having his dreams thus conjured
before him, was so remarkable, that his friends could produce any kind
of dream they pleased, by softly whispering in his ear, especially if
this were done by one with whose voice he was familiar. His companions
were in the constant habit of amusing themselves at his expense. On one
occasion they conducted him through the whole progress of a quarrel,
which ended in a duel; and when the parties were supposed to meet, a
pistol was put into his hand, which he fired off in his sleep, and was
awakened by the report. On another, they found him asleep on the top of
a locker or bunker in the cabin, when, by whispering, they made him
believe he had fallen overboard; and they then exhorted him to save
himself by swimming. He immediately imitated the motions of swimming.
They then suggested to him that he was being pursued by a shark, and
entreated him to dive for his life. This he did, or rather attempted,
with so much violence, that he threw himself off the locker, by which he
was bruised, and, of course, awakened." Dr. Abercrombie adds, that the
most remarkable circumstance connected with this case was, that after
these and a variety of other pranks had been played upon him, "he had
no distinct recollection of his dreams, but only a confused feeling of
oppression or fatigue, and used to tell his friends that he was sure
they had been playing some tricks upon him."

It appears, also--and the fact is very remarkable--that a similar kind
of sensation will produce the same description of dream in a number of
individuals at the same time. Hence different people will sometimes have
the same dream. We read of a whole regiment starting up in alarm,
declaring they were dreaming that a black dog had jumped upon their
breasts and disappeared, which curious circumstance was explained by the
discovery, that they had all been exposed to the influence of a
deleterious gas, which was generated in the monastery. The effect of
music, also, in exciting delightful dreams, has often been attested. A
French philosopher whose experiments are reported by Magendie, according
to the airs which he had arranged should be played while he was asleep,
could have the character of his dreams directed at pleasure. "There is
an art," says Sir Thomas Browne--in his usual quaint style--"to make
dreams as well as their interpretations; and physicians will tell us
that some food makes turbulent, some gives quiet dreams. Cato, who
doat