cannot reca l l the

, .

“ ”
imagi nary i mpression of the unknown colour but ,

i f we could we should probabl y find i t th e veriest mud

colour or a common scarlet .

A strange form of the u nknown scenery dream is

related by another correspondent I t may be said i n .
,

passi ng that th e new scene ry or the new flower present

,

nothing of the same diffi culty as the unknown colour .

Th e former are but fresh combi nations of what we

have percei ved th e l atter i f i t really were an unknow n
, ,

colour would mean a new creation ou t of nothi ng

, .

A nd th is is the sort of creation that the finite man is

not equal to “
O nce wri tes a correspondent
.
,
“
I ,

had a very odd dream experience I was preparing .

busily but not anxiously for an examination to pass

, , ,

wh ich I had to go to E di nbu rg h S ome weeks before .

th e date of th e exami nation I seemed i n a dream to be

walking th rou g h the fam il iar streets of that city I .

was troubled knowing that i t was not yet time for me

,

to be there A s I wal ked alon g I suddenly thou g ht

.

‘Perhaps th is is onl y a dream I f so these houses

.
,

and streets are not real and I can change th em at

,

wi ll T herefore I resolve i f I am dreaming that I

.
, ,

shall come to the sea on turnin g th is corner A nd .

’
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E M O RE F REQUEN T DREAM S . 15 5

surel y eno ugh I stepped round on firm brown sand ,

wi th a low tide ris in g over dark paral l el reefs of rock .

“
I know th e wri ter adds that people often struggle
,

to awake from unpleasant dreams but never h ear d of ,

any oth er i nstance of deliberatel y changing one It .

is very cu rious The identi ty of the dream pl ace with

.

E di nburg h and yet attended wi th such stran g e circum

,

stances may be compared w ith M iss C obbe s dream

’

of H arley S treet wh ich was H arley S treet and yet had

,

shops i nstead of dwelli n g houses S ome o f my corres

- .

p o n d ent s dream o f making up thei r s cenery dreams out

of pictures and th e dream pictures and d ream scene ry
,

seem to ru n and dissolve i nto each other without any

trouble and w ith very excellent resul ts A nd wi th .

these dreams of beauti ful scenery may be associated

th e heari ng of beauti ful sounds T his I th i nk is far
.
, ,

more rare ; but at least o ne correspondent writes to

“
me of such m usical dreams : Th ere are dreams of
beautiful scenery such as th e waking eyes have never
,

beheld of extraordinary m usi c mostly heard at a dis

:

tance I n this connection I may say that dreams of

heari n g i n g eneral are much less com mon than dreams
of scenery D ream s i n order of frequency follow th e
.
, ,

same order of frequency i n wh ich impression s of the

waki n g senses are received We receive many more
.

si g h t impressio ns than h earing impressions more hear ,

i n g impressions than s mell in g impressions and so on

l
.
,

A nd dreams i n th e sca e of frequent occurrence follow

th e same order S igh t dreams are most frequent
. .

H earin g dreams come second D reams of smell

.
,

touch and taste th ird i n order A nd i t i s i nterestin g

.
15 6 ON D REAMS .

to note i n th is connection that naturally bl i nd people

, , ,

as I am told never dream of seei ng thin g s and those

, ,

wh o have lost their sight by ill ness or accident s oo n

cease to have dreams contai ni n g si g ht i mpressions .

'

I presume that i t is the same matat zs m atanazs with

’

’
, ,

those who hav e lost their h eari n g ; and so i n th e

case of all th e senses O ne correspondent who com
.
,

ments quite trul y on the g reater frequency of v isual

dreams than those which convey th e i mpression made
by any other sense makes also a noteworthy su g
,

g estion as follows : Wi th reg ard to the dream of

,
“

beautiful and stran g e scen ery wh i ch I know very well

, ,

i t would I th ink be i nterestin g to d iscover i f i t is best

, ,

kn own to those w h o study landscape pai ntings atten

l
t i ve y
. I h av e been incl ined to th ink that such a
study does supply a g ood deal of the material of these
dreams .

T wo of my correspondents write of dream i ng a

great deal of th e sea or of large expanses of water and ,

possibly th ese should be grouped under the same head

( by wh ich I mean arise from
,
the same occult cause )
as dreams of strange and beauti ful scenery i n g eneral .

“
A t one tim e i n my l ife writes one of these ( who
also notes the common yet curious fact of certai n
dreams often bei ng repeated at one period of l ife and ,

deserti ng th e dreamer i n favour of other dreams fre

quent at another period ) I was constantly dream in g
of the sea I was on it or by the sea shore S ome
.
,
-

t imes i t was cal m and the su n sh ining but more fre ,

quen tly the waves were rough and tempestuous We .

did not li ve by th e sea I am not fond of i t nor was I

, ,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAMS . 15 7

interested in any one connected with th e sea th at

would account for it B ut now that dream has com
ll
.

p e t e y left m e and ,
I n ever dream of the sea .

Th e d ream scenery i s not h ere as it is i n som e ,

cases mo re beautiful than any that the waki ng eye has

,

ever rested on ; eg to quote anoth er correspondent

. .
,

I find mysel f wanderi ng i n some ideally lovel y

country u nder skies perhaps g lowin g with wonderful
,

sunset colours or in fields full of stran g e new flowers

,

I greatly regret that th ese charmin g fancies never

come to del igh t my own sleep in g hours althou g h I ,

beli eve mysel f to be gifted wi th a tol erable appreci a

tion of natural beauties and greatly admi re landscap e
,

paintin g .

I n th e experience of one of my correspondents th e

scenery seems to ch ange as i n a magic l antern show ,
-

D reams of chan g ing landscape h e writes were , ,

“

sufficiently promi nent i n my experience to be classified

‘
as dissolvi n g view dreams
’

I had often th e experi

.

ence of fi ndi ng mysel f i n a stran g e city and endeavouring ,

i n vai n to discover where I was T hese dreams belong .

ch iefly to the later period of my l ife This dreamer .

also notes the m uch greater frequen cy o f dreams i n

youth than i n later l i fe I bel ieve th is to be a common
.

experi ence and it may perhaps be attributabl e i n som e

,

degree to the stronger power of the reason i n later l i fe

( th e abeyance of th e reason we have seen to be a con
d ition almost essenti al to the u nrestrai ned wanderings
of the imagi nation wh ich composes th e dreams ) and i n
part perhaps to th e relative loss of del icacy i n th e
nerves as people grow older S o l ively is the pl easure .
15 8 ON D REAMS .

that thi s dream of stran g e and beautiful scenery bri n g s

those who are lucky enough to enj oy it that one cor ,

respondent previousl y quoted says of the delightful

, ,

“
flying dream i tsel f that it is only exceeded in
,

pleasurable sensation by that of one which m ight be .

classed as the dream of discoveri ng new and beauti ful

scenery i n familiar haunts of one s waking hours —dream ’

transformation of
My il wal k
da y s i
and anc ent ne g i h b our h ood .

S o much d o we
u nfortunately prosai c people lose who
do not h ave th is illusion o f lovely dream scenery .

PA R T I I I .

G .
— / nstances of t ae D ream ofD eat n .

S o many people tell me that they dream of thei r own

death and of thei r existence after death or of death
,

narrowly escaped that it seems as i f dreams that have

,

this tragic subj ect for their central fi g ure ou g ht to

form a class apart i n any attempted classification .

Where the d ream is one of death narrowly escaped it ,

seems to be somethi n g very l i ke the bo g ey dream but ,

there is none of the sense of semi -paralysis of the

l imbs preventing escape from an on-comi ng dan g er ,

and it di ffers from the bo g ey dream by more disti nct

definition of th e fate impendi n g— no less a fate than
death A nd yet i t is not i n all cases a d isag reeable
.

dream We have al ready noticed th e case of the

.

dreamer wh o was often eaten by wolves and did ,

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 15 9

not seem much to mi nd i t ; i ndeed i t hardly seems

that t h e not i on of death was i nevitably attached to
the eating alth ou g h i n the waking state such a fate
,

would be m ore th an likely to cause death That .

,

however is no ar g umen t at all that i t should do so i n

,

dreams A very quai nt and nai ve death -dream is

.

“
related by one of m y correspondents I was :

wandering along a lonely seaside and came upon ,

a young woman whom I knew at once was born on

the same day and moment as mysel f and was my ow n
heigh t O bviously such coincidences as these are an
”

adequate form of i ntroduct i on i n dreams for he g oes ,

“
on :

We went about together and saw castles an d

h ouses and s c enery (Q uery w as th is still on the
-

lonely sea shore ) P-

“
Then she looked at me and ,

kissed m e ( thi s seems to make i t clear that i t still

must have been th e lonely seaside and even so i t ,

seems a l ittle for ward of th e young woman S o h e .

seems to have fel t for h e goes on at once as i f it was

, ,

“
th e mos t natural consequence ) and I died and yet ,

stran g e to say I went about trying to find her that I

, ,

”
might kiss h er as sh e had kissed me ( The bold
and unrepentant v illai n '
, .

)
“
Th is d ream was a lon g
” “
one h e says and u nder its influence I wrote a lot of
,

dog g erel wh ich exists somewh ere among m y papers

, ,

and begi ns
’
T wa
s i n t h e ea yrl m or ni ng wh en d r eam th ey ay a e t r ue
, s s r

Just as t h e s un wa r i i ng h ang i ng th e g r ey t b l ue
s s , c o
n

U nhappily I cannot say what i t was that was in

I ,

the early morning but th e t w o l ines are well up to

0
1 60 ON DREA M S .

the average of th e dream compositions i n spite of th e

l
,

stories of K ub a K ean and the rest of them A g ood .

observation that th is correspondent makes is that it i s

interesti n g to notice the strange i ntui tions i n dreams .

We see unknown people but seem at once to kno w ,

who th ey are and th ei r history —see places and kno w

all about them by i ntuition A n i nstance i n point i s .
”

h is own young lady of the fatal kiss on th e lonely

shore and for places M iss C obbe s fi ndin g hersel f i n
, ,
’

a street that sh e k nows to be H arley S treet though i t

has shops all down each side where a s there is not a ,

shop i n all th e dreary length of H arley S treet of

wakin g l ife— at l east I do not remember one , .

S ome dreams seem to be of th e d eath dream ki nd -

in its early stag es but to pro g ress no further than t h e

,

fi rst stag es as i n the case of th e dreamer before

,

qu oted who wri tes

,
“
S everal times I have dreamt
:

of dyin g but have always awaked before the end and

, ,

have never i n my dream felt much pai n

,
I th i nk
,

th is is always and perhaps necessarily th e case that ,

on e does not feel i ntense pain A ny dream sensation .

carried to a severe pitch seems to wake one but very ,

i ntense emotion as of pleasure may be experienced

, ,

w i thout awaki ng Poss ibly ph ysio l o g y may h ave som e

.

explanation of that to offer but I do not know of any ,

.

O ne correspondent writes : “
I f I am killed ( in
“
dreams be i t u nderstood ) as has happened more than
,

once I contemplate my state with amused curiosity

,
.

S uch dreams h owever rarel y come I remember

, .

vividly one or two dreams of my ch ildhood notably ,

one about hell wh ich al ways i nterested me to re

,
 CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE F REQUEN T DREAMS . 16 1

m ember partly because my h ell was v ery prosaic

,

( whateve r modern theolo g y has done for th is place ,

we seldom h ear this particular complaint brought

agai nst i t ) and all th e people knew they would g et
“

to heaven by and by - E v idently there was noth ing

-
.

distress in g i n th e dreamer s experiences either of deat h ’

or the l i fe after death althou g h i t was spent i n t h e

w rong place A nd curiously enough even i n t h e
.
, ,

not uncom mon case of dream of death by violenc e

th ere is comparatively l ittl e pai n accompanyi n g t h e
deaths T hus one writes
. I have suffered execution ,

always of cours e condem ned i nnocently under I be , ,

l i eve all the known forms except burni n g I hav e

“

.
, ,

been han g ed stran g led g uillotined b eheaded i n th e

, , ,

old fash ioned way etc and I can g ive as m y experienc e

-
,
.
,

that bei n g sho t as i n a mil itary executi on is of all t h e

'
, ,

least terrible and th e most pai nless I n each case t h e

dream continues until th e suffering is over only o n e ,

”
wakes to common l i fe i nstead of to the l ife beyond
, .

N ow a l thou g h th is dreamer writes of sufferin g y et

“ ”

th e chi ef poi nt that th is same correspondent makes

a g ai nst me is that th e dream world is on the whol e
one of delight rather than of disag reeables and I ,

really do not see h ow th is could be so i n his experi ,

ence if all th ese dreams of execu tion were accompani ed

,

by anything at all li ke th e pai n sharp if sh ort that , ,

th ey must cause i n waki ng l i fe T he same wri ter at .

‘ “
th e end of th e letter ask s is not the theory that all
, ,

dreams are a recollection however confused and ,

d istorted of some former experience contradicted by

, ,

th e execution dream ' Well yes seems to be t h e ”

, ,

11
answer such a theory would seem to be contradicted
,

by such a dream but we would ask has s uch a theory

, ,

ever been advanced seriously ' R ecollections of what

w e have received th rough th e senses may i ndeed be
a very l arge part of the stuff of d reams ; but they
include all that we have heard with the ears read o r , ,

s een i n pictures or i n l i fe w ith the eyes and so on

, , , .

T he idea that all our dreams are far o ff echoes of

p ersonal experiences is surely too far fetched to be
t aken very g ravely .

A curiously detail ed death dream is related by one

o fthose wh o have been good enou g h to wri te to m e .

“
I t is gi ven as follows : I w as i n the streets of th is
l ittle town ( a certai n small seaport i n the far north ) ,

“
and was p ursued by a number o f R uss ian sailors wh o
were doing th ei r best to shoot me I ran down th e .

pier wi th bullets s inging about me dived from the end ,

and tried to swim up alo ngside i t u nder water to th e , ,

shore Th en suddenl y I found myself on shore and

.
,

I shall never forget the exquisite feel in g of lightness

and freedom wh ich possessed m e B ut all at once I .

cau g ht sigh t of my own body lyi ng on the beach I .

knew that I w as not dead and that I m igh t be revived

,

if prompt measures were taken S ome men stood

.

n ear and I moved to them and tried to tell them what

,

I wished ; but found I could not make myself felt ,

h eard or seen Then the thought flashed through m e

.

’
I am a ghost and my first idea was that i t would be
,

g ood fun to fri g hten th e men T hen came

. a sudden
realisation of the fact that I w as cut off from the l iving
world wh ich filled me with the wildest terror and
,
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T D REAM S . 163

horror I shrieked out at th e m en and tri ed to stri ke

.

them but wi th no effect They however j ust then

,
.
, ,

saw my body d rag g ed i t up and began tryi ng to revi ve

,

me . I fel t mysel f bei n g drawn back i nto th e body

and then I awoke A bout tim e too w e shoul d th in k
.
, ,

but thou g h sensations of terror and horror are menti oned

there seem to have been no actually painful sensations ,

even in th is dream of such vi v id real ity and ci rcum

s tances apparently so d istressi n g .

I l ike very much th e account of another c orrespon

den t w h o w rites : “
I thou g h t I had died and was ,

ush ered into a l ar g e barn -li ke hall wh ere w e were ,

told we should find our souls E a ch was to pic k out .

h is ow n and to appear with i t for j udgment T he

, .

s ouls were piled at one end of the bu ildi ng and re

sembl ed blow bladders Th e dream vanished durin g
- .

th e hu nt for our souls D isti nctl y this was a pi ty

. .

S ometi mes we go away w i th the wron g hat someti mes ,

better than our own som etimes worse from an eveni ng

, ,

party E ven that is vexatious

. I t would be infi nitel y .

m ore annoying to make a mistake i n th e souls and

have to go throu g h eternity badly fitted with th e
w rong one .

,
A correspondent q uoted above says that i n dreams
, ,

of hell th is place is found too prosai c of all th ings ,

i n the world to be agreeable I t is al most the same

,
.

feel in g to wh ich anothe r corresponden t nai vel y con

fesses on fi ndi ng h imsel f not there but i n h eaven i ts ,

antipodes G ivi ng no description of i t h e merely

.
,

says : I am always g lad to awake from th i s dream

“
,

as the knowledge that I am i n heaven always seems

1 64 ON DREAMS .

to gi ve me a feelin g of constrai nt I t almost seems as

i f this must be one of th e unfortunates that had got
fitted with the wrong soul not quite equal to th e ,

exalted circumstances .

R egarding th ese and other forms of the death

dream i t seems that th ey are so various that one can
,

hardly fi nd an y common type for th em They have .

th e commo n feature of absence of the severe pain

wh ich would be l i kely to attend th e circumstances i f
they were real bu t th is is not at all distinctive of th e
,

death dreams I t is common to all dream experience

.
,

and probably i t must be so for i f the pain becam e ,

severe even i n the illusion the dreamer would awake

, ,
.

I have g rouped th ese few i nstances together under

th e heading of the death dream but really they hav e ,

not any features i n common there is no constancy ,

about them the features do not repeat themsel ves as

, ,

they do i n t h e fall in g and the flyin g dreams They .

lfi
ought really perhaps to be j ust left i n the j umble of
dreams i n g eneral unc assi ed — su gg ested so far as
, ,

w e can conj ecture by no one common cause

, wh ereas ,

i n th e case of the oth er dreams wherei n certai n features

,

do repeat themselves constantly there is on the contrary ,

every reasonable ground for conj ecturin g that th ere is

a common cause if only we could fi nd it for each
, ,

instance of thei r occurrence The death dreams seem

.

to come under one headi ng by virtue only of th e

accident that i n each death is eith er imminent
, , ,

present or past ; the man ner of its apparent occurrence

seems quite matter of chance .
CLASS I F I CA TI ON O F TH E MORE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 16 5

PA R T III .

H — [nstances
.
f
o t/ze D ream f
o cer t a n i H ouses or

A n i nteresti ng class of dreams is that of the dream

i n wh ich the sleeper finds himsel f frequentl y i n a
certai n house or room that is famil iar to him i n
dreams but qui te u nknown to h is waking hours B y .

many letters and sentences i n letters I am remi nded

, ,

that I o ught to refer to this class of dream fantasies ,

although perhaps for want of s uffi cient inventive

,

faculty I have no dream houses so to call them for

, , ,

my ow n habitation Ag ai n as i n case of th e b eauti

.
,

ful dream scenery enj oyed by some fortunate ones I ,

have to lament my ow n private limi tations .

The best story i n wh ich a dream house of th is

kind plays a part has been told often before Wheth er .

i t has ever been publ ish ed I do not know nor care ,

.

I t is good enou g h to tell twice too good to be g rud g

l
,

i ng y guarded by copyright A certain lady dreamed

.

frequentl y of a certai n house until i t h ad becom e

exceedingl y fami l iar to her ; she knew all i ts rooms ,

urni t ure ; it was as well known to her as that

i t s ‘f
i n wh ich sh e l ived h er wakin g li fe and li ke a good , ,

wife that h as no secrets from her husband she often ,

tal ked over all th e details with h im a very pleasant ,

fancy O ne day th ey husba nd and wife went i nto

.
, ,

th e country to see a house that they thought of taking

for th e summer months T h ey had not seen i t but
.
1 66 ON DREAM S .

the account i n the house ag ent s l ist had attracted ’

th em .W hen they arrived before i t t hey g ave a

”
simultaneous exclamation of surprise Why said
'
,

the h usband “
it is your dream ho use
,
I t was -
.

N o one who i s acquainted wi th h ouse ag ent s l ists ’

and the houses described i n them will be th e least ,

su rprised at thei r fail ure to recognise i t from th e

description given N aturally th ey were greatly i n
.

t erest ed to find that th e house corresponded i n every

—
detail with the particulars of th e d ream h ouse Th e .

coi ncidence attracted them They took t hehouse . .

I n course of th ei r occupancy they learned that the

h ouse had th e reputation of bei n g haunted that ,

several people before them had taken it for short

terms but had seen or fanci ed th ey had seen some
, ,

th in g and had left before th eir term of tenancy

,

expired H ad these new t enants not brou g ht th ei r

.

ow n old servants with th em it i s l i kely they would ,

have had some diffi culty i n wh ipp in g up a domestic

sta ff so uncan ny was the reputation of this apparentl y
,

quite reputable house Th e new tenants dwelt i n

.

th e house wi th all satisfactio n and peace th rough th e

summer months until thei r term of tenancy cam e
,

to an end O n leav i n g husband and wi fe expressed

.
,

their satisfaction to the local agent The only .

“
thi ng said the wi fe
,
that we were disappoi nted
,

i n about the house is that we never saw the ghost

,
.

O h no said the ag ent

,
” “
We knew y ou would .

”
not see th e ghost .

“
What do you mean ' asked the wi fe rather ,

n ettled
( O ne never li kes the suggestion that on e
.
CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 167

is too obtusely prosai c to be a recipient of the super

natural )
.

“
O h th e a g ent repeated
,
We knew y ou.

woul d not see th e ghost Yea are t /ce g /zost that

.
< ,

people have always seen here .

fi fi
I t is rather a shock no doubt to find that even
, ,

i n l ife one can of c i at e as a rst class bog ey and -

frigh ten peopl e out of thei r wits al l unknowing i t , .

B ut is it not a capital story ' Perhaps it has had

some c/i ifons broidered on to i t but th e evidence i s,

very strong for tel epathi c i nfluences I t is easy to .

dismiss it as all h umbu g

“
but it is not a scientifi c
attitude to take up S cien ce looki n g at thes e th ings
.
,

that it does not understand ought to be remi nded ,

now and th en of the v i ew that i t too k for a lon g wh il e

about mesmerism . I t would take no v i ew of it at

all — shut its eyes to i t — declared i n fact ( and i n long
words ) that i t was a l l humbug
“
S cience cam e a
cropper once so for the future sh e had better i m itate
a l ittl e more th e prudent gait of A gag H o wever .
,

al l th is is too previous not to say presumptuous

, .

Th is dream of th e dream h ouse has led us i n t o th e

-

hard places of tel epathy L et us come back to th e

.

comparati vely sol id ground of our dream -houses .

Th ere are plenty of them B ut none of the oth er

.

stori es are nearly as good as th is one The di g ression .

was worth m akin g I will now quote shortly one or

.
, ,

two extracts from l etters that speak of dream rooms -

—
and dream houses that have no counterpart i n th e
waking knowledge of thei r dreamers I have dream .

places to wh i ch I g o occas i onally one writes and “

,
”
,
168 ON D REAMS .

which I have never seen when awake O ne is .

noth i ng more interestin g than a railway station ,

whence trai ns appear to start at di fferent platforms , ,

”
for everywhere .
( C ertai nly i t would be far more
interestin g i f they all started from the same platform
“
for everywh ere I often dream another writes , ,

of being i n a famil iar place g enerally a house while

l
l
, ,

a th e details of th e place or house are either far

more l i ke som e other place or house or quite di fferent
from all I know A nd yet I never feel puzzled nor
.

doubt thei r identity Th is yet a g ain i s l ike M iss

.
”
, ,

C obbe s H arley S treet with the shops Y et another

’
.
,

correspondent writ i n g not of his personal but of

, ,

“
some communicated experience says I know t wo , ,

persons wh o each have a dream house i e a -

, . .
,

house unl ike any house they have seen i n waki n g

li fe b ut wh ich they v isi t i n thei r dreams so that
, ,

th ey are qui te familiar with its rooms and passages ,

and i n fact call i t Mei r house T hese are j ust a

few extracts , givi ng i nstances of what I believe to
be a lar g e clas s of dreams I nstances of course .
,

“
vary i mmensely i n i nterest from the finished sketch
, ,

presented by the one first quoted ( probably owi ng a

little to accretion as they say — to th e semi conscious
,
”
-

additions made by each teller of the dream ) down to ,

the mere uneventful dream of some house or place

u nfamil iar to wakin g sense .
C LASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T D REA MS . 169

PA R T III .

Z — [nstances ofMe D r eam of H eari ng a d i st i nct Voi ce .

V isual dreams dreams i n wh ich th e impressions

,

appear to come i n th rou gh th e eyes thou g h th e eyes ,

o f sense are closed are far more frequent as w e h ave

,

said than dreams i n wh ich m os t of the impress ions

,

seem to be fel t th rough th e medium of any other of

th e senses B ut a very common and frequent dream
.

is that of hearin g a voi ce speaki n g in the room I n .

the commonest form of this dream th e voice speaks

loudly briefly som etimes call ing th e dreamer by name
, , ,

so that he awakes startl ed and has di ffi culty i n be

, ,

l ievin g that a real person has not been i n th e room ,

addressi n g h im Thus a correspondent writes of it

.

with vivid descriptive powers O ne feature of dreams

i s very disti nct and pecul iar th at of heari n g a voice
,

addressi ng one very loud and clear I t apparently .

has nothi ng to do with any dream one is i ndulging in ,

but rings out w ith marvellous distinctness from the

, ,

s urroundin g space and g ives one the stran g est possible

,

conviction that some bei ng has addressed one i t is so ,

m uch louder and arrests one so i nfinitely more com

pll et e y than ordinary ‘

dream voi ces ’

Th is last remark is quite true th e voice heard i n

,

th is way has a disti nctness quite di fferent from the

ord inary conversations heard i n dreams so much so ,

that one is disposed to th in k i t must be due to some

e ffect on th e auditory nerve A t all events the i m
.
,
17 0 ON DREAM S .

pression seems d i fferent not only i n degree but i n ,

kind from th e i mpression of voices as commonl y h eard

,

i n d reams A nother correspondent writes no l ess

.

strikin g ly : The dream of hearing a well known voic e

“ -

sudden l y close to I have had but very rarely O n

, , ,
.

one occasion i t m ade a specially vivid impression on

m e I had j ust fallen asleep wh en I was awoke b y
.
,

hearing my name called clearly and disti nctly by one , ,

of my brothers apparentl y j ust outside my door an d

, ,

i n th e very moment of waki ng I h eard it a g ai n as

l oudly as before T h is broth er was g oi n
. g to start
‘
early next morn ing o n a natural h istory expedi tion
’

and I th i nking he had for g otten some of h is di rections

, ,

j umped up i nstantly and opened the door I was .

fearfully startled at seeing there was no one th ere ;

but as I knew h e had not had t ime to go away agai n
I concluded it must have been a dream though i t ,

seemed almost i n cred ibl e B ut for the fear of bein g .

thou g ht superstitious I sh ould have gone to h is room

, ,

wh ich was in qu ite a di fferent part of the house to see ,

i f he was ill ; and I felt very real rel ief when h e re

turned safe and sound from h is expedition A fter
, , .

wards I thought h is voice m ight h ave been that of

another brother wh o had di ed a few years ago and
,

‘
might m ean somet h in g but noth ing ever came of it ’
.
,

I t is quite cl ear that i n th e qual ity of disti nctness and

emphasis these impressions are quite di fferent from
,

the ordinary talks that w e seem to hear i n a dream .

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MO RE F REQUEN T DREAM S . 17 1

PA R T I I I .

— f
]nst ances o Me S t ory D ream

I n my fi rst tentative essay on the subj ect of d ream s ,

whi ch el icited so many letters from ki ndly c orrespon

dents I v ent ured to remark that it was very rare
, .

i ndeed to d ream o f any i ncident i n whi ch onesel f was

not the central figure th e h ero so to say of th e d rama
, , , .

The responses of my correspondents have sh own m e

that this is a remark that m ust g reatly b e m odified ,

so many describe th emselves as often bein g i n th ei r ,

dreams i n th e attitude of spectators towards a dram a

,

that is bein g enacted before th ei r eyes or a story th at ,

i s bein g told i n wh ich th ey h ave no part Y et i n on e

, .

or two of these cases I see th at my correspondents

say th at after listening for a wh ile as audience th ey
g radually become drawn after th e i nconsequent man
,

ner of dreams i nto th e drama and forth with play

, ,

thei r part i n i t gallantly enough A few i nstances will .

su ffi ce for explanation and i llustration S ometim es .

th e dreamers s eem to have done a little of both at th e

same time actin g and looking on at once as tho ug h
,

‘
g i fted w ith th e apparent dual personal ity wh ich we
h ave seen to run throu g h so mu ch of the dream de
l usi on .
“
I t happens to m e i n dreams one o f m y ,

correspond ents write s that I am readi n g a most

“
,

th rill ing and fasci nating story or partly readin g an d

,

partly actin g it T hese tal es each of wh i ch seems to

.
,

‘
m e at th e t i me to be th e fi nest story i n th e world I
’
172 ON DREAM S .

never seem to remember afterwards or i f I do remem ,

ber parts of them I find them most extraordinarily

feeble and i nept F ai ry G old '( A las another m ite of
l
.
,

evidence to lay in the balance ag ainst the K aoa K /i an

“
and the rest ) I also many years ago h ad a most
.
, ,

c urious dream i n wh ich I found mysel f an elderly stout

person answeri ng to the name of M aj or and leading ,
’

a hu nt for a horse th ief i n some forei g n country

-
T he .

c urious part of it was that thou g h withi n the

‘M aj or ’

I seemed to be rath er a spectator behi nd the scenes

o f h is bei n g than th e man h imsel f M ost uncom ”

l
.

f ort ab e for the M aj or on e mi g ht imag i ne ; but the

,

exp erience is singularly interesting S om e will be i n

l
.

c i ned to see in it evidence of a dual personality again .

C reaat jnamns
’ ’ “
O ften writes another i n my
, ,

d reams there is a whole vivid backgrou nd of i mag inary

past which I have not g one through the process of
,

dreaming so far as I know S ometimes I dream a kind

, .

of story or drama i n which I often seem to be acting

,

t h e part of one of the characters while sometimes at

the same moment looking on in m y own person as

s pectator watching the story develop
,
I never act i n .

real life This is the kind of dream experience that

suggests obviously enou g h th e dual personality A
, ,
.

similar account interesting both i n its points of likeness

,

with this and di fferences from it another correspondent ,

contributes : O ften I dream a bit of a story in wh ich ,

I am generally the hero or heroine ( for though a woman

i n fact at night I sometimes become a man a warrior
, ,

a hero or a monk ) but sometimes I am not i n the

,

d ream at all ; and sometimes I begin by reading the

CLASS I F I CA TI ON OF TH E MORE FREQUEN T DREAMS . 17 3

story I dream I see it pri nted i n a book and then by

,

degrees the book vanishes and the puppets live mysel f

, ,

among them probably I often know that it i s a dream

, .
,

and I sometimes dream that I know what i s coming ,

because I have dreamt it before ; which my waki ng

memory does not confirm .
 C H APT E R V .

I NTE R PR ETAT I O N S .

FO R th e i nterpretation of dreams I intend to crib

fi
somewhat with every possible apolo g y for payin g
l
,

fi
hi m th e compl iment from S ea e d and will further
l
, ,

crib from S ea e d h i mself a passa g e to j usti fy m y very

c ribbi ng fro m h i m T hus he says i n writin g of a crib
l
.
,

that he is himsel f maki n g from the E ncy c op ed i a M et

l
r o o i t ana of the i nterpretations of G abd orrh ac h am an
p
( euphoniousl y named A rabian )
“
Th ere is no over
whel ming claim to immortal ity ( without a doubt he
“ “
means origi nali ty i n the abstract at least such a ,

fi
claim is rarely conceded S o we may fairly deal
l
with S ea e d accordin g to h is own measure I ndeed .

I do not want to cri b fro m h i m any more than extracts

fi
from the i nterpretations of this A rabian with the lon g
name of A rtem idorus and others I f S ea e d should
,
. l
obj ect I could tell him that I had extracted them
,

from the origi nals ( as I mi g ht do equally well ) Th is .

A rab ian interpreter was translat ed into F rench by

V attier and published in a book by the name of
l
,

L O ni r ocr i te M nssn man

’

The man who undertakes the interpretations of

dreams must be wise and good E xplanations are
.
 I N T ER P RE T A T I ONS . 17 5

to be drawn from the K oran and from the words of

M ohammed Proverbs and words i n dreams real ise
.

them selves ei ther to the very l etter o f th e fulfilment

o r else to its contrary A nd dreams vary thei r meanin g
.

accordi n g to the character of the dreamer ; i f a good

man dream that his hands are tied it only s i g n ifies h is
aversion to the evil but i f the wicked dream the same
,

dream i t signifies h is sins and thei r punish ment .

