The assumption that some unnatural agency must be responsible for dreams was, doubtless, due to the following : During the day man found that he could control his thoughts, direct them at will; at night, however, when asleep, his thoughts proceeded without his being able to modify them in the least; moreover, these thoughts were so divergent from those of the day, so replete with uncommon incidents and images, that only a superior being could be directing them. Being governed by a supernatural power, dreams were, therefore, true indices of the future. Thus, Cambyses put his brother, whom he loved and had confided in, to death because he dreamt that his brother would one day be king of Persia. The ancients, like many today, attributed a supernatural agency at the bottom of what they could not explain; the unexplained, or not understood, was synonymous with the supernatural.

The ancient Hebrews knew that dreams originated inside the head (Dan. 4, 2, 7; 7, l1; 4, 5, 13; 7, 12); that hunger and thirst produced dreams in which these desires were satisfied (Isa. 29, 8); that a dream came with a multitude of cares (Eccl. 5, 21); or business (Eccl. 5, 3 2); that they were of a fleeting character (Job, 20, 8). In both the Old and the New Testaments supernatural dreams are recorded, as the dream of Abil-melech, the dream of Jacob, of Solomon, of Daniel, of Joseph, of the Wise Men, of St. Paul.

Many of the older writers, while attributing all sorts of wonderful powers to the dream, realized that ordinary mental activity played a part in their production; they also appreciated the influence of physical stimuli, and that certain dreams prognosticated illness. The followers of Pythagoras (582-500 b. c.) contended that beans, since they caused unquiet dreams, had to be avoided if the dreams were to receive interpretation. Cicero (106-43 b. c.) said that the number of true dreams would be greater if men did not fall asleep filled with wine and flesh, which made the dreams obscure and confused. According to Pliny (62-110 a. d.), dreams following the use of wine were not to be expounded as the gods imparted the gift of seeing only to the temperate. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Galen (130-201 a.d.), and many others recorded prodromic dreams. Artemidorus (about 2nd century a.d.), previous to whom at least twenty-one writers had given their views on dream-interpretation, advised the interpreters to ask those consulting them whether or not they had retired after a moderate or excessive meal. Artemidorus' Oneiricritica was an elaborate treatise on all kinds of dreams, whereby each individual was enabled to interpret dreams for himself; as one critic says, it cannot but be regarded as a memorable instance of the misapplication of human intellect and industry. Among the ancients, as Horace (65-8 b. c), and Ovid (b.c. 43-17 a.d.), and later writers as Dante (1265-1321), and Dryden (1631-1700) the view prevailed that dreams after midnight or in the early morning were apt to be "true," probably because the stomach and intestines, being supposedly empty, did not confuse or influence the course of the dream.

1 Douay Version. 2 St. James Version.

That from the interpretation of dreams a certain knowledge of riches and poverty, joy and sorrow, victory and defeat, etc., was obtainable, depending upon the skill of the dream-interpreter, was firmly believed in from antiquity; even today a considerable number of people cling to this view, as the sale of household dream books attests. In the healing art the dream was considered very useful, and it was the custom of the ancient physicians to inquire of their patients as to the nature of the dreams, and on the dreams diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment were often based, though physicians abandoned the use of dreams long ago, dream-interpretation as a means of discovering disease has come back again, though the modern physician, of course, does not employ the art in the same manner as did his ancient predecessors.

Religious ceremonies in honour of the god of dreams were of frequent occurrence; also ceremonies to ward off the evils said to follow bad dreams. The Romans and the Greeks were accustomed to lie down on skins in specially designated places, after performing certain religious rites; oracular suggestions were then looked for. It was also a custom to fast for a day and to abstain from wine for three days when divine dreams were desired. The Hebrews had their religious ceremonies to be observed after certain dreams; the temple of Jerusalem was resorted to for inspired dreams. Though the Hebrews, as well as the Heathens, believed that some dreams were real inspirations, they became very superstitious and made it a practice to apply to diviners for the interpretation of their visions. Against false prophets they were warned (Jer. 29, 8; Deut. 13,

1). The custom of seeking dreams by sleeping among graves and monuments was also frowned upon; Isaiah (65, 4) probably refers to this practice.

