Sleep and Its Derangements

The heart beats, the lungs respire, the stomach, the intestines, and their accessory organs digest, the skin exhales vapor, and the kidneys secrete urine. With the central nervous system, however,

rritability or conducting power, and the impressions made upon them are, accordingly, perfectly well conveyed to the brain. The suspension of the operations of the senses is not therefore due to any loss of function in the optic nerve, the auditory nerve, the olfactory

So far from such a condition existing, there are very decided proofs that several faculties are exercised to a degree almost equaling that reached during wakefulness, and we know that if the irritations made upon the senses be suff

the suspension of the action of other faculties, which, when we are not asleep, exercise a governing or modifying influence. Thus, for instance, as regards the imagination,-the faculty of all others which appears to be most increased,-we find, when we carefully study its manifestations in our own persons, that although there is often great brilliancy in its vagaries, that uncontrol

herefore, intense, but of very little durability. Many stories are told of its power-how problems have been worked out, poetry and music composed, and great undertakings planned; but if we could get at the truth, we should probably find that the imagination of sleep had very little to do with the operations mentioned. Indeed, it is dou

. "It is true," he says, "we have sometimes instances of perception while we are asleep, and retain the memory of those thoughts; but how extravagant and i

e devil, and bound him to his service. In order to ascertain the musical abilities of his servitor, he gave him his violin, and commanded him to play a solo. The devil did so, and performed so admirably that Tartini awoke with the excitement produced, and seizing

g account of the composition

hor continued for about three hours in a profound sleep, at least of the external senses, during which time he had the most vivid confidence that he could have composed not less than from two to three hundred lines, if that, indeed, can be called composition, in which all the images rose up before him as things with a parallel production of the corresponding expression without any sensation or consciousness of effort. On awaking, he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole; and taking his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and eagerly wrote down

en an anodyne during a painful illness, he composed the following lines of poetry, which he wrote down within half an

sleep on the night

-Windso

end stood th

a sky of the

hat a wood-mi

ite which should

ught on her

nook in the

with its golde

leaves of the

and rustled ben

not her, to w

white light p

taken is a very disturbing factor in both conditions, and doubtless was the exciting cause of the activity in the imagination. No more graphi

a theater seemed suddenly opened and lighted up within my brain, which presented nightly spectacles of more than earthly splendor." And then, after referring to the various scenes of architectural magnificence, and of beautiful women which his imagination conceived, and which forcibly recalls to our minds the poetical ef

Dr. Forbes Winslow[38] relates

k was standing by with a scimitar in his hand, which I seized, and attacking the man who had killed the child, I fought most furiously with him and killed him. Then I was surrounded, made prisoner, carried before a judge and accused of the deed; but I pleaded my own cause with such a burst of eloquence (which, by-the-by, I am quite incapable of in my right mind) that judge, jury, and hearers acquitted me at once. Again, I was in an Eastern city visiting an Oriental lady, who entertained me most charmingly. We sat together on rich ottomans, and were regaled with supper and confectionery. Then came soft sounds of music at a distance, while fountains were playing and birds singing, and dancing girls danced before us, every

tiful sights came before me, treasures from the depth of the sea, gems of the brightest hues, gorgeous shells, coral of the richest colors, sparkling with drops of water, and hung with lovely seaweed. My eager glances could not take in half the beautiful objects that passed before me durin

could occasionally set aside, and I awoke myself to full consciousness once or twice while under the influenc

es necessary to administer to her an opiate: and on analyzing her visions, she can generally refer the princ

composed the Kubla Khan under its influence is in nowise remarkable. It is probable, however, that the full influence of his mind was exerted upon it after he awoke to consciousness, and that the wild fancies excited by the opiate, and based upon what he had bee

h exercise a powerful influence over the intracranial circulation, led to the production of any ideas which could not be excelled by

manner, he was observed by his wife to rise from his bed in the night and go to a writing-desk which stood in the bed-room. He then sat down and wrote a long letter, which he put carefully by in the desk and returned to bed. The following morning he told his wife that he had had a most interesting dream; that he had dreamt of delivering a c

