A drop of water was allowed to fall on his forehead. He dreamt that he was in Italy, feeling very hot and drinking wine.
A red light suggested to him a storm at sea.
Struck on the neck, he dreamt that he was a revolutionist, arrested, tried, sentenced to death and guillotined.
I have had some of Maury’s experiments repeated on myself and the connection between the physical stimulus and the content of the dream leaves no doubt as to the direct relation between the two. On the other hand, the reader will notice that the same stimuli applied to Maury and to me produced absolutely different results. Compare my first and second experiments with his first and third.
1. I was tickled on the nose with a feather. I dreamt that I was entering a forest and that branches and leaves were brushing against my face. I made an effort to push them away with my hand. (I had taken a ride through Central Park that very day).
2. A bottle of perfume was held open under my nose.
I dreamt of a landscape with thick clouds and mist to the left. Two dark figures carrying grips were hurrying toward the right where there seemed to be open fields, flowers, and sunlight. (The day preceding the dream had been cloudy.)
3. My nose was stroked with a piece of paper.
I dreamt I met a certain writer who asked me whether another writer had seen a certain lady and her daughter. I answered rather indifferently and went on my way. Then I saw either the other writer or myself seated before a window and showing a tall gaunt woman and another indistinct figure, either Japanese prints or some manuscript, and I woke up.
(The day preceding the dream I had revised a manuscript for a woman and also spoken of one of the two writers.)