3. or Oraculum - a dream sent by the Deity in consequence of sleeping in a certain place, e.g., Apollo's temple.

4. Insomnium - the disconnected, incoherent fancies, incapable of interpretation, of which, in fact, most dreams consist

5. Visum - which appears to be equivalent to what we might call a visual nightmare, a dream in which some object appeared, but no dramatic sequence of incidents occurred.

This last, again, does not admit any interpretation. The Oraculum, it appears, does require explanation often, but it is generally for the priest of the temple to explain it. The Visum is too clear to need interpretation. Therefore there is only left the Somnium. It is this kind of dream, the Somnium, that Macrobius again divides with a fivefold classification ; a classification which, according to Seafield, St. Augustine (of whose writings I regret to say I know nothing) virtually adopted in his Liber Exhortationis. Perhaps this gives them an added interest. At all events their enumeration will not take long. The Somnium is divided, then, into:-

1. Proprium - where the dreamer is the principal person in the dream.

2. Alienum - where some one else is the principal

3. Commune - when he and another share chief honours in the dream.

4. Publicum - when it is concerned with the public welfare (I fear the average Englishman is hardly enough of a politician for such things to vex his sleep much).

5. Generate - when the dream is de omnibus rebus et quibusdum aliis, so to say. Artemidorus, the great lexicographer of dream interpretation, was an Ephesian, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, i.e., in the second century. He seems to have given most of his life to his work, travelling about, collecting instances by hearsay and by reading, and in the end producing a book, which was first printed in the sixteenth century in Venice, and is the ground work of all the systems of dream interpretation that have been published since. All are copies, more or less conscious, of Artemidorus. I do not know that there is much system or method to be observed in the interpretation that he presents. The entire subject is one that has quite lost its practical interest for the cultured of to - day. It has a certain historical interest, however, for it is quite sure that at one time - in fact for a long period of time - the dreams that men dreamt and the meanings that they attached to them, exercised a very practical influence on their actions and conduct I think I shall quite satisfy the historical interest by giving not the whole canon of interpretation from Artemidorus and his followers, but a certain selection from it, to show what the whole is like.

I have selected interpretations that seem to apply to the dreams which I gather from the correspondence that I have received to be most frequent; so that the modern dreamer may be amused by seeing what his own dreams would have meant to a man of old time, had it happened to this olden man to dream them.

But it is a little singular that the dreams which we have seen to be most common do not seem to have occurred, with any such frequency as to call for a special comment, to these old fellows who used to attach such mighty importance to all that they did in dreams. There is some reference to the meaning of falling down a precipice, but not such reference as we should expect, seeing how common the dream is now. And there is no reference at all to flying. But it is not to be believed that a people who paid great attention to most of the circumstances of dreams would not have paid any at all to the very remarkable circumstance of flight Possibly the explanation is that they were so much occupied with the story, the dramatic chain of events, that one single incident in it, such as the flight or the fall, would not seize their attention very strongly. Evidently the dream of death was recognised, and fairly frequent with them, and they had their interpretation ready cut and dried for it Raphael's Royal Book of Dreams, that was published some time in the last century, is occupied chiefly with a kind of spirit writing and indication of meanings by a series of ciphers.

This is not meant for an explanation of the system, but only to show that it does not hang on to the interpretations of the ancients, that it is therefore without any historical interest, and could only be believed even by its author on the assumption that he was rather crack - brained.

I like very much the allegorical dream of "angling," signifying trouble, and "bagpipes," signifying contention. They are great cynics, these dream interpreters: to dream of funerals seems always good, because of the inheritance you shall receive from the dead. On the whole, so far as we can trace any principle on which the dreams are here interpreted, it is always the simple principle of direct allegory. To dream of black is bad, of white is good. There is no idea here, so far as we see, of "dreams going by contraries" as in the Persian code, although we have this proverb in our talk.

Therewith let us take a few extracts from the most recognised canon of interpretation. Any one who likes to take the trouble may invent interpretations on the like lines for any dream under the sun or moon.

Angling. - To dream that you are angling betokens much affliction and trouble in seeking for something you desire to get.

Apes. - To dream you have seen, or had anything to do with them signifies malicious, weak, strange and secret enemies; also malefactors and deceivers.

Bagpipes. - To dream that you play upon bagpipes signifies trouble, contention and being overthrown at law.

Buried. - For a man to dream that he is buried and interred signifies he shall have as much wealth as he hath earth laid over him.