ted, especially under the condition of mental anxiety and fatigue. A gentleman informed me only a short time since that going to bed after a very exciting day he thought the next morning that he had dreamed of a fire occurring in the

tes the following instance,

ertion, telling him that he had passed the night without sleeping, and in a state of high excitement. In order to convince him of this fact, they prevailed on him to sleep alone in a room carefully closed, having previou

t attains something fit to be appropriated by the mind should not occasionally be evolved, and thus there are many instances mentioned of the starting-point of important mental operations having been taken during sleep. Some of these may be based upon fact, bu

prophetic nature of dreams, and states that a man having dreamt that one of his legs was turned into stone, soon afterward became paralytic in this limb, although there was no evidence of approaching disease. Galen also co

Dante during sleep. There is nothing at all improbable in this suppo

es he had to leave them unfinished in order to sleep, and that on awaking he had more t

iousness of the individual being aroused to a knowledge of the labor being performed. It is not unlikely that this kind of mental activity goes on to some extent during

treme degree; he believed that he had a familiar spirit, from whom he received intelligence, warnings, and ideas, and asserted that when awake he frequently saw long processions of men, women, animals, trees, cast

with a small amount of truth. The unbridled imagination of the sleeper so distorts the simplest circumstances as to render their recognition a matter of no small difficulty, and thus it scarcely if ever happens that events are reproduced during sleep exac

ess de Laval, a woman of perfect veracity and good sense, when ill, spoke during sleep in a language which none of her attendants understood, and which even she was disposed to regard as gibberish. A nurse detected the dialect of Brittany; her mistress had sp

ess in it. Subsequently being engaged in other pursuits, he so entirely forgot it that he could not even read the words; often, however, in

eep might be brought forward, but the subject will be

uld fill them with horror. Delicate and refined women will coolly enter upon a career of crime, and the minds of hardened villains are filled with the most elevated and noble sentiments. The deeds which we imagine we perform in our sleep are generally inadequate to or in excess of what the apparent occasion requires, and we lose so entirely the ideas of probability and possibility, that no preposterous vision appears otherwise than as perfectly nat

t idea on this subject. Without going into details which more appropriately belong to another division of this treatise, I quote the following remarkable example from the ess

to ear, and helmets of hanging flesh covered their hideous heads. The horses dragged along their own skins in the kennels which overflowed with blood on all sides. Pale and disheveled women appeared and disappeared at the windows in dismal silence; low inarticulate groans filled the air, and I remained in the street alone petrified with horror, and deprived of strength sufficient to seek my safety in flight. This horrible troop continued passing along rapidly in a gallop, and casting frightful looks upon me. Their march continued, I thought, for five hours, and they were followed by an immense number of artillery wagons full of bleeding corpses, whose limbs still quivered; a dis

was no astonishment felt with the horror experienced, but all the impossible events which appeared t

e authors assert that this knowledge is possible, others that it is not. The following account is interesting, a

. William Gregory, Dr.

e into some active scene, where I generally acquitted myself much to my own satisfaction, and in these scenes of imagination I performed many a gallant exploit. At the same time, in my dreams, I found myself the most arrant coward that ever was. Not only my courage, but my strength failed me in every danger, and I often rose from my bed in the morning in such a panic that it took some time to get the better of it. I wished very much to get free of these uneasy dreams, which not only made me unhappy in sleep, but often left a disagreeable impression in my mind for some part of the following day. I thought it was worth trying whether it was possible to recollect that

he was not given to such pranks, he began to think it might all be a dream, and, finding his situation unpleasant, and being desirous to get out of

danger, he used to recollect that he was drea

s that of Gassendi,[48] which he th

'Hail thou who returnest from the place of the dead!' Then I stopped, reflecting in my dream as follows: 'One cannot return from the other world; I am doubtless dreaming; but if I dream, where