The views of the ancients were practically unchanged up to the nineteenth century. Paracelcus (1493-1551) attributed dreams to physical causes, mental causes, astral influences, spiritual agencies. Laurentius, in his Diseases of Melancholy, written in the sixteenth century, classified dreams as natural, due to external causes; mental, based on memories; those from God; those from the devil. Rabelais, who lived in the sixteenth century, has one of his characters, Pantagruel, state that when the body sleeps and digestion is completed the soul flies away to visit its native land, which is Heaven, and there gathers impressions which, as dreams, give a true indication of future events. Shakespeare (1564-1616) has Mercutio term dreams "children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy" (Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 4); this writer and sage understood dream-life very well; for example, in King Henry IV (Part 1, Act 2, Scene 3) Lady Percy gives a very good description of talking in sleep and the various facial movements that accompany dreams. Addison (1672-1719) cites dreams as an instance of the agility and perspection of the mind when disengaged from the body; he believed in the power of divining in dreams.

In works appearing in the early part of the nineteenth century we find views more in accord with modern teachings as regards the dream. Robert Gray, in his Theory of Dreams written in 1808, calls the dream "the work of the mind, sketches of the fancy, deriving its materials from experience." Macnish, writing in 1841, says: "I believe that dreams are uniformly the resuscitation or re-embodiment of thoughts which have formerly, in some shape or other, occupied the mind. They are old ideas revived either in an entire state, or hetero-geneously mingled together." Hammond, in 1869, believed dreams to be directly due to an increased activity of the cerebral circulation over that which exists in profound sleep; this view is no longer acceptable. Du Prel, in 1889, attributed dreams to mental activities chiefly, but believing artificial somnambulism identical with natural sleep credited the dream with all sorts of absurdpowers. Among other interesting theories as to the cause of dreams is that of the duplex brain. It was reasoned that only one-half of the brain is well-developed, which half is active in the waking state. During sleep this half rests, delegating its functions to the other half. The latter, being immature, reasons childishly, and hence is explained the absurdity, celerity, and other peculiarities of dream-life that strike one as fantastic. It may be true that some centres of the brain, as the speech centre, are one-sided, and Henschen has lately presented some evidence that there is a centre for the formation of conceptions, placing the seat of the mind in the frontal lobe. However, we have no evidence that the well-developed portions of the brain are entirely at rest in sleep, or that their functions are carried out by other parts. There may be a marked difference in the nature of the thoughts that prevail by night and by day, but this can be accounted for by more scientific reasons than that of the duplex brain.

While there has been much discussion as to whether or not we dream all the time we are asleep, most writers have considered dreaming as a more or less normal process. The opposite view was held by many, however For instance, in Magendie's Physiology, dated 1844, it is stated that in the healthy individual the mind slumbers like the body. "It may be doubted if dreaming ever occurs in a perfectly normal state. There are reasons for considering this phenomenon as always indicative of a morbid condition, though often slight and transient." Similar expressions have been encountered by the present writer in books dated as late as 1888. At present we believe that it is as natural to dream when asleep as to think when awake. Of course certain dreams, as frequent nightmare, may be abnormal, just as the thoughts of an insane person may be abnormal when compared to those of a mentally healthy person.

Today the nature of dreams is pretty well understood. We should not boast, however, since it is only within the last twenty years or so that material progress has been made toward understanding them. That dreams are mental activities, founded on each individual's personal experiences, all well versed in the study of the dream will concede. It will be conceded, also, in agreement with Cicero, that among the cloud of nightly dreams some will be found which agree with future events, just as one who spends the day darting the javelin must sometimes hit the mark; though we may not all believe that these dreams are supernormal, or in any way related to the supernatural.