CAN DREAMS BE ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED?

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 41

CAN DREAMS BE ARTIFICIALLY PRODUCED ?

Influencing the Mind Dubing Sleep, A great deal has been said in all ages about the meaning of dreams; there has* always been something mysterious (some say supernatural) attached to them. Even in our present day a society has been formed! whose object is to "explain by scientific reasoning" how the spirit world communicates with us during sleep. Others, however, in direct opposition to these, claim to prove that we can by ordinary means make a Bleepirg person dream of almost anything we wish. If a bright light is thrown on the eyelids of a person during sleep, it affects the nerves ; if the rays of the moon fall' on the eyes of a sleeper, it often gives rise to dreams ot beautiful sunny landscapes, or —if the. sleeper is religious — of heavenly visions. A noise which is not sufficiently loud to. awaken will yet be capable of producirg and*, influencing dreams. Alfred de Maury, who. made a number of experiments in this direo* tion, says that if a tuning fork was struck and brought close to his ears, he would invariably dream of alarm bells ricgingand the outbreak of a revolution. The odour of flowers will make a person dream of hothouses, garden?, or exotic regions. The sleeper does not appear to actually smell anything, but pictures will be conjured up that are in some way con-v nected with the particular odour. For in-, stance, a certain kind of perfume will make, the Bleeper dream of some person oi his acquaintance who uses it. Feeling, however, plays the greatest r&o in dream life. If the lips of a sleeping person be 'pricked, the action will produce a feeling of having all the skin torn from the face. A man once had a dreadful dream. He felt convinced that he bad seized someone's hand in his bed. While only partly awake he worried and wondered what the meaning of the strange occurrence could be. Was it an omen? or a message from the, dead ? Not until he was fully aroused did he find a solution to the mystery. He had been sleeping on his right side, and bad with hia left hand caught hold of his sight, which, had become numbed through the weight oi the body being on it. If the breathing of a sleeper is affeoted or; disturbed, it will give rise to the well-known sensation of flying through the air, or falling over a cliff. Partly cover the mouth and nostrils of a person in a sound sleep, and tho blood will rush to the head, the sleeper will attempt to throw off the coveting, and,, Vt then awakened, will tell of nightmare and dreams of terrible and hideous animals bent on strangulation, A very curious story is related In reference to artificial dreams. A young man who wasr very much in love,' but whose feelinga found, no response in - the heart of the lady* managed to get someone to whisper hia. name in the ears of his " ladye- love " when she was asleep. This was repeated several time?, and we are told that the lady fatedreamt of her lover so often that ill was. eventually the means of softening her heart, toward him. A somnambulist forgets- all he performs during sleep, but at times he has a doublememory — one during sleep, and another when wide awake. An apprentice boy thu» imagined himself a well-to-do paterfamilias,, and this was repeated ' night after night* What was said to him during his somnambulistic state he would have no recollection of next morning, but the following night; he would remember all. T.his condition oaft also be produced by tfc? artificial means of? hypnotism. A woman waa hypnotised at a hospital l . While under, the influence" sh.a imagined herself in her own house, could count how many individuals were present, but toofe , them to be other than they were. Sh® complained very much of being in debt; whereupon a gentleman present promised | to pay all her creditors.. Yyhen bronght-lo she had sot the least recollection of what had taken place and [ absolutely denied being worried by any ( money difficulty.. Being hypnotised again, and then, questioned about hex debts, she i admitted them,, and added tl&at a gentleman bad promised to pay theja,, but bad failed to i keep his word* -