D reams dreamt j ust before dawn are th e most l ikely

to come true a v iew which the A rabian shared with
,

th e G reeks and R omans — and th ose that come i n the

afternoon s iesta are also to be trusted E specially are .

d reams likel y to come true i f they occ ur at the season

when th e fruit is ripe ( H as t h is any connection with
.

th e evil nature of the dream s that attack the B ritish

s choolboy in the season of the unripe apple

Trees beasts of prey and bi rds denote men g ener

,

ally but with disti nctions Thus a pal m tree denotes

,
.

a useful man or an A rab ( th e t w o probably synonymous

i n the eye of th is A rabian i nterpreter wi th th e terrific
name ) ; a walnut tree denotes a foreigner and an idl e
cackl er because ( notice the lo g ic ) th e wal nuts rattle
,

i n their sh ell A bird denotes a traveller generally

.

( no doub t because of its locomoti ve gifts ) The .

planets have thei r places i n dreams S aturn signifyi ng ,

th e C hief J ustice ; M ars the C ommander i n C h ief ;

,
- -

j upiter the
,
L ord T reasurer or L ord C hamberlai n ( e
w
i mag i ne he would not be a severe censor of plays ) ;
V enus the Q ueen and M ercury the H om e S ecretary
, , .

M ercury we may remember was th e god of thieves

, , ,

but we may hope that th is i s not to be taken as any

17 6 ON D REA M S .

reflection on our ow n offi cial who h olds th e pos t

fi
desi g nated as home secretarysh ip for these are onl y
l
,

’
S ea e d s approximations as I understand them to , ,

offices of an oriental court accordi ng to th e descripti on

,

of G abd orrh ach am an modifi ed by the translatio n o f

,

V attier . S o the approx i mation is not l i kely to be

very exact nor need the righ t honourable secretary
,

feel aspersion cast on h is ri g h t honourableness .

White and red grapes are wonderfully fortunat e

fi
“
th ings to dream about ; th ey are i ndeed th e j uic e
of th e good thi n g s of th is world says S ea e d appar ,

’
l ,

ently i n quotation from V at t i er s translati on of ou r

long named friend wh o perhaps thou g ht all the bette r
,

’
of th e grape s j ui ce because i t was forbi dden h im as a
l
,

good M ohammedan B ut all sorts of ill befa s fro m

.

d ream in g of th e black g rape because N oah h eld i t ,

i n h is h and wh ile h e cursed his son and so caused i t ,

to turn black .

A pparently those old O rientals d reamed stran g e

dreams ; for our guide g oes on to say that to dream
“

that we have our heads beneath our shoulders withou t ,

their bei ng severed at th e neck is a sign of dismissal ,

”
by a superior and of consequent poverty
,
Th e n .

th ere is a good deal more about the growi ng of t h e ,

hai r i ts chan g i ng colour and so on A ll th ese bein g

, ,

dreamed about mean somethi ng as we say As

, ,
.

for ton g ues “

h e who dreams that h is ton g ue h as
,

grown to an immoderate length will vanquish h i s ,

opponent i n arg ument i f h e be en g aged i n any con

t rov ersy but i f otherwise he will utter much folly and
, ,

ribaldry ; but under all ci rcumstances and on ever y ,

 I N T ER P RE T A T I ONS . 17 7

occasion few dreams can be more fortunate than that

,

i n wh ich a man sees the tongue of h is wi fe amputated

”
at th e root .

I f any man that i s marri ed does not see th e rationale

of th is last i nterpretation I am qu ite sure that th e lon g
named Arabian would advise h im to go and ask his
wi fe th e meani n g of it H e i s not a l ittle of a cyni c
.
,

I i ma g i ne apparently not a thorou g hly domesticated

,

E ach tooth according to

'
“
man as w e should say .
,

h im poi nts to a d i fferent relation The t wo i n front

,
“
.

denote ch ildren broth er and s ister ; th e next two

, ,

un cl es aunts and cousi ns and so on to the mor e

, ,

remote ; bu t the K hal if A l mansor took a sure mod e

of obtai nin g a happy p ro g nosti c when he dreamed tha t
hi s complete set fell from h is j aws Th e fi rs t i nter .

preter h e consulted o n th is told h im that he and all

h is relati ves would d ie so the K halif sent the man ,

away tell in g h im h e had an evi l ton g ue and had

, ,

another dream -teller wh o said th e dream meant that

,

he would out -liv e all his relations A lmansor l i ked .

th i s a g reat deal better and g ave th e good proph et ,

ten thousand drachmas of g old Th e moral for dream .

seers is that it behoves th em to be cou rti ers .

A man en g aged to be married dreamed accordin g , ,

to our A rabian that h is pl i g hted bride was chan g e d

,

i nto a l ittl e E thiop ian dwar f H asten to complet e .

”
your nuptials was the advice to b e drawn from t h e
,

d ream for th e blackness of the bride si g nifies g rea t

“
,

”
rich es ; the small ness of her statue brevity of days , .

A ll with thi s affectionate bride g room seems to have

, ,

g one merry as a marriage bell H e married th e .

12
17 8 ON D REAMS .

bride she b rought him g reat weal th died i n a few

l
l
, ,

days and h e inherited a her fortu ne S uch ac

, ,

cordi ng to our dream -teller i s obviousl y th e whole

,

d uty o f w oman .

There are many other modes of signification i n

d reams gi ven H orses of d i fferent colours mean
.

erent th i n g s I t is lucky to dream about a donkey

d i ff .
,

and so on to a tedious length

, I t is perhaps useful
.

to know what you should do on awaking from a bad

“
dream ; i t is prudent to spit on the l eft s ide and ,

to ask divine protection from S atan .

”

O f course the M ag i and all th e O riental wise

men were g reat o n the i nterpretation of dreams .

There is a canon of dream m eani ngs that is at t ri

buted to Ast ram psych os I am not very clear
.

whether i t was an i ndiv idual of that name that

collected these interpretations or whether they ,

were merely attributed to h im as bei ng strung

to g ether by disciples of h is sch ool I n any case .

i t does not matter much and perhaps it i s al l the

,

m ore in accord with the subj ect that a certai n

h a z i ness should brood over th e authorship of the
c anon There is noth i n g very noteworthy about
.

fi
t h is canon wh ich i t is not worth while to transcribe

l
,

—
at len g th S ea e d has it all at l east I thi nk th ere
.

is no more of it than he g i ves This poi nt is worth .

m entionin g that several of the maxims show an

,

appreciation of the notion that we i n our lan g uage

express by sayi n g that dreams g o by contraries
“ ”
.

I t is know n that this is a v iew of t h eold Persians ,

and if it were not other wise known i t mi g ht be

 I N T ER P RE TA T I ONS . 179

i nferred very obviously and surel y from th is canon :

L aught er i n sleep presag es diffi cul t circumstances .

To weep i n sleep is a si g n of the utmost j oy .

”

any one offers in cense to you it portends misfortune

, .

O n the other hand th e vast maj ority are i nterpre

,
~

t at i ons from analo g y so to say accepti n g the dream

, ,

“
i n an alle g orical sense Thus to wash the hands
.

”
denotes th e release from anxieties To be dead .

”
si g nifies freedom from anxiety To shiver a sword
.

si g nifies the crushin g of our foes .

B lack i n various forms is a bad colour i n d reams

, , .

I t is bad in cloth es and bad i n horses .

O ne max im runs “
The s igh t of a hare portends
an unlucky journey H as not t h i s idea still some ’

existence ' “
The si g ht of a mouse b espeaks pro
”
p itious circumstances is a maxim of wh ich one does
not eas ily see the reason O ne i nterestin g one is
.

“ ”
for a bl ind man to see is the best omen possibl e .

I t is said by m odern people that the dreams of th e

, ,

b li nd are never occupied with seei n g and that i f one ,

w h o has been able to see loses his si g h t h is dreams

soon lose all visual character and occupy themselves
only w ith i mpressions of other sensations Thi s is .

a poi nt that mi g h t be much better stud ied i n the

E ast where unhappily disease of the eye i s so
, , ,

very common and so little u nderstood —where i n

l
,

fact as Geor g e B orrow said of S pai n

, opt h a m i a ,

'
and ocul ists are equally to be feared .

I will only quote t wo other maxims from th is canon

To swi m i n the sea forebodes bitter sorrow and to
”
d ream in the daytime of swimmi ng i n the sea i s g ood .
l
80 ON DREAM S .

The i nterest of th ese contradi cti ng max im s is

t hat they introduce us to an idea that is frequent

enou g h as a principle of dream i nterpretation i n th e

E ast — the idea that the tim e at wh ich a dream is
dreamt makes a di fference in its si g nificance So .

stron g ly was th is idea h eld by the Persians that

there is a canon of dream i nterpretation existi n g i n
the languag es o f Pers ia and also i n th e dialect of
,

Guj erat i n which the si g n ificance of the dreams

,

is made entirely dependent on th e day of the month .

i n wh ich they are dreamed and apparently entirely ,

independent o f the character of the dreams them

selves .

O n the first day of the month the d ream will be

good th e si g n ificance cl ear
, But th e dream must .

not be told to any one till it is fulfilled ( T hi s .

prudent clause surv ives ) .

O n th e second day dreams will come true with i n

four days ; bu t they are apt to delude ( owin g appar
ently to doubtful si g n ifi cance )
,
.

D reams will generally come true on the fourth ,

fi fth and s ixth days

,
O n th e th ird day dreams
.
,

will not come true M any are more or less i nd i ffer

.

ent days A s we speak of good or bad or i ndi fferent

.

days for scent wh en hunting or sh ootin g so there

, ,

are i n th is S ifat -i -S i r ozan g ood bad and i nd iffer

, , ,

ent days for dreami ng But the dreamer has the

.

advantag e of knowi n g beforeh and th e character of

the days C uriously enough though each day in
.
, ,

the Persian concepti on has its own guardian angel

, ,

th e character of the an g el seems to have had littl e

 I N T ER P RE T A T I ONS . 18 1

connection with th e character of th e d reams dreamt

o n his day The seventeenth day is th e day o f
.

S erosh th e angel who p resides over l earning ; and

,

yet th is is a very bad day for dream i n g A ll the .

drea ms on i t will prove false E ven the day of .

D ep din wh o is G od hi msel f that i s to say th e

-
“
, ,

twenty thi rd of the month is an i na uspicious day

-
, ,

and whatever may be dreamt of ou g ht to be kept

“

”
s ecret .

Ast ram psy ch os whoever he was althou g h he wrote

, ,

i n Greek was so far as h is heritag e i n h is dream

, ,

i nterpretation goes an O riental l i ke the author or , ,

collator of S ifat i -S i rozan -

.

M acrobius who had someth i n g to say about drea m

,

i nterpretations i n the fourth century was probably a ,

G reek though h e li ved at R ome H e has a fivefold

, .

d ivis ion and agai n a fivefold subdivision of dreams ;

,

and th is would not be so i nteresti n g if i t was not that

A rtem idorus who is the g reat i n terpreter of all ( th e
man on whose writings are composed al l the chap
l
books — the R oy a B ooé of D reams etc —th at pedlars / , .

still sell at fairs ) makes use of the same division I do .

not know whether one derived th e divis ion from th e

other . Probably both picked i t up from opinions
floatin g i n th e air at a time when the i nterpretation o f
dreams was an affai r of very considerable i mportance .

T he divisions then of M acrobius were i nto

6vet p os or S omn zam —the kind of dream tha t
, ,

.I

revealed th i n g s i n an alle g ory — the special subj ect of

i nterpretation
l
.

.2 Sp a t a or Vi si o—a vis ion seen i n a waki n g state

18 2 ON D REAMS .

of trance or del usion ( obviously th is is not i n th e

modern sense a dream at all I t is not an O peration .

O fthe m ind d ar i ng sl eep )

l
.

3 X pnp .ai n o p os or O r a cu um — a dream sent by th e w

D eity i n conse quence of sleepin g i n a certai n place ,

eg
. . A pollo s templ e
,
’
.

4 ém .t ov [ nso m/ n i n m — th
,
e disconnected i m co ,

herent fancies i ncapabl e of i nterpretation of wh i ch i n

, , ,

fact most dreams consist

,
.

5 ( b t m a a V i am — which appears to be e u i va
a . a s , q
l ent to what w e might call a visual nightmare a dream ,

i n wh ich some O bj ect appeared but no dramati c se ,

q uen c e of incid ents occurred .

Th is last agai n does not adm i t any i nterpretation

l
.
, ,

Th e O racuum it appears does require explanation, ,

O ften but i t is g enerally for th e pri est of th e temple to

,

explai n it T h e Vi sam is too cl ear to need i nterpreta

.

tion T herefore there is only left th e S omni nm I t i s

. .

th is ki nd of dream th e S om n i nm t h at M acrobius ag ai n
, ,

fi
d ivides with a fivefold classification ; a classification
wh ich accordin g to S ea e d S t A u g usti ne ( o f whose
,
l ,
.

writi ngs I re g ret to say I know nothi ng ) virtually

adopted i n h is Li oer E x/zor t at i oni s Perhaps th is g ives .

th em an added i nterest A t all events their enumera .

tion will not take lon g Th e S om ni nm i s di vided .

,

then i nto ,

r .
—
I P op r i um where the dreamer is the pri ncipal
person i n the dream
l
.

2 A i enam— where some one else is th e pri ncipal

. .

3 C om m u
. n e— when h e and another share ch ief
honours i n the dream .
 I N T E R P RE T A T I ONS . 18 3

4 P
.a b i ca m — l
when it i s concerned w ith th e publ i c
wel far e ( I fear th e avera g e E ngl ishman is hardly
enou g h of a pol iti cian for su ch things to v ex h is sleep
much )
l l
.

G r a e— when th e dream is c e om n i o o
l
5. e ne i cs r e as

et g a i o asanm a i i s so to say
’
,
A rtemidorus the great
.
,

lexi cograph er of dream i nterpretation was an E phesian , ,

i n the rei g n of A ntoninus P ius i e i n th e second ,

. .
,

century H e seems to have given most of h is l ife to

.

h is work travell in g about collecti ng i nstances by

, ,

h earsay and by readi ng an d i n th e end produci ng a

,

book wh ich was first pri nted i n the s ixteenth century

,

i n V eni ce and is the ground work O f all the system s

,

of dream i nterpretation that h aVe been published si nce .

A ll are copies more or less conscious of A rtem idorus

, ,
.

I do no t know that th ere is much system or method to

be O bserved i n the interpretation that h e presents .

T he en ti re subj ect i s one that has quite lost its practical

i nterest for the cul tured of t o day I t has a certai n .

h istorical i nterest h owever for i t is quite su re that at

, ,

one ti me— i n fact for a lon g period of time— the dreams

that men dreamt and th e meani n g s that th ey attached
to them exercised a very practical influence on thei r
,

actions and conduct I th i n k I shal l quite satis fy the

.

h istori cal interest by g ivi ng not th e whole canon of

i nterpretation from A rtemidorus and h is followers but ,

a certai n selection from i t to show what the wh ole i s

,

l i ke I have select e d i nterpretations that seem to

.

apply to th e dreams wh ich I gather from the corres

p ond en c e that I have received to be most frequent ;

so that th e modern dreamer may be amused by seeing

1 84 ON D REAMS .

what h is own dre a ms wo uld have meant to a man of

old time had it happened to th is olden man to dream
,

them .

B ut it is a little si n g ular that th e dreams which w e

have seen to be most common do not seem to have
occurred with any such frequency as to call for a special
l
,

com ment to these O d fellows who used to attach such

,

m i g h ty importance to all that they did i n dreams .

There is some reference to the mean in g of fall i n g down

a precipice but not such reference as w e should expect
, ,

seei n g h ow common the dream is now A nd there is .

n o reference at all to flyi ng B ut it is not to be believed

.

t hat a people w h o paid g reat attention to most O f the

c i rcumstances O f dreams would not have pai d any at

al
l to th e very remarkabl e ci rcu mstance O f flight .

Possibly th e explanation is that they were so much

occ u i d wi h th e story the dramatic chain of events
'
p e t , ,

that one si n g le incident i n it su ch as the fl i g ht or th e

,

fall would not seize thei r attention very stron g ly

, .

E vidently the dream O f death was reco g n ised and ,

f airly frequent with them and they had thei r i nt erpre

l
,

t at i on ready cut and dried for it R aphael s R oy a

.
’

Book of D reams that was publ i shed some time in th e

,

last century is occupied ch iefly with a ki nd O f spirit

,

writin g and i ndication O f meanin g s by a series of

ci phers Th is is not meant for an explanation of the
.

s ystem but only to show that i t does not han g on to

,

t h e i nterpretations of th e an cients that i t is therefore,

without any h istorical interest and could only be ,

bel ieved even by its auth or on the assumption that

h e was rather crack -brai ned .
 I N T E R P RE T A T I ONS . 18 5

I like very much the alle g ori cal dream of ang “

li ng s igni fyi n g troubl e and ba g pipes signi fying

”

, , ,

contention They are g reat cyni cs these dream

.
,

i nterpreters : to dream of funerals seems al ways g ood ,

because O f the i nheri tance you shall receive from the

dead O n the whole so far as we can trace any principle
.
,

on wh ich the dream s are h ere i nterpreted it i s always ,

the si mple principl e of direct alle g ory T o dream of .

black is bad of white is g ood There i s no idea h ere

, .
,

s o far as w e see O f dreams g oing by contraries as

“
,

i n the Persian code althou g h we have th is proverb

,

i n our tal k .

Therewith let us take a few extracts from th e most

reco g nised canon of interpret a tion A ny one wh o .

l ikes to take the trouble may i nvent i nterpretations on

the l ike l ines for any dream under the sun or moon
l
.

A ng i ng — To dream that you are angl i n g betokens

much a ffl iction and troubl e i n seekin g for someth i n g
you desire to g et .

Ap es — To dream you have seen or had anyth i n g ,

to do with them si g nifies mal icious weak stran g e and , ,

secret enemies ; also malefactors and deceivers .

Bag p ip es — To dream that you play upon ba g pipes

si g n ifies trouble contention and bei n g overth rown at
l
,

aw

lF o r
.

B ur i a — a man to dream that he is buried

and i nterred si g nifies h e shall have as much wealth as
h e hath earth laid over h i m
l
.

Deaa Fo ks — To dream o f talki n g with dead folks

’

is a g ood auspiciou s dream and si g nifies a boldness

, ,

of coura g e and a very clear conscience .

18 6 ON DREAM S .

D evi l
—To
dream that one has seen the devil ,

and that h e is tormented or oth erwise much terrified , ,

signifies that the dreamer is i n dan g er of bei ng checke d

and punished by his soverei g n prince or some mag is
trate And quite contrarily i f h e dreams he strikes
.
,

th e devil or som e other person h e bel ieves to be

possessed and fancies he overcomes him it is a si g n
, ,

h e that dreams thus shall overcome h is enemies w ith

g lory and satisfaction I f any dream that he sees th e
.

devil it is a very bad si g n for such a vision can not ,

brin g along with i t any g ood tidi ngs ; to th e sick it

foretells death and to the health ful it si g nifies melan
ch o
y l anger
, tumults and ,v iolent s ickness I f any .

dream the dev il speaks to h im it si g nifies temptation , ,

deceit treach ery despai r and someti mes the rui n and
, ,

death O f h im that dreams To dream that one is .

carried away by the devil i s a worse dream ; and yet

no dream deli ghts th e dreamer so much as th is for ,

bein g awaked h e is ravi shed with j oy that h e is freed

from so great an ev il ; for wh ich he O u g ht to return
th anks to God and beg of H i m that H e woul d b e
pleased to send h im H is g ood angel to guard h im
and fight agai nst that wi cked spiri t wh ich always
stands senti nel to surprise us To dream you see the .

devil as h e i s drawn by pai nters and poets v i a black , ,

and h ideous with h orns claws and a g reat tail signifies

, , ,

torment and despai r To dream you see yourself with

.

the devil si g nifies gain .

Face — T O dream you see a fresh taki n g smil i n g

.
, ,

face and countenance is a sign of friendship and j oy

,
.

To dream you see a meag re pale face is a sign of , ,

 I N T ER P RE T A T I ONS . 18 7

trouble poverty and death

,
T o dream one wash es
.

h is face denotes repentance for si n ; a black face

si g nifies lon g life
l
.

Foo s — F or a man to dream th at he is a fool i s

g ood to h im who would u ndertake any busi ness for ,

fools and madm en do that wh ich comes i nto th ei r

brai n I t is also g ood for marshal s and sheri ffs who
.

would have authority over th e people for they shal l ,

have g reat honour and repute I t is also good for.

those who would govern and teach children for ,

ch ildren d o willin g l y fo l low fools I t is also g ood for

.

the poor for they shall have goods for fool s catch on
, ,

all sides and all hands To th e sick it i s h eal th for

.
,

folly makes men g o and come not sleep and rest

l
.
,

Funer a — T O dream that one goes to th e funeral

and i ntermen t O fany of h is relations or friends or of ,

some g reat l ord is a g ood sign to th e dreamer who i s

,

betokened thereby to get an estate by means of h is

relations or else marry a fortune to h is content .

G rap es — T O dream O f eatin g grapes at any ti me

signifies cheerful ness and profit T o tread grapes
.

signifies th e overth row of enemies T o gather wh ite .

g rapes signifies gain but to dream O f g atheri n g black

,

grapes si g nifies damag e .

Grave — I f a man dreams that h e i s put i nto a

grave and buried i t presag et h he will di e i n a mean
condition yet some beli eve ( g rounded on experience )
that to dream that one is dead and buried signifies h e
that hath such a dream shall recover an estate accord
ing t o the quantity of earth that is laid upon h im
l
.

H ang i ng or i ang ed — I f any one dreams that by

.
18 8 ON DREAM S .

sentence or j udgment h e was condemned to be han g ed ,

and dreams also that th e sentence was really executed ,

he will be di g nified accordin g to th e height of the

g ibbet or tree whereon he was han g ed B ut if the .

dreamer be sick or afflicted h e will be freed from his ,

disease and i n the end have j oy and contentment I f

,
.

any one dreams h e condem ned another to be han g ed ,

that signifies h e will be an g ry with him whom he

i mag ined he cond emned but i n a small tim e after h e,

will place hi m i n honour and di g nity wh ich h e w ill ,

abuse A ccordi n g to the i nterpretations of the Persians

.

and the E gyptians he that dreams h e is han g ed by

l
,

s entence of aw will be rich honoured and respected

, , .

I f anyone dreams that h e h as eaten the flesh of a man

han g ed he will be enriched by some person but i t
, ,

will be by some foul practice and some secret crime .

I f any one dreams t h at being about to be han g ed he

, ,

was del ivered and cam e down to th e bottom of th e

,

g ibbet that person will lose h is estate and di g nity

,
.

H eaven — T O dream of H eaven and that you ,

ascend up thi ther signifies grandeur and g lory

l
l
.
,

H e — A dream that one sees hell as it is described ,

and that he hears the damned souls groan and com

plai n through th e extrem i ty of th ei r torments is an ,

advertisement that God sends to th e dreamer to th e

’
end that h e may th row h imsel f upon G od s mercy I f .

any one dreams he sees the damned plun g ed in the

fire and flames O fhell and that they su ffer g reat torture ;
,

it signifies sadness repenta nce and a melancholi c

, ,

d is temper To dream of descending i nto hell and

.
,

returning thence to those that are great and rich

, ,
 I N T E R P RE TA T I ONS . 18 9

si g nifies misfortune ; but i t is a good si g n to the poor

and we ak .

K ey s — To dream that you lose your keys si g nifies

an g er T O dream you have a bunch O fkeys and that
.
,

you give them to those that desi re th em of you shows ,

great g ood to poor captives for i t i mpl ies that shortly ,

fi
they sh all g ai n their l iberty A key seen i n a dream .
,

to h im who would marry si g ni et h a g ood and hand

fi
some wi fe and a g ood housekeeper I t is cross to a
,
.

trav eller for i t si g ni et h h e shall be put back and

hi ndered and not received I t is good for such as .

’
would take i n hand other m en s business
l
l
.

K i — T O dream you kill a man signifies assured

ness O f busi ness ; to dream you kill your father is a
bad si g n ; to dream you are killed denotes loss to h im
who has killed you
l l
.

Look i ng or ooki ng -g ass —T O dream of looki ng

down from high places or out of wi ndows or bei ng i n
, ,

a high garret sh ow san ambitious mind curious desires

, , ,

wanderi n g i ma g ination and confused though ts To

, .

dream of looki n g i n a glass i n married folks betokens, ,

ch ildren ; in youn g folks sweethearts F or as the

, .

g lass does represent thei r l ikeness so does love show ,

th em thei r l ike in affection F or a young woman to .

dream that she looks i n a glass and there sees her own
face esteemin g it to be very handsome shows h er to
, ,

have a great opinion of h er ow n beauty A lso for one .

to d ream that he sav es h imsel f i n th e water is death

to the dreamer or to som e fam iliar friend of his
, .

jWonst er — To see a monster or monstrous fish i n

.

the sea is not good but out of the sea every fish and
, ,
190 ON DREAMS .

great monster is good because then they can hurt no

,

more or save them sel ves A nd therefore besides that

,
.
,

our dream si g nifies that our enemies cannot hurt us it ,

saith moreover that th e wi cke d shall be punished .

0 r M a r
’
a s — T o dream of orchards g ardens and
.
, ,

flowery places is an emblem of pleasure ; and i f you

dream that th ey abound with g ood fruit it si g nifies ,

abundance of riches and plenty and i f you dream also

of many fountains i n them th ey si g ni fy pleasure and ,

deli g ht with g reat store of wit I f y on d ream th e

,
.

fi
trees be barren i t si g nifies the contrary
, .

P er ci i c e s — T O d ream that one sees g reat and

.

steep precipices and that one falls over them si g nifies ,

that he that d reams will suffer much i nj ury and hazard

of h is person and h is goods be i n danger by fi re
, .

Q uag m i r e — To dream one is fallen into a quag mi re

fi
shows th e party dreami n g shall meet with such O b
st ru ct i ons i n his aff ai rs as shall be very di f cult to over
come .

R ead i ng — T O dream you are readin g romances

and comedies or other divertin g books si g nifies j oy
, ,

and comfort To dream you read serious books or

.

books of divi ne science signifies benediction and wi s

,

dom
l
.

S Moo — To dream you begin to g o to school ag ai n ,

and you cannot say your lessons ri g ht shows that y ou

are about to undertake somethin g which you do not
well understand .

Transmutat i on - I n dreamin g to be changed from

.
,

l ittle to great and agai n from great to be bi g ger so

, ,

that you exceed not reason is g ood for it i s because , ,

 I N T ER P RE T A T I ONS . 19 1

o f busi ness and g oods ; but to be greater than common

use is d e ath A lso i t is ill for an old man to be chan g ed
.

i nto a youn g man or a youn g man into a child for

, ,

th ey shall change to a worse estate but the contrary

is g ood for they shall come to a better estate To
,
.

dream of bei ng turned i nt o a woman is very good for

m en in mean c ircumstances R ich men who dream
.

thus will meet with misfortunes ; and such a dream is

bad to all handicraftsmen whose labour is hard I f a .

woman dream that she is an unmarried man wi thout ,

children she will have both husband and ch ildren but

,

i f married and havin g ch ildren she will die a widow

, , .

To be turned into brass shows som e sudden quarrel

and victory ; it is good for m il i tary men I ron shows .

hardness and m isery C lay or earth foretells dissol u

.

tion ; but th ose wh o deal i n earthenware may reap

good from such a dream R ocks stone flint etc
.
, , ,
.
,

show continual hard usa g e wi th m ocks reproaches

, , ,

blows and slanders To dream you are turned i nto a

, .

beast shows that your nature partakes or will partake , ,

of th e nature O fthat beast .

 C H A PT E R V I .

TELE PATH I C AN D D UAL PE R S O NAL I T Y .

Bu ew
t G od h as a f of sw h om H e whi p er
u s s in t h e ear ;
Th e re t may r ea on and w el om e
—
s s c .

B ro wni ng .

I N T R O DU C T I O N .

[FO R m ore reasons than one I could not deem mysel f

capable of dealin g adequately with dreams that convey

premonitions or tel epathi c sensations A part fro m .

reasons that are too O bvio us to th e reader to want

explai nin g I felt keenly an i ncapacity due to want of
,

faith I am far from bein g a dogmatic disbel iever i n

.

telepath y and premonition w hether i n dreams or i n th e

,

widest — awake state A very distin g u ished member of

.

th e Psych ical R esearch S ociety ( alas that h e has passed

to the other side of that veil which he tried so hard to
l ift wh il e i n l ife ) and one who approached it s problems
“ ”
from so rational i stic a point of v iew that material ist
was sometimes thought none too hard a name for h im ,

told me that the evidence collected by th e Psychical

S ociety for th e apparition of persons at th e point
of death to others at a d istance was so strong as
, ,

to amount i n h is opi nion to sci entific proof I thi nk I .

can hurt no one by mentioni ng the name of my i n

 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P E RSONA L I T Y . 19 3

formant the late P rofessor S id g wick and certainly th e

, ,

mention of th e name g uarantees th e value of th e

opi n ion .
“
S cienti fic proof as I i magine means , ,

someth in g considerabl y removed from math emati cal

proof belongin g m ore nearl y to th e class of what
,

lo g icians call moral proof— i n popular tal k subst an

“ ”
,

tial proof at all events

,
.

Professor S id g wick s opi nion went a g reat way i n

’

disposin g me to th i nk that the premonitions and tele

path ic com munications said to be received i n dream s
m i g h t have someth ing m uch more than a fancied tha t ,

i s to say a subj ective reality I t is at least certai n

, .

that th e attitude O fdo g matic disbelief is al most al way s

that of the fool so let us try to avoid it B ut i n t h e
, .

effort I personally am abl e to go no further i n th i s

, ,

matter than a g nosti cism T he ag nostic attitude is very .

near th e i ndi fferent attitude I t is v ery di ffi cult to .

sim ulat e or to stimulate zeal i n a subj ect towards wh ich

’
one s attitude is i ndifferent Th erefore all other .
,

reasons apart i t seemed to m e far better to seek a

,

collaborator who had a l ively faith and th e zeal that ,

comes from faith i n these dreams of the telepath i c and

,

premonitory kinds .

S cience perhaps finds it hard to reco g nise any

,

possible truth i n these tel epath ies and premoni tions of

wh ich sh e is i ncapable of giving an account but scienc e
had h er hard knuckles so badly rapped over h er onc e
s cornful rej ection of th e since prov ed facts of hypnotism ,

that sh e i s more careful now adoptin g an attitude no t ,

quite so u nscientific towards that wh ich sh e is not abl e

to explain .
1 94 ON D REAMS .

I cannot possibly express too stron g ly my thanks

to th e Psychical R esearch S oci ety for the very liberal
use that my c ollaborator has been allowed to make of
i nstances communi cated to and tested by them of
, ,

dreams of a telep ath ic and of a premon itory kind .

H G H
. . .
)
A lthough m ost of ou r o rdi nary dreams can be ex
plained or partly explai ned by the th eory I magi na
, ,

tion ru n rio t a t h oroug h study of th e subj ect will soon

,
”

show us that th is theory can not h old g ood i n every

case .

V ery many i nstances of premonitory and telepathi c

dreams have been noted and tho rou g hly i nvestigated
only to bri n g us up ag ai nst a door on wh ich is written
H ere lies the th reshold of anoth er world
P re m onitory dreams we will deal with i n anot her
chapter and as far as is possibl e i n a sm all space try
, ,

to give here a c ompilation O f dreams wh i ch can only

be i nterpreted on the theory of telepathy and dual
c o nsciousness .

Wi reless te le g raphy is now an acknowled g ed fact

‘ .

T wo fi nely sensitive i nst ruments are so tuned i n c om

pl e t e sympa t hy that a message sent by one will vibrate

o n its fellow through miles of space .

N ow it is well known that the human brai n is

m ore sensitive t han any i nstrument made by hands in
existence I s it not possible to conceive of t wo brains
.

bei n g so tuned i n sympath y that the thou g ht i n one

w ill send its messag e t h rou g h waves of space till it
reach es its fellow instrument and conveys its meani n g
 T ELE PA TH IC AND DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 19 5

to that del icate mach i nery ' There is noth in g super

natura l about th is ; i t is but natural True we are
.
,

but seein g d imly th rou g h the veil as yet but some

,

day it will be l i fted and we shall k now w hat at present

,

we can only va g uely g uess at .

There are many cases where an experience O f a

friend at a distance has conveyed itsel f more or less
clearl y to the mind i n sleep Th is i s t elepathy
. .

“
The word telepathy was brought i nto use by us ,

says Professor S idgwick to express the ( scientifically

,
“

speaking ) novel concl usion —wh i ch several differen t

l ines of inqui ry have tended to establ ish —that thou g hts
and feeli n g s in one m i nd are sometimes caused by the
i nfluence of another m i nd co nveyed somehow other
,

wise than th rou g h th e reco g nised ch annels of sense .

