DREAMS AS A CURE

New Zealand Graphic, 1 July 1899, Page 8

DREAMS AS A CURE

An English physician claims to have discovered a new and efficacious cure for persons afflicted with nervous or mental maladies. If such persons, he says, can only procure pleasant dreams, they will soon regain their health, and his aim is, therefore, to furnish them with delightful dreams. For thus purpose he uses a soft leather cap, which covers the patient’s head and ears and leaves only the face uncovered. Beside the ears are placed two metal plates, which are joined by a rubber tube to a phonograph. The patient rests on a divan in a dark room and in front of him is a sort of magic lantern, from which are projected at brief intervals various enjoyable pictures. In this way, it is claimed, the eyes of the sick person are delighted, while at the same time his ears are soothed by the vibrations of the phonograph. As a result, weariness comes upon him and is soon followed by slumber, and it is while he is dosing in this manner that happy dreams are evoked, thanks to the phonograph and the stereoptieon. After this slight slumIjer comes a deep sleep, which, we arc assured, is always most beneficial. Several tests of this kind have been made with success and it is said that not only are tired nerves refreshed by this method, but that the patient’s body also rapidly increases in weight. That pleasant sounds and sights are soothing to the nerves we have all known for a long time, but that pleasant dreams have a tendency to make persons fat will certainly be news to the general public.