Article image
Article image

A scientist explains some of the strange phenomena of dreams by saying that they are due to what he calls “hereditary memory.” He takes the “falling through space” dream, and points out that after suffering the mental agony of falling the sleeper escapes the shock of the actual stopping. The explanation is that the falling sensations have been transmitted from remote ancestors, who were fortunate enough to save themsclves.after falling from great heights in tree tops, by clutching the branches. The molecular changes in the cerebral cells due to the shock of stopping could not be transmitted, iiecause victims falling to the bottom would be killed. In a similar manner, by reverting to the habits of animals which existed centuries ago, the same investigator finds an explanation for the mental state experienced by individuals in various drcams —the “pursuing monster” dream, the “reptile” dream, colour dreams, suffocation dreams, flying-dreams, and the like. Birds, so Dr. Rose says, are helped to fly with the oil in their feather quills. He asserts that* he'has flown a ‘very considerable distance with artificial wings, charged with oil of the same properties as that in the blood of a bird. The same wings, although beautifully made, and in detail an exact copy of a bird’s, without the oil give little or no effect, and are quite incapable of lifting but very small weight besides their own. Fully charged with oil (as of birds), the effect on the air is most powerful, the wing resisting the air almost as though it became frozen and solid- beneath it. The properties, of course, are the author’s secret; Uao the construction of the wingu.

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.
Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZGRAP19080104.2.29

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 1, 4 January 1908, Page 30

Word Count
275

Untitled New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 1, 4 January 1908, Page 30

Untitled New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 1, 4 January 1908, Page 30