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diff --git a/37203.txt b/37203.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b972705 --- /dev/null +++ b/37203.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8441 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Telepathy and the Subliminal Self, by R. Osgood Mason + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Telepathy and the Subliminal Self + +Author: R. Osgood Mason + +Release Date: August 25, 2011 [EBook #37203] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TELEPATHY AND THE SUBLIMINAL SELF *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +TELEPATHY AND THE SUBLIMINAL SELF + + + + +[Illustration: NATHAN EARLY + +_Phototype from an Automatic Painting._ (See page 196.)] + + + + + TELEPATHY AND THE SUBLIMINAL SELF + + AN ACCOUNT OF RECENT INVESTIGATIONS REGARDING + HYPNOTISM, AUTOMATISM, DREAMS, PHANTASMS, + AND RELATED PHENOMENA + + + BY R. OSGOOD MASON, A.M., M.D. + _Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine_ + + + NEW YORK + HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY + 1897 + + + + + Copyright, 1897, + BY + HENRY HOLT & CO. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To whatever conclusions it may lead us, there is no mistaking the fact +that now more than ever before is the public interested in matters +relating to the "New Psychology." Scarcely a day passes that notice of +some unusual psychical experience or startling phenomenon does not appear +in popular literature. The newspaper, the magazine, and the novel vie with +each other in their efforts to excite interest and attract attention by +the display of these strange incidents, presented sometimes with +intelligence and taste, but oftener with a culpable disregard of both +taste and truth. + +The general reader is not yet critical regarding these matters, but he is +at least interested, and desires to know what can be relied upon as +established truth amongst these various reports. There is inquiry +concerning Telepathy or Thought-Transference--is it a fact or is it a +delusion? Has Hypnotism any actual standing either in science or common +sense? What of Clairvoyance, Planchette, Trance and Trance utterances, +Crystal-Gazing and Apparitions? + +In the following papers intelligent readers, both in and out of the +medical profession, will find these subjects fairly stated and discussed, +and to some of the questions asked, fair and reasonable answers given. It +is with the hope of aiding somewhat in the efforts now being made to +rescue from an uncertain and unreasoning supernaturalism some of the most +valuable facts in nature, and some of the most interesting and beautiful +psychical phenomena in human experience, that this book is offered to the +public. + +To such studies, however, it is objected by some that the principles +involved in these unusual mental actions are too vague and the facts too +new and unsubstantiated to be deserving of serious consideration; but it +should be remembered that all our knowledge, even that which is now +reckoned as science, was once vague and tentative; it is absurd, +therefore, to ignore newly-found facts simply because they are new and +their laws unknown; nevertheless, in psychical matters especially, this is +the tendency of the age. + +But even if upon the practical side these studies should be deemed +unsatisfactory, it would not follow that they are without use or +interest. It is a truism that our western civilization is over-intense and +practical; it is materialistic, hard, mechanical; it values nothing, it +believes in nothing that cannot be weighed, measured, analyzed, labelled +and appraised;--feeling, intuition, aspiration, monitions, glimpses of +knowledge that are from within--not external nor distinctly +cognizable,--these are all slighted, despised, trampled upon by a +supercilious dilettanteism on the one hand and an uninstructed +philistinism on the other, and the result has been a development that is +abnormal, unsymmetrical, deformed, and tending to disintegration. + +To a few, oriental mysticism, to others the hasty deductions of +spiritualism, and to many more the supernaturalism of the various +religious systems, offer at least a partial, though often exaggerated, +antidote to this inherent vice, because they all contemplate a spiritual +or at least a transcendental aspect of man's nature in contrast to that +which is purely material. But even these partial remedies are not +available to all, and they are unsatisfactory to many. + +As a basis to a more symmetrical and permanent development, some generally +recognized facts relative to the constitution and action of these more +subtle forces in our being must be certified; and as an introduction to +that work, it is hoped that these studies in the outlying fields of +psychology will not be found valueless. + +A portion of the papers here presented are republished, much revised, by +courtesy of _The New York Times_. + +NEW YORK, _October, 1896_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + Psychical Research--Telepathy or Thought-Transference 1 + + CHAPTER II. + Mesmerism and Hypnotism--History and Therapeutic Effects 28 + + CHAPTER III. + Hypnotism--Psychical Aspect 51 + + CHAPTER IV. + Lucidity or Clairvoyance 74 + + CHAPTER V. + Double or Multiplex Personality 116 + + CHAPTER VI. + Natural Somnambulism--Hypnotic Somnambulism--Dreams 129 + + CHAPTER VII. + Automatism--Planchette 151 + + CHAPTER VIII. + Automatic Writing, Drawing and Painting 181 + + CHAPTER IX. + Crystal-gazing 198 + + CHAPTER X. + Phantasms 224 + + CHAPTER XI. + Phantasms, Continued 262 + + CHAPTER XII. + Conclusions 307 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PSYCHICAL RESEARCH--TELEPATHY OR THOUGHT-TRANSFERENCE. + + +The status of the old-fashioned ghost story has, within the past ten +years, perceptibly changed. Formerly, by the credulous generality of +people, it was almost universally accepted without reason and without +critical examination. It was looked upon as supernatural, and supernatural +things were neither to be doubted nor reasoned about, and there the matter +ended. + +On the other hand, the more learned and scientific, equally without reason +or critical examination, utterly repudiated and scorned all alleged facts +and occurrences relating to the subject. "We know what the laws of nature +are," they said, "and alleged occurrences which go beyond or contravene +these laws are upon their face illusions and frauds." And so, with them +also, there the matter ended. + +In the meantime, while the irreclaimably superstitious and credulous on +the one hand, and the unco-scientific and conservative on the other, +equally without knowledge and equally without reason, have gone on +believing and disbelieving, a large number of people--intelligent, +inquiring, quick-witted, and reasonable, some scientific and some +unscientific--have come to think seriously regarding unusual occurrences +and phenomena, either witnessed or experienced by themselves or related by +others, and whose reality they could not doubt, although their relations +to ordinary conditions of life were mysterious and occult. + +In the investigation of these subjects some new and unfamiliar terms have +come into more or less common use. We hear of mind-reading, telepathy, +hypnotism, clairvoyance, and psychical research, some of which terms still +stand for something mysterious, uncanny, perhaps even supernatural, but +they have at least excited interest and inquiry. The subjects which they +represent have even permeated general literature; the novelist has made +use of this widespread interest in occult subjects and has introduced many +of the strange and weird features which they present into his department +of literature. Some have made use of this new material without knowledge +or taste, merely to excite wonder and attract the vulgar, while others +use it philosophically, with knowledge and discrimination, for the purpose +of educating their readers in a new and important department of knowledge +and thought. + +Amongst the more scientific, societies have been formed, reports have been +read and published, so that in scientific and literary circles as well as +among the unlearned the subject has become one of interest. + +The object of these papers will be briefly to tell in connection with my +own observations, what is known and what is thought by others who have +studied the subject carefully, and especially what has been done by the +English Society for Psychical Research and kindred societies. + +When an expedition is sent out for the purpose of exploring new and +unknown regions, it is often necessary to send forward scouts to obtain +some general ideas concerning the nature of the country, its conformation, +water-courses, inhabitants, and food supplies. The scouts return and +report what they have discovered; their reports are listened to with +interest, and upon these reports often depend the movements and success of +the whole expedition. It will easily be seen how important it is that the +scouts should be intelligent, sharp-witted, courageous and truthful; and +it will also be evident that the report of these scouts concerning the new +and unknown country is much more valuable than the preconceived opinions +of geographers and philosophers, no matter how eminent they may be, who +have simply stayed at home, enjoyed their easy-chair, and declared +off-hand that the new country was useless and uninhabitable. + +The outlying fields of psychology, which are now the subject of psychical +research, are comparatively a new and unexplored region, and until within +a few years it has been considered a barren and unproductive one, into +which it was silly, disreputable, and even dangerous to enter; the region +was infested with dream-mongers, spiritualists, clairvoyants, mesmerists, +and cranks, and the more vigorously it was shunned the safer would he be +who had a reputation of any kind to lose. + +Such substantially was the condition of public sentiment, and especially +of sentiment in strictly scientific circles, fourteen years ago, when the +English Society for Psychical Research came into being. The first movement +in the direction of systematic study and exploration in this new field was +a preliminary meeting called by Prof. W. F. Barrett, Fellow of the Royal +Society of Edinburgh, and a few other gentlemen on Jan. 6, 1882, when the +formation of such a society was proposed; and in the following month the +society was definitely organized and officers were chosen. The first +general meeting for business and listening to reports took place July 17th +of the same year. + +The persons associated in this society were of the most staid and +respectable character, noted for solid sense, and a sufficient number of +them for practical work were also trained in scientific methods, and were +already eminent in special departments of science. + +Prof. Henry Sidgwick, Trinity College, Cambridge, was President; Prof. W. +F. Barrett, F. R. S. E., Royal College of Science, Dublin, and Prof. +Balfour Stewart, F. R. S., Owens College, Manchester, were +Vice-Presidents, and among the members were a large number of well-known +names of Fellows of various learned and royal societies, professional men, +and members of Parliament, altogether giving character to the society, as +well as assuring sensible methods in its work. Among the subjects first +taken up for examination and, so far as possible, for experimental study, +were the following:-- + +(1) Thought-transference, or an examination into the nature and extent of +any influence which may be exerted by one mind upon another, apart from +any generally recognized mode of perception or communication. + +(2) The study of hypnotism and the forms of so-called mesmeric trance. + +(3) An investigation of well-authenticated reports regarding apparitions +and disturbances in houses reputed to be haunted. + +(4) An inquiry into various psychical phenomena commonly called +Spiritualistic. + +The first report made to the society was concerning thought-reading, or +thought-transference, and was a description of various experiments +undertaken with a view to determine the question whether one person or one +mind can receive impressions or intelligence from another person or mind +without communication by word, touch, or sign, or by any means whatsoever +apart from the ordinary and recognized methods of perception, or the +ordinary channels of communication. + +What is meant by thought-transference is perhaps most simply illustrated +by the common amusement known as the "willing game"; it is played as +follows:-- + +The person to be influenced or "willed" is sent out of the room; those +remaining then agree upon some act which that person is to be willed to +accomplish; as, for instance, to take some particular piece of bric-a-brac +from a table or cabinet and place it upon the piano, or to find some +article which has been purposely hidden. The person to be willed is then +brought back into the room; the leader of the game places one hand lightly +upon her shoulder or arm, and the whole company think intently upon the +act agreed upon in her absence. If the game is successful, the person so +willed goes, with more or less promptness, takes the piece of bric-a-brac +thought of, and places it upon the piano, as before agreed upon by the +company, or she goes with more or less directness and discovers the hidden +article. Nervous agitation, excitement, even faintness or actual syncope, +are not unusual accompaniments of the effort on the part of the person so +willed, circumstances which at least show the unusual character of the +performance and also the necessity for caution in conducting it. + +If the game is played honestly, as it generally is, the person to be +willed, when she returns to the room, is absolutely ignorant of what act +she is expected to perform, and the person with whom she is placed in +contact does not intentionally give her any clue or information during the +progress of the game. + +In the more formal experiments the person who is willed is known as the +sensitive, subject, or percipient; the person who conducts the experiment +is known as the agent or operator. The sensitive is presumed to receive, +in some unusual manner, from the minds of the agent and the company, an +impression regarding the action to be performed, without communication +between them in any ordinary manner. + +This is one of the simplest forms of thought-transference; it is, of +course, liable to many errors, and is useless as a scientific test. + +Bishop, Cumberland, and other mind readers who have exhibited their +remarkable powers all over the world, were doubtless sensitives who +possessed this power of perception or receiving impressions in a high +degree, so that minute objects, such as an ordinary watch-key, hidden in a +barrel of rubbish in a cellar and in a distant part of an unfamiliar city, +is quickly found, the sensitive being connected with the agent by the +slightest contact, or perhaps only by a string or wire. + +The question at issue in all these cases is the same, namely, do the +sensitives receive their impressions regarding what they have to do from +the mind of the agent by some process other than the ordinary means of +communication, such as seeing, hearing, or touch; or do they, by the +exceeding delicacy of their perception, receive impressions from slight +indications unintentionally and unconsciously conveyed to them by the +agent through the slight contact which is kept up between them? + +The opinion of a majority of scientific persons has been altogether averse +to the theory of thought-transference from one mind to another without the +aid of the senses and the ordinary means of communication; and they have +maintained that intimations of the thing to be done by the sensitive were +conveyed by slight muscular movements unconsciously made by the agent and +perhaps unconsciously received by the sensitive. To explain, or rather to +formulate these cases, Dr. William B. Carpenter, the eminent English +physiologist, proposed the theory of "unconscious muscular action" on the +part of the agent and "unconscious cerebration" on the part of the +sensitive; and his treatment of the whole subject in his "Mental +Physiology," which was published twenty years ago, and also in his book on +"Mesmerism and Spiritualism," was thought by many to be conclusive against +the theory of mind-reading or thought-transference. Especially was this +view entertained by the more conservative portion of the various +scientific bodies interested in the subject, and also by that large class +of people, scientific and otherwise, who save themselves much trouble by +taking their opinions ready made. + +It was a very easy way of disposing of the matter, so thoroughly +scientific, and it did not involve the necessity of studying any new force +or getting into trouble with any new laws of mental action; it was simply +delightful, and the physiologists rubbed their hands gleefully over the +apparent discomfiture of the shallow cranks who imagined they had +discovered something new. There was only one troublesome circumstance +about the whole affair. It was this: that cases were every now and then +making their appearance which absolutely refused to be explained by the +new theory of Dr. Carpenter, and the only way of disposing of these +troublesome cases was to declare that the people who observed them did not +know how to observe, and did not see what they thought they saw. + +This was the state of the question, and this the way in which it was +generally regarded, when it was taken up for investigation by the Society +for Psychical Research. + +Experiments on the subject of thought-transference fall naturally into +four classes: + +(1) Those where some prearranged action is accomplished, personal contact +being maintained between the operator and the sensitive. + +(2) Similar performances where there is no contact whatever. + +(3) Where a name, number, object, or card is guessed or perceived and +expressed by speech or writing without any perceptible means of obtaining +intelligence by the senses or through any of the ordinary channels of +communication. + +(4) Where the same ideas have occurred or the same impressions have been +conveyed at the same moment to the minds of two or more persons widely +separated from each other. + +The first and second of these classes are simply examples of the "willing +game" carried on under more strict conditions, but they are not counted as +of special value on account of the possibility of information being +conveyed when contact is permitted, and by means of slight signals, mere +movements of the eye, finger, or lip, which might quickly be seized upon +and interpreted by the sensitive, even when there was no actual contact. +The third and fourth class, however, seem to exclude these and all other +ordinary or recognizable means of communication. + +The following are examples of the third class, namely, where some object, +number, name, or card has been guessed or perceived without the aid of the +senses, and without any of the ordinary means of communication between the +operator and the subject. + +The first experiments here reported were made in the family of a +clergyman, by himself, together with his five daughters, ranging from ten +to seventeen years of age, all thoroughly healthy persons, and without any +peculiar nervous development. The daughters and sometimes, also, a young +maid-servant, were the sensitives, and the clergyman, when alone with his +family, acted as agent. The test experiments made in this family were +conducted by two competent and well-qualified observers, members of the +society, and no member of the family was permitted to know the word, name, +or object selected, except that the child chosen to act as sensitive was +told to what class the object belonged; for instance, whether it was a +number, card, or name of some person or place. + +The child was then sent out of the room and kept under observation while +the test object was agreed upon, and was then recalled by one of the +experimenters; and while giving her answers she "stood near the door with +downcast eyes," and often with her back to the company. The experiments +were conducted in perfect silence excepting the child's answer and the +"right" or "wrong" of the agent. + +It has been charged that these children, later, were caught signalling +during the experiments. This is true by their own confession, but it is +also true that there was no signalling during the earlier experiments, +also that the signalling when used did not improve the results, and +furthermore that after they began signalling the effort to keep the mind +consciously active and acute during their trials injured the passive +condition necessary for success, and eventually destroyed their +sensitiveness and thought-reading power altogether. + +Besides, most of the tests were made when only the one child was in the +room, and, as will be noticed, many of the tests were of such a nature +that signalling would be out of the question, especially with their little +experience and clumsy code. + +The following results were obtained, the name of the object agreed upon +being given in italics:-- + +_A white-handled penknife._ Was named and color given on the first trial. +_A box of almonds._ Named correctly. _A three-penny piece._ Failed. _A +box of chocolate._ A button box. _A penknife, hidden._ Failed to state +where it was. + +Trial with cards, to be named:-- + +_Two of clubs._ Right. _Seven of diamonds._ Right. _Four of spades._ +Failed. _Four of hearts._ Right. _King of hearts._ Right. _Two of +diamonds._ Right. _Ace of hearts._ Right. _Nine of spades._ Right. _Five +of diamonds._ Four of diamonds (wrong); then four of hearts, (wrong); then +five of diamonds, which was right on the third trial. _Two of spades._ +Right. _Eight of diamonds._ Wrong. _Ace of diamonds._ Wrong. _Three of +hearts._ Right. _Four of clubs._ Wrong. _Ace of spades._ Wrong. + +The following results were obtained with fictitious names:-- + +_William Stubbs._ Right. _Eliza Holmes._ Eliza H. _Isaac Harding._ Right. +_Sophia Shaw._ Right. _Hester Willis._ Cassandra--then Hester Wilson. +_John Jones._ Right. _Timothy Taylor._ Tom, then Timothy Taylor. _Esther +Ogle._ Right. _Arthur Higgins._ Right. _Alfred Henderson._ Right. _Amy +Frogmore._ Amy Freemore, then Amy Frogmore. _Albert Snelgrove._ Albert +Singrore, then Albert Grover. + +On another occasion the following result was obtained with cards, Mary, +the eldest daughter, being the percipient: In thirty-one successive +trials the first only was an entire failure, six of spades being given in +answer for the eight of spades. Of the remaining thirty consecutive +trials, in seventeen the card was correctly named on the first attempt, +nine on the second, and four on the third. + +It should here be observed, that according to the calculus of +probabilities, the chances that an ordinary guesser would be correct in +his guess on the first trial is, in cards, of course, one in fifty-one, +but in these trials, numbering 382 in all, and extending over six days, +the average was one in three, and second and third guesses being allowed +the successes were more than one in two, almost two in three. + +The chances against guessing the card correctly five times in succession +are more than 1,000,000 to 1, and against this happening eight times in +succession are more than 142,000,000 to 1, yet the former happened several +times and the latter twice--once with cards and once with fictitious +names, the chances against success in the latter case being almost +incalculable. + +The following experiments were also made among many others, Miss Maud +Creery being the percipient:-- + +"(1) What town have we thought of? A. Buxton: which was correct. + +"(2) What town have we thought of? A. Derby. What part did you think of +first? A. Railway station. (So did I.) What next? A. The market-place. (So +did I.) + +"(3) What town have we thought of? A. Something commencing with L. (Pause +of a minute.) Lincoln. (Correct.) + +"(4) What town have we thought of? A. Fairfield. What part did you think +of first? A. The road to it. (So did I.) What next? A. The triangular +green behind the Bull's Head Inn. (So did I.)" + +In seeking an explanation for these remarkable results coincidence and +chance may, it would seem, be utterly excluded. Touch and hearing must +also be excluded, since the guesser did not come in contact with any +person during the experiments, and they were conducted in perfect silence +excepting the answers of the percipient or the "yes" or "no" of the agent. + +We have left, then, only the unconscious indications which might possibly +be given by look, movement of a finger, lip, or muscle by persons who were +present especially on account of their desire and ability to detect any +such communication, and on account of their ability to avoid giving +information in any such manner themselves. + +It seems, in fact, quite incredible that information thus conveyed could +be sufficient to affect the result in so large a number of experiments, +especially where the experiments included the names of places and +fictitious names of persons. Even where signalling is successfully carried +on, as, for instance, in stage tricks, it is a regular feat of memory +accomplished between two people who have studied and practised it +assiduously for a long time, while here were simply children, brought in +contact, without rehearsal, with strangers, whose object it was to detect +the trick if any were practised among them. + +We are forced, then, to the conclusion that the knowledge which these +sensitives exhibited concerning the objects, names, or cards which were +given them as tests, did not come to them by any ordinary sense of +perception obtained either legitimately or by trick, but came to them +directly from the minds of other persons acting as agents and striving to +impress them, and that this knowledge or these impressions were received +by some means other than through the ordinary channels of communication. + +Another method of demonstrating thought-transference which should be +mentioned here, is by means of diagrams. The experiment may be made as +follows:--The percipient, being blindfolded, is seated at a table with his +back to the operator, without contact and in perfect silence. A +diagram--for instance, a circle with a cross in the centre--is distinctly +drawn by a third person and so held as to be in full view of the operator, +who looks at it in silence, steadily and with concentrated attention. + +The impression made by the diagram upon the mind of the operator is +gradually perceived by the percipient, who, after a time varying from a +few seconds to several minutes, declares himself ready. The bandages are +then removed from his eyes, and to the best of his ability he draws the +impression which came to him while blindfolded. The results have varied in +accuracy, very much as did the results in the experiments with objects and +cards already described. + +The following diagrams are from drawings and reproductions made in the +manner just described. They are from the proceedings of the Society for +Psychical Research, and were the result of experiments made by Mr. Malcolm +Guthrie and Mr. James Birchall, two prominent and cultivated citizens of +Liverpool, together with three or four ladies, personal friends of +theirs, all of whom undertook the experiments with the definite purpose of +testing the truth or falsity of thought-transference. + + +[Illustration: + + I. Original Drawing. + I. Reproduction. + + II. Original Drawing. + II. Reproduction. + + III. Original Drawing. + III. Reproduction. + + IV. Original Drawing. + IV. Reproduction. +] + + +I will also quote another experiment, which is only a fair example of a +very large number, carefully carried out from April to November, 1883. In +many of the experiments members of the Committee on Thought-transference +from the S. P. R. were present. + +APRIL 20th, 1883.--Present, Mr. Guthrie, Mr. Birchall, Mr. Steel, and four +ladies:-- + + ----------------------------------------------------------------------- + AGENT. |PERCIPIENT.| OBJECT. | RESULT. + --------|-----------|-----------------------|-------------------------- + Mrs. E. | Miss R. | A square of pink silk | "Pink ... Square." + | | on black satin. | Answered almost + | | | instantly. + | | | + do. | do. | A ring of white silk | "Can't see it." + | | on black satin. | + | | | + Miss R. | Miss E. | Word R E S, letter by | Each letter was named + | | letter. | correctly by Miss E. as + | | | it was placed before + | | | Miss R. + | | | + do. | do. | Letter Q. | "Q." First answer. + | | | + do. | do. | Letter F. | "F." First answer. + | | | + All | | | + present.| Miss R. | A gilt cross held by | "It is a cross." Asked, + | | Mr. G. behind the | which way is it held, + | | percipient. | percipient replied, + | | | "The right way." Correct. + | | | + do. | do. | A yellow paper knife. | "Yellow ... is it a + | | | feather?... It looks + | | | like a knife with a + | | | thin handle." + | | | + do. | do. | A pair of scissors | "It is silver ... No, it + | | standing open and | is steel ... It is a pair + | | upright. | of scissors standing + | | | upright." + ----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Success was different on different occasions, but this represents an +ordinary series of experiments at one sitting. In these experiments with +objects, the percipient was blindfolded and the object moreover was kept +out of range of vision. In some experiments slight contact was permitted, +and in some it was not, but it was found that contact had little if any +effect upon the result. + +Remarkable success was also obtained in the transference of sensation, +such as taste, smell, or pain, while the percipient was in a normal +condition, that is, not hypnotized. + +The following is an average example of the transference of taste:-- + +The tasters, Mr. Guthrie (M. G.), Mr. Gurney (E. G.), and Mr. Myers (M.). +The percipients were two young ladies in Mr. Guthrie's employ. + + SEPT. 3, 1883. + + --------------------------------------------------------------------- + TASTERS. |PERCIPIENT.| SUBSTANCE. | ANSWER GIVEN. + ----------|-----------|----------------|----------------------------- + E. G. & M.| E. | Worcestershire | + | | Sauce. | "Worcestershire Sauce." + | | | + M. G. | R. | " | "Vinegar." + | | | + E. G. & M.| E. | Port wine. | "Between eau de Cologne + | | | and beer." + | | | + M. G. | R. | " | "Raspberry Vinegar." + | | | + E. G. & M.| E. | Bitter aloes. | "Horrible and bitter." + | | | + M. G. | R. | Alum. | "A taste of ink--of iron--of + | | | vinegar. I feel it on my + | | | lips--it is as though I had + | | | been eating alum." + --------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Some very striking experiments were made by Mr. J. W. Smith of Brunswick +Place, Leeds, as agent, and his sister Kate as percipient. Their success +with diagrams fully equalled those already given, and with objects the +results have seldom been equalled. The following trials were made March +11th, 1884. The intelligence and good faith of the participants is +undoubted. + +Agent: J. W. Smith. Percipient: Kate Smith. + + OBJECT SELECTED. NAMED. + + Figure 8 Correct first time. + Figure 5 " " " + Black cross on white ground " " " + Color blue " " " + Cipher (0) " " " + + Pair of Scissors.--Percipient was not told what (i. e. what form of + experiment, figure, color or object) was to be next--but carefully and + without noise a pair of scissors was placed on white ground, and in + about one minute and a half she exclaimed: "Scissors!" + +The number of facts and experiments bearing upon this division of our +subject is well-nigh inexhaustible; those already presented will serve as +illustrations and will also show upon what sort of evidence is founded the +probability that perceptions and impressions are really conveyed from one +mind to another in some other manner than by the ordinary and recognized +methods of communication. + +It remains to give one or two illustrations of the fourth division of the +subject, namely, where similar thoughts have simultaneously occurred, or +similar impressions have been made upon the minds of persons at a distance +from each other without any known method of communication between them. + +The first case was received and examined by the society in the summer of +1885. One of the percipients writes as follows:-- + +"My sister-in-law, Sarah Eustance, of Stretton, was lying sick unto death, +and my wife had gone over there from Lawton Chapel (twelve or thirteen +miles off) to see and tend her in her last moments. On the night before +her death I was sleeping at home alone, and, awaking, I heard a voice +distinctly call me. + +"Thinking it was my niece Rosanna, the only other occupant of the house, I +went to her room and found her awake and nervous. I asked her whether she +had called me. She answered: 'No; but something awoke me, when I heard +some one calling.' On my wife returning home after her sister's death she +told me how anxious her sister had been to see me, craving for me to be +sent for, and saying, 'Oh, how I want to see Done once more!' and soon +after became speechless. But the curious part was that, about the same +time that she was 'craving,' I and my niece heard the call." + +In answer to a letter of inquiry he further writes:-- + +"My wife, who went from Lawton that particular Sunday to see her sister, +will testify, that as she attended upon her (after the departure of the +minister) during the night, she was asking and craving for me, repeatedly +saying, 'Oh, I wish I could see Uncle Done and Rosie once more before I +go!' and soon after she became unconscious, or at least ceased speaking, +and died the next day, of which fact I was not aware until my wife +returned on the evening of the Fourth of July." + +Mrs. Sewill, the Rosie referred to, writes as follows:-- + +"I was awakened suddenly, without apparent cause, and heard a voice +calling me distinctly, thus: 'Rosie, Rosie, Rosie.' We (my uncle and +myself) were the only occupants of the house that night, aunt being away +attending upon her sister. I never was called before or since." + +The second case is reported by a medical man of excellent reputation to +whom the incident was related by both Lady G. and her sister, the +percipients in the case. It is as follows:-- + +"Lady G. and her sister had been spending the evening with their mother, +who was in her usual health and spirits when they left her. In the middle +of the night the sister awoke in a fright and said to her husband: 'I must +go to my mother at once; do order the carriage. I am sure she is taken +ill.' The husband, after trying in vain to convince his wife that it was +only a fancy, ordered the carriage. As she was approaching her mother's +house, where two roads meet, she saw Lady G.'s carriage approaching. As +soon as they met, each asked the other why she was there at that +unseasonable hour, and both made the same reply:-- + +"'I could not sleep, feeling sure my mother was ill, and so I came to +see.' As they came in sight of the house they saw their mother's +confidential maid at the door, who told them, when they arrived, that +their mother had been taken suddenly ill and was dying, and that she had +expressed an earnest wish to see her daughters." + +The reporter adds:-- + +"The mother was a lady of strong will and always had a great influence +over her daughters." + +Many well-authenticated instances of a similar character could be cited, +but the above are sufficient for illustration, which is the object here +chiefly in view, and other facts still further illustrating this division +of the subject will appear in other relations. + +The foregoing facts and experiments are sufficient to indicate what is +understood by thought-transference, or telepathy, and also to indicate +what might be called the skirmishing ground between the class of +psychologists represented by the active workers in the Society for +Psychical Research and kindred societies on the one hand, and the +conservative scientists, mostly physiologists, who are incredulous of any +action of the mind for which they cannot find an appropriate organ and a +proper method, on the other. + +It is not claimed that thought-transference as here set forth is +established beyond all possibility of doubt or cavil, especially from +those who choose to remain ignorant of the facts, but only that its facts +are solid and their interpretation reasonable, and that +thought-transference has now the same claim to acceptance by well-informed +people that many of the now accepted facts in physical science had in its +early days of growth and development. + +The reality of thought-transference being once established, a vast field +for investigation is opened up; a new law, as it were, is discovered; and +how far-reaching and important its influence and bearing may be upon +alleged facts and phenomena which heretofore have been disbelieved, or set +down as chance occurrences, or explained away as hallucinations, is at +present the interesting study of the experimental psychologist. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MESMERISM AND HYPNOTISM--HISTORY AND THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS. + + +No department of psychical research is at present exciting so widespread +an interest as that which is known under the name of Hypnotism; and +inquiries are constantly made by those to whom the subject is new, +regarding its nature and effects, and also how, if at all, it differs from +the mesmerism and animal magnetism of many years ago. + +Unfortunately, these questions are more easily asked than answered, and +well-informed persons, and even those considered experts in the subject, +would doubtless give different and perhaps opposing answers to them. A +short historical sketch may help in forming an opinion. + +From the remotest periods of human history to the present time, certain +peculiar and unusual conditions of mind, sometimes associated with +abnormal conditions of body, have been observed, during which unusual +conditions, words have unconsciously been spoken, sometimes seemingly +meaningless, but sometimes conveying knowledge of events at that moment +taking place at a distance, sometimes foretelling future events, and +sometimes words of warning, instruction, or command. + +The Egyptians and Assyrians had their magi, the Greeks and Romans their +oracles, the Hebrews their seers and prophets, every great religion its +inspired teachers, and every savage nation had, under some name, its seer +or medicine-man. + +Socrates had his daemon, Joan of Arc her voices and visions, the +Highlanders their second sight, Spiritualists their mediums and +"controls." Even Sitting Bull had his vision in which he foresaw the +approach and destruction of Custer's army. + +Until a little more than a hundred years ago all persons affected in any +of these unusual ways were supposed to be endowed with some sort of +supernatural power, or to be under external and supernatural influence, +either divine or satanic. + +About 1773 Mesmer, an educated German physician, philosopher, and mystic, +commenced the practice of curing disease by means of magnets passed over +the affected parts and over the body of the patient from head to foot. +Afterward seeing Gassner, a Swabian priest, curing his patients by +command, and applying his hands to the affected parts, he discarded his +magnets, concluding that the healing power or influence was not in them, +but in himself; and he called that influence animal magnetism. + +Mesmer also found that a certain proportion of his patients went into a +sleep more or less profound under his manipulations, during which +somnambulism, or sleep-walking, appeared. But Mesmer's chief personal +interest lay in certain theories regarding the nature of the +newly-discovered power or agent, and in its therapeutic effects; his +theories, however, were not understood nor appreciated by the physicians +of his time, and his cures were looked upon by them as being simply +quackery. + +Nevertheless, it was he who first took the whole subject of these abnormal +or supranormal conditions out of the domain of the supernatural, and in +attempting to show their relation to natural forces he placed them in the +domain of nature as proper subjects of rational study and investigation; +and for this, at least, Mesmer should be honored. + +Under Mesmer's pupil, the Marquis de Puysegur, the facts and methods +relating to the magnetic sleep and magnetic cures were more carefully +observed and more fully published. Then followed Petetin, Husson, and +Dupotet, Elliotson in England and Esdaile in India. So from Mesmer in 1773 +to Dupotet and Elliotson in 1838 we have the period of the "early +mesmerists." + +During this period the hypnotic sleep was induced by means of passes, the +operators never for a moment doubting that the influence which produced +sleep was a power of some sort proceeding from themselves and producing +its effect upon the patient. + +In addition to the condition of sleep or lethargy, the following +conditions were well known to the "early mesmerists"; somnambulism, or +sleep-walking, catalepsy, anaesthesia, and amnesia, or absence of all +knowledge of what transpired during the sleep. Suggestion during sleep was +also made use of, and was even then proposed as an agent in education and +in the cure of vice. + +This was the condition of the subject in 1842, when Braid, an English +surgeon, made some new and interesting experiments. He showed that the +so-called mesmeric sleep could be produced in some patients by other +processes than those used by the early mesmerists; especially could this +be accomplished by having the patient gaze steadily at a fixed brilliant +object or point, without resorting to passes or manipulations of any +kind. + +He introduced the word hypnotism, which has since been generally adopted; +he also proposed some new theories relating to the nature of the hypnotic +sleep, regarding it as a "profound nervous change," and he still further +developed the idea and use of suggestion. Otherwise no important changes +were made by him in the status of the subject. It was not looked upon with +favor by the profession generally, and its advocates were for the most +part still considered as cranks and persons whose scientific and +professional standing and character were not above suspicion. + +The period of twenty-five years from 1850 to 1875, was a sort of +occultation of hypnotism. Braidism suffered nearly the same fate as +mesmerism--it was neglected and tabooed. A few capable and honest men, +like Liebeault of Nancy and Azam of Bordeaux, worked on, and from time to +time published their observations; but for the most part these workers +were neglected and even scorned. + +To acknowledge one's belief in animal magnetism or hypnotism was bad form, +and he who did it must be content to suffer a certain degree of both +social and professional ostracism. The field was given over to town-hall +lectures on mesmerism, by "professors" whose titles were printed in +quotation marks even by the local papers which recorded their exploits. + +But a change was about to be inaugurated. In 1877 Prof. Charcot, then one +of the most scientific, most widely-known, and most highly-esteemed of +living physicians, not only in France but in all the world, was appointed, +with two colleagues, to investigate the treatment of hysteria by means of +metallic disks--a subject which was then attracting the attention of the +medical profession in France. + +So, curiously enough, it happened that Charcot commenced exactly where +Mesmer had commenced a hundred years before. He experimented upon +hysterical patients in his wards at La Salpetriere, and, as a result, he +rediscovered mesmerism under the name of hypnotism, just a century after +it had been discovered by Mesmer and disowned by the French Academy. + +But Charcot, after having satisfied himself by his experiments, did not +hesitate to announce his full belief in the facts and phenomena of +hypnotism, and that was sufficient to rehabilitate the long-neglected +subject. The attention of the scientific world was at once turned toward +it, it became a legitimate subject of study, and hypnotism at once became +respectable. From that time to the present it has formed one of the most +conspicuous and interesting subjects of psychical study; it has become to +psychology what determining the value of a single character is to reading +an ancient inscription in a lost or unknown language--it is a bit of the +unknown expressed in terms of the known and helps to furnish clues to +still greater discoveries. + +With the scientific interest in hypnotism which was brought about through +the great name and influence of Charcot, all doubt concerning the reality +of the phenomena which it presents disappeared. Hypnotism was a fact and +had come to stay. + +Charcot, who conducted his experiments chiefly among nervous or hysterical +patients, looked upon the hypnotic condition as a disease, and considered +the phenomena presented by hypnotic subjects as akin to hysteria. In +addition to the method of producing the hypnotic condition used by Braid, +he used, among others, what he called "massive stimulation," which +consisted in first fully absorbing the subject's attention and then +producing a shock by the loud sounding of a concealed gong, or the sudden +display or sudden withdrawal of an electric light. By this means +hysterical subjects were often thrown into a condition of catalepsy, from +which somnambulism and other hypnotic phenomena were sometimes deduced. + +I have myself seen nervous patients thrown into the cataleptic state by +the "massive stimulation" of a huge truck passing by, loaded with clanging +rails or building iron, or by other sudden shock, but I did not consider +the process therapeutic nor in any way useful to the patient. Indeed, I +have considered the present method of transporting those beams and rails +of iron through our streets and past our dwellings, without the slightest +attempt to modify their shocking din and clangor, a piece of savagery +which should at once be made the subject of special legislation looking to +the prompt punishment of the perpetrators of the outrage. + +As a matter of fact, neither the methods employed, the psychical +conditions induced, nor the therapeutic effects attained at