The word by its derivat ion su gg ests that th e i nfluence

i n question operates across a considerable distance
of space . N ow there can be no doubt that
th e g eneral acceptance O f telepathy i n thi s sense
, ,

as a fact of nature must importantly modi fy the

,

current sci entific view of th e relation of mi nd to

matter .

A phenom enon more di ffi cult to explai n is the

revelation O f an event taking place at a distan ce ( the
said event bein g unconnected with any fri end who
mi g ht have sent a th ou g ht wave to th e sleeper ) to a
d reamer who notes th e details and th e ti me o nl y to
,

fi nd that his dream was true i n every particular M ay .

this not be explained by dual personal ity '

M r F rederick G reenwood i n h is i nterestin g book
.

I mag i nat i on i n D reams remarks I t is easy to i magine

19 6 ON D REAMS .

—
th e m i nd o f m an dual i ts faculties suppl ied i n a
doubl e set D uality seems to be a com mon aw i n
. l
n ature
. The brai n wh ich i s th e mi nd -mach ine is ,

itself a dual or g an ; and nearly all th e di ffi cul ty o f

understandin g dreams would disappear i f we coul d
bel ieve that our mental faculties are duplex and that ,

though th e t wo sets work to g ether i nseparabl y and

i ndistinguish ably wh ile we l ive our natural l ives i n th e
wakin g world they are capabl e of working apart th e
, ,

one under th e observation O f th e other more or less ,

when all are out O f harness by th e suspens ion of th e

”
senses i n sleep .

W e g ive an i nstance of th is ki nd of dream wh ich

appears to us to be only thoroughly accounted for by
the th eory of dual personal ity T he lady who was
.

the d reamer l ives i n K ensi ngton and had an o ffice i n

wh ich she carried on a business i n K ni g htsbridge th e ,

offi ce being about t wo miles from h er house .

O n the n i g h t of I dreamt very disti nctl y

that I saw a crowd and I h eard a voice sayin g
,

‘ ’
she is quite dead I v e cut her th roat I ve cut her ’

, ,

’
throat I was very frigh tened as it impressed m e
l
.
,

as bein g so rea I awoke and noted the time — 4 A M

.
, . .

Th e next morn in g at breakfast I told my fam ily i n

cludin g my cousi n M iss M D When I arri ved at . .

my place of busi ness I saw a crowd outside the next

door h ouse and found on i nqui ry th at a man had
,

murdered his w i fe o cut t i n ne r Mroat about 4 A M

y g .

i n th is house .

( S igned ) A W -W . . .
 T ELE P A TH I C AND DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 19 7

M y cousi n told us her dream at breakfast o n

and I rem ember heari n g in the eveni n g that a
murder had taken place i n the house next door to my
cousin s o ffi ce i n th e early morni n g
’
.

( S i g ned ) M D . .

M iss A W W was worried about her busi ness

. .
-
. at

the ti me ; does it not seem a si mple explanation that

h er dual personal ity was h auntin g her o ffice at th e
time and saw th e commotion when th e pol i ce d i s
,

covered th e crime and thus conveyed th e impress io n

,

to M iss A W W s sl eepi ng brai n

. .
- ' .
’

M ere coincidence cannot account for the many

“
instances of these t rue dream s A fter all a coi n ”
.
,

c i d enc e is not an explanation ; i t is usually an u m

deciphered si g n post
-
.

T here are many persons ready to explain away

absolutely proved facts by some extrao rdinary hypo
thesis Th is is not scientific ; it is only foolish M r
. . .

E dward M aitland has well expressed this kind of

i ntelli g ence i n th e fol lowi ng sentence : I reco g nised
“

so fully th e unphilosophical character O f that attitude

of m i nd so conspicuous i n the science of th e day wh ich
, ,

assumes that i t knows the limits of possi bility and

accordi ngly puts hypothesis above truth by rej ectin g ,

prior to exam ination all facts which do not accord with

,

fi
i ts hypothesis and even while calling itself experimental
, ,

den ies on the stren g th of its no n -experience af rm a

tions based upon experience and considers i t has ,

”
effectually disposed o f these .

I will now proceed to give a few instances of tele

path y i n dreams .
19 8 ON DREAM S .

The writer has had many personal experiences of

th is class of dream I n 1 8 9 8 wh ile stayi ng at B ourne
.

mout h a dream occurred wh ich g ave a deep impress ion

that a particular and close friend ( then stayin g i n
S omerset ) was i n great grief about somethin g ; on
waking very upset and terrified the time was di s
, ,

covered to be 3 A M I n th e morni n g a l etter was . .

w ritten to S omerset asking i f anyt h ing had occurred

to disturb th is friend T h e next mornin g arrived a .

letter from S omerset written at the same time ( th e

morning before ) g ivi ng an account of a terri ble and
,

most realisti c dream wh ich seemed so real that the ,

dreamer was made quite ill by it and awoke at 3 A M ,

. .
,

trembling and sobbin g and begg i ng th e writer for ,

help Th ese t wo letters weancrossea eaM oMer are

.
,
’
,

’
now i n the writer s possession .

A noth er ti me the writer dreamt of bein g i n very

great pain i n th e h ead and this continued till ap
l
,

p a rent
y awakened by th e pain the time then being ,

1 2 -3 0 A M T he next even in g a l etter came sayin g

. .
,

that the friend menti oned above had been kept awake
till past twelve by violent neural g ia i n the h ead .

These are only two i nstances out of many

The followi n g is an abstract of th e ori g i nal account ,

wh ich was written in F rench of a remarkabl e dream : ,

F rom M r B L L . . . .

M r B L L was a F rench professor at th e

. . . .

Ecole R éale of
fi
present a g e ( i n 1 8 9 4 when account
was written ) forty v e Towards th e end of J uly - .
,

1 8 7 0 bei ng i n Paris he dreamt v iv idly that he went

, ,

i nto h is sister s house and found her lyin g dead i n a

’

,
 T ELE P A T H I C AN D DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 1 99

—
coffi n i n the drawing room H e woke and told a .

fri end with h im that h is sister was dead A t th e same .

’
moment he heard une voi x m élod ieus e et q ui n av ai t
rien de commun avec nos voix terres tres : L adislas
C h e ri 'L adislas ch e ri L adislas ch eri ( L adislas bei ng ‘
U ’

h is ch ristian name ) H is sister died at th e sam e ti m e

. .

H e knew that sh e was ill but th e last t wo letters he ,

had had about h er had said that sh e was conval escent .

H is only anxiety at the t ime was about th e approach

i n g war with P russia .
” 1

“
Th is dream coul d really come u nder the dual per
l
sona i t y headi ng but may also be telepath i c as most
, ,

probably the sister was thi nki n g of h i m at the time .

Th e follow i n g are very clear cases of telepath y ,

and are remarkable i n more ways than one I t is .

easi er to understand the fi rst case as the recipient o f ,

th e telepathi c i nfluence was i n the room ; the others

have more or less distance between the subj ects .

M rs V en n of 3 S t Peter s Terrace C ambrid g e

. .
’

, ,

writes referri n g to h er so n — 2

I thi nk the oddest experience I ever had w ith h i m

was one ni g h t at B ournemouth when he slept in my ,

room I dreamed a d ream and woke w ith i t and h e

.
,

i mmediately (asleep still ) i n h is sleep be g an to tal k

about it proving that he was dreamin g the sam e thin g
, .

I t was a very queer d ream and i nvolved th e question ,

of how many i nches ( of a row O fcandles ) should be

cut O ff each candle H e g ravely be gg ed me to cut
.

off six i nches do mamma ; when I was feeli n g four

, ,
’

1
l p r xx i
Vo x, at ofProceed i ng s S P R
l
. . v . . . .

2
x i p r xx i x
Vo . .
, at . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
2 00 ON DREAMS .

‘
would be enou g h I t was a fet e i n our d ream and we
.
,

were li g htin g up some room N o real th ing had .

happened to su gg est i t to us but w e both dreamt i t ,

”
to g eth er apparently .

C ompare the followi n g case from a percip ient known

to D r H od g son
.

L E X I N G TO N AVE N U E ,

N EW Y O R K 7 t/ Feo aa y 893 , I z r r , 1 .

A bout t wo weeks ago I thi nk on the ni g h t o f ,

the 3 rd i nst I dreamed that I was g oi n g to a place

.
,

c alled Pont e ard o I remembered the name distinctly

g .

‘
on awakin g but it seemed so O utlandish and queer ’

, ,

I did not th ink that it could be a real name I ask ed .

m y mother i f she kne w of a place W ith such a name .

S he said sh e did not Three or four days after that

.

I recei ved a letter from my husband w h o is i n F lorida , ,

sayi n g that h e would probabl y g o to Punt ag ard o .

This letter was written eith er the day precedin g my

dream or th e day after .

P H EBE L G R I FFI N G ( A ssociate

l
.

A s related above my dau g hter i n aw as ked m e ,

- -
,

the morni n g after her dream i f I knew of a place ,

called Pont eg ard o I did not know o f s uch a place

.

until my son s letter was recei ved sayi n g that he

’

thou g ht of g oi n g there .

N E R G R I FF I N G
j A . .

L EX I N G T O N AVEN U E ,

N EW Y O R K st Feb u ay 1 89 3 , 2 1 r r ,
.

D EA R M R H O D G S O N
l
.
,

M y dau g hter i n- aw has the letter referri n g -

Punt ag ard o but as it i s pri ncipally about personal

,
 T ELE P A TH IC AND DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 201

affairs she does not l ike to send i t C harley writes of .

a busi ness proj ect wh ich i f he carri es it out will make

, ,

Ph ebe s dream premonitory as they W ill g o there to

’

l ive I f this should be the result i t wi ll be one of the

.
,

cl earest of premonitions as when she received the ,

l etter nothi n g of the kind had been contemplated

,
.

'
T here w as onl y an intentio n on C harley s part to
remai n i n J acksonv ille or g o to Tallahassee to take
charge of a newspaper O ffice T hese t wo plans were .

i n Ph ebe s mi nd and she had no idea o f any other plan

’

,
.

“
J AN E R G R I FF I N G . .

B etween a certain man and woman both of a rather ,

romantic cast a strong affection had g row n u p from

,

ch ildhood ; an a ffection very much tried but never

quenched nor apparently ever dimi nished Through
, .

a variety of com monplace m istakes and h indrances

they could not marry They had to remai n apart and
.

nearly al ways at a distance ; but W ith communication

e nough to be assured from time to time over ten or
twel ve years that th e old affection remai ned what i t
was at th e begin nin g T owards th e end of th is period
.

th e man was tormented by a series of dre ams occurri n g ,

at i ntervals of days weeks and month s i n which the

, ,

‘
woman fi g ures as avowin g hersel f false as C ressid ’

and sh amelessly g loryi ng i n h er freedom Tor .

m ent ed was his ow n word ; but not because these

’

dreams ever disturbed h is fai th for a s ingle waki ng

moment I ndeed he described h i m sel f ( to me ; I w as
.
,

h is confi dant or confessor at th e time and therefore ,

can speak to the t ruth O f th is relation ) as puzzled and

h umiliated that such phantas ies should i nvade h is m ind
2 02 ON DREAMS .

by any avenue or i n any shape The torment was fel t .

no lon g er than th e dream lasted or til l h e had shaken ,

off the horror he woke i n I t was not s urprising to .

h ear however that th e repetition of these visions

, ,

durin g a space of t wo or three years became i nc reas

l
i ng y distres sin g and th e more so because their onl y
,

di fference was i n scen e and ci rcumstance There was .

a casual meetin g now on a country road now on a

, ,

seaside parade now at a g arden -party ; but W hatever

,

the place of meeti ng th e same th i n g happened on all :

occasions Wi th a defiant g aiety and with a N ow

or a Wh y dear me yes 'or
.
, ,

do you suppose ' ‘ ’

, ,
’

a A re you so stupid as to i magine ' she scattered

‘ ’

confess ions as l i g htl y as i f sh e were fl in g i ng roses .

The lady died and when sh e was dead the leaves of

,

a sealed book opened ( how need not be told ) reveal i n g ,

what no one expected to read i n it and all i n accord ,

ance with her lover s dream N ot that there were ’

.

any si g ns o f the pag an audacity that was s o amaz in g

i n them but on the contrary tokens O fviolent passion s
, ,

of remorse frequently recurrent

, .

L ittl e help from superstition is needed to impress

one with a story l i ke th is I t should b e marked that
.

’
R s persistent dreams were not accounted for by doubt
.
,

by j ealousy or by anyth i n g seen o r heard th at could

,

sow the seed O f suspicion N othi n g that was nati ve

.

to hi s ow n mind su ggested them ; th ey were dreams

of i ntimati on from with out if any such there be A nd ,
.

fi
yet i n explai nin g them by th e wave ofcom mu ni catio n - -

hypothesis an extremely curious and i nteresting d i f

culty has to be encountered I t is almost i nconcei v .
 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUA L P ERSONA L I T Y . 2 03

able that even in h er most mute and secret musings ,

the unhappy woman could have wished to present

’

hersel f to her lover s mind as sh e did appear to hi m

i n sleep To be sure the psychologist or th e poet
.
,

may make somethi ng of i t as the communication O f

,

a wild and impulsive remorse We know that re .

morse w ill som etim es drive a sensitive nature to

extravag ant l engths of sel f-condem nation and sel f
pu nishment ; and i f the poet chose h e could make a ,

pretty picture O fthe poor lady overcome at ti mes w ith

v iolent sham e at her deceit — h er m ind strainin g with
a w ish that h e migh t be defrauded of his confidence
no longer and goi ng forth to hi m i n an ex cess of
,

peni tence and extravagant sel f-revelation I t is quite .

cred ible and quite i n accord w i t h wh at i s known of

,
'

”
human natu re and h uman conduct .
1

Th e reader will noti ce that each of these cases

appears to give disti nct evidence of thought transfer
ence or tel epathy Th e followi n g i s a stri ki n g
.

i nstance wh ich has been communicated to m e

“
I n 1 884 I was up i n M ussoorie for th e season .

A t th e end of the season I prepared to g o back to the

plains a g ai n I sent on most of the furniture with th e
.

nurses three ch ildren and a lady wh o was stayi ng

, ,

with m e at th e time I prepared to follow with

.

‘
anoth er lady who was stayin g wi th me M iss B .

w hen we suddenly di scovered much to our disgust , ,

that we were fi fteen cool ies short and could n ot pos

l
,

sib y start till we had more H owever our K han

.
,

samah offered to get us somethi n g to eat and make a ,

I mag i nati on i n D reams ( F r ed eri c k r eenw ood )

1
G .
2 04 ON DREAM S .

fi re for us i n one O f th e rooms and we proceeded to ,

have di nner and l ie down o n t wo mattresses Which

,

we luckily had .

I fell asl eep and had a dream as follo ws I was

,

I n the next room and sa w a hal f caste woman enter

,
-

hurriedly screamin g S he was followed by three men

.

w ith sticks T W O of these men p roceeded to beat her

.

to death wh ile th e th i rd l ooked on the W hole time the

, ,

woman was shriekin g for help .

“
I was wakened by M iss B H shakin g me and . .
,

be gg in g m e to wake S he told m e that I had been

.

screami n g out for help for somebody I be g an telli n g .

her my dream S he would not let me fi nish and we

.
,

sat up talkin g th e rest of th e ni g ht The next day .

sh e told me th at th e dream was t rue A woman W ho .

h ad been un faith ful to her husband i n that house had

been beaten to death by h er h usband and one of h er
brothers wh ile her other brother l ooked on M iss
, .

B H told m e she had known th is story for som e

. .

t ime but would not allow me to be told

, .

“
( S igned ) L D E BO U R BEL . .

I certify above accou nt to be true i n every

particular .

( S i g ned ) B H . .

‘
N e nowcome to th e class o f dream wh i ch w e
have catalo g ued as dual personal ity
“ ”
.

S ome of these dreams show undoubted evidence

of sleep -clairvoyance but the stran g e part is that this
,

clairvoyance usually comes to those W h o are not clai r

voyant i n their waking state Take the numerous
 T ELE P A TH IC AND DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 2 05

i nstances of the findin g of lost articles th rou g h a d ream .

C an th is be explai ned by the theory that our spi rit i n

sleep is conducted by so called occult means to th e
-

place where the lost article i s reposin g ' What oth er

explanation solves th is riddle '
D r R adcl iffe— whose name is well known as a
.

ph ysician and who studied deeply m etaphysics and

,

psychology— had many theories about dreams includ ,

i n g l iberty to bel ieve that the spirits of the dead

“

may visi t us i n our sl eep A lso h e th i nks that our

.

spi rit is capabl e of taki n g on a separate identity i n

ou r sl eep and overcoming th e usual rules of ti me
” “
and space . H ow is it h e asks
,
that I am at o nce
,

introduced into a world O f spirit i n wh ich th ere is ,

as it were no ti me and space i n wh ich I l ose th e

, ,

distinction between now and then between h ere and ,

there ' I do not explai n the fact by saying th at i t is

a mere fiction of my i mag ination I ma g i nation is a .

mani festation of my own bei n g W here i ma g ination

.

can be there I must be i n spiri t at least I n a word

, ,
.
,

I do not see h ow to accou nt for th e operation of m y

ima g ination i n ti me and space W ithout supposi n g that
I must be a spi rit wh ich is truly al ive i n th e past and
future as well as i n the present and wh ich is i n the
, ,

true sense of the word ubiquitous A nd so it may be

,
.

that my true relations to ti m e and space are made

known to me more clearl y i n a dream than at any
other time and he g oes on to say from this poi nt of
“

V iew you may look upon yourself as a spi ri t wh ich

may be i ncarnated at one ti me and tran slated out of
,

”
reach of th e senses at anoth er .
206 ON DREAMS .

M r F rederi ck H M yers says that

. D reams o ften .

recall to us facts O f our waki n g l ife which we have

known and forgotten M ay i t not also recall to us .

facts whi ch our suprali mi nal selves have never known '
A t the begi nni n g of this chapter we quoted an
instance of D ual personal i ty i n wh ich M iss A W W
“
,
”
. .
- .

was made aware i n h er dream of a m urder whi ch had

been comm itted t wo miles away .

The followi n g case is analo g ous to M iss A W-W s . . .

’

dream i n that Mr Wack was m ade aware of an event

,
.

taking place at a distance .

M r W H Wack is an attorney
. . . .
1

C O U RT H OU E S ,

S T P A U L M I NN
.
, t ot/z Feoruary , 1 89 2 .

I believe I had a remarkable experience A bout .

m idni g h t on the 2 9 t h day O f D ecember h ead sore and ,

fati g ued I left my study wh ere I had been porin g

l
,

over uni nspiri n g aw text and climbin g to my chamber , ,

door fell into bed for the ni g h t

, .

N oth in g unusual had transpi red i n my a ffairs that

day and yet when I g ave myself to rest my brain
, , ,

buzzed on with a myriad fancies The weird intona .

tion O f an old kitch en clock fell upon my ears but

faintly as it don g ed the hour of t wo The sound of
,
.

the clock ch ime had h ardly died when I becam e con

scious o f my position i n a passenger coach on the
S t Paul M i nneapoli s and O maha railroad I was
.
,
.

j ourneyin g to D uluth M innesota from S t Paul i n , ,

.
,

which latter place I had g one to sleep I was aware .

1
Vo l
xi . .
, p ar t xx i x . Proceed i ng s 5 P R . . .
 T ELE P A TH IC AN D DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 2 07 .

that I had been on th e trai n about fou r hours and that

I was somewh ere near the town o f S hell L ake Wis , .

d istant from S t Paul about eigh ty m iles I had O ften

. .

been over th e road and as I peered through the coach

,

wi ndow I reco g nised i n th e m oonl i t scene features O f

, ,

cou ntry and habitation I had s een before We were .

plungin g on almost heedlessly as it seemed wh en

, ,

I fancied I heard and was startl ed from my reverie

,

by a pierci n g sh riek wh i ch was pro t racted i nto a

, ,

piteous moani n g and g aspi ng as i f some human ,

creature were sufferin g some h ideous torture .

“
Then I felt th e trai n g rind heavily to an awkward
stop There was a sudden com motion fore and aft
. .

T rai n men wi th lanterns hurried th rou g h m y car and

j oi ned employés near th e engine I could see th e .

li g hts flash here and there bes ide and beneath the,

cars ; brakesmen moved alon g th e wh eels i n g roups ,

the pipe voi ce O f th e conductor and th e awe-stri cken

cry of the black porter infused a l ivenin g sense to
a scene wh ich I did not readily understand I nst i nc
l
.

t i v e y I concluded that an acci dent h ad happened or ,

perhaps th at a break to the trai n had occasioned th is

sudden uprisin g of trai n men A m inute later I was .

out upon the road i tsel f Th e brusque and busy

.

search and the di sturbed manner of the attendants did

not invi te elaborate i nquiry from a curious passen g er ,

so I was content to be tol d i n ve ry ugly s nappish ,

E n g l ish that i f I had eyes I might see for mysel f that

,

‘ some one g ot killed I reckon E verybody moved ’

.
,

and acted in a spiri t of stealth and each it appeared , , ,

expected a horrible fi nd ‘ T he trucks were bein g

’

.
208 ON D REAMS .

exam ine d from the rear of the trai n forward Bloo d .

splotches were discovered on nearly all th e bearin g s

under the entire train When the g an g reached on e
.

of the forward cars all l i g hts were cast upon a truc k

,

wh ich was l iterally scrambled W ith what appeared to

be brains — human brai ns evidently for amon g t h e ,

c l ots were small tufts of h uman hair This truck .

,

particularly must have ground over the bulk of a

,
.

human body E very fixture between the wheels was

.
.

smeared with th e crimson ooze of some crushed victim .

B ut where was the body or at least its members

,
'
The trucks were covered onl y with a pulp of mangl e d
remnants The search for what appeared to be th e kille d
.

was extended 50 0 yards back of the train and all about

the ri g ht -of-way with no more satisfactory result tha n
to occasionally fi nd a blood stained tie ( sleeper )
- .

A ll hands board ed the trai n many declaring tha t

it was an u nusual m ishap on a railroad which left, ,

such uncertain trace of i ts vi ctim A gai n I felt th e .

trai n thu nderi ng on th rough the burnt pine wastes of

northern M i nnesota A s I recli ned there i n m y
.

berth I reflected upon the experience of the n i g ht

, ,
'

and O ften befuddled my sleepy head in an effort to

understand h ow a train pushi n g alo ng at the rat e
,

o f th i rty miles an hour could so g rind and triturate

,

a vital bulk staining onl y trucks beh ind the en g ine

, ,

unless th e killed at th e fatal time were upon th e truck

or huddled closely by it I concluded therefore tha t
.
, ,

th e bein g destroyed under the trai n had been con

l
c ea ed near th e bespattered fixtures of th e car I .

had read O f death to tram ps steal ing rides by h idin g

 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 2 09

themselves under or between cars and fi nally I d is ,

missed meditation — assured that another u nfortunate

i tin erant had been carried out O fexistence H orrible ' .

I shuddered and awoke— relieved to comprehend it

all a dream .

“
N ow the fact that the foregoi ng is an accurate
statement of a dream experi enced by m e is not a
matter for marvel Taken alone there is noth i n g
.
,

remarkable in the ti m e at wh ich th is vi sion blacken ed

my sleep Th e spell was upon me between t wo and
.

three O clock i n the morni n g — of that I am certai n

’

I am posi tive of the ti me because when I awoke I , , ,

h eard the clock distinctly as i t struck th ree , .

“
O n the m orrow I — W h o usually for g et an ordi nar y
,

—
dream lon g before breakfast recounted to the famil y
the details of the night s distraction F rom my
’
.

h earers there followed only th e ordi nary comm ents

o f how ghastly and how shocking th e story was as
told and h ow stran g e the nature of the accid en t
,

that no parts of the body had been found Th e .

latter ci rcumstance was to me also quite an unusual

, ,

featu re of rail road casualty .

“
The evening followi ng the ni g ht of th e dream
3 oth D ecember ) at 5
, O clock I r e
’
turned to my home , ,

stepped into my study and as I am i n th e habit o f

l
, ,

doi ng I g l anced at a pa g e of th e S t Pau D i spatc/i

, .
,

a daily evening newspaper I t had been casuall y

.

folded by a previous reader so that i n pi cking it up ,

flatl y the arti cle wh ich first fixed my attention read

,

FATE O F A T R AM P H O R R I BLE DEATH EX PE R I E N C E D

.

B Y A N U N K N O WN MAN O N THE O M A HA R O A D .

14
2 10 ON DREAMS .

D uluth , 3 ot —
D ecember E very truck on th e
h
i ncomi ng O maha train from S t Paul th is morning was .

splash ed with blood Trai nmen did not know th ere

.

h ad been an accident till they arri ved here but th i n k ,

some unfortunate man must have b een steal in g a r i de

between S t Paul and th is city T rai nmen on a
l
. .

ater train state that a man s le g was fo und by them ’

a t S pooner and that for t wo m iles this s ide the tracks

,

w ere scattered with pi eces o f flesh and bone T here .

i s no poss ible m eans of identifi cation

’
.

“
H ere was an evident verifi cation of all that
t ranspi red i n my m ind between t wo and th ree o clock
’

on the previous ni g h t I reflected and the more I .

,

pondered the faster I b ecame convi nced that I had

been i n som e mysterious form spirit or element , ,

witness of the trag edy reported i n th e col umns o f

th e press — that my vis ion was perfect as to g eneral
details and th e i mpression complete and exact to
,

time and ci rcumstance Th e next mornin g I scanned

,
.

the pages of the Pi oneer Press of g 1 st D ecember ,

and read th e followi ng paragraph

‘ U nknown man killed S h ell L ake Wis S pecial .
, ,

,
—
tele g ram 3 ot h D ecember F ra g ments of th e bod y .

O f an unknown man were picked up on the railroad

t rack to day - Portions O f the same body were also

.

found on ov er 1 0 0 m iles of the railroad H e is sup .

p osed to have been killed by the ni g ht trai n but j us t ,

W here is not known .

1”
-“ W ith th is case th e conviction came to me that
l
, ,

i v i ng gand asl eep 1 0 0 miles from th e place of the killi n g

’

, ,

I had been subj ected to th e phantom sigh t of an actual -

 T ELE PA TH IC AND DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 211

occurrence on the O maha railroad as v i vid and i n ,

truth as I have stated it above .

I have not written th is account because M ark

Twai n and oth er authors have publ ished in c urren t
magazi nes thei r experiences i n what is termed mental
telepathy o r mental telegraphy O n th e contrary
.
,

havi ng read a number o f those articles I have hesi tated ,

to utter as authenti c what I now beli eve to be a

, ,

material and stri kin g ev idence of the extent the ,

caprice and th e possibilities of th is occul t pheno

,

m enon .

H A R R Y W W Ac x . .

I n repl y to D r H od g son s i nqu iries M r Wac k

’
. .

wrote
“
ST P AU L ,

zo M Peoruary , 1 892 .

MY D EA R S I R ,

“R eplyin g to our valued favour of th e

y
1 5t h inst I will say that you are ri g h t i n understand
,

ing that my account of the dream submitted to your

fi
society is a true narrative .

“
I re af rm every word of i t and give you m y
-
,

solemn assuran ce that as I have stated I informed

, ,

my family and friends of the dream and i ts details ,

before I had the first s uspicion that the publ i c press

ever had contai ned or ever would contai n a report of
such an actual occurrence .

I f desirabl e I will make affidav its as to th e truth

o f th e su bstance o f th e narrative i n your hands .

I enclose a few corroborative letters th e signatures ,

2 12 ON DREAM S .

to wh ich I procured yesterday 1 9 th F ebruary , . If

these serve you well and good ,
.

“
H ARRY W W AC K . .

The following were the corroborati ve letters en

closed
“
ST . P AU L ,

M February
zo , 1 89 2 .

G EN TLEMEN ,

R eferrin g to an account of a d ream sub

m i tt ed to you by M r H arry Wack of this city wh ich
.

I have read I beg leave to add the followin g facts

,

corroborative O fthe narrative

“
A fter careful consideration of the article I fi nd ,

that the story of the dream on 9 t h 3 ot h D ecember

2 -

is i n s ubstance identical W ith that wh ich was related

by M r Wack at breakfas t on the morning O f 3 ot h
.

D ecember 1 8 9 1 O n that occasion M r Wack stated

,
. .

that h e had been agi tated the previous nigh t by a

dream of u nusual features and then at the request of
, ,

those present he recited wha t now appears i n his

,

article which I have j ust perused for the fi rst ti me

, .

O n the evening of 3 0 t h D ecember 1 8 9 1 when M r , , .

Wack discovered the newspaper item h e ag ai n men ,

t i oned the dream and called my attention to th e

newspaper item and several of the fam ily discussed

,

th e matter O n the morni ng of g 1 5 t D ecember

.
,

another newspaper clippin g beari n g on the sam e '

matter was debated by th e family .

“
A side from the unusual features and hideo usness
of th e dream there w as noth in g to startle us until
, ,

the newspaper accounts developed the affair i n a

 T ELE P A TH IC AND DUAL P ERSO NAL I T Y . 2 13

mysterious sense .T he fi rst vers ion of the dream

was given i n the morni ng o f 3 ot h D ecember T h e .

fi rst newspaper dispatch appeared and was discovered

i n the eveni n g O fthe same day T h is I know o f m y .

o wn knowledge being present on each occasion .

( MRS
) M A R G A R ET B M A C D O NAL D . .

“
ST . PAU L ,

M INN .
,
z ot/z Peoruary , 1 89 2 .

G EN TLEMEN ,

I have read the letter O fM rs M acdonald .

,

with wh om I visited on 2 9 t h 3 oth 3 1 st D ecember , ,

and days following and with your permiss ion I will

,

say that I also was present at breakfast when M r .

Wack m entioned the dream and at di nner ( 6 R M )

, .

when M r Wack called our attention to th e newspaper

.

item wh i ch h e then declared was a positive verification

,

of the dream he experienced th e ni gh t before I h ave .

read th e account O f the dream and I bel ieve it to be ,

precisely as I understood it from M r Wack s account .

’

g iven o n the mornin g of 3 ot h D ecember 1 8 9 1 , .

R O S E B H AM I LT O N . .

ST . PAU L ,

zo M Feoruary , 1 89 2 .

G EN TLEM EN ,

“
H aving read th e fore g oing l etters of
M rs M acdonald and M i ss R ose B H amilton and
. .
,

bein g familiar wi th th e facts and i ncidents th erei n

set forth I would add my endorsement to them as
,

bei ng i n strict accord w ith the truth .

“
M r Wack stated h is dream as h e has writte n
.
2 14 ON DREAM S .

of it i n the articl e wh ich I understand he has sub

m i t t ed to you on th e morni ng of 3 ot h D ecember
, ,

1 89 1 .H e came upon and drew our attention to

the newspaper articles on th e even ing of 3 ot h
D ecember and on the morni n g of 3 I st D ecember
, ,

1891 .I t was th ese newspaper d ispatches W hich

made the dream i nteresting and th ereafter i t was ,

freely discussed .

C E M A C D O N AL D . . .

M r H W S mith an A ssociate M ember O f th e

. . .
,

A merican B ranch writes to D r H odgson in connec ,

.

tion with the case

“
O FFI C E O F S M I T H A U S TR I A N C O M M I SS I O N MER C H AN T S
, ,

“
90 E 6T H S TREET P R O D U C E E X C H A N G E
4M Apri l
2 .
, ,

“
S T P A U L M I NN
.
,
.
, I 1 89 ,
2.

MY D EA R S I R ,

“
I t has been imposs ible for me to accept
M r Wack s invitation to meet at hi s house th e
.
’

wi tnesses h e cited i n h is comm uni cation to you I .

have already written you of my prel im inary i nterview

with M r Wack and it confi rms in my own m i nd
.
,

th e h igh opi nion wh ich I previousl y h eld O f h im

th rough our acquaintancesh ip extendin g over a series ,

of years There is no reasonable doubt i n my m ind

.

that th e statem ent h e makes is substantially correct ,

at least as respects any and al l allegations of fact .

O f course the application of these facts to an um

known force is a matter upon whi ch I cannot speak .

H E R BE R T W S M I TH . .

Mr . Wack had O ften passed over th e route ,

 T ELE P ATH I C AND DUA L P ERSONAL I T Y . 2 15

wh i ch may account somewhat for the reason wh y

h e should h ave seen the event .

Th e fol l owing are also i nteresti ng from the sam e

point O fV iew 1

1 8 84

l
.

