apparitions existed elsewhere than in a diseased brain, is it not singular that, amid the awful solemnities of the other world, they should so faithfully have preserved the fashions of the present? Science is a great dispeller of superstitious fancies. 1 IN-VŎL'-UN-TA-BY, independent of the will. 10 STO'-RIES, lofts, or sets of rooms rising one 2 E-RAD'-I-CA-TED, rooted out; destroyed. above another. 3 SPEC'-TRAL, having an indistinct or ghostly 11 RET-I-NA, the net-like membrane at the appearance. back of the eye which receives the image of external objects. See p. 83. 4 DE-TE'-RI-O-RATE, impair; injure. 5. IN-OB-GAN-IC, without the organs or instru-12 AS-CET'-IC, one who practices undue rigor ments of life. or self-denial in religious things. 13 TO-GA, a kind of gown. 6 GANG-LI-Ä, nerve bundles. 7 OP'-TIO NERVE, the nerve of vision, run-14 MAU-PER-TUIS' (Mo-per-twe), a celebrated ning from the eye to the brain. 8 CON-TOUR, outline of a thing. 9 FRIEZE, in architecture, a part of the entablature. See p. 282. French academician-born in 1698-died in 1759. For a long time he was president of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. LESSON XVII.- —A DREAM, AND ITS EXPLANATION. DRAPER. 1. Not only may old impressions and ideas be so vividly recalled as to be presented to the mind with all the force of existing realities, but in this manner dreams are sometimes repeated; and although there is nothing strange in this, but what we should suppose would happen frequently, yet the ignorant often regard such phenomena as something bordering on the supernatural. For the following account, given by a physician, of one of the most marvelous dreams of this character, and its explanation on physiological principles, we are indebted to the work of Dr. Draper. 2. "When I was five or six years old," says the narrator, "I dreamed that I was passing by a large pond of water in a solitary place. On the opposite side of it stood a great tree, that looked as if it had been struck by lightning; and in the pond, at another part, an old fallen trunk, on one of the prone limbs of which was a turtle sunning himself. On a sudden a wind arose, which forced me into the pond; and in my dying struggles to extricate myself from its green and slimy waters I awoke, trembling with terror. 3. "About eight years subsequently, while recovering from a nearly fatal attack of scarlet fever, this dream presented itself to me again, identical in all its parts. Even up to this time I do not think I had ever seen a living tortoise or turtle, but I indistinctly remembered there was a picture of one in the first spelling-book that had been given me. Perhaps, on account of my critical condition, this second dream impressed me more dreadfully than the first. 4. "A dozen years more elapsed. I had become a physician, and was now actively pursuing my professional duties in one of the Southern States. It so fell out that one July afternoon I had to take a long and wearisome ride on horseback. It was Sunday, and extremely hot; the path was soli tary, and not a house for miles. The forest had that intense silence which is so characteristic of this part of the day; all the wild animals and birds seemed to have gone to their retreats, to be rid of the heat of the sun. Suddenly, at one point of the road, I came upon a great stagnant wat pool, and, casting my eye across it, there stood a pine-tree blasted by lightning, and on a log that was nearly even with the surface a turtle was basking in the sun. The dream of my infancy was upon me; the bridle fell from my hands; and an unutterable fear overshadowed me as I slunk away from the accursed place. 5. "Though business occasionally afterward would have drawn me that way, I could not summon the resolution to go, and actually have taken roundabout paths. It seemed to me profoundly amazing that the dream which I had twenty years before should now be realized, without respect to difference of scenery, or climate, or age. A good clergyman of my acquaintance took the opportunity of improving the circumstance to my spiritual advantage; and in his kind enthusiasm, for he knew that I had, more than once, been brought to the point of death by such fevers, interpreted my dream that I should die of marsh miasm." 