ASPR Journal, V14 - Iapsop.com

604 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.
that morning used iodine. Shortly afterwards-the exact time
cannot be determined, and is not perhaps important-Or. Swain
reproduced these elements of fact in his dream. But the setting
is very much transformed. He was lying on his right side on the
couch asleep; he dreamed that he was in bed awake, lying on his
left side facing the door, by which Dr. H. entered. Dr. H. had
only his coat off; in the dream he was collarless and vestless. He
was not carrying a swab soaked with iodine from which the drops
fell staining the shirt, as he appeared in the dream; and, of course,
the actual situation was not as fully humorous as it seemed to be
to the dreamer. In time, the dream, while reproducing certain
rather striking elements of fact, followed the usual method of
dreams by fantastically elaborating them. The question is, does
the reproduction of these elements require any other hypothesis
than those furnished by orthodox psychology?
It can be accounted for on recognized principles if we assume
( 1 ) a " sense of presence " in the sleeper due either to hypersensibility
to ordinary impressions, e. g., to Dr. Hemmeter's
breathing while bending over him (say, impact and temperature_
sensations), or to some subtler, e. g., magnetic or other, corporeal
effluence, (2) the accompanying coefficient, whatever it may consist
in, which serves for personal identification, and ( 3) the
emergence of latent impressions--the color of the shirt, the stain
or the touch of iodine-:received, but not noticed, earlier in the
day, say, at the breakfast table. But whether this or any similar
explanation is correct is certainly doubtful, and unless the whole
thing is to be set down to chance coincidence, it seems worth
while to record the facts in the hope that they may serve for comparison
with other similar facts and ultimately to throw light on
some of the most obscure and at the same time, most interesting
problems of our human experience.
H. N. GARDINER.
Christmas Cove, Me.
Aug. 2, 1920 ..
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