Henry M. Lyman

“ A lady of my acquaintance was once awakened out of a sound sleep by the smell of tobacco smoke from the pipe of a thoughtless burglar who had quietly entered a distant apartment of the house. A sudden change of wind, deluging a city with the vapors of a glue-factory or rendering establishment, may in like manner disturb the slumbers of thousands of people.
The sense of hearing seems to be the most persistent of all the special senses. It is not a very uncommon thing for persons to be awakened by the sound of their own snoring ”

“ The difference, therefore, between waking thought and a dream is analogous to the difference between a page upon which the words have been arranged in a rational order, and another page upon which some of the same words have been set down at random. Inasmuch as the majority of our sensations are derived through the organs of sight, and since the larger portion of the sensory region of the cortex of the brain is concerned in the act of vision, it is no more than might be expected that the ideas suggested in sleep should generally proceed from the visual apparatus of the brain. ”

“ When a physical force ceases to exhibit itself in an active state, and passes into a potential modification, we are not compelled to regard it as extinguished. It is merely latent or inhibited, but always ready to take its place again among the kinetic forces of nature. In like manner there seems to be no good reason why that spiritual force or congeries of forces which constitutes the mind of man may not experience analogous transformations in successive periods of action and of repose. Such periods of rest occur in sleep, in coma, in disease and disorganization of the brain. ”

“ The return to consciousness was followed or accompanied by a return of all the normal functions of mind and body; there is now no incoherence, nor even distorted perceptions, as of a dream-life occupying the somnolent imagination for months, and therefore all the more hard to reconcile with realities. She is self-possessed, but unobtrusive, easily managed, and betraying only natural emotion; she persists in maintaining that the whole period of the apparent unconsciousness is a complete blank to her recollection. ”

“ Ushered in by a waning activity of body and mind that no effort of the will can long resist, nothing could more forcibly suggest the idea of approaching dissolution if, from the very earliest period of unconscious infancy, we had not been accustomed to the dominion of this imperious necessity. The remarkable likeness between the fading of consciousness in sleep and its extinction [Pg iv] in death has, in all ages and among all people, arrested the attention of poets and philosophers of every degree. ”

“ Sleep may operate like an invasive disease, falling with unequal incidence upon the different structures that make up the mass of the brain, paralyzing one portion, while simply benumbing another, and even arousing to excessive activity a third. ”

“ But it is quite reasonable to believe in the possible existence of a brain so delicately organized as to be capable of reacting to impressions which are too diffuse and too feeble to arouse the ordinary apparatus of sensation. With such a brain it might be possible to experience perception without eye-sight. Evidence furnished by the facts of somnambulism and hypnotism indicates that the receptivity of the brain may become temporarily exalted to a degree which warrants the inference that clairvoyance itself may be thus brought within the capacity of certain peculiarly sensitive organizations. ”

“ Hence it has been inferred that the mind is always alert, even when the body is most thoroughly asleep. In explanation of the fact that consciousness contains after deep sleep no trace of such mental activity, it is claimed that the act of dreaming of which we are aware at the moment of waking is proof of intellectual function during the moments which preceded that incident, and that we are merely forgetful of all similar processes that occurred during undisturbed sleep. The unconsciousness of sleep, according to this theory, is not real—it is only apparent through failure of the memory. ”

“ Sometimes he jumps from his couch, and runs headlong into a corner, or seeks concealment under the bed, as if escaping from some frightful object. The eyes are open, tears flow, perspiration covers the skin, there is the greatest excitement, and the little one, clinging convulsively to its parent, will not be quieted. Only after a number of minutes does the child seem to recover the power of recognizing his friends. Presently, however, he lies down, and falls immediately asleep, waking in the morning without the slightest remembrance of the unpleasant event. ”

“ When one considers the remarkably hyperæsthetic condition of the senses in certain other forms of nervous disorder, it is not surprising that sensory impressions which would be wholly neglected in a healthy waking state, may become sufficient to excite perceptions and to guide the movements which they have aroused. It is undoubtedly true that in certain cases the somnambulist does derive some information through the medium of the eyes—does really see; but it is also a fact that he only sees, hears, tastes and feels the objects which are immediately related with the action of his dream. ”