6. "Most persons have doubtless observed that they suddenly encounter circumstances or events of a trivial nature in their course of life, of which they have an indistinct recollection that they have dreamed before. It seemed for a long time to me that this was a case of that kind, and that it might be set down among the mysterious and unaccountable. How wonderful it is that we so often fail to see the simple explanation of things, when that explanation is actually intruding itself before us. 7. "And so in this case; it was long before the truth gleamed in upon me, before my reasoning powers shook off the delusive impressions of my senses, But it occurred at last, for I said to myself, 'Is it more probable that such a mystery is true', or that I have dreamed for the third time that which I had already dreamed of twice before'? Have I really seen the blasted tree and the sunning turtle'? Are a weary ride of fifty miles, the noontide heat, the silence that could almost be felt, no provocatives of a dream'? I have ridden, under such circumstances, many a mile, fast asleep, and have awoke and known it-and so I resolved that if ever circumstances carried me to those parts again, I would satisfy myself as to the matter. 8. "Accordingly, when, after a few years, an incident led me to travel there, I revisited the well-remembered scene. There still was the stagnant pool, but the blasted pine-tree was gone; and, after I had pushed my horse through the marshy thicket as far as I could urge him, and then dismounted and pursued a close investigation on foot in every direction round the spot, I was clearly convinced that no pine-tree had ever grown there; not a stump, nor any token of its remains, could be seen; and so now I have concluded that, at the glimpse of the water, with the readiness of those who are falling asleep I had adopted an external fact into a dream; that it had aroused the trains of thought which, in former years, had occupied me; and that, in fine, the mystery was all a delusion, and that I had been frightened with less than a shadow." 9. The instructive story of this physician teaches us how readily, and yet how impressively, the remains of old ideas may be recalled; how they may, as it were, be projected into the space beyond us, and take a position among existing re alities. That such images arise from a physical impression which has formerly been made in the registering ganglia of the brain, it is impossible to doubt; and it is philosophical to suppose that, for their emergences from their dormant state, it is only necessary that there should be a dulling or blunting of the sensations which we are in the act of receiving from external sources, so that these latents relics, laid up in the brain, may present themselves with at least equal force. 1 SU-PER-NĂT'-U-RAL, above or beyond the 5 PRO-JECT'-ED, thrust forward. laws of nature; miraculous. 2 PRONE, bending downward. 9 MI-ASM, noxious vapors or effluvia. 4 PRO-VO-CA-TIVE, that which excites or leads to. 6 E-MER'-GENOE, a coming forth. 7 DOR'-MANT, sleeping. 8 LA-TENT, not visible; concealed. LESSON XVIII.-THE HEALTH OF THE BRAIN. 1. ALTHOUGH the brain is the seat of thought, of feeling, and of consciousness, it is nevertheless a part of the animal system. Do not make a mistake in supposing that the brain is the mind itself. It is merely the organ of the mind-the medium through which the mind acts. In like manner, speech is not thought itself; it is merely an instrument by which thought is conveyed from one mind to another. 2. The brain is subject to the same general laws of health as the other bodily organs; and, like them, it is liable to disease. It is nourished by the blood; it is strengthened by mental exercise; it is injured by over-exertion; and it is enfeebled by disease. When the mind thinks intently, an increased quantity of blood is sent to the brain to supply the waste of material occasioned by exercise of that organ. The brain is then enlarged in bulk; and hence we see the danger of too long continued intense application, which often results in congestion1 of the brain, apoplexy,2 and death. So, also, if the brain be highly excited by the excessive use of stimulants, a rush of blood to the brain will be the consequence, and the mind will be disturbed; and if, on the other hand, the mind be suddenly roused by violent passions, the vessels of the brain will instantly be excited to increased action, redness will suffuse the face, and the disturbance will be the same as if produced by a physical cause. 