Similar differences are observable with regard to memories. Some
persons firmly retain what they read, while the memory forte of
others is in what they hear; and pathology supports this subdivision
of the sense-memories by showing, for example, that all remembrance
for seen objects may be lost while that for sounds remains intact. A
case, remarkable in several aspects, is recorded by M. Charcot. The
subject in question could accurately call up, in full detail, all
the scenes of his many travels, could repeat pages of his favorite
authors from the mental picture of the printed page, and by the same
means could mentally add long columns of numbers. The mere mention of
a scene in a play, or of a conversation with a friend, immediately
brought up a vivid picture of the entire circumstance. Through
nervous prostration he lost this visual memory. An attempt to sketch
a familiar scene now resulted in a childish scrawl; he remembered
little of his correspondence, forgot the appearance of his wife and
friends, and even failed to recognize his own image in a mirror. Yet
his eyesight was intact and his intellect unimpaired. In order to
remember things he had now to have them read aloud to him, and thus
bring into play his undisturbed auditory centre--to him an almost new
experience.
The function of vision in dreams is doubtless subject to similar
individual variations, though probably to a less extent. Seeing,
with rare exceptions, constitutes the typical operation in dreams;
it is this sense, too, that, under the influence of drugs or of
other excitement, is most readily stimulated into morbid action, and
most easily furnishes the basis of delusions and hallucinations to a
disordered mind. The dependence of the nature and content of dreams
upon the waking experiences is so clearly proven that it would be
surprising not to find in them the individual characteristics of our
mental processes; and if Aristotle is right in saying that in waking
life we all have a world in common but in dreams each has a world of
his own, we may look to the evidence of dream-life for indications of
unrestrained and distinctive psychological traits.
II
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