“ It is not merely because of differences in the depth of sleep. The flitting fancies which occupy the introduction and the termination of sleep, rarely possess any power to fix the attention or to linger in memory. But, if the body be disturbed by anything which causes a departure from the even course of health, such as follows unusual or violent emotion, or an attack [Pg 135] of illness, or an insufficient alimentation, or great and sudden changes of atmospheric pressure, the visions of the night become wonderfully exaggerated in every particular. ”

“ A young man had been reduced by disease to such a condition of general anæsthesia that the right eye and the left ear were the only remaining paths of sensation between his brain and the external world. Whenever the sound eye and ear were bandaged so as to cut off all communication with the brain, the patient invariably fell asleep in the course of two or three minutes after the interruption of sensation. In like manner, some people, even in perfect health, are able to sleep at any time by simply lying down and closing the eyes. ”

“ It was formerly believed that during the time of sleep all the processes of assimilation and nutrition throughout the body are increased,—in short, that it is the season of repair for the waste of tissue incurred during the hours of wakeful activity. While it is true that in sleep the expenditure of force is greatly reduced, the more exact researches of modern physiologists indicate a universal reduction in the rate of all the vital processes. ”

“ Wherever an organ is aroused to activity, so delicate are the adjustments by which it is connected with the brain and with the heart that it is at once irrigated by an increased flow of blood. When its functional activity subsides, the same mechanism provides for a corresponding reduction in the supply of blood to its tissues. The brain itself forms no exception to this law. This has been admirably shown by the observations of Professor Mosso, of Turin. ”

“ The sleeper knows nothing of the external world, and has lost all consciousness of his own existence. But the duration of profound repose is brief. From the end of the first hour the depth of sleep, at first, rapidly, then, more gradually, subsides. Dreams disturb its tranquility, mental activity increases, the power of volition revives, and, at the end of six or eight hours, the individual is once more awake. ”

“ As they expressed surprise at this, I told them that in the May number of the Atlantic Monthly, for 1883, they would find an article on this method of kite-flying, written by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Nothing can seem more absurd than such a sequence of ideas. They follow each other without a break, yet without any logical coherence, very like the order in which ideas arise to occupy the mind of an insane person. Indeed, such dreams suggest the doctrine that the condition of a dreamer’s brain is functionally identical with what obtains in certain forms of insanity. ”

“ One by one the senses fall asleep, and long before the final cessation of their activity, sleepiness hinders their function. Hence a progressive narrowing of the range of external perception; hence a reduction of the vividness of impressions derived from the outside world; hence, also, a simplification of the actions and reactions which constitute the “polygon of forces” active within the brain. But the suppression of certain lines in this polygon does not suppress life, nor does it necessarily destroy consciousness. ”

“ But if wakefulness is limited to a particular organ of the body or to a circumscribed territory of the brain, the resulting impressions in consciousness should be correspondingly restricted, and will manifest a more orderly connection with each other. In some cases a tendency to simultaneous wakefulness of particular portions of the cerebral register seems to become habitual, so that the same set of ideas may be often renewed in the same order during sleep, constituting a repetition of the same dream. ”

“ Lucid lethargy.—In certain cases of apparent death the patient exhibits all the external appearance of suspended animation, but the power of conscious perception does not cease. The senses of sight and hearing remain, and are, perhaps, intensified by inhibition of the power of voluntary movement. The sufferer sees and hears; perception, emotion, memory, the power of reasoning, judgment, volition, all persist. Only the power of executing voluntary movements is lacking. ”

“ So soon as the mental excitement is allayed, the excessive afflux of blood subsides, and the brain becomes fitted for sleep. But, if excitement be too far prolonged, the nutrition of the nervous centres suffers, and the regulative apparatus of the cerebral circulation becomes exhausted, so that the brain cannot rest, because its inhibitory centres have lost their power of control over the lower ganglia of the organ. The cerebro-spinal centres are then in a condition analogous to that of a locomotive engine on which the engineer can no longer regulate the production and distribution of steam. ”