La +Salpetriere, where most of these experiments were at that time carried on, +were such as to particularly commend themselves to students of psychology. +Nevertheless the great name and approval of Charcot served to command for +hypnotism the attention and the favorable consideration of the scientific +world. + +Soon after the experiments of Charcot and his associates in Paris were +published, Prof. Bernheim commenced a most thorough and important study of +the subject in the wards of the hospital at Nancy. These studies were +made, not upon persons who were already subjects of nervous disease, as +was the case with Charcot's patients, but, on the contrary, upon those +whose nervous condition was perfectly normal, and even upon those whose +general health was perfect. + +The result of Bernheim's experiments proved that a very large percentage +of all persons, sick or well, could be put into the hypnotic condition. He +claimed that suggestion was the great factor and influence, both in +bringing about the condition, and also in the mental phenomena observed, +and the cures which were accomplished. + +He claimed, moreover, that the hypnotic sleep did not differ from ordinary +sleep, and that no magnetism nor other personal element, influence, or +force entered in any way into the process--it was all the power and +influence of suggestion. + +Four distinct and important periods then are found in the history of +hypnotism: + +First, the period of the early mesmerists, extending from the time of +Mesmer, 1773, until that of Braid, 1842--nearly seventy years--during +which the theory of animal magnetism, or of some actual force or subtle +influence proceeding from the operator to the subject, prevailed. + +Second, the period of thirty-five years during which the influence of +Braid's experiments predominated, showing that other methods, and +especially that by the fixed gaze, were efficient in producing the +hypnotic sleep. + +Third, the short period during which the influence of Charcot and the +Paris school prevailed. + +Fourth, the period since Bernheim began to publish his experiments, and +which may be called the period of suggestion. + +With this brief sketch in mind, we are prepared to examine some of the +more important phenomena of hypnotism, both in its early and its later +developments. A simple case would be as follows:-- + +A patient comes to the physician's office complaining of continual +headaches, general debility, nervousness, and unsatisfactory sleep. She is +willing to be hypnotized, and is accompanied by a friend. The physician +seats her comfortably in a chair, and, seating himself opposite her, he +takes her thumbs lightly between his own thumbs and fingers, asks her to +look steadily at some convenient object--perhaps a shirt-stud or a +specified button upon his coat. Presently her eyelids quiver and then +droop slowly over her eyes; he gently closes them with the tips of his +fingers, holds them lightly for a moment, and she is asleep. + +He then makes several slow passes over her face and down the front of her +body from head to foot, also some over her head and away from it, all +without contact and without speaking to her. He lets her sleep ten or +fifteen minutes--longer, if convenient--and then, making two or three +upward passes over her face, he says promptly: "All right; wake up." + +She slowly opens her eyes, probably smiles, and looks a little foolish at +having slept. He inquires how she feels. She replies: + +"I feel remarkably well--so rested--as though I had slept a whole night." + +"How is your head?" + +(Looking surprised.) "It is quite well--the pain is all gone." + +"Very well," he says. "You will continue to feel better and stronger, and +you will have good sleep at night." + +And so it proves. Bernheim or a pupil of his would sit, or perhaps stand, +near his patient, and in a quiet but firm voice talk of sleep. + +"Sleep is what you need. Sleep is helpful and will do you good. Already, +while I am talking to you, you are beginning to feel drowsy. Your eyes are +tired; your lids are drooping; you are growing more and more sleepy; your +lids droop more and more." + +Then, if the eyelids seem heavy, he presses them down over the eyes, all +the time affirming sleep. If sleep comes, he has succeeded; if not, he +resorts to gestures, passes, the steady gaze, or whatever he thinks likely +to aid his suggestion. + +When the patient is asleep he suggests that when she awakes her pains and +nervousness will be gone, and that she will have quiet and refreshing +sleep at night. What is the condition of the patient while under the +influence of this induced sleep? Pulse and respiration are little, if at +all, changed; they may be slightly accelerated at first, and later, if +very deep sleep occurs, they may be slightly retarded. Temperature is +seldom changed at all, though, if abnormally high before the sleep is +induced, it frequently falls during the sleep. + +If the hand be raised, or the arm be drawn up high above the head, +generally it will remain elevated until it is touched and replaced, or +the patient is told that he can let it fall, when he slowly lowers it. + +In many cases the limbs of the patient may be flexed or the body placed in +any position, and that position will be retained for a longer or shorter +period, sometimes for hours, without change. Sometimes the condition is +one of rigidity so firm that the head may be placed upon one chair and the +heels upon another, and the body will remain stiff like a bridge from one +chair to the other, even when a heavy weight is placed upon the middle of +the patient's body or another person is seated upon it. This is the full +cataleptic condition. + +Sometimes the whole body will be in a condition of anaesthesia, so that +needles may be thrust deep into the flesh without evoking any sign of pain +or any sensation whatever. Sometimes, when this condition of anaesthesia +does not appear with the sleep, it may be induced by passes, or by +suggesting that a certain limb or the whole body is without feeling. In +this condition the most serious surgical operations have been performed +without the slightest suffering on the part of the patient. + +From the deep sleep the patient often passes of his own accord into a +condition in which he walks, talks, reads, writes, and obeys the slightest +wish or suggestion of the hypnotizer--and yet he is asleep. This is called +the alert stage, or the condition of somnambulism, and is the most +peculiar, interesting, and wonderful of all. + +The two chief stages of the hypnotic condition, then, are, first: the +lethargic stage; second, the alert stage. + +The stage of lethargy may be very light--a mere drowsiness--or very +deep--a heavy slumber--and it is often accompanied by a cataleptic state, +more or less marked in degree. + +The alert stage may also vary and may be characterized by somnambulism, +varying in character from a simple sleepy "yes" or "no" in answer to +questions asked by his hypnotizer, to the most wonderful, even +supranormal, mental activity. + +From any of these states the subject may be awakened by his hypnotizer +simply making a few upward passes or by saying in a firm voice, "All +right, wake up," or, again, by affirming to the patient that he will awake +when he (the hypnotizer) has counted up to a certain number, as, for +instance, five. + +Generally, upon awakening, the subject has no knowledge or remembrance of +anything which has transpired during his hypnotic condition. This is known +as amnesia. Sometimes, however, a hazy recollection of what has happened +remains, especially if the hypnotic condition has been only slight. + +Up to the present time hypnotism has been studied from two separate and +important standpoints and for two well-defined purposes: (1) For its +therapeutic effects, or its use in the treatment of disease and relief of +pain; (2) for the mental or psychical phenomena which it presents. + +The following cases will illustrate its study and use from the therapeutic +standpoint--and, first, two cases treated by the old mesmerists, 1843-53. +They are from reports published in The Zoist:-- + +(1) Q. I. P., a well-known artist, fifty years ago, had been greatly +troubled and distressed by weak and inflamed eyes, accompanied by +ulceration of the cornea, a condition which had lasted more than four +years. He was never free from the disease, and often it was so severe as +to prevent work in his studio, and especially reading, for months at a +time. He had been under the care of the best oculists, both in New York +and London, for long periods and at different times, but with very little +temporary and no permanent relief. + +He was urged, as a last resort, to try animal magnetism, as it was then +called. Accordingly, he consulted a mesmeric practitioner in London, and +was treated by passes made over the back of the head and down the spine +and from the centre of the forehead backward and outward over the temples +and down the sides of the head. + +All other treatment was discontinued. No mesmeric phenomena of any kind +were produced, not even sleep, but from the first day a degree of comfort +and also improvement was experienced. + +The treatment was given one hour daily for one month. The improvement was +decided and uninterrupted, such as had never before been experienced under +any form of medical or surgical treatment, no matter how thoroughly +carried out. The general health was greatly improved, and the eyes were so +much benefited that they could be relied upon constantly, both for +painting and reading, and the cure was permanent. + +(2) A case of rheumatism treated by Dr. Elliotson of London. The patient, +G. F., age thirty-five years, was a laborer, and had suffered from +rheumatism seven weeks. When he applied to Dr. Elliotson, the doctor was +sitting in his office, in company with three friends--one a medical +gentleman, and all skeptics regarding mesmerism. + +They all, however, expressed a desire to see the treatment, and, +accordingly, the patient was brought in. He came with difficulty, upon +crutches, his face betokening extreme pain. He had never been mesmerized. + +The doctor sat down opposite his patient, took his thumbs in his hands, +and gazed steadily in his eyes. In twenty minutes he fell into the +mesmeric sleep. Several of the mesmeric phenomena were then produced in +the presence of his skeptical friends, after which he was allowed to sleep +undisturbed for two hours. No suggestions regarding his disease are +reported as having been made to the patient during his sleep. + +He was awakened by reverse passes. Being fairly aroused, he arose from his +chair, walked up and down the room without difficulty, and was perfectly +unconscious of all that had transpired during his sleep; he only knew he +came into the room suffering, and on crutches, and that he was now free +from pain and could walk with ease without them. He left one crutch with +the doctor and went out twirling the other in his hand. He remained +perfectly well. + +Dr. Elliotson afterward tried on three different occasions to hypnotize +him but without success. Others also tried, but all attempts in this +direction failed. + +I will here introduce one or two cases from my own notebook:-- + +(1) A. C., a young girl of Irish parentage, fifteen years old, light skin, +dark hair and eyes, and heavy eyebrows. Her father had "fits" for several +years previous to his death. I first saw the patient Dec. 4, 1872; this +was five years before Charcot's experiments, and nearly ten years before +those of Bernheim. + +She was then having frequent epileptic attacks, characterized by sudden +loss of consciousness, convulsions, foaming at the mouth, biting the +tongue, and dark color. She had her first attack six months before I saw +her, and they had increased in frequency and in severity until now they +occurred twenty or more times a day, sometimes lasting many minutes, and +sometimes only a few seconds; sometimes they were of very great severity. + +She had received many falls, burns, and bruises in consequence of their +sudden accession. They occurred both day and night. On my second visit I +determined to try hypnotism. Patient went to sleep in eight minutes, slept +a short time and awoke without interference. She was immediately put to +sleep again; she slept only a few minutes, and again awoke. + +DEC. 7.--Her friends report that the attacks have not been so frequent and +not nearly so violent since my last visit. Hypnotized; patient went into a +profound sleep and remained one hour; she was then awakened by reverse +passes. + +DEC. 8.--The attacks have been still less frequent and severe; she has +slept quietly; appetite good. Hypnotized and allowed her to sleep two +hours, and then awoke her by the upward passes. + +DEC. 9.--There has been still more marked improvement; the attacks have +been very few, none lasting more than half a minute. Hypnotized and +allowed her to remain asleep three hours. Awoke her with some difficulty, +and she was still somewhat drowsy when I left. She went to sleep in the +afternoon and slept soundly four hours; awoke and ate her supper; went to +sleep again and slept soundly all night. + +DEC. 10.--There has been no return of the attacks. A month later she had +had no return of the attacks. She soon after left town, and I have not +heard of her since. In this case no suggestions whatever were made. + +(2) B. X., twenty-four years of age, a sporting man; obstinate, +independent, self-willed, a leader in his circle. He had been a hard +drinker from boyhood. He had been injured by a fall three years before, +and had been subject to severe attacks of haematemesis. I had known him for +three or four months previous to June, 1891. At that time he came into my +office one evening somewhat under the influence of alcoholic stimulants. +After talking a few moments, I advised him to lie down on the lounge. I +made no remarks about his drinking, nor about sleep. I simply took his two +thumbs in my hands and sat quietly beside him. Presently I made a few long +passes from head to feet, and in five minutes he was fast asleep. + +His hands and arms, outstretched and raised high up, remained exactly as +they were placed. Severe pinching elicited no sign of sensation. He was in +the deep hypnotic sleep. + +I then spoke to him in a distinct and decided manner. I told him he was +ruining his life and making his family very unhappy by his habit of +intemperance. I then told him very decidedly that when he awoke he would +have no more desire for alcoholic stimulants of any kind; that he would +look upon them all as his enemies, and he would refuse them under all +circumstances; that even the smell of them would be disagreeable to him. +I repeated the suggestions and then awoke him by making a few passes +upward over his face, I did not inform him that I had hypnotized him, nor +speak to him at all about his habit of drinking. I prescribed for some +ailment for which he had visited me and he went away. + +I neither saw nor heard from him again for three months, when I received a +letter from him from a distant city, informing me that he had not drank a +drop of spirituous liquor since he was in my office that night. His health +was perfect, and he had no more vomiting of blood. + +June, 1892, one year from the time I had hypnotized him, he came into my +office in splendid condition. He had drank nothing during the whole year. +I have not heard from him since. + +The following case illustrates Bernheim's method:-- + +Mlle. J., teacher, thirty-two years old, came to the clinique, Feb. 17, +1887, for chorea, or St. Vitus's dance. Nearly two weeks previous she had +been roughly reprimanded by her superior which had greatly affected her. +She could scarcely sleep or eat; she had nausea, pricking sensations in +both arms, delirium at times, and now incessant movements, sometimes as +frequent as two every second, in both the right arm and leg. + +She can neither write nor attend to her school duties. Bernheim hypnotizes +her by his method. She goes easily into the somnambulic condition. In +three or four minutes, under the influence of suggestion, the movements of +the hand and foot cease; upon waking up, they reappear, but less +frequently. A second hypnotization, with suggestion, checks them +completely. + +FEB. 19th.--Says she has been very comfortable; the pricking sensations +have ceased. No nervous movements until nine o'clock this morning, when +they returned, about ten or eleven every minute. New hypnotization and +suggestion, during which the motions cease, and they remain absent when +she wakes. + +21st.--Has had slight pains and a few choraic movements. + +25th.--Is doing well; has no movements; says she is cured. + +She returned a few times during the next four months with slight nervous +movements, which were promptly relieved by hypnotizing and suggestion. + +Bernheim, in his book, "Suggestive Therapeutics," gives details of over +one hundred cases, mostly neuralgic and rheumatic, most of which are +described as cured, either quickly or by repeated hypnotization and +suggestion. + +The Zoist, a journal devoted to psychology and mesmerism nearly fifty +years ago, gives several hundred cases of treatment and cure by the early +mesmerists, some of them very remarkable, and also many cases of surgical +operations of the most severe or dangerous character painlessly done under +the anaesthetic influence of mesmerism before the benign effects of ether +or chloroform were known. These cases are not often referred to by the +modern student of hypnotism. Nevertheless, they constitute a storehouse of +well-observed facts which have an immense interest and value. + +It will thus be seen that throughout the whole history of hypnotism, under +whatever name it has been studied, one of its chief features has been its +power to relieve suffering and cure disease; and at the present day, while +many physicians who are quite ignorant of its uses, in general terms deny +its practicability, few who have any real knowledge of it are so unjust or +regardless of facts as to deny its therapeutic effects. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +HYPNOTISM--PSYCHICAL ASPECT. + + +As before remarked the phenomena of hypnotism may be viewed from two +distinct standpoints--one, that from which the physical and especially the +therapeutic features are most prominent, the standpoint from which we have +already viewed the subject; the other is the psychical or mental aspect, +which presents phenomena no less striking, and is the one which is +especially attractive to the most earnest students of psychology. + +The hypnotic condition has been variously divided and subdivided by +different students and different writers upon the subject; Charcot, for +instance, makes three distinct states, which he designates (1) catalepsy, +(2) lethargy, and (3) somnambulism, while Bernheim proposes five states, +or, as he designates them, degrees of hypnotism, namely, (1) sleepiness, +(2) light sleep, (3) deep sleep, (4) very deep sleep, (5) somnambulism. + +All these divisions are arbitrary and unnatural; Bernheim's five degrees +have no definite limit or line of separation one from the other, and +Charcot's condition of catalepsy is only lethargy or sleep in which the +subject may, to a greater or less degree, maintain the position in which +he is placed by his hypnotizer. + +There are, however, as already stated, two distinct and definite +conditions, namely, (1) lethargy, or the inactive stage, and (2) +somnambulism, or the alert stage, and if, in examining the subject, we +make this simple division, we shall free it from much confusion and +unnecessary verbiage. + +When a subject is hypnotized by any soothing process, he first experiences +a sensation of drowsiness, and then in a space of time, usually varying +from two to twenty minutes, he falls into a more or less profound slumber. +His breathing is full and quiet, his pulse normal; he is unconscious of +his surroundings; or possibly he may be quiet, restful, indisposed to +move, but having a consciousness, probably dim and imperfect, of what is +going on about him. + +This is the condition of lethargy, and in it most subjects, but not all, +retain to a greater or less degree whatever position the hypnotizer +imposes upon them; they sleep on, often maintaining what, under ordinary +circumstances, would be a most uncomfortable position, for hours, +motionless as a statue of bronze or stone. + +If, now, he speaks of his own accord, or his magnetizer speaks to him and +he replies, he is in the somnambulic or alert stage. He may open his eyes, +talk in a clear and animated manner; he may walk about, and show even more +intellectual acuteness and physical activity than when in his normal +state, or he may merely nod assent or answer slowly to his hypnotizer's +questions; still, he is in the somnambulic or alert stage of hypnotism. + +The following are some of the phenomena which have been observed in this +stage. It is not necessary to rehearse the stock performances of +lecture-room hypnotists. While under the influence of hypnotic suggestion +a lad, for instance, is made to go through the pantomime of fishing in an +imaginary brook, a dignified man to canter around the stage on all fours, +under the impression that he is a pony, or watch an imaginary mouse-hole +in the most alert and interested manner while believing himself a cat; or +the subject is made to take castor oil with every expression of delight, +or reject the choicest wines with disgust, believing them to be nauseous +drugs, or stagger with drunkenness under the influence of a glass of pure +water, supposed to be whisky. + +All these things have been done over and over for the last forty years, +and people have not known whether to consider them a species of necromancy +or well-practiced tricks, in which the performers were accomplices, or, +perhaps, a few more thoughtful and better-instructed people have looked +upon them as involving psychological problems of the greatest interest, +which might some day strongly influence all our systems of mental +philosophy. + +But whether done by the mesmerist of forty years ago or the hypnotist of +the past decade, they were identical in character, and were simply genuine +examples of the great power of suggestion when applied to persons under +the mesmeric or hypnotic influence. Such exhibitions, however, are +unnecessary and undignified, if not positively degrading, to both subject +and operator, whether given by the self-styled professor of the town-hall +platform or the aspiring clinical professor of nervous diseases before his +packed amphitheatre of admiring students. + +One of the most singular as well as important points in connection with +hypnotism is the rapport or relationship which exists between the +hypnotizer and the hypnotized subject. The manner in which the hypnotic +sleep is induced is of little importance. The important thing, if results +of any kind are to be obtained, is that rapport should be established. + +This relationship is exhibited in various ways. Generally, while in the +hypnotic state, the subject hears no voice but that of his hypnotizer; he +does no bidding but his, he receives no suggestions but from him, and no +one else can awaken him from his sleep. + +If another person interferes, trying to impose his influence upon the +sleeping subject, or attempts to waken him, distressing and even alarming +results may appear. The degree to which this rapport exists varies greatly +in different cases, but almost always, perhaps we should say always, the +condition exists in some degree. In some rare cases this rapport is of a +still higher and more startling character, exhibiting phenomena so +contrary to, or rather, so far exceeding, our usual experience as to be a +surprise to all and a puzzle to the wisest. + +One of these curious phenomena is well exhibited in what is known as +community of sensation, or the perception by the subject of sensations +experienced by the operator. The following experiment, observed by Mr. +Gurney and Dr. Myers of the Society for Psychical Research, will +illustrate this phase of the subject. + +The sensitive in this experiment is designated as Mr. C., and the operator +as Mr. S. There was no contact or any communication whatsoever of the +ordinary kind between them. C. was hypnotized, but was not informed of the +nature of the experiment which was to be tried. The operator stood behind +the hypnotized subject, and Mr. Gurney, standing behind the operator, +handed him the different substances to be used in the experiment, and he, +in turn, placed them in his own mouth. + +Salt was first so tasted by the operator, whereupon the subject, C., +instantly and loudly cried out: "What's that salt stuff?" Sugar was given. +C. replied, "Sweeter; not so bad as before." Powdered ginger; reply, "Hot, +dries up your mouth; reminds me of mustard." Sugar given again; reply, "A +little better--a sweetish taste." Other substances were tried, with +similar results, the last one tasted being vinegar, when it was found that +C. had fallen into the deeper lethargic condition and made no reply. + +Another experiment is reported by Dr. William A. Hammond of Washington. +The doctor said: + +"A most remarkable fact is, that some few subjects of hypnotism experience +sensations from impressions made upon the hypnotizer. Thus, there is a +subject upon whom I sometimes operate whom I can shut up in a room with an +observer, while I go into another closed room at a distance of one hundred +feet or more with another observer. This one, for instance, scratches my +hand with a pin, and instantly the hypnotized subject rubs his +corresponding hand, and says, 'Don't scratch my hand so;' or my hair is +pulled, and immediately he puts his hand to his head and says, 'Don't pull +my hair;' and so on, feeling every sensation that I experience." + +This experiment, it must be borne in mind, is conducted in closed rooms a +hundred feet apart, and through at least two partitions or closed doors, +and over that distance and through these intervening obstacles peculiar +and definite sensations experienced by one person are perceived and +definitely described by another person, no ordinary means of communication +existing between them. This is an example of the rapport existing between +the operator and hypnotized subject carried to an unusual degree. + +The following experiments are examples of hypnotizing at a distance, or +telepathic hypnotism, and while illustrating still further the rapport, +or curious relationship, existing between hypnotizer and subject, are also +illustrations of the rarer psychic phenomena of hypnotism. + +The first series of experiments is given by Prof. Pierre Janet of Havre +and Dr. Gibert, a prominent physician of the same city. The subject was +Mme. B., a heavy, rather stolid, middle-aged peasant woman, without any +ambition for notoriety, or to be known as a sensitive; on the contrary, +she disliked it, and the experiments were disagreeable to her. She was, +however an excellent example of close rapport with her hypnotizer. + +While in the deep sleep, and perfectly insensible to ordinary stimuli, +however violent, contact, or even the proximity of her hypnotizer's hand, +caused contractures, which a light touch from him would also remove. No +one else could produce the slightest effect. After about ten minutes in +this deep trance she usually passed into the alert, or somnambulic stage, +from which also no one but the operator could arouse her. Hypnotization +was difficult or impossible unless the operator concentrated his thoughts +upon the desired result, but by simply willing, without passes or any +physical means whatsoever, the hypnotic condition could be quickly +induced. + +Various experiments in simply willing post-hypnotic acts, without +suggestion through any of the ordinary channels of communication, were +also perfectly successful. Dr. Gibert then made three experiments in +putting this subject to sleep when she was in another part of the town, a +third of a mile away from the operator, and at a time fixed by a third +person, the experiment also being wholly unexpected by the subject. + +On two of these occasions Prof. Janet found the subject in a deep trance +ten minutes after the willing to sleep, and no one but Dr. Gibert, who had +put her to sleep, could rouse her. In the third experiment the subject +experienced the hypnotic influence and desire to sleep, but resisted it +and kept herself awake by washing her hands in cold water. + +During a second series of experiments made with the same subject, several +members of the Society for Psychical Research were present and took an +active part in them. Apart from trials made in the same or an adjoining +room, twenty-one experiments were made when the subject was at distances +varying from one-half to three-fourths of a mile away from her hypnotizer. +Of these, six were reckoned as failures, or only partial successes; there +remained, then, fifteen perfect successes in which the subject, Mme. B., +was found entranced fifteen minutes after the willing or mental +suggestion. During one of these experiments, the subject was willed by Dr. +Gibert to come through several intervening streets to him at his own +house, which she accomplished in the somnambulic condition, and under the +observation of Prof. Janet and several other physicians. + +Another series of experiments was made with another subject by Dr. +Hericourt, one of Prof. Richet's coadjutors. The experiments included the +gradual extension of the distance through which the willing power was +successful, first to another room, then to another street, and a distant +part of the city. + +One day, while attempting to hypnotize her in another street, three +hundred yards distant, at 3 o'clock P. M., he was suddenly called away to +attend a patient, and forgot all about his hypnotic subject. Afterward he +remembered that he was to meet her at 4:30, and went to keep his +appointment. But not finding her, he thought possibly the experiment, +which had been interrupted might, after all, have proved successful. Upon +this supposition, at 5 o'clock he willed her to awake. + +That evening, without being questioned at all, she gave the following +account of herself: At 3 P. M. she was overcome by an irresistible desire +to sleep, a most unusual thing for her at that hour. She went into an +adjoining room, fell insensible upon a sofa, where she was afterward found +by her servant, cold and motionless, as if dead. + +Attempts on the part of the servant to rouse her proved ineffectual, but +gave her great distress. She woke spontaneously and free from pain at 5 +o'clock. + +By no means the least interesting of the higher phenomena of hypnotism are +post-hypnotic suggestions, or the fulfilment after waking of suggestions +impressed upon the subject when asleep. + +A few summers ago at a little gathering of intelligent people, much +interest was manifested and a general desire to see some hypnotic +experiments. Accordingly, one of the ladies whose good sense and good +faith could not be doubted, was hypnotized and put into the condition of +profound lethargy. After a few slight experiments, exhibiting anaesthesia, +hallucinations of taste, plastic pose, and the like, I said to her in a +decided manner: + +"Now I am about to waken you. I will count five, and when I say the word +'five' you will promptly, but quietly and without any excitement, awake. +Your mind will be perfectly clear, and you will feel rested and refreshed +by your sleep. Presently you will approach Mrs. O., and will be attracted +by the beautiful shell comb which she wears in her hair, and you will ask +her to permit you to examine it." + +I then commenced counting slowly, and at the word "five" she awoke, opened +her eyes promptly, looked bright and happy, and expressed herself as +feeling comfortable and greatly rested, as though she had slept through a +whole night. She rose from her chair, mingled with the company, and +presently approaching Mrs. O., exclaimed: + +"What a beautiful comb! Please allow me to examine it." + +And suiting the action to the word, she placed her hand lightly on the +lady's head, examined the comb, and expressed great admiration for it; in +short, she fulfilled with great exactness the whole suggestion. + +She was perfectly unconscious that any suggestion had been made to her; +she was greatly surprised to see that she was the centre of observation, +and especially at the ripple of laughter which greeted her admiration of +the comb. + +To another young lady, hypnotized in like manner, I suggested that on +awaking she should approach the young daughter of our hostess, who was +present, holding a favorite kitten in her arms, and should say to her, +"What a pretty kitten you have! What is her name?" + +The suggestion was fulfilled to the letter. It was only afterward that I +learned that this young lady had a very decided aversion to cats, and +always avoided them if possible. + +Suggestions for post-hypnotic fulfilment are sometimes carried out after a +considerable time has elapsed, and upon the precise day suggested. + +Bernheim, in August, 1883, suggested to S., an old soldier, while in the +hypnotic sleep, that upon the 3d of October following, sixty-three days +after the suggestion, he should go to Dr. Liebeault's house; that he would +there see the President of the Republic, who would give to him a medal. + +Promptly on the day designated he went. Dr. Liebeault states that S. came +at 12:50 o'clock; he greeted M. F., who met him at the door as he came in, +and then went to the left side of the office without paying any attention +to any one. Dr. Liebeault continues:-- + +"I saw him bow respectfully and heard him speak the word 'Excellence.' +Just then he held out his right hand, and said, 'Thank your Excellence.' +Then I asked him to whom he was speaking. 'Why, to the President of the +Republic.' He then bowed, and a few minutes later took his departure." + +A patient of my own, a young man with whom I occasionally experiment, +exhibits some of the different phases and phenomena of hypnotism in a +remarkable manner. He goes quickly into the stage of profound lethargy; +after allowing him to sleep a few moments, I say to him: "Now you can open +your eyes and you can see and talk with me, but you are still asleep, and +you will remember nothing." + +He opens his eyes at once, smiles, gets up and walks, and chats in a +lively manner. If I say: "Now you are in the deep sleep again," and pass +my hand downward before his eyes, immediately his eyes close and he is in +a profound slumber. If five seconds later I again say, "Now you can open +your eyes," he is again immediately in the alert stage. + +For experiment I then take half a dozen plain blank cards, exactly alike, +and in one corner of one of the cards I put a minute dot, so that upon +close inspection it can be recognized. Holding these in my hand, I say to +him: + +"Here are six cards; five of them are blank, but this one (the one I have +marked, he only seeing the plain side) has a picture of myself upon it. +It is a particularly good picture, and I have had it prepared specially +for this occasion. Do you see the picture?" + +"Of course I do," he replies. "What do you think of it?" I ask him. He +looks at me carefully and compares my face with the suggested picture on +the card and replies, "It is excellent." + +"Very well, give me the cards." + +He hands them to me and I shuffle and disarrange them as much as possible. +I then show them to him, holding them in my hand, and say: + +"Now show me the card which has my picture upon it." + +He selects it at once. I only know it is correct by looking for the dot +upon the back, which has all the while been kept carefully concealed from +him. + +I then say to him: "Now, I am going to awaken you, and when awake you will +come to the desk, select from the cards which I now place there the one +which has my picture, and show it to me." + +He awakes at my counting when I reach the word five, as I have suggested +to him. He remembers nothing of what has passed since he was hypnotized, +but thinks he has had a long and delightful sleep. I sit at my desk; he +walks up to it, examines the six cards which are lying there, selects one, +and showing it to me, remarks, "There is your picture." It was the same +marked card. + +On another occasion, while he was asleep and in the alert stage, Mrs. M. +was present. I introduced her, and he spoke to her with perfect propriety. +Afterward I said: "Now, I will awake you, but you will only see me. Mrs. +M. you will not see at all." + +I then awoke him, as usual. He commenced talking to me in a perfectly +natural and unrestrained manner. Mrs. M. stood by my side between him and +myself, but he paid not the slightest attention to her; she then withdrew, +and I remarked indifferently: + +"Wasn't it a little peculiar of you not to speak to Mrs. M. before she +went out?" + +"Speak to Mrs. M!" he exclaimed, with evident surprise. "I did not know +she had been in the room." + +One day when Drs. Liebeault and Bernheim were together at their clinic at +the hospital, Dr. Liebeault suggested to a hypnotized patient that when +she awoke she would no longer see Dr. Bernheim, but that she would +recognize his hat, would put it on her head, and offer to take it to him. + +When she awoke, Dr. Bernheim was standing in front of her. She was asked: +"Where is Dr. Bernheim?" She replied: "He is gone, but here is his hat." + +Dr. Bernheim then said to her, "Here I am, madam; I am not gone, you +recognize me, perfectly." + +She was silent, taking not the slightest notice of him. Some one else +addressed her; she replied with perfect propriety. Finally, when about to +go out she took up Dr. Bernheim's hat, put it on her head, saying she +would take it to him; but to her Dr. Bernheim was not present. + +To the number of curious phenomena, both physical and mental, connected +with hypnotism, it is difficult to find a limit; a few others seem too +important in their bearing upon the subject to be omitted, even in this +hasty survey. + +Some curious experiments in the production of local anaesthesia were +observed by the committee on mesmerism from the Society for Psychical +Research. + +The subject was in his normal condition and blindfolded; his arms were +then passed through holes in a thick paper screen, extending in front of +him and far above his head, and his ten fingers were spread out upon a +table. Two of the fingers were then silently pointed out by a third person +to Mr. S., the operator, who proceeded to make passes over the designated +fingers. + +Care was taken that such a distance was maintained between the fingers of +the subject and operator that no contact was possible, and no currents of +air or sensation of heat were produced by which the subject might possibly +divine which of his fingers were the subject of experiment. In short, the +strictest test conditions in every particular, were observed. After the +passes had been continued for a minute, or even less time, the operator +simply holding his own fingers pointed downward toward the designated +fingers of the subject, the two fingers so treated were found to be +perfectly stiff and insensible. A strong current of electricity, wounding +with a pointed instrument, burning with a match--all failed to elicit the +slightest sign of pain or discomfort, while the slightest injury to the +unmagnetized fingers quickly elicited cries and protests. When told to +double up his fist the two magnetized fingers remained rigid and +immovable, and utterly refused to be folded up with the others. + +A series of one hundred and sixty experiments of this character was made +with five different subjects. Of these, only seven were failures. In +another series of forty-one experiments this curious fact was observed. In +all these experiments the operator, while making the passes in the same +manner and under the same conditions as in the former series, silently +willed that the effect should not follow; that is, that insensibility and +rigidity should not occur. In thirty-six of these experiments +insensibility did not occur; in five cases the insensibility and rigidity +occurred--in two cases perfectly, in three imperfectly. + +That some quality is imparted even to inanimate objects by some +mesmerizers, by passes or handling, through which a sensitive or subject +is able to recognize and select that object from among many others, seems +to be a well-established fact. The following experiments are in point:-- + +A gentleman well known to the committee of investigation, and who was +equally interested with it in securing reliable results, was selected as a +subject. He was accustomed to be hypnotized by the operator, but in the +present case he remained perfectly in his normal condition. + +One member of the committee took the subject into a separate room on +another floor and engaged him closely in conversation. The operator +remained with other members of the committee. Ten small miscellaneous +articles, such as a piece of sealing wax, a penknife, paperweight, +card-case, pocketbook, and similar articles were scattered upon a table. +One was designated by the committee, over which the mesmerist made passes, +sometimes with light contact. + +This was continued for one or two minutes, and when the process was +completed the mesmerist was conducted out and to a third room. The +articles were then rearranged in a manner quite different from that in +which they had been left by the operator, and the subject from the floor +above was brought into the room. The several objects were then examined by +the sensitive, who upon taking the mesmerized object in his hand, +immediately recognized it as the one treated by his mesmerizer. + +The experiment was then varied by using ten small volumes exactly alike. +One volume was selected by the committee, over which the operator simply +made passes with out any contact whatsoever. Three or four other volumes +of the set were also handled and passes made over them by a member of the +committee. + +The operator then being excluded, the sensitive was brought in and +immediately selected the magnetized volume. This he did four times in +succession. In reply to the question as to how he was able to distinguish +the magnetized object from others, he said that when he took the right +object in his hand he experienced a mild tingling sensation. + +My own experiments with magnetized water have presented similar results. +The water was treated by simply holding the fingers of both hands brought +together in a clump, for about a minute just over the cup of water, but +without any contact whatsoever. This water was then given to the subject +without her knowing that she was taking part in an experiment; but +alternating it or giving it irregularly with water which had not been so +treated, and given by a third person, in every case the magnetized water +was at once detected with great certainty. In describing the sensation +produced by the magnetized water one patient said the sensation was an +agreeable warmth and stimulation upon the tongue, another that it was a +"sparkle" like aerated water; it sparkled in her mouth and all the way +down into her stomach. Such are a few among the multitude of facts and +phenomena relating to hypnotism. They suffice to settle and make sure +some matters which until lately have been looked upon as questionable, +and, on the other hand, they bring into prominence others of the greatest +interest which demand further study. + +Among the subjects which may be considered established may be placed, + +(1) The reality of the hypnotic condition. + +(2) The increased and unusual power of suggestion over the hypnotized +subject. + +(3) The usefulness of hypnotism as a therapeutic agent. + +(4) The perfect reality and natural, as contrasted with supernatural, +character of many wonderful phenomena, both physical and psychical, +exhibited in the hypnotic state. + +On the other hand, much remains for future study; + +(1) The exact nature of the influence which produces the hypnotic +condition is not known. + +(2) Neither is the nature of the rapport or peculiar relationship which +exists between the hypnotizer and the hypnotized subject--a relationship +which is sometimes so close that the subject hears no voice but that of +his hypnotizer, perceives and experiences the same sensations of taste, +touch, and feeling generally as are experienced by him, and can be +awakened only by him. + +(3) Nor is it known by what peculiar process suggestion is rendered so +potent, turning, for the time being, at least, water into wine, vulgar +weeds into choicest flowers, a lady's drawing-room into a fishpond, and +clear skies and quiet waters into lightning-rent storm-clouds and +tempest-tossed waves; turning laughter into sadness, and tears into mirth. + +In dealing with the subject of hypnotism in this hasty and general way, +only such facts and phenomena have been presented as are well known and +accepted by well-informed students of the subjects. Others still more +wonderful will later claim our attention. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LUCIDITY OR CLAIRVOYANCE. + + +While there is doubtless a recognized standard of normal perception, yet +the acuteness with which sensations are perceived by different +individuals, even in ordinary health, passes through a wide scale of +variation, both above and below this standard. The difference in the +ability to see and recognize natural objects, signs, and indications, +between the ordinary city denizen and, for instance, the American Indian +or the white frontiersman, hunter, or scout, is something marvellous. + +So, also, regarding the power to distinguish colors. One person may not be +able to distinguish even the simple or primary colors, as, for example, +red from blue or green, while the weavers of Central or Eastern Asia +distinguish with certainty two hundred or three hundred shades which are +entirely undistinguishable to ordinary Western eyes. + +So of sound. One ear can hardly be said to make any distinction whatever +regarding pitch, while to another the slightest variation is perfectly +perceptible. Some even do not hear at all sounds above or below a certain +pitch; some persons of ordinary hearing within a certain range of pitch, +nevertheless, have never heard the song of the canary bird, and perhaps +have lived through a large portion of their lives without even knowing +that it was a song-bird at all. Its song was above the range of their +hearing. Some never hear the sound of the piccolo, or octave flute, while +others miss entirely the lowest notes of the organ. + +There is the same great difference in perception by touch, taste, and +smell. In certain conditions of disease, accompanied by great depression +of the vital forces, this deviation from normal perception is greatly +increased. I have had a patient who presented the following +briefly-outlined phenomena:-- + +After a long illness, during which other interesting psychical phenomena +were manifested, as convalescence progressed, I had occasion to notice +instances of supernormal perception, and to test it I made use of the +following expedient: Taking an old-fashioned copper cent, I carefully +enveloped it in a piece of ordinary tissue paper. This was then covered +by another and then another, until the coin had acquired six complete +envelopes of the paper, and formed a little flat parcel, easily held in +the palm of my hand. + +Taking this with me, I visited my patient. She was lying upon a sofa, and +as I entered the room I took a chair and sat leisurely down beside her, +having the little package close in the palm of my right hand. I took her +right hand in mine in such a manner that the little package was between +our hands in close contact with her palm as well as my own. I remarked +upon the weather and commenced the routine duty of feeling her pulse with +my left hand. A minute or two was then passed in banter and conversation, +designed to thoroughly engage her attention, when all at once she +commenced to wipe her mouth with her handkerchief and to spit and sputter +with her tongue and lips, as if to rid herself of some offensive taste or +substance. She then looked up suspiciously at me and said: + +"I wonder what you are doing with me now." + +Then suddenly pulling her hand away from mine she exclaimed: + +"I know what it is; you have put a nasty piece of copper in my hand." + +Through all these coverings the coppery emanation from the coin had +penetrated her system, reached her tongue, and was perceptible to her +supernormal taste. + +This patient could distinguish with absolute certainty "mesmerized" water +from that which had not been so treated; my finger, also, pointed at her +even at a distance and when her back was turned to me caused convulsive +action, and the same result followed when the experiment was made through +a closed door, and when she did not suspect that I was in the +neighborhood. + +It will be seen, then, how marvellously the action of certain senses may +be exalted by long and careful training on the one hand, and suddenly by +disease on the other. We have seen, moreover, how some persons known as +sensitives are able to receive impressions by thought-transference so as +to name cards, repeat words and fictitious names, both of persons and +places, merely thought of but not spoken by another person known as the +agent or operator, and to draw diagrams unmistakably like those formed in +the mind or intently looked upon by the agent. + +We have also seen how the hypnotized or mesmerized subject is able to +detect objects which have only been touched or handled by the mesmerizer, +and even to feel pain inflicted upon him, and recognize by taste +substances put in the mesmerizer's mouth. + +It will be seen, then, that not only increased but entirely supernormal +perception on the part of some individuals is a well-established fact. But +all these conditions of increased power of perception, and especially +thought-transference, must be carefully distinguished from independent +clairvoyance. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the method or +philosophy of clairvoyance, but simply to call attention to +well-authenticated facts illustrating the exercise of this power, and to +briefly point to the current theories regarding it. + +A belief in supernormal perception, and especially in the clairvoyant +vision, is apparent in the history, however meagre it may be, of every +ancient nation. + +Hebrew history is full of instances of it. A striking example is recorded +as occurring during the long war between Syria and Israel. The King of +Syria had good reasons for suspecting that in some manner the King of +Israel was made acquainted with all his intended military operations, +since he was always prepared to thwart them at every point. Accordingly he +called together his chiefs and demanded to know who it was among them who +thus favored the King of Israel, to which one of the chiefs replied: "It +is none of thy servants, O King: but Elisha, a prophet that is in Israel, +telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy chamber." + +Pythagoras, a century before the time of Socrates, found this faculty +believed in, and made use of in Egypt, Babylon, and India, and he himself, +as the founder of the early Greek philosophy and culture, practised and +taught the esoteric as well as the exoteric methods of acquiring +knowledge, and he is credited with having acquired by esoteric +methods--internal or mental perception and clairvoyant vision--a knowledge +of the true theory of the solar system as expounded and demonstrated in a +later day by Copernicus. + +As an example of responses by the Greek oracles, take the experience of +Croesus, the rich King of Lydia. He sent messengers to ascertain if the +Pythoness could tell what he, the King of Lydia, was doing on a certain +specified day. The answer came:-- + + "I number the sands--I fathom the sea. + I hear the dumb--I know the thoughts of the silent. + There cometh to me the odor of lamb's flesh. + It is seething, mixed with the flesh of a tortoise. + Brass is beneath it, and brass is also above it." + +The messenger returned and delivered the reply, when he found that +Croesus, in order to do something most unlikely to be either guessed or +discovered, had cut in pieces a lamb and a tortoise, and seethed them +together in a brazen vessel having a brazen cover. + +Apollonius Tyaneus, a Pythagorian philosopher and chief of a school of +philosophy which was the predecessor of the Alexandrian Neo-Platonists, is +credited with most remarkable clairvoyant powers. Many instances of this +faculty are recorded and believed upon the best of ancient authority. + +One instance relates to the assassination of Domitian. Apollonius was in +the midst of a discourse at Ephesus, when suddenly he stopped as though +having lost his train of thought. After a moment's hesitation, to the +astonishment of his auditors, he cried out: "Strike! strike the tyrant." +Seeing the surprise of the people he explained that at the very moment at +which he had stopped in his discourse the tyrant was slain. Subsequent +information proved that Domitian, the reigning tyrant, was assassinated at +that very moment. + +Ancient historians, philosophers and poets all unite in defending the +truth of the oracles and their power of perceiving events transpiring at +a distance, and also of foreseeing those in the future. Herodotus gives +more than seventy examples of oracular responses, dreams and portents +which he affirms were literally fulfilled. Livy gives more than fifty, +Cicero many striking cases; and Xenophon, Plato, Tacitus, Suetonius, and a +host of other writers all give evidence in the same direction. Now whether +these responses and visions were, as all these intelligent people +supposed, from a supernatural source, or as we shall endeavor to show, had +their origin in certain faculties naturally appertaining to the mind, and +which at certain times and under certain favorable circumstances came into +activity, it certainly shows that the most intelligent men amongst all the +most cultivated nations of the past have been firm believers in the +reality of clairvoyance. + +Coming down to later times, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Frederica Hauffe, the +seeress of Proverst, were marked examples of the clairvoyant faculty. Some +have affected to discredit Swedenborg's clairvoyant powers, but apart from +his revelations regarding a spiritual world, which, of course, it is at +present impossible to substantiate, whatever may be our belief regarding +them, if human testimony is to be regarded of any value whatever in +matters of this kind, the following oft-told incident should be counted +as established for a verity. + +On a Saturday afternoon in September, 1756, Swedenborg arrived in +Gottenburg from England. Gottenburg is three hundred miles from Stockholm, +which was the home of Swedenborg. On the same evening he was the guest of +Mr. William Castel, with fifteen other persons, who were invited to meet +him, and who, on that account, may be supposed to have been of more than +ordinary consequence and intelligence. + +About six o'clock Swedenborg seemed preoccupied and restless. He went out +into the street, but soon returned, anxious and disturbed. He said that at +that moment a great fire was raging at Stockholm. He declared that the +house of one of his friends was already destroyed, and that his own was in +danger. At eight o'clock he announced that the fire was arrested only +three doors from his own house. + +The information, and the peculiar manner in which it was imparted, created +a great sensation, not only in the company assembled at Mr. Castel's, but +throughout the city. On Sunday morning the governor sent for Swedenborg, +who gave him a detailed account of the conflagration and the course it had +pursued. On Monday, the third day, a courier arrived from Stockholm, who +also gave the governor a detailed account of the fire, which agreed in +every respect with that already given by Swedenborg. + +Nearly a century after Swedenborg, lived Mme. Hauffe, known as the seeress +of Proverst. She died in 1829 at the age of twenty-eight years. As a child +she exhibited peculiar psychical tendencies, but it was only during the +last six years of her life, and after exhausting illnesses, that her +peculiar clairvoyant powers were conspicuously developed. + +Justinus Kerner, an eminent physician and man of letters, was her +attending physician during the last three years of her life, and afterward +became her biographer. She first came under his care at Weinsberg in 1826. +At that time her debility was excessive, and nearly every day she fell +spontaneously into the somnambulic condition, became clairvoyant, and +related her visions. On the day of her arrival at Weinsberg, having gone +into this trance condition, she sent for Kerner but he refused to see her +until she awoke. He then told her that he would never see her nor listen +to her while she was in this abnormal state. I mention this simply to show +that her physician was not then at all in sympathy with her regarding her +peculiar psychological condition, though afterward he became thoroughly +convinced of its genuineness and of her honesty. He relates the following +incident, which, with many others, came under his own observation:-- + +Soon after her arrival at Weinsberg, and while still a perfect stranger to +her surroundings, while in her somnambulic condition, she said that a man +was near her and desired to speak with her, but that she could not +understand what he wanted to say. She said he squinted terribly, and that +his presence disturbed her, and she desired him to go away. On his second +appearance, some weeks later, she said he brought with him a sheet of +paper with figures upon it, and that he came up from a vault directly +underneath her room. + +As a matter of fact, the wine vaults of Mr. F., a wine merchant doing +business the next door, extended under Mme. Hauffe's apartment, and +Kerner, who was an old resident of the place, recognized from the +seeress's description of her visitor a man who formerly was in Mr. F.'s +employ as manager and bookkeeper. This man had died six years before, and +had left something wrong with his accounts--in fact, there was a deficit +of 1,000 florins, and the manager's private book was missing. The widow +had been sued for the amount, and the matter was still unsettled. Again +and again did this apparition come to Mme. Hauffe, bringing his paper and +entreating her to interest herself in this affair. He declared that the +necessary paper to clear up the whole matter was in a building sixty paces +from her bed. + +Mme. Hauffe said that in that building she saw a tall gentleman engaged in +writing in a small room, which opened into a large one where there was a +desk and chests; that one of the chests was open, and that on the desk was +a pile of papers, among which she recognized the missing document. + +The wine merchant, being present, recognized the office of the chief +bailiff, who had the business in charge. Kerner went at once to the office +and found everything as described, but, not finding the missing paper, +concluded that her clairvoyance was at fault. + +Mme. Hauffe, in her description of the paper said it had columns of +figures upon it, and at the bottom was the number 80. Kerner prepared a +paper corresponding to this description, and at the next seance presented +it to her as the missing document. But she at once rejected it, saying the +paper was still where she had before seen it. + +On renewing the search the paper was found as described, and the bailiff +was to bring it on the following day. He came accordingly. In her sleep, +the seeress exclaimed: + +"The paper is no longer in its place, but this is wonderful. The paper +which the man always has in his hand lies open. Now I can read more: 'To +be carried to my private book,' and that is what he always points to." + +The bailiff was astonished, for instead of bringing the paper with him as +Kerner had directed, he had left it lying open on his desk. All these +things are attested by the bailiff, the wine merchant, Kerner, and others +who witnessed them. Kerner himself visited the seeress more than a +thousand times, and although during the first part of his observations he +was skeptical, he was never able to detect her in the slightest attempt at +deception. She was in no way elated over her peculiar power, on the +contrary, she disliked to speak of it, and would gladly have been free +from it altogether. Her clairvoyant powers were tested by hundreds of +excellent observers during the last four years of her life. + +The case of Alexis, the noted French somnambulist and clairvoyant, is +worthy of notice here. I remember very well the account of a seance at a +gathering of prominent Americans in Paris in 1853, of which the following +is an abstract:-- + +Thick masses of cotton were bound firmly over his eyes in such a manner as +to render it impossible for him to see in the ordinary way, and in this +condition he described pictures, read signatures of letters folded in +several envelopes, played games of cards with almost uniform success, and, +being asked to select the best pianist in the room from a number present, +who simply presented their hands for his inspection, he quickly selected a +young man not yet eighteen years old, who had won four first prizes at the +Conservatoire, and was really the best pianist of his age in Europe. + +In playing cards he picked up the trick with a rapidity and certainty +which showed how clearly he knew the position of the cards upon the table. +Keeping those dealt to him in his left hand he held the card he intended +to play in his right, and never once changed the card upon the play of his +partner. He knew his adversary's hand as well as his own. The writer adds: +"The cards used were bought by myself, half an hour before, so that any +suspicion of prepared cards would be idle and absurd." + +It remains to note some more recent instances reported by persons well +known and specially qualified to judge of their truthfulness and value. + +The first case which I will present is embodied in a report "On the +Evidence of Clairvoyance," by Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, wife of Prof. Sidgwick, +formerly president of the Society for Psychical Research. It was furnished +by Dr. Elliott Coues of Washington, D. C., where the incident occurred, +and was afterward investigated by Mr. F. W. H. Myers, secretary of the +society. Both the persons participating in the incident were well known to +Prof. Coues, and were both persons of prominence, one, Mrs. C., being well +known as a writer and lecturer, and the other, designated as Mrs. B., was +well known for her rare psychic faculties and her absolute integrity. + +The incidents of the case are simple and unimportant, but they have a +special value on account of their clearness, freedom from the possibility +of external suggestion, and the well known ability and integrity of the +reporter. The following are the points in the case:-- + +In Washington, D. C., January 14, 1889, between 2 and 3 o'clock P. M., +Mrs. C., having been engaged in writing in the Congressional Library, left +the building at 2:40 o'clock, and one or two minutes later was at her +residence, in Delaware Avenue, carrying her papers in her hand. In +ascending the steps leading from the street to the front yard she stumbled +and fell. She was not hurt, but "picked herself up" and went into the +house. + +About the same hour, certainly between 2 and 3 o'clock, Mrs. B., sitting +sewing in her room a mile and a half away, sees the occurrence in all its +details. The ladies are friends. They had met the day previous, but not +since. The vision is wholly a surprise to Mrs. B. Nevertheless, it is so +vivid that she at once sits down and writes to Mrs. C., describing +minutely the occurrence, which letter Mrs. C. receives the next morning +with much surprise. The following is an extract from the letter:-- + +"I was sitting in my room sewing this afternoon about 2 o'clock, when what +should I see but your own dear self--but heavens! in what a position! You +were falling up the front steps in the yard. + +"You had on your black skirt and velvet waist, your little straw bonnet, +and in your hand were some papers. When you fell, your hat went in one +direction and your papers in another. You very quickly put on your bonnet, +picked up your papers, and lost no time in getting into the house. You did +not appear to be hurt, but looked somewhat mortified. It was all so plain +to me that I had ten notions to one to dress myself and come over and see +if it were true, but finally concluded that a sober, industrious woman +like yourself would not be stumbling around at that rate, and thought I'd +best not go on a wild-goose chase. + +"Now, what do you think of such a vision as that? Is there any possible +truth in it? I feel almost ready to scream with laughter whenever I think +of it; you did look too funny spreading yourself out in the front yard. +'Great was the fall thereof.' I can distinctly call to mind the house in +which you live, but for the life of me I cannot tell whether there are any +steps from the sidewalk into the yard, as I saw them, or not." + +In answer to Mr. Myers' letter of inquiry to Mrs. C., she says that the +incident was described exactly--the dress as correctly as she could have +described it herself. There were two steps from the sidewalk to the yard, +and it was on the top one of these two steps that Mrs. C. stumbled. The +manner of the fall, the behavior of the bonnet and papers, and her own +sensations were all correctly described. + +The next case--also embodied in the same report and examined in the same +careful manner by Mr. Myers--was the exhibition of clairvoyant powers by +a woman called Jane, the wife of a pitman in the County of Durham, in +England. She received no fees and was averse to being experimented with +for fear of being ridiculed or called a witch by her associates. + +She was a particularly refined woman for one of her class, sweet, gentle, +with delicately cut features, religious and conscientious to a remarkable +degree. She was a marked example of those who, in the trance condition, +could not be induced by suggestion to do a wrong or a mean act, or one +which she would consider wrong in her normal state. In her sleep she was +anaesthetic, felt herself quite on an equality with the operator, always +spoke of herself as "we," and of her normal self as "that girl." The +following instance of her clairvoyance was furnished by Dr. F., who knew +her well for many years, and is from notes taken at the time:-- + +On the morning of the day fixed for the experiment the doctor arranged +with a patient in a neighboring village that he should be in a particular +room between the hours of 8 and 10 in the evening. The patient was just +recovering from a severe illness and was weak and very thin and emaciated. +This gentleman and the doctor were the only persons who knew anything of +the arrangement or the proposed experiment. + +After having secured the proper somnambulic condition in the subject, Dr. +F. directed her attention to the house where his patient was supposed to +be awaiting the experiment, as arranged. She entered the house, described +correctly the rooms passed through, in one of which she mentioned a lady +with black hair lying on a sofa, but no gentleman. The doctor's report +then goes on as follows:-- + +"After a little she described the door opening and asked with a tone of +great surprise: + +"'Is that a man?' + +"I replied, 'Yes; is he thin or fat?' + +"'Very fat,' she answered; 'but has the gentleman a cork leg?' + +"I assured her that he had not, and tried to puzzle her still more about +him. She, however, persisted in her statement that he was very fat, and +said that he had a great 'corporation,' and asked me whether I did not +think such a fat man must eat and drink a great deal to get such a +corporation as that. She also described him as sitting by the table with +papers beside him, and a glass of brandy and water. + +"'Is it not wine?' I asked. + +"'No,' she said, 'It's brandy.' + +"'Is it not whisky or rum?' + +"'No, it is brandy,' was the answer; 'and now,' she continued,'the lady is +going to get her supper, but the fat gentleman does not take any.' + +"I requested her to tell me the color of his hair, but she only replied +that the lady's hair was dark. I then inquired if he had any brains in his +head, but she seemed altogether puzzled about him, and only said she could +not see any. I then asked her if she could see his name upon any of the +papers lying about. She replied, 'Yes;' and upon my saying that the name +began with E, she spelled each letter of the name, "Eglinton." + +"I was so convinced that I had at last detected her in a complete mistake +that I arose and declined proceeding further in the experiment, stating +that, although her description of the house and the name of the person was +correct, in everything connected with the gentleman himself she had told +the exact opposite of the truth. + +"On the following morning Mr. E., my patient, asked me the result of the +experiment. He had found himself unable to sit up so late, he said, but +wishful fairly to test the powers of the clairvoyante, he had ordered his +clothes to be stuffed into the form of a human figure, and, to make the +contrast more striking, he had an extra pillow pushed into the clothes, so +as to form a 'corporation.' This figure had been placed by the table in a +sitting position and a glass of brandy and water and the newspapers placed +beside it. The name, he said, was spelled correctly, though up to that +time I had been in the habit of writing it 'Eglington' instead of +'Eglinton.'" + +Dr. Alfred Backman of Kolmar, Sweden, a corresponding member of the +Society for Psychical Research and a good practical hypnotist has had +unusually good fortune in finding clairvoyants among his own patients in +that northern country. Two in particular, Anna Samuelson and Alma Redberg, +gave most excellent examples of clairvoyant vision, describing rooms, +surroundings, persons, and also events which were at the moment +transpiring, though quite unknown and unsuspected by any one present at +the experiment. Several of these cases are included in Mrs. Sidgwick's +report. Instead of these cases, however, I prefer to adduce an instance or +two reported by Dr. Dufay, a reputable physician of Blois and subsequently +a senator of France. The cases were first reported to the French _Societe +de Psychologie Physiologique_, which was presided over by Charcot, and +published in the _Revue Philosophique_ for September, 1888. + +Dr. Gerault, a friend of Dr. Dufay, had a maid-servant named Marie, who +was a natural _somnambule_, but who was also frequently hypnotized by Dr. +Gerault. Dr. Dufay witnessed the following experiments:-- + +Being hypnotized, Marie was describing to a young lady soon to be married, +some characteristics of her lover, much to the amusement of the lady, who +was clapping her hands and laughing merrily. Suddenly, almost with the +rapidity of lightning, the scene changed from gay to grave. The +somnambulist panted for breath, tears flowed down her face, and +perspiration bathed her brow. She seemed ready to fall, and called on Dr. +Gerault for assistance. + +"What is the matter, Marie?" said the doctor; "from what are you +suffering?" + +"Ah, sir!" said she; "ah, sir! how terrible! he is dead!" + +"Who is dead? Is it one of my patients?" + +"Limoges, the ropemaker--you know, in the Crimea--he has just died. Poor +folks--poor folks!" + +"Come, come, my child," said the doctor, "you are dreaming--it is only a +bad dream." + +"A dream," replied the somnambulist. "But I am not asleep. I see him--he +has just drawn his last breath. Poor boy! Look at him." + +And she pointed with her hand, as if to direct attention to the scene +which was so vivid before her. At the same time she would have run away, +but hardly had she risen to go when she fell back, unable to move. It was +a long time before she became calm, but, on coming to herself, she had no +recollection of anything which had occurred. Some time after, Limoges +senior received news of the death of his son. It occurred near +Constantinople on the same day that Marie had witnessed it in her +clairvoyant vision. + +On another occasion there was a seance at which ten or twelve persons were +present. Marie was put to sleep and had told the contents of several +pockets and sealed packages prepared for the purpose. Dr. Dufay came in +late purposely, so as to be as much out of rapport with her as possible. +He had just received a letter from an officer in Algiers, stating that he +had been very ill with dysentery from sleeping under canvas during the +rainy season. This letter he had placed in a thick envelope, without +address or postmark, and carefully stuck down the edges. This again was +placed in another dark envelope and closed in like manner. No one but +himself knew of the existence of this letter. + +Unobserved, he passed the letter to a lady present, indicating that it was +to be given to Dr. Gerault, who received it without knowing from whom it +came, and placed it in Marie's hand. + +"What have you in your hand?" asked the doctor. + +"A letter." + +"To whom is it directed?" + +"To M. Dufay." + +"By whom?" + +"A military gentleman whom I do not know." + +"Of what does he write?" + +"He is ill--he writes of his illness." + +"Can you name his illness?" + +"Oh, yes; very well. It is like the old woodcutter's of Mesland, who is +not yet well." + +"I understand; it is dysentery. Now listen, Marie. It would give M. Dufay +much pleasure if you would go and see his friend, the military gentleman, +and find out how he is at present." + +"Oh, it is too far; it would be a long journey." + +"But we are waiting for you. Please go without losing time." + +(A long pause.) "I cannot go on; there is water, a lot of water." + +"And you do not see any bridge?" + +"Of course there is no bridge." + +"Perhaps there is a boat to cross in, as there is to cross the Loire at +Chaumont." + +"Boats--yes--but this Loire is a regular flood; it frightens me." + +"Come, come; take courage--embark." + +(A long silence, agitation, pallor, nausea.) "Have you arrived?" + +"Nearly; but I am much fatigued, and I do not see any people on shore." + +"Land and go on; you will soon find some one." + +"There, now I see some people--they are all women, dressed in white. But +that is queer--they all have beards." + +"Go to them and ask where you will find the military gentleman." + +(After a pause.) "They do not speak as we do--and I have been obliged to +wait while they called a little boy with a red cap, who understands me. He +leads me on, slowly, because we are walking in sand. Ah! there is the +military gentleman. He has red trousers and an officer's cap. But he is so +very thin and ill. What a pity he has not some of your medicine!" + +"What does he say caused his illness?" + +"He shows me his bed--three planks on pickets--over wet sand." + +"Thanks. Advise him to go to the hospital, and now return to Blois." + +The letter was then opened and read to the company and caused no little +astonishment. + +Remarkable instances of clairvoyance have not been frequently reported in +America. Nevertheless, well-authenticated cases are by no means wanting. +Dr. S. B. Brittan, in his book entitled "Man and His Relations," relates +several such cases. The following came under his own observation:-- + +In the autumn of 1855 he saw Mr. Charles Baker of Michigan, who, while out +on a hunting excursion, had been accidentally shot by his companion. The +charge passed through his pocket, demolishing several articles and +carrying portions of the contents of the pocket deep into the fleshy part +of his thigh. The accident was of a serious character, causing extreme +suffering, great debility, and emaciation, lasting several months, as well +as much anxiety regarding his ultimate recovery. + +He was in this low condition when seen by Dr. Brittan. The doctor soon +after returned East, and called on Mrs. Metler of Hartford, with whose +clairvoyant power he was familiar, and requested her to examine into the +condition of a young man who had been shot. No information was given as to +his residence, condition, or the circumstances attending the accident. + +She directly found the patient, described the wound, and declared that +there was a piece of copper still in the wound, and that he would not +recover until it was removed. + +Young Baker, however, was sure he had no copper in his pocket at the time +of the accident; the medical attendant found no indications of it, so it +was concluded that the clairvoyant had made a mistake. + +Later, however, a foreign substance made its appearance in the wound, and +was removed by the mother of the patient with a pair of embroidery +scissors; it proved to be a copper cent. The removal of the foreign +substance was followed by rapid recovery. The discovery of the copper coin +was made by the clairvoyant while at a distance of nearly one thousand +miles from the patient. + +Mrs. H. Porter, while at her home in Bridgeport, Conn., in the presence of +the same writer, declared that a large steamer was on fire on the Hudson +River; that among other objects in the vicinity she could clearly +distinguish the village of Yonkers, and that the name of the steamer was +the Henry Clay. The whole sad catastrophe was described by her with +minuteness, as if occurring in her immediate presence. + +The next morning the New York papers gave a full account of the burning of +the Henry Clay off the village of Yonkers--an occurrence which, doubtless, +some of my readers may still remember--corresponding in every important +particular with that given by the clairvoyant. + +Mr. John Fitzgerald of Brunswick, Me., once a somewhat noted temperance +lecturer, but at the time now referred to a bedridden invalid, saw, +clairvoyantly, and fully described the great fire in Fall River, Mass., in +1874, by which a large factory was destroyed. He described the +commencement and progress of the fire, the means employed to rescue the +operatives, criticised the work of the firemen, shouted directions, as if +he were present, and at last as the roof fell in, he fell back upon the +pillow and said: + +"It is all over--the roof has fallen, and those poor people are burned." + +It was not until three days later that Mrs. Fitzgerald obtained a paper +containing an account of the fire. This she read to her husband, who +frequently interrupted her to tell her what would come next as "he had +seen it all." The account corresponded almost exactly with the description +given by Mr. Fitzgerald while the fire was in progress. + +I have, myself, recently found a very excellent subject whom I will call +A. B., whom I first hypnotized on account of illness, but who afterward +proved to have psychic perception and clairvoyant powers of a remarkable +character. Once, while in the hypnotic condition, I asked her if she could +go away and see what was transpiring in other places, as for instance, at +her own home. She replied that she would try. I then told her to go to her +home, in a small town three hundred miles away and quite unknown to me, +and see who was in the house and what they were doing. After a minute of +perfect silence she said: "I am there." "Go in," I said, "and tell me what +you find." She said: "There is no one at home but my mother. She is +sitting in the dining-room by a window; there is a screen in the window +which was not there when I left home. My mother is sewing." "What sort of +sewing is it?" I asked. "It is a waist for D." (her little brother). I +wrote down every detail of her description, and then awoke her. She had no +recollection of anything which had transpired, but said she had had a +restful sleep. I then desired her to write at once to her mother and ask +who was in the house at four o'clock this same afternoon, where she was, +and what she was doing. + +The answer came, describing everything exactly as set down in my notes. + +On another occasion when I made my visit, it happened to be the day of the +races occurring at a well known track some ten miles away, and members of +the household where she was residing had gone to witness them. Neither she +nor I had ever attended these races--we knew nothing of the appearance of +the place, of the events that were expected, nor even of the ordinary +routine of the sport. She was put into the deep hypnotic sleep, and +thinking it a good opportunity to test her clairvoyance, I requested her +to go to the grounds and I carefully directed her on her journey. Once +within the inclosure she described the bright and cheerful appearance--the +pavilion, the judge's stand, and the position of persons whom she knew. +She said there was no race at the time; but that boys were going around +among the spectators and getting money; that the people seemed excited; +that they stood up and held out money, and beckoned to the boys to +come--but she did not know what it meant. I suggested that perhaps they +were betting. She seemed to look carefully and then said: "That is just +what they are doing." She then described the race which followed, was much +excited, and told who of the persons she knew were winners. I then said: +"You will remember all this and be able to tell M. when she comes home." + +It was found that everything had transpired as she had described. One of +the races had been a failure, the horses coming in neck and neck; all bets +were cancelled and new bets were made, which caused the excitement which +she had witnessed. She surprised those who were present by the accuracy of +her description, both of the place and the events, especially of the +excitement caused by making the new bets. + +On the same occasion, before awakening her, I said to her: "Now, I have +something very particular to say to you and I want you to pay close +attention. + +"This evening when your dinner is brought up to you--you, A. B.'s second +self, will make A. B. see me come in and stand here at the foot of the +bed. I shall say to you: 'Hello! you are at dinner. Well, I won't disturb +you,' and immediately I shall go. And you will write me about my visit." I +then awoke her in the usual manner. This was Tuesday, July 3, 1894. On +Thursday following I received this note, which I have in my possession. + + "DEAR DR. MASON:-- + + "As I was eating my dinner on Tuesday I heard some one say + 'Good-evening.' I turned around surprised, as I had heard no one enter + the room, and there at the foot of the bed I saw _you_. + + "I said 'Halloo! won't you sit down?' you said: 'Are you taking your + dinner? Then I won't detain you,' and before I could detain you, you + disappeared as mysteriously as you had come. Why did you leave so + suddenly? Were you angry? Mary, the nurse, says you were not here at + all at dinner-time. I say you were. Which of us is right? + + "Sincerely, + "A. B." + + (Full name signed.) + +The clairvoyant faculty is sometimes exercised in sleep, and hence the +importance so often attached to dreams. I have a patient, Miss M. L., +thirty-five years of age, who has been under my observation for the past +fifteen years, and for whose truthfulness and good sense I can fully +vouch. From childhood she has been a constant and most troublesome +somnambulist, walking almost every night, until two years ago when I first +hypnotized her and suggested that she should not again leave her bed while +asleep, and she has not done so. + +This person's dreams are marvellously vivid, but her most vivid ones she +does not call dreams. She says, "When I dream I dream, but when I see I +see." + +Nine years ago, M. L., had a friend in New Mexico whom I will call G., +from whom she had not heard for months, and of whose surroundings she knew +absolutely nothing. + +One night she dreamed, or, as she expresses it, _saw_ this friend in +Albuquerque. She was, as it seemed to her, present in the room where he +was, and saw everything in it with the same degree of distinctness as +though she were actually present. She noticed the matting on the floor, +the willowware furniture, bed, rocking-chair, footstool, and other +articles. He was talking with a companion, a person of very striking +appearance, whom she also minutely observed as regarded personal +appearance, dress, and position in the room. + +He was saying to this companion that he was about to start for New York +for the purpose of interesting capitalists in a system of irrigation which +he had proposed. His companion was laughing sarcastically and ridiculing +the whole scheme. He persisted, and the conversation was animated--almost +bitter. + +Three weeks later, early one morning, she dreamed that this man was in New +York. She saw him coming up the street leading to her house, and saw her +father go forward to meet him. At breakfast she told her father her dream, +and they also talked freely about her former dream or vision of three +weeks before. + +After breakfast her father sat upon the front stoop reading the morning +paper, and M. L. went about some work. Suddenly she heard her father call +out in a startled sort of way: "Mary, sure enough, here comes G.!" She +stepped to the window and there was G. coming up the street and her father +going forward to meet him exactly as she had seen him in her dream. He had +just arrived from the West, and had come for the very purpose indicated by +his conversation in M. L.'s vision. After some general conversation M. L. +said to G.; "By the way, who was that remarkable person you were talking +with about this journey, three weeks ago?" mentioning the night of her +dream. With evident surprise he said: + +"What do you mean?" + +She then related the whole dream just as she had experienced it, even to +the minutest details. His astonishment was profound. He declared that the +details which she gave could never have been so exactly described except +by some one actually present; and with some annoyance he accused her of +playing the spy. + +There are many other instances of remarkable clairvoyant vision on her +part, and especially two which have occurred within the year--the visions +having been fully described before the events were known. + +Such are a few among hundreds of cases which might be adduced as examples +of the clairvoyant power. They are from every period of history, from the +earliest down to our own times. Looked at broadly, they at least show that +a belief in the clairvoyant power of some specially endowed persons has +existed throughout the historic period; they also exhibit a great +similarity in their character and the circumstances under which they are +observed. + +Apollonius stops short in his discourse, apparently in his natural state, +sees the assassination of Domitian, and shouts, "Strike the tyrant!" + +Fitzgerald at Brunswick suddenly beholds the burning factories at Fall +River, and shouts his orders to the firemen. Others spontaneously go into +the somnambulic condition and only then become clairvoyant; while still +others need the assistance of a second person to produce somnambulism and +independent vision. + +What is the nature and what the method of this peculiar vision which has +been named clairvoyance? + +Is it a quickening and extension of ordinary vision, or is it a visual +perception obtained in some other manner, independent of the natural organ +of sight? + +It has been noted how vastly the action of the senses may be augmented by +cultivation, but never has cultivation increased vision to such an extent +as to discover a penny a thousand miles away and through opaque coverings. +Besides, the clairvoyant vision is exercised quite independent of the +bodily eye. The eyes may be closed, they may be turned upward or inward so +that no portion of the pupil is exposed to the action of light, or they +may be covered with thick pads of cotton or closed with plasters or +bandages, yet the clairvoyant vision in proper subjects is obtained in +just the same degree and with just the same certainty as when the eyes are +fully exposed to the light. + +It is true there has been much doubt and discussion on this vital point, +the objectors maintaining that sight was possible and practicable by +experts, notwithstanding the precautions used in blindfolding; in short, +that the whole thing might safely be set down as deception and fraud. + +In the face of facts such as are here cited, and the thousand others that +might be adduced, it is hardly possible to treat this charge seriously. + +To such objectors, cumulative evidence regarding facts out of their own +mental horizon is useless. Their motto is: "No amount of evidence can +establish a miracle;" and their definition of a miracle is something done, +or alleged to have been done, contrary to the laws of nature. But the +objector who refuses credence to well-attested facts on that ground alone, +simply assumes that he is acquainted with all the laws of nature. + +A miracle, really, is only something alleged to have been done, and we are +not able to explain how; nevertheless, it may be perfectly in accordance +with natural laws which we did not understand or even know existed. To the +West Indian, whom Columbus found in the New World, an eclipse of the sun +was a miracle of the most terrible character; to the astronomer it was a +simple fact in nature. To the ignorant boor, "talking with Chicago" or +cabling between New York and London is a miracle; to the electrician it is +an everyday, well-understood affair. For a long time scientific men did +not believe in the existence of globular, slowly-moving electricity; if +such a thing had existed, it certainly should have put in an appearance +before members of the "Academy," or "Royal Society" some time in the +course of all these years; but it never had done so; only a few cooks, +blacksmiths, or back-woodsmen had ever seen it, and they certainly were +not the sort of people to report scientific matter; they did not know how +to observe, and undoubtedly "they did not see what they thought they saw." +But for all that, globular, slowly-moving electricity is now a well known +fact in nature. + +Neither the West Indian, the ignorant boor, nor the man of science had, at +the time these several facts were presented to him, "any place in the +existing fabric of his thought into which such facts could be fitted." The +fabric of thought in each case must be changed, enlarged, modified, before +the alleged facts could be received or assimilated. + +The objector to the fact of clairvoyance and other facts in the new +psychology is often simply deficient in the knowledge which would enable +him properly to judge of these facts; he may be an excellent +mathematician, physicist, editor, or even physician, but he has been +educated to deal with a certain class of facts, and only by certain +methods, and he is wholly unfitted to deal with another class of facts, +perhaps requiring quite different treatment. + +An excellent chemist might not be just the man to analyze questions of +finance or to testify as an expert on the tariff, or a suspension bridge; +the "texture of his thought" would need some modifying to fit him for +these duties; indeed, he is fortunate if he can even be quite sure of +morphia when he sees it; it might be a ptomaine. + +If, then, the objector to well authenticated facts in any department of +research expects his objections to be seriously considered, he must, at +least, exhibit some intelligence in that department of research to which +his objection relates. + +I shall then simply reiterate the statement that there is abundant +evidence of visual perception by some specially constituted persons, +independent of any use of the physical organ of sight. + +What the exact nature or method of this supranormal vision is, may not yet +be absolutely settled, any more than the exact nature of light or of life +or even of electricity is settled, and each of their various methods of +action known, though of the fact itself in any of these cases there is no +doubt. + +From a careful consideration of the best authenticated facts and examples, +we are led to believe that the faculty of clairvoyance is no supernatural +gift, but may be possessed, to some degree, by many, perhaps by all, +people; that it is a natural condition, developed and brought into +exercise by a few, but undeveloped and dormant in most; that the faculty +may include not only the power of obtaining visual perceptions at a +distance and under circumstances which render ordinary vision impossible, +but also the perception of general truth and the relation of things in +nature to such a degree as to render the person who possesses it a teacher +and prophet of seemingly supernatural endowments. Carefully excluding +cases of unusual extension, or skill in using normal perceptive faculties, +and also thought-transference, which, although bearing a certain relation +to clairvoyance, should not be confounded with it, the phenomena of +independent clairvoyance appear in certain persons under the following +conditions:-- + +In certain states, brought about by disease, and at the near approach of +death, in the hypnotic condition, whether self-induced or produced by the +influence of a second person, and especially in the condition known as +trance; it may also appear in sleep of the ordinary kind--in dreams, and +especially in the condition of reverie or the state between sleeping and +waking; a few persons also possess the clairvoyant faculty while in their +natural condition, without losing their normal consciousness. In general +it may be said that the faculty is most likely to appear when there exists +a condition of abstraction, and the mind is acting without the restraint +and guidance of the usual consciousness--and it reaches its most perfect +exercise when this usual guidance ceases entirely--the body becoming +inactive and anaesthetic and the mind acting independent of its usual +manifesting organs. Such is the condition in trance. + +This view is, of course, in direct opposition to the materialistic +philosophy which makes the mind simply a "group of phenomena," the result +of organization, and absolutely dependent upon that organization for its +action, and even for its existence. To discuss this question here would +occupy too much space; besides, one of the objects of these papers is to +show this mind, spirit, psychos, mentality, "group of phenomena," +whatever it may be, and whatever name may be applied to it, acting under +circumstances which will enable us to consider with greater intelligence +this very question, viz.: Whether the mind, under some circumstances, is +not capable of intelligent action independent of the brain and the whole +material organization through which it ordinarily manifests itself. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DOUBLE OR MULTIPLEX PERSONALITY. + + +If there be any one thing in the empirical psychology of the past which +has been considered settled past all controversy, it is the unity and +continuity of human personality. Whatever might be believed or doubted +concerning the after life, for this life at least believers and skeptics +alike are united in the full assurance of a true, permanent, and +unmistakable self. The philosopher Reid, a hundred years ago, in +discussing this subject, wrote as follows:-- + +"My thoughts and actions and feelings change every moment. They have no +continued but a successive existence, but that self or I to which they +belong is permanent, and has the same relation to all succeeding thoughts, +actions, and feelings which I call mine. The identity of a person is +perfect--it admits of no degrees--and is not divisible into parts." + +Now, while this dogma, which still expresses the general consensus of +mankind, may in a sense be well founded, still certain facts have been +ascertained by the observant scouts in the outlying fields of psychology +which, unless they can be interpreted to mean something different from +their seeming and obvious import, make strongly against that stability and +unquestioned oneness of human personality about which every individual in +his own consciousness may feel so absolutely certain. What are these facts +which have come to the notice of students of psychology? + +The case of Felida X., reported by Dr. Azam of Bordeaux, is one of the +earliest to attract the serious attention of medical men and students of +psychology, and has become classic in relation to the subject. + +She was a nervous child, given to moody spells and hysterical attacks, +and, in 1856, when she was about fourteen years of age, she also began to +have more serious attacks of an epileptiform character, from which she +would emerge into a new and unusual condition, which was at first taken to +be somnambulism. In this condition her general appearance was quite +changed, and she talked and acted in a manner altogether different from +her usual self. These attacks were at first very brief, lasting only a few +minutes, but gradually they increased in duration until they occupied +hours, and even days. + +In her usual state she had no recollection and no knowledge whatever of +her second condition, and the whole time spent in that condition was to +her a blank; on the other hand, all the different occasions when she had +been in this second condition were linked together, constituting a +distinct chain of memories and a personality just as consciously distinct +and conspicuous as her original self. In her second state she not only had +the distinct memories connected with her own secondary personality, but +she also knew facts concerning the first or original self, but only as she +might have knowledge of any other person. + +The two personalities were entirely different in character and +disposition; the original one was sickly, indolent, and melancholy, while +the new one was in good health, and in disposition bright, cheerful, and +industrious. She married early in life, and was intelligent and efficient +in the care of her family, rearing children and attending to the little +business of a shop. At length this secondary self came to occupy nearly +the whole time, and considered herself the normal personality, as, indeed, +she was, being superior in every way to the original one. She knew very +well how unhappy and miserable was the condition of the primary self, +and, while she pitied her and did what she could to assist her, she +disliked to have her return. She called the condition of the primary self, +"that stupid state." + +The lapses of the original or No. 1 personality became at length so +frequent, or rather, so continuous, that she lost the proper knowledge and +relation of things about her. She was a stranger in her own home, and on +that account became still more morose and melancholy. To relieve as much +as possible this distressing state of affairs the second self, or No. 2, +when she knew that No. 1 was about to appear, would write her a letter, +informing her of the general condition of the household, whom she might +expect to meet, and where she would find certain needful articles; she +would also offer advice regarding the conduct of affairs, which was always +appropriate and useful and far superior to the judgment of the original +self in the matters to which it referred. + +As a second well marked and abundantly authenticated example of this +divided or secondary personality, I will refer to a case in our own +country and in our own vicinity. + +Jan. 17th, 1887, Ansel Bourne, an evangelist, left his home in Rhode +Island, and, after transacting some business in Providence, one item of +which was to draw some money to pay for a farm for which he had bargained, +he went to Boston, then to New York, then to Philadelphia, and, finally, +to Norristown, Penn., fifteen or twenty miles from Philadelphia, where he +opened a small store for the sale of stationery, confectionery, and +five-cent articles. In this business he was known as A. J. Brown. He lived +in a room partitioned off from the back of the store, eating, sleeping, +and doing his own cooking there. He rented the store from a Mr. Earl, who +also, with his family, lived in the building. Mr. Brown went back and +forth to Philadelphia for goods to keep up his stock, and seems to have +conducted his business as if accustomed to it. + +Sunday, March 13th, he went to church, and at night went to bed as usual. +On Monday, March 14th, about 5 o'clock in the morning, he awoke and found +himself in what appeared to him an altogether new and strange place; he +thought he must have broken into the place, and was much troubled, fearing +arrest. Finally, after waiting two hours in great uneasiness of mind, he +got up and found the door locked on the inside. He went out into the hall, +and, hearing some one moving about, he rapped at the door. Mr. Earl, his +landlord, opened it, and said: "Good-morning, Mr. Brown." + +"Where am I?" said Mr. Brown. + +"You are all right," replied Mr. Earl. + +"I'm all wrong, and my name is not Brown. Where am I?" + +"You are in Norristown." + +"Where is Norristown?" + +"In Pennsylvania, about seventeen miles west of Philadelphia." + +"What day of the month is it?" inquired Mr. Brown. + +"The 14th," replied Mr. Earl. + +"Does time run backward here? When I left home it was the 17th." + +"Seventeenth of what?" said Mr. Earl. + +"Seventeenth of January." + +"Now it is the 14th of March," said Mr. Earl. + +Mr. Earl thought Mr. Brown was out of his mind, and sent for a physician. +To the doctor he said his name was Ansel Bourne; that he remembered seeing +the Adams Express wagons on Dorrance Street in Providence on Jan. 17th, +and remembered nothing since, until he awoke here this morning, March +14th. + +"These people," said he, "tell me that I have been here six weeks, and +have been living with them all this time; I have no recollection of ever +having seen one of them, until this morning." + +His nephew, Mr. H., was telegraphed to in Providence. + +"Do you know Ansel Bourne?" + +Reply: "He is my uncle; wire me where he is, and if well." + +Mr. H., went on to Norristown, took charge of his uncle and his affairs, +sold out his store property, and Mr. A. J. Brown went back and resumed his +life in Rhode Island as Ansel Bourne, but the time from Jan. 17th to March +14th was to him a blank. + +Prof. James of Harvard and Dr. Hodgson, Secretary of the American Branch +of the Society for Psychical Research, who reported this case to the +society, now became interested in the matter. They went to see Ansel +Bourne and learned the above history; but of the journey from Providence +to Norristown in January no account of any kind could be obtained. +Finally, he was put into the hypnotic condition, when he was again A. J. +Brown, and gave a connected account of his journey to Boston, New York, +Philadelphia, and of his stay in each of these cities; of his arrival at +Norristown, and of his experience there up to the morning of March 14th, +when everything was again confused. As A. J. Brown he knew of Ansel +Bourne and of his remarkable history, but could not state positively that +he had ever met him. + +This transition was repeatedly made. Immediately on being put in the +hypnotic trance and aroused to somnambulism he was A. J. Brown, a distinct +personality, perfectly sane, and with a full appreciation of the relation +of things as relating to that personality, and with a distinct chain of +memories, beliefs, and affections; but, when introduced to the wife of +Ansel Bourne, he entirely repudiated the idea of her ever having been his +wife, though he might some time have seen her. + +Immediately on being awakened from this hypnotic condition he was Ansel +Bourne, with his usual consciousness, beliefs, affections, and chain of +memories; but the primary Ansel Bourne personality had no knowledge +whatever of the secondary, or A. J. Brown, personality, and for any act, +either criminal or righteous, committed by the person A. J. Brown, the +person Ansel Bourne had no more knowledge and consequently no more +responsibility than for any good or bad action committed by a person in +Australia and of whose existence he was ignorant. + +A few other cases quite similar and in every respect of equal interest +have been observed, notably that known as Louis V., which was reported by +Dr. Voisin of Paris and by several other well-known French physicians, +under whose care from time to time he has been, and whose several reports +have been summed up by Mr. Frederick W. H. Myers, the efficient London +Secretary of the Society for Psychical Research. + +Here the stability of personality was unsettled at the age of fourteen by +a terrible fright from a viper. Four or five distinct personalities were +represented. + +(1) In his childhood, previous to his fright by the viper, he had good +health and was an ordinary, quiet, obedient, well-behaved boy. + +(2) A new personality, of which the primary self had no knowledge, was +induced by the fright. This No. 2 personality had frequent epileptic +attacks, but was able to work, learning the trade of a tailor. + +(3) After one of these attacks of great violence, lasting fifty hours, +another personality came to the surface--a greedy, violent, quarrelsome, +drunken, thievish vagabond, paralyzed on one side, and with an impediment +in his speech. He was an anarchist, an atheist, and a blackguard, always +ranting and thrusting his opinions upon those about him, perpetrating bad +jokes, and practicing disgusting familiarities with his physicians and +attendants. In this state, he knows nothing of the tailor's business, but +he is a private of marines. + +(4) He is a quiet, sensible man, retiring in behavior and modest in +speech. If he is asked his opinions upon politics or religion, he +bashfully replies that he would rather leave such things to wiser heads +than his. In this condition he is without paralysis and speaks distinctly. + +(5) As a man forty years of age he returns to the condition of childhood +previous to his fright--a child in intellect and knowledge, having no +occupation; he is simply an ordinary, quiet, well-behaved, obedient boy. + +Each of these personalities was distinct from all the others; the earlier +ones had no knowledge of those which came after them; the later ones had a +knowledge of the earlier ones, but only as they might have knowledge of +any other person. + +A fourth typical case is that of Alma Z., recently reported by me for _The +Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases_. In this case, an unusually +healthy, strongly intellectual girl, an expert in athletic sport and a +leader wherever she might be, on account of overwork, and finally, of +broken-down health, developed a second, and, later, a third personality. +Each was widely different from the others, all were normal so far as a +perfect knowledge of and adaptation to their surroundings were concerned, +and all were of unusual intellectual force and brightness, as well as +moral worth; but each was distinct, peculiar, and even in marked contrast +to the others in many important characteristics. No. 1 had no knowledge of +No. 2 nor of No. 3, except from circumstances and the report of others, +and also from letters which passed between them giving information to No. +1 regarding changes which had occurred in her absence, as, for instance, +of expected company or other engagement which it would be important for +her to know. + +Both of the later personalities were peculiarly fond of No. 1, and devoted +to her welfare on account of her superior knowledge and admirable +character. The case has been under my observation, both professionally and +socially, for many years, and, in addition to its typical character, it +presented an example of the singular fact of the persistence of the later +personality, with the ability to observe, retain its chain of memories, +and afterward report them, while the primary self was at the same time the +dominant and active personality. + +An instance of this occurred at one of the concerts of a distinguished +pianist a few years since. No. 3 was the reigning personality, and she was +herself a lover of music and an excellent critic. Beethoven's concerto in +C major was on the programme, and was being performed in a most charming +manner by soloist and orchestra. I was sitting near her in the box, when +all at once I noticed a change in the expression of her face, which +denoted the presence of No. 1. She listened with intense interest and +pleasure to the performance, and at its close I spoke a few words to her, +and she replied in her usual charming manner. It was No. 1 without doubt. +Soon after, she leaned back in her chair, took two or three quick, short +inspirations, and No. 3 was present again. She turned to me smiling and +said: + +"So No. 1 came for her favorite concerto; wasn't it splendid that she +could hear it?" + +I said: "Yes; but how did you know she was here?" + +"Oh, I sat on the front of the box," she said. "I heard the music, too, +and I saw you speaking to her." + +The four cases here briefly outlined represent both sexes, two distinct +nationalities, and widely-varying conditions in life. In each case one or +more personalities crop out, so to speak, come to the surface, and become +the conscious, active, ruling personality, distinct from the original +self, having entirely different mental, moral, and even physical, +characteristics; different tastes, and different sentiments and opinions; +personalities entirely unknown to the original self, which no one +acquainted with that original self had any reason to suppose existed in +connection with that organization. + +The cases present so many points of similarity in their history as to +render it probable, if not certain, that some common principle, law, or +mental state underlies them all--some law which, if clearly defined, would +be valuable in reducing to order the seemingly lawless mass of phenomena +which constantly meets us in this new and but little explored field of +research. + +It may be, also, that other mental states more frequently met with and +more easily observed present points in common with these more striking and +unusual ones; and that they also may assist us in finding the clue. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +NATURAL SOMNAMBULISM--HYPNOTIC SOMNAMBULISM--DREAMS. + + +The first of these more accessible conditions to claim attention is +natural somnambulism, or sleep-walking. The phenomena of this peculiar +state have been observed from time immemorial, and have always been looked +upon as one of the most wonderful and interesting subjects in the domain +of the old psychology. + +In this state the subject, while apparently in ordinary sleep, arises from +his bed and proceeds, sometimes to perform the most ordinary, everyday +actions--cooking a dinner, washing clothes, sawing wood, or going out to a +neighboring market town to transact business; sometimes, on the other +hand, he does the most unusual things; he performs perilous journeys in +dangerous and unfamiliar places in perfect safety and with unusual ease; +sometimes intellectual work of a difficult nature, such as had baffled the +student in his waking hours, is easily accomplished, and he finds the +solution of his mathematical problem or the needed point in his argument +all plainly wrought out and prepared for him when he goes to his desk the +following morning; moreover, if the work from any cause should be +interrupted, and the same conditions recur upon the following or some +subsequent night, it may be resumed at the point where it was interrupted; +or if the somnambulist talks, as well as acts, in his sleep the +conversation shows that each succeeding occasion is connected with +previous ones, all together constituting a chain of memories similar to +that of the different personalities which have been presented in the four +cases already described. + +Sometimes all these different actions are accomplished without light or +with the eyes fast closed, or else open and staring, but without vision. +Sometimes, however, the new personality developed in the sleep of the +somnambulist fails to come into proper relations with his surroundings, +when he may also fail to accomplish the dangerous journey, and may walk +from an open window or an unguarded balcony with disastrous results. + +The second condition which presents analogies to the duplex or multiplex +personalities, which are under consideration, is that of the somnambulism +which occurs in the hypnotic sleep. While usually the hypnotic subject is +passive and unconsciously receives the suggestions which are impressed +upon him, not unfrequently a personality comes to the front which acts +independently, and presents all the characteristics which we have found +pertaining to a distinct personality. + +A rare example of this alternating personality brought about by hypnotism +is afforded by the French subject, Mme. B., whose acquaintance we have +already made as a subject upon whom hypnotism at a distance was +successfully carried out by Prof. Janet and Dr. Gibert of Havre. As we +have already seen, in her ordinary condition Mme. B. is a stolid, +substantial, honest French peasant, about forty years of age, of very +moderate intelligence, and without any education or any ambition for +notoriety. In this state Prof. Janet calls her Leonie. + +Hypnotized, she is at once changed into a bright, vivacious, +mischief-loving, rather noisy personality, who considers herself on +excellent terms with the doctor, and whom the professor names Leontine. +Later, by further hypnotization and a deeper trance, there appears a +sedate, sensible personality, intellectually much superior to Leonie, the +primary self, and much more dignified than the vivacious Leontine, and +this third personality Prof. Janet calls Leonore. + +Leontine, the hypnotic or second self, knows Leonie, the original Mme. B., +very well, and is very anxious not to be confounded with her. She always +calls her "the other one," and laughs at her stupidity. She says, "That +good woman is not I, she is too stupid." One day Prof. Janet hypnotized +Leonie, and as usual at once Leontine was present. Prof. Janet then +suggested to Leontine that when she awoke and Leonie had resumed the +command, she (Leontine) should take off the apron of Leonie, their common +apron, on their one physical personality, and then tie it on again. She +was then aroused from her hypnotic condition, and at once Leonie was +present without the slightest knowledge of Leontine, for she never knew of +this second personality, nor of hypnotic suggestion in any form. Leonie, +supposing the professor's experiment was over, was conducting him to the +door, talking indifferently in her slow, dull way, and at the same time +unconsciously her fingers were working at her apron-strings. The loosened +apron was falling off when the professor called her attention to it. She +exclaimed, "Why, my apron is falling off!" and then, fully conscious of +what she was doing, she replaced and tied it on again. She then continued +her talk. She only supposed that somehow accidentally the apron had come +untied and she had retied it, and that was all. + +To the now submerged Leontine, however, this was not enough; her mission +had not been completed, and at her silent prompting Leonie again fumbled +at the apron-strings; unconsciously she untied and took off the apron, and +then put it on again without her attention having been drawn to what she +had now the second time done. The next day Prof. Janet again hypnotized +Leonie and Leontine made her appearance. + +"Well," said she, "I did what you told me yesterday. How stupid 'the other +one' looked while I took her apron off? Why did you tell her that her +apron was falling off? Just for that, I had to do the job all over again." + +Here the hypnotic or secondary self, as in my own reported case, appears +as a persistent entity, remembering and reasoning, while the primary self +was at the same time in command of their common body. Leontine not only +caused Leonie to untie and retie her apron, but she enjoyed the fun, +remembered it, and told it the next day. + +Again Leonore was as much ashamed of Leontine's flippancy as Leontine was +of Leonie's stupidity. + +"You see well enough," she said, "that I am not that prattler, that +madcap. We do not resemble each other in the least." + +In fact, she sometimes gave Leontine good counsel in regard to her +behavior, and in a peculiar manner--by producing the hallucination of +hearing a voice, thus again showing the conscious activity of the +submerged self while a primary self was at the same time dominant and +active. As Dr. Janet relates the incident, Leontine was one day in an +excited, hysterical condition, noisy and troublesome with her chatter, +when suddenly she stopped her senseless talk and cried out with terror: + +"Oh! Who is it there talking to me like that?" + +"No one was speaking to you." + +"Yes, there on the left." And she opened a closet door in the direction +indicated, to see that no one was hidden there. + +"What is it that you hear?" asked the professor. + +"I hear a voice on the left there which keeps saying to me: 'Enough, +enough; be quiet. You are a nuisance!'" which, the professor remarks, was +exactly the truth. + +Leonore, in her turn, was then brought to the surface. + +"What was it that happened," asked Prof. Janet, "when Leontine was so +frightened?" + +"Oh, nothing," she replied. "I told her she was a nuisance and to keep +quiet. I saw she was annoying you. I don't know why she was so +frightened." + +I may be pardoned for mentioning one other fact regarding the relationship +of these singular personalities, because it illustrates more pointedly if +possible than anything else their entire duplex and separate character. +Leonie or Madame B. is married, but Leontine is not. Madame B. however, +was hypnotized at her accouchements, and became Leontine. So Leontine was +the presiding personality when the children were born. Leontine therefore +considers herself the mother of two children, and would be greatly grieved +were any doubts expressed regarding her right of motherhood in them. + +The analogies between the mental conditions presented respectively in +ordinary somnambulism and the somnambulism of the hypnotic trance, and the +mental conditions presented in the four cases previously recited are +numerous and obvious; in fact, they seem as indeed they are, like the +same conditions differently produced and varying in the length of time +they occupy, and it is evident that in them there is brought to view a +mental state of sufficient uniformity, as well as of sufficient interest +and importance, to be worthy of serious consideration. + +The facts thus far brought into view are these: That in a considerable +number of persons there may be developed, either spontaneously or +artificially, a second personality different in character and distinct in +its consciousness and memories from the primary or original self; that +this second personality is not a mere change of consciousness, but in some +sense it is a different entity, having a power of observation, attention +and memory not only when the primary self is submerged and without +consciousness or volition, but also at the same time that the primary self +is in action, performing its usual offices, and in its turn it is equally +capable of managing the affairs and performing the offices properly +pertaining to the common body whenever needed for that purpose. + +Reckoning these different personalities as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc., No. +1 has no knowledge of No. 2, nor of any succeeding personality, nor of +their acts, but the time occupied by them is to No. 1 a blank, during +which it is without volition, memory, or consciousness. No. 2 has a +distinct consciousness and chain of memories of its own, but it also knows +more or less perfectly the history and acts of No. 1--it knows this +history, however, only as pertaining to a third person; it knows nothing +of No. 3, nor of any personality subsequently coming into activity. No. 3 +has also its distinct personality, and knows both No. 1 and No. 2, but +knows them only as separate and distinct personalities; it does not know +any personality coming into activity after itself. + +So distinct are these personalities that No. 2 not only may not possess +the acquirements, as, for instance, the book knowledge, trade, or +occupation of No. 1, but may possess other capabilities and acquirements +entirely foreign to No. 1, and of which it possessed no knowledge. + +Ansel Bourne was a farmer and preacher, and knew nothing of storekeeping. +A. J. Brown, the second personality, was a business man, neither farmer +nor preacher. Louis V., as No. 2, was a tailor, and a very good boy; as +No. 3, he was a private of marines, and knew nothing of tailoring, and he +was a moral monster; while, in what might be called his No. 5 condition, +he was again an undeveloped child, as he was before his fright. + +Still another fact which comes prominently into view in examining these +cases is that the No. 2 personality may not, by any means, be inferior to +the No. 1, or original self. In none of the cases cited has the +intellectual capacity of the later developed personality been inferior to +that of the original self, and generally it was notably superior; only in +the No. 3 personality of Louis V. was the moral state worse than in No. 1, +and, in general, the moral standing of No. 2 or No. 3 was fully equal to +the primary self. + +The emergence and dominance of a secondary personality, therefore, does +not by any means imply that the general standing of the individual +dominated by this second personality, as judged by disinterested +observers, is in any way inferior to the same individual dominated by the +primary self, but, on the contrary, a superior personality is rather to be +expected, and especially is this true when the secondary personality is +intelligently sought and brought to view by means of hypnotism. + +It is, however, quite impossible by any _a priori_ reasoning, or from the +character of the primary self, to form any definite estimate concerning +the character or general characteristics of any new personality which may +make its appearance, either spontaneously or through the aid of +hypnotism. + +Having become to a certain degree familiarized with the idea that in some +persons, at least, and under some peculiar circumstances, a second +personality may come to the surface and take the place for a longer or +shorter time of the primary self, it may be asked whether, after all, +these comparatively few persons in which this unusual phenomena has been +observed are essentially different in their mental constitution from other +people. + +When those best acquainted with the slender and melancholy Felida N., or +the ordinary, quiet, well-behaved Louis V.; the industrious and respected +evangelist Ansel Bourne, or the large-brained, intellectual leader of +women, Alma Z., saw them in their ordinary state, before any subliminal +personality had emerged and made itself known, no one of those most +intimate acquaintances, no expert in character-reading, no student of +mental science could have given any reasonable intimation that any one of +them would develop a second personality, much less give any trustworthy +opinion as to the character which the new personality would possess. + +A few months ago I was called in haste to see a patient, a large, strong +man of one hundred and eighty pounds weight, who had been thrown down and +trampled upon by his nineteen-year-old son during an attack of +somnambulism, and had received such serious injuries as to require +immediate surgical aid. The next day this son came to consult me regarding +his unfortunate habit of sleep-walking, which has often got him into +trouble before, and has now resulted in serious injury to his father. He +is a slight youth of one hundred and twenty pounds weight, light hair, +gray eyes, and a bright, frank face, expressive of good health and good +nature--"a perfect gentleman," as his father expressed it, "when himself, +but ten men cannot manage him when he gets up in his sleep; he will do +what he sets out to do." + +Who would ever imagine that this slender, good-natured, gentlemanly lad, +sooner than any other lad, would in his sleep develop somnambulism and a +second personality, or that when it came that second personality should +prove a stubborn Samson? + +Little could Prof. Janet imagine that beneath the surface consciousness of +that serene and stupid Leonie dwelt the frisky, vivacious, fun-loving +Leontine, waiting only the magic key of hypnotism to unlock and bring her +to the surface to reign instead of the heavy Leonie. + +The people who, in various ways, develop second personalities may not +differ, it seems, in any perceptible manner from other people; is it not +quite possible, then, that other normal, ordinary people, possess a second +personality, deep-down beneath their ordinary, everyday self, and that +under conditions which favor a readjustment, this hidden subliminal self +may emerge and become for a longer or a shorter time the conscious, acting +one; and not only so, but may prove to be the brighter and better +organized of the two? + +Having now, as it were, a chart, imperfect though it be, of this outlying +region, having some idea what to look for, and in what direction to look +for it, it is possible that glimpses of this subliminal personality which +each one unconsciously carries with him may be obtained under ordinary +conditions and in everyday life, more frequently and more easily than we +had imagined; for, as Ribot expresses it, the ordinary conscious +personality is only a feeble portion of the whole psychical personality. + +One example of this more usual form of double personality is afforded in +ordinary dreaming. The dream country, like most of this outlying +territory, has for the most part been studied without chart or compass. +There is scarcely a point connected with the discussion of the subject +upon which the most eminent authorities are not divided; it is Locke +against Descartes, Hamilton against Locke, and Hobbes against the field. + +If there be any one point, however, on which there is tolerable unanimity +among all writers, ancient and modern, great and small, it is the absence +in dreams of the normal acts and processes of volition, and, especially, +of the faculty of attention. Now, this is exactly the condition which is +conducive to the more or less perfect emergence and activity of the +subliminal self, under whatever circumstances it occurs. + +There is first, loss of consciousness from catalepsy, fright, depressing +illness, hypnotism, or natural sleep, that is to say, the power of +attention or volition in the primary self is abolished; then comes a +readjustment of personalities, varying in completeness according to the +ease with which, in different persons, this readjustment may be effected, +and according to the completeness of the abolition of the power of +attention and volition. + +In sleep the conditions are favorable for this readjustment, and the +subliminal self comes more or less perfectly to the surface; then appears +that most peculiar and interesting series of pictures and visions which we +call dreams; sometimes the rearranged, or rather unarranged, impressions +and perceptions of the waking hours brought together, possibly just before +the power of attention is entirely lost; sometimes the Puck-like work of +the subliminal personality, the Leontines of the dream-country influencing +the unconscious or semi-conscious primary self; sometimes the veridical or +truth-telling dreams, which have been the wonder of all ages, and +sometimes giving complete and active supremacy to the subliminal self as +in natural somnambulism. Another portion of the field in which it might be +profitable to look for evidence of the existence of a subliminal +personality is in the eccentric work of genius; and still another, in the +unexpected and often heroic actions of seemingly ordinary persons under +the stress and stimulus of a great emotion, as of joy, sorrow, or anger, +or of intense excitement, as for instance, the soldier in battle, the +fireman at the post of danger, or the philosopher or astronomer on the eve +of a new discovery; in all these cases the ordinary personality with its +intense self-consciousness and self-considering carefulness is +submerged--it disappears--the power of voluntary attention to mental +states or physical action is lost; a new and superior personality comes to +the surface and takes control. The supreme moment passes, and the primary +self resumes sway, scarcely conscious of what has been done or how it was +accomplished; even sensation has been abolished, and it is only now that +he discovers the bleeding bullet-wound, the charred member, or the broken +bone. + +In physical science, whenever some new fact or law or principle has been +discovered, it is at once seen that many things which before were obscure, +or perhaps could only be accounted for by a theory of chance, or of direct +interference by an omnipotent Deity, are now illuminated by a new light, +and order reigns where before only confusion and darkness were visible. +Something of the same sort is beginning to be recognized in the world of +mental and psychical phenomena. If the mathematical exactness which +measured the force of gravity, or placed the sun in one of the foci of an +ellipse instead of the centre of a circle cannot be applied here, it is +only on account of the vast complexity of the problem presented, and of +which we know so few of the elements. + +When matter alone is concerned we know exactly how it will act under given +conditions. When life is added, the problem becomes more complex. The +general law of evolution and the special law of natural selection in the +development of species are accepted facts, although we cannot with success +apply to them mathematical formulae. When mind is added to life, the +problem becomes still more complicated and mathematical exactness still +less likely to be attained. Many facts, however, are being ascertained in +psychical science, and some principles are being established which help to +bring order out of confusion and shed light on some dark places. + +The recognition of a subliminal self as forming a part of the psychical +organization of man will throw light upon many obscure mental phenomena +and bring order out of seemingly hopeless confusion. Placed before us as a +working hypothesis, many other facts, before errant and unclassified, +group themselves about it in wonderful clearness and harmony. + +Granting, then, provisionally at least, the reality of the secondary self, +what are its relations to the primary self and their common physical +organization, and how came it to occupy these relations? Mr. Frederick W. +H. Myers, to whom I have already referred, whose acute intellect and +scholarly attainments have been of the highest value to the society in +every department of its investigations, has also taken up this subject +with his usual skill and judgment. He looks upon it from the standpoint +of evolution, commencing with the earliest period of animal life. He +compares the whole psychical organization, together with its manifesting +physical organization, to the thousand looms of a vast manufactory. + +The looms are complex and of varying patterns, for turning out different +sorts of work. They are also used in various combinations, and there are +various driving bands and connecting machinery by which they may severally +be connected or disconnected, but the motive power which drives the whole +is constant for all, and all works automatically to turn out the styles of +goods that are needed. + +"Now, how did I come to have my looms and driving-gear arranged in this +particular way? Not, certainly, through any deliberate choice of my own. +My ancestor, the ascidian, in fact, inherited the business when it +consisted of little more than a single spindle; since his day my nearer +ancestors have added loom after loom." + +Changes have been going on continually; some of the looms are now quite +out of date, have long been unused, and are quite out of repair or fallen +to pieces. Others are kept in order because the style of goods which they +turn out is still useful and necessary. But the class of goods called for +has greatly changed of late. For instance, the machinery at present in +operation is best adapted to turning out goods of a decidedly egoistic +style, for self-preservation, persistence in the struggle for life, and +for self-gratification; but a style is beginning to be called for of the +altruistic pattern. For this kind of goods the machinery is not well +adapted. It is old-fashioned, and changes are necessary. If there are any +looms in the establishment unknown and unused which can be turned to +account, or any way of modifying such as we have to meet the demand, it is +for our interest to know it. + +But the methods of adjustment, and arrangements for bringing new looms +into operation are hidden and difficult of access, so we observe factories +where spontaneous readjustments are going on and new looms, not known to +have been in the establishment, are being brought automatically into +action and are found to work fairly well. Such instances are found in the +establishment of Felida X. or Louis V., from which valuable hints are +obtained regarding changes and readjustments. + +Furthermore, in hypnotism, we find a safe and, at the same time, powerful +lever, for readjustment, by means of which in some establishments new +looms can be brought into play and shut off again almost at will; and +often while the new looms are at work doing good service we are able to +get at the old ones, repair and modernize them so as to make them useful, +and the immense value of hypnotism in this educational and reformatory +work has hardly begun to be known or appreciated. A single instance out of +many must suffice for illustration. + +In the summer of 1884 there was at the Salpetriere a young woman of a +deplorable type, Jeanne S., who was a criminal lunatic, filthy, violent, +and with a life history of impurity and crime. M. Auguste Voisin, one of +the physicians of the staff, undertook to hypnotize her May 31st. At that +time she was so violent that she could only be kept quiet by a +strait-jacket and the constant cold douche to her head. She would not look +at M. Voisin, but raved and spat at him. He persisted, kept his face near +and opposite to hers, and his eyes following hers constantly. In ten +minutes she was in a sound sleep, and soon passed into the somnambulistic +condition. The process was repeated many days, and gradually she became +sane while in the hypnotic condition, but still raved when she awoke. + +Gradually, then, she began to accept hypnotic suggestion, and would obey +trivial orders given her while asleep, such as to sweep her room, etc.; +then suggestions regarding her general behavior; then, in her hypnotic +condition, she began to express regret for her past life and form +resolutions of amendment, which she fully adhered to when she awoke. Two +years later she was a nurse in one of the Paris hospitals, and her conduct +was irreproachable. M. Voisin has followed up this case by others equally +striking. + +Such is an imperfect sketch of the discoveries, experiments, and studies +which have been made in the domain of human personality. It is merely a +sketch, and certainly it is in no spirit of dogmatism that it is +presented; but as a collection of facts relating to human nature and the +constitution and action of the human mind, it is at least curious. + +It need not destroy our convictions regarding the essential unity of +personality, but it must necessarily enlarge our conceptions of what +_constitutes an individual_, and how under various circumstances that +individual may act. + +From many points of view, and in relation to many departments of study and +of human development--legal, moral, social, and educational--the subject +presents important bearings; and, furthermore, in the solution of other +psychological problems it will be found to possess the greatest possible +interest and value. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +AUTOMATISM--PLANCHETTE. + + +Our ordinary actions, both physical and mental, are, for the most part, +subject to our own voluntary guidance and choice. Of this, at least, we +feel sure. We work, walk, talk, play upon an instrument, read a book, or +write a letter, because we choose to do these things; and ordinarily they +are done under the full guidance of our will and intelligence. Sometimes, +however, actions are performed by us without our choice or guidance, and +even without our consciousness, and such actions are called automatic. The +thrifty housewife, perhaps also being of a literary turn of mind, may +become deeply absorbed in an exciting novel, while at the same time her +busy fingers, without thought or effort on her part, skilfully ply the +knitting needles, or her well accustomed foot, with gentle motion, rocks +the cradle. + +During an exciting conversation, or the absorbing consideration of some +important subject or problem, the act of walking is performed without will +or consciousness; the pianoforte player runs his scales and roulades with +marvellous rapidity and precision while reading a book or carrying on an +animated conversation. Such actions are performed automatically. + +When we come to examine a large number of actions performed in this +automatic manner, we observe that they exhibit great diversity in the kind +and degree of automatism displayed in their performance. In the cases +above mentioned the mind is simply altogether engaged in doing one thing, +and at the same time the muscles go on without any conscious direction or +supervision, doing altogether another thing, but generally something which +they had before been accustomed to do. This is often called +absent-mindedness; it is also one of the most common and simple forms of +automatism. We set the machine to work, and it goes itself. + +Another kind of automatism is that which often appears in connection with +peculiar gifts or talents, and is especially associated with genius. It is +seen, for example, in the poet and the orator, and in those capable of +improvisation, especially in music or in verse. The pianist or organist +seats himself at the instrument without the remotest idea of what he is to +perform--he simply commences. The theme he is to present, the various +melodies, harmonies, changes, and modulations which come at his touch are +often as much a surprise and delight to himself as to the most interested +listener. Something within him furnishes and formulates the ideas, and +causes him to express them artistically upon the instrument of his choice +without any effort, or even supervision of his own--he is simply conscious +of what is produced--but if he should undertake consciously to guide or in +any way interfere with the production, the extraordinary beauty and +excellence of the performance would at once cease. + +Still another kind of automatism is illustrated in somnambulism. The +somnambulist arises from his bed in his sleep, and proceeds to prepare a +meal or work out a mathematical problem or write a thesis or a letter, or +sometimes to describe distant scenes and events transpiring far away. Here +the actions, both physical and mental, are performed, not only without the +exercise of the actor's own choice or control, but he has no knowledge of +them whatever. They are altogether outside the domain of his +consciousness, and have their origin in some centre of intelligence quite +apart from his own ordinary consciousness, and they only appear or find +expression through his physical organization. Let us examine a little more +closely into these different forms of automatism. + +Twenty-five years ago a curious little piece of mechanism--apparently half +toy and half an instrument for amateur conjuring--made its appearance in +the windows of the toyshops and bookstores of the United States. It was a +little heart-shaped piece of mahogany, or other hard wood, about seven +inches by five in dimensions, with two casters serving for feet at the +base of the heart, while a closely-fitting pencil passed through a hole at +the point or apex. + +Thus a tripod was formed, moving with perfect ease and freedom in any +direction, while the pencil, which formed the third foot, left its plain +and continuous tracing wherever the instrument was moved. + +This little toy was called Planchette, and wonderful tales were told of +its strange performances when rightly used. Evenly adjusted upon a plain +wood table, if a properly-constituted person placed his or her finger-tips +lightly upon its surface, it soon began to move about, without any +muscular effort or any wish or will on the part of the operator; a broad, +smooth sheet of paper being placed beneath it upon the table, figures, +words, and sentences were plainly traced by the pencil, all in the style +of a veritable oracle, and greatly to the delight of the curious, the +wonder of the superstitious, and the mystification of people generally. + +Not every one, however, could command the services of the modern oracle; +only to the touch of a certain few was it responsive; to the many it was +still and silent as a sphinx. One in ten, perhaps, could obtain a scrawl; +one in twenty, intelligible sentences, and one in a hundred could produce +remarkable results. Few persons witnessing its performances under +favorable circumstances failed to be interested, but different people +looked at it from quite different standpoints. The habitual doubter saw in +it only a well-managed trick, which, however, he failed to detect; the +spiritualist saw undoubted evidence of spiritual manifestations, while the +great majority of common-sense people saw writing done, evidently without +will or effort on the part of the writer, producing messages of every +grade, from the most commonplace twaddle, foolishness, and even falsehood, +to the exhibition of intelligence of a high order, a sparkling wit, and a +perception of events, past, present, and sometimes even of those still in +the future, most acute and unusual. What was the cause of these +involuntary movements, or whence came the messages written, they did not +know, and few even cared to speculate. + +That was twenty-five years ago, and the two theories already alluded to +were about the only ones adduced to account for the phenomena. Dr. +Carpenter's theory of "unconscious cerebration" and "unconscious muscular +action" did not cover the ground; there was altogether too much +cerebration not to have a consciousness connected with it in some way. The +theory did not cover the facts. Twenty-five years have failed to detect +the long-talked-of trick of the skeptic; they have also failed to +substantiate the claim of spiritualists, and Planchette-writing is almost +as much a mystery as ever. + +Fairly studied, then, what does Planchette really do? From a physical +standpoint its performances are simply automatic writing or drawing. To +deny the automatic character of the movements of Planchette at this day is +simply absurd. That writing can be produced with it voluntarily, no one +doubts, but that it generally is produced automatically, that is, without +the choice or control of the writers, and without their knowledge of what +is being written, it would be waste of time here to attempt to prove; the +theory of fraud is untenable, and the real question at issue is the +psychical one, namely, whence come the messages which it brings? + +These messages may be divided into three general classes: (1) Those which +are trivial or irrelevant. (2) Those which show intelligence and have some +unmistakable relation to the subject of which they purport to give +information, but all of which is known either to the writers or some +person present. (3) Those which bring, or profess to bring, information +unknown in any way, either to the writer or any person present. + +The first of these divisions need not detain us, though it contains a very +large share of all the messages received, as it simply illustrates the +fact of automatism, which is equally well illustrated in the other classes +of messages, which are of a more interesting character. The second class, +namely, messages which show intelligence and have an unmistakable relation +to the subject concerning which information is asked, and yet contain +nothing beyond the knowledge of the writers or of persons present, is also +very large. + +The following is a sketch of my own first experience with Planchette. I +may remark that subsequent trials brought out the fact that for myself +alone Planchette will do nothing; it will not even move a hair's-breadth; +but when, as is often the case, two persons are needed for success, I am +often selected by Planchette to assist when it is consulted in the matter. +On one occasion, I was calling at a friend's house, in the spring of 1868. +Planchette was then much in vogue, and one stood on a side-table in the +room. A young daughter of my friend--a school-girl fifteen or sixteen +years of age--remarked that Planchette would move and sometimes even write +for her, and she asked me to join her in a trial. I consented, and, to our +surprise, the moment our fingers were placed lightly upon the instrument +it moved off with great energy. Questions were then asked, and the answers +were written with promptness and intelligence, greatly to the amusement of +the company. Desiring to know who our mysterious correspondent might be, +we politely said, "Planchette, will you kindly inform us who it is that +writes these answers?" to which it replied, "Peter Stuyvesant." + +"Old Governor Stuyvesant?" we asked. + +"Yes," was the reply. + +Now it so happened that a short time previous to our seance the old pear +tree, known as the Stuyvesant pear tree, which had stood for more than two +hundred years at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Third Avenue, having +become decayed and tottering, was thrown down by a blow from a passing +truck and had been ruthlessly chopped to pieces by workmen; and the event +had been generally noticed and commented upon. Accordingly we replied, + +"We are very glad to hear from you, Governor. How about the old pear +tree?" + +To this a reply was promptly written, but neither of us had the slightest +idea what it might be. The young lady took up the paper and commenced to +read, but was shocked and greatly confused to find, clearly written, in a +hand quite foreign to us both, "It's a ---- ---- shame!" the blanks here +being filled by the most emphatic expletives, and without the slightest +abbreviation. + +Another excellent Planchette-writer was Miss V., a friend of the family, +who was spending a few days at my house in March, 1889. She was a young +German lady of unusual intelligence, vivacity, and good sound sense. She +knew of spiritualism only by passing remarks which she might have heard, +and had never either seen or heard of Planchette. She was herself a +somnambulist, or, rather, a somniloquist, for she never walked in her +sleep, but talked with the greatest ease, carrying on long conversations +without the slightest memory afterwards of what had been said. She was +also an excellent hypnotic subject, and the suggested effects of medicines +were much more prompt and certain than the effect of the medicines +themselves, when used in the ordinary way. + +For experiment one evening I proposed that we should try Planchette. As +soon as our fingers were placed upon the instrument, it moved off across +the table with the greatest promptness, and at once it replied to +questions with unusual appropriateness and intelligence. The astonishment +of Miss V. was altogether too profound and too apparent to admit of any +suspicion of collusion on her part, and she had seen that the board would +not move for me alone, yet she could not be persuaded that when we wrote +together there was not some trick, and that I did not move the board +voluntarily to produce the writing. + +At length a message came concerning one of her own relatives, of whom she +was sure that I could have no knowledge whatever, and she was convinced +that at all events that message could not have originated with me. +Accordingly she became a most valuable and interested partner in the +experiments, and the chief medium through whom Planchette gave its +communications. + +Our sittings continued four or five consecutive evenings, and hundreds of +communications and answers to questions were given by different +intelligences or personalities, with entirely different modes of +expression and different kinds of writing; some were religious, some +philosophical, some were anxious to give advice, and some were profane; +this last-mentioned phase appearing especially if we were persistent in +inquiring too closely into the identity and former condition of the +communicating personality. + +On one occasion a message was written which was so strange in its +appearance that none of us could at first make it out. At length we +discovered some familiar negro phrase, and applying this key, we found we +had a message of regular plantation negro talk, bearing a very strong +resemblance to Uncle Remus's talk to the little boy, which some of us had +just been reading. On asking who the "intelligence" was, it wrote, "Oh, +I'se a good ole coon." + +Neither Miss V. nor myself had ever heard such a dialect spoken, nor knew +that any sort of person of the negro race was ever called a "coon." + +On another occasion, Miss V. was anxious to know and asked Planchette if a +relative of hers, whom she named, was staying in town that night. The +answer came, "Yes." "Where is he stopping?" Answer: "At the H. House." +"What is he doing now?" Answer: "He has just finished his dinner, settled +his bill at the cashier's desk, and is now walking up Broadway with his +cousin." She afterward learned that this information was correct in every +particular. + +On the last evening of our experiments the force displayed in the writing +was something surprising. Miss V. always experienced a certain amount of +pain in her arms while writing, as if she were holding the electrodes of a +battery through which a mild current was passing. On this occasion the +pain was almost unbearable, so that she frequently cried out, and was +obliged to remove her hands from the board for relief. + +The writing was so violent that it could be heard in the next room, and at +times it seemed as though the board would surely be broken. Seeing so much +force exhibited, I allowed my fingers merely to touch the surface of the +board, but so lightly that my hands did not move with it at all, but +simply retained contact, the board sliding along beneath them. The +writing continued with just the same violence. I then called the attention +of Miss V. to what I was doing, and requested her to adjust her hands in a +similar manner. She did so, and the instrument continued to write several +words, with gradually diminishing force, moving under our hands, while our +hands did not follow at all the movements of the instrument, until at +length it gradually stopped, like a machine when the power is turned off. + +Miss V. does not reside in the city, but while I was writing this chapter +she was in town, and spent a few hours at my house. We were both anxious +to try Planchette again. When we placed our fingers upon the board, the +writing commenced at once, and intelligent answers were given to about +twenty questions, some of the answers, especially those relating to +distant friends, being quite contrary to our impressions and our hopes, +but they were afterward found to be true. + +We remembered the experiment just related, which was made more than four +years ago. The force on this occasion was not at all to be compared with +what it was then, but we said, "Now, Planchette, we want to ask a favor of +you; will you repeat the experiment of four years ago, and move under our +hands, while our hands remain stationary?" It replied, "Since you are so +polite, I will try; perhaps I can move it a little." + +We then planted our elbows firmly upon the table, curved our wrists, so as +to allow the tips of our fingers to rest in the lightest possible manner +upon the surface of the board. Four of us were watching with great +interest for the result. After a moment's hesitation, slowly the board +moved nearly an inch and stopped, but the movement was so obvious and +decided, and without any movement of our hands, that a simultaneous shout +went up from us all, and "Well done, Planchette!" The experiment was +successfully repeated several times, the tracing of the pencil in each +case showing a movement of from one to two inches. + +A most valuable series of experiments in Planchette-writing was recently +carried on by the late Rev. Mr. Newnham, vicar of Maker, Davenport, +England, a member of the Society for Psychical Research, together with his +wife. They were fully reported to Mr. F. W. H. Myers, secretary of the +society. + +The experiments extended over a period of eight months, and more than +three hundred questions and answers were recorded. Mrs. Newnham alone was +the operator, and the important peculiarity in these experiments was, +that although quite in her normal condition, yet in no instance here +related did she see the question written to which she wrote the answer, +nor did she hear it asked, nor did she have any conscious knowledge, +either of question or answer, until the answer was written and read. She +sat upon a low chair at a low table some eight or ten feet from her +husband, while he sat at a rather high table, with his back to her. In +this position he silently wrote out the questions, it being impossible for +her to see either the paper, the motion of his hand, or the expression of +his face, and their good faith, as well as that of many intelligent +witnesses, is pledged to the truth of this statement. + +Mr. Newnham remarks that Planchette commenced to move immediately upon the +first trial, and often the answer to questions prepared as just described +was commenced before the question was fully written out. + +At their first sitting, finding that the instrument would write, he +proposed, silently, in writing, six questions, three the answers to which +might be known to Mrs. Newnham, and three relating to his own private +affairs, and of which the answers could not have been known to her. All +six were immediately answered in a manner denoting complete intelligence, +both of the question and the proper answer. He then wrote: "Write down the +lowest temperature here this winter." Answer: "8." The actual lowest +temperature had been 7.6 degrees, so 8 was the nearest whole degree, but +Mrs. Newnham remarked at once that had she been asked the question she +should have written 7, and not 8, because she did not remember the +fraction, but did remember that the figure was 7 something. + +Again it was asked, "Is it the operator's brain, or an immaterial spirit +that moves Planchette? Answer 'brain' or 'force.'" + +"Will." + +"Is it the will of a living person or of an immaterial spirit? Answer +'force' or 'spirit.'" + +"Wife." + +"Give, first, the wife's Christian name, and then my favorite name for +her." This was accurately done. + +"What is your own name?" + +"Only wife." + +"We are not quite sure of the meaning of your answer. Explain." + +"Wife." + +"Who are you that writes?" + +"Wife." + +"Does no one tell wife what to write? If so, who?" + +"Spirit." + +"Whose spirit?" + +"Wife's brain." + +"But how does wife's brain know certain secrets?" + +"Wife's spirit unconsciously guides." + +"Can you foresee the future?" + +"No." + +On another occasion it was asked: "Write out the prayer used at the +advancement of a Mark Master Mason." + +"Answer: Almighty Ruler of the Universe and Architect of all Worlds, we +beseech Thee to accept this, our brother, whom we have this day received +into our most honorable company of Mark Master Masons. Grant him to be a +worthy member of our brotherhood, and may he be in his own person a +perfect mirror of all Masonic virtues. Grant that all our doings may be to +Thy honor and glory and to the welfare of all mankind." + +Mr. Newnham adds: "This prayer was written off instantaneously and very +rapidly. I must say that no prayer in the slightest degree resembling it +is made use of in the ritual of any Masonic degree, and yet it contains +more than one strictly accurate technicality connected with the degree of +Mark Master Mason. My wife has never seen any Masonic prayers, whether in +'Carlile,' or any other real or spurious ritual of the Masonic Order." + +The whole report shows the same instantaneous appreciation of the written +questions, by the intelligence and appropriateness with which the answer +was framed, though Mrs. Newnham never had any idea what the question was +until after the answer was written and read, and the answers very often +were entirely contrary to the prejudices and expectations of both the +persons engaged in the experiments. + +The following case may fairly be placed in the third class of messages, +namely, those conveying intelligence which seems to be beyond the possible +knowledge of the writer or of any person present. It is a well +authenticated and interesting example of Planchette-writing, reported to +Mr. Myers, the reporter being Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood, a cousin and +brother-in-law of Charles Darwin, and himself a savant of no small +reputation. Two ladies, sisters, whom he designates as Mrs. R. and Mrs. +V., were for many years intimate and valued friends of Mr. Wedgwood, and +it was in co-operation with one or the other of these ladies that the +results to be noted, along with much other interesting matter, were +obtained. + +Sitting alone, neither of the ladies nor Mr. Wedgwood was able to obtain +any results at all with Planchette; the board remained absolutely +motionless. The two ladies together could obtain no writing, but only wavy +lines, made rapidly, like a person writing at full speed, but with Mr. +Wedgwood co-operating with either of the ladies the writing was +intelligible, but was much stronger and more vivacious with Mrs. V. than +with Mrs. R. The following extracts are from Mrs. R.'s journal of a +sitting, June 26, 1889: + +"With Mr. W. and Mrs. R. at the board, Planchette writes: 'A spirit is +here who thinks he will be able to write, through the medium. Hold very +steady, and he will try first to draw.' We turned the page, and a sketch +was made, rudely enough, of course, but with much apparent care. +Planchette then wrote: + +"'Very sorry can't do better; was meant for test; must write for you +instead. (Signed) J. G.' + +"We did not fully understand this drawing; and Mr. W. asked, 'Will J. G. +try again?' which it did. Below the drawing it wrote: 'Now look.' We did, +and this time clearly comprehended the arm and sword. Mr. W. asked, 'What +does the drawing represent?' + +"'Something given to me.' + +"Mrs. R. asked, 'Are you a man or a woman?' + +"'A man--John G.' + +"Mr. W. asked, 'How was it given to you?' + +"'On paper and other things.' + +"Mr. W. 'We don't know J. G. Have you anything to do with us?' + +"'No connection.' + +"Mr. W. said he knew of a J. Gifford, and wondered if that was the name. + +"'Not Gifford; Gurwood.' + +"Mr. W. suggested that he had been killed in storming some fort. + +"'I wish I had died fighting.' + +"'Were you a soldier?' + +"'I was in the army.' + +"'Can you say what rank?' + +"'No; it was the pen did for me, not the sword.' + +"We suggested that he was an author who had failed or been maligned. + +"'I did not fail. I was not slandered. Too much for me after--the pen was +too much for me after my wound.' + +"Asked to repeat, it wrote: 'I was wounded in the Peninsula. It will be +forty-four years next Christmas Day since I killed myself--I killed +myself. John Gurwood.'" + +[Illustration] + +Leaving Mrs. R.'s diary, the following is the account Mr. Wedgwood wrote +of the seance at the time:-- + +"JUNE 26, 1889.--Had a sitting at Planchette with Mrs. R. this morning. +Planchette said there was a spirit there who thought it could draw if we +wished it. We said we should be glad if he would try. Accordingly +Planchette made a rude attempt at a hand and arm proceeding from an +embattled wall and holding a sword. A second attempt made the subject +clearer. Planchette said it was meant for a test. The spirit signed it 'J. +G.' No connection of ours, he said. We gradually elicited that his name +was John Gurwood, who was wounded in the Peninsula in 1810, and killed +himself on Christmas Day, 1845. It was not the wound but the pen that did +it. + +"JULY 5, 1889.--I made the foregoing memorandum the same day, having very +little expectation that there would be any verification. + + "H. WEDGWOOD." + +Quoting again from Mrs. R.'s journal: "Friday, Sept. 27.--Mr. Wedgwood +came, and we had two sittings--in the afternoon and evening. I think the +same spirit wrote throughout, beginning without signature, but when asked +the name, writing John Gurwood. The effort, at first incoherent, developed +afterward into the following sentences: 'Sword--when I broke in, on the +table with plan of fortress--belonged to my prisoner--I will tell you his +name to-night. It was on the table when I broke in. He did not expect me. +I took him unawares. He was in his room, looking at a plan, and the sword +was on the table. Will try and let you know how I took the sword +to-night.' + +"In the evening, after dinner: 'I fought my way in. His name was +Banier--Banier--Banier. The sword was lying on a table by a written scheme +of defence. Oh, my head! Banier had a plan written out for defence of the +fortress. It was lying on the table, and his sword was by it.... Look! I +have tried to tell you what you can verify.'" + +Mr. Wedgwood reports his verification as follows:-- + +"When I came to verify the messages of Planchette, I speedily found that +Col. Gurwood, the editor of the duke's dispatches, led the forlorn hope at +the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo in 1812 (note Planchette's error in date), +and received a wound in his skull from a musket-ball, 'which affected him +for the remainder of his life,' (_Annual Register_, 1845). In recognition +of the bravery shown on that occasion, he received a grant of arms in +1812, registered in the College of Arms as having been passed 'upon the +narrative that he (Capt. G.) had led the forlorn hope at Ciudad Rodrigo, +and that after the storming of the fortress the Duke of Wellington +presented him with the sword of the governor who had been taken prisoner +by Capt. Gurwood.'" + +The services thus specified were symbolized in the crest, described in the +"Book of Family Crests": "Out of a mural coronet, a castle ruined in the +centre, and therefrom an arm in armor embowed, holding a cimeter." + +It was evidently this crest that Planchette was trying to sketch. The +_Annual Register_ of 1845 also confirms Planchette's assertion that Col. +Gurwood killed himself on Christmas Day of that year, and adds: "It is +thought that this laborious undertaking (editing the dispatches) produced +a relaxation of the nervous system and consequent depression of spirits. +In a fit of despondency the unfortunate gentleman terminated his life." +Compare Planchette: "Pen was too much for me after the wound." + +Here are described four instances of automatic writing by means of +Planchette. Two of these cases were reported to Mr. Myers, who has +thoroughly canvassed them as regards their authenticity, as well as the +ability and good faith of the persons concerned, both in the writing and +reporting; and he has made use of them in his own able argument upon the +same subject. + +In the other cases the messages were written under my own observation, my +own hands also being upon the board. In the case of Mr. and Mrs. Newnham +the intelligence which furnished the messages disclaimed altogether the +aid of any spirit except "wife's spirit," which did "unconsciously guide." +In the case reported by Mr. Wedgwood and Mrs. R., the intelligence +distinctly claimed to be from Col. John Gurwood, who had died nearly fifty +years before. In my own cases, in that written with the co-operation of +my friend's school-girl daughter, the intelligence claimed to be that of +Peter Stuyvesant, while in those written with Miss V., various names were +given, none of which was recognized as belonging to a person of whom we +had ever had any knowledge, and all bore abundant evidence of being +fictitious. One, indeed, professed to be "Beecher," and declined to give +an opinion on the prospective trotting qualities of a colt, on the ground +that he was "no horseman"; and in our later experiments, when closely +questioned, it distinctly stated that the intelligence came from the mind +of Miss V. herself. + +Let us analyze these messages a little further. Those written by Mr. and +Mrs. Newnham were remarkable, not only because Mrs. Newnham was writing +without any conscious knowledge of what was being written, but neither had +she any conscious knowledge of the questions to which she was writing the +answers. Evidently, then, her own ordinary consciousness was not acting at +all in the matter regarding either the questions or answers, for she was +fully awake, in her normal condition, and perfectly competent to judge of +her own mental state and actions. Nevertheless, there was some +intelligence acting reasonably and consciously, and making use of her +hand to register its thoughts. + +In a former chapter I have described and illustrated a somewhat unusual +mental phenomenon, to which the name thought-transference, or telepathy, +has been given; and in another I have endeavored to demonstrate the +existence of a secondary or subliminal self or personality. + +If I mistake not, it is here, in these two comparatively little known and, +until recently, little studied, psychical conditions, that we shall find +the key to message-bearing automatism, as well as other manifestations of +intelligence which have heretofore been considered mysterious and occult. +Applying this key to the Newnham Planchette-writing, the secondary +personality or subliminal self of Mrs. Newnham took immediate cognizance +of the questions silently and secretly written out by her husband, +although they were utterly unknown to her ordinary or primary self, and +made use of her hands to communicate the answer. + +The answer, also, was of course unknown to her primary self, but her +subliminal self, in addition to its own private and constant stock of +knowledge and opinions, had the advantage of more subtle means of securing +other knowledge necessary for a proper answer, and so sought it in her +husband's mind, or wherever it could be obtained. The sources of +information accessible to the subliminal self, through means analogous to +those which have been named--thought-transference and telepathy--are +certainly various, and their limit is not yet known. We may mention, +however, in this connection, besides the mind of the automatic writer--the +mind of the questioner, and also the minds of other persons present, in +any or all of which may be stored up knowledge or impressions of which the +ordinary consciousness or memory retains no trace; it may be a scene +witnessed in childhood; a newspaper paragraph read many years ago; a +casual remark overheard, but not even noticed--all these and many more are +sources of information upon which the subliminal self may draw for +answers, which, when written out by the automatist, seem absolutely +marvellous, not to say miraculous or supernatural. + +Thus, the prayer at the ceremony of the advancement of a Mark Master +Mason, although language entirely unfamiliar to Mrs. Newnham, was +perfectly familiar to her husband, who was himself a Mason, and, I +believe, a chaplain in the order; and while the form was not one actually +used, it contained strictly accurate technicalities, and would have been +perfectly appropriate to such an occasion. + +The messages written by Mr. Wedgwood and Mrs. R. profess to come directly +from the spirit of Colonel Gurwood; but without absolutely discarding that +theory, having the key to which I have referred, let us see if such a +supposition is necessary to explain the facts. + +It may be conceded at once that neither Mr. Wedgwood nor either of the +ladies with whom he wrote had any conscious knowledge of Col. Gurwood--his +military career, or his sad taking off; but they were all intelligent +people. John Gurwood, as it turned out, was a noted man; he was an officer +in the Peninsular War, under the Duke of Wellington, performed an act of +special bravery and daring, in the performance of which he was severely +wounded, and for which he was afterward granted a coat of arms. He was +also afterward chosen to edit the duke's dispatches. All this was recorded +in the _Annual Register_ for 1845, soon after Gurwood's death, together +with a description in the language of heraldry of the crest or coat of +arms which had been granted him many years before. + +It is scarcely possible that such an event would not have been noticed in +the newspapers at the time of Gurwood's death, and nothing is more +probable than that some of these intelligent persons had read these +accounts, or as children heard them read or referred to, though they may +now have been entirely absent from their ordinary consciousness and +memory. At all events, the subliminal self or secondary consciousness of +Mrs. R., whom Planchette designates as "the medium," or of Mr. Wedgwood, +may have come into relationship with the sources of information necessary +to furnish the messages which it communicated, and these sources may have +been the knowledge or impressions unconsciously received many years before +by some of those present, the generally diffused knowledge of these facts +which doubtless prevailed in the community at the time of Gurwood's death, +and the full printed accounts of these events, many copies of which were +extant. + +From the description of Gurwood's coat of arms the idea could easily have +been obtained which Planchette rudely represented in drawing, constituting +what is called a test, and also the other knowledge concerning his +military career and death which appeared in the various messages. + +Regarding cases coming under my own observation, the incident relating to +Peter Stuyvesant's pear tree was well known to us both, and had only +recently been a matter of general conversation, and all of those present +had a more or less distinct idea of Peter Stuyvesant himself, derived from +Irving's "Knickerbocker's History of New York." + +Of the cases observed with Miss V., as before stated, nearly all the names +given of "authorities," as we called them, were evidently fictitious, +scarcely one being recognized, and none were of persons with whom we had +any connection, and some did not claim any other origin than our +subliminal consciousness, as was also the case with messages written by +Mrs. Newnham. + +If, then, some of the messages are surely the work of the subliminal self +of the writer, aided by its more acute and more far-reaching perceptions, +and if nearly all may be accounted for in the same way, the probability +that all such messages have the same origin is greatly increased, and in +the same degree the necessity for the spiritualistic theory is diminished, +since it is evident that of two theories for explaining a new fact we +should accept that one which better harmonizes with facts already +established. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AUTOMATIC WRITING, DRAWING AND PAINTING. + + +The subject of Automatism has thus far been illustrated by reference to +Planchette-writing alone. It was selected because it is the kind most +frequently seen and most easily proved by experiment. The little +instrument Planchette, however, is not essential; it is used because, +being placed on casters, it is more easily moved. + +The Chinese, long ago, used for the same purpose a little basket, with +style attached, placed upon two even chopsticks. + +The same results also occur with some persons when the pencil is simply +held in the usual manner for writing. The hand then being allowed to +remain perfectly passive, automatic movements first take place--the hand +moving round and round or across the paper, and then follows writing or +drawing, as the case may be. Some persons produce written messages in +_mirror writing_--that is, reversed--or so written that it can only be +easily read by causing it to be reflected in a mirror. This kind of +writing is sometimes produced on the first attempt of the experimenter, +and even by young children without any experience or knowledge of the +subject. + +As previously shown, different strata of consciousness may, and in some +well observed cases, most certainly do, exist in the same individual. In +these well observed cases, each separate consciousness had its own +distinct chain of memories and its own characteristics and peculiarities; +and these distinct chains of memories and well defined characteristics +constitute, so far as we can judge, distinct personalities. At all events, +they are centres of intelligence and mental activity which are altogether +independent of the ordinary, everyday consciousness or personality, and +often altogether superior to it. Accordingly this other centre of +intelligence and mental activity has been named the _second personality or +subliminal self_; that is, a consciousness or self or personality beneath +the threshold, so to speak, of the ordinary or primary self. + +Ansel Bourne and A. J. Brown were separate and distinct personalities, +having entirely distinct, and apparently unrelated, chains of memory, +distinct characteristics, opinions, and peculiarities, acting at +different times through the same body. + +Ansel Bourne was the usual or primary personality; A. J. Brown was a +second personality, a separate focus of intelligence and mental activity, +a subliminal self. What the exact relationship existing between these two +personalities may be we do not attempt at present to explain; but that +they exist and act independent of each other we know. In other instances, +as, for example, that of Madame B., the hypnotic subject of Prof. Janet of +Havre, and also that of Alma Z., we have been able to observe these +separate centres of intelligence, these distinct personalities, both in +action at the same time, upon altogether separate and unrelated subjects. +Sometimes the subliminal self takes full control, making itself the active +ruling personality to the entire exclusion of the primary self; and +sometimes it only sends messages to the primary or ordinary self, by +suggestion, mental pictures, or vivid impressions made upon the organs of +sense and producing the sensation of seeing, hearing, or touch. + +To illustrate these different methods of communication between the +ordinary and subliminal self, suppose an individual, whom we will +designate as X., manifests this peculiar condition of double +consciousness. As we have seen, the subliminal self often takes cognizance +of things concerning which the ordinary self is entirely ignorant, but it +may not always have the power to impress the primary self with this +knowledge, nor to take full possession, so as to be able to impart it to +others by speaking or writing. This is the usual condition of most +persons; with some peculiarly constituted persons, however, the +possibility of being so impressed surely exists, and with them these +impressions are direct and vivid. + +Our individual, X., is one in whom this ability to receive impressions in +this manner exists. + +To illustrate: Suppose first that X. is asleep, is taking his after-dinner +nap, and that children playing in his grounds have set fire to some straw +in close proximity to buildings near by. No one notices the danger. X. is +asleep, but his subliminal self is on the alert--like the second self of +the somnambulist or subject in the hypnotic trance--it sees that unless +checked there will be a destructive conflagration. It impresses upon X. a +dream of fire so vivid that he wakes in alarm, discovers the mischief and +averts the danger. Or suppose X. to be awake and sitting in his office in +a distant part of the house, quite unconscious of anything unusual. All at +once he becomes restless, unable to pursue his work; he is impelled to +leave his desk, to go out, to walk in the direction of the fire, and thus +become aware of the danger. Or again, that X. is an automatic writer--that +paper and pencil are at hand and he receives a sudden impulse to write. He +has no knowledge of what he is writing, but upon examination he finds it a +warning to look after the threatening fire; or still again, that he hears +a voice distinctly saying, "Look out for fire;" or sees a distinct picture +of the place and circumstances of the fire; all these are possible methods +by which the subliminal self might communicate to X., the ordinary +personality, the danger which was threatening. + +Automatism, therefore, does not necessarily take the form of written +messages, but may take any form by which the subliminal self can best +transmit its message to the primary self--or in the same way from one +person to another, whether by words written or spoken automatically--by +voices heard, by action influenced, as when X. is influenced to leave his +office and walk, or the mischievous Leontine unties the apron of Leonie, +or by vision or vivid mental picture, as when Peter sees a "sheet let +down by the four corners," from which he learns an important lesson. + +The messages received automatically may not all be true; they may be +trivial and even false; on the other hand, they may not only be true and +important but they may convey information quite out of the power of the +primary self to acquire by any ordinary use of the senses. Nor need we be +greatly surprised at this; it is a normal function of the subliminal self; +with some persons that function is active, with others it is dormant, but +in all, at some moment in life, circumstances may arise which shall awaken +that function into activity. + +A remarkable example of messages received by automatic writing is that +furnished by Mr. W. T. Stead, occurring in his own experience. Mr. Stead +is a well-known author, journalist, and the editor of the London edition +of the _Review of Reviews_, in which magazine his experiences have, on +various occasions, been published. + +As he regards the matter, there is an _invisible intelligence_ which +controls his hand, but the persons with whom he is in communication are +alive and visible--for instance his own son on various occasions, also +persons in his employ, writers upon his magazine, casual acquaintances, +and even strangers. + +None of these persons participate in any active or conscious way in the +communications. Mr. F. W. H. Myers has often conversed with Mr. Stead and +with several of his involuntary correspondents in relation to the +phenomena, and the facts are so simple and open, and the persons connected +with them so intelligent and evidently sincere and truthful, that no doubt +can be entertained as to the reality of the incidents, however they may be +interpreted. + +One of the most remarkable of these involuntary correspondents is known as +Miss A., a lady employed by him in literary work of an important +character. She testifies in regard to the matter: "I, the subject of Mr. +Stead's automatic writing, known as 'A.,' testify to the correctness of +the statements made in this report. I would like to add what I think more +wonderful than many things Mr. Stead has cited, namely, the correctness +with which, on several occasions, he has given the names of persons whom +he has never seen nor heard of before. I remember on one occasion a person +calling upon me with a very uncommon name. The next day I saw Mr. Stead +and he read to me what his hand had written of the visit of that person, +giving the name absolutely correctly. Mr. Stead has never seen that +person, and until then had no knowledge of his existence." + +The following is a description of a journey made by Miss A., automatically +written by Mr. Stead, he at the time not having the slightest knowledge +where she was, what she was doing, or that she intended making any such +journey. The slight inaccuracies are noted:-- + +"I went to the Waterloo station by the twelve o'clock train, and got to +Hampton Court about one. When we got out we went to a hotel and had +dinner. It cost nearly three shillings. After dinner I went to the +picture-galleries. I was very much pleased with the paintings of many of +the ceilings. I was interested in most of the portraits of Lely. After +seeing the galleries I went into the grounds. How beautiful they are! I +saw a great vine, that lovely English garden, the avenue of elms, the +canal, the great water sheet, the three views, the fountain, the gold +fishes, and then lost myself in the maze. I got home about nine o'clock. +It cost me altogether about six shillings." On communicating this to Miss +A. she found that everything was correct with two exceptions. She went +down by the two o'clock train instead of the twelve, and got to Hampton +Court about three. The dinner cost her two and elevenpence, which was +nearly three shillings, and the total was six and threepence. The places +were visited in the order mentioned. + +A second instance was where the needs of a comparative stranger were +written out by Mr. Stead's hand. Mr. Stead goes on to say: "Last February +I met a correspondent in a railway carriage with whom I had a very casual +acquaintance. Knowing that he was in considerable distress, our +conversation fell into a more or less confidential train in which I +divined that his difficulty was chiefly financial. I said I did not know +whether I could be of any help to him, but asked him to let me know +exactly how things stood--what were his debts, his expectations, and so +forth. He said he really could not tell me, and I refrained from pressing +him. + +"That night I received a letter from him apologizing for not having given +the information, but saying he really could not. I received that letter +about ten o'clock, and about two o'clock next morning, before going to +sleep, I sat down in my bedroom and said: 'You did not like to tell me +your exact financial condition face to face, but now you can do so through +my hand. Just write and tell me exactly how things stand. How much money +do you owe?' My hand wrote, 'My debts are L90.' In answer to a further +inquiry whether the figures were accurately stated, 'ninety pounds' was +then written in full. 'Is that all?' I asked. My hand wrote 'Yes, and how +I am to pay I do not know.' 'Well,' I said; 'how much do you want for that +piece of property you wish to sell?' My hand wrote, 'What I hope is, say, +L100 for that. It seems a great deal, but I must get money somehow. Oh, if +I could get anything to do--I would gladly do anything!' 'What does it +cost you to live?' I asked. My hand wrote, 'I do not think I could +possibly live under L200 a year. If I were alone I could live on L50 per +annum.' + +"The next day I made a point of seeking my friend. He said: 'I hope you +were not offended at my refusing to tell you my circumstances, but really +I do not think it would be right to trouble you with them.' I said: 'I am +not offended in the least, and I hope you will not be offended when I tell +you what I have done.' I then explained this automatic, telepathic method +of communication. I said: 'I do not know whether there is a word of truth +in what my hand has written. I hesitate at telling you, for I confess I +think the sum which was written as the amount of your debts cannot be +correctly stated; it seems to me much too small, considering the distress +in which you seemed to be; therefore I will read you that first, and if +that is right I will read you the rest; but if it is wrong I will consider +it is rubbish and that your mind in no way influenced my hand.' He was +interested but incredulous. But, I said, 'Before I read you anything will +you form a definite idea in your mind as to how much your debts amount to; +secondly, as to the amount of money you hope to get for that property; +thirdly, what it costs you to keep up your establishment with your +relatives; and fourthly, what you could live upon if you were by +yourself?' 'Yes,' he said, 'I have thought of all those things.' I then +read out. 'The amount of your debts is about L90.' He started. 'Yes,' he +said, 'that is right.' Then I said: 'As that is right I will read the +rest. You hope to get L100 for your property.' 'Yes,' he said, 'that was +the figure that was in my mind, though I hesitated to mention it for it +seems too much.' 'You say you cannot live upon less than L200 a year with +your present establishment.' 'Yes,' he said, 'that is exactly right.' 'But +if you were by yourself you could live on L50 a year.' 