3. Although the weight of the brain is only about one fortieth of the weight of the body, yet ordinarily about one sixth of all the blood is sent to this organ. If more than the usual quantity be sent there, as will happen in cases of intense and long-continued mental. exertion, it will circulate but feebly in other parts, and hence the feet will become cold, the stomach will act slowly, and active muscular exercise can not be taken with profit; and when, on the other hand, other parts of the body require a bountiful supply of blood, as is the case when the stomach is engaged in the process of digestion, and when the muscles generally are called into vigorous action, the brain will be incapable of its greatest efforts. Hence severe mental application should never be attempted just before or after a hearty meal, nor during any active muscular exertion. 4. Keeping in view that the brain is a bodily organ, and that thought is its proper stimulus to exertion-that, like an arm in a sling, it dwindles by disuse, and becomes slow and feeble in its movements, we shall not be surprised to find that inactivity of intellect is a frequent predisposing cause of every form of nervous disease. We witness the truth of this in the well-known fact that solitary confinement is so severe a punishment, even to the strongest minds, as often to produce permanent derangement of intellect, and even confirmed idiocy; and it is a lower degree of the same cause which renders continuous seclusion from society so injurious to both mental and bodily soundness. We also see the effects of want of mental occupation in the numerous victims to nervous disease among females of the middle and higher ranks, who, having no calls to exertion in gaining the means of subsistence, and no objects of interest on which to exercise their mental faculties, sink into a state of mental sloth and nervousness, which not only deprives them of much enjoyment, but subjects them to suffering both of body and mind from the slightest causes. 5. An additional illustration, and a very common one, of the bad effects of want of mental occupation, is often presented in the case of a man of mature age and active habits, who, having devoted his life to the toils of business, and having acquired a competency,3 gives up all his business relations, and retires to the country to seek repose and enjoyment. Suppose such a person to have no moral, religious, or philosophical pursuits to occupy his attention and keep up the active exercise of his brain; this organ will lose its health from inaction, and the inevitable result will be, weariness of life, despondency, melancholy, or some other form of nervous disease. Long confinement to an unvarying round of employment, which affords neither scope nor stimulus for one half of the faculties, must also be prejudicial to the health and vigor of the nervous sys tem. 6. But the evils arising from excessive or ill-timed exercise of the brain are also numerous, and equally in accordance with the ordinary laws of physiology. When we use the eye too long, or in too bright a light, it becomes bloodshot; and if we continue to look intently, the irritation at length becomes permanent, and disease, followed by weakness of sight, or even blindness, may ensue. Phenomena precisely analogous1 occur when, from intense mental excitement, the brain is kept long in excessive activity. We learn this from occasional cases in which, from some external injury, the brain has been so exposed that its action has been seen. 7. Sir Astley Cooper had a young gentleman brought to him who had lost a portion of his skull just above the eyebrow. "On examining the head," says Sir Astley, "I distinctly saw the pulsation of the brain was regular and slow; but at this time he was agitated by some opposition to his wishes, and directly the blood was sent with increased force to the brain, and the pulsation became frequent and violent." Who does not know that when one is moderately flushed and heated in debate his mind works more freely and powerfully than at any other time'? And why? Because then his brain has a healthy activity, occasioned by an abundant supply of its natural stimulus. But let the excitement run too high, and too much blood be sent to the brain, and giddiness will ensue, threatening apoplexy; or the brain may be overstrained, the same as an arm, and the consequence be permanent mental debility. 1 CON-GES'-TION, too great an accumulation of blood. ducing loss of sense and voluntary motion. 2 XP'-O-PLEX-Y, a disorder of the brain pro-3 €ŏM'-PE-TEN-OY, a sufficiency of property. 4 A-NĂL'-O-GOUs, like; similar. LESSON XIX.-THE FOOT'S COMPLAINT. 1. "Ir's really too bad," cried the Foot in a fever, 2. "There's the Mouth-he's the fellow for all the nice things, And as to the Eye-he sees every fine sight." 3. "Stay, stay," said the Mouth; "don't you know, my dear brother, We all were intended to help one another'? And surely you can't be thought useless and mean, On whom all the rest so entirely must lean'. |