“ Prominent among the causes which predispose to sleep at night is the cessation of a majority of the sensations that are continually pouring in upon the brain during the period of daylight. Hence the necessity for seclusion in darkened rooms, from which the noises of the daytime are shut out, if one would sleep during the long days of the arctic summer, or if one would enjoy a midday nap at any season of the year. The close dependence of wakefulness upon the constant activity of the organs of sensation, is well illustrated by a case related in Hermann’s Handbuch der Physiologie, Vol. ”

“ Certain elements wake while others are asleep; and these waking cells may be aroused to a degree far in excess of what is usual during the sleep of the brain without attaining to the level of their diurnal activity. The mind, undisturbed by external impressions, gives its attention to the operation of these waking organs, and a dream with all its consequences, somnambulic or otherwise, is the result. In other words, the plane of consciousness, so to speak, is lowered in sleep to the level of these molecular vibrations. ”

“ Thus, the dream with which I was on one occasion occupied became so amusing that I was awakened by a paroxysm of laughter that continued for some time after the termination of the dream. Sometimes the actions which are thus determined become more complicated, but do not suffice to arouse the sleeper. He continues to dream, and to act out his dream. This constitutes the ordinary form of somnambulism. It is a special affection of the nervous system encountered chiefly among persons of a decidedly neurotic constitution—especially among the victims of hysteria, epilepsy, and insanity. ”

“ The extreme sensitiveness of the nervous centers was further illustrated by the fact that if, during sleep, a ray of light were directed upon the eyelids, or if any organ of sense were moderately excited without waking the patient, his respiration was at once accelerated; the heart began to beat more rapidly, the vessels of the extremities contracted, and the blood flowed more freely into the brain. Similar results accompanied the act of dreaming. The return of full consciousness on waking was followed by an immediate increase in the activity of the intra-cranial circulation. ”

“ The apparatus of thought is worn out, and the old man sinks gradually into the sleep from which there is no awakening.
The treatment of insomnia, therefore, resolves itself into the removal of all special and temporary causes of wakefulness, with attention to the general hygiene of the patient, and careful regulation of his diet, habits, and occupation. Pain must be quelled with anodynes. Cerebral excitement must be calmed, in sthenic cases, with anti-spasmodics and sedatives—in asthenic subjects it must be overcome with food and nervous stimulants. ”

“ The temperature of the air is one of the most important factors in the determination of sleep. A high temperature keeps every one awake—a fact well known among the unfortunate denizens of the garrets in our great cities. Not only is wakefulness the direct result of heat, but it is aggravated and embittered by the accompaniments of a torrid climate—insects, foul air, and cutaneous disorders. ”

“ As, on a hot day in summer, when the equatorial draught has ceased to guide the wind, we may observe all manner of local tides among the masses of vapor which arise from the earth, so, in sleep, when the guiding influence of the senses is withdrawn, the ideas that still arise are chiefly dependent for their origin and association upon the automatic and endogenous activities of the brain. Undisturbed by impulses from the external world, the brain seems then to become more sensitive to impressions that have their origin within the body. ”

“ A fourth degree of somnambulism is marked by the disappearance of consciousness, intellect, sensibility, and the power of motion. Only the lower functions of organic life remain. The patient merely lives, he neither thinks nor acts. This constitutes the state of somnambulic lethargy, a condition which differs from deep sleep only in the fact that under the influence of external impulses or of partial awaking it may easily pass into the second form of the affection, the somnambulic dream. ”

“ There is, moreover, so far as the ancient religious view is concerned, a certain transcendental sense in which it is true that God may guide his creatures through the agency of dreams, as well as in a thousand other different ways; but this [Pg 144] metaphysical process we can no more comprehend than we can understand or explain the interaction of mind and matter in the brain. The psycho-physiologist must content himself, at present, with the attempt to show that it may not be incompatible with natural law for coming events to cast their shadows before them through the forms of a dream. ”

“ We have also seen that sleep is liable to variations in its intensity, and that its course may be partially interrupted by dreams, or even by a more or less complete resumption of the movements of locomotion, constituting the different varieties of somnambulism. Our attention must now be directed to the consideration of those greater disturbances of sleep which either serve to prevent its full development, or else to actually interrupt its course, rendering it incomplete and fragmentary, or even abolishing it altogether. ”