'Well,' said he, 'a +pound a week was what I had fixed in my mind.' Therefore there had been a +perfectly accurate transcription of the thoughts in the mind of a +comparative stranger written out with my own hand at a time when we were +at a distance of some miles apart, within a few hours of the time when he +had written apologizing for not having given me the information for which +I had asked." + +In the following case the correspondent is a foreign lady, doing some work +for the _Review_, but whom Mr. Stead had only met once in his life. On the +occasion now referred to be was to meet her at Redcar Station at about +three o'clock in the afternoon. He was stopping at a house ten minutes' +walk from the station, and it occurred to him that "about three o'clock," +as mentioned in her letter, might mean _before_ three; and it was now only +twenty minutes of three. No timetable was at hand: he simply asked her to +use his hand to tell him what time the train was due. This was done +without ever having had any communication with her upon the subject of +automatic writing. She (by Mr. Stead's hand) immediately wrote her name, +and said the train was due at Redcar Station at ten minutes of three. +Accordingly he had to leave at once--but before starting he said, "Where +are you at this moment?" The answer came, "I am in the train at +Middlesborough railway station, on my way from Hartpool to Redcar." + +On arriving at the station he consulted the timetable and found the train +was due at 2:52. The train, however, was late. At three o'clock it had not +arrived; at five minutes past three, getting uneasy at the delay, he took +paper and pencil in his hand and asked where she was. + +Her name was at once written and there was added: "I am in the train +rounding the curve before you come to Redcar Station--I will be with you +in a minute." + +"Why the mischief have you been so late?" he mentally asked. His hand +wrote, "We were detained at Middlesborough so long--I don't know why." + +He put the paper in his pocket and walked to the end of the platform just +as the train came in. + +He immediately went to his friend and exclaimed:--"How late you are! What +on earth has been the matter?" To which she replied: "I do not know; the +train stopped so long at Middlesborough--it seemed as if it never would +start." + +This narrative was fully corroborated by the lady who was the passenger +referred to. + +In all these cases it should be noticed the so-called correspondent took +no active part in the experiment, was not conscious of communicating +anything, nor of trying to do so; nor is there any evidence of a third +party or any intervening intelligence or personality; but the subliminal +self of the writer went forth and acquired the needed information and +transferred it automatically to the primary self, as was the case in the +Planchette-writing of Mrs. Newnham and the Wedgwood cases. + +During the years 1874 and 1875 I had under my care Mrs. Juliette T. +Burton, the wife of a physician who came to New York from the South at the +close of the war. She was a woman of refinement, education, and excellent +literary ability. She wrote with unusual facility, and her articles were +accepted by newspapers and magazines, and brought her a considerable +income. I knew her well, and her honesty, good faith, and strong +common-sense were conspicuous. She died of phthisis in 1875. It is to her +varied automatic powers as illustrating our subject that I would call +attention. + +Many of her best articles were prepared without conscious effort of her +own, either physical or mental; she simply prepared pencils and paper, +became passive, and her hand wrote. Sometimes she had a plan to write up a +certain subject, and sometimes the subject as well as the matter came +automatically. + +She knew that she was writing, but of what was written she had no +knowledge until she read her own manuscript. + +She had no talent for drawing nor for painting; she could not, in her +ordinary condition, draw a face, nor even a leaf, which could be +recognized. Soon after coming to New York she began to see faces and other +pictures before her on the blank paper and to sketch them with marvellous +rapidity and exactness, all in the same automatic manner as that in which +she did her writing. These drawings were not crude, but were strongly +characteristic and were delicately done with ordinary lead pencils, +several of which were prepared beforehand with sharp delicate points. I +remember one drawing in particular--a man's head about half life-size, +with full flowing beard. At first glance there was nothing peculiar about +the picture, except that one would say that it was a strong and +characteristic face; but on close examination in a strong light, and +especially through a reading-glass, the beard was seen to be made up +entirely of exceedingly minute faces of sheep; every face was perfectly +formed and characteristic, and there were thousands of them. It was done +with the same wonderful rapidity which characterized all her automatic +work. + +Later she was impelled to procure colors, brushes, and all the materials +for painting in oil; and although she had never even seen that kind of +work done, and had not the slightest idea how to mix the colors to produce +desired tints, nor how to apply them to produce desired effects, yet at a +single sitting in a darkened room she produced a head of singular strength +and character and possessing at least some artistic merit. Certainly no +one could imagine it to be the first attempt of a person entirely without +natural talent for either drawing or painting. It was done on common brown +cardboard, and it has been in my possession for the past twenty-two years. +The reproduction which appears as frontispiece to the present volume gives +some idea of its character. + +The impression received by the painter was that it was the portrait of an +Englishman named Nathan Early.[1] No date was assigned. + + [1] See Frontispiece. + +As a further illustration of her automatic power, it may be mentioned that +another uncultivated faculty developed itself, namely, the power of +referring to past events in the lives of those who were in her presence. +The knowledge of past events so conveyed was frequently most remarkable +and was circumstantially correct, even rivalling in this respect the +reports which we have of Jung-Stilling and Zschokke. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CRYSTAL-GAZING. + + +Automatic messages fall naturally into two general classes: (1) _Motor_ +messages, or those received by means of writing, speaking, drawing, or +some _activity_ of the body, and (2) _sensory_ messages, or those received +_passively_ by means of an impression made upon some of the senses, as, +for example, seeing, hearing, or feeling. + +The motor messages spelt out by raps and table-tipping, and the +performances of trance-speakers and spiritualistic mediums need not detain +us at present; so far as the messages themselves are concerned they offer +no new elements for consideration. The utterances of trance-speakers as a +rule are not rich in verifiable facts, though some of their performances +are truly remarkable as presenting a phase of improvisation automatically +given; and the same may be said of mediumistic utterances generally; they +have the same value as automatic writing, whether produced by Planchette, +or passively holding the pencil in the hand; and so far as they are honest +they probably have the same origin, namely, the secondary consciousness or +subliminal self of the medium. As regards the force which makes the raps +or tips the table, it is altogether a different subject and its +consideration here would be unnecessary and out of place. + +I hasten to present cases of automatism where the messages brought are +given by other means than writing, speaking, or any movement or activity +of the body, but which belong to the _sensory_ class, and are received by +impressions made upon the senses. Of these the most common are those made +upon the sense of sight. + +To this class belong visions, dreams, distinct mental pictures presented +under widely varying circumstances and conditions, in trance, in the +hypnotic condition, in sleep, or directly conveyed to the primary +conscious self. To simply _think_ how a person, a building, or a landscape +looks is one thing, but to have a full mental picture, possessing +dimensions, and a stability which admits of being closely examined in +detail, is quite another thing. + +A little girl of my acquaintance, on returning from the country after +several weeks of absence from her father, said to him,--"Why, papa, I +could have you with me whenever I liked, this summer, though it was only +your head and shoulders that I could see; but I could place you where I +liked and could look at you a long time before you went away." Without +knowing it the child exactly described a true vision--her thought of her +father was visualized, _externalized_, given a form which had +definiteness, which could be placed and examined in detail, and was more +or less permanent. + +Various artificial expedients have been resorted to in order to assist in +this process of distinct visualization; and of these artificial means one +of the most important and effective is known as crystal-gazing. + +It is a fact not often commented upon--indeed not often alluded to in +general literature--that the crystal has from the earliest times been made +use of for the purpose of producing visions, and for divination and +prophecy. Not only has the crystal been used for this purpose, but also +the mirror, a cup or glass of water or wine, or even some dark and +glistening substance like treacle or ink poured into the palm of the hand, +have all been used in a similar manner. The same practice is still +observed amongst the people of India as well as the Arabs in northern +Africa and other localities. An instance or two at the outset will +illustrate the method and uses of the procedure. + +Mr. E. W. Lane, in his "Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians," +published in 1836, gives this example:-- + +Mr. Salt, the English consul-general to that country, had greatly +interested Mr. Lane by some experiences which he related, and had thus +excited his curiosity to witness some of these experiments himself. Mr. +Salt had suspected some of his servants of theft, but could not decide +which one was guilty; so it was arranged to test the powers of some of the +native seers. Accordingly a magician was sent for; a boy was also +necessary to act as seer, or as we would say crystal-gazer, and for this +purpose Mr. Salt selected one himself. + +The magician wrote several charms, consisting of Arabic words, on pieces +of paper, which were burnt in a brazier with a charcoal fire along with +incense and perfumes. He then drew a diagram in the palm of the boy's +right hand, and into the middle of this diagram he poured some ink. He +then asked the boy to look intently at the ink in the palm of his hand. +The boy soon began to see figures of persons in the ink, and presently +described the thief so minutely that he was at once recognized by Mr. +Salt, and on being arrested and accused of the crime he immediately +confessed his guilt. + +Further investigation by Mr. Lane and Mr. Salt furnished other interesting +results. A boy eight or nine years of age was usually chosen at random +from those who happened to be passing by. Invocations were written upon +paper by the magician, calling upon his familiar spirit, and also a verse +from the Koran "to open the boy's eyes in a supernatural manner so as to +make his sight pierce into what is to us the invisible world." These were +thrown into a brazier with live charcoal and burned with aromatic seeds +and drugs. The magic square, that is a square within a square, was drawn +in the boy's palm, and certain Arabic characters were written in the +spaces between the squares; ink was then poured into the centre, and upon +that the boy was to gaze intently. In this way visions were produced and +various persons and scenes were described. Finally, Mr. Lane desired that +Lord Nelson should be called for. The boy described a man in European +clothes of dark blue, who had lost his left arm; but looking closer he +added--"No, it is placed to his breast." + +Lord Nelson had lost his right arm and it was his custom to carry the +empty sleeve attached to his breast. Mr. Lane adds, "Without saying that +I suspected the boy had made a mistake I asked the magician whether +objects appeared in the ink as if actually before the boy's eyes, or as if +in a glass, which made the right side appear the left? He replied, 'They +appear as in a mirror,' This rendered the boy's description faultless." + +It is remarkable to notice how prevalent this mode of divination or +second-sight has been in all ages. Traces of the same procedure have been +found in Egypt, Persia, China, India, Greece, and Rome, and notably in +Europe generally, from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries. A lady who +withholds her name from the public, but who is perfectly well known to Mr. +Myers, of the Society for Psychical Research, and who chooses to be known +as Miss X., has been at great pains to collect curious information upon +this subject and has added her own very interesting experience in +crystal-gazing. She writes, "It is interesting to observe the close +resemblance in the various methods of employing the mirror, and in the +mystic symbolism which surrounds it, not only in different ages, but in +different countries. From the time of the Assyrian monarch represented on +the walls of the northwest palace of Nimrod down to the seventeenth +century, when Dr. Dee placed his 'Shew Stone' on a cushioned table in the +goodly little chapel next his chamber in the college of which he was +warden at Manchester, the seer has surrounded himself with the ceremonials +of worship, whether to propitiate Pan or Osiris, or to disconcert Ahriman +or the Prince of Darkness." + +The early Jewish Scriptures abound in indications of the same practice. +When the patriarch Joseph put his silver cup in the mouth of his young +brother Benjamin's sack, in order that he might have a pretext for +recalling his brethren after he had sent them away, his steward, in +accusing them of theft, uses this language: "Is not this the cup in which +my lord drinketh, and _whereby indeed he divineth_?" Showing the same use +of the cup for purposes of divination as that indicated on the walls of +the Assyrian Palace. + +The Urim and Thummim, as their names indicate, were doubtless stones of +unusual splendor set in the high-priest's "breast-plate of judgment," and +they were made use of to "inquire of the Lord." + +When Joshua was to be set apart as a leader of the people, he was brought +to Eleazar the priest, who should lay his hands on him and "ask counsel +for him _after the judgment_ of _Urim_ before the Lord." In the last days +of Saul's career as King of Israel he desired to "inquire of the Lord" +regarding his future fortunes, but "the Lord answered him not, neither by +dreams, nor by _Urim_, nor by prophets;" and it is not uninteresting to +note that Saul in his strait directly sought the Witch of Endor, from whom +he obtained what proved to be true information regarding the disasters +which were to overwhelm him. + +In a Persian romance it is noted that "if a mirror be covered with ink and +placed in front of any one it will indicate whatever he wishes to know." + +The Greeks had a variety of methods of divination by crystal-gazing. +Sometimes it was by the mirror placed so as to reflect light upon the +surface of a fountain of clear water, sometimes by mirrors alone; +sometimes they made use of glass vessels filled with water and surrounded +with torches, sometimes of natural crystals, and sometimes even of a +child's "nails covered with oil and soot," so as to reflect the rays of +the sun. + +The Romans made special use of crystals and mirrors, and children were +particularly employed for mirror-reading when consulting regarding +important events; thus in a manner taking the place of the early oracles. +From Jewish and Pagan practices as a means of divination, clairvoyance and +prophecy, the art of the crystal seer seems to have passed to early +Christian times without material change except in ceremonials. These seers +are mentioned in the counsels of the Church as specularii, children often +acting as the seers, and although in some quarters they were looked upon +with suspicion as heretics, and were under the ban of the Church, yet they +had an extensive following. + +Thomas Aquinas, speaking of the peculiar power of seeing visions possessed +by children, says it is not to be ascribed to any virtue or innocence of +theirs, nor any power of nature, but that it is the work of the devil. + +In Wagner's beautiful opera of Parsifal, based upon the legend of the Holy +Grail, reference to the same custom is more than once evident. The second +act opens with a scene representing the enchanted castle of Klingsor; the +magician himself is seen gazing into a bright metallic mirror, in which he +sees Parsifal approaching and recognizes and fears him as the promised +guiltless one--the true king and guardian of the Grail--an office to which +he himself had once aspired. In fact the Grail itself, in its earliest +mythical and traditional form, as well as in its later development as a +distinctly Christian symbol, was an instrument of divination and prophecy. +The Druids had their basin, sometimes filled with aromatic herbs, +sometimes with the blood of the sacrificed victim; but in either case it +was potent for securing the proper psychic condition in the officiating +priest or soothsayer; and while Arabic and Indian myths present the same +idea, sometimes as a cup of divination, and sometimes as a brilliant +stone, the British Islands were the main source of the traditions which +eventually culminated in the legends of the Holy Grail, with its full +store of beautiful and touching incidents, prophecies, and forms of +worship. In each the special guardians and knights of the Grail appear, +with Parsifal, the simple-minded, pure and pitiful knight as its restorer +and king when lost or in unworthy hands. + +In the German version of the twelfth century as given by Wolfram, in his +Parzival, the Grail is a beautiful, sacred stone, enshrined in the +magnificent temple at Montsalvat, guarded by the consecrated knights and +the sick and erring, but repentant, King Amfortas. While the unhappy king +was worshipping with gaze intent upon the Sacred Emblem, suddenly letters +of fire surrounded it and he read the cheering prophecy: + + "In the loving soul of a guiltless one + Put thy faith--Him have I chosen." + +Kufferath remarks, "The religious emblem soon became a symbolic object--it +revealed to its worshippers the knowledge of the future, the mystery of +the world, the treasures of human knowledge, and imparted a poetic +inspiration." So it comes to pass that in the legend in its latest +form--the splendid work of the Master of Bayreuth, the Holy Grail, as a +chalice and Christian emblem, is still endowed with the same miraculous +power, and is rescued from the unfortunate guardianship of Amfortas by the +"loving soul of a guiltless one"--the simple, tried, and much-enduring +Parsifal, miraculously promised long before by the Grail itself. + +It will be seen, then, that crystal-gazing in its various forms has, from +the earliest times, been practised with great ceremony for the purpose of +acquiring knowledge concerning affairs and events unknown and often not +discoverable by ordinary methods. + +Stripped of its fictitious accessories--its charms, incantations, incense +and prayers--one single important fact remains common in the most ancient +and the most modern usages, and that fact is the steady and continuous +gazing at a bright object. It is identical with Braid's method of inducing +the hypnotic trance, with Luys' method, causing his patients to gaze at +revolving mirrors, and with the method of hypnotizers generally who desire +their patients to direct their gaze toward some specified, and preferably +some bright or reflecting object. + +In crystal gazing, as ordinarily practised, the full hypnotic condition is +not usually induced; but in many cases a condition of reverie occurs, in +which pictures or visions fill the mind or appear externalized in the +crystal or mirror. With some persons this condition so favorable to +visualizing, is produced by simply becoming passive; with others the +gazing at a bright or reflecting object assists in securing that end, +while with many none of these means, nor yet the assistance of the most +skilful hypnotizer, avails to secure the message-bearing action of the +subliminal self. + +The experiences of Miss X., in crystal-gazing are devoid of the interest +imparted by exciting incident, and on that very account are the more +valuable as illustrating our subject. She has friends of whose experiments +she has carefully observed the results, and she has some seventy cases or +experiments of her own of which she has kept carefully prepared notes, +always made directly or within an hour after each experiment. For a +crystal she recommends "a good-sized magnifying glass placed on a dark +background." + +She classifies her results as follows:-- + +(1) After-images or recrudescent memories coming up from the subconscious +strata to which they had fallen. + +(2) Objectivations, or the visualizing of ideas or images which already +exist consciously or unconsciously in the mind. + +(3) Visions possibly telepathic, or clairvoyant, implying acquirement of +knowledge by supranormal means. + +The following are some of Miss X.'s experiments:-- + +She had been occupying herself with accounts and opened a drawer to take +out her banking book; accidentally her hand came in contact with the +crystal she was in the habit of using, and she welcomed the suggestion of +a change of occupation. Figures, however, were still uppermost, and the +crystal showed her nothing but the combination 7694. Dismissing this as +probably the number of the cab she had driven in that morning, or a +chance combination of figures with which she had been occupied, she laid +aside the crystal and took up her banking book, which certainly she had +not seen for several months. Greatly to her surprise she found that 7694 +was the number of her book, plainly indicated on the cover. + +She declares that she would have utterly failed to recall the figures, and +could not even have guessed the number of digits nor the value of the +first figure. + +Again:--Having carelessly destroyed a letter without preserving the +address of her correspondent she tried in vain to recall it. She knew the +county, and, searching on a map, she recognized the name of the town, one +quite unfamiliar to her, but she had no clue to the house or street, till +at length it occurred to her to test the value of the crystal as a means +of recalling forgotten knowledge. A short inspection showed her the words, +"H. House," in gray letters on a white ground. Having nothing better to +rely upon she risked posting the letter to the address so curiously +supplied. A day or two brought an answer--on paper headed "H. House" in +gray letters on a white ground. + +One more illustration from Miss X., one of her earliest experiments, +numbered 11, in her notebook. There came into the crystal a vision +perplexing and wholly unexpected: a quaint old chair, an aged hand, a worn +black coat-sleeve resting on the arm of the chair. It was slowly +recognized as a recollection of a room in a country vicarage which she had +not been in and had seldom thought of since she was a child of ten. But +whence came the vision, and why to-day? The clue was found. That same day +she had been reading Dante, a book which she had first learned to read and +enjoy by the help of the aged vicar with the "worn black coat-sleeve" +resting on the same quaint, oak chair-arm in that same corner of the study +in the country vicarage. + +Here are two cases from the same writer belonging to the third division of +her classification, namely, where an explanation of the vision requires +the introduction of a telepathic influence. On Monday, February 11th, she +took up the crystal with the deliberate wish and intention of seeing a +certain figure which occupied her thoughts at the time; but instead of the +desired figure the field was preoccupied by a plain little nosegay of +daffodils, such as might be formed by two or three fine flowers bunched +together. This presented itself in several different positions +notwithstanding her wish to be rid of it, so as to have the field clear +for her desired picture. She concluded that the vision came in consequence +of her having the day before seen the first daffodils of the season on a +friend's dinner-table. But the resemblance to these was not at all +complete, as they were loosely arranged with ferns and ivy, whereas the +crystal vision was a compact little bunch without foliage of any kind. On +Thursday, February 14th, she very unexpectedly received as a "Valentine" a +painting on a blue satin ground, of a bunch of daffodils corresponding +exactly with her crystal vision. She also ascertained that on Monday the +11th, the artist had spent several hours in making studies of these +flowers, arranged in different positions. + +Again:--On Saturday, March 9th, she had written a rather impatient note to +a friend, accusing her of having, on her return from the Continent, spent +several days in London without visiting her. On Sunday evening following, +she found her friend before her in the crystal, but could not understand +why she held up in a deprecating manner what seemed to be a music +portfolio. However, she made a note of the vision and sketched the +portfolio. On Monday she received an answer to her impatient letter, +pleading guilty to the charge of neglect, but urging as an excuse that she +was attending the Royal Academy of Music and was engaged there the greater +part of every day. Such an excuse was to the last degree unexpected, as +her friend was a married woman and had never given serious attention to +music. It was true, however--and she afterwards learned that she carried a +portfolio which was the counterpart of the one she had sketched from her +crystal vision. + +The following incident in which an East India army officer, Col. Wickham, +his wife, Princess di Cristoforo, and Ruth, their educated native servant, +were the chief actors, illustrates another phase of crystal-gazing. All +three of the actors participating in the incident were well known +personally to Mr. Myers, who reports the case. Briefly stated: In 1885, +Colonel, then Major, Wickham, was stationed with the Royal Artillery at +Colabra, about two miles from Bombay. Mrs. Wickham was accustomed to +experiment with some of the Indian servants and especially Ruth, by having +her look in a glass of magnetized water. One morning Lord Reay was +expected to arrive at Bombay, and there was to be a grand full-dress +parade of the English troops. While sitting at the breakfast table the +major directed his orderly to see that his uniform was in readiness. The +man obeyed, but soon returned with a dejected air, and stammered +out--"Sahib, me no can find the dress pouch-belt." A general hunt for the +lost article was instituted, but to no purpose; the pouch-belt was +absolutely missing. The enraged major stormed and accused the servants of +stealing it, which only produced a tumult and a storm of denials from them +all. "Now," cried the major, "is an excellent opportunity to test the +seeing powers of Ruth. Bring her in at once and let her try if she can +find my pouch-belt." Accordingly a tumbler was filled with water, and Mrs. +W. placing it on her left hand made passes over it with her right. Water +so treated could always be detected with absolute certainty by Ruth, +simply by tasting it--a fact not uncommonly observed, and which was an +additional proof that she possessed unusual perceptive power. Into this +glass of water Ruth gazed intently, but she could discern nothing. She was +commanded to find the thief, but no thief could be seen. Changing her +tactics, Mrs. W. then commanded Ruth to see where the major was the last +time he wore the belt. At once she described the scene of a grand parade +which took place months before, and which they all recognized. "Do not +take your eyes off from the major for a moment," said Mrs. W., and Ruth +continued to gaze intently at the pageant in the glass. At length the +parade ended and Ruth said, "Sahib has gone into a big house by the water; +all his regimentals are put in the tin case, but the pouch-belt is left +out; it is hanging on a peg in the dressing-room of the big house by the +water." "The yacht club!" cried the major. "Patilla, send some one at once +to see if the belt has been left there." The search was rewarded by +finding the belt as described, and the servants returned bringing it with +a grand tumult of triumph. On many other occasions was Ruth's aid +successfully invoked to find lost articles. + +Instead of a glass of water, some springs and wells when gazed into have +the same effect of producing visions, especially when a mirror is so held +at the same time as to reflect light upon the surface of the water. +Springs of this sort have been reported at various periods in the past, +some being frequented for health and some for purposes of divination. The +latest instance of a well possessing the quality or power of producing +visions is that upon the farm of Col. J. J. Deyer at Handsoms, Va. It was +in May, 1892, that the curious influence pertaining to this well was +first observed and soon it was thronged with visitors. Faces, both +familiar and strange, of people living and of those long dead, and +hundreds of other objects, animate and inanimate, were distinctly seen +upon the surface of the water. The water of the well is _unusually clear_ +and the bottom of _white sand_ is clearly visible. A mirror is held over +the top of the well with face toward the water so as to throw reflected +light upon the surface. At first Miss Deyer, the colonel's daughter, +always held the mirror, but afterwards it was found that any one who could +hold the mirror _steadily_ performed the duty equally well. If the mirror +was held unsteadily the pictures were indistinct or failed to appear at +all; and the brighter the day the better the pictures. Many level headed +men and some well qualified to observe curious psychical phenomena visited +the well, and nearly all were convinced that, under favorable +circumstances, remarkable pictures appeared; naturally, however, different +causes were assigned for these appearances. Prof. Dolbear and Mr. T. E. +Allen, from the American Psychical Society, saw nothing remarkable during +their visit to the well, and referred the pictures seen by so many people +to the reflection of objects about the well, aided by the mental +excitement and expectation of so many spectators. This explanation, +however, seems hardly sufficient to account for the hallucinations of so +large a number of persons kept up for so long a time. At all events, an +interesting psychic element of some sort was active. + +Col. Deyer is an intelligent man, commanding the respect of his neighbors, +and has held an appointment of considerable importance under the +government at Washington. In a letter dated December 2d, 1893, he +says:--"Thousands of people from various sections of the Union have +visited the place--of course some laugh at it. I do myself sometimes, as I +am not superstitious and take little stock in spooks or anything connected +therewith; but the well is here, and still shows up many wondrous things, +but not so plentiful nor so plainly as it did a year ago." + +We have presented in this well the most favorable conditions possible for +crystal-gazing--a body of unusually clear sparkling water, lying upon a +white sand bottom, and the rays of the sun reflected into it by means of a +mirror;--no better "cup of divination" could be desired, nor any better +circumstances for securing the psychical conditions favorable for the +action of the subliminal self. + +The various methods of practising crystal-gazing here noticed may be +looked upon simply as so many different forms of _sensory automatism_, +referable in these instances to the sense of sight; and whether produced +by using the "cup of divination," the ink or treacle in the palm of the +hand, the jewels of the Jewish high-priest, the ordinary crystal or stone +of the early Christian centuries, and even down to the experiments of Miss +X., and the Society for Psychical Research, or last of all, the wells or +springs of clear water, either the early ones of Greece and Rome, or the +latest one on the farm of Col. Deyer, they are all simply methods of +securing such a condition by gazing fixedly at a bright object, as best to +facilitate communication between the ordinary or primary self, and the +secondary or subliminal self. It is the first, and perhaps the most +important, in a series of sensory automatisms, or those having reference +to the senses, in distinction from motor automatisms, or those produced by +various automatic actions of the body. + +These sensory automatisms are usually looked upon as hallucinations--but +so far as the term hallucination conveys the idea of deception or falsity +it is inappropriate, since the messages brought in this manner are just as +real--just as veridical or truth-telling as automatic writing or +speaking. + +Hearing is another form of sensory automatism, which, while less common +than that of seeing, has also been noticed in all ages. + +The child Samuel, ministering to the High Priest Eli, three times in one +night, heard himself called by name, and three times came to Eli saying, +"Here am I;" adding at last, "for surely thou didst call me." The wise +high-priest recognized the rare psychic qualities of the child and brought +him up for the priesthood in place of his own wayward sons; and he became +the great seer of Israel. + +Socrates was accustomed to hear a voice which always admonished him when +the course he was pursuing or contemplating was wrong or harmful; but it +was silent when the contemplated course was right. This was the famous +"Daemon of Socrates," and was described and discussed by Xenophon and Plato +as well as other Greek writers and many modern ones. Socrates himself +called it the "Divine Sign." And on that account he was accused of +introducing new gods, and thus offering indignity to the accredited gods +of Greece. On this, as one of the leading charges, Socrates was tried and +condemned to death; but in all the proceedings connected with his trial +and condemnation he persisted in his course which he knew would end in his +death, rather than be false to his convictions of duty and right; and this +he did because the voice--the "Divine Sign"--which always before had +restrained him in any wrong course, was not heard restraining him in his +present course. + +Only once was it heard, and that was to restrain him from preparing any +set argument in his defence before his judges. So he accepted his sentence +and drank the hemlock, surrounded by his friends, to whom he calmly +explained that death could not be an evil thing, not only from the +arguments which he had adduced, but also because the Divine Sign, which +never failed to admonish him when pursuing any harmful course, had not +admonished nor restrained him in this course which had led directly to his +death. + +Joan of Arc heard voices, which in childhood only guided her in her +ordinary duties, but which in her early womanhood made her one of the most +conspicuous figures in the history of her time. They placed her, a young +and unknown peasant girl, as a commander at the head of the defeated, +disorganized, and discouraged armies of France, aroused them to +enthusiasm, made them victorious, freed her country from the power of +England, and placed the rightful prince upon the throne. She also heard +and obeyed her guiding voices, even unto martyrdom. + +Numerous instances might be cited occurring in ancient and also in modern +times where the subliminal self has sent its message of instruction, +guidance, warning, or restraint to the primary self by means of +impressions made upon the organ of hearing. Socrates, Joan of Arc, +Swedenborg, and many others considered these instructions infallible, +supernatural, or divine; but in other cases the messages so given have +been trivial, perhaps even false, thus removing the element of +infallibility and absolute truthfulness from messages of this sort, and at +the same time casting a doubt upon their supernatural character in any +case. It seems wisest, therefore, at least to examine these and all cases +of automatically received messages, whether by writing, trance-speaking, +dreams, visions, or the hearing of voices, with a definite conception of a +real and natural cause and origin for these messages in a subliminal self, +forming a definite part of each individual: bearing in mind also that this +subliminal self possesses powers and characteristics varying in each +individual case, in many cases greatly transcending the powers and +capabilities of the normal or primary self. But infallibility, though +sometimes claimed, is by no means to be expected from this source, and the +messages coming from each subliminal self must be judged and valued +according to their own intrinsic character and merit, just as a message +coming to us from any primary self, whether known or unknown to us, must +be judged and valued according to its source, character, and merit. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +PHANTASMS. + + +Perhaps no department of Psychical Research is looked upon from such +divers and even quite opposite standpoints as that which relates to +Apparitions or Phantasms. Many intelligent people, in a general way, +accept them as realities but assign for them a supernatural origin; while +others discredit them altogether because they have apparently no basis +except an assumed supernatural one. + +It has been said that primitive, undeveloped, and ignorant people almost +universally believe in ghosts; while with the advance of civilization, +culture, and general intelligence, the frequency of alleged apparitions +and the belief in ghosts diminishes or altogether disappears. If this +statement were to stand unqualified, by so much would the reality and +respectability of phantasms be discredited. Possibly, however, it may be +found that the last word has not yet been said, and that there may exist +a scientific aspect for even so unstable and diaphanous a subject as +ghosts. + +Instead of going over the literature of the subject from the earliest +times--a literature, by the way, which in the hands of Tylor, Maury, +Scott, Ralston, Mrs. Crowe and others certainly does not lack interest--it +will better suit our present purpose to examine some facts relative to +perception in general and vision in particular, and give some examples +illustrating different phases of the subject. + +Perception may be defined as the cognizance which the mind takes of +impressions presented to it through the organs of sense, and possibly also +by other means. + +One class of perceptions is universally recognized and is in a measure +understood, namely, perceptions arising from impressions made by +recognized external objects or forces upon the organs of sense, sight, +hearing, smell, taste, and also the general sense of touch. These +perceptions in particular are designated as _real_ or _true_, because they +correspond to recognized external realities. + +But impressions are also made upon the organs of special sense by +influences which are not recognized as having any objective reality, but +which nevertheless affect the senses in a manner often identical with that +in which they are affected by recognized external objects, and they cause +the same perceptions to arise in the mind. Hence another broad class of +perceptions includes those which are taken cognizance of by the mind from +impressions made upon the organs of sense in other ways and by other means +than by external objects, and often where there is no evidence that any +external object exists corresponding to the impression so made. +Perceptions arising in these various ways are called _hallucinations_. + +On close examination, however, it is found that the sharp line of +separation between what has and what has not an objective reality is not +easily drawn, any more than in biology the sharp line between animal and +vegetable life can be easily drawn, or at the lower end of the scale +between the living and the not living. + +So the origin of those perceptions which are classed as hallucinations has +always been a subject of controversy, even among philosophers of the +greatest merit and eminence. + +Without following out the discussions which have arisen on this +point--discussions which are often confusing and generally inconclusive, +a fairly distinct view of the subject may be obtained by considering the +origin of these perceptions under three heads--namely:-- + +(1) Perceptions which are reckoned as hallucinations may be originated +_centrally_; that is, they may arise wholly within the mind itself without +any direct external stimulus. For instance the characters drawn by the +novelist may become so real to him, and even to some of his readers, that +they become _externalized_--actual objects of visual perception and are +seen to act and even heard to speak. The instance is repeatedly quoted of +the painter who, after carefully studying a sitter's appearance, could +voluntarily project it visibly into space and paint the portrait, not from +the original, but from the phantasm so produced; and of another who could +externalize and project other mental pictures in the same manner, pictures +which so interested him and were so subject to the ordinary laws of vision +that he would request any one who took a position in front of them, to +move away so as not to obstruct his view. + +It will be noticed in these cases that although the perception has its +origin centrally, in the mind itself, and is even voluntarily produced, +still, it is seen as an impression made upon the visual organ in exactly +the same manner as a picture thrown upon the retina by a real external +object; it disappears when the eyes are closed or an opaque object +intervenes, and follows the laws of optics in general; hence, strictly +speaking, these perceptions are also real. + +(2) Perceptions may have their origin _peripherally_--that is, the point +of excitation which causes the act of perception in the mind may exist in +the external sense organs themselves, even when no external object +corresponding to the perception exists at the time, or it is not in a +position on account of distance or intervening objects to affect the +senses. + +In examining the cases which may be placed under this head they resolve +themselves into two classes: those which occur in connection with some +disease or defect in the sense organ concerned, and those which are +recrudescences or after-visions, arising from over-excitation of those +organs; for instance, after looking through a window in a very bright +light--even a considerable length of time afterwards--on shutting the eyes +or looking into a dark room, an image of the window is seen with all its +divisions and peculiarities of construction distinctly presented. To the +country lad returning home at night from his first visit to the circus +the whole scene is again presented; and ring, horses, equestrians, +acrobats and clowns are all seen and externalized with the utmost +distinctness; even the crack of the ring-master's whip is heard and the +jokes and antics of the clowns repeated. + +(3) Perceptions may have their origin telepathically--that is, scenes and +incidents transpiring at a distance far too great to affect the bodily +organs of sense in any direct or ordinary way do, nevertheless, in some +way, cause perceptions to arise in the mind corresponding to those same +scenes and incidents. + +This is comparatively a new proposition in psychology and has for its +basis studies and experiments which have only been systematically made +within the past fourteen years. These studies and experiments relate to +telepathy, automatism, and the action of the subliminal self. They have +been undertaken and carried on by various societies interested in +experimental psychology, but chiefly by the English Society for Psychical +Research, some of the results of whose labors have been briefly sketched +in the preceding chapters. + +In addition to the reports of these societies an important contribution to +the subject of apparitions was published by the then secretaries of the +Society for Psychical Research, the late Mr. Edmund Gurney, Mr. Frederick +W. H. Myers, and Mr. Frank Podmore. + +It appeared under the title, _Phantasms of the Living_, and contained more +than seven hundred instances relating to various forms of hallucinations +and phantasms--carefully studied and authenticated cases which were +selected from several thousand presented for examination. It is to these +sources chiefly that I shall refer for cases illustrating the subject +under consideration. + +It seems hardly necessary to recapitulate here the experiments on which +the doctrine of telepathy or thought-transference is +established--experiments which have been carefully made by so many well +qualified persons, and which have proved convincing to nearly every one, +whether scientific or unscientific, who has patiently followed them, +though of course not convincing to those who choose to remain ignorant of +the facts. + +The same is true regarding the subject of automatism and the existence and +action of the subliminal self. It remains to show the interesting +relations which these subjects bear to hallucinations in general, and +especially to phantasms and apparitions. + +It is well known that hallucinations can be voluntarily or purposely +produced by one person in the mind of another, and in various ways, though +few perhaps consider to what an extent this is possible. In many of the +most astonishing feats of the conjurer, and especially of the Indian +fakir, suggestion and the imagination are brought into service to aid in +producing the illusions. + +Regarding the hallucinations which may be produced in the mind of the +hypnotized subject by the hypnotizer there can be no doubt. + +The following case is in point and illustrates telepathic influence +excited at a distance as well. It is from _Phantasms of the Living_, and +the agent, Mr. E. M. Glissold, of 3 Oxford Square, W., writes +substantially as follows:-- + +"In the year 1878 there was a carpenter named Gannaway employed by me to +mend a gate in my garden; when a friend of mine (Moens) called upon me and +the conversation turned upon mesmerism. He asked me if I knew anything +about it myself. On my replying in the affirmative he said, 'Can you +mesmerize any one at a distance?' I said that I had never tried to do so, +but that there was a man in the garden whom I could easily mesmerize, and +that I would try the experiment with this man if he (Moens) would tell me +what to do. He then said, 'Form an impression of the man whom you wish to +mesmerize, in your own mind, and then wish him strongly to come to you.' + +"I very much doubted the success of the experiment, but I followed the +directions of my friend, and I was extremely astonished to hear the steps +of the man whom I wished to appear, running after me; he came up to me +directly and asked me what I wanted with him. I will add that my friend +and I had been walking in the garden and had seen and spoken with the +carpenter, but when I wished him to come to me I was quite out of his +sight behind the garden wall, one hundred yards distant, and had neither +by conversation nor otherwise led him to believe that I intended to +mesmerize him. + +"On another occasion, when the Hon. Auberon Herbert was present, the +following scene occurred. Gannaway was mesmerized and stood in one corner +of the dining-room. Herbert sat at the table and wrote the following +programme, each scene of which Mr. Glissold, the magnetizer, was to +_silently call up in his own mind_. + +"(1) I see a house in flames. + +"(2) I see a woman looking out of a window. + +"(3) She has a child in her arms. + +"(4) She throws it out of the window. + +"(5) Is it hurt--? + +"Gannaway became much excited, describing each scene as it passed through +the mind of his hypnotizer. Several well known persons add their testimony +to the above statement." + +A single case of mental action so strange and unusual, no matter how well +authenticated, might not impress a cautious truth-seeker, but when +fortified by well studied cases in the experience of such men as Esdaile, +as shown in his remarkable experiments upon the natives of India, and +especially his well known one of hypnotizing the blind man at a distance, +also those of Prof. Janet, Prof. Richet, Dr. Gibert, and Dr. Hericourt, in +France under the observation of Mr. Myers and other members of the Society +for Psychical Research, and hundreds of other cases of hypnotizing at a +distance, or silently influencing the subject without hypnotization, the +matter then challenges attention and belief;--and it is from abundant +observation of such cases, from the simplest examples of +thought-transference to the most wonderful exhibition of perceptive power +at great distances, that the doctrine of Telepathy is founded. + +In the following case the agent was able to project his own semblance or +phantasm a distance of several miles; and it was then distinctly perceived +by a young lady, a friend of the agent. The circumstances were these:--Two +young men, Mr. A. H. W. Cleave and Mr. H. P. Sparks, aged respectively +eighteen and nineteen years, were fellow-students of engineering at the +Navy Yard, Portsmouth, England. While there, they engaged in some mesmeric +experiments, and after a time Sparks was able to put Cleave thoroughly +into the hypnotic condition. The following is Mr. Sparks' account of what +occurred. + +"For the last year or fifteen months I have been in the habit of +mesmerizing a fellow-student of mine. The way I did it was by simply +looking into his eyes as he lay in an easy position on a bed. This +produced sleep. After a few times I found that this sleep was deepened by +making long passes after the patient was off. Then comes the remarkable +part of this sort of mesmerism." (Mr. Sparks then describes his subject's +ability to see in his trance places in which he was interested if he +resolved to see them before he was hypnotized.) "However, it has been +during the last week or so I have been surprised and startled by an +extraordinary affair. Last Friday evening (Jan. 15th, 1886), he (Cleave) +expressed his wish to see a young lady living in Wandsworth, and he also +said he would try to make himself seen by her. I accordingly mesmerized +him and continued the long passes for about twenty minutes, concentrating +my will on his idea. When he came round (after one hour and twenty +minutes' trance) he said he had seen her in the dining-room; and that +after a time she grew restless; then suddenly she looked straight at him, +and then covered her eyes with her hands; just then he came round. Last +Monday evening (Jan. 18th) we did the same thing, and this time he said he +thought he had frightened her, as after she had looked at him a few +minutes she fell back in her chair in a sort of faint. Her little brother +was in the room at the time. Of course after this he expected a letter if +the vision was real; and on Wednesday morning he received a letter from +the young lady, asking whether anything had happened to him, as on Friday +evening she was startled by seeing him standing at the door of the room. +After a minute he disappeared and she thought it might have been fancy; +but on Monday evening she was still more startled by seeing him again, and +this time much clearer, and it so frightened her that she nearly fainted." + +Mr. Cleave also writes a very interesting account of his experience in +the matter, and two fellow-students who were in the room during the +experiments also write corroborating the statements made. + +The following is a copy of the letter in which the young lady, Miss A., +describes her side of the affair. It is addressed, "Mr. A. H. W. Cleave, +H. M. S. _Marlborough_, Portsmouth," and is postmarked Wandsworth, Jan. +19th, 1886. + + "WANDSWORTH, + "Tuesday morning. + + "DEAR ARTHUR,--Has anything happened to you? Please write and let me + know at once, for I have been so frightened. + + "Last Tuesday evening I was sitting in the dining-room reading, when I + happened to look up, and could have declared I saw you standing at the + door looking at me. I put my handkerchief to my eyes, and when I + looked again you were gone. + + "I thought it must have been only my fancy, but last night (Monday) + while I was at supper I saw you again just as before, and was so + frightened that I nearly fainted. Luckily only my brother was there or + it would have attracted attention. Now do write at once and tell me + how you are. I really cannot write any more now." + +Probably the young lady is in error regarding the date of the first +experiment, which may be accounted for by her excited condition--the shock +of the last experiment having proved decidedly serious, as was afterwards +discovered, and she begged that the experiment might never be repeated. + +Both young men mention Friday as the day of their first decided success, +but they were experimenting on previous days, including Tuesday, when the +young lady writes she first saw Cleave's phantasm. Concerning the date of +the last experiment there is no question. + +Effects similar to those just related may also occur where the agent is in +ordinary sleep, or at least when no hypnotizing process is made use of. +The agent in this case first formulates the wish or strong resolution to +be present and be seen at a certain place or by a certain person, and then +goes to sleep, and generally remains unconscious of the result until +learned from the percipient. + +In the following case the name of the agent is withheld from publication, +though known to Mr. Myers who reports the case; the percipient is the Rev. +W. Stainton-Moses. The agent goes on to state:-- + +"One evening early last year (1878), I resolved to try to appear to Z. +(Mr. Moses) at some miles distant. I did not inform him beforehand of my +intended experiment, but retired to rest shortly before midnight with +thoughts intently fixed on Z., with whose room and surroundings, however, +I was quite unacquainted. I soon fell asleep and woke up the next morning +unconscious of anything having taken place. On seeing Z. a few days +afterwards I inquired, 'Did anything happen at your rooms on Saturday +night?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'a great deal happened. I had been sitting over +the fire with M., smoking and chatting. About 12:30 he rose to leave, and +I let him out myself. I returned to the fire to finish my pipe when I saw +you sitting in the chair just vacated by him. I looked intently at you, +and then took up a newspaper to assure myself I was not dreaming, but on +laying it down I saw you still there. While I gazed without speaking, you +faded away. Though I imagined you must be fast asleep in bed at that hour, +yet you appeared dressed in your ordinary garments, such as you usually +wear every day.' 'Then my experiment seems to have succeeded,' I said. +'The next time I come ask me what I want, as I had fixed on my mind +certain questions to ask you, but I was probably waiting for an +invitation to speak.' + +"A few weeks later the experiment was repeated with equal success, I, as +before, not informing Z. when it was made. On this occasion he not only +questioned me upon the subject which was at that time under very warm +discussion between us, but detained me by the exercise of his will, some +time after I had intimated a desire to leave. As on the former occasion no +recollection remained of the event, or seeming event, of the preceding +night." + +Mr. Moses writes, September 27th, 1885, confirming this account. Mr. Moses +also says that he has never on any other occasion seen the figure of a +living person in a place where the person was not. + +The next case, while presenting features similar to the last, differs from +it in this respect: that there are two percipients. It is copied from the +manuscript book of the agent, Mr. S. H. B. + +Mr. B. writes:--"On a certain Sunday evening in November, 1881, having +been reading of the great power which the human will is capable of +exercising, I determined with the whole force of my being that I would be +present in spirit in the front bedroom, on the second floor of a house +situated at 22 Hogarth Road, Kensington, in which room slept two ladies of +my acquaintance, Miss L. S. V. and Miss E. C. V., aged respectively +twenty-five and eleven years. I lived at this time at 23 Kildare Gardens, +a distance of about three miles from Hogarth Road, and I had not mentioned +in any way my intention of trying this experiment to either of the above +named ladies, for the simple reason that it was only on retiring to rest +upon Sunday night that I made up my mind to do so. The time at which I +determined I would be there was one o'clock in the morning, and I also had +a strong intention of making my presence perceptible. + +"On the following Thursday I went to see the ladies in question, and in +the course of conversation (without any allusion to the subject on my +part), the elder one told me that on the previous Sunday night she had +been much terrified by perceiving me standing by her bedside, and that she +screamed when the apparition advanced towards her, and awoke her little +sister who also saw me. I asked her if she was awake at the time, and she +replied most decidedly in the affirmative; and upon my inquiring the time +of the occurrence, she replied about one o'clock in the morning." + +Miss Verity's account is as follows:-- + + "On a certain Sunday evening, about twelve months since, at our house + in Hogarth Road, Kensington, I distinctly saw Mr. B. in my room about + one o'clock. I was perfectly awake and was much terrified. I awoke my + sister by screaming, and she saw the apparition herself. Three days + after, when I saw Mr. B., I told him what had happened; but it was + some time before I could recover from the shock I had received, and + the remembrance is too vivid to be ever erased from my memory. + + "L. S. VERITY." + +Miss E. C. Verity writes:-- + + "I remember the occurrence of the event described by my sister in the + annexed paragraph, and her description is quite correct. I saw the + apparition at the same time and under the same circumstances." + +Miss A. S. Verity writes:-- + + "I remember quite clearly the evening my eldest sister awoke me by + calling to me from an adjoining room, and upon my going to her + bedside, where she slept with my youngest sister, they both told me + they had seen S. H. B. standing in the room. The time was about one + o'clock. S. H. B. was in evening dress, they told me." + +The following case, while of the same general character, presents this +remarkable difference: that the agent's mind was not at all directed to +the real percipient, but only to the _place_ where the percipient happened +to be. It is from the notebook of Mr. S. H. B. who was also the agent. + +"On Friday, December 1st, 1882, at 9:30 P. M. I went into a room alone and +sat by the fireside, and endeavored so strongly to fix my mind upon the +interior of a house at Kew (viz., Clarence Road), in which resided Miss V. +and her two sisters, that I seemed to be actually in the house. + +"During this experiment I must have fallen into a mesmeric sleep, for, +although I was conscious, I could not move my limbs. I did not seem to +have lost the power of moving them, but I could not make the effort to do +so.... At 10 P. M. I regained my normal state by an effort of the will and +wrote down on a sheet of note-paper the foregoing statements. + +"When I went to bed on this same night, I determined that I would be in +the front bedroom of the above-mentioned house at 12 P. M., and remain +there until I had made my presence perceptible to the inmates of that +room. On the next day, Saturday, I went to Kew to spend the evening, and +met there a married sister of Miss V. (viz., Mrs. L.). This lady I had +only met once before and that was at a ball, two years previous to the +above date. We were both in fancy dress at the time, and as we did not +exchange more than half a dozen words, this lady would naturally have lost +any vivid recollection of my appearance even if she had noticed it. + +"In the course of conversation (although I did not for a moment think of +asking her any questions on such a subject), she told me that on the +previous night she had seen me distinctly on two occasions. She had spent +the night at Clarence Road, and had slept in the front bedroom. At about +half-past nine, she had seen me in the passage going from one room to +another, and at 12 P. M., when she was wide-awake, she had seen me enter +the bedroom and walk round to where she was lying and take her hair (which +is very long), into my hand. She told me that the apparition took hold of +her hand and gazed intently into it, whereupon she spoke, saying, 'You +need not look at the lines for I have never had any trouble.' + +"She then awoke her sister, Miss V., who was sleeping with her, and told +her about it. After hearing this account I took the statement which I had +written down the previous evening from my pocket and showed it to some of +the persons present, who were much astonished, although incredulous. + +"I asked Mrs. L. if she was not dreaming at the time of the latter +experience, but she stoutly denied, and stated that she had forgotten what +I was like, but seeing me so distinctly she recognized me at once. At my +request she wrote a brief account of her impressions and signed it." + +The following is the lady's statement:-- + + "On Friday, December 1st, 1882, I was on a visit to my sister, at 21 + Clarence Road, Kew, and about 9:30 P. M. I was going from my bedroom + to get some water from the bath-room, when I distinctly saw Mr. S. B. + whom I had only seen once before, two years ago, walk before me past + the bath-room, toward the bedroom at the end of the landing. + + "About 11 o'clock we retired for the night; about 12 o'clock I was + still awake, and the door opened and Mr. S. B. came into the room and + walked around to the bedside, and there stood with one foot on the + ground, and the other knee resting on a chair. He then took my hair + into his hand, after which he took my hand in his and looked very + intently into the palm. 'Ah,' I said (speaking to him), 'you need not + look at the lines for I never had any trouble.' I then awoke my + sister; I was not nervous, but excited, and began to fear some serious + illness would befall her, she being delicate at the time, but she is + progressing more favorably now. + + "H. L." + + (Full name signed.) + +Miss Verity also corroborates this statement. + + * * * * * + +The following is still another case of one mind acting upon another mind +at a distance and at least in a most unusual way. Call it mind-projection, +making one's self visible at a distance, sending out the subliminal +self--call it what we may--it is a glimpse of a phenomenon, rare in its +occurrence, but which nevertheless has been observed a sufficient number +of times to claim serious attention, and calm and candid consideration. +The case is from _Phantasms of the Living_, and is furnished by "Mrs. +Russell of Belgaum, India, wife of Mr. H. R. Russell, Educational +Inspector in the Bombay Presidency." It differs from those already cited +in the fact that it is unconnected with either sleep or hypnotism, but +both agent and percipient were awake and in a perfectly normal condition. + +Mrs. Russell writes:-- + + "June 8th, 1886. + + "As desired I write down the following facts as well as I can recall + them. I was living in Scotland, my mother and sisters in Germany. I + lived with a very dear friend of mine, and went to Germany every year + to see my people. It had so happened that I could not go home as usual + for two years, when on a sudden I made up my mind to go and see my + family. They knew nothing of my intention; I had never gone in early + spring before; and I had no time to let them know by letter that I was + going to set off. I did not like to send a telegram for fear of + frightening my mother. The thought came to me to will with all my + might to appear to one of my sisters, never mind which of them, in + order to give them warning of my coming. I only thought most intensely + for a few minutes of them, wishing with all my might to be seen by one + of them--half present myself, in vision, at home. I did not take more + than ten minutes, I think. I started by the Leith steamer on Saturday + night, end of April, 1859. I wished to appear at home about 6 o'clock + P. M. that same Saturday. + + "I arrived at home at 6 o'clock on Tuesday morning following. I + entered the house without any one seeing me, the hall being cleaned + and the front door open. I walked into the room. One of my sisters + stood with her back to the door; she turned round when she heard the + door opening, and on seeing me, stared at me, turning deadly pale, and + letting what she had in her hand fall. I had been silent. Then I spoke + and said, 'It is I. Why do you look so frightened?' When she answered, + 'I thought I saw you again as Stinchen (another sister) saw you on + Saturday.' + + "When I inquired, she told me that on Saturday evening about 6 + o'clock, my sister saw me quite clearly, entering the room in which + she was, by one door, passing through it, opening the door of another + room in which my mother was, and shutting the door behind me. She + rushed after what she thought was I, calling out my name, and was + quite stupefied when she did not find me with my mother. My mother + could not understand my sister's excitement. They looked everywhere + for me, but of course did not find me. My mother was very miserable; + she thought I might be dying. + + "My sister who had seen me (i. e. my apparition) was out that morning + when I arrived. I sat down on the stairs to watch, when she came in, + the effect of my real appearance on her. When she looked up and saw + me, sitting motionless, she called out my name and nearly fainted. + + "My sister had never seen anything unearthly either before that or + afterwards; and I have never made any such experiments since--nor will + I, as the sister that saw me first when I really came home, had a very + severe illness afterwards, caused by the shock to her nerves. + + "J. M. RUSSELL." + +Mrs. Russell's sister, in answer to her inquiry whether she remembered the +incident, replied: "Of course I remember the matter as well as though it +had happened to-day. Pray don't come appearing to me again!" + + * * * * * + +We started out with this proposition. Perceptions--those of the class +denominated hallucinations--may have their origin telepathically. In proof +and illustration of that proposition we have so far presented a single +class of cases, namely, Those where the hallucination was produced with +will and purpose on the part of the agent. The cases present the following +conditions:-- + +(1) The agent being in a normal condition--the percipient hypnotized, the +hypnotic condition having been produced at a distance of a hundred +yards--and from a point from which the percipient could not be seen. + +(2) The agent in the hypnotic condition; a definite hallucination strongly +desired and decided upon beforehand was produced, the percipient being in +a normal state. + +(3) The agent was in normal sleep. Hallucination decided upon before going +to sleep was produced--the percipient awake and in normal condition. + +(4) Both agent and percipient awake and normal--hallucination produced at +a distance of four hundred miles. In one case the phantasm is seen by two +percipients, and in another case the _place_ only where the phantasm +should appear was strongly in the agent's mind; and while the sisters who +_usually_ occupied that room might naturally be expected to be the +percipients, as a matter of fact another person, a married sister who +happened to be visiting them--a comparative stranger to the agent--was +occupying the room and became the percipient. + +In each of these cases a definite purpose was formed by the agent to +produce a certain hallucination or present a certain picture--generally a +representation or phantasm of himself to the percipient. A picture or +phantasm is seen by the intended percipient, and, on comparison, in each +case it is found that it is _the same phantasm_ that the agent had +_endeavored_ to project and make visible, and that it was perceived in the +same place and at the same time that the agent had intended that it should +be seen. + +Can these statements be received as true and reliable? In reply we say, +the evidence having been carefully examined is of such a character as to +entitle it to belief, and the errors of observation and reporting are +trifling, and not such as would injure the credibility of statements made +regarding any event which was a matter of ordinary observation; moreover, +these cases now have become so numerous and have been so carefully +observed that they should be judged by the ordinary rules of evidence; and +by that rule they should be received. + +Having been received, how can they be explained? + +It may be answered:-- + +(1) That these apparent sequences presenting the relation of cause and +effect are merely chance coincidences. But on carefully applying the +doctrine of chances, it is found that the probability that these +coincidences of time and place, and the identity of the pictures presented +and perceived, occurred by chance, would be only one in a number so large +as to make it difficult to represent it in figures, and quite impossible +for any mind to comprehend. And that such a coincidence should occur +repeatedly in one person's experience is absolutely incredible. + +(2) The circumstances of distance and situation render it certain that the +phantasms could not have been communicated or presented to the percipient +through any of the usual channels of communication--by means of the +physical organs of sense--even granting that they could be so transferred +under favorable conditions. + +If, then, these cases must be received as authentic and true, and if they +cannot be disposed of as chance coincidences, nor explained by any +ordinary method or law of production or transmission, then there must be +_some other_ method of mental interaction, and mental intercommunication +_not usually recognized_, by means of which these pictures or phantasms +are produced or transferred, and this unusual method of mental +interaction and intercommunication we designate _telepathy_. What the +exact method is by which this unusual interaction is accomplished is not +fully demonstrated, any more than are the methods of the various +interacting forces between the sun and the planets or amongst the planets +themselves. The hypothesis of a universal or inter-stellar ether has never +been demonstrated; it is only a hypothesis framed because it is necessary +in order to explain and support another undemonstrated theory, namely, the +vibratory or wave theory of light. We do not know what the substance or +force which we call _attraction_ really is. Light has one method of +movement and action, sound another, heat another, and electricity another, +but most of the propositions concerning these methods of action are only +theories or hypotheses having a greater or less degree of probability as +the case may be. They were invented to account for certain actual and +undeniable phenomena, and they are respected by all men of science or +other persons having sufficient knowledge of these different subjects to +entitle them to an opinion. The same thing is true of telepathy; its facts +must be known and its theories well considered by those who assume to sit +in judgment upon them; and when known they are respected. The Copernican +theory of the planetary movements was formulated three hundred and fifty +years ago; it was one hundred and fifty years later when Newton proposed +the first rational theory regarding a force which might explain these +motions. For this he was ridiculed and even ostracized by the +self-constituted judges of his day. Telepathy has been the subject of +careful study and experiment comparatively only a few years, and it can +hardly, at this early date, expect better treatment at the hands of its +critics. Its facts, however, remain, and its explanatory theories are +being duly considered. + +What, then, are the theories or hypotheses which may aid us in forming an +idea of the manner in which a thought, a conception, or a mental picture +may pass between two persons so situated that no communication could pass +between them through the ordinary channels of communication--sight, +hearing, or touch? Let us suppose two persons A and B to be so situated. A +is the agent or person having unusual ability to impress his own thought, +or any conception or mental picture which he may form in his own mind, +upon some other mind; and B is the percipient or a person having unusual +ability to receive or perceive such thoughts or mental pictures. Suppose +these two people to be in the country and engaged in farming. Upon a +certain morning A takes his axe and goes to the woods, half a mile +distant, and is engaged in cutting brush and trees for the purpose of +clearing the land, and B goes into the garden to care for the growing +vegetables. After an hour spent in these respective occupations, B becomes +disquieted, even alarmed, oppressed with the feeling that some misfortune +has happened and that A is needing his assistance. He is unable to +continue his work and at once starts for the woods to seek for A. He finds +that A has received a glancing blow from his axe which has deeply wounded +his foot, disabled him, and put his life in immediate danger from +hemorrhage. Here the thought of A in his extreme peril goes out intensely +to B, desiring his presence; and B, by some unusual perceptive power, +takes cognizance of this intense thought and wish. This is telepathy. +Again, suppose B hears a voice which he recognizes as A's calling his name +and with a peculiar effect which B recognizes as distress or entreaty. Or, +again, that B sees a picture or representation of A lying wounded and +bleeding, still it is a telepathic impulse from A and taken cognizance of +by B which constitutes the communication between them, whatever the exact +nature or method of the communication may be. + +The theories or hypotheses which have been put forward regarding the +method by which this telepathic influence or impact is conveyed may be +noted as follows:-- + +(1) That of a vibratory medium, always present and analogous to the +atmosphere for propagating sound or the universal ether for propagating +light. + +(2) An effluence of some sort emanating from the persons concerned and +acting as a medium for the time being. + +(3) A sixth sense. + +(4) A duplex personality or subliminal self. + +First, then, as regards the vibratory hypothesis; it would demand a +variety of media to convey separately something corresponding to the sense +of sight, the sense of hearing, and to each of the other senses--touch, +taste, and smell--as all these sensations have been telepathically +transmitted, or else there must exist one single medium capable of +transmitting these many widely different methods of sensation +separately,--either of which suppositions are, to say the least, +bewildering. Such a medium must also possess a power of penetrating or +acting through intervening obstacles, such as no medium with which we are +acquainted possesses; and, lastly, in addition to numerous apparently +insurmountable difficulties and insufficiencies, there is no proof +whatever that any such vibratory medium exists. + +Second. Regarding a vital effluence or some physical emanation or aura +belonging to each individual, and by means of which communication is +possible between persons separated by too great a distance to permit +communication through the ordinary channels; it is at least conceivable +that such an aura or personal atmosphere exists, and by some it is claimed +to be demonstrated; but admitting its existence, that it would be capable +of fulfilling the numerous functions demanded of it in the premises is +doubtful. + +Third. That the telepathic intercommunication is accomplished by means of +a sixth sense--a sort of compend of all the other senses, with added +powers as regards distance and intervening obstacles--is a hypothesis +which has been urged by some, and is at least intelligible; but, while it +presents an intelligible explanation of such facts as clairvoyance and the +hearing of voices, there is a large class of facts, as we shall see, which +utterly refuse to fall into line or be explained by this hypothesis. + +Fourth. The hypothesis of different strata of personality--or of a second +or subliminal self--is the one which best fulfils the necessary conditions +and also harmonizes the greatest number of facts when arranged with +reference to this idea. There is also real, substantial evidence that such +a second personality actually exists, some of the facts bearing upon this +subject having been presented in former chapters. + +Those of my readers who have carefully followed the cases of unusual +mental action there presented--cases of thought-transference, of +clairvoyance, of remarkable mind-action in the hypnotic trance and in +natural somnambulism--in well marked examples of double consciousness as +shown in the cases of Felida X., of Alma Z., of Ansel Bourne, and the +hypnotic subject, Madame B., in her various personalities of Leonie, +Leontine, and Leonore, in automatic action as displayed in +Planchette-writing, in trance-speaking and in crystal-gazing, cannot have +failed to observe, throughout the whole series, mind acting rationally and +intelligently, quite independently of the ordinary consciousness, and even +at times independently of the whole physical organization. We have +considered the evidence which points to the fact, or at least to the +theory of a subliminal self, or another personality, in some manner bound +up in that complicated physical and mental mechanism which constitutes +what we term an individual. We have seen that there are weighty proofs +that such a secondary or subliminal, or, if you choose so to designate it, +_supranormal_ self, actually exists, and that it exhibits functions and +powers far exceeding the functions and powers of the ordinary self. We +have seen it expressing its own personal opinions, its own likes and +dislikes, quite different and opposite to the opinions, likes, and +dislikes of the ordinary self; having its own separate series of +remembered actions or chain of memories, its own antecedent history, and +its separate present interests; and especially performing actions +altogether beyond the powers of the ordinary self. We have seen it going +out to great distances, seeing and describing scenes and events there +taking place--for example, Swedenborg at Gottenburg witnessing the +conflagration at Stockholm; Dr. Gerault's clairvoyant maid-servant, Marie, +in France, seeing the sad death of her neighbor's son, Limoges, the +ropemaker, while serving in the Crimea; and also the serious illness of +Dr. Gerault's military friend in Algiers. Fitzgerald, at Brunswick, Me., +seeing and describing the Fall River fire three hundred miles away, and +Mrs. Porter, at Bridgeport, Conn., describing the burning of the steamer +_Henry Clay_ while it was occurring on the Hudson River near the village +of Yonkers. We have seen this same subliminal self in the case of Mr. +Stead, going out and acquiring desired knowledge relating to the location, +occupation, and needs of persons from whom he desired such information, +and bringing it back and reporting it by means of automatic writing. +Again, we have seen this subliminal self in the case of Mrs. Newnham, +perceiving the silently written and sometimes even the unwritten questions +of her husband, and automatically writing the answers by means of +Planchette; and we have seen it producing hallucinations of hearing as in +the case of Leonore causing Leontine to hear a voice reproving her for her +flippancy. + +A remarkable series of facts are here pointed out, facts some of which are +akin to those which have for ages been lying about in the lumber rooms of +history or in out-of-the-way corners of men's memories, neglected and +discredited, because unexplained, unaccounted for, forming no part of any +recognized system of mental action, and some only recently observed and +even now looked at askance for the same reason. They have remained a mass +of undigested and unarranged facts, without system, without any +ascertained relation to each other, pointing to no definite principle, +defined by no definite law. It is only within the past decade that these +facts have been studied with reference to the action of a subliminal self. + +But this new and startling idea being once admitted and brought to the +front, it is found that not only in the whole series of observed automatic +actions in the somnambulism of the hypnotic state, and that of ordinary +sleep, are the organs of the unconscious body made use of by this +subconscious or subliminal self, but also in dreams, in reverie, in +moments of abstraction, of strong emotion or mental excitement, and even +in the case of some peculiarly susceptible persons in the ordinary waking +condition, this subliminal self can greatly influence and sometimes take +entire control of the action of the body. + +It will be seen then, how wide and important is the range of phenomena in +which the subliminal self appears as an active agent, impressing its own +special knowledge, however acquired, its ideas, pictures, and images upon +the primary self, and causing them to be perceived, remembered, and +expressed by it; and with this unusual power in view, evidently it is in +this direction also that we must look for the key to that still more +remarkable series of phenomena which are known as phantasms or +apparitions. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +PHANTASMS CONTINUED. + + +So far a single class of cases has been brought forward in proof and +illustration of our proposition, that _sensation may be produced +telepathically_, namely, the voluntary class; as for instance, when it has +been resolved beforehand and strongly desired and willed that a +representation or apparition of one's self should be seen and recognized +by another person at a specified time and place, and it has been so +recognized. This class contains fewer recorded cases, but, on the other +hand, they are specially valuable, because the element of error arising +from chance coincidence is almost entirely excluded. In addition to these +voluntary or prearranged cases there is, however, another and much larger +class of cases which occur spontaneously, unthought of, and unexpected by +the percipient as well as by the agent. + +Passing over cases of an indefinite or undefined sense of danger or +peril--or of a "presence"--we will proceed to notice some well +authenticated cases of spontaneous impressions of a definite character +made upon the senses, and especially upon the sense of sight. This +definite impression may be made upon the senses of the percipient in +dreams--especially those of a veridical character, where there is a +definite reality corresponding in time and circumstances. + +It may also be made when the percipient is in a condition of reverie, +between sleeping and waking, and even when wide awake and in a perfectly +normal condition. + +This definite impression of seeing or hearing may be made upon a single +percipient, or it may be perceived by several persons at once. + +The following may serve as examples of _veridical dreams_. They were +carefully examined by the editors of _Phantasms of the Living_, and +especially by Mr. Gurney. Only initials in the first case were given for +publication. + +"In the year 1857, I had a brother in the very centre of the Indian +Mutiny. I had been ill in the spring and taken from my lessons in the +school-room, consequently, I heard more of what was going on from the +newspapers than a girl of thirteen ordinarily would in those days. We +were in the habit of hearing regularly from my brother, but in June and +July of that year no letters came, and what arrived in August proved to +have been written quite early in the spring, and were full of disturbances +around his station. + +"He was in the service of the East India Company--an officer in the 8th +Native Infantry. I was always devoted to him, and I grieved and fretted +far more than any of my elders knew at his danger. I cannot say that I +dreamt constantly of him, but when I did the impressions were very vivid +and abiding. + +"On one occasion his personal appearance was being discussed and I +remarked, 'He is not like that now, he has no beard nor whiskers;' and +when asked why I said such a thing, I replied, 'I know it, for I have seen +him in my dreams;' and this brought a severe reprimand from my governess, +who never allowed 'such nonsense' to be talked of. + +"On the morning of the 25th of September, quite early, I awoke from a +dream, to find my sister holding me and much alarmed. I had screamed and +struggled, crying out, 'Is he really dead?' When I fully awoke, I felt a +burning sensation in my head. I could not speak for a moment or two; I +knew my sister was there, but I neither saw nor felt her. + +"In about a minute, during which she said my eyes were staring beyond her, +I ceased struggling cried out, 'Harry's dead, they have shot him,' and +fainted. When I recovered I found my sister had been sent away, and an +aunt who had always looked after me, was sitting by my bed. + +"In order to soothe my excitement, she allowed me to tell my dream, trying +all the time to persuade me to regard it as a natural consequence of my +anxiety. + +"When, in my narration, I said he was riding with another officer and +mounted soldiers behind them, she exclaimed 'My dear, that shows you it is +only a dream, for your brother is in an _infantry_, not a cavalry, +regiment.' + +"Nothing, however, shook my feeling that I had seen a reality; and she was +so much struck by my persistence that she privately made notes of the +dates and of the incidents, even to the minutest details of my dream, and +then for a few days the matter dropped, but I felt the truth was coming +nearer and nearer to all. In a short time the news came in the +papers:--'Shot down on the morning of the 25th, when on his way to +Lucknow.' A few days later came one of his missing letters, telling how +his own regiment had mutinied, and that he had been transferred to a +command in the 12th Irregular Cavalry, bound to join Havelock's force in +the relief of Lucknow. + +"Some eight years after, the officer who was riding by him when he fell, +Captain or Major Grant, visited us and when, in compliance with my aunt's +request, he detailed the incidents of that sad hour, his narration tallied +(even to the description of buildings on their left) with the notes she +had taken the morning of my dream. I should also add that we heard my +brother had made the alteration in his beard and whiskers, just about the +time that I had spoken of him as wearing them differently." + + "L. A. W." + +The next case which I will present is from Dr. A. K. Young, F. R. C. S. +I., of the Terrace, Monaghan, Ireland. + +One Monday night, in December, 1836, Dr. Young had the following dream, +or, as he would prefer to call it, revelation. He found himself suddenly +at the gate of Major N. M.'s avenue, many miles from his home. Close to +him was a group of persons, one of them a woman with a basket on her arm, +the rest men, four of whom were tenants of his own, while the others were +unknown to him. Some of the strangers seemed to be murderously assaulting +H. W., one of his tenants, and he interfered. He goes on to say: + +"I struck violently at the man on my left and then with greater violence +at the man's face to my right. Finding to my surprise that I did not knock +him down either, I struck again and again with all the violence of a man +frenzied at the sight of my poor friend's murder. To my great amazement I +saw that my arms, although visible to my eye, were without substance; and +the bodies of the men I struck at and my own came close together after +each blow through the shadowy arms I struck with. My blows were delivered +with more extreme violence than I ever before exerted; but I became +painfully convinced of my incompetency. I have no consciousness of what +happened after this feeling of unsubstantiality came upon me." + +Next morning, Dr. Young experienced the stiffness and soreness of violent +bodily exercise and was informed by his wife that in the course of the +night he had much alarmed her by striking out again and again with his +arms in a terrific manner, "as if fighting for his life." He in turn +informed her of his dream and begged her to remember the names of the +actors in it who were known to him. + +On the morning of the following day, Wednesday, he received a letter from +his agent, who resided in the town close to the scene of his dream, +informing him that his tenant, H. W., had been found on Tuesday morning at +Major N. M.'s gate speechless and apparently dying from a fracture of the +skull, and that there was no trace of the murderers. That night Dr. Young +started for the town and arrived there on Thursday morning. On his way to +a meeting of the magistrates he met the senior magistrate of that part of +the country and requested him to give orders for the arrest of the three +men whom, besides H. W., he had recognized in his dream, and to have them +examined separately. This was done. The three men gave identical accounts +of the occurrence, and all named the woman who was with them. She was then +arrested and gave precisely similar testimony. + +They said that between eleven and twelve on Monday night they had been +walking homeward, all together along the road, when they were overtaken by +three strangers, two of whom savagely assaulted H. W., while the other +prevented his friends from interfering. The man H. W. did not die, and no +clue was ever found to the assassins. + +The Bishop of Clogher writes confirmatory of Dr. Young's account. + +"Borderland cases" are those in which the percipient, though seeming to +himself to be awake, may be in bed, has perhaps been asleep, and is in +that condition between sleeping and waking known as reverie and which we +have seen is favorable for the action of the subliminal self, either as +agent or percipient. + +Passing, then, from dreams to "Borderland cases," the first example under +this head which I will present is from Mrs. Richardson, of Combe Down, +Bath, England. + +She writes:-- + + "August 26th, 1882. + + "On September 9th, 1848, at the Siege of Mooltan, my husband, + Major-General Richardson, C. B., then adjutant of his regiment, was + most severely wounded, and supposing himself dying, asked one of the + officers with him to take the ring off his finger and send it to his + wife, who at that time was fully one hundred and fifty miles distant, + at Ferozepore. On the night of September 9th, 1848, I was lying in my + bed between sleeping and waking, when I distinctly saw my husband + being carried off the field seriously wounded, and heard his voice + saying, 'Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife.' + + "All the next day I could not get the sight nor the voice out of my + mind. In due time I heard of Gen. Richardson having been severely + wounded in the assault on Mooltan. He survived, however, and is still + living. It was not for some time after the siege that I heard from + Colonel L., the officer who helped to carry Gen. Richardson off the + field, that the request as to the ring was actually made to him, just + as I had heard it at Ferozepore at that very time. + + "M. A. RICHARDSON." + +The following questions were addressed to Gen. Richardson. + +1. "Does Gen. Richardson remember saying, when he was wounded at Mooltan, +'Take this ring off my finger and send it to my wife,' or words to that +effect?" + +Ans. "Most distinctly; I made the request to my commanding officer, Major +E. S. Lloyd, who was supporting me while my man was gone for assistance." + +2. "Can you remember the _time_ of the incident?" + +Ans. "So far as my memory serves me, I was wounded about nine P. M., on +Sunday, the 9th September, 1848." + +3. "Had Gen. Richardson, before he left home, promised or said anything to +Mrs. R. as to sending his ring to her in case he should be wounded?" + +Ans. "To the best of my recollection, never. Nor had I any kind of +presentiment on the subject. I naturally felt that with such a fire as we +were exposed to, I might get hurt." + +The next case is from Miss Hosmer, the celebrated sculptor. It was written +out by Miss Balfour, from the account given by Lydia Maria Child, and +corrected by Miss Hosmer, July 15th, 1885. + +"An Italian girl named Rosa was in my employ for some time, but was +finally obliged to return home to her sister on account of confirmed +ill-health. When I took my customary exercise on horseback, I frequently +called to see her. On one of these occasions I called about six o'clock P. +M., and found her brighter than I had seen her for some time past. I had +long relinquished hopes of her recovery, but there was nothing in her +appearance that gave me the impression of immediate danger. I left her +with the expectation of calling to see her again many times. She +expressed a wish to have a bottle of a certain kind of wine, which I +promised to bring her myself next morning. + +"During the remainder of the evening I do not recollect that Rosa was in +my thoughts after I parted with her. I retired to rest in good health and +in a quiet frame of mind. But I woke from a sound sleep with an oppressive +feeling that some one was in the room. + +"I reflected that no one could get in except my maid, who had the key to +one of the two doors of my room--both of which doors were locked. I was +able dimly to distinguish the furniture in the room. My bed was in the +middle of the room with a screen around the foot of it. Thinking some one +might be behind the screen I said, 'Who's there?' but got no answer. Just +then the clock in the adjacent room struck five; and at that moment I saw +the figure of Rosa standing by my bedside; and in some way, though I could +not venture to say it was through the medium of speech, the impression was +conveyed to me from her of these words: 'Adesso son felice, son contenta.' +And with that the figure vanished. + +"At the breakfast table I said to the friend who shared the apartment with +me, 'Rosa is dead.' 