M r F rancis A lvey D arwin of C reske d H all

.
, ,

Pool L eeds sends us the followin g narrative taken

, , ,

down by h i m from th e l ips of Will iam M yers bail iff

l
,

and ex keeper on the C resk e d estate and E l izabeth

-
, ,

h is wi fe both of whom S ign the accou nt

,
.

“
S ome years ag o I was asl eep i n bed here abou t ,

12 to I A M and dreamt that I was out watch i ng

. .
,

i n a certai n place where two gates face each other ,

near my house ; that four poach ers came up to m e

th rou g h those gates and that I seized hold of two
of them one i n each h and a nd shook them and
, ,

struggled wi th them at th e same time sh outin g for ,

assistance M y cries and strugg les awoke my w i fe

.
,

wh o woke m e up at once I told h er what my dream

had been and that I had had a hard fi g h t J ust about
, .

that very tim e and at the very pl ace I saw in m y ,

dream four poach ers di d make thei r appearance

,

and stoned some O f our men who were watch i ng

th ere .

“
When they cam e to see m e i n the morning ,

before I had any conversation with any one I t ol d ,

them at once I knew al l about it describing to them ,

i n presence of my wi fe both the num ber of men

and th e place where they had come across th em .

1
Vo liii. v .
, p art xxii . ofProceed i ng s S PP. . .
2 16 ON DREAMS .

M y wife will corroborate all I say as to my

cries and strugg les of wh ich I mysel f was quite
,

unconscious till she woke me We thou g h t i t a .

curious dream at the time .

( S i g ned ) W I LL I AM M Y E R S
E L I Z ABETH M Y E R S .

PU M P C OU RT -

ll
3 ,

T E M PLE , E C . .
,
I 4t/z A arc i , 1 884 .

D EA R SI R ,

I n answer to your letter of the l

“
ot h inst

I have no doubt that th e place near the gates referred

to was a place which he knew perfectly well that
poachers would be almost sure to pass i n order to
s et a certain wood I do not th i nk that the place
.

w as ever re g ularly w at ch ed as th ere is no cover

l ,

to h ide any men i n but the g ates would certainly

,

be frequently marked i n order that it m ight be

ascertained i f any one had gone throu g h them or
n ot yours truly
, ,

S F R AN C IS A L V E Y D A R W I N
( igned ) .

Befor e
dismissi n g th is dream as a mere acci
dental coi ncidence th e reader should refer to D r
, .

A K Y ou ng s case ( Pnantasms ofMe Li v i ng vol i

. .
’

, .

p. where the dreamer stri kes out violently at

I mag i nary foes —i n a scene where an assault is being

actually committed upon a tenant of h is own .

I n th e next case there is no suggestion of matte r

o n wh ich th e dream -sel f could have worked except ,

th e fact that on th e previous evenin g the dreamer

had h eard a cart rapid y driven l .
 T ELE P ATH IC AN D DUA L P E RSONAL I T Y . 2 17

“
TUR N OURS H A LL ,

N EA R C H I G W ELL ,
ES S EX , u
j y
/ ,
1 88 8 .

S tatement by William Bass farm baili ff to M rs , .

P alm er
“
O n the night o f Good F riday went to ,
I 8 84 I ,

bed at hal f-past ten and very soon fell asleep J ust
,
.

before th e clock struck on e I awoke i n violent agitatio n

and profuse perspiration I told my wi fe I dreamt .

that someth i n g was wron g at the farm s tables and I ,

was so convinced that i t was th e fact that I S hould get

up at once and go there S he persuaded m e to l ie .

down agai n ( I was si tting up i n bed and th e ni g h t was

cold ) S till I could not rest A t a quarter to two I
. .

d ressed hastil y and taking a lamp and matches with

,

m e went as fast as I could to the stabl es ( distant about

a thi rd O f a mile ) I at once perceive d th e place had
.

been broken into and that a grey mare had been

stol en F rom appearance W h ere the mare had lai n I
.

jud g ed sh e had been taken away about t w o hours

previously .

( S igned ) W I LL I A M B A SS .

Mr J B . . . S urg ey , enclosi ng th is account writes as ,

follows
H LLA N D S TREET
2 2 O ,

K EN S I N G T N 9 Mfa/y
O , , 1 8 88 .

D E A R MR M Y E R S .
,

“
Probabl y a few l i nes will be acceptable to
you beyond those to whi ch Will iam Bass has signed
h is name Before being employed as baili ff h e was
.

coachman at T urnours H all and has been thirty t wo ,

-

years i n h is place a thoroughly trustworth y straigh t

, ,
2 18 ON D REAMS .

forward and th e most unimaginative matter O ffact ,

- -

fellow conceivable B efore h i s dream of Good F riday

.
,

1 8 8 4 he was never known to speak of one

, I had all .

particulars of it al most immediately but only j otted ,

th em down l ast week I asked i f he coul d guess

.

h ow lon g he had been dreamin g when he awoke N0 .

,

not poss ible to guess ; but he was i n a horribl e frigh t

‘ ’
and his sh irt was drippi ng with perspiration by ,

whi ch h e supposed h e m i g ht have been i n a state of

excitement a good wh il e — V ery truly yours ,

J B . . S U R G EY .

M r B ass has S ince been i nterviewed by M r

. .

B arkworth wh o writes °

I SM Ap ri l
, 1 8 90 .

William B ass confi rmed h is previous evidence to

m e th i s day .

“
A bout the ti me when th e i ncident occurred ( and
for a long while afterwards ) systemati c horse -steal ing
had g one on i n the neighbourhood but B ass has no ,

recollection of bei n g specially anxious about th is .

Pressed as to the detail s of th e dream he recollected ,

that he saw the horses i n th e dream and had a vi v i d ,

‘
impression of somethi n g wrong but what i t was h e ’

di d not know A l thou g h thus vague the i mpression

.
,

was so stron g as to be i rresistible so that althou g h h i s

,

wi fe be gg ed h im to go to sleep ag ai n he lay awake for

about one and a quarter hours until he could bear i t
no lon g er when he got up and went to the stable
,
.

“
H is wi fe confirmed all th is particularly as to hi s
,

having twi ce said there was something wrong i n the

 T ELE PA TH IC AND DUA L P ERSONA L I T Y . 2 19

stable and h e must g o and see to i t H e had al ways .

reproach ed her since with havi ng prevented h is going

to th e stab l e when he fi rst awoke B ass states h e i s .

not i n the habit of dreamin g Pressed as to any .

previous experience of th e ki nd h e said that abou t ,

twenty years ago h e dreamt he saw h is father dead .

Th e father who was qui te well at th e ti me di ed

, ,

suddenly ten days afterwards

l
.

The two followi n g dream s proved distinctly usefu

i n that they were th e means of averti n g a very serious
dan g er M r B ri g hten ( by whom they were experi
. .

enc ed ) is know n to M r Podmore wh o concurs i n wh at .

,

appears to be the estimate generally formed O f that

g entl eman namely that he i s a sh rewd unimaginative
, , , ,

fi
practical man .

I owned a th irty v e-ton schooner and i n A u g ust

1 -
, ,

1 876 ,
in very cal m weath er I dropped anchor i n th e
T hames at the north sh ore opposite G ravesend as i t , ,

was impossible to get to th e other side there bein g no ,

wind
Th e current being exceedi n g ly swift at that part
we let out plen ty of chai n cabl e before goi ng to
bed I had captai n and crew O fth ree men on board
.
,

besides visi tors Towards morni ng I found mysel f

.

l yi ng awake i n my ( owner s ) cabi n wi th the words ’

ri ngi ng i n my ears ‘Wake wake you ll be ru n

’

, , ,

’
down I waited a few m oments then dropped off ,

to sleep bu t was again awakened by the same words

,

ri ngin g i n my ears U pon th is I leisurely pu t o n .

some cloth es and went on deck and found the tid e

1
Vo li i i
. v .
, p ar t xxii . ofProceed i ng s 5 . P R
. .
2 20 ON DREAMS .

rush in g past very swiftly and that we were enveloped ,

i n a dense fog and all was cal m and quiet i n the early
,

mornin g and th ere was already some dayl i g h t I paced

,
.

the deck once or tw ice then went below undressed , , ,

g ot i nto my berth and fell asleep only ,

to be a g ai n ,

awakened by the sa m e words I then somewhat more .

hastily dressed went on deck and cl imbed some w ay

, ,

up th e rig g ing to g et above th e fog and was soon i n ,

a bri g ht clear atmosphere wi th the fo g l i ke a sea at

,

my feet when looki n g round I saw a lar g e vessel

,

beari ng down di rectl y upon us I fell rath er than .

,

s crambled out of the ri gg ing rushed to the forecastle

, , ,

shouted to the captain w h o rushed on deck explained

l
l
,

a i n a word or t wo he ran to the tiller u nlashed i t

, ,
,

put it hard a port ; th e swift current acti n g upon th e

-

rudder caused th e boat to slew across and upward i n

the current when on cam e the large vessel passi ng
,

ou r side and i t would h ave cleared us but her anchor

,

wh ich she was carrying ( having li fted i t i n consequence

o f having h eaved anchor at ow tide wi th very l ittl e l
cable ) caught in our chai n wh en she swung round and
came alon g side fortunatel y however doin g us very
, , ,

little damage I at once j umped on her deck and

.

woke up some men w h o appeared on deck i n various

stages of intoxication w h o stupidly wanted to remai n,

as they were but by din t of coaxing and th reateni n g

,

i n turn I i nduced them to take som e turns at th ei r

,

capstan wh ich had the e ffect of freeing th eir anchor

,

from my chain and she soo n left us and dropped her

,

anchor a little lower dow n I at once narrated the .

above facts to the captain and next day i nformed ,

 T ELE P A TH IC AN D DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 22 1

my visitors of the voi ce to wh ich we all owed ou r

preservation I cannot thi nk that i t was really a
.

human voice as i n consequence O fthe fog no one could

have seen th e relative positi on of the vessels and no ,

other vessels were near us wi th i n half a m ile or m ore .

M y visitors at once desi red me to return to G reenwich

and disconti nued thei r trip .

W I LL I AM E B R I G HTEN . .

A R G YLL H O U S E
“
,

S O U T H EN D O N -S E A 6 M D ecembe 8 8 4
-
, r, 1 .

I was one of the visitors on th e occasion above

referred to and M r B righten related the occurrence
, .

to us on th e followi ng day .

R O BE R T P A R K E R
l
.

S o i ci t or .

31, L I VERP O O L S TREET ,

LON DON .

SO much for th e fi rs t of M r B righten s premoni .

’

tory dreams The second is certai nly O fno less s in g u

.

lar a character .

I was servi ng my articl es to a sol ici tor i n the city

of N orwich at the time o f th e following dream and ,

althou g h it happened i n M arch of th e year 1 8 6 1 i t i s ,

as fresh and vivid i n my m emory as i f i t happened

yesterday and I have frequently narr ated i t I n that
, .

year M r C ( also an articled cl erk ) havin g purchased

. .
,

a lon g paddle steamer for river use ( of a C lass since

supplanted by th e launch es of the present day ) ,

arranged with me that we should have a week s ’

h ol iday i n th e steamboat so puttin g our provisions

,

on board we ( perhaps rashly ) started wi thout any

,
2 22 ON D REAMS .

engineer or attendant of any ki nd O ur trip was a .

pleasant one from N or wich to Y armouth and we ,

proceeded up the N orth R iver i e R i ver B ure as , . .

, ,

far as A cle returning that nigh t to the N orth Q uay

, ,

G reat Y armouth W here we were conveniently moored

,

s tem and stern to a W herry the local name for

barges conveyi n g g oods ) and w e turned i n about
9 30 P M The cabi n was com fortable and we were
.

able to enj oy our beds as at home and I mus t ,

describe the doors as t wo small foldi n g doors secured ,

by shutti n g from th e i nside ag ai nst th e threshold and ,

at the top by a hatch comi ng over and s ecured with

'

bar top and bottom I must h ave S lept some hours

, .

before my dream commenced I thou g h t m y eyes

.

o pened ,and that the t O p of th e cabi n h ad become

transparent and I could see two dark figures floatin g
,

i n the ai r about th e funnel They appeared to be i n

.

earnest converse poi nti n g towards the mouth of th e

,

river and then at the ropes by wh ich the boat w as

moored ; at last they t urned to each oth er and after ,

s ome gestures th ey seemed to have resolved upon a

p l an of action and each fl oated i n th e air one to the

, ,

stem and the other to th e stern holding out a forefi nger

, ,

and at the same moment each forefi n g er touched a

rope and i nstantly burned i t li ke a red -hot iron The .

b oat th us freed at once dri fted with t h e rapid ebb ,

fi rs t passed th e quay under the suspension brid g e then ,

under the i ron bridge the n across the b road waters o f

,

B raydon towards Y armouth bridge then down bet ween ,

th e long l i ne s of shippi ng there A ll th is time t wo

.

figures were floating i n the ai r above the boat and ,

 T ELE P A TH I C AND D UAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 223

b oth g ivin g forth musical sounds I thought I tried .

to break the spell upon me and wake m y companion ,

for I knew that i f we dri fted out to sea w e should

certai nly be s wamped crossing th e bar but I lay ,

there helpl ess M y eyes apparen tly saw every famil iar
.

obj ect along th e t w o and a hal f m iles to the sea A t .

last we passed S outhtow n then the village O f Gor ,

l eston and we came to the sharp last turn of the

,

river where the s wi ft waters were h urrying and

tumbl i ng over the bar to th e broad sea beyond ;
and i n those waters w e were soon wh i rl in g when ,

th e musi cal sounds wh ich had n ever ceased were

, ,

ex changed by th e t wo dark figures for h ideou s

s creams of tri umph as the boat rapidly began to si nk .

A t last the waters appeared to reach m y mouth and ,

I was drow ni n g choki n g ,Wi th a wild e ffort I .

b ounded from the couch burst th e doors outwards

, ,

sh i veri n g them to p ieces and found mysel f ( i n my

,

nigh t cloth es ) awake outside the ruined doors on a

-

calm bright moonl i g ht ni g h t and i nsti nctively tu rned

, ,

to the head rope ; to m y horror i t had j ust parted , .

T urning for the boath ook I saw beside me my friend C . ,

w h o had been arous ed by th e crash and h e shouted ,

that h e saw the stern rope go at the same ti me W e .

both held on despai rin g ly to th e boathook bru is in g ,

our u nprotected sh ins but our cries woke up the

,

wherryman wh o c ame to our assistance supplyi ng

, ,

fresh ropes and we were made s nug for th e rest o f

,

th e night M y friend upbraided m e for th e wreck o f

.

h is doors and I at once told h i m the whole of th e

,

above dream by wh ich I was th en very much exci ted

,
.
2 24 ON D REAM S .

N ext day I could calmly reflec t that had remai ne d we

asleep when th e ropes parted th e tragedy I dreamed
of must i nevitably have taken place i n all its l iteral
detail .

W I L L I AM E B R I G HTEN . .

A R G YLL H O U S E ,

S O U T H E N D E SS E X 1 88 4
l
, , .

Witness M r J W C abburn Guild H ouse

,
. . .
, ,

Thorpe N orwich states

,

I was wi th M r B ri g hten on the occasion referred

.

to and my knowled g e of th e matter commenced w ith

,

bei n g awakened by the crash of th e doors upon wh ich ,

I went out and saw M r B righten with th e boathook

.
,

i n an excited state tryin g to hold th e bows of t h e

,

boat I saw the stern rope part th e bow rope had

.
,

already g one T he whole scene passed i n a moment

. .

M r B righten at once rel ated h is dream to me as

.

above .

J AM E S W C LABBU R N . .

A R GY LL H O U S E ,

S O U T H EN D , 6 M D ecember , 1 88 4 .

E ach experience i s unique and I have neve r ,

had any oth er d ream or voice warnin g of impending

d ang en
N eith er am I a dreamer at all beyond the ordinary
run of manki nd I can have no possible obj ection to
.

have my nam e appended to the statements .

W I L L I A M E B R I G HTE N . .

F ew of our narratives are more diffi cult than these

to ra nge under any one of our definite classes . In
 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P ERSONA L I T Y . 2 25

some way M r B righ ten obtai ned a connai ssance sup er z

.

eure as M
,
R ich et term s it ; i n some way he became
.

aware of impendi ng dan g ers wh ich no ordi nary facul ty

could have revealed A re we to call i t clai rvoyance
.

or premonition or com mu nication from any embodied

or u nembodied m i nd '
I will now quote one or two i nstances out of th e
many known and investi g ated where the dream has ,

been th e means of discovering a lost arti cle T h e .

first is as follows
F rom M r A Broc k e bank 2 o M arsden R oad
. . l , ,

E ast D ulwi ch S E , . .
1

14 M juy l , 1 8 84 .

S ome years ag o I lost a pocket kni fe I th i n k - .

i t was some s ix month s afterwards — when I had for

g otten e nti rel y the loss of th e k ni fe and th e subj ect ,

never recurred to my memory i n any way whatever

I dreamt one night that it was i n th e pocket of a
certai n pai r of trousers I had cast O ff I suppose about ,

th e same time as th e loss of my kn ife I awoke an d .

,

lay awake som e time till it occurred to me to prove ,

th e truth of my dream I went upstai rs in search of .

the said pai r of trousers and sure enou g h there i t was ,

as I had dreamt The peculiarity of th e above is th is

.
,

that wh en I was awake and in my senses no trai n of

thou g h t or retracing of my mem ory would carry m e
back to th e pai r of trousers or to th e knife and i t w as ,

quite as an experiment that I went in search of th em .

A UG U S T US BR O C K ELBAN K .

1
Vo liii
. v .
, p ar t xxii . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .

15
22 6 ON D REAM S .

There is much in such a flash of memory as m igh t

sometimes occur i n waki ng hou rs fo r i t is probable
l
,

that M r Broc k e bank had at one ti me observed that

.

the kni fe was in that pocket H e may have very .

rapidly forgotten the fact but nevertheless th ere was

probably som e supral imi nal knowledge for the dream
to revi ve .

We will now take three cases wh ere the memory

i n th e waking state was i ncapab e of seei n g th e lost l
article 1

4M Febr uary ,
1 88 9 .

O n reachin g M orley s H otel at 5 clock on ’

O
’

l
T uesday 2 9 t h J anuary 1 8 8 9 I m issed a gold brooch
, , , ,

wh i ch I supposed I had eft in a fi tting room at S wan

8: E d g ar s
’

I sent there at once but was very

.
,

disappoi nted to hear that after a dilige nt search th ey

could not find the brooch I was very vexed and .
,

worried about th e brooch and that night dreamed that ,

I should find i t sh ut up i n a number of the Q ueen

newspaper that had been on th e table and in m y ,

dream I saw the very page where i t would be I had .

noticed one O fthe plates o n that pa g e D irectly after .

breakfast I went to S wan 81 E dgar s and asked to ’

see the papers at the same time telling the youn g

,

ladies about th e dream and where I had seen the ,

brooch T he papers had been moved from that room

.
,

but were found and to th e astonishment O f the young

,

‘
ladies I said : Th is is the one that contai ns my
,

1
Vo liii
. v .
, p art x xii . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
 T ELE P A TH I C AND D UA L P ERSONAL I T Y . 227

b rooch ; and there at the very pag e I expected I

’

found i t .

A M B I C K F O R D S M I TH
-
. . .

We received a substantially similar account from

M rs B ickford -S mith s brother -i n-law M r H A
.
’

, . . .

S mith who was a wi tness of th e troubl e taken to fi nd

,

the brooch both at th e hotel and by sendin g to S wan

, ,

E dg ar s on th e previous evenin g
’

,
.

Y et h ere be i t observed M rs B i ckford -S mi th had

, , .

not had an opportunity of hersel f i nspectin g th e scene

of th e loss H ad she returned to S wan
. E d g ar s ’

before th e dream it is poss ible that th e S i g ht of th e

l
l
,

books on th e table m i g ht have revi ved some reco ec

tion of seein g th e brooch between th e leaves of the
Q ueen .

I n th e next case w e cannot absol utel y prove that

M rs Yates did not put the photo g raphs i n the drawer
.

h ersel f or casually see that a parcel was i n th e drawer

-
,

—
i f some one else put them there but th e fact of the
lon g search of the refusal to bel i eve th e dream makes
, ,

th is explanation dubious I may ad d that M rs Y ates . .

( known to M r G urney and mysel f )

. has had other
experiences — O f a telepath i c or clai rvoyant kind .

F rom M rs Y ates 44 M ontpelier R oad B ri g hton

.
, ,

8 84
'
1

A bout five years since I had sent me by a friend , ,

som e unmounted photographs of T h e S tations of the “

C ross taken i n mi niature from frescoes at R om e with

”
, ,

the request that after i nspection I would immediatel y

return them as they were valued I placed them i n
,
.

a n envelope and as I thou g ht i n th e secretaire but

, , , ,
2 28 ON DREAM S .

o n finishi ng a letter i n which I intended to return them ,

to my d ismay they were nowhere to be found W e

,
.

s earch ed unceasingly but fruitlessly I submi tted , .

m eekl y to reproofs for my carelessness and so th e ,

m atter passed out O f thought .

“
M ore than a twelvemonth after I dreamt I took
out a top S hort drawer i n a wardrobe that stood i n a
then unused dressing -room and found th e li ttle pi ctures ,
.

I t w ill naturally be asked D id you not th e first thi n g , ,

i n the morn i ng ascertain wh ether yo ur dream had

,

anyth ing i n i t by removing th e drawer ,

I did not .

I mentioned it to m y famil y but it had no special ,

i nterest for them and i t was no more thought of but ,

several months after on th e removal of th e wardrobe ,

to another part of the house th e drawers bein g taken ,

out to li g hten it there snu g ly enough lay the envelope

'
, , ,

and th e l ittle pi ctures I h ave them mou nted and

framed .

Th e wife of th e R ev W F B rand Em ort on . . .

, ,

H arford C o M aryland wri tes as follows under date

.
, , ,

Fi nd ow say 2 9 t h M arch 1 8 8 4
, ,

M r B rand asked m e one day to give h im the

.

1 0 0 dollars that he had g iven m e to put away for

h im . I felt startled for I did not remember that ,

h e had g iven them to me H owever I went to th e .

,

place where I usually put money and looked I t was .

not th ere I looked i n several other not improbabl e

.

places but could not find i t B y degrees I search ed

, .

i n every drawer and box and corner l i kely or even , , ,

impossible but without success N i g ht came and I

, .

had not found i t I was m uch disturbed for the los s

.
,
 T ELE PA TH IC AND DUA L P ERSONAL I T Y . 2 29

was a large one for us ; but e v en more than for th e

l oss we were concerned at the thou g h t of any one
about me havi ng taken i t B efore g oin g to bed I .

prayed very earnestly that I m ight fi nd i t ; or i f not , ,

that suspicion m i g h t not fall upon an i n nocent person .

I n the cou rse O f th e n i g h t I dream t that I found th e

money i n the m iddle O fa bu ndle of shawls that had
been put away during th e sum mer and carefully ,

wrapped up for protection a g ainst moths I n my .

dayligh t m i nd th i s place seeme d to m e an absurd one

to look i n but my dream impressed me a good deal
, ,

and I unfastened the shawl s ( I th ink they were sewed

up ) and there was th e lost treasure
,
.

I should l i ke to say whether my dream wakened

m e i n th e nigh t but I do not remember I did not
,
.

look unti l th e morni ng I never have been able to.

recall th e fact of m y puttin g th e money away nor , ,

indeed of M r B rand g ivi n g i t i nto m y care althou g h

,
.
,

i t was an u nusual thing for hi m to do i n those days .

Then here are three cases where i t seems quite

’

i mpossibl e to suppose that th e seeker s supral imi nal

’
con sciousness was ever aware of th e lost article s
position
l
l
.

F rom M rs C rellin 6 2 H i d rop C rescent N

.
, ,
.
1

1 8 84 .

W hen a school girl I one day fooli shly removed

from my F rench teacher s hand a ring which I i n fun ’

, , ,

transferred to m y own O n removing it from m y .

finger j ust before goin g to bed I found that a ston e ,

1
Vo liii
. v .
, r xxi i
pa t . of Proceed i ng s S . P R
. .
230 ON DREAMS .

had fallen out of the ring and I was much troubled ,

about it especially as the ring had been given to m y

,

teacher We had four class -rooms and as I had been

.
,

moving from one to another in the course of th e even

ing I could not hope to find th e lost stone I how
,
.
,

ever i n my dreams that night saw the stone lying on

,

‘
a certain plank in the floor of our drill i n g room and '
-
’

on awakin g I dressed hastily and went direct to th e

spot marked i n my dream and recovered the l ost stone
,
.

This narrati ve has nothing thrilli ng in it but its ,

simplicity and exactness may commend it to your

”
notice .

M r Gurney adds
.

“
I n conversation w ith me M rs C rell in described , .

the four class -rooms as good sized rooms which i t wou l d ,

h ave taken a lon g time to search over S he h ad been .

about i n a l l O fthem i n the course of th e evening S h e .

is positive that she went quite straight to the spot .

S he is an excell ent witness .

M rs J W indsor S tuart O fF oley H ouse R othesa y

. .
, ,

N B —well known to me contributes a si milar experi

. .

ence but with the additional poi nt of interest that th e

,

rin g was seen not as it must have looked when searched

,

for but glisteni ng with d ew as i t actually was at th e time

, ,

of the dream The incident is remote but Mr S tuart

.
‘
.

remembers bein g told of the i nci den t i n th e same form

much nearer the actual date .

3 0 Mjanuary , 1 892 .

I n the early autum n of 1 8 6 4 my father ( the late ,

C aptain Wm C ampbell ) was l iv ing at S nettisham

.
,
 T ELE PA TH I C AN D DUA L P ER SONA L I T Y . 23 1

N orfol k We had a croquet party A mong th e g uests

. .

was a young man George Gambier ( nephew of the

,

late artist M r Gambier Parry ) at th e ti me an agri

.
,

cultural pupil of th e late M r C harl es Preed y agent on .

,

th e H unstanton estate A s M r Gambier was about

. .

to mount his horse and ri de hom e he sudden l y said , ,

‘I have lost the O pal out of m y ri ng I wou l d not .

have done this for the world ; it belon g ed to m y

father I remember seei ng it as I rang the bell on
.

arrivi ng so that i t must have d ropped out since I

,

We a l l set to work to hunt for th e stone

’

came h ere .

by walki n g up and down the law n in line bu t witho ut ,

success .

“
There were t wo copper -beech trees one j ust on ,

th e lawn near the house the other a l ittle further back

, ,

above the embankment made i n layi ng off th e lawn ,

bu t spreadin g a little over it I n the early morni ng .

I dreamed I saw th e stone sh ining under a leaf that

had fal l en from the tree close to the edge of th e bank
, .

I saw th e whole scene viv idly the d ew drops sparklin g ,

i n th e sun and the stone i n my dream I woke so

, , .

much i mpressed by my dream that I at once got up

and dressed and went out I t was about S i x O clock .
’

on a lovely morning I went out by the garden door

.

directly on to the lawn and wal ked up to the tree seei n g

, ,

everyth i n g as i n my dream and found the stone with ,

out further looki n g j ust under the l eaf as I had seen

,

it
.

F LO R A S T UA R T .
‘
2 32 ON D REAM S .

J L S qui res . .
1

P R O F J AME S .
,

D EAR S I R ,

“
I am i nformed that you are at th e head of
the B oston branch of th e E ngl ish S ociety of Psych ical
R esearch and be g to call your attention to a si ngular
,

i ncident wh ich took place near here s om e time ag o ,

and which has never been chron icled I t is i n brief .

, ,

as follows
A young man o f this place J L S quires by name ,
. .
,

w as at work on the farm O f T L J oh nson with . .

,

a nother young man Wesley D avis w h o was o ne d ay , ,

far from th e buildin g s mendi n g fence around a lar g e

p asture S qui res .w as not with h im nor had he ever ,

been far i nto the pasture A t som e time duri n g th e .

day D avis lost h is watch and chai n from the vest

pocket and although he search ed dili g entl y could not
, ,

find i t as he had no idea as to the probable local ity

,

of the watch A lthough onl y a silver watch D av is

.
,

worked for a l ivin g and could hardly afford its loss .

I n his sympathy for h is fri end S qui res could not ,

keep h is m i nd off the watch and after t wo o r th ree ,

days thi nki n g of i t went to bed one ni g ht still thi nki ng

,

of it D uring th e ni g ht he had a dream or v ision as

.
, ,

w e may call i t and saw the watch lyi ng on th e g round

,

with the C hai n coiled in a peculiar position ; roc k s ,

trees and all th e su rroundin g s were perfectly plai n

to h i m Telling h is story at the breakfast table h e
.
,

w as of course well lau g hed at but bei ng so convinced

, , ,

1
Vo lx i. .
, par t xxix . ofProceed i ng s S P R . . .
 T ELE P A TH I C AND DUA L P E RSONA L I T Y 23 3

that he could go straigh t to the watc h he saddled a ,

horse and fou nd i t exactly as he expected to .

“
A ll th e parties concerned are wholly honest and
reliabl e I will h ave a detailed statement sworn to i f
.

y ouwould l ike i t .

J O H N E G ALE . .

Gu d i l ford
m ont , V er .

I n the month O fM arch 1 8 8 7 I J esse L S qu ires , , , .

,

o f Guildford i n the co unty of Wi ndham and S tate of

, ,

V ermont bei n g then i n the twenty th i rd year of my

,
-

a g e be g an working for T L J ohnson a farmer l iv i ng

,
. .
,

i n th e to w n aforesaid .

I n the month of S eptember followin g — th e exact

d ay of th e month I do not remember — I was about
one mile from the farm buildi ngs with a young man
named W esl ey D avis w i th whom I had for sever a
,
l
years been acquai nted and who h ad been worki ng ,

with m e at said J ohnson s for several months looki ng

’

after some cattle that had strayed from a past ure Th e .

cattle eigh teen or twenty h ead wer e fo und i n a lar g e

, ,

m ow lot and seeing us started to run away i n a d i rec

, ,

t ion opposite to that i n wh ich w e W ished to drive th em .

I n order to h ead off th e cattle and turn them back ,

D avis ran one way and I th e oth er and while run ni n g ,

D avis lost his watch and chai n from his vest pocket ,

but did not discover h is loss until eigh t or ni ne O clock ’

that night when it was of course too late to searc h

, , ,

for it B elieving that h e must have lost th e watch

.

wh ile en g aged i n getting the cattle back into th e

pasture D avis and myself returned to the place the
,
23 4 O N D REAMS .

next morning an d looked for the watch all the fore

noon N ot having any idea O f the probable local ity
.

i n which the watch was lost and not bei n g at all cer ,

tai n that i t was lost while after the cattle we did not ,

succeed i n findin g it althou g h w e searched for i t until

,

twelve o c l ock Th e watch was one that D avis h ad

’
.

had for some tim e and he was much attach ed to it and

, ,

fel t very badly about h is loss H e worked h ard for .

fi
h is l iving and could not afford to lose th e watch for
, ,

wh ich h e had paid twenty - v e dol l ars I fel t sorry for .

him and thought about the watc h conti nua l ly all th e

,

after noon after we returned from loo k i ng for it and -

,

w as still th inking of it when I went to sleep that

ni g h t .

D urin g my s l eep at what hour I could not tell I

, ,

saw the watch as i t lay upon the g round i n the m ow

lot over a m ile away I t was i n th e tall grass at l east

, .
,

ten i nches hi g h T he face of th e watch was turned up

.
,

and the small steel chai n wh i ch was attached to i t lay ,

l ike a half-circle A bout th ree feet fro m the watch

.

was a larg e spot W h ere th e grass had been crushed and

matted by a creature lyi ng dow n ; abo ut ten rods t o
th e north was a brush fence ; about ten or twelve feet
to th e eastward of th e watch was a gran ite cobble stone
one or t wo feet i n d iameter which lay about ha l f out ,

of the g roun d When I awoke the next mornin g

.
,

wh i ch was S u nday I fel t as certai n th at I could go

,

straight to the watch as if I had really seen it and told ,

D avis so and tried to have h im g o out and g et i t H e

,
.

had no faith i n my v ision‘ ‘dream or whatever it ’ ’

, ,

may be ca ll ed and would not g o I n spite of th e j ests

,
.
 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P E RSONAL I T Y . 23 5

and lau gh ter O fthe enti re family I saddled a horse and ,

went di rectly to th e watch wh ich I found with all its

,

surroundi ngs exactly as I had S een it I w as not .

nearer than forty rods to D avis when th e watch was

lost as I ascertai ned after i t was found .

Th e watch had run down and stopped the hands ,

poi ntin g to 9 40 o c l ock wh ich I also noted i n my

’

dream .