are dreaming, the faculty of judgment cannot be inert, and the dream would be known to be a fallacy." There would therefore be no occasion for any such management of it as that made use of by Reid and Beattie, or for the recollection of Aristotle. The dream and the

h he was, as he thought, enabled to detect the fallacy of his dream in one respect, his judgment was altogether at fault in others. Thus he had great difficulty in making out where he was, and actually so far lost all idea of his identity with the person d

cannot exert the faculty of judgment in accordance with the principles of truth and of correct reasoning. An opinion may therefore be formed during sleep, but it is more li

truth whatever preposterous thought the imagination presents to it. We are not entirely rendered incapable of judging, as some authors assert, but the power to perceive the logical force

hus it is related of Dr. Johnson, that he had once in a dream a contest of wit with some other person, and that he was very much mortified by imagining that his opponent had the better of him. "Now," said he, "one may mark here the effect of sleep in weakening

ot answer questions to which his

judgment was still more at fault,

ties and faults of character, and would, therefore, be enabled to give special emphasis to them in the sermon. She did this so very effectively that Mrs. C. burst into a torrent of tears, and, with the emotion thus excited, the lady awoke. It was some time before she was able to disentangle her mixed up

on the point under consideration. Referring to

hment. This is because the judgment and reflection having abdicated, no longer control the imagination nor co-ordina

d that they are abolished and no longer exist, for the imagination could not, u

elled, has pointed out how such operations of the understanding are impossible; for, as he remarks, intellectual problems cannot be solved during sleep, for such a thing as intense thought, accompanied by images, is unknown, whilst dreams consist of a series of images connected by loose and imperfect reasoning. Feuchtersleben,[5

r[53]

nonsense. Sometimes we dream that another person proposes an enigma; that we cannot solve it and that others are equally incapable of doing so; but that the person who proposed it, himself gives the explanation. We are astonished at the solution we had so long labored in vain to find. I

e that we are dreaming, the s

external objects in the waking state; for we know the latter only by the affections of our senses which they produce. When, therefore, the mind has lost the faculty of analyzing the impressions on our senses, there is no reason why the things which they seem to represent should be supposed unreal. Even in the wakin

number of combinations which constitute our dreams, there were not every now and then some having the semblance of reality; and further, that in many of the stories of great discover

o. I possess this power in a high degree, and scarcely ever vary a minute from the fixed time. Just as I go to bed I look at my watch and impress upon my mind the figures on the

blish the relation between it and the wish to awake at a certain time. But in cases where the awaking is the result of an idea conceived before going to sleep, and which is not subsequently recalled, the judgment cannot act, for this fac

surd or unreasonable, the conclusion will likewise be faulty. But this is not very accurate reasoning; for it is as much the province of the judgment to determine the validity of the premises as it is to draw a con

stone, it is contrary to all experience to deduce therefrom the conclusion that he can see rocks crumbling around him, and can reflect upon the mutability of all things. The premise of his being a ston

t this explanation is by no means satisfactory; for a merely swift succession of ideas is no very serious bar to correct judgment, and when the thoughts are as preposterous as those which so often occur in dreams, they present no obstacle at all to a proper estimation of them b

s to have had correct views upon the subject. Without going into a full discussion of the views enunciated, it will be sufficient

this condition the action of the will is entirely suspended; but he falls into

with such sensations alter the position of the body; but where the sleep is uncommonly profound, and these uneasy sensations great, the disease called the incubus o

ult from the fact that though he repeatedly states that volition is entirely suspended during sleep, he yet in the first part of the foregoing quotation makes an individu

e exercised. In his opinion the will loses its influence over all our powers both of mind and body in consequence of some physical alteration in the system which we shall n

suppositions which can be formed regarding its cause. The one is that the power of volition is suspended; the other that the will loses its influence over those faculties of the mind and those members of the bo

t to call out for assistance. The attempt induced is in general unsuccessful, and the sounds that we emit are feeble and indistinct; but this only confirms, or rather is a necessary consequence of, the sup

