There are a great many stimuli of such nature, ranging from those that
are unavoidable, being brought on by the sleeping state or at least
occasionally induced by it, to the accidental waking stimuli which are
adapted or calculated to put an end to sleep. Thus a strong light may
force itself into the eyes, a noise may become perceptible, or some
odoriferous matter may irritate the mucous membrane of the nose. In the
spontaneous movements of sleep we may lay bare parts of the body and
thus expose them to a sensation of cold, or through change of position
we may produce sensations of pressure and touch. A fly may bite us, or a
slight accident at night may simultaneously attack more than one sense.
Observers have called attention to a whole series of dreams in which the
stimulus verified on waking, and a part of the dream content
corresponded to such a degree that the stimulus could be recognised as
the source of the dream.
I shall here cite a number of such dreams collected by Jessen[36] (p.
527), traceable to more or less accidental objective sensory stimuli.
“Every indistinctly perceived noise gives rise to corresponding dream
pictures; the rolling of thunder takes us into the thick of battle, the
crowing of a cock may be transformed into human shrieks of terror, and
the creaking of a door may conjure up dreams of burglars breaking into
the house. When one of our blankets slips off at night we may dream that
we are walking about naked or falling into the water. If we lie
diagonally across the bed with our feet extending beyond the edge, we
may dream of standing on the brink of a terrifying precipice, or of
falling from a steep height. Should our head accidentally get under the
pillow we may then imagine a big rock hanging over us and about to crush
us under its weight. Accumulation of semen produces voluptuous dreams,
and local pain the idea of suffering ill treatment, of hostile attacks,
or of accidental bodily injuries.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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