L S Q U I RE S
J . . .

G I U LD F R D O ,

V ER M NT O , 4M M arc/z , 1 892 .

I h ereby certi fy that I have known th e above J .

L S qui res for over twenty years and that I know h i m

.
,

to be strictly temperate honest and truthful

, H e h as .

always been i n th e best of hea l th H e tells m e that h e .

has recently had an experience similar to the above ,

wh ich I wil l send you i f you wish , .

I f th e above is ever put i n type please te l l me

“
,

where I can get a copy .

J O H N E G A LE . .

j u f
st i ce o M e Peace .

A nalogous to the above are th ree cases publ ished

i n the Proceed i ng s of Me A m er i can S P
. . R .
,
V ol . I .

No . M arch 1 8 8 9 : ,

A number of years ag o I was i nvited to visi t a

friend who lived at a large and beautiful country -seat
on the H udson S hortly after my arrival I started
.
,

with a num ber of other g uests to make a tour of th e ,

very extensive grounds We walked for an hour or

.

more and very thoroughly explored the place U pon .

236 ON DREAM S .

my return to the house I discovered that I had lost a

’
gold cu ff-stud that I val ued for association s sake I
,
.

m erely f em em bered that I wore it when we started out ,

and did not th ink O for notice it ag ai n u ntil my return ,

when i t was m issi ng A s it was qui te dark i t seemed

.
,

useless to search for it especially as i t was the season

,

of autum n and t h e g round was covered with dead

l eaves That night I dreamed that I saw a withered
.

g rape vine clin g in g to a wall and wi th a pile of d ead

-
,

leaves at the base U nderneath th e leaves i n my

.
,

dreams I disti nctl y saw my stud gleami n g

,
The .

followi n g mornin g I asked th e friends with whom I had

been walkin g th e previous afternoon i f t h ey remem
bered seei ng any such wall and vi ne as I did not ,
.

T hey repl ied that th ey could not recall anythi n g

answering the description I did not tell th em why I .

asked as I felt somewhat ashamed of the dream but

, ,

d uri ng the morni ng I made some excuse to go out i n

the ground s alon e I walked h i th er and th ither and
.
,

after a lon g time I suddenly came upon th e wall and

v i ne exactly as they looked i n my dream I h ad not .

the sli g htest recollection of seein g them or passi ng

them o n th e previous day Th e dead leaves at th e .

base were l yi ng heaped up as i n m y dreams I ap ,

.

p roach ed cautiously feelin g rather uncom fortable and

,

decidedly silly and pushed them aside I had scattered

, .

a large number of th e l eaves when a gleam of g old

struck my eye and there l ay the stud exactl y as i n
, ,

my dream M y friends refused to believe when I told

.

th em and vowed there was some tri ck about it but as

,
,

I had not told any one the particulars of th e dream ,

 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 23 7

that was impossib l e and the matter w i l l a l ways be

,

‘
somewhat uncanny i n my memory .
”

F rom GE . and S urveyor

CA L I FO RN I A ,

2 6 M D ecember

fi
1 88 7
,
.

U pwards of twenty v e years ago I was residing

-

on the banks O f the D elaware river i n S u l livan C o , .

,

S tate of N ew Y ork B efore I l eft home my only sister

.

had presented me with a go l d ring and told m e never

to lose it I n a beauti ful l itt l e grove near th e bank of
.

said river a lot of us young folks had fixed up a scup ,

or swing among th e trees and we indulged i n that

, ,

pastime to that extent that th e la nd immediate l y under

the swing became so livel y that my foot wou l d make a
deep impression O ne beauti ful moonlight night after
.
,

getting tired of swinging I had seen my best girl home

, ,

as in duty bound and was returning along towards

,

morning as usual when I m issed my ring I t gave

, ,
.

m e quite a shock when I made t h at discovery ; th e

first impression I had was there I ve lost that ring , ,
’

but it must be found and that I would find it W ent

, .

home and searched round my room and went to bed .

H ad a hazy sort of dream about the ri ng but nothing ,

definite Got up early and searched before breakfast

. .

A fter breakfast followed the direction we had taken th e

night before to th e swi ng and from there to the y oung
,

lady s home ; but found it not I n fact I searched .

,

diligently al l day and went to bed thinking very seri

l
,

ou s
y of the ring A long towards morni ng had a very
.

impressive d ream I saw the ring covered by a littl e

.
,
23 8 ON DREAMS .

ridge of sand between t wo footprints under the swing

, .

That dream was so vivid that on awaking I could see

the road buildings fences trees swing and sand with
, , , , ,

the footprints therein the same as i n the dream and as

, ,

soon as it was l i g ht enough to see I started for that

swing not attempting to look for it on the way O n
,
.

arriv ing at the swing I walked deliberately i nto the

sand until I reached the before mentioned ridge -
,

between said footprints and with the toe of my boot ,

removed a little sand from the top of the ridge and ,

out rolled the ring The birds were singi ng overhead

.

i n the trees the river was rushin g on its way to the

,

sea a train o f cars on the Y ork and E rie R R across

, . .

the river passed along I banged my head several .

times W ith my fist to make sure I was not still i n the

land of dreams ; no I was there standing i n the sand
, , .

and there lay the rin g There was no halluci natio n

.

about that but a g ood square honest useful dream I

, , , ,
.

picked up the ring and went hom e and ate more ,

for breakfast than I had i n the last twenty -four hours ,

and I kept up an awful thinking and am thi nki ng yet ,

.

I w ould state I was about nineteen years of ag e at that

time enj oyed perfect health and thought I knew more
, ,

than all creation ; but don t think so now M y sister ’

.

was also living at that time .

S everal years after the above I had another dream ,

and th e last one but this has been so long that I will
close for th is ti me to see what you thin k of i t and ,

whether the second wi l l be of i nterest to you and will ,

merely remark that I have endeavoured to work th is

dream busi ness up to a practical us e in the years g one
 T ELE P A TH IC AN D DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 23 9

by but it has been a total failure so far can t c onc en ,

’

t rate the mi nd with that i ntenseness that seems to be

n ecessary with me to bring forth dreams .

A ny one used to narratives continues P rofessor

,

R oyce reco g nises at once that th is story as I have

,
“
,

suggested has grown not a li ttle with years and I am

, ,

not sure of more than that it has a probable foundatio n

i n fact and is no doubt S incerely told
,
.

T he thi rd case to be quoted i n this connection

h as a better basis and i s m ore cri tically told
l
.

Th e narrator is a S outhern gentleman C o A V ,

. . .

S of Texas
l
. .

I n the N ew York H era d O fD ecember 1 1 th i nst ,

.
,

I have noticed you r i nterview i n which you say that

you request any person having some unusual experi
ence such as an exceptionally vivi d dream etc should
, ,
.
,

address you Th e followin g seems to m e a very extra

.

ordinary dream for the truth of wh ich I pledge you

,

fi
m y word O fhonour
A bout v e years ago I l ived with my four ch ildren ,

one boy and three g irls on a farm i n M assachusetts

,
.

T his only son at the age of about fourteen years lost

, ,

h i s l i fe i n an accident about si x mont h s previous to th is

narration Th e you ngest of my g i rl s was the pet sister
.

o f h is si nce her bi rth M y wi fe had died some six

.

years previous to this sto ry ; bei ng motherl ess m ade

these ch ildren unusually affectionate toward each other .

O ne day I had occasion to buy for my gi rls each a

very small lady s kni fe about t w o and a half inches
’

fi
long A few days afterwards the gi rls recei ved com
.

'
pany from our neighbours g i rls some v e or s ix O f ,
2 40 ON D REAMS .

them M y youn g est one S om e ei g h t or ni ne y ears

.
,

old was so deli g hted with th is h er fi rs t knife that she

,

carried it with h er at all times : D uri ng the afternoon

the children st rolled to the large barn filled with hay ,

and at once set t o C limbi ng the m ow to play and j umping

on the hay D uri ng the excitement o f the play my
.

li ttle g irl lost her knife T his terri ble loss nearly broke
.

her heart and a l l hands set to work to find th e lost

treasure but w ithout success Th is finally broke up
, .

the party i n gloomi ness I n spite of my greates t

.

e fforts to paci fy th e child with all sorts of promises ,

S h e went to bed weepin g D urin g the ni g ht t h e ch ild

.

dreamed that her dead dear beloved brother came to

her taking her by the hand saying ‘C ome my
, , , ,

’
darling I w ill show you wh ere your little kni fe is
, ,

and leading her to the barn cli m bin g the m ow showed

, , ,

her th e knife markin g t h e place The dream was so

, .

life l i ke that she awoke j oyful ly telling her s ister that

-
,

her broth er had been h ere and showed her where

she would find her knife B oth g irls hastily dressed
.
,

and running to th e barn th e l ittle girl assisted by h er

, , ,

s ister got on top of the hay and walked direct to th e

,

spot indi cated by her brother and fou nd the knife on

top of the hay Th e whol e party sai d that they all
.

looked there many times th e day before and i nsisted ,

tha t th e knife was not there then .

Th i s I th ink is a very remarkabl e dream

, .

Y ours etc , .

I n answer to a request for further confirmation ,

conti nues Professor R oyce our correspondent writes , ,

under date O f2 9 t h D ecem ber 1 8 8 7 ,

 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P ERSO N AL I T Y . 241

Y ours ofDec em ber 2 2 nd i nst to hand A ccord in g

. .

to your request I will g ive th e statem ent of my girls .

Th e l ittle dreamer says :

I have a very v i vid recollection of my dream up
to this day I could to day walk every step that I
.
-

wal ked i n my dream with brother I cannot recollect

.

at what ti me of the night I had my d ream I don t .

think I ever was awake during the ni g ht but on wakin g ,

in th e morning I had th e feeling that I was sure I

could go and get the kni fe I told my sisters The y
. .

at first laughed at m y d ream but I i nsisted that broth er

,
'

had shown me the knife and I could not have peace

,

i n m y m ind until I went to th e barn to get it O ne .

sister went with m e O n reaching the hay I told her

.

to let m e go ahead and wal ked di rect to th e spot

,

”
w ithout hesitating a moment and picked up my knife
, .

‘S he never had any oth er similar experience and

,

no other sim ilar experience happened i n m y famil y .

The sister W h o went along with her says

“
A s we g ot up and were dressin g sister told me
,

S h e knew where her kni fe was ; that broth er took h er

out to th e barn duri ng the nigh t and showed i t to her .

I laugh ed and tried to persuade her that th is was onl y

a dream but she sai d that sh e was so sure of seein g
,

th e knife that S h e would S how it to me S h e said that

.

broth er took her by th e h and and led her to th e place

, ,

tal kin g to her all the way and tried to quiet h er S he .

would not gi ve peace until I went along O n getti n g .

on top of the hay sh e walked d irect to th e spot saying , ,

‘H ere brother pi cked the kni fe up out of th e hay ’

‘
and at once said and oh here it is picked up t h e ’

, , ,

16
2 42 ON DREAM S .

kni fe We had been lookin g th is place all over ag ai n

.
,

''
and agai n the previous eveni n g
,
.
’D

1
We quote one oth er
14 Mjanuary , 18 50 .

Th e followin g rather remarkable dream took place

o n the 2 9 t h N ovember 1 8 8 6 O n that day I gave to
l
.
,

o ur gardener G W i mot h is wag es 1 5s i n a half-sheet

, .
, ,
.

o f paper some letters to post and t wo parcels and a

, ,

n ote to leave at various houses on h is w ay home .

Th is was at s i x O clock i n th e eveni n g A bout’

.

an hour after th e g ardener returned to tell me he had

l ost his wag es I advised hi m to carefully retrace h is
.

s teps and make every i nquiry but th is h e did witho u t ,

'
success ; and as it was fair ni g ht and the town full ’

of people he at last gave it up as hopeless and returned

,

to h is hom e quite a m ile distant D uri n g th e ni g h t h e .

dreamt that he went to one of th e houses where he had

left a note and crossi n g the road after leav in g it he
, ,

wal ked i nto a mud h eap and that there h is foot struck ,

the paper contai ni n g the mo ney ; the hal f sovereign -

rolled away and the 5S remai ned under his foot H e . .

told his wi fe the dream and fall i n g asleep ag ai n he ,

dreamt the same drea m ag ai n E arly i n the morni ng .

he went to the place and found h is dream fulfilled to

the letter even to the rolli n g away of the gold and
, ,

the s i l ver remai ning i n its place .

H e is a most i ntelligent truthful man ,

S urely here are enou g h of these instances of lost

articles recovered th rou g h th e revelations of dream s
1
Vo li i i
. v .
, p art xxu ofP . rocee d i ng s S P R
. . .
 T ELE P A TH IC AND DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y 2 43

to prove to any reasonable mi nd that there i s a power

“ ”
beyond our ken wh ich on occasion can and does
help us to our material good .

H elp i n another way is also O ften sent There .

are many cases i n wh ich persons wo rried about busi ness

matters have been shown a way out of thei r d ilem mas
in a d ream the following bei n g some stri ki n g ex
,

amples 1

MY D E A R
I n accordan ce w ith your request I h erewith ,

transmit you particulars as th ey occurred of th e pecul iar ,

dream i f such i t may be called wh i ch proved of so

, ,

essential servi ce to m e .

A s I mentioned to you I had been both ered s i nce ,

S eptember with an error i n m y cash for that month ,

’
and despite many hours exami nation it defied all my ,

efforts and I al mos t gave i t up as a hopeless case I t .

had been th e subj ect o f m y waki ng thou g h ts for many

ni g hts and h ad occupied a large portion O f my leisure
,

hours M atters remai ned thus unsettled until the i l

. th

D ecember O n th is nigh t I had not to my knowled g e

.
,

on ce thou g h t of th e subj ect but I had not long been ,

i n bed and asleep when my brai n was as busy wi th

the books as though I had been at m y desk T he .

’
cash book banker s pass -books etc etc appeared
-
, , . .
,

before me and without any apparent trouble I almost

,

i mmediately d iscovered the cause of the m istake wh ich ,

had arisen out of a complicated cross entry I perfectly -

.

recollect hav ing taken a slip of paper i n my d ream and

1
Vo liii
. v .
, p ar t xxii . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
2 44 ON D REAM S .

made such a memorandum as would enable m e to

correct the error at some l eisure time and having , ,

done this that the whole of the circumstances had

,

passed from my m ind W hen I awoke i n the morning

.

I had not the slightest recollection O f my dream nor ,

did it once occur to m e th roughout the day although ,

I had th e very books before me on which I had

apparently been engaged i n my sleep W hen I returned .

home in the afternoon as I did earl y for the purpose

,

of dressing and proceeded to S have I took up a piece

, ,

of paper from my dressi ng table to wipe my razor and ,

you may imag ine my surprise at findi n g thereon the ,

very memorandum I fancied had been mad e during

th e previous night T he effect on me was such that
.

I returned to our office and turned to th e cash -book

when I found that I had really wh en asleep detected the
, ,

error which I could not detect in m y waking hours ,

and had actually j otted it down at the ti me .

I have no recollection whatever as to W here I ,

obtai ned th e writi ng materials or rath er paper and ,

pencil w ith which I made the m emorandum referred

,

to I t certainly must have been written i n the dark

.
,

and i n my bedroom as I found both paper and pencil

,

there the followi n g after noon and could not for a ,

lon g time understand anythi ng about I t The pencil .

was not one wh ich I am in the habit of carryin g and ,

my i mpression is that I must have either found i t

accidentally i n th e room or g one downstai rs for it
, .

“
J C . . E .

P S —I may add th at on a former occasion

. .
, ,

nearl y a S imilar occurrence took place ; with h ow ,

 T ELE P A TH I C AN D DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 2 45

ever th is difference that I awoke at th e conclus ion

, ,

O f th e dream and was perfectly aware when cer tainl y

awake of h aving made th e m emora ndum at that ti me .

T h is however was not the case i n the occu rrenc e

, ,

I hav e above detailed S hould v ou be l i kel y to pri nt

.

the above pl ease l et i t appear with i nitials only as

, , ,

al though I woul d corroborate i t to any one w ish i n g

for a personal satisfaction by i nquiry I have no desi re ,

to see my name i n type : i t m igh t also be prej udi cia l

”
to me .

Th e t wo cases of M r Peterson s wh ich I s hall .

’

next quote have some resemblance to D r D avey s .

’

althou g h th e percipient wh o is a stron g bel iever i n

,

spiritual i ntercourse would certai nly not i nterpret

,

them i n the same Way Th e le ng th of time h ow .

,

ever which elapsed between th e i ncidents and the

,

record must be credi ted with i ts usual effect of blurrin g

the accuracy O f details ; and i t is conce i vable that
some clue now forg otten may have suppl ied the
, ,

dream -self with a basis on which to work .

F rom M r A T T Peterson . . . .
,
Arnwood Towers ,

L ymington
I I M February ,
1 884 .

I am deeply i nterested i n coal m in es in Ben g al .

E arly i n 1 8 7 6 I was out there i nvesti g ati ng m atters

connected with a large deficiency i n th e cash account .

There was no means of gettin g at th e truth O ne .

evening I was si tti ng i n an easy chai r a li ttle befo re ,

su nset under the shade of a tree opposite the

, ,

bungalow wh ere I was staying and I fell asleep m y , ,

246 ON DREAM S .

brain being full of perplex ity as to wh i ch account was

c orrect I n my sleep I fancied I heard som e one say
.
,

‘ A sk Baboo S o and S O Th is name remained o n

- -
’
.

my memory when I awoke and I put i t down on ,

paper When my h ead confidential native came to

.

me an hour or t wo afterwards I asked wh o w as ,

Baboo S o— and -S o and I was told that h e had been

,

i n the service of several gentlemen named during th e ,

previous ten years and was then th e head Baboo to

,

a friend named S ome days after th is I sent for the

.

native and managed to get information wh ich led

,

me to discover written evidence which satisfied m y

m ind as to whose head the cap fitted .

I n answer to inquiries M r Peterson adds , .

“ ’
I n answer to your remark as to the Baboo s
name I knew there was such a person but I had
, ,

neither seen nor h eard of him for ten years and I ,

d o not think I had ever spoken to h im twice in m y

li fe H e was in no way connected with the obj ect
.

I had in vi ew althou g h h e gave collateral evidence

,

that led to the obj ect .

A T T P . . .

This O pens out a very large field on which we

might well d well l on g er did our space perm it But .

indeed many volumes could be written on so i nteresting

a subj ect I t is all a great mystery to us who know
.

so little so very l ittle of the great unknowable B ut

,
.

surely as was remarked before we must put c o

“

, ,

”
i ncidence aside T he more we strive to know the
.
,

more it is forced upon our minds how incapable we

are of grasping one smallest quota of the infinite .
 T ELE P A TH I C AND DUAL P ERSONAL I T Y . 2 47

“
W ho are we to say thus far shalt thou go and no
farther ' W ho are we to say th is cannot be so be
” “

cause I know nothing of it

I t was Pascal who understood human nature as
,

well as most of us that wrote

,
There i s enough l ight
for those who wish to see and enough darkn ess for
,

those who are of a contrary d isposition

 C H APT E R VI I .

PR EM O N I T O RY D R EAM S .

Th eb eg i nni ng ofth i ng e ad e u t h ei r end s v s s

E ad e u al o We ee onl y th e mi dd l e
v s s s . s .

I N D I AN P O ET - .

W E come now to a class of dream that has bee n

i g nored evaded sneered at disbel ieved i n and finally
, , , , , ,

i nvest ig ated p r oved I t is a class of dream for

and .
'

whi ch that conven ient word coi ncidence is bro ugh t “ ”

“
i nto use I f coincidence explains all cases of pre
.

m onition th ere is only th is to say that th e explanation

, ,

i s far more wonderful than that wh ich i t explains .

T he man wh o ar g ues thus must take one of th ree

l ines :1
H e must ei th er ( I ) maintai n that the alle g ed
c oi ncidences are m isrepresented as such to a much
lar g er extent than w e have allowed for or ( 2 ) that ,

they have been sou g h t after by th e collectors and ,

ille g itimately introduced i nto the collection to a much

larg er extent i n proportion to non coincidental cases -

than we have allowed for or ( 3 ) admi ttin g that th e ,

coi ncidences really exist in a proportio n suffi cient to

prove a causal co nnectio n bet ween th e apparition and
the death o f the person seen he may maintai n that th is ,

1
lp r
Vo . x, . at xx i
v . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
 P REMON I T ORY DREAM S . 2 49

c onnection is not telepath ic but consists i n a condition

,

favourable to hallucination bei n g produced i n th e

percipient i n some normal way by the circumstances
o fth e case .

“
The first of these l i nes of ar g ument can only be
m et by reference to the evidence o n whi ch each case
rests This i n twenty si x— or i n fact th irty -one—cases
.
-

i s before the reader and he mus t form h is own estimate

, .

We need only poi nt out here that the evidence m ust

break down i n a wholesal e way i n order to destroy
our argument F or th e mar g i n o n the s ide a g ai n st
.

c hance i s very lar g e even one death coinciden ce bei n g

,
-

m ore th an we should b e j ustifi ed i n expect ing C hance

to produce i n a collection ten ti mes the S iz e of ours .

A s to the second l i ne of arg ument we have onl y ,

to remi nd the reader that i n twenty si x of th e death -

c oi n cide nces of wh ich sixteen are pri nted i n th e las t

,

chapter our collectors report that th ey had no previou s

,

knowl ed g e of th e percipient s experience We may ’

.

add that i n eleven of th ese cases —ofwh ich ei g h t vi a , ,

N os 4 2 5 1 2 442 1 7
.
, , , ,

( two cases ) are amon g the twenty seven pri nted

,
-

i n the last chapter— we have besides th e markin g of ,

the returns i n accordan ce with our instructions th e ,

posi tive statem ent of th e collector confirm ed i n most ,

cases by circumstances mentioned by him when ques

t i oned that h e did not know o f the experience when
,

th e question was p ut to th e percipient Th e number .

o f these cases is alone suffi cient to destroy the ar g u

ment for chance coi ncidence and as stated on p 2 1 0 , .
,

w e have stron g ground for bel ievi n g that in some O f

2 50 ON D REAMS .

th e cases i n wh i ch it is know n that th e collector was

aware of th e experi ence th is knowled g e had no i n
,

fl uenc e on h is selection of th e i nformant

”
.

Thus the S ociety for Psych ical R esearch wh ich ,

takes the very greatest pains to i nvesti g ate and veri fy

all instances brou g h t to its notice and discards all ,

accounts that do not bear th e closest scruti ny .

The question seem s to rest on a very si mpl e basis

D o we or do we not believe i n an after l ife ' I f we
do wh o are we to fi x th e l im itations to what God
,

permits our spi rit to do after it has sl ipped from ou r

earthl y body ' “
Y ou can not measure th e m iraculous
’
by th e amount of a fool s i ntellect nor squeeze G od ,

into a test tube .

I t i s but a poor i ntellect that is bound dow n to i ts

own lim ited horizon We are all i ntensely amused at
.

M r K ru g er because h e is absolutely convi nced th at

.

the worl d i s flat H ow do we know that it is not so

.
'
M r K ru g er bel ieves it is flat because h e does not
.

bel ieve other peopl e who tell him that it is round .

A re not those who disbel ieve everyth in g that th ey

have not seen themselves i n exactly th e same positio n
as M r K ruger relatively to the world s form '
.
’

Takin g the phenomena of premonitio n i n d reams ,

for example i t is an u ndoubted fact that many re l iable

,

persons have h ad th ese dreams h ave told oth ers about

,

th em and w ritten them down before th e ful filment of

,

the prophecy A re we to disbel iev e thei r evide nce

.

because th e event did not happen to us personally '

DO we not bel i eve i n many th ings O f whi ch we hav e
not any personal knowled g e '
 P REM ON I T ORY DREAM S . 251

I n M r M yers lecture on The S ubl im inal S el f

.
’ “

th e followin g beautiful passa g e occurred

“
I f then all these phenomena form part O f one
g reat effort by wh ich man s soul is striving to know ’

h is spi ritual environment and h is S p i ritual envi ronm ent

,

i s strivin g to becom e known h ow l ittl e can it matter ,

what th e special i nciden t foretol d or foreshadowed

may be 'What s ign ifies i t whether th is or that earthly
peril be av erted or earthly benefi t secured wh ethe r
, ,

th rough th is or that petty channel shall fl ow som e

streams of mortal th i n g s ' T he prime need of man i s
to know more fully that h e m ay obey more unh esi t at
l
,

i ng y the laws of the world u nseen A n d h ow can .

th is g reat end be attai ned save by the u nfoldmen t

from with i n i n whatsoever fash ion i t may be possible
, ,

of man s transcendental faculty ; by h is reco g ni tion

’

of h imsel f as a cosm ic bei ng and not a planetary as ,

not a body but a soul ' S urely even that special

premonition wh ich is som etimes spoken of as a th ing
—
of terror th e warnin g or th e prom ise o f earthl y
death —should to the wise m an sound as a friendly
summons and as a welcome h ome L et h i m remember
, .

the v ision wh ich came to S ocrates i n th e prison -house

then and then only showin g i n an angel s sim il itude
, ,
’

the Providence wh ich til l that hou r had been but as

an impersonal and i nvisibl e V oi ce B u t now th e fai r‘ .

’
and wh i te robed woman wh il e friends offered escape
-
,

from death had already spoken of better hope than

,

th i s and has g iven to A ch illes words a more sacred

,
’

‘
meani n g : O n th e th i rd day hen ce thou comest to
’
Phth ia s ferti le sh ore
2 52 ON D REAM S .

I t would indeed be well i f man could real ise that

h e is a soul as well as a body I w ill proceed first to .

g ive some instances Wh ere an ev ent or series of events

'

of more or less importance have been prophesied i n a

dream S ome are of qui t e minor importance and are
.

o nly g iven h ere as they are well authenticated and ,

serve a purpose i n that they show that the sleepin g

,

brain is capable on occasion of loo ki ng ahead .

“
O ne ni g h t I dreamt that makin g a call on som e
,
1

matter of business I was shown i nto a fine great

,

drawi n g -room and asked to wait A ccordin g ly I .

,

we nt over to the fireplace in the usual E n g lish way ,

proposi n g to wai t there A nd there after the same.

,

fashion I loun g ed with my arm upon the mantelpiece

,

but only for a few moments F or feeli n g th at my .

fi n g ers had rested on someth ing stran g ely cold I ,

looked and saw that they lay on a dead hand ; a

,

’
woman s hand newly cut from the wrist .

“
Though I woke i n horror on the i nstant this ,

dream was qui te for g otten -at any rate for the ti me
when I did nex t day make a call o n some u nimportant
matter of business was shown i nt o a pretty li ttle
,

room adorned with various knic k -knacks and then ,

was asked to wai t Glancing by chance towards th e

.

mantelpiece ( th e dream of th e previo us night s t i ll

forgotten ) what should I see upon it but th e hand of
,

a mummy broken from the wris t I t was a very l ittle

, .

hand and on i t was a ri ng that would have been a

,

gem ring i f the dull red stone i n it had bee n

”

1
I mag i nati on i n D reams by F red er i ck Greenwood .
 P REMON I T O RY DREAM S . 253

g enuinely precious . Wherefore I concluded that i t

’
was a woman s hand .

C oin ci dence The dream certai nly taugh t noth

“
.

i ng and had no d iscern ible purpose Y et visions of

,
.

severed hands on mantelpieces are not common and , ,

with or wi thout prev ious dreaming O f it few men ,

have actua l ly seen one even when taken from a ,

”
mummy case i n that precise situation
, .

This is seemingly a frivolous dream but th e fact ,

remai ns and as M r Greenwood says hands s evered

,
.
,

at the wrist are not com mon thi n g s .

M any have dreamed of people wh om th ey have

nev er seen only to see th em after the dream and
, ,

reco g nise them A lso many have dreamed of events

.

which h ave come true at some future time Th e

“ ”
.

followi ng are i nstances — 1

Premonitory dream of the v isit of a commercial

traveller who asked for a subscription to a novel .

Prec i p i ent M aria M anzi ni

,
.

S ignorina M aria M anzini at m y request kept an , ,

account of th e dreams which occu rred in her ordinary

sleep S ome were remembered spontaneously in the
.

m orning and some in her next somnambulistic stat e .

I n the latter case I suggested to her that she S hould

remember and record them after waking .

I think the following case was remembered i n

somnambul ism but this is of no consequence because
, ,

S igna M aria following my advice recorded not onl y

.
, ,

the date of dream s but also th e date and th e hour

,

1
Vo lxi
. .
, p ar t xxix . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
25 4 ON DREAM S .

w hen she wrote them do wn I n any case the present .

d ream w as recorded before its fulfilment .

“
This is what I find in the record of S i g na .

M aria s dreams
’
:

‘ N ight of 2 6 th 2 7t h M arch 1 8 9 4
-
.
,

‘I dreamt that the door bell rang on the S .

P ietro side o f the house I went to O pen and found a

.

tall man about forty years old with greyish trousers ,

and a darker overcoat H e was very polite and

.
,

asked i f I would subscribe to the issue o f a novel ,

s aying that afterwards I should have a pair of ear

rin g s as a prize I said no because I thou g ht it was

.
,

an im p osture
’
.

2 7 t h M arch
“
1 8 94 1 1 PM
, , I di d not read the .

account of thi s dream till after its real isation but am ,

perfectly certai n that S igna M aria told it to me directly

.
,

and I also disti nctl y recollect that when S igna M aria .

related the realisation a f ew days later she said I ,

O ught to remember her preceding dream ; and I re

member also that I not only recalled it but that I

l
,

ooked at once at the record to see i f it had been

written down accordi ng to rule I found that it was .

c orrect and that it agreed with the v i va voce story .

B esides though S igna M aria may not al ways be

, .

d iligent i n recording dreams she hardly remembers ,

she is very careful to put the exact date and is there ,

fore quite certain that the dream occurred either i n the

night O f 2 6 t h -2 7 t h M arch or at most ( supposing the
,

case to have been compl icated by a paramnesia which

displaced the d ream i n time ) on 2 7 t h M arch at 9 R M ,
.

about which time as can be seen from my j ournal of

,
 P RE MON I T ORY DREAM S . 255

the som nambul istic experiments S igna M aria was i n , .

somnambulism in m y presence .

“
O n th e evening of 3 I st M arch i e four days after , . .
,

the dream S igna M aria told me that on that day about

,
.

3 R .M the V isit O f which sh e had dreamed had taken

place . E verything coincided ; the entrance of the
person by the door towards S Pietro his age h is .
, ,

i nsi nuating manners the colour of his trousers and

,

overcoat and th e obj ect of h is visit

, .

I called her mother and asked her to describe the

,

visit with all possible details ; meanwhile I took the

‘
following notes : The person came t wice ; the first
t i me about 1 1 A M . when M aria was out S ignora .

A nnetta ( her mother ) w as alone i n the house T he .

fi
visitor had very pleasant manners and was about ,

t hirty -
v e years old ( S igna M aria thought forty )
. He .

had a box covered with black cloth with him such as ,

i s used by commercial travellers H e said he came.

t o show them a novelty I n order to get rid of h i m

.
,

S ignora A nnetta said that S igna M aria was not at .

home ; he repli ed that he would return and S ignora ,

A nnetta told hi m to come at 2 R M A t 2 R M he . .

returned and rang at th e door on th e S Pietro side . .

S ignora A nnetta opened to him and says that when ,

h e entered the room M aria seemed much astonished .

( M aria said at once that S h e was astonished at recog

ni si ng him ) . H e proposed that they should subscri be

to the issue of a novel there were to be prizes when
the issue was finished t wo pictures or a small organ , ,

or a pai r of earrings I n his box were the organ and

.

an alaru m as samples and he had with hi m but not i n

,
256 ON D REAMS .

the box samples of the earrings of the frames and

, ,

’
t w o oleographs between pasteboards .

L uigia M onti and L i nda Bi g oni were also present .

M aria refused the offers W hen th ey and th e man .

were gone M aria remarked with surprise that sh e had

,

already d reamt of the scene with all its details i e as , . .

,
.

far as th e man was concerned S i g nora A nnetta added .

that from gi rlhood she also had frequentl y dreamed of

coming events .

3 lst M arch 1 8 94 9 3,0 R M ( written

,
in the
'
presenc e .

of A nnetta and M aria ) I t was necessary to prove

.

two thi ngs before the case could be s upposed to be

,

evidential F i rst that the visit was real and not an

.
,

odd halluci nation of the senses or memory and secondly , ,

that th e man had not made the tour of Padua offering ,

“

his merch andise many days before the dream i n which

case S i g na M aria might have become aware of it i n
.

some way or other and thus have originated the drea m

,

hersel f .