external obstacle; but the fact seems to be that the body is at that time not subject to the will. During the disturbed rest which we sometimes have when the body is indisposed, the mind appears to retain some power over it; but as even in these cases the motions which are made consist rather of a g

of sleep. But the more probable supposition seems to be that every species of sleep is accompanied with a suspension of the faculty of voluntary motion; and that the incubus has nothing peculiar in it but this-that the uneasy sensations which are produced by the accident

mmences. Now it is manifest that the means which nature directs us to employ on such occasions is not to suspend the powers of volition, but to suspend the exertion of those powers whose exercise depends on volition. If it were necessary that

if at all, subject to our command. The vital and involuntary motions, however, suffer no interruption, but go on as when we are awake, in consequence of the operation of some cause unknown to us. In like manner it would appear that those operations of the mind which depend on our volition are suspended, while certain other operations a

ing the nervous fluid, and the muscles do not lose any of their contractile power. The reason why voluntary movements are not performed in sleep is simply because the will does not act; and Mr. Stewart is again wrong in asserting that volition is not then suspended. We do not will any actions when we are asleep. We imagine we do, and that is all. The difficulties which

rve to make this p

to crawl still farther and to throw myself into the water below. I imagined that I endeavored with all my will to resist this force, which appeared to be acting by means altogether external to my organism. My efforts, however, were all in vain. I could not control my movements, and gradually I was urged farther and farther over the brink, till at last I went down into the abyss below. As I struck the water I awoke with a start. During my imaginary struggle I thought I experienced all the emotions which such an event if real would have excited, and I was painfully conscious of my utte

will has power over the body during sleep. Every one who has ever dreamed has at times had his will carried out to his entire satisfaction. He has ridden horses when pursued, and has urged them forward with whip and spur so as to escape from his enemies. Or he has executed the most surprising feats both with his mind and body, and has performed voluntary deeds which have excited the admiration of all beholde

re dependent upon the action of the spinal cord, an organ that is never at rest, and the functions of which were not known as well when Dr. Darwin and Mr. Stewart wrote as t

his argument upon the fact that movements are produced which he attributes erroneously to the action of the will, but which, like those pr

dy remarked, that he turns over and endeavors to find a more comfortable position. It is the will which during sleep maintains the contraction of the sphincter of the bladder, notwithstanding the effort of the urine to escape; it is the same power which directs the action of the arm in seeking for the vase de nuit, which knows whe

the piano, and at the same time carrying on a conversation. Here the brain is engaged in the one act and the spinal cord in the other. So long as the player is not expert in the fingering of the instrument, he cannot divert his attention from his performance; for the whole power of the mind is required for the proper appreciation and executio

y such action during sleep we all know. A gentleman, remarkable for the ability he possesses for controlling his feelings, tells me that when he is asleep he frequently weeps or laughs at imaginary events, which, if they re

so markedly that it seems strange the distinction should ever fail of being made. Locke[62] points out very clearly the differences between the two faculties. In fact they may be exert

spicuity on this distinction b

we must have some conception; and, therefore, both must be accompanie

ted. I may desire meat or drink, or ease from pain. But to say that I will meat, or will drink, or will ease from pain, is not English. There is, therefore, a distinction in common l

they may behave well. Their being happy is no action a

what we do not will, and will what we do not

ity or particular affection, he desires that he should live. A man for health may take a nauseous draught, for which he has no desire, but a great aversion. Desire, therefore, even when its object is some action of our own

o escape from his imaginary troubles. In my own dream, to which reference has been made, my desire to restrain myself from crawling over the precipice was exerted to the utmost; but the will could not be brought into action. Darwin,[64] when he says that in nightmare "t

seen that during sleep the three great divi

o not see, hear, smell, taste or enjoy the sense of touch in sleep, although the brain may be aroused into activity and we may awake through t

Volition is ent

ion is active, and the memory may be exercised to a great extent; but the judgment, per