ESSAY ON SUPERSTITION. (Continued from p. 275.) HE next stage of our inquiry, in proceeding from the more simple to the more complicated results, will be to glance a little at the physiological phenomena of sleep; but more particularly to consider its morbid states. It would be right, were it possible, to define, in the first instance, in what consists simple, natural, healthy sleep, before we proceed to describe its pathological conditions, in order that the exact amount of the latter might be estimated by contrasting them with the former: but here, again, we find a limit placed to our investigation; for it is an inexplicable boon provided for the weary and the way-worn by the beneficent Creator, and so essentially interwoven with the constitution, as to be inseparable from its well-being, and to form a vital action, the precise nature of which is unknown. Its influence is a fundamental law impressed upon animal life; and all bow to its agency; but we know not why. It is the offspring of life, and, like its parent, is difficult, perhaps impossible, to be defined; and we must be contented with the scanty information we can obtain of its natural phenomena, and of the many deviations from its healthy state. In fact, it is far easier to say what it is not, than to describe wherein it consists. It is, however, important to re- mark, that it is not a state of absolute quiescence; for many organs of the body will continue to act on during sleep; and, indeed, will be possessed of a greater degree of activity than is customary, precisely because the intellectual function is less employed. Thus, all the processes on which the continu. ance of life depends go on uninterruptedly: the beating of the heart, and the heaving of the chest,' are visible and tangible; the process of digestion is even more completely performed during sleep, than in the waking state, because more nervous energy can be then accumulated about the stomach than can be spared for the individual wants of this organ at a period when it is distributed among a variety of active functions. But let it be asked, whence is this continued supply of nervous energy derived? If from the brain, it surely must be one of those organs which does not enter into complete repose during sleep; and, admitting this, we shall be prepared to account for many of the disturbed phenomena of that process. The brain continues its unwearied action during sleep; but many of its intellectual manifestations are laid aside, or are so obscured by this state as not to be cognisable. It should seem, that as an intellectual organ it was more liable to exhaustion, than as a merely corporeal agent; and that, therefore, sleep had been provided 2 X more particularly for the repose of the intellectual brain: and this opinion is supported by the fact, that fatigue is induced much earlier when bodily exertion is accompanied by mental effort or emotion; more especially if that emotion be of a depressing character. A consequence of this law is, that in sleep the brain ceases to be the servant of the mind, or spiritual principle, and is no longer obedient to the will. For, as wakefulness may be defined to be a state of the brain in which the exercise of its functions is submitted to the will, with a consciousness of such submission; so sleep is the opposite state, during which there is a suspension of all possible intellectual action; and the entire brainular function is no longer under the influence of the will, nor in any way subjected to its controul. Thus sleep is provided for the restoration of the nervous system; and in its most healthy form is of a light character, easily disturbed; the organ immediately upon awakening entering upon the full tide of its functions. The reason is obvious, and shews the infinite wisdom of that Creative Power, which has surrounded us with wonders. During sleep, man is in a defenceless state; and if it were not easily disturbed, he would not be aware of the approach of danger; nor in an instant capable of taking the necessary precautionary measures of escape or defence. This is easily seen by watching the heavy slumber of an oppressed brain, and the sudden wakening, not to the energy of action, but to dulness and stupidity of perception, and to generally feeble or perverted manifestations. This repose of the brain is often incomplete; and then, though the organ be wholly or partially abstracted from the influence of the will, it nevertheless continues a certain kind of action, without the guidance and direction of the judgment unrefreshing sleep is the result; and its subject rises in the morning wearied, with enfeebled powers of the body, and with greatly diminished capacity for the manifestations of mind. The arrival of sleep may be evaded for a considerable time, by various stimuli; but, after a certain interval, longer or shorter according to the idiosyncracy of the individual, nature claims her prerogative: her voice will be heard; and the invasion of sleep becomes irresistible. But when it takes place under such circumstances, it is generally oppressive, and does not recruit exhausted power, since the brain has been irritated by previous excitants; and when itself, or any of the organs with which it stands connected, are in a state of irritation, quiet sleep is not to be expected. As the invasion of sleep may thus be warded off for a considerable time by the agency of various stimuli; so a state of morbid vigilance may be produced by certain condi tions of the brain, and by various other exciting causes. Thus, acute irritation of the brain, even when attended by power on the part of the constitution, will produce it. Opium exhibited for this purpose will occasion it. In the opposite state of the system, in which excitation is produced without power to support it, the degree of nervous irritability will be such as to render sleep impossible, till calm has been obtained; and the same effects will be produced by the agency of green