I n order to clear up the first poi nt I went on the ,

followi ng day ( I st A pril about 6 3 0 ) to see S igna , .

L inda Bi g oni and asked her to tell me all about t h e

visit at whi ch she had been present S he repl ied that .

she had g one to see M aria the day before about ,

while th e man was there and she confirmed all the ,

details about the O bj ect of his visit his remarks th e , ,

thin g s h e had with h im his pol iteness his age and t h e

, ,

c olour of h is clothes H e had made th e same pro

.

position to her as to M aria A s she had arrived after .

h im she could not say by which door he had entered

,

but she said he had left before her and had gone out
 P REM ON I T O RY DREAMS . 257

by the kitchen door towards the river

,
O n being .

questioned sh e replied that she h ad not seen S igna

,
.

M aria since the visit B efore leav ing her I requested

.
,

h er if the man should come to her house or i f sh e

, ,

should meet h im i n th e street to ask h im on what day

,

h e had com e to Padua ; wh ich she promised to do .

The same evening I went back to S i g na M aria

“
.

and before telling h er O fm y tal k with S ignorina L inda ,

I questioned her and her mother a g ai n S igna . .

M aria said sh e did not rem ember by wh ich door t h e

man had gone out or rath er she had paid no attention
, ,

but her mother said sh e was certai n that he had gon e

out by the kitchen door because he had seen som e
,

one enter that way and on leaving had said that as .

there was a door there also he would g o out by it .

Th e mother did not know however W heth er he or

, ,

S ignorin a L i nda Big oni had left first but S igna M ari a ,
.

was sure he had gone away first because afterward s ,

sh e had continued her conversation with S i g norina

L inda about their own affairs and th is conversation , ,

begun before he left had prevented her noticing b y

,

which door he quitted the house .

B oth then said they remembered S ignorina L inda

Bi g oni s coming at about 2 3 0 while the man was there
’

and that he had come before t wo and stayed nearly an

hou n
“
Thus all the testimony i s in accordance and no ,

doubt remai ns that the event with all its details reall y
happened .

O n th e eveni n g of 1 8 t h A pri l S i g na M aria tol d , .

me that h er friend S i g na L i nda Bi g oni had somethi ng

,
.

17
258 ON DREAMS .

to tell me but i n order to keep her promise sh e woul d

,

tell it only to me S i g na M aria said that L i nda Bi g oni

. .

was comin g to see her on the morrow when I c oul d ,

meet her .

The followi n g day ( 1 9 t h A pril ) I went to see

S i g na M aria at the time fixed and found L i nda Big oni
.
,

at th e house Th e latter told me sh e had met the man

.

i n th e street ; that h e had recogni sed her and had

renewed his o ffer S he took advantag e of this to ask
.

h i m when he had arrived i n Padua and h e said h e had ,

c ome on 2 9 t h M arch and that he had not v isi ted

,

Padua before for several years .

“
Th is proves that the dream occ urred t wo days
before the arrival O f the person impl icated and that ,

consequently i t could not have resulted from a mere

sensorial i mpression of S igna M aria s .
’
.
”

T he followi n g belon g s to the same class of

apparently meani n g l ess premon itions
l
.

M rs At ay writes to me thus
.

M y dream was as follows

I dreamt that the bishop bei ng from home w e ,

were unable to have fam ily prayers as usual i n t h e

chapel but that I read them i n the large hall of the
,

palace out o f wh ich on one S ide a door opens i nto

, , ,

th e dinin g -room I n my dream prayers bei ng ended

.
, ,

I left th e hall opened th e d ini ng -room door and there

,

saw to my horror standin g between the tab l e and the

, ,

s ideboard an enormous pig

,
The dream was very .

v ivid and a m used me m u ch Th e bishop bein g from .

home when dressed I went down i nto the hall to read

,

p rayers The servants had not come i n so I told my

.
,
 P REM ON I T ORY DREAM S . 259

governess and ch ildren who were already th ere about ,

m y dream wh ich amused them as m uch as it had done

,

me The servants came i n and I read prayers after

.
,

wh ich th e party d ispersed I opened th e d i ni n g room

.
-

door wh ere to my amazement stood the pi g i n the

, ,

very spot i n wh ich I had seen h im i n my dream .

With regard to your question as to whether I could

have heard th e pi g i n my sleep h e was th en safely i n
,

h is sty and my room is quite on the other side of the

house a larg e hall dividing our side from the se rvants
'
’

side of th e house beh ind wh i ch i n a yard was th e

, , ,

pi g sty I t g ot i nto th e d inin g room i n consequence

-
.
-

of t h egardener being en g a g ed i n cleani n g out th e sty

wh ile the servants were at prayers ; they havi n g left
every door open th e pi g met with no obstacle on h is
,

voya g e of d iscovery .

F AN N Y P AT LAY . .

Th e facts of th e case have th e followi n g short but

su fficient corroboration
l
I heard M rs At ay tell the dream when sh e
.

came i n to th e hal l before prayers ( Precise dates .

not remembered —a few years ag o ) .

“
E M I LY N I MM O ,

Governess .

I n reply to m y i nquiry wheth er the pig mi g ht not

have escaped before the dream and have g iven some
. l
i nd ication of proximi ty to M rs At ay s bedroom wi ndow ’

that lady i nformed me that h e only g ot loose while

she was readi ng prayers ; the gardeners who had bee n
cleani ng h is sty havi n g left i t imperfectl y secured .
2 60 ON DREAMS .

T he sty was at a considerabl e distance from the

palace Th e date of th e incident was a few years
.

before the record but cannot be precisel y ascertained

, .

T he next case which I sha l l quote is I th i nk , ,

almost unique in our collection i n th is respect — that

the premonition seems to work its ow n fulfilment by ,

s ugg esti n g the one course of act i on wh ich as i t ,

h appened would brin g about the dreaded experi ence

, .

I t is of course possible that th e coi nci dence may have

bee n accidental M rs C says she is rather a frequent
. . .

dreamer althou g h few of her dreams make so strong

,

an impression as th e one which I quote with the ,

exception of another i nvolv in g a similar coincidence

wh ich I omit for want of space .

M rs C writes a letter dated 2 9 t h F ebruary 1 88 8

. .
, , ,

from H olland R oad K ensin g ton : ,

I have an i ntense horror O fmonkeys — I seldom ,

l ook at one if I can h elp i t — they are obj ects O f such

antipathy to m e ; and I dreamed that I was persis
l
t ent y followed by one such as I had never seen before ,

but wh ich terrified me extremely and from whi ch I

could not escape .

T h i nki n g I should be better abl e to throw off th e

i mpression of my dream i f I told it I mentioned i t to ,

my fam ily and my husband recommended a short

,

walk . I n consequence and qui te cont rary to my ,

cu st om I arran g ed to take my children for a short

,

walk without their nurs e accompanying m e and as ,

their favourite wal k was up N igh tingale L ane ( H olland

L ane ) past another lane enclosed by the hi g h walls of
,

A rgyll L odge the residence of the D uke O fA rgyll I

, ,
 P REMON I T ORY DREAMS . 261

agreed to take them there and when we arrived at ,

A r g yll L od g e what was my horror to see on the roo f

o f the coach house th e very monkey of my dreams '
,

I n my surpris e and terro r I clasped my hands and

exclaimed much to the amazement of a coach man
' '
,

‘
wai ti ng outside M y dream my dream
’

“
Th is I suppose attracted the attention of th e
monkey and he began to come after us h e on th e top ,

of th e wa l l we beneath every minute I expecti n g he

, ,

would j ump upon m e and havin g precisely the same ,

terror I experienced i n my dream O ne of my children .

being very young we could not go fast which added, ,

to my distress but we succeeded i n escapin g it and on

, ,

my return home I sent a servant to i nqui re i f a monkey

had been seen there for my state of nervousness was ,

extreme S h e was i nformed that that mornin g a

.

rare and very valuable monkey belon g ing to th e

duch ess had g ot loose and so the in cident was ex ,

plai ned . B ut my dreami ng of it previously remai ns

unexplained .

( S igned by M rs C ) . .

I n a subsequent letter dated 2 nd M arch ,

1 888,

M rs C writes :
. .

‘
The mon key dream was told to at least si x ’

persons before I went for my wal k and my ch ildren ,

‘
still rem ember my terror and the pecul iar monkey ’

which followed us .

M rs C also states that the dream occurred

. .

i n 1 8 6 7 and sends letters of corroboration from h er

,

h usband and her nurse which are given below ,

.
2 62 ON DREAM S .

F W H M YERS . .
,
ESQ .
,

D EA R S I R ,
’
I h ave seen my w ife s correspondence
with you and I fully confi rm th e facts as she h as
,

stated the m — Y ours very faith fully .

( S i g ned by M r C ) . .

S tatement written by M rs C s nurse .

’
.

H O LL AN D ROA D ,

3 rd M arc/z ,
1 888 .

C aroli ne M . M rs
nurse rem embers t wo . C
’
s ,

dreams ( i e th is and another sent but not pri nted

. .

h ere ) wh ich her m istress told her when she went

to her room i n the morning S he remembers both .

dreams com in g true .

”

The M arquis of L orne i nformed me that a monkey

was i n fact kept i n the stables of A rgyll L od g e at
and after the date here somewhat vaguely indicated .

The followin g is a case where th e perc i p i ent 18

well known to me
S tatement by C olonel K C o g h ill
.

Apri l
,
1 8 94 .

A curious case occurred to me last month ,

thou g h it may be but a coincidence not worth re

counti n g O n 2 8 t h M arch I received a letter from
.

a lady with whom I had not been i n correspondence

,

for about a year statin g t h at on the 2 6 t h sh e had

,

eith er a vision or a dream ( I for g et the expression )

that sh e saw me i n a very d angerous position under
a horse from wh ich m any people we re tryi ng to
,

relieve me B y return of post I wrote that I

.
 P REMON I T OR Y DREAMS . 2 63

thou g ht it a d ream wh ich was proved by contraries ,

as noth i ng of the sort h ad occurred That afternoon .

‘
I received notice of a last O ff day with our pack ’

of hounds and th e next morning on my way to

,

covert I posted my letter A t th e finish of a long .

run i n the afternoon m y horse pulling double down , ,

a steep h ill was unable to collect h imsel f for a big

,

bank at the bottom of the h ill breasted it and fell , ,

head over heels into a deep and broad drop ditch

on the far side with me underneath him H is head
,
.

and shoulders were at the bottom and legs remained

up on the landing S ide of the d itch M any of th e .

fi eld di smounted and after some minutes pulled the ,

horse away and got m e from under more or less

, ,

stunned but little the worse except a few face cuts

, , ,

the loss O f a tooth and a crushed stirrup and th e , ,

horse with a few head cuts T he horse was about .

my best hunter and never before g uilty of such a ,

fi
thing though of course it may have been but a
l
, , ,

hunting e d coincidence
-
.

K EN D A L C O G H I LL .

The letter i n wh ich the lady in question ( the

H on M rs L eir C ar l eton ) relates her dream i s un
. .
-
,

fortunatel y lost but S ir J oseph C oghill writes

,
:

LEN B A A
“
G AR R B N E,

CA S TLE T W N S EN D 3 d M y
O , r a , 18
94 .

O n the 2 9th M arch last my brother , , C olonel

C oghill , C B
showed m e a portion of a letter j ust
. .
,

received from a lady who wrote describing a dream

or vision in which she had seen h im meet with a
2 64 ON DREAMS .

serious accident from a horse and she noticed a ,

cro wd of persons assistin g hi m away .

“
J L C O G H I LL . . .

C olonel C oghill writes by return of post after ,

th e receipt of the letter relati n g the dream but be ,

fore the accident as follows

“
C O SH EEN , CA S TLE T O W S E N D N , CO . CO RK ,

“
Wed nesd ay ,
2 8 M M arc/z .

MY D EA R MR S C A R LET O N .
,

“
N eed I say h ow delighted I was to see
y our hand writin g this morning and h ow happy I ,

a m to say that your dream has so far proved the

‘
rul e of goi ng by contraries for I never in m y life ’

was going stron g er than I am at present .

W ritin g a g ain on the 3 1 st M arch the day after ,

t he accident C olonel C o g hill says :

,

MY D EA R MR S C A R LET O N
“
.
,

“
Y ou wi n hands down ,
There are t wo .

g rounds on which we your friends have to thank

, ,

fi
ourselves that you belon g to the last hal f of thi s
century — rst that we can enj oy your existence and
friendship and secondly that had you l ived earl ier
, ,

you mi g ht have been burned as a witch for by ,

your dream you foretold a g rief to me though i n ,

prospective .Y esterday I enj oyed the i mperial

crowner wh ich you saw in your dream the hardest ,

fi
fall I have had for very many years I t was the .

last day of our hunt and I wanted to give a ni sh

,

i ng touch to the education of my young horse I .

began the day badly by being on the wrong side

 P REMON I T ORY DREAMS . 2 65

of the wood when they broke away and whil e rid ing ,

hard to overtake them I topped a bank and found

a chasm too bi g so w e d ropped a c rumpl er but I
, ,

got O ff with a broken spur and bent stirrup A fter .

I had overtaken my field I was peltin g down a hill ,

faster than I wanted and m et a stiff ban k at the

,

bottom with a broad ditch and a drop on th e land in g

’
side. The young savage couldn t collect himself in ’

time and struck the bank above his knees Tableau .

— si x legs in the air ; 2 nd view —a man in the ditch

with horse on top of his ( the man s ) head H ere ’
.

yo ur dream fails for i nstead of an unsympathetic

,

c ro wd helping me I was released by half a—

,
dozen -

friends including the master and about as many

, ,

ladies ; 3 rd tableau — all their loose horses pursuin g

the hounds riderless .

M y first thought when down was your dream and ,

before my h ead was out of the mud I said : A t any ‘

,

rate as I am to be led away by some one the nec k

,

must be all right and so it was and I got O ff very

,
’

cheaply C onsidering that the horse was on my head

.

’
I can t understand how th e only thing that gave way
was my extreme back tooth which got smashed and ,

i ts next neighbour chipped a few scratches on nose ,

and forehead sums up the total grief and ch eap at th e ,

p ric e. N o w will you obl ige me if I am worth a sleep ,

in g o r waking dream in future to make a pleasanter ,

one of it for this morning I feel as if a crowbar had

,

replaced my j ointy neck and every j oint is bound i n

,

i ron cramps of S houlders arms and legs A few hot, .

baths and a little massage W ill put all that right and ,
2 66 ON DREAM S .

as it was the last day of the season I lose nothing b y ,

it I should not have written all th is but I though t

.
,

that in connection with your dream you m i g ht feel an

interest in its fulfilment .

fi
T he H on M rs L ei r C arleton wh o experienced
l
-
.
,
.

this dream writes from Greywell H ill W i nch e d as

, , ,

follows :

“
F rom my childhood I have had premonitions of
ill nesses sometimes the illness proves trivial and some
ti mes fatal I have no d i st i nct impressions but comin g
.
,

events seem to cast shadows before them which as a , ,

‘
child I used to term forefeel ing and I have not yet ’

found any better word I have heard my S cotch .

mother lon g deceased rel ate premonitory dreams o f

, ,

her own so th ere is probably some hereditary sensitive

,

ness to impressions .

“
A fter a few hours or days the g loomy forefeeling
seems to lighten i n some cases as though a threatening ,

‘ disag reeable had been somehow averted ’

B ut I .

can conscientiously affirm that no great sorrow h ow ,

ever sudden has come upon me unpreceded by a

l
,

premonition of app roac/ci ng t roub e connect ed wi M Me

i nd i v i d ua
“
j lu abo t t o su er or
f
die .

I have also repeatedly forefelt the loss O f pet s

neither sick nor old .

H ere again i s a case where a somewhat complex

scene i nvolving the action of several persons is dream t
, ,

and narrated beforehand .

M r H a ggard of the B ritish C onsulate T rieste

.
, ,

A ustria gives th e following account of a premonitory

,

dream and its fulfilment

 P REM ON I T ORY DREAM S . 2 67

2 1 st Sep tember , 1 893 .

A few months ago I had an extraordinary V ivid

dream and waki ng up repeated it to my wi fe at once
, .

A ll I dreamt actually occurred about si x weeks after

wards the details of my dream falling out exactl y as
,

dreamt .

“
There seems to have been no purpose whatsoever
in the dream and one cannot help thinking what was
th e g ood of it .

I dreamt that I was asked to di nner by the G er

man C onsul -General and accepti ng was ushered into
, ,

a large room with troph ies of E ast A frican arm s on

S h ields against the walls ( M I R— I have myself bee n
.

a great deal i n E ast A frica ) .

“
A fter dinner I went to inspect th e arms and ,

amon g st them saw a beauti full y gold mounted sword

which I pointed out to the F rench V ice -C onsul who ,

at that moment j oined me as havin g probably been

,

a present from the S ultan of Z anzibar to my host th e

German C onsul G eneral -
.

A t that mom ent the R ussian C onsul came up too .

H e pointed out h ow small was th e hilt of th e sword

and h ow i mpossible i n consequence it would be for a
E uropean to use the weapon and whilst talkin g h e ,

waved his arm i n an excited manner over h is head as

i f h e was wieldi ng the sword and to illustrate what h e
,

was saying .

A t that moment I woke up and marvelled so at the

vividness of the dream that I woke my wife up too
and tol d it to her .

A bout six weeks afterwards my wi fe and myse l f

2 68 ON DREAMS .

were asked to dine with the German C onsul General ; -

but the dream had long been forgotten by us both .

W e were shown i nto a lar g e withdrawing room

which I had never been i n before but which somehow ,

s eemed familiar to me A gainst the walls were some

.

beautiful troph ies of E ast A frican arms amongst which ,

was a gold -hilted sword a gift from the S ultan of

,

Z anzibar .

To make a long story short everyth i ng happened

,

exactly as I had dreamt but I never remembered the

,

dream until the R ussian C onsul beg an to wave his arm

o ver h is head when it came back to me like a flash
, .

Without sayi ng a word to the R ussian C onsul and

F rench V ice -C onsul ( whom I left stand i ng before the
trophy ) I walked quickly across to my wi fe wh o was ,

stand ing at the entrance of a boudoir openi ng out of

‘
the withdrawi ng room and said to her : D o you re
,

member my dream about the Z anzibar ar m s ' S he ’

remembered everyth ing p erfectly and was a witness to ,

i t s realisation O n the spot we i nformed all the persons

.

concerned of the dream which naturally much i nterested

,

”
t hem .

M rs H aggard s corroboration of her husband s

.
’ ’

d ream and its fulfilment runs as follows

T R I E S TE ,

2O M October , 1 893 .

I remember being awoke one night by my husband

to hear a curiously v ivid d ream he had j ust had I t is .

now some months ago and possibly some of the more

,

mi nute details of his relation may have escaped m y

 P REM ON I T ORY DREAM S . 2 69

memory but what I remember of his dream i s the

,

fo ll owing H e d reamed that we were dining with the

German C onsul Genera l whose drawing room a re
l
- -
, ,

m ark ab y handsome apartment was ornamented with ,

trophies of arms from the E ast C oast of A frica H aving .

been i n those regi ons himse l f he felt some interest i n ,

them and went nearer to exam ine them more closely

, .

W hile he was doing so the R ussian C onsul came up , ,

and i n his usual rather excitable fashion began fl ouri sh

ing his arm as he d ilated upon the extraordinary
,

smallness of the native han d for wh ich the hilt of a

certai n sword must have been designed That is wh at .

I recollect of the dream I ts fulfilment took place a .

f ew weeks later when the c ircumstances of the dream

,

had almost passed from our thoughts .

“
We di ned one even in g w ith the G erman C onsul
General th e R ussian C onsul bei ng also present amon g
,

oth ers A fter dinner my husband went to exam i ne one

.

of th e troph ies of E ast A frican arms with wh ich th e ,

room as in h is dr eam —was hun g While h e was doin g

-
.

so the R ussian C onsul wen t up to speak to h im upon

th e subj ect and the dramatic flourish of h is arm wi th
,

wh i ch h e emphasised h is conversation at once recalled ,

th e dream i n wh ich i t had t aken place so v ividly to

’
my husband s m ind that he immediately crossed th e
room to me and asked me i f I di d not rem ember it also ,

whi ch of course I did though as I was talkin g to some

, ,

one else at th e time and only knew the room previously

,

’
by my husband s description of his dream th e c oi nc i ,

dence migh t not have occurred to me h ad h e not

called my attention to i t D irectly he did so however .
, ,
2 70 ON DREAMS .

by aski n g me i f I d id not remember his drea m I ,

recollected quite well all the details I have prev iously

mentioned .

AG N E S M H A GG A R D . .

B elow are g i ven a letter from M r K o em i ne . l ,

R ussian C o nsul and a statement from H err M icha

,

b el les G erman C onsul General at T rieste both of

,
-
,

whom were witnesses of the fulfilment of M r H a gg ard s .

’

d ream and of th e great impress ion wh ich it made upon

,

h i m at the time
“
M ons ieur H ag g ard mon c o eg ue d Ang et erre
, l
l ’
l ,

a eu u m r eve tr e s remarquable aupoint d uvue psycho

lo g ique M lle Z . aussi et d aut res personnes encore
.
’
.

V euillez accepter tout c e que M onsieur H ag g ard vous

a écrit comme étant parfaitement la v érité et assert er l ’

de mon nom si vous e j ugez nécessaire l .

Ag réez C h er M ons ieur l assurance de ma con ,

’

s id e ration tres disti n g uée .

A . DE K O LE MI N E .

BERL I N ,

10 M N ovember ,
1 8 93 .

Whilst I was German C onsul General at Trieste

“ -
,

I had one even in g i n F ebruary or M arch of th is year

, ,

t h e pleasure of M r and M rs H agg ard s company at ’

. .

di nner ; among others the R ussian C onsul was pre

sent I t was the firs t ti me that M r H ag gard came
. .

i nto my private house ; before we had always met i n

m y O ffi ce A fter di nner I was busy i n e ntertai nin g
.

my party when suddenly M r H aggard j oi ned me and

,
.

t old me that a f ew weeks before h e had seen in a ,

 P REMON I T ORY DREAMS . 27 1

v ery vivid dream my drawi n g -room w ith th e troph ies

,

o f E ast A fri can arms on sh ields a g ai nst the walls and

l
,

M r K o em i ne the R ussian C onsul standi n g before

.
, ,

one troph y had explai ned someth i ng to h i m i n h is

usual exci ted manner wavi n g his arms over h is head ,

i n order to illus trate what h e said A ll th is happened .

j ust at th e m om ent w ith all particulars seen i n th e

d ream I was extremely astonished at th e stran g e
.

occurrence and observed that th e real isation of h is

d ream had produced a strong eff ect on M r H a g gard s .
’

m i nd

fi
.

M
l l
I C H AB E LLE S

l
J .
,

Counse or of eg at i on i n Me Forei g n O i ce .

I n th e next case th e g radual accompl ish ment o f

t h e dream seems to have been watch ed with i nterest

by more than one person

l
l
.

Th e R ev B Du ey O f S t P eter s C ler g y H ouse

’

. . .
, ,

L ondon Docks E sends th e followi n g statem ent

, .
, ,

wh ich w as wri tten i n O ctober 1 8 9 3 and is certi fied , ,

to b e correct by the percipi ent A n nette J ones ,

.

“
A n nette wi fe of Walter J o nes tobacconist of
, , ,

O ld G ravel L ane S t Geor g e s E ast L ondon early , .

’

, ,

i n S eptember of th is year ( 1 8 9 3 ) h ad her l ittle boy ,

Peter ill O ne night sh e dream t that she saw a cart

,
.

drive up stop near where sh e was and the driver

, ,

move a black cloth and discover th ree coffi ns t wo ,

wh ite and one blue O ne wh ite coffi n w as bi g ger .

than the oth er and the blue was th e biggest of the

,

three .The man took ou t th e bigger wh ite coffi n

and left i t drivi n g o ff with the t wo others I n th e
, .

morni n g M rs J ones told her dream to her husband

.
,
2 72 ON D REAM S .

and afterwards to another woman specially tell in g her ,

husband that one of the coffi ns w as b l ue O n th e .

1 0 th of S eptember M rs
.
D evonshi re W ho and whose
, .
, ,

husband were particular friends of the J ones s was con ’

fined with a fine boy whom they named E ri c .

A t first he seemed quite healthy but a weaknes s ,

of th e lungs developed itsel f and he died on F riday ,

the 2 9 t h S eptember L i ttle Peter J ones died t h e

.

followi n g M onday th e 2 nd of O ctober bein g th en

, ,

s i xteen months old M r and M rs J ones know ing . . .

,

that E ri c was to be b uri ed on th e Wednesday for t h e ,

sake O f both friendsh ip and economy hurried thei r ,

’
l ittle boy s funeral for that day so that both funeral s ,

should take place at th e same time O n th e morning .

of th e Wed nesday the parish priest informed M r and .

M rs J ones that anoth er ch ild s body would be brough t

.
’

i nto ch urch along with th eirs the son of a M rs J upp , .

,

whom they did not know .

“
M rs J ones th en remarked t o h er husband I f
.
‘ ’

th e coffi n is blue then m y dream wil l come true for

, ,

the two other coffi ns were wh ite A nd so it happene d .

M rs J ones anxiously watched at the funeral for l ittl e

.

J upp s coffin and wh en she saw i t was bl ue sh e

’

clutched to her s ister who wal ked by her side and , ,

‘
fi
’
said that s my dream I t will be noticed that the ’
.

relative S izes of th e co f ns also corresponded l ittl e ,

E ri c s bei n g the smallest for a ch ild of a few days

’

’
l ittle J upp s th e largest for one about si x years and ,

’
blue and Peter s of course less than his bu t bigger
, , ,

than E ric s ’
.
”

I have read the above and fi nd i t a true and

 P REMON I T ORY DREAM S . 273

correct account of my d ream and th e circumstances

relati ng to it .

A N N ETTE J O N E S .

I remember d istinctly my wi fe telling me of her

d ream and especially as to the colour of the coffi ns
, ,

two white and one blue and watched th e circumstances

,

wh ich occurred afterwards with something like awe

“
W A LTE R H J O N E S
l
l
. .

The R ev B Du ey states in a l etter dated

. . 6th
J anuary 1 8 9 4 :
l
,

M r J ones i s a parti cularly common sense practica

.
-

man with abilities i n that respect above the average .

S o far from welcoming the preternatural event noted ,

h e is rather vexed and w orried by it B oth he and .

his wi fe are conscientious people and certainly believe ,

what they say .

B DULLE Y
lk l
.
,

C er i n H o y Ord ers .

F rom C aptain Parker th rough th e R ev A T

, . . .

F ryer :
H YT H E V I CA R A GE
l
,

S U T H A M PT N
O O , I 6 M Apri ,
1 88
9 .

D EA R M R F RY ER .
,

O n referring to the onl y notes I have I ,

find that I cannot fi x the exact date of the occurrence

of which you want particulars I t was however .
, ,

during the latter half O f J une 1 8 8 6 as I find it was , ,

then that the man arrived whose coming I dream t

abou t
“
I was then i n charge of a division of coast g uard ,

I 8
274 ON DREAM S .

and it was a part of my duties to visit the various

coastguard stations withi n the limits of that d ivision
of the coast The dream as nearly as I can remember
.
,

it was as follo ws : T hat I was V isiting an outl yin g

,

station where there were several coasting vessels

moored their heads out seaward and ste m s secured
, ,

to the S hore with hawsers T wo navy bluej ackets

l
.

anded from one of the crafts quite to my surprise and

, ,

o n asking where they were from one of them said ,

h e had been sent from W ick for duty at S andhaven

( a village in my d ivision.
)
“
The details of the dream were so v ividly impressed
on m y mind on waking which is quite unusual with
,

me that I told my housekeeper about it at or about

,

breakfast time — as far as I know the only time I ever

told her any dream at all —and for the time thought
no more of it but soon after I thi nk the sam e day
, , ,

when the post came I received an official letter ap

pointing a man from W ick for duty at S andhaven .

“
I was so astonished at this coincidence that I at
once said to m y housekeeper : ‘
Y ou remember the
d ream I told you about a man comi ng from W ick
for S andhaven ' H ere is his official appointment .
’

A further curious coincidence with the above i s

that in the ordinary course of events th is man would
have proceeded from W ick to A berdeen by steamer ,

and from thence north by rail and in fact that was

,

h ow he was ordered to go ; but on this occasio n ,

wh ich sometimes happened the steamer stopped off

,

F raserburgh and landed the man there with out my

knowledge at the time until I found a strange blue
,
 P REMON I T O RY DREAMS . 275

j acket at m y quarters and on asking who it was and

,

wh ere h e had come from he told m e he had landed

,

from th e steamer from W ick and was sent for duty ,

at S andhaven A t that moment all th e d etails O fthe

.

dream again came to my mind and the fact of th e ,

‘
man landing on the coast i n stead of coming by rail
was also i n accordance with th e details of the dream .

I t is hardly necessary for m e to remark that nothing

occurred beforehand that would l ead me to expect a
man being sent from W ick or I should not have ,

though t that the dream was curious or worth a

’
moment s thought .

“
I have no doubt m y housekeeper remembers
something of this occurrence as she has a better ,

memory than I have for most thi ng s I have not .

written to her on th e subj ect as I though t you might

,

prefer to have her evidence without any rem inder

from me to her about it .

Y H F P ARKER . . . .

T he following is from C aptain Parker s housekeeper .

I f her recollection i s exact there was more coincidence

,

i n the man s aspect than C aptai n Parker has described

’
.

F R AS ER BU R G H
l
,

1 8 t/z Apri ,
1 8 89 .

I nanswer to your inquiry about C aptain Parker s ’

d ream I rem ember h im telling me about it H e said

, .

i n his d ream h e left the house and soon after met the ,

coast g uardsman and asked h i m i f he was the man

,

that was come to S andhaven from W i ck and he said , ,

‘I am ’

M r Parker said when tel l ing me abo ut i t

. .
,
276 ON DR EAM S .

‘
next morning H ow I wish to see that man He ’
.
,

saw him soon to his astonish ment th e exact image

, ,

and li keness as in his dream .

E L I Z ABETH M A C D O N A L D .

U PPER M EL BO U RNE ,

Q U E BE C , 14 M D ecember ,
18
91 .

DR R I C H A R D H O DG SO N ,

SI R ,

Y ours of 1 1 th D ecember received and I ,

beg to hand the premonition referred to in m y former

l etter I have made it as short and concise as
.

possible .

N EWLAN DS C O B U R N .

l
A Pecu i ar D ream or Pr emoni t i on .

I n the year 1 8 7 5 I thi nk one night I d reamed

, ,

’
that my wife had gone to a friend s who lived j ust ,

across the R iver S t F rancis ( which here is about 7 50

l
.

feet wide ) at 1 1 o c ock A M and was going to stay for

’
. .
,

dinner B ut on getting th ere S h e having walked down

.
,

the river and across th e public bridge and up again to ,

her friends sh e found the house open but nobody at

, ,

home S o sh e went down to the river bank and

.
,

called to me from the other side to swim across to her

and bring some refreshment in a ti n can which I ,

i mmediately undertook to do ; but j ust as I was nearing

a gravel bar in the middle of the river and while j ust
l
,

on the deepest place the can which was in my eft

, ,

band would continually keep drawing me under and

, ,

I would keep swallowing some water S O I was .

obliged to strike back for the home shore which I ,

 P REMON I T OR Y DREAM S . 277

reached i n safety amid great anxiety of my wi fe who

, ,

was watching m e from the shore T he dream was so .

vivid that it woke m e and my stomach was sore from

,

th e supposed swa l lowing and be l ching out again of the

water
I turned over and went to sleep but i n the morn ,

ing I stil l felt the effect of the dream on the muscles O f

,
l
the stomach and I t o d my w ife Men and Mere O fit ,

and ho w my stomach fe l t A nd after breakfast I went

.

to business and was j ust telling a customer whom I

,

was serving of the peculiar d ream when a neighbour ,

rushed into the store and said he was afraid that there
was trouble down at the river as a boy on th e other
,

side ( j ust where m y wi fe was i n th e d ream ) was run ,

ning up and down yelling and gesticulating and another

, ,

naked one on th is side was crying and calli ng for help .

