DRAWING

(Sax. bpasaji, /o rfraw atong.) In the Fine Arts, the art of representing any object by means of lines circumscribing its boundaries. Drawing is of course the foundation of every thing in art, including within it a knowledge of perspective, anatomy, and proportion, and when acquired giving, as Sir Joshua Reynolds observes, " a proportionable power of drawing correctly what we imagine." The human figure is the principal, perhaps the only object, upon which a student should be first employed; for he who can correctly draw that will not be at a lo in representing any thing else he may wish. Sir Joshua observes, that he who endeavours to copy nicely the figure before him, not only acquires a "habit of exactne and precision, but is continually advancing in his knowledge of the human figure; and though he seems to superficial observers to make a slower progre , he will be found at last capable of adding (without running into capricious wildne ) that grace and beauty which is nece ary to be given to his more finished works, and which cannot be got by the modems, as it was not acquired by the ancients, but by an attentive and well compared study of the human form." DREAMS (Germ. Traume), may be defined to be those trains of ideas which occupy the mind, or those imaginary transactions in which it is engaged, during sleep. Dreams constitute some of the most curious phenomena of the human mind, and have in all ages presented to philosophers a subject of most interesting investigation. The theory of dreams embraces two distinct cla es of phenomensL, phi/sical and pst/cho logical: the former relate to the question as to how the body is affected in a state of sleep {see Sleep), how the body in that state affects the mind, and how this affection operates to the production of the phenomena of dreams; the latter comprehend an inquiry into the laws which regulate the train of ideas that occur during sleep, and the mode in which these laws operate, together with an examination of certain psychological appearances peculiar to that state. To both these cla es of phenomena the attention of some of the most distinguished philosophers, both of antiquity and of modern times, has been directed; and much labour and ingenuity have been expended in endeavouring to ascertain the origin and nature of dreams, and to account for the various phenomena by which they are accompanied. To give even an outline of the various theories that have been propounded on this subject, would be wholly incompatible with our limits. The system of condensation on which w^orks of this species must be constructed is, as will be easily understood, but little suited for metaphysical disquisitions, in which, to use a remark of Horace, brevity so easily degenerates into obscurity; but in the present instance this is perhaps the le to be regretted, for of all those speculative questions which are said to lie beyond the reach of human inquiry, there is none on which the opinions of philosophers are more conflicting and unsatisfactory than the theory of dreams. Among a multitude of other efficient causes, dreams have been ascribed to direct impre ions on the organs of sense during sleep, — to the absence of real impre ions on the senses, — to a disordered state of the digestive organs, — to a le restrained action of the mental faculties, — to the suspension of volition while the powers of sensation continue, — and to the succe ion and unequal relaxation and ce ation of the different senses at the commencement and during the time of sleep. {Encyc. Edin.) From the remotest period of antiquity, dreams have also been ascribed to supernatural agency. The records of history, both sacred and profane, abound in instances of dreams which it is impo ible to account for on any other hypothesis than that of a supernatural interposition; and, as has been well observed, thougii there can be no doubt that many dreams which have been considered supernatural, as xevealing facts and scientific truths, may now be explained by means within our own knowledge, it can just as little be doubted that many well authenticated dreams are utterly inexplicable by ordinary or natural means. This belief in the supernatural character of dreams is common to every nation in a greater or le degree; but it prevails more especially in the countries of the East, where, from time immemorial, there has existed a cla of persons whose peculiar ocDROPSY. cup at i on consists in the interpretation and explanation of dreams. Those who wish for comprehensive details on this subject may consult the writings of Aristotle, Lucretius, Demo crit us, .; and, among ourselves, of Locke, Newton, Hartley, Baxter, Beattie, and Stewart; and still more recently, those of Abercrombie and Macnish, whicli are extremely valuable for the numerous instances of extraordinary dreams with which their theories are illustrated. The Penny Cyclopwdia, also, contains an article upon dreams, which exhibits great metaphysical acumen. (See The Royal Book of Dreams.) [s. 377]