tea, coffee, and other stimulants. Now it is quite impossible that these causes, to which many others might be added, can all agree in the session of one common property, by which wakefulness is produced; or that the vigilance so created can admit of a similar treatment. if not, the brain may be variously irritated by different disturbing causes: and these causes may operate effects upon its physiological function with which we are at present unacquainted; because we know not the manner in which the connection between the brain and its pos But distant associated organs is carried on, and therefore we cannot ascertain the mode in which it is disturbed, while this very mode constitutes the essential character of morbid vigilance. It is sufficient for us to know, that the brain is excited by various, and even opposite, causes; and that these causes produce effects varying in kind, and differing in degree, though they are all uniform in disturbing the manifestations of mind. : We must attend more particularly to some of the morbid states of sleep and, first, of waking dreams, or reveries. To many persons there is something so pleasing in the semi-unconsciousness which this state involves, that they indulge it, for the sake of enjoying the gratification it affords. Reverie consists in dissociating the mind from such external circumstances as would tend to fix and controul its operations; and thus creating for itself images of interest, and grouping them together so as to produce various emotions; and in imagining situations for action or passion often impossible, and generally monstrous or improbable. Here there are no impediments in the way; for every difficulty is subdued by the powerful agency of a lawless imagination. Now, in this state the patient is often unconscious of all that passes around him he is called absent that is, he does not attend to external realities, because such attention would break the charm of reverie by which he remains spellbound-yet without the slightest consciousness of being so. Now, let it be remarked, that here is continued action of the brain, without the support of volition or the influence of judgment; and that in this state unreal images are presented to the mind with all the semblance of truth and reality. The brain, then, when left to itself, from the disorder which is thrown into its actions, is capable of producing images, imagining situations, and inventing consequences, without rea son or truth. And if so, it may surely be granted-at least it may be asked without presumption-that some other analogous but unknown action might be the result; and this unknown action may be the creation of spectral forms. This opinion is confirmed by the phenomena of night-mare. This mighty enemy to peaceful repose generally depends upon the state of the brain, either primarily or secondarily. In the first place, it is most frequent, and most complete, in cerebral affections; and especially in that peculiar condition of the brain which has arisen from intellectual over-action; in which a large quantity of blood has been determined to that viscus; and in which, the balance of power having been overturned by some occasional cause, the organ has become exhausted, and has been rendered irritable, as a consequence of such excitement and exhaustion. Moreover, the phenomena of night-mare are purely cerebral, and always disappear upon perfect waking for the distress of the patient is occasioned by being placed in some imaginary situation of terror, or danger, and by his incapacity to escape; so that, in a severe paroxysm, he awakens, after a violent struggle, trembling, agitated, with palpitation of the heart, and in violent perspiration-all the symptoms pointing out the really intense agony which he has suffered from this visionary impression, produced by a physical condition of the organ of mind. They who have attended to this form of malady in themselves, will have observed, that the attack is very generally preceded by an unwonted drowsiness, shewing that the brain is oppressed; and indeed, the occurrence of sleep, and the invasion of the symptoms of nightmare, often happen so very rapidly after going to bed, that the patient fancies it has occurred before he could possibly have fallen asleep : as, in fact, it does before he would have been asleep under ordinary circumstances. But this never really happens: the patient must be asleep, or he does not suffer from nightmare. This is another proof of the cerebral origin of this malady; so that, if it be remotely depending upon the state of the stomach-and we believe that it frequently may be so it is produced, not by the immediate agency of that viscus, but by its nervous and sympathetic connexion with the brain. And, again, if from any cause the latter organ shall have been powerfully excited late at night, that night will, in persons so predisposed, be almost certainly characterized by nightmare: so that, after a time, the patient may almost unerringly calculate upon the attack from his sensations before falling asleep. Again: the intensity will be governed by the more or less morbid state of the cerebral organ; it will be severe when that morbid condition is considerable; it will increase with the deepening shades of brainular malady; and it will diminish exactly in proportion with the gradual return to healthy action, and with the progress of convalescence; till the attack shall have become slight, and the images with which it is associated ludicrously embarrassing instead of being frightful; and till a perfect restoration of the organ also restores the patient to that healthy state in which the ugly hag no longer haunts his pillow. Once more: the attack of night mare is most common to individuals who possess an irritable brain. And, finally, the illusions which attend it are complete the patient verily believes in their actual existence; and it is only by the influence of the judgment, reason, and experience, that he can