I t was just 1 1 A M
“
I started at once for th e river
. .
,

throwing O ffmy coat and vest as I ran secured a boat ,

and a young man to help me run it out and after the ,

boy pointed out where a companion had sunk for th e

last ti me a few minutes before I dived down i n 1 2 to
,

1
5 feet O f w ater j ust off th e gravel bar and grasped ,

the arm of the d rowned young man with my left hand ,

and brought h im to the surface only to find that my,

companion had allo wed the boat I had d ived off to

dri ft quite a distance from m e I then had the same
.

struggle to get the body and mysel f to another boat

that had j ust put out from the shore th at I had i n my
d ream s wallowing and th en belch ing out a lot of water
,

and nothing but the encouraging shouts from those on

shore who had hastily gathered ( m y wi fe among th em )
,
2 78 ON DREAMS .

nerved me to the struggle I then i n rea i ty suffered . l

th e same pain wh ich I felt i n my dream and the spot ,

where the young man was drowned was j ust where th e

can troubled me i n my dream and wh ere I turned , .

N C O B UR N . .

U PPER M EL BO U RNE ,

Q U E BE C , 4M S ep tember , 1 893 .

R I C HA R D H O D G S O N L L D . .
,

D EAR S I R,

M y wife to whom I related my dream

,

before the dro wning took place died a few months ,

after I wrote you .

Y ou will pardon me if I give you an explanation

,

of the d ream and drowning I should have said that .

the young man had j ust come to v isit friends on the

opposite S ide of the river and you will notice my rough
,

diagram herewith that the R R station of the G T R

,
. . . . .

i s below where I live and th e young man arrived about

l
,

A M
( say
. midnight
.
) and w as obliged to wa k back
,

up the river on the opposite side from wh ere I lived ,

and I feel sure that th e ti me of my dream was when

he was passi ng up ( say 2 A M ) on the O pposite side of .

’
the river H e went to bed at his friend s and did not
.

get up until late and i mmed iatel y went to the river

,

with some oth er young men for a bath and swi m

N EWLAN DS C O B U R N .

F rom Thomas C arbert porter at E scrick station , ,

th rough L ord W enlock E scrick Park Y ork

, ,

A t the end of F ebruary or beginning of M arch

“
,

1 88
3 I dreamt I saw M r Thompson the station
, .
,
 P REM ON I T ORY DREAM S . 279

master lying with h is legs cut O ff c l ose to a heap o f

, ,

coals agai nst a small cabin at the back of the station .

I dreamt that the accident happened to h i m by what

‘
w e ca l l the pick up goods train and that it occurred
-
’

i n the month of M ay .

“
I told my dream to M r Thompson th e next .

m orning and though h e laughed over it it seem ed

, , ,

to make him uneasy .

“
O n the i 8 t h M ay 1 8 8 3 M r Thompson was run , ,
.

‘
over by the pick up goods t rai n and both his legs -
,

were cut O ff .

The accident happened at th e back of the cabin

j ust where I dreamt I had seen hi m lying .

I have taken this down from the lips of the above

named Thomas C arbert W enloc k 1 4th F ebruary . .
,

1 8 84 .

F u rth er i nquiry had much i mproved the ev idence in

this case T homas C arbert who has now been moved
.
,

to R i ll ington writes under date 7 t h O ctober 1 8 9 5

, ,

I did dream it and to l d M r Thompson of it and , .

,

he told M r H artas F oxton of it the same morning

. .

M r Th ompson said it was th ree months to M ay yet

. .

A s to what made me say it would happen in M ay ,

'
s omething seemed to say it would be i n M ay in m y
”
dream .

M r F oxton also writes as follows from Th e G range

.
,

E scrick 1 2 t h O ctober 1 8 9 5
, ,

D E AR SI R ,

The incident you m enti on i s vividly i m

pressed upon my memory O ne morning upon m y .
2 80 ON DREAM S .

fi
arrival at E scrick station to catch the 8 train Thompson ,

and C arbert were together in the booking of c e and -

,

after the customary greeting Thompson said to me ,

M aster ( he always called me what do you

think C arbert here has been telling me ' H e had a
dream last night and that I have onl y so long to live
,

( mentionin g the ti me either t w o months ,

or three ) I .

‘
replied Why if you have only that time to live you
, ,

must make the very best use of it ; at the same time ,

i f you know your days are numbered you may S till ,

’
have longer to live than some of us Th is of course .
, ,

I said hal f in j est and the train comi ng in the incident

,

ended B ut I noticed particularly that C arbert seemed

.

quite downhearted and distressed when Thompson was

fil
re l ating the dream to me and I must say it made some
,

i nd e nab e impression upon me so much so that when ,

I heard of the accident to Thompson the dream and its ,

e nding flashed vivid l y back to me .

Y ou are at l iberty to make use of thi s letter i n any

way you ch oose ei ther publ icly or privately
. .

H A R T A S FO X TO N .

R eceived through the R ev C H C ope from M iss . . .

,

I Y oun g
. The account was written in the early part
.

of 1 89 2
BR I T I S H I N S T I T U TE ,

6 R U E D E V I ENNE BR U SS EL S
2 ,
.

I n the morning of F riday 2 9 t h M arch 1 8 8 9 after , , ,

bein g awakened at my usual hour for rising I went to ,

s l eep again and dreamt the followi ng : I w as staying

,

with a friend M rs O and i t was by the seaside

,
.
-

the house overlooked the sea the waves nearly wash ,

 P REMON I T O R Y DREAM S . 28 1

i ng against the garden wall I t was a brigh t clear .

day and I was standing close to th e wall watch ing i n ,

the d istance two vessels on the sea one h av ing left ,

the place I was at an d the other advancing from the

,

opposite shore To m y surprise I saw that neither

.

vessel as they neared each other seemed to make

, ,

room for the other and then to my horror one dash ed

,

i nto the other cutti ng her i n half I saw th e boiler

, .

bu rst of the i nj ured vessel th row up fra g ments and ,

th ick black smoke ; I saw the passengers hurled into

the water makin g franti c attempts to save themsel ves .

I especially noticed h ats and other th ings floati ng on

the water and th en suddenly t w o bodies were wash ed
,

up at m y feet and I awoke and found i t was nearl y

,

A M
. . The dream m ade a vivid impression o n me ,

and I could not shake off th e feel i ng of horror I had

experienced all throu g h i t That same afternoon .

news cam e from O s tend of a terrible catastrophe i n

the C hannel the two vessels Pr i ncess H enr i et t e and
, ,

ose k i ne cross i ng v i a O stend and D over had come

j p , ,

i nto col l ision that same morning at 1 0 A M th e one . .

,

had cut the oth er i n hal f j ust as I had seen i t i n m y

d ream ; i ndeed the C i rcumstances were th e same
. I .

knew no one on board but th e lady with whom i n , ,

m y dream I was stayi ng had th ree relatives on

, ,

board ; one was drowned and th e other t wo saved .

I S A BELL A Y O U N G .
”

Th e friend wi th whom M iss Y oung was stayi ng at

the ti me M rs C E J en kins writes :
, . . .
,

I certi fy that the above m entioned dream was

282 ON DREAMS .

related to me about an hour after sh e h ad dreamt i t ,

by M iss Y oung .

M G J EN K I N S . . .

I n answer to a further question M rs J enkin s , .

writes
BR I T I S H I N S T I T UTE ,

6 R U E D E V I ENNE BR U SS EL S2 , , ,

3 rd May , 1 89 2 .

D EA R S I R ,

fi
I n answer to your card to M r C ope for .
,

warded to me this mornin g I beg to con rm that ,

M iss I G Y oung related h er dream to me about

. .

th e collision before we bad beard any Mi ng of i t and ,

that th e news came that afternoon .

M EL I O R A G J EN K I N S .
,

H on Lady S u per i ntend ent

l
.

ute B russe s
'

B r i t t s/i I nst i t ,
.

We give below some accou nt of the events ,

as

related i n th e Ti mes .

F rom the Ti m es 3 ot h M arch 1 8 8 9 ( S aturday )

, ,
'

A C HAN N EL PA C K ET MISSI N G .

U p to twelve o clock last ni g h t the mail and

’

passenger steamer wh ich left O stend for D over at

’
ten o clock yesterday morning had not arrived
l
.
,

The vessel ( th e Com tesse d e F and re) was due at

D over at There was a sligh t fog close i n shore
but the C alais boat wh ich arrived last eveni ng re
, ,

ported that i t was to l erably clear out i n th e C hannel .

Great anxi ety was felt at D over last night as to th e

’
steamer s safety and signal guns were fired at given
,

i ntervals .
 P REM ON I T OR Y DREAM S . 28 3

I n th e second ed ition of the Ti mes sam e date as ,

above the following appears

,

FO U N D E R I N G O F A N O S TEN D MA I L S TE A M E R ( F R O M
LL O YD S )
’
.

L loyd s agent at O stend tel egraphs under date

’

to day that the mail boats the Pr i ncess

A M

l
-
. .
,

H en r i ette from D over and the Com tesse d e F an d re

, , ,

from O stend were i n coll ision yesterday Th e Com

l
.
,

t esse d e F and re sank and all of th e crew i ncludi ng , ,

captai n and mate and th ree passengers were drowned

, ,
.

M ai l s lost
l
.

Th e Com tesse d e F and re w as a steamer of 50 0

tons g ross and l eft O stend yesterday morning wi th
,

m ails and passengers for E ngland .

I n the Ti mes M onday I st A pril 1 8 8 9 a fuller

, , , ,

acco unt appears with names of vi ctims narratives of

, ,

su rvivors etc,
M r Al g ernon O sborn one of th e
. .
,

saved gi ves th e ti me of the collision as hal f past

,
-

one .

A nd so enough perhaps of these eventful dream s , ,

.

We will pass to a slightly more serious class of premoni

tory dream where an accident has been averted th rough
,

the d reamer remembering his dream at the crucial

moment and not doing what h e would naturally have
done if he had not remembered his dream Th e fi rst .

instance we quote o f the snake is perh aps the least

conclusive as it seems to be only M r K i nso v i ng s
, . l ’

th eory that he would have trodden on th e snake i f h e

had not been warned i n his dream H owever it i s .
,

a good instance of a premonitory dream wheth er the ,

w arning was useful or not

2 84 ON DREAMS .

Dr . of the Protestant E piscopal C hurch

K insol ving 1

of the E piphany Philadelphia writes as follows to D r

, , .

H odgson
L O C U S T S TREET ,

P H I LA D ELP H I A 4M Octobe 8 9 , 1 r, 1 1 .

MY D EA R S I R ,

“
The dream was this I seemed to be in .

woods back of the hotel at C apon S prings W Va

, ,
. .
,

when I came across a rattlesnake wh ich when killed , ,

had t wo black looking rattles and a peculiar proj ection

-

of bone from the tail while the ski n was unusually light ,

i n colour The i mpression of the snake was very dis

.

tinct and v ivid before my mind s eye when I awoke ’

in the morning but I did not mention the dream to

,

any one though I w as i n the act of telling my wi fe

,

while dressi ng but refrained from so doing because I

,

was in the habit of taki ng long walks i n the mountains ,

and I did not W ish to make her nervous by the su g

gestion of snakes .

A fter breakfast I started w ith my brother along

the back of the great north mountain and when about ,

twelve miles from the hotel we decided to go down out

o f the mountain into th e road and return home As .

we started down th e side of the mountain I suddenl y

became vividly conscious of my d ream to such an ,

e xtent as to startle me and to put me on the alert I .

was walking rapidly and had gone thirty steps wh en I

came on a snake coiled and ready to strike M y foot .

was in the air and had I finished my step I would have

,

trodden upon the snake I th rew myself to one side .

1
lxi
Vo . .
,
p ar t xxix .
,
ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
 P REM ON I T OR Y DREAMS . 285

and fell heavily on the ground I recovered myse l f .

at once and killed the snake with the assistance of m y

brother and found it to be the same snake i n every
,

particular with the one I had had i n my mind s eye ’

The sam e si ze colour and pecu l iar mal formation of

, ,

the tail .

I t is my belief that my dream prevented me from

treadi ng on th e snake but I have no theory on th e
,

subj ect and get considerably mi xed and muddl ed when

,

I try to think on the li ne of such abnormal experiences .

G H K I N SO LV I N G “
. . .
”

C H R I S T C H U R C H C L I NT O N A N D H A RR I S O N S TREET S
, ,

3 2 3 C L I NT O N S TREET BR O O K L YN N Y
“

l
.
, ,

I 9 M Ap ri 1892 , .

MR R I C H A R D H O D G S O N
. .

“
MY D E A R S I R ,

M y brother the Rev George H K insolvi ng

,
. .

o f Ph ilade l phia has enclosed me your request for m y

recollection of his premonitory dream last summer at
C apon S prings C onstant occupation durin g the season
.

j ust ended is m y apology for a somewhat tardy com

pl i anc e with that request The ci rcumstances
. as I
remember them were these
W e started he and I together o ff from the S prings
, ,

H otel j ust after breakfast to go over the mountain to

R ock E non S prings O ur first stop was on th e crest
.

of the N orth M ountai n and near it we had some con

,

versation with t w o boys who were out huckleberrying .

I asked them about their experience with rattlesnakes ,

and they replied th ey had kil l ed several during the

season L ater m y brother and I were clambering up
.
,
2 86 ON DREAM S .

a steep rough bushy cliff and as he was in front I said

,

‘ Y ou had better look out for rattlesnakes This is .

a very snaky sort of place A t neither of these refer

.

enc es to the subj ect of the snakes did m y brother seem

to be reminded of or t o make any allusion to his dream

of the night before of whi ch h e had not then told m e .

A fter walki ng so m e way beyond th is we missed

our trail and found ourselves descendi ng the mountain .

S uddenly my brother who was at my side and a l ittl e

'
,

‘
i n front th rew h is body back and said M y I li ke
to h ave stepped on that fellow '
, ,

I thi nk I caugh t h i m
b y the shoulder as with one foot raised j ust over the
,

reptile wh ich was coiled under some bush es and a bit

of br ush wood he reeled backward Then as w e closed
,
.

i n upon th e snake and del i vered our fi rst stones my

brother c atch ing sight of the tail said That is strange '
,

‘
, , ,

I will tell y o usom ethi ng remarkabl e abo ut that snake

i n a moment Th en when we had kill ed th e snake
.
’

before I noticed anythi ng remarkabl e about i t —when

‘ ‘
to me i t w as l i ke J im S miley s frog j ust li ke any ’

o ther frog —m y brother poi nted to th e fact th at it had

but one rattle on its tail and proceeded to tell m e h is
,

dream . H e said that th e ni g ht before he dreamed

th at h e came up i n front of the S prings H ot el as a
party of boys were i n the act of killi n g a snake B end .

‘
i ng over th e reptile h e said Why boys that snake ,

h as a diseased tail A nd on exami nation it appeared

’
.

a very s i ngular defective tail A t th e time of h is

,
.

narrow escape from bein g b itten ( for the reptile had

thrown bac k h i s head to stri ke when discovered ) h e ,

s aid the dream had suddenly come into h is mi nd I .

 P REMON I T ORY D REAMS . 28 7

n oticed a pause and losi ng the th read of the argument

i n wh ich we were engaged and th is made m e look to ,

wards h i m at the moment H e answered there o n th e .

spot to my question why h e had not told m e th e stran g e

d ream when I mentioned s nakes as we clambered up
th e peak or wh en we w ere speaki n g with th e boys ,

that he had not t hough t of th e dream d uring our wal k

u ntil a moment before this snake was m et and that at
that moment the dream had come into his m i nd with
s uch v ividness as to make him look where he was wal k

i ng with some care .

“
T h e snake was lar g e enou g h to have had half a -

d ozen or more rattles I t had a single rattle — not a

.

u —
b tton and looked as thou g h disease or crush i n g or
s ome unusual accident had deprived it of the rest .

These are the facts as I remember them very , ,

hastil y narrated T he experience was altogether unique

.

for me at l east I will send you th is d irect without

.

having spoken to my brother of the experience since

l eaving th e S prings in the month O fA u g ust last .

A R TH U R B K I N S O LV I N G . .

I n the following cases the aversi on of the fulfil ment

o wing to the recollection of th e dream is an important
feature.
1

“
W e were l iving in about 1 8 8 i n H ertford S treet ,

M ayfair O ne day I determined that on th e morro w

.

I would d rive to W oolwich i n our brougham taking ,

m y l ittle ch ild and nurse to spend the day with a

l
,

re ati on D uring the night I had a painfully clear

.

1
l
xi
Vo . .
, par t xx i x . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
288 ON DREAM S .

dream or vision of the brougham turning up one of th e

streets north of Piccadilly ; and t h en of m yself stand ing
on the pavement and holding m y child our old coach ,

man fall ing on h is head on th e road h is hat smash ed i n , .

This so much discomposed m e that wh en in the morn

ing I sent for th e coachman to give h is orders I al most ,

hoped that some obstacle to th e d rive might arise so ,

that I might have an excuse for going by train T he .

coachman was an old and valued servant I asked .

fi
him i f he wo uld hav e the carriage ready to drive t o
Woolwich at ten H e was not given to makin g d i f
l
.

c ut i es but he h esitated and when I suggested eleven

, ,

i nstead h e said that he would prefer that hour H e

,
.

gave no reason for his h esitation and said that th e ,

horse was quite well I told h i m al most eagerly that I

.

could quite well go by train ; but he said that all was

right.

W e went to Woolwich and spent the day A l l .

went well until w e reached P iccadilly on the return

j ourney Then I saw that other coachmen were look
.

ing at us ; and looking through the glass front of th e

brou g ham I saw that the coach man was leani ng bac k
in h is seat as though the horse were pulling v iolentl y
, .

of which however I felt no si g n W e turned up D own

, , .

S treet H e retained his attitude M y dream flashed

. .

back upon me I called to him to stop j umped out

.
, ,

caught hold of m y child and called to a policeman to

,

catch the coach man J ust as he did so the coachman

.

swayed and fell O ff th e box I f I had been in the .

l east l ess prompt he would have fa l len j ust as I saw

,

hi m in my dream I found afterwards th at the poor

.
 P REMON I T ORY DREAM S . 289

man had been suffering from a serious attack of d iar

rh oea on th e previous day and had gradually fai nted ,

from exhaustion during th e drive home H e was ab

ll
.

so u t e y sober and h is only mistake had been i n th ink

,

i ng that he was strong enough to und ertake the long

drive.
I n this case my premonitory dream d i ffered
from the reality on t wo points I n my dream we .

approached D own S treet from the west i n real ity w e

came from the east I n my dream the coachman
.

actually fell on his head ; the crushin g of h is hat on

the road being the most vivid point of the dream I n .

reality this w as j ust averted by the prompt action wh ic h

m y anxious memory of th e dream inspired .

S igned by L ady Z .

1 st Apri l ,

L ast year I dreamt that a certai n cotton mill

i nsured i n our company was burnt Th e mill was one ,
.

that I had never seen nor was I acq uainted wi th an y ,

m ember of th e fi rm ; and noth ing to my recollection

h ad been before me connected with th e i nsurance fo r
some years O n reach in g the office th e followi n g
.

m orni n g I turne d up th e surveyor s report wh ich I ’

found to be rath er me agre and one that had been ,

made some years before I accordingly gave i nst ruc .

tions to have the place re inspected and when th is was -

,

done i t was found that th e m ill was in an unsatisfactory

condition N ot being able to relieve ourselves duri n g
.

th e c urrent year for any portion of the amo unt for

which it was i nsured we re insured with anoth er office
,
-

1
Vo liii
. v .
,
p ar t xxii . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .

19
 DREAMS
’

290 ON .

for part of the amou nt A few month s afterwards th e

.

mill was partially destroyed our company savin g , ,

thro ug h the action I took i n consequence of the dream ,

near upon a thousand pounds .

( The true name of th e secretary is s igned but is ,

not for publ ication ) .

Th e nex t case is from C olonel R eynolds now of ,

C heltenham who is personally known to m e and i s

, ,

an excellent wi tness .

C H ELTEN H A M , 1
3 t/z D ecember, 1 89 1 .

A bout the year I was i n charge of a len g th

1 8 70

o f roadway together with th e bridges l arge and small

, , ,

that carri ed i t S ometimes there were floods which

.

endangered the brid g es and I was therefore al ways on

,

the look out to prevent serious damage wh ich would

have impeded the tra ffi c A t th e same time th is had .

been my dail y life for so long that no anxiety remained

i n my m i nd about i t I regarded my duties as merel y
.

routi ne work I was i n a fai rly g ood state of health

. .

O ne n i g h t I dreamt in a most V ivid manner that I saw

an exact picture of a certain s mall bridg e A ll the .

surroundi ngs were complete and left no doubt as to

which bridge i t was A voice at the same moment
.

said to me ‘Go and look at that brid g e Th is was ’

said disti nctly th ree ti mes I n the mornin g the drea m .

still persisted i n my m ind and so impressed me that I

rode off at once about six miles to th e brid g e N oth .

i ng was to be seen out of the ordinary The small .

stream was however coming d ow n i n flood O n

, ,
.

walking i nto t h e water I found to my astonish ment

 P REMON I T O RY DREAMS . 29 1

that the foundations of the bridge had been entirel y

u ndermi ned and wash ed away I t was a marvel that .

it was still standi ng O f course the work necessary

. ,

to preser v e the brid g e was done There is no doub t .

that but for the dream th e bridge woul d have fallen ,

as there was no reason whatever to attract my attention

specially to the bridge Though small the bridge was .
,

an important one as its situation was peculiar Th e

,
.

picture that was dreamt was so strong that i t is even

now fi xed in my mind as plainly almost as it was then .

I h ave no doubt whatever that a special warning was

given m e by a higher intelligence I have never at .

any time had any other similar experience .

“
H C R E Y N O L DS . . .

F rom M rs Wheeler .
,
10 6 H igh S treet O xford ,

I dreamed I went down th e back stairs at H eston -

i nto th e kitchen and as I S tepped off th e last step on

,

to the floor someth ing severed my big toe ( without

h urting m e at all ) and I saw it roll across the floo r
,
.

T he next morni ng I went down those stai rs before the

kitchen shutters were open and with bare feet ( I ,

wanted some water ) and j ust as I g ot to the last step

,

I remembered my dream and looked carefully ( I thi nk

I took th e S hutter bar d own and partly opened the
sh utter but I do not feel q uite certain ) and then saw
, ,

a knife lyin g on its back on the floor with the ed g e up ,

j ust where I should have put down my foot had I

stepped off the bottom stai r I am not given to having
vivid dreams particularl y .

1
liii
Vo . v .
,
p ar t xx i i . ofProceed i ng s S P R . .
°

.
2 92 ON D REAM S .

Th e following the last example that I will cite of a

,

d ream bei ng the means of actually averting a calamity ,

i s perhaps the most useful as C aptain S cott was enabled ,

to save several lives thereby .

F rom B ishop H a l e :

9 M M arc/z , 1 89 2 .

T he co l ony of Western A ustral ia ( called at th e

time th e S wan R iver S ettlement ) was founded i n 1 8 2 9 .

C aptain S cott must have g one th ere very sh ortl y after

that period .

I n th e year 1 8 48 I bei ng th en A rch deacon of ,

A delaide went to Western A ustralia i n attendance

,

upon th e B ishop of A delaide C aptai n S cott sh owed .

great readiness to assist the b ishop and both h e and ,

I received fro m h i m man y acts of kindness .

“
H e one day told me about h is dreams and the
l
l
, ,

ci rcumstances connected th erewith H e told it a .

wi th such an imation and such varying express ions of

face that h e gave one th e idea that the thin g s h e
’
spoke of were passi ng v ividl y before h is m i nd s eye as
h e described them .

I was of cours e g reatly struck by the narrative

, ,

and said I should l i ke very much i ndeed to have i t i n

writing H e said at once that I should have i t ; h e
.

would have th e copy of h is log whi ch h e had by h im , ,

transcribed for me I recei ved th e M S a few days . .

afterwards .

H i s last ill ness was a long and wearisome one ,

and th e old man was pleased when any friend would

1
l
xi
Vo . .
, p a t xx i x
r . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
 P REMON I T O RY D REAM S . 2 93

look i n and s it with him for a ti me I was then .

b i shop of the d iocese and I was aware that th e

,

cler g yman of h is parish ( F reemantle ) M r B ostock , .

,

was i n th e habit of sometimes taki n g h is seat by the

old man s bedside i n addition to the performance of
’

th e usual devotional servi ces .

“
I never had upon my own m ind the sl igh test
doubt about th e truth of the narrati ve but I was ,

q uite aware that som e persons to whom I mi g h t

chance to S ho w i t m igh t feel doubtful about it and i t ,

occurred to m e that M r B ostock s fri endly V i sits to

.
’

the old man afforded an ex cellent opportunity for

getti n g som e d eclaration such as that wh ich h e did
obtai n
.

M ATTH EW B H ALE .
,

B i sk op .

C aptain S cott s account ’

O n th e ni g h t o f the 7 th J u ne I dreamed th at I
saw a schooner and apparently water lo gg ed with
,
-
,

several men in her and a black man among them .

O n the 8t h I dream ed th e same and g ot up and

started the mate up aloft I stayed on deck unti l .

daylight . O n th e 9 t h th e sam e dream occurred .

’
Got up and altered the shi p s course having passed ,

between G uadeloupe and Ant i g ue the day previous , ,

and at 8 R M heavy squalls with heavy thunder and

.

lightnin g ; shortened sail D ayli gh t mad e all sail fi ne

.
,

pleasant weather O n the 1 0 t h at 1 o clock altered

’

.
,

the sh ip s cou rse from W S W to S W two points

’
. . . . .

for the purpose of ascertaini ng the true position of th e

2 94 ON D REAMS .

B i rd I slands or to see i f th ese really ex isted ( as on

,

my chart it was marked doubtful ) I was at th is tim e .

very uneasy in my m ind supposing that som ethi ng,

was goin g to happen to my ship I had related my .

dream to my mate and passen g ers D on J oseph ,

S ev erra J ohn Poi ng est re and W illiam R ichenburg

, ,

E squires merchants at C artha g ena wh o wrote th e

, ,

ci rcumstances to the H umane S ociety and to thei r

house i n L ondon .

“
O n the morni ng of the l ot h at 9 3 0 A M we , . .

were all at breakfast th e officer on deck called down

,

the skylight and said that a squall was coming I .

immediately repai red o n deck to take i n th e s m all

sails O u looking astern th e S hip where th e squal l
.
,

was com in g from we saw a boat with a large fla g

,

fl yin g on an oar and a man standing up i n the bow

,

holding it I immediatel y hove the ship to and took

.

i n all studdin g and small sails M y men th at were .

aloft furling royals said that they could see a number

of men and that they thought it was a pirate O ne of .

the men stated that was j ust the way that he was taken
the year previous in the same seas M y passengers .

and officers then requested me to keep the ship away ,

which I d id they stating that i f they should turn out

,

to be pirates I should not recover my insurance for

,

my ship I then kept her away under her ree fed sails
.

and went down to breakfast A fter my entering m y .

cabin I felt uneasy and returned to the state room

, .

I mmediatel y my dream came forcibly in my mind I ,

then put t wo pistols and m y cutlass by m y side and

w ent on deck called all hands on deck and again hove
, ,
 P REMON I T O RY D REAMS . 295

the ship to and desi red M r Poi ng est re to take th e .

whee l and steer the ship I then ordered th e first .

O fficer to lower his boat down and go and see what th e

boat was I then ordered the guns to be loaded mad e

.
,

sail and made a tack towards the boats O n m y

,
.

coming up with them found that my mate had taken ,

the captain and hi s men out O fthe boat and taken them
l
l
into his C aptain Je ard s boat having a great quantity
,
’

of water in very nearly up to the thwarts also a large

, ,

shark and had her in t ow

l
l
.
,

“
A fter getting C aptain Je ard on board and h i s ,

men who were in a very weak state not able to

, ,

speak with the exception of the black man ; from hi m

I got all the particulars as follows : it appeared th at
l
,

they belonged to the schooner james H amb et on O f ,

Grenada from A merica bound to Grenada and bei ng

, , ,

short of water havin g a very l ong passa g e th rough

,

light winds were going on shore for water on the

,

I sland of S aints it then being calm A fter leavi ng

,
.

thei r ship a light breeze sprang up and the scho oner

kept her ground but the boat pulling in a di fferent
,

direction and the current runnin g so stron g that the

fi
’
boat s crew became quite exhausted That at daylight .

they had the m ort i c at i on of seein g the schooner i n

shore of them as far as they could see from the boat ,

the boat still dri fti ng farther from l a nd and sh ip unti l

they lost sight O f her altogether The following day .

they had a very dreadful time of it ; it b l ew a heavy

g ale with thunder and lightning ; they had to make
,

fast the oars mast and sai l to the painter of th e

,

boat and let the boat d rift to break off th e sea th at

,
2 96 ON ‘
D REA MS .

w as runnin g D uring all this time they had no water

.

or anythin g to eat The following day was nearly

.

cal m very light wind s and a hot scorching sun being

l
,

° °

i n the latitude of 1 6 ongitud e 6 3 their suffer

ings were very great all day B oth captain and men .

tore their clothes off their backs and poured water on

themselves to keep them cool O n the morning that I .

discovered them the black man appealed to his God ,

saying I f God hear black man as well as white man

, ,

pray send me fish or shark for massa to eat no let him ,

die ’
The all merciful F ather heard his prayers and
.
-

sent him a large shark which was lying in the boat on

,

her being brought alongside of which they had d runk ,

the blood and eaten part of the fl esh I immediately .

knocked i n the head of a water puncheon and made

them a warm bath and put them severally into it for
the purpose of cooling them and g etting some parts of
their shirts off their skin which were sticking to thei r
backs their skin being all blistered with the sun and
,

salt water I gave them a little tea to moisten thei r

.

mouths every few minutes until some of them prayed ,

for food and asked for some biscuit and gave them ,

rice water and barley water occasionally A fter a

l
l
.

good sl eep C aptain Je ard sent for me below and

wished to speak to me O n searching his pockets to
.

see i f the black man had told the truth about his ship ,

I found his register and mani fest of his cargo This .

satisfied m e all was correct and that they were not ,

pirates D uring our conversation I found that I had

l
l
.

been in company with C aptai n Je ard i n S t J ohns .

,

N ewfoundland i n 1 8 1 4 he then commanding a fine

, ,
 P REMON I T O RY D REA MS . 2 97

schooner called the Catc/z Me W/zo Can belonging to ,

S pury ar 81 C o of C ool . .

“
I n a few days they all came round I gav e .

them up to the B ritish C onsul at C arthagena and

requested him to lose no time to send them on as we ,

feared that someth ing would be brought against the

mate of the schooner C aptain Je ard having all his
, l
l
papers with him O n my arri val i n E ngland I found
l
l
.
,

that C aptain Je ard only arrived there three days

previous to the execution of his mate and remaining
three men they having been tried for murdering thei r
,

captain and the other three men H ad not the C ons uls .

sent them over in the packet to J amaica and requested ,

the adm iral to send them up to Grenada with all des

patch these four poor soul s would have lost their lives
,

i nnocently
( S i g ned )
“
D AN I EL S C O TT ,

Com mand i ng Me br i g
‘O cean from ( illegible ) ’

bound t o CarMag ena .

M ay 9M , 1 86
5 .

I George J ames B ostock C haplain of F ree

, ,

mantle W A ustralia do hereby certi fy that I attended

,
.
,

D aniel S cott i n h is last illness F eb ruary 1 8 6 5 where

, , ,

i n he repeated the substance of the above as most

solemnly t rue and ascribed the whole event to the
,

d irect guidance o f an over ruling P rovidence -

.

S igned G E G E B O S TO C K
( ) O R J . .

I will now cite some i nstances of a class of pro

h et i c dream which seems to be more widely known
p
—
than others premonition of death or death warning ,
,
2 98 ON D REAMS .

given i n a dream This book is concerned exclusive l y

.

with dreams and reference would be o ut of place t o

,

the many well known stories of families who percei ve

-

a particular vision or noise before the death of one of

their members A pparently these instances are too
.

well authenticated for the dogmatic disbel ief of even

the most sceptical ; for the most part men say that
there must be something i n it but what the some
,

thing is neither they nor any other can explain

, .

“
This someth i ng also has existed in dreams .

“ ’
This something has come to warn men of another s
death or thei r own I s it a spirit from another world
.

— another intelligence outside our own that has a wider

knowledge of the future than we can even hope to
—
attain or what ' Professor O Y L odge says :
. .
“
It
i s j ust possible that th ese other intelligences i f they in ,

any sense exist may be able to communicate with us

,

by the same sort of process as that by which we are

now learning to be able to communicate with each

other B e our theory what it may the fact remains ,

that death premonitions have undoubtedl y occurred in

dreams W e g rope blind l y in the dark for an explana
.

tion to find none only to come up against the solid

, ,

fact W e know so little and we feel so much and

.
, ,

the search for the little we know amongst the much

that w e feel is a veritable hunting for a diamond on
the seashore .

I knew a clever man wh o argued violently against

what he was pleased to call th e supernatural ; he said
that there was no such thing ; it was against all well
known l aws ; h e denied it absolutely and declared that ,
 P REMON I T O RY D REAM S . 2 99

the persons who argued otherwise were credulous

fools then he h ad an experience of hi s own I .

remember hi s remarking I never felt such an i g nor

ant fool i n m y life as when I thought h o w often I h ad
,

argued against the supernatural I S hall never agai n .

say that anything is i mpossible j ust because I know

nothing of it '
,

S urely it behoves us to keep an open mind with ,

out prej udi ce one way or the other Too great a .

credulity is as inj urious as too great a scepticism .

A man s own d eath has occasionally been pro

’

h esi ed to h im i n a d ream but we may gather that

p ,

this is not so frequent as th e premonition of anoth er s ’

death .

I will cite two cases of the former which are most ,

i nteresting from whatever point of V iew we look at

them 1

VA LP A R A I S O, I ND .
,
2 nd February ,
1 894 .

D EA R SI R ,

Y ours of the received A s regard s 2 9 t h .

M r Thomas Pratt s d ream of 1 1 t h J anuary M r

.
’

, .

Pratt was a merchant here I went to the store on th e .

morning O f the 1 2 th J anuary H e related to me th e .

C ircumstances of his dream H e said that he died .

‘
last night I said W e ll y ou are alive yet Then ’

.
.
, ,

h e told me about his dream H e said that h e d reamt .

that he d ied and chose his pa l l bearers and was taken -

,

to the grave and then lowered down W hen they

,
.

began to put the dirt on the coffi n he woke up W hen .

1
Vo l . xi .
,
par t xxix . ofProceed i ng s S P R . . .
3 00 ON D REAM S .

I went down the next morning he was dead H e died .

at 2 A M on the 1 3 th J anuary The sam e pall bearers

. . .
-

officiated him to the grave .

“
I was th e first one that he related h is dream to .

H e laughed at it th e same day that he died and said ,

that he was good for forty years lon g er W hen he .

died he was seventy one years old -

.

“
G EO RG E H E R R I N G TO N .

F rom th e R ev E D B anister . . .
,
W hitechapel
V icara g e P reston L ancashi re
, ,

12 M N ovember ,
1 88
5

M y father whilst a schoolboy ( probably from

, 1 80 8

had a dream relati ng to his fut ure whi ch I and ,

m y sister have O ften heard him relate I n the dream .

he saw a tablet in the parish church of his native place ,

on which was inscribed his name in full the date of ,

h is birth and th e day and month but not th e year of

, ,

h is d eath B ut there seemed to him to be somethin g

.

uncertain about the m ouM in the date of hi s death .

“
T he date as i nscribed on the tablet was 9 t h J un .

B ut as J une is seldom if ever abbre viated as J un he

, ,
.
,

was somewhat i nclined to think that it might be 9 t h

J anuary .

M any years elapsed after th e d ream and nothi ng ,

occurred to recall th e circumstance until on 9 t h J une ,

1 83
5 ,
my eldest broth er d ied at the age of t w o years
and ten months M y father at the time was very
.

deeply affected by the loss of th e child The date .

’
of the child s death called to his mi nd the date on the
tablet and though in his dream h e d istinctly saw his
,
 P REM O N I T O RY D REAM S . 3 01

own name he ever afterwards favoured the idea that

,

the date he had seen was 9 t h J une .

O n 9 t h J anuary 1 8 8 3 my father d ied

, ,
.

M r B anister s sister confirms as follows :

.
’

’
I have seen my brother s letter respecti ng the
d ream of which I have heard my father speak and can ,

onl y say that the facts are as my brother has stated

AG N E S B AN IS TE R .

L et us pass to premonitions o f anoth er s death ’

.

The following most interesting case happened to a

lady well known to the writer S he has kindly written
.

i t out for publication

“
O n the ni g ht of — I had a very v ivid dream .

I saw some one l yin g dead in our dining room S ome -

.

th ing prevented me reco g nising who it was but I saw ,

that to my great surprise th e flesh was quite pink

, , ,

altho ugh I knew that it was a dead person I told .

my sisters of this d ream the next day On .

m y sister M L died s uddenly i n Me d i ni ng r oom

. .
-
,

shortly after her death her flesh turned quite pink ; so

much so that I thought my dream had been sent as a
warning and that she could not be really dead and I
, ,

had three doctors i n to see her ; they said the colour

was very curious but that she was dead I have never
, .

had any other dream like this .

( S igned ) C C . .

M y sister C t old me about her dream the morning

.

after she dreamt it the facts that followed are as sh e

,

states .

( S igned ) F C . .
3 02 ON D REA MS .

I will now close with yet a few more instances taken

from that inexhaustible receptacle o f well authenticated
’
cases of man s communication with another world the
l
,

Pr oceed i ng s of Me S oci ety for Psy ck i ca R esearM .

S pace does not permit of giving more than a very

l imited number O feach class o f dream which yet may ,

su ffi ce as illustrations of what seem li ke d re am possi

l
bi i t i es probably waiting to be developed until w e know
,

”
“
more of the great land on the other side
The following are stri king instances of dream pre
monitions of death 1

F rom the H on M rs M A A dj utant General s . . .

, .
-
’

H ouse R oyal Barracks D ublin

, , .

1 88 4 .

M y sister in the habit O f getting up at 5 A M

was . .

and of going to my father s room ( wh o was not well at ’

the time ) to give him tea and then readi ng to him ,

until about 7 I asked her one day i f she would call

.

me sometimes that I should like to get up at 5 S he

,
.

‘
refused saying she thought I did quite enough in th e
,

d ay and had better be in bed The next morning .

,

however Thursday to m y surprise I awoke and saw

, ,

her S tanding at the foot O f my bed looking very ,

bright indeed and I fancied in a wh ite dressing gown

,
-
.

The curtains were drawn over the windows and the

l ight seemed somehow only to strike her figure S he .

‘
said R emember I have called you it is 5 o clock and ’

, , ,

n ow I am going away ; I am goin g away remember

’
.
,

I fell asleep and d id not wake until eight A t break .

1
lxi
Vo . .
, p a t xxix
r . ofProceed i ng s S P R
. . .
 P REMON I T O R Y D REAMS . 3 03

fast I said to my sister ‘so you did come and call

'
,

m e after all ’ ‘
S he looked astonis h ed and said N o , ,

I did not ’
.
‘
I said D o you mean that you did not
,

come at 5 o clock and say R emember I have called

’

,
“

you and now I am going away ‘N o she said ’

, , ,

‘I never Came near your room S he however ’

.
, ,

questioned me in rather an agitated way and to ,

‘
my surprise said I don t l ike those sort of dreams ’ ’

.
,

I never heard her say anything of the sort be

fore and was rather surprised at her thinking twice
,

about i t
“
The next day F riday having been i n perfect
, ,

health and spirits up to that morning she was taken ,

’ ’

ill whilst sitting by my fath er s side at about 6 o clock , .

and she died at 5 o clock the next day week T hursday , ,

of my dream or vision ; and a curious coincidence was

that Sh e had on a white muslin dressing gown in which -

she had sat up during part of the night I do not .

recollect that during the fluctuation of th is short illness .

from wh ich at first no danger was apprehended this ,

strange incident occurred to m y memory but as the ,

clock st m c k five on that sad morning I remembered .

There is another dream connected with that sad

S h ort illness .

M y father the second night before my sister was

“
,

taken ill dreamed that he asked her to go on with the

l
,

Life of Ck ar esjam es Fox the second volume O fwhich ,

was not then in th e house H e dreamed that she said .

‘O h there is no more for me to read that is the end ’

, , ,

and sh e held up the volume sh e had read to him O pen ,

at the last page across the half of which he saw pri nted
,
3 04 ON D REAMS .

i n very large black thick letters filli n g the page quite

, ,

across T H E E N D
, .

H e said it gave him a sort of shock which awoke

h im and he still fel t a painful shock h e could not say
, ,

wh y when he awoke and remembered it

,
A nd y et h e .

was half amused at feeli ng i t a shock or remembering

-

it at all .

H e however d id not mention it that day because

, , ,

he being ill thought my mother m ight not li ke it Th e

, , .

day my sister died he told us T he strange th ing was .

that it was the same n ight or rather morning and , ,

about th e same tim e that I thou g ht I saw her for soon

after he awoke h e saw her come i n with hi s tea but d id ,

not I bel ieve tell her the d ream , .

I t was strange that S h e finished that book and ,

that i t was the last ti me S h e ever read to hi m and that ,

that night was the end of one phase of family l ife i n

many ways M y father never recovered her death
.
,

and everything C hanged soon after .

“
M y father was the late F ield M arshal and as -
,

any one will know not a man likely to thi nk of dream s

,

i n general and up to the day of h is death was in intel

,

lect and faculties l i ke a man of thi rty ( F ield M arshal .

-

L ord S d ied in .

The perc ipient of the followi ng d ream M iss ,

K . M .

C leary writes

A L BERT R O A D CA R R I C K FER G U S
, ,

C O A N TR I M
.
5M Fe b,
u1a y 8 9 r r ,
1 2 .

I will fi rst state that I am a very healthy woman ,

and have been so all my li fe I am not i n the least .

 P REMON I T O RY D REAM S . 3 05

n ervous M y occupation i s that of head teacher i n one

.

of th e B oard M odel S chools .

( A fter giving an account of an occasion when sh e

saw an apparition of one of her assistants who was ,

absent at the ti me and another occasion when she ,

saw the apparition O fan unknown person ) M iss C leary

says
“
W hen I was about fifteen and at a convent board
i n g school I dreamt without any cause that could i n
, ,

spire i t that my father was ill of details connected with

, ,

it of h is death of results wh ich followed W hen th e

, ,
.

bell rang for getting up and the nun came round to ,

wake us I who had been roused from my painful chai n

, ,

of V isions was sitting i n my nightdress on the side of

,

the bed and so fai nt -looki ng that the lady i nsisted I

,

should return to bed B ut this I would not do I was . .

‘
-
too terrified and yet so glad it was only a dream ’

Th is was F riday O n S unday morni ng came the bad

.

news K ate F ather i s very ill pray for h im A nd

so commenced the chain of sad real ities pictured so
”
graphically to me .

I n answer to our i nqui ries M iss C leary wrote

further :
2 6 M February , 1 89 2 .

I n reference to the dream previous to my father s ’

death you ask me i f I can give further details dates

, ,

‘
and corroboration and did it happen at the begi nni ng ,

of h is i l l ness or before or after it '

, ,
’

“
Well I think the only important detail I did not
,

mention or at least lay stress on is that it was the

, , , , ,

so und of the bell for rising which broke the chai n of

20
3 06 ON D REAMS .

pictures that were presented to me that I was sent for ,

to go home ( we lived i n R oscrea C o T ipperary where ,

.
,

the convent is ) ; that I did go home ; that I turned to

go to the bedroom that had always been occupied by
him ; that mother close behi nd me motioned me to , ,

an opposite room wk i c/c k aa never been used as a bed .

’

r oom ; that I went i n saw the bed i n a certain position , ,

h ead towards this wall foot that ; that D r R was , . .

t owards the foot of the bed hold ing i n his hand a white ,

c hi na tea cup with lilac flowers pattern one of a set w e

-
, ,

h ad that on the window was a very peculiar new style

o f lace curtai n the pattern of which I had never seen
,

anywhere I dreamt he died and of the grief and

.
,

terrible trouble ; and about this part there was as i t ,

were a cloud and one distinct figure loomed from it

, , ,

that of an uncle father s brother D r J ames C leary o f

,
’

, .

D ubli n ( 2 7 N E arl S treet ) deceased si nce I saw or

.
, .
,

felt that J ames took my only brother back with him to

,

D ublin .

E v ery detail of the dream was verified N ow .

,

with me this dream is unique in i f I may express m y

, ,

self so i ts sp an ,
.

“
Th e loud rapid tones of the hand -bell rung in th e
,

dormitory roused me and mechanically I sprang from ,

bed scarcely awake ; in a daze or stupor I was sitti ng

,

on the side of it The nun whose duty i t was to g o .

from bed to bed to make sure we had all risen found ,

m e as I described noted my appearance S hook me a ,

little told me I seemed very ill and should lie down

, ,

again Th is aroused me quite I woul d not have

. .

g one back to that bed j ust then for worlds I told her .
 P REMON I T O RY D REAM S . 3 07

I was not ill that I had been dreaming and d reamt

, ,

‘
th at my father was dead ; but she would not listen to
such nonsense superstition and folly etc , ( S he is ,
.
’

dead and there is no one who can corroborate ) I may

,
.

have mentioned it to a companion ; I d id not attempt

to do so agai n to any of the nuns .

“
A t the ti me I had this dream I had every reason
to believe that m y father was in perfect health and i e l
w as i n p erfect bea t /z l
H e was medical doctor to th e
.

house I had seen him a few days before from a

.

window walking i n th e grounds with the M other or

,

S uperioress H e looked then as h e al ways looked

.
, ,

the embodiment of health and good humour I n com .

paring dates and events afterwards with my mother ,

w h o unhappily is no more I found that the dream

, , ,

’
occurred on the eve of h is first day s i ndisposition H e .

w as attendi ng a fever patient som e miles from the town ,

fi
got a severe wet ting which predisposed h im to the ,

fi
i nfection wh ich he caught H e was but v e days ill
, . .

H e died on th e 1 9 t h J uly 1 8 53 I am now ft y t wo ,

.
-
,

therefore I was not so much as fi fteen when he died .

H is death changed the whole course of my life or ,

rather shunted me quite on to other lines

, .

“
O n W ednesday morni ng I had th e dream O n .

the same Wednesday he got the wetting W ednesday .

night he felt nervous and u nwell and had a hot foot ,

bath before going to bed Thursday I p resume he did .

,

not go out I m sure he lay for the first time on F riday

.
’
.

F riday evening I fi rst had any intimation of his illness .

T hen my aunt h is sister who was a nun there and one

, ,

of my class mistresses told me that mother had sent ,

3 08 ON D REAM S .

word of it with a request that th e nuns would pray for

,

‘
h im but she added : There is no cause for alarm
'

I recollect nothing particular about S aturday .

“
O n S u nday morning I was call ed away from the
breakfast -table and told I was to dress for going home
to see m y father who had become worse I went and
, .

fou nd as I had seen i n my d ream .

M other told me afterwards S h e was g reatly

shocked by my standi ng as I did at the threshold
of the door and that I seemed not to be able to
,

keep my eyes from th e W i ndows Th e room and .

everything i n the room was as I had seen them i n

my dream .

“
I know that father had been th inki n g of m e par
ll
g

t i c uar y during th e ear l y part of the wee k in wh ich h e

too k ill as I had had an earach e H e sent me a drug

,
.

for i t wh ich cured it at once but h e was not aware of

, ,

the success of h is remedy H e asked me th en during .

,

the interval of consciousness wh il e I made my short

visit h ow was the pai n i n th e ear
,
' ‘
I said your ,

(
’
li ttl e bottle cured i t I had th e same l ittle
. bottle
for many years ) H e th en kissed m e and put h is
.

hand on my h ead and blessed m e The doctor then .

almost pulled m e away and told mother to take m e ,

from the room .

I remember well how unnaturally calm I was and ,

this cal m or apparent i nsensibil ity remained through

, ,

out h is short illness and wh en I heard of his death .

M oth er used often to remark h ow strange i t all was ,

and h ow extraordinary that I wh o was th e only ch ild

l
l
,

absent wh en h e became i should be th e only one ,

 P REMO N I T O RY D REAM S . 3 09

who received his sad farewel l and as sh e said ‘i t

, ,

was fittin g too for I w as h is favourite child

,
’

K M C LE A R Y . . .

I t will be observed t hat the day of th e week on

wh ich the dream occurred is given d ifferentl y i n the t wo
,

accoun ts Whether D r C l eary s ill ness had actually

. .
’

begun or not at th e tim e it appears that th e dream

,

took place duri n g a period when at least th ere was no

reason for special anxiety about h im even on the part ,

of h is fam ily at home and when M iss C l eary h erself

,

had no reason for anxi ety at all .

The followi ng again is no less remarkable

2 2 nd D ecember , 1 892 .

I have been asked to g ive an account of an

experience wh ich was certainl y the most remarkable
i n my l i fe a dream wh ich cam e to me three ti mes a t
lon g i ntervals and which was at last fulfilled
,
.

M y father died when I was a ch ild ; my mother

married ag ai n and I went to live with an uncle wh o
, ,

became l ike a fat her to me I n the spring of 1 8 8 2 I

.

dreamt that my sister and I were sitti ng i n m y uncle s

’

d rawi n g room
-
I n my d ream i t was a brill iant spring
.

day and from the window we saw quantities of flowers

,

i n the garden many more than were i n fact to be seen

,

from that wi ndow But over th e garden there lay a

.

a thi n covering of snow I knew i n my dream that

.

my uncle had been found dead by the side of a certai n

bridle path about th ree miles from the house — a field
-

road where I had often ridden with h i m and along ,

which h e often rode when going to fish i n a neigh

3 10 ON D REAM S .

bouri ng lake I knew that his horse was standing by

.

h i m and that he was wearing a dark homespun suit o f

,

cloth made from the wool o f a herd of black S h eep

wh ich he kept I knew that h is body was bei ng
.

brought home i n a wag gon with t wo horses with hay ,

i n the bottom and that we were waiting for h is body

,

to arrive Then i n my dream the waggon came to

.

the door ; and t wo men well known to me —one a -

gardener the other the kennel huntsman — helped to

,

carry the body up the stairs wh ich were rather narrow

, .

M y uncl e was a very tall and heavy man and i n my ,

d ream I saw the men carryi ng him with di fficulty and ,

h is left hand han g i ng down and stri king agai nst the
banisters as the men mounted the stairs T his detail .

gave me in my dream an unreasonable horror I .

could not help painfully thi nkin g oh why d id they , ,

not prevent his hand from bein g b ruised i n this way

I n the sadness and horror of thi s S ight I awoke ,

and I s l ept no more that night I had determined not

l
l
.

to te my uncle of the dream but in the morning I ,

looked so changed and ill that I could not escape his

affectionate questioning and at last I told him of my
vision of him lying dead in that field road I had no .

anxiety about his h ealth H e was a robust man of

.

si xty si x accustomed to hunt h is own pack of hounds

-
,

and to take much exercise H e listened to me very .

kindly and although h e was not himself at all alarm ed

,

by my dream he offered me to do anything I l iked

,

which might calm m y mind I begged him to promise .

me never to go alon e by that particular road He .

promised me that he wou l d al ways make an excuse to

 P REM ON I T O R Y D REA MS . 3 11

have a groom or some one with h im I remember my

compunction at the thought of giving him this trouble
and yet I could not he l p asking for hi s prom ise .

“
The impression of the dream grew gradually
fainter but it did not leave me ; and I remember
,

that when a little boy came to stay with us some ti me

after and boy like drew his stick along the banisters
,
-

as he went upstai rs the sound brought back the horror

,

of my dream T wo years passed by and the thought

.
,

of the d ream was becoming l ess frequent when I ,

dreamt it again with all its details the same as before ,

and again with the same profoundly disturbing effect .

I told my uncle and said to him that I felt sure he

,

fi
had been neglecting his prom ise and riding by that
l
,

e d road alone
-
H e admitted that he had occasionally
.

done 5 0 ‘ .
‘
A lthough he said I thi nk I have been ’

, ,

’
very good on the whole H e renewed his promise ;
and again the impression grew weaker as four years
passed by duri ng wh ich I married and left his home
, .

I n the M ay of 1 8 8 8 I was i n L ondon expecting my ,

baby O n th e night before I was taken i l l I dreamt

.
,

the s ame dream again but with this variation I nstead

, .

’
of dream ing that I was at my uncle s home with m y
sister I knew in my dream that I was lying i n bed i n
,

our L ondon house B ut from that bedroom j ust as

.
,

from th e drawing room i n the form er dreams I seemed

-
,

to see m y uncle lying dead in the same well known -

place A nd I seemed also to perceive the same scene

.

of the bringing home o f th e body Then came a ne w .

poi nt A s I lay i n bed a gentleman dressed i n black

.
, ,

but whose face I could not see seemed to stand by m e ,

3 12 ON D REAMS .

and tell me that my uncle was dead I woke in great

l
.

d istress But as was ill from then for t w o days as

.
,

soon as the child was born I ceased to dwell on the

d ream —only I felt an overpoweri ng desire to write at

once to my uncle mysel f and to tell him that I was
gettin g better I was not allowed to do th is ; but
.

afterwards I managed to write a few li nes in pencil

unknown to any one but the nurse T his note reached .

my uncle t wo days before h is death .

A s I grew better I began to Wond er greatly at not

,

hearing from my uncle wh o generally wrote to me every

day T hen my dream came back to me and I was
.

c ertain that he was ill or dead but my husband nurse

, ,

and maid ( all I saw ) seemed cheerful as usual Then .

o ne morning my husband said my stepfather wished to

see me and I at once guessed hi s errand H e entered .

t h e room dressed i n black and stood by my bedside .

A t once I recogni sed that this was the fi g ure which I

‘
had seen in my d ream I said T he colonel i s dead
.
, ,

I know all about it I have dreamt it often

,
A nd as ’
.

h e was unable to speak from emotion I told him all

about it place time of day ( morning ) and the clothes
, ,

m y uncle wore .

“
Then I thought of that scene on the staircase
w hi ch had al ways remained in my mi nd I asked i f .

th ere were any bruises on the hands ‘N o bruises ’

.
,

‘
said my stepfather either on hands or face He .
’

thought that I fancied that m y uncle had fallen fro m

—
hi s horse S oon afterwards my sister the sister wh o
.

had been in m y dream — came to see me and brough t

me a ring which my uncle had al ways worn on his left
 P REMON I T O RY DREAM S . 3 13

h and . I was very thankful for this memento of him ,

and I told m y sister how I had feared that the ring

fi
would have been forgotten I onl y came j ust in time
.
,
’

‘
she said ; they were j ust going to close the c of n .
’

'
W as there any b ruise on the left hand I asked A t ’
.

first she said that there was not ; but then she said
S h e thought there was a bluish discoloration across the

back of the first j oints of the fingers S he did not .

know h ow it had been caused When I was well .

enough to travel I went to m y old home ; there I saw

my old nurse who had been i n the house when my
uncle died H er account added to my stepfather s
.
,
’

enabled me to realise the events of that day M y .

uncle had received my pencil note on the S unday

morning and had been greatly pleased feeling that the ,

wished for heir was born and that I whom he loved as

-
,

a daughter was through m y trouble H e had a few

, .

friends to lunch W ith him including my stepfather and

, ,

said that he had seen all that he wished to see in li fe

and could now die happy at any moment H is guests .

left him in the greatest of spirits and two days after

wards he died and his body had been brough t back as
,

I describe and he had been found hal f stunned in that

,

very field road where I had three ti mes seen him H e .

was dressed i n the same homespun suit in which I had

seen him i n m y dream T he cause of hi s death had
.

been heart disease of whose existence neither I nor I

, , ,

believe any of those near o r dear to h im had been

,

aware H e had evidently felt fai nt and slipped from

.

his horse T he same two men whom I had seen i n

.

m y dream as helping to carry the body had i n fact

3 14 ON D REAMS .

done so and my nurse admitted that the left han d

,
.

knocked against the banisters S he seemed afraid l est .

I should blame the men who carri ed the body and did
not like to speak of the incident I do not thi n k sh e .

had seen the incident hersel f and I did not like to

speak to t h e men ab out it I t was enough for m e that
.

it was on th e back of the left hand as I had seen it i n ,

my dream and as from the arrangement of the stair

case it m ust have been had it been caused in the w ay
,

that I saw I will add one fact which although it was

.
,

purely a matter of my own feeling made perhaps as ,

.

m uch impression upon me as anything in this history .

I do not thi nk that any daughter could love a fathe r

better than I loved my uncle and as will have been , ,

seen the prospect of his death was always a deeply

,

lying fear B ut as soon as I knew that all had happened

.

as m y dream foretold I somehow felt that all was well

, ,

and the death left me with a sensation of com plete

acquiescence and peace I t may have been noticed
.

that there were t w o unreal or fantastic points in m y

origi nal dream v i a the m ultitude of flowers in th e
, ,

garden and the thin covering o f snow I think that I .

can throw some light on these points by narrating the

only t wo oth er impressive dreams which I have eve r
had The first one of these two dreams I mentioned
.

to O thers and acted upon it The second I nei ther .

mentioned nor acted upon so it has no value as ,

evidence and is really given as helping to explai n the

symbolism of snow .

“
I had heard from severa l relations ( although I
cannot quote defi nite cases) that they had found that ,
 P REMON I T O R Y D REAM S . 3 15

dreams of flowers and of snow were fo l lowed by

deaths in our family This may have suggested
.

that form of symbo l ism to my mind ; or the sam e

cause whatever it was wh ich acted with them may
, ,

have acted with me I n any case what happened

.
,

was as fo ll ows : I n 1 88 7 I heard from m y step

father that my mother who had long been an invalid
. ,

was seriously worse ; and he asked me when I cou l d

go to see her M y mind was therefore occupied
.

with her illness ; but the tone of h is letter was no t

i mmed iately alarming ; so that we saw no reason
for my not attending some races in the neighbour
hood for which we had friends staying
,
But one .

night I dreamt a dream — which though very i m ,

pressive was somewhat confused about my mother

,

seated in a carriage full of flowers I remembered .

th e symbolism ; and I felt assured that my mother

was dead or dying I mentioned th e dream to m y
.

husband and prepared for an im mediate summons ,

which came directly afterwards H aving all prepara .

tions ready made I left imm ediately and arrived i n

,

ti me to see my mother die This dream and that .

of my uncle are the only dream s on which I have

ever acted in any way T he second dream to which
.

I have alluded was as follows : I n 1 8 I saw a

gentleman whom I knew lying dead in a red coat
on an open field with snow on th e ground B eside .

h i m knelt his mother who was alive and well at

,

the ti me of the dream I tried to approach and

.

‘
speak to her ; but she said don t touch me I have ’

, ,

’
come for hi m I understood that she had died be
.
3 16 ON DREAM S .

fore him T W O years later this lady did i n fact die

.
,

and in t wo years more her son was killed j ust as I ,

saw him lying in a scarlet coat ,

There was of .
,

course no snow on the ground as it was in late

, ,

spring ; so I fancy that the snow may have been

symbolical both here and i n my dream about my
uncle .I may add that I am not of an ima g inative
temperament ; and that these are the only incidents
i n my li fe which seem to lie outside ordinary
explanations M y husband and S tep -father add
.

their confirmation of the i ncidents which concern

them .

T he above account is t rue and accurate in every

particular .

S L O R D and L A DY Q )
( ignatures of .

( L ord Qsignature attests ( besides his general

.
’
s

concurrence with the account ) his presence at th e

i nterview with L ady Q s step father as described )
.
’
-
, .

16 M january , 1 89
3 .

The account is correct as far as what happened

when I went to L ondon to inform L ady Q of her .

’
uncle s death which is all that is withi n my own
,

personal knowledge .

S L A DY Q s step father )
’

( ignature of .
-
.

The writer of the following account i s a lady

recommended to me by D r Li ebeaut of N ancy and . l
in all ways an excellent i nformant— a lady wh o has
n ow for many years taken a leading part in an i m

portant F rench phil anthropic enterprise and whose ,

 P REMON I T O RY D REA MS . 3 17

mind is not given to exaggeration or morbid senti

ment I am obliged thus to describe my correspondent
.

because for reasons wh ich seem to me adequate

, ,

I cannot give her name or go fully into the points

,

i n her letters to me which have led m e to regard

her as a scrupulously carefu l witness F rom among .

many psychical experi ences mainly conforming to ,

our usual types which she has recorded in a pam

,

phlet i n my possession I select the i ncident which

,

follows
Translation from pamphlet printed 1 8 9 4
I n N ovember 1 8 77 I was expecting my third
, ,

child . O n th e night before its birth I had a terrible

dream .

“
I had th e feeling that my room was filled by
all kinds of mysterious and sorrowfu l influences and ,

a small thing separating itsel f from these confused

,

surroundings at the other end of the room said to ,

‘
me I come to you that you may love me ’
.

This being the size of a child t wo or three years

,

old was human only i n its face from wh ich shone two
, ,

large dark eyes ; I remarked also the expression of

the mouth which indicated suffering ; as to the rest of
,

th e body it was so painful to look upon so di fferent

, ,

from the rounded forms and fresh rosiness of ch ild

hood that I woke i n anguish my heart beati ng
, ,

violently .

“
I n the morning I told my mother of th is dream .

S he regarded it as a nightmare caused by my condition

at the time ; and we welcomed without apprehension
the arrival of my th ird little daughter a fi ne child of ,
3 18 ON D REAMS .

dark complexion well formed and showing every S ign

,
-
,

of strong health .

“
W hen a few weeks had passed I observed that this ,

c hild s ph y siognomy especially when it was on the

’

point of crying bore a strong likeness to the child of

,

m y d ream I t had also the same large dark eyes ;

.

fil
but very gentle in expression and filled as it grew , ,

o lder with a deep but i nd e nab e sadness

,
I communi .

”
c at ed my apprehension to my sister ( A letter from .

this lady herself concerned with philanthropic and

,

literary work lies before me dated 1 3 th A pril 1 8 9 4 , ,

.

S he says I affirm the perfect exactitude of this narra

tive M y sister told me her dream I was W itness of
.
,

her apprehensions during the brief existence of her

third l ittle daughter and she said to me textuall y th e
,

words mentioned i n her narrative at the end of her ,

’
“ ’
c hild s W e observed the child s development
with the anxious attention that every mother will un
d erstand .

“
S he
very easy to rear W ithout faults of tem
was ,

per and incredibl y precocious in all ways in her senses

, , ,

m emory i ntell i g ence and affectionate sensibility

, .

I brought her up thus to the a g e of two and a half .

Then S h e was taken from me by a terrible m alady

l l
,

granular kidney ( a g ranui e) following upon measles

, ,

and finally causing meningitis after causing extreme ,

irritation for weeks The poor child was seriously ill

.

for th ree months and a half D uring the last week of .

her painful existence she was reduced to a state of

extreme emaciation and showing her sadly to my
I said to her with absolute truth A las '
,

s ister
‘ there
, ,
 P REMON I T O R Y D REAMS . 3 19

i s the child of my d ream exactly as she appeared to

me the night before she was born '
,

I t will be observed here that the premonition re

presented neither a child with normal resemblance to its
parents nor a chi l d suffering from any disease which
,

h eredity or maternal suggestion could have caused ,

but a ch ild i n a condition into which it actuall y fe ll

some t wo years later as the result of zymotic d isease
,
.

W e should like to give more examples of this most

i nteresting class of dream but doubtless we have given
,

enough to enable the reader to form his own O pi nion ,

as to the credibility of the cases cited .

W hat theory he forms depends on his individuality .

W e know the existence of the i nfinite and we are ,

ignorant of its nature because li ke us i t has dimension

, , , ,

but unli ke us it has no limits

, , .

C ould we but try to make our theories fit our facts ,

i nstead of making our facts fit our theories as is the ,

usual way with man we might find our thoughts i n

.

l ess hopeless tangle .

S i r W i l liam C rookes F R S who thoroughly i nv es

, . . .
,

t i g at ed the phenomena of all branches of spiritual ism

“
i n a scientific manner says ,
I prefer to enter upon
,

the inquiry with no preconceived notions whatever as

to what can or cannot be but with all my senses alert
,

and ready to convey i nformation to the brain believing ,

as I do that we have by no means exhausted all

,

human knowl edge or fathomed the depths of all the

physical forces I f men of less science were as open
minded as thi s brill iant scientist they wou l d perhaps
come nearer truth .
3 20 ON D REAM S .

The s i m p l e t p ea ant wh o ob er e a t ruth

s s s v s

And fr om a fa t d ed u e p ri n ip l e
c c s c ,

A d d l i d t rea ure t o th e p ub li w eal t h

s so s s c .

Th e t h eo i t wh d r eam a r ai nb ow dr eam
r s , o s ,

And all h y p ot h e i p h i l o op h y
At b e t i but a p ap er fi
c s ss s ,

s s nan i er c ,

Wh o p alm h i p e i ou pr omi e fo g ol d
s s s c s s s r .

F a t a e th e ba i fp hil o op h y ;
c s r ss o s

P h i l o op h y th e h ar m ony offa t
s c s

S een i n t h eir r i g h t r elati on .

T H E ABE R DE E N U N I V E R S I T Y PRE S S LI MI T E D .
UNI VERSITY01 1010110
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