be convinced of the contrary truth. Now, these illusions involve the appearance of different individuals; their speaking and acting, according to certain supposed circumstances; and the consequences of such words and actions: all these being assuredly felt by the patient in no ordinary measure. I have been the more desirous of shewing that this state is an affection of the brain, because of the natural inference, that in one particular state of that organ images are produced with all the character of reality about them-speaking, moving, thinking, and acting. This illusion is so complete, that their existence is never doubted for a moment; and, therefore, there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition, that other morbid states of the same organ may give rise to varying, though analogous, pheno mena. We shall now proceed a step further, to the history and mystery of dreams. Before, however, entering upon this subject more particularly, we must just notice the great activity of the brain during sleep.-It will be seen, also, that this is not the increased activity of the immaterial principle, when for the time dissociated from the entire agency of its cumbrous medium of manifestation; because, if this were the case, we should have to mention only perfect ideas, refined images, and correct notices, as resulting from such disencumbered action; instead of the common result, imperfect ideas, confused images, and incorrect impressions. Thus, again, at the outset of our inquiry we trace dreaming to a condition of the material brain, not of the immaterial principle: and it must be seen, that by so doing we vindicate the honour of God, and that we do not derogate from his power, or wisdom, or goodness. For if dreaming be produced by a peculiar condition of the organ of mind, that organ having been subjected to the perverting agency which accompanied man's lost and ruined state, the facts are accounted for; this is the result of the natural punishment which attaches to sin, and is itself a proof of its debasing influence, and forms a connecting link in the chain of the most perfect moral government of the world. But if the strange, and fantastic, and heterogeneous groups of dreams do actually result from the uninfluenced associations of the immaterial spirit; and if these do actually require to be corrected by the waking state-that is, by the influence of the brain (the organ appropriated for exhibiting the manifestations of mind) upon them-two consequences will result: namely, That the immaterial spirit possesses limited powers of intelligence; and, That these require to be aided by its material connexions;-results which are falsified by daily experience; and which, if allowed, would leave us at once in the darkness of the night of materialism. very The fact is, however, that the immaterial spirit is not necessarily engaged in the phenomena of dreaming the brain is not its servant during sleep, because by that very state it is unfitted for intellectual operations; and when it does act, it is without the controul of a presiding mind; and therefore the morbid state of dreaming, instead of the physiological process of correct thinking, is produced. That the mode of association, and the habit of brainular action, are most rapid, may be proved by the phenomenon of dreaming, when we are awakened by a servant's customary knock in the morning. Sometimes this regularly repeated sound will be received by the appropriate organ of sense, and will be transmitted to the brain; where it will produce, or at the least elicit, the customary automatic answer, without conveying any impression to the sentient principle; so that there shall have been no consciousness of having been called at all. At another time, when the sleep is less perfect, the momentary knock at the door will excite in the brain an action connected with a long train of associated images: so that in the second of time which elapses between the impression of that sound, and the state of absolute wakening, a long dream will be passed through; sometimes manifestly associated with this atmospherical vibration, and at others not so; but uniformly marked by an inconceivable rapidity in the succession of images or impressions, which are dissipated as soon as perfect consciousness returns. Dreams, therefore, may be generally considered as resulting from some uncontrolled or morbid action of the brain; and this action may be either primary, and attaching immediately to that organ; or secondary and sympathetic, arising from the irritation of a distant organ in communion with the brain. It is This position is confirmed by the dreams of animals. It will not be contended that their dreams result from spiritual agency; yet we know that they do dream-as in the familiar instance of dogs-and that they will perform in consequence some of their peculiar functions, as barking, and various other automatic expressions of joy or sorrow. also known, that this disposition to disturbed sleep will be promoted by any cause which has powerfully excited their brain; whether this may have been exercise or disease. And we may trace in these circumstances the rationale of our own dreams-namely, that, they arise from the brain's spontaneous action, when under the influence of excitement or irritation, either from its own peculiar morbid state, or from that of some one of its associated organs. We shall also probably find, that the great variety of dreams may be accounted for on the principle of the kind of disturbance to which it may be subjected from this primary or secondary irritation: and it is further manifest, that in the latter case the kind and degree of excitement may vary, not only according to the organ which forms the first source of irritation, but also according to the nature and extent of its morbid actions, and to their special affinities with the nervous system; thus forming a groundwork capable of constant change, and of almost infinite variety. |