'What do you mean by that?' she inquired; 'you told +me she seemed better yesterday.' I related the occurrence of the morning +and told her I had a strong impression Rosa was dead. She laughed and said +I had dreamed it all. I assured her I was thoroughly awake. She continued +to jest on the subject and slightly annoyed me by her persistence in +believing it a dream when I was perfectly sure of having been wide awake. +To settle the question I summoned a messenger, and sent him to inquire how +Rosa did. He returned with the answer that she died that morning at five +o'clock. + + "H. G. HOSMER." + +I will also introduce here as a "Borderland case" an extract from _The +Life and Times of Lord Brougham, written by himself_ (1871), the extract +being an entry in his journal during a journey in Sweden in December, +1799. It is as follows:-- + +"We set out for Gothenburg [apparently on December 18th], determined to +make for Norway. About one in the morning, arriving at a decent inn, we +decided to stop over night. Tired with the cold of yesterday, I was glad +to take advantage of a hot bath before I turned in, and here a most +remarkable thing happened to me--so remarkable that I must tell the story +from the beginning. + +"After I left the High School, I went with G., my most intimate friend, to +attend the classes at the University. There was no divinity class, but we +frequently in our walks discussed and speculated upon many grave +subjects--among others, on the immortality of the soul, and a future +state. This question, and the possibility, I will not say of ghosts +walking, but of the dead appearing to the living, were subjects of much +speculation; and we actually committed the folly of drawing up an +agreement written with our blood, to the effect that which ever of us died +first should appear to the other, and thus solve any doubts we had +entertained of the 'life after death.' After we had finished our classes +at college, G. went to India, having got an appointment there in the Civil +Service. + +"He seldom wrote to me, and after the lapse of a few years I had almost +forgotten him; moreover, his family having little connection with +Edinburgh, I seldom saw or heard anything of them, or of him through them, +so that all his school-boy intimacy had died out, and I had nearly +forgotten his existence. I had taken, as I have said, a warm bath, and +while lying in it and enjoying the comfort of the heat after the late +freezing I had undergone, I turned my head round, looking towards the +chair on which I had deposited my clothes, as I was about to get out of +the bath. On the chair sat G., looking calmly at me. + +"How I got out of the bath I know not, but on recovering my senses I found +myself sprawling on the floor. The apparition, or whatever it was that had +taken the likeness of G., had disappeared. + +"This vision produced such a shock that I had no inclination to talk about +it even to Stewart; but the impression it made upon me was too vivid to be +easily forgotten; and so strongly was I affected by it that I have here +written down the whole history, with the date, 19th December, and all the +particulars, as they are now fresh before me. + +"No doubt I had fallen asleep; and that the appearance presented so +distinctly to my eyes was a dream, I cannot for a moment doubt; yet for +years I had had no communication with G., nor had there been anything to +recall him to my recollection; nothing had taken place during our Swedish +travels either connected with G. or with India, or with anything relating +to him, or to any member of his family. I could not discharge from my mind +the impression that G. must have died, and that his appearance to me was +to be received as a proof of a future state; yet all the while I felt +convinced that the whole was a dream; and so painfully vivid, so unfading +the impression, that I could not bring myself to talk of it or make the +slightest allusion to it." + +In October, 1862, Lord Brougham added as a postscript:-- + +"I have just been copying out from my journal the account of this strange +dream: _Certissima mortis imago!_ And now to finish the story, begun about +sixty years ago. Soon after my return to Edinburgh, there arrived a letter +from India, announcing G.'s death, and stating that he had died on the +19th of December! + +"Singular coincidence! Yet, when one reflects on the vast number of dreams +which night after night pass through our brains, the number of +coincidences between the vision and the event are perhaps fewer and less +remarkable than a fair calculation of chances would warrant us to expect. +Nor is it surprising, considering the variety of thoughts in sleep, and +that they all bear some analogy to the affairs of life, that a dream +should sometimes coincide with a contemporaneous, or even with a future, +event. This is not much more wonderful than that a person whom we have had +no reason to expect should appear to us at the very moment we have been +thinking or speaking of him. So common is this, that it has for ages grown +into the proverb, 'Speak of the devil.' I believe every such seeming +miracle is, like every ghost story, capable of explanation." + +I have introduced in full Lord Brougham's statement of the case and his +method of reasoning upon it; let us for a moment analyze each. + +I have also introduced Harriet Hosmer's experience along with that of Lord +Brougham, because they are both notable persons whose evidence regarding +matters of fact could not be impugned, and whose strength of character, +honesty of purpose, and knowledge of affairs enables us to throw out of +account any idea of imposture or self-deception in either case. These +cases, then, must be received as having actually occurred as related; and +being so received they render all the more credible other cases reported +by persons less well known. + +What was the character of the apparitions or appearances which were +presented; were they, properly speaking, dreams? In Miss Hosmer's +statement she stoutly affirms that she was awake, and she gives good +reasons for so believing, namely, before she _saw_ anything, but only +_felt_ that some one was in the room, she _awoke_ from a sound sleep; she +reasoned with herself regarding the possibility of any one getting into +the room; she called out: "Who's there?" She saw the furniture, heard the +clock strike, and counted five; and in another account which I also have, +she heard the familiar noises about the house of servants at their usual +work, and she resolved to get up. All this before she saw anything +unusual; then turning her head she saw Rosa. Clearly this was not a dream +but a vision occurring possibly in a condition of reverie. + +Taking up Lord Brougham's case: in simply recording the facts in his diary +he speaks of his experience as a _vision_ and the idea that it was a +_dream_ was evidently an after-thought. He was _enjoying_ the heat; he was +_about to get out of the bath_; he _turned_ his head. He describes the +sensations and actions of a man who is awake, or certainly not in a +condition to have dreams disconnected with his actual surroundings. After +all this, looking toward the chair upon which he had deposited his +clothes--still a part of his surroundings, of which he was perfectly +conscious--he saw G. on the chair _looking calmly at him_. + +Now to have _dreamt_ of G., his old school-fellow and friend, looking +calmly at him, would not have been anything shocking nor even surprising; +it would not have been even _uncommon_ among dreams--it would have been +nothing out of the ordinary course of nature. Dreams seldom shock or even +surprise us--surely not unless there is something intrinsically shocking +represented by them; but when we see the phantasm of a person whom we know +cannot be there--that is unusual, that is not in the ordinary course of +nature, as we are accustomed to observe nature, and it surprises us, +shocks us, perhaps frightens us; but it does so because we are awake and +can reason about it and compare its strangeness with the usual order of +things. + +Lord Brougham was awake, he did so reason, and was accordingly shocked. + +So vivid was the apparition that he tumbled out of the bath and fainted. +It is only some time after this, when writing up his diary, that he has no +doubt that he had fallen asleep. Preconceived theories about apparitions +now come up in his mind and get him into trouble; he must _explain_ his +vision. + +Now for the explanation. Lord Brougham finds, on returning to Scotland, +that his former friend is dead, and that the time of his death +corresponded with the time at which he had seen his apparition in Sweden, +December 19th. + +"Singular coincidence!" That is Lord Brougham's explanation; and that is +the usual explanation; but it is ill-considered--it is weak--it does not +cover the ground. + +Lord Brougham had but two theories from which to choose: namely, Chance +and Supernaturalism; and of the two horns of the dilemma he chose the +easier one. + +Let us, however, place ourselves, for the moment, on his ground, namely, +that (1) It was a dream; and (2) dreams are so numerous that it is not +surprising that some of them coincide with contemporaneous events. + +Evidently the more numerous the coincidences, or the dreams which +correspond to contemporaneous events, the weaker becomes the theory of +_chance_ coincidences. Supposing, then, Lord Brougham's case to have been +unique, that not another similar case was known to have occurred, then we +should have no particular hesitation in assigning it to the category of +chance coincidences; but even then it would be out of the order of _usual_ +coincidences both in interest and the number of separate points involved; +it would excite special interest, but the reference of it to chance would +not be considered unreasonable: if, however, three or four such cases had +been reported and discussed in a generation, thoughtful people would +begin to inquire if there might not be some relation of sequence, or +possibly of cause and effect; but when hundreds of cases have been +reported, because they have been systematically sought for--veridical +dreams connected with the moment of the death of the agent, with fainting, +with trance, with moments of supreme excitement, or of extreme danger, so +many different conditions in which by careful observation it is found that +such hallucinations and symbols relating to actual contemporaneous +occurrences originate and are telepathically transmitted--the matter is +then quite removed from the category of chance coincidences, and any +attempt to force these cases there to-day denotes either ignorance of +established facts or inability to appreciate logical reasoning or even +mathematical demonstration. This is all upon the supposition that the case +in question was a dream. On the other hand, now place the case where it +really belongs as a _waking_ or Borderland _vision_--an event in a class a +hundred-fold less numerous than dreams--and in which class corresponding +events are at least tenfold _more numerous_, and we see how conspicuously +weak is the coincidence theory. + +Neither need the other horn of the dilemma, namely, Supernaturalism, any +longer be taken. A newly recognized method of mental interaction is +gradually coming into view; a new principle and law in psychology is being +established; and under this law the erratic and discredited facts of +history as well as the facts of present observation and experiment are +falling into line and becoming intelligible. + +The new principle or law, as we have seen, is this: Perceptions, of the +class which have usually been known as hallucinations, may be originated +and transferred _telepathically_; in other words, there is a subliminal +self, which, under various conditions on the part of either agent or +percipient, or both, may come to the surface and act, impressing the +sensitive percipient through the senses, by dreams, visions, and +apparitions, as well as through hallucinations of hearing and touch. + +Returning to our well considered cases illustrating some of these various +conditions: having presented examples of veridical or truth-telling +dreams, and of waking or borderland visions also corresponding to actual +events taking place at the same time, I will next present cases where the +percipient was _undoubtedly awake_ and in a normal condition. The +following case is reported on the authority of Surgeon Harris of the Royal +Artillery, who, with his two daughters, was a witness of the occurrence: + +"A party of children, sons and daughters of the officers of artillery +stationed at Woolwich, were playing in the garden. Suddenly a little girl +screamed, and stood staring with an aspect of terror at a willow tree +standing in the grounds. Her companions gathered round, asking what ailed +her. 'Oh!' said she, 'there--there. Don't you see? There's papa lying on +the ground, and the blood running from a big wound.' All assured her that +they could see nothing of the kind. But she persisted, describing the +wound and the position of the body, still expressing surprise that they +did not see what she so plainly saw. Two of her companions were daughters +of one of the surgeons of the regiment, whose house adjoined the garden. +They called their father, who at once came to the spot. He found the child +in a state of extreme terror and agony, took her into his house, assured +her it was only a fancy, and having given her restoratives sent her home. +The incident was treated by all as what the doctor had called it, a fancy, +and no more was thought of it. News from India, where the child's father +was stationed, was in those days slow in coming, but the arrival of the +mail in due course brought the information that the father of the child +had been killed by a shot, and died under a tree. Making allowances for +difference in time, it was found to have been about the moment when the +daughter had the vision at Woolwich." + +The next case is from Mr. Francis Dart Fenton, formerly in the native +department of the Government, Auckland, New Zealand. In 1852, when the +incident occurred, Mr. Fenton was engaged in forming a settlement on the +banks of the Waikato. + +He writes:-- + + "March 25th, 1860. + + "Two sawyers, Frank Philps and Jack Mulholland, were engaged cutting + timber for the Rev. R. Maunsell, at the mouth of the Awaroa Creek, a + very lonely place, a vast swamp, no people within miles of them. As + usual, they had a Maori with them to assist in felling trees. He came + from Tihorewam, a village on the other side of the river, about six + miles off. As Frank and the native were cross-cutting a tree, the + native stopped suddenly and said, 'What are you come for?' looking in + the direction of Frank. Frank replied, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'I + am not speaking to you; I am speaking to my brother.' Frank said, + 'Where is he?' The native replied, 'Behind you. What do you want?' + (to the other Maori). Frank looked round and saw nobody; the native no + longer saw any one, but laid down the saw and said, 'I shall go across + the river; my brother is dead.' Frank laughed at him, and reminded him + that he had left him quite well on Sunday (five days before), and + there had been no communication since. The Maori spoke no more, but + got into his canoe and pulled across. When he arrived at the + landing-place, he met people coming to fetch him. His brother had just + died. I knew him well." + +In answer to inquiries as to his authority for this narrative, Mr. Fenton +writes the editors of _Phantasms of the Living_:-- + + "December 18th, 1883. + + "I knew all the parties well, and it is quite true. Incidents of this + sort are not infrequent among the Maoris. + + "F. D. FENTON, + + "Late Chief Judge, Native Law Court of New Zealand." + +The following case was first published in the _Spiritual Magazine_ in +1861, by Robert H. Collyer, M. D., F. C. S. + +Although published in a spiritual publication, Dr. Collyer states that he +himself is not a believer in spiritualism, but, on the contrary, is a +materialist and has been for forty years. + +He writes from Beta House, 8 Alpha Road, St. John's Wood, N. W.:-- + + "April 15th, 1861. + + "On January 3d, 1856, my brother Joseph being in command of the + steamer _Alice_, on the Mississippi, just above New Orleans, she came + in collision with another steamer. The concussion caused the flagstaff + or pole to fall with great violence, which coming in contact with my + brother's head, actually divided the skull, causing of necessity + instant death. In October, 1857, I visited the United States. When at + my father's residence, Camden, New Jersey, the melancholy death of my + brother became the subject of conversation, and my mother narrated to + me that at the very time of the accident the apparition of my brother + Joseph was presented to her. This fact was corroborated by my father + and four sisters. Camden, N. J., is distant from the scene of the + accident, in a direct line, over one thousand miles. My mother + mentioned the fact of the apparition on the morning of the 4th of + January to my father and sisters; nor was it until the 16th, or + thirteen days after, that a letter was received confirming in every + particular the extraordinary visitation. It will be important to + mention that my brother William and his wife lived near the locality + of the dreadful accident, and are now living in Philadelphia; they + have also corroborated to me the details of the impression produced + upon my mother." + +Dr. Collyer then quotes a letter from his mother which contains the +following sentences:-- + + "CAMDEN, N. J., UNITED STATES, + "March 27th, 1861. + + "MY BELOVED SON,--On the 3d of January, 1856, I did not feel well and + retired early to bed. Some time after I felt uneasy and sat up in bed; + I looked around the room, and to my utter amazement, saw Joseph + standing at the door looking at me with great earnestness; his head + was bandaged up, a dirty night-cap on, and a dirty white garment, + something like a surplice. He was much disfigured about the eyes and + face. It made me quite uncomfortable the rest of the night. The next + morning Mary came into my room early. I told her I was sure I was + going to have bad news from Joseph. I told all the family at the + breakfast table. They replied, 'It was only a dream and nonsense;' but + that did not change my opinion. It preyed on my mind, and on the 16th + of January I received the news of his death; and singular to say both + William and his wife, who were there, say that he was exactly attired + as I saw him. + + "Your ever affectionate mother, + "ANNE E. COLLYER." + +In reply to questions, Dr. Collyer wrote: "My father, who was a scientific +man, calculated the difference of longitude between Camden and New Orleans +and found that the mental impression was at the exact time of my brother's +death.... + +"In the published account I omitted to state that my brother Joseph, prior +to his death, had retired for the night in his berth; his vessel was +moored alongside the levee, at the time of the collision by another +steamer coming down the Mississippi. Of course my brother was in his +_nightgown_. He ran on deck on being called and informed that a steamer +was in close proximity to his own. These circumstances were communicated +to me by my brother William, who was on the spot at the time of the +accident." + +In addition to these accounts, Mr. Podmore says:-- + +"I called upon Dr. Collyer on March 25th, 1884. He told me that he +received a full account of the story verbally from his father, mother, and +brother in 1857.... He was quite certain of the precise coincidence of +time." + +A sister also writes corroborating all the main statements. + +Other senses besides that of sight may receive the telepathic impression. +In the following cases the sense of hearing was so impressed. The first +account is from Commander T. W. Aylesbury, late of the Indian Navy. It is +from Mr. Gurney's collection in _Phantasms of the Living_. + +"The writer when thirteen years of age was capsized in a boat when landing +on the Island of Bally, east of Java, and was nearly drowned. On coming to +the surface after being repeatedly submerged, the boy called out for his +mother. This amused the boat's crew, who spoke of it afterwards and jeered +him a good deal about it. Months after, on arrival in England, the boy +went to his home, and while telling his mother of his narrow escape he +said, 'While I was under the water I saw you all sitting in this room; you +were working on something white. I saw you all--mother, Emily, Eliza, and +Ellen.' His mother at once said, 'Why, yes, and I _heard_ you cry out for +me, and I sent Emily to look out of the window, for I remarked that +something had happened to that poor boy.' The time, owing to the +difference in longitude, corresponded with the time when the voice was +heard." + +Commander Aylesbury adds in another letter: + +"I saw their features (my mother's and sisters'), the room and the +furniture, and particularly the old-fashioned Venetian blinds. My eldest +sister was seated next to my mother." + +The following is an extract from a letter written to Commander Aylesbury +by one of his sisters and forwarded to Mr. Gurney, in 1883:-- + +"I distinctly remember the incident you mention in your letter (the voice +calling 'Mother'); it made such an impression upon my mind I shall never +forget it. We were all sitting quietly at work one evening; it was about +nine o'clock. I think it must have been late in the summer, as we had left +the street door open. We first heard a faint cry of 'Mother'; we all +looked up and said to one another, 'Did you hear that? some one cried out +"Mother."' We had scarcely finished speaking when the voice again called +'Mother' twice in quick succession, the last cry a frightened, agonizing +cry. We all started up and mother said to me, 'Go to the door and see what +is the matter.' I ran directly into the street and stood some few minutes, +but all was silent, and not a person to be seen; it was a lovely evening, +not a breath of air. Mother was sadly upset about it. I remember she paced +the room and feared something had happened to you. She wrote down the +date the next day, and when you came home and told us how nearly you had +been drowned, and the time of day, father said it would be about the time +nine o'clock would be with us. I know the date and the time corresponded." + +In the next case three of the senses--sight, hearing, and touch were +concerned. It is from Mr. Gurney's collection. + + "From Mr. Algeron Joy, 20 Walton Place, S. W. + + "Aug. 16th, 1883. + + "About 1862 I was walking in a country lane near Cardiff by myself, + when I was overtaken by two young colliers who suddenly attacked me. + One of them gave me a violent blow on the eye which knocked me down, + half-stunned. I distinctly remembered afterwards all that I had been + thinking about, both immediately prior to the attack and for some time + after it. + + "Up to the moment of the attack and for some time previously, I was + absorbed in a calculation connected with Penarth Docks, then in + construction, on which I was employed. My train of thought was + interrupted for a moment by the sound of footsteps behind me. I looked + back and saw the two young men, but thought no more of them, and + immediately returned to my calculations. + + "On receiving the blow, I began speculating on their object, what they + were going to do next, how I could best defend myself, or escape from + them; and when they ran away, and I had picked myself up I thought of + trying to identify them and of denouncing them at the police station, + to which I proceeded after following them until I lost sight of them. + + "In short, I am positive that for about half an hour previous to the + attack, and for an hour or two after it, there was no connection + whatever, direct or indirect, between my thoughts and a person at that + moment in London, and whom I will call 'A.' + + "Two days afterwards, I received a letter from 'A,' written on the day + after the assault, asking me what I had been doing and thinking about + at 4:30 P. M., on the day previous to that on which he was writing. He + continued: 'I had just passed your club and was thinking of you, when + I recognized your footstep behind me. You laid your hand heavily on my + shoulder. I turned, and saw you as distinctly as I ever saw you in my + life. You looked distressed, and in answer to my greeting and inquiry, + 'What's the matter?' You said, 'Go home, old fellow, I've been hurt. + You will get a letter from me in the morning, telling you all about + it.' You then vanished instantaneously. + + "The assault took place as near 4:30 as possible, certainly between + 4:15 and 4:45. I wrote an account of it to 'A' on the following day, + so our letters crossed, he receiving mine, not the next morning as my + _double_ had promised, but on the succeeding one at about the same + time as I received his. 'A' solemnly assured me that he knew no one in + or near Cardiff, and that my account was the only one he had received + of the incident. From my intimate personal knowledge of him I am + certain that he is incapable of uttering an untruth. But there are + reasons why I cannot give his name even in confidence. + + "ALGERON JOY." + +Apparitions are perhaps more frequently seen by a single percipient; there +are, however, numerous well authenticated cases where they have been seen +by several persons at the same time, sometimes by the whole and sometimes +only by a part of the persons present. + +Such cases are called _collective_. Here are two such cases reported to +Mr. Gurney by physicians. + +First, one from Dr. Wyld, 41 Courtfield Road, S. W. + + "December, 1882. + + "Miss L. and her mother were for fifteen years my most intimate + friends; they were ladies of the highest intelligence and perfectly + truthful, and their story was confirmed by one of the servants, the + other I could not trace. + + "Miss L., some years before I made her acquaintance, occupied much of + her time in visiting the poor. One day as she walked homewards she + felt cold and tired and longed to be at home warming herself at the + kitchen fire. At or about the minute corresponding to this wish, the + two servants being in the kitchen, the door-handle was seen to turn, + the door opened, and in walked Miss L., and going up to the fire she + held out her hands and warmed herself, and the servants saw she had a + pair of _green_ kid gloves on her hands. She suddenly disappeared + before their eyes, and the two servants in great alarm went upstairs + and told the mother what they had seen, including the green kid + gloves. The mother feared something was wrong, but she attempted to + quiet the servants by reminding them that Miss L. always wore black + and never green gloves, and that therefore the 'ghost' could not have + been that of her daughter. + + "In about half an hour the veritable Miss L. entered the house, and + going into the kitchen warmed herself at the fire; and she had on a + pair of _green_ kid gloves which she had bought on her way home, not + being able to get a suitable black pair. + + "G. WYLD, M. D." + +The next case is from Dr. Wm. M. Buchanan, 12 Rutland Square, Edinburgh. + +He writes:-- + + "The following circumstance took place at a villa about one and a half + miles from Glasgow, and was told me by my wife. Of its truth I am as + certain as if I had been a witness. The house had a lawn in front of + about three or four acres in extent, with a lodge at the gateway + distinctly seen from the house, which was about eighty yards' distant. + Two of the family were going to visit a friend seven miles' distant, + and on the previous day it had been arranged to take a lady, Miss W., + with them, who was to be in waiting at a place about a mile distant. + Three of the family and a lady visitor were standing at one of the + dining-room windows waiting for the carriage, when they, including my + wife, saw Miss W. open the gate at the lodge. The wind had disarranged + the front of a pelisse which she wore, which they distinctly saw her + adjust. She wore a light gray-colored beaver hat, and had a + handkerchief at her mouth; it was supposed she was suffering from + toothache to which she was subject. She entered the lodge to the + surprise of her friends, and as she did not leave it, a servant was + sent to ask her to join the family; but she was informed that Miss W. + had not been there, and it was afterwards ascertained that no one + except the woman's husband had been in the lodge that morning. + + "The carriage arrived at the house about ten A. M., and Miss W. was + found at the place agreed upon, in the dress in which she appeared at + the lodge, and suffering from toothache. As she was a nervous person, + nothing was said to her about her appearance at the gate. She died + nine years afterwards." + + Sometimes an apparition seemingly intended for one person is not + perceived by that person, but is seen by some other person present who + may be a stranger to the agent or person whose image is seen. The + following case is in point. It is from Mrs. Clerke, of Clifton Lodge, + Farquhar Road, Upper Norwood, S. E., and also belongs to Mr. Gurney's + collection:-- + + "In the month of August, 1864, about three or four o'clock in the + afternoon, I was sitting reading in the verandah of our house in + Barbadoes. My black nurse was driving my little girl, about eighteen + months or so old, in her perambulator in the garden. I got up after + some time to go into the house, not having noticed anything at all, + when this black woman said to me, 'Missis, who was that gentleman that + was talking to you just now?' 'There was no one talking to me,' I + said. 'Oh, yes, dere was, Missis--a very pale gentleman, very tall, + and he talked to you and you was very rude, for you never answered + him.' I repeated there was no one, and got rather cross with the + woman, and she begged me to write down the day, for she knew she had + seen some one. I did, and in a few days I heard of the death of my + brother in Tobago. Now the curious part is this, that I did not see + him, but she--a stranger to him--did; and she said that he seemed very + anxious for me to notice him. + + "MAY CLERKE." + +In answer to inquiries Mrs. Clerke says:-- + +"(1) The day of the death was the same, for I wrote it down. I think it +was the third of August, but I know it was the same. + +"(2) The description 'very tall and pale' was accurate. + +"(3) I had no idea he was ill. He was only a few days ill. + +"(4) The woman had never seen him. She had been with me about eighteen +months and I considered her truthful. She had no object in telling me." + +Her husband, Colonel Clerke, corroborates as follows:-- + +"I well remember that on the day on which Mr. John Brersford, my wife's +brother, died in Tobago--after a short illness of which we were not +aware--our black nurse declared she saw, at as nearly as possible the time +of his death, a gentleman exactly answering to Mr. Brersford's +description, leaning over the back of Mrs. Clerke's easy-chair in the open +verandah. The figure was not seen by any one else. + + "SHADWELL H. CLERKE." + +In this instance, looking upon the dying brother as the agent and the +sister as the _intended_ percipient, the question arises, why was _she_ +unable to perceive the telepathic influence which presented the likeness +of her brother, while the colored nurse, an entire stranger to him, sees +and describes him standing by his sister's chair and apparently anxious +that she should recognize him? + +In another of Mr. Gurney's cases, of four persons present in a business +office where the phantasm of a fifth well-known person appeared, two +persons saw the phantasm and two did not. + +Abridged from Mr. Gurney's account the circumstances were as follows:-- + +The narrator is Mr. R. Mouat, of 60 Huntingdon St., Barnsbury, N., and the +incident occurred in his office on Thursday, September 5th, 1867. The +persons concerned were the Rev. Mr. H., who had a desk in the same office +and who may be considered the _agent_; Mr. Mouat, himself, and Mr. R., a +gentleman from an office upstairs in the same building, the _percipients_; +while a clerk and a porter who were also present saw nothing. + +Mr. Mouat goes into his office at 10:45 o'clock on the morning of +September 5th, sees his clerk and the porter in conversation, and the Rev. +Mr. H. standing at the corner of a table at the back of the clerk. He is +about to speak to Mr. H. about his being there so early (more than an hour +before his usual time), when the clerk commenced speaking to him about +business and especially a telegram concerning which something was amiss. +This conversation lasted several minutes and was decidedly animated. +During this scene, Mr. R., from an office upstairs, comes in and listens +to the excited conversation. He looks at Mr. H. in a comical way, +motioning with his head toward the two disputants, as much as to say "they +are having it hot;" but to Mr. R.'s disgust Mr. H. does not respond to the +joke. Mr. R. and the porter then leave the room. Mr. Mouat turns to Mr. +H., who was all the while standing at the corner of the table, notices +that he looks downcast, and is without his neck-tie; he says to him, +"Well, what is the matter with _you_, you look so sour?" Mr. H. makes no +reply, but looks fixedly at Mr. Mouat. Having finished some papers he was +reading Mr. Mouat noticed Mr. H. still standing at the table. The clerk at +that moment handed Mr. Mouat a letter saying, "Here, sir, is a letter from +Mr. H." + +No sooner was the name pronounced than Mr. H. disappeared in a second. + +Mr. Mouat is dumfounded--so much so that the clerk notices it. It is then +discovered that the clerk has not seen Mr. H. at all, and declares that he +has not been in the office that morning. The letter from Mr. H. was +written on the previous day and informs Mr. Mouat that he is ill, and will +not be at the office the next day, and asks to have his letters sent to +his house. + +The next day, Friday, Mr. H. enters the office at his usual hour, twelve +o'clock; and on being asked by Mr. Mouat where he was the previous day at +10:45 o'clock, he replied that at that time he had just finished +breakfast--was at home with his wife, and did not leave the house all day. + +The following Monday Mr. Mouat meets Mr. R. and asks him if he remembers +being in his office the previous Thursday morning. R. replies that he +does, perfectly. Does he remember who were present and what was going on? +"Yes," said Mr. R., "you were having an animated confab with your clerk +about a telegram. Besides yourself and the clerk there were present the +porter and Mr. H." + +On being informed that Mr. H. was at home, fourteen miles' distant, at +that time, Mr. R. became indignant that any one should insinuate that he +did not know a man was present when he saw him. He insisted on calling the +porter to corroborate him; but on being questioned, the porter, like the +clerk, declared that he did not see anything of Mr. H. that morning. + +Here, in broad daylight, of four persons present and engaged in business, +two saw Mr. H. and addressed him either in words or by signs, while two +others with equal opportunities did not see him at all. + +The Rev. Mr. H. at home during the time had no particular experience of +any kind. All that can be said is, that, it must have been about his usual +time for starting for the office; he had sent a letter about his mail +which he knew would then be received, and all the general routine and +habit of his life would tend to direct his mind to that locality at that +particular time. He was ill as he appeared to be to those who saw his +_appearance_ at the office, and very likely he was negligently dressed. + +Why should two of those present have seen his apparition, and two others +have failed to see it? For the simple reason that, as in ordinary +thought-transference, or in the "willing game" some are _good subjects_, +or percipients, and others are not. For the same reason that of ten +persons making trial of Planchette-writing, the board will move for only +two or three out of the whole number--that is, in only a few would the +hands act automatically in response to a subliminal self; and for the same +reason it may also be true that amongst several persons, in only a few of +those present, can the sense of sight or hearing be effected by a +phantasm. + +In many instances, children, and in some instances, very young children, +have been the percipients--children too young to perceive any difference +between the phantasm and a real person, and who have accordingly addressed +it and spoken of it as they would of a real person. Even animals, +especially horses and dogs, have given unmistakable evidence--by +crouching, trembling, and fright--of perceiving the same phantasms that +have been seen by persons who were present with them. The phantom being, +so to speak, _in the air_, it is perceived by those whose organization is +so adjusted as to make it _impressionable_, and to constitute, to a +greater or less degree, what is known as a _sensitive_. + +Doubtless, on close examination, it would be found that persons capable of +hypnotization, though they may never have been hypnotized, natural +somnambulists, persons accustomed to vivid dreaming, reverie, abstraction, +and kindred states, in other words, persons in whom the subliminal self +sometimes gives indications of independent action, are most likely to have +some _marked_ psychical experience. It may be only once in a lifetime, and +this one instance _may_ be the perception of a phantasmal appearance. + +In bringing to a close these examples of apparitions, I wish to introduce +one which has specially impressed me. It was the experience of a child--it +is reported by the percipient herself. The statement is singularly +straightforward, and simple; something was done on account of the vision +which impressed the circumstance upon others who did not see it, for +prompt action founded upon what was seen, saved a life. I give it in the +percipient's own words, written to Mr. Gurney. It is from Mrs. Brettany, 2 +Eckington Villas, Ashbourne Grove, Dulwich. + +She writes:-- + + "November, 1884. + + "When I was a child I had many remarkable experiences of a psychical + nature, and which I remember to have looked upon as ordinary and + natural at the time. + + "On one occasion (I am unable to fix the date, but I must have been + about ten years old) I was walking in a country lane at A., the place + where my parents then resided. I was reading geometry as I walked + along, a subject little likely to produce fancies, or morbid phenomena + of any kind, when, in a moment, I saw a bedroom, known as the White + Room in my home, and upon the floor lay my mother, to all appearances + dead. + + "The vision must have remained some minutes, during which time my real + surroundings appeared to pale and die out; but as the vision faded + actual surroundings came back, at first dimly, and then clearly. I + could not doubt that what I had seen was real. So instead of going + home, I went at once to the house of our medical man, and found him at + home. He at once set out with me for my home, on the way putting + questions I could not answer, as my mother was to all appearances well + when I left home. + + "I led the doctor straight to the White Room, where we found my mother + actually lying as in my vision. This was true, even to minute details. + + "She had been seized suddenly by an attack of the heart, and would + soon have breathed her last but for the doctor's timely arrival. I + shall get my father and mother to read this and sign it." + + "JEANIE GWYNNE-BRETTANY." + +Mrs. Brettany's parents write:-- + + "We certify that the above is correct." + + "S. G. GWYNNE. + "J. W. GWYNNE." + +In answer to inquiries, Mrs. Brettany states further: + + "The White Room in which I saw my mother, and afterwards actually + found her, was out of use. It was unlikely she should be there. + + "She was found lying in the attitude in which I had seen her. I found + a handkerchief with a lace border beside her on the floor. This I had + distinctly noticed in my vision. There were other particulars of + coincidence which I cannot put here." + +Mrs. Brettany's father writes further:-- + + "I distinctly remember being surprised by seeing my daughter in + company with the family doctor, outside the door of my residence; and + I asked, 'Who is ill?' She replied, 'Mamma.' She led the way at once + to the 'White Room,' where we found my wife lying in a swoon on the + floor. It was when I asked when she had been taken ill that I found it + must have been after my daughter had left the house. None of the + servants in the house knew anything of the sudden illness, which our + doctor assured me would have been fatal had he not arrived when he + did. + + "My wife was quite well when I left her in the morning." + + "S. G. GWYNNE." + +Taking, as we must, the main incidents of this narrative as true, we have +either a simple case of clairvoyance on the part of Mrs. Brettany as a +child, or else, on the other hand, the subliminal self of the unconscious +mother hastened to impress the situation upon the sensitive child, and +with the definite good result which is recorded. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CONCLUSIONS. + + +In gathering up the results of these investigations, it must be stated +that in showing their relation to science there is no thought of any +detraction from the nobility and greatness of scientific labor and +achievement in the material world--that is grand almost beyond expression. +The attitude of science is conservative, and it is right; but sooner or +later it must awake to the fact that here is a new field for investigation +which comes strictly within the limits of its aims, and even of its +methods. Many individual members of the great body of scientific workers +see and know this; gradually the majority will see it. + +On the other hand, it must be stated that there is no intention of +covering the whole ground of alleged occult psychic phenomena, but only a +portion, even of such as relate to our present life. The subject of the +return of spirits is untouched; it is only shown that the domain of +alleged spiritualistic manifestations is deeply trenched upon by the +action of the subliminal self of living people; what lies beyond that is +neither affirmed nor denied; it rests upon ground yet to be cleared up and +considered; and any facts open to satisfactory investigation are always +welcomed by any of the many persons and societies interested in +discovering what is true relating to it. + +Confining ourselves within the limits assigned, if the series of alleged +facts which has been presented in the preceding chapters be true, then we +are in the presence of a momentous reality which, for importance and +value, has not been exceeded, if, indeed, it has been approached by any of +the discoveries of modern times. + +But, it may be said, your alleged facts are not new; they are coeval with +history, with mythology, with folk-lore, with religion. Granted that the +facts are old, that similar ones have been known from very early times, +how have these facts been treated by the leaders of thought in the +nineteenth century? + +That the earth goes round the sun is an old fact, yet it was not made +patent and credible, even to the cultivated, much less to the average +mind, till recent times. Evolution has been going on since millions of +years before the human race came into existence--it is a very ancient +fact, yet it is only within the memory of men still living that it has +been found out and accepted. So telepathy has existed ever since the race +was young, yet few even now know the facts, observations, and experiments +upon which its existence is predicated or comprehend either its theories +or its importance. The subliminal self has been active in every age of +which we have any record. Yet it has never been recognized as forming a +part of each and every individual's mental outfit, but its wonderful +action has either been discredited altogether, or else has been credited +to foreign or supernatural agencies. + +But telepathy can no longer be classed with fads and fancies; if not +already an accepted fact, it has certainly attained to the dignity of a +theory supported by both facts and experiments; a theory which has +attracted to its study a large company of competent men in every civilized +country. + +A theory, no matter in what department of investigation it may be found, +whether relating to matter or mind, is strong in proportion to the number +of facts which it will bring into line, harmonize and reduce to system. It +is that which makes the Nebular Theory of the formation of the planetary +system so wonderfully strong; it harmonizes and reduces to system so many +known but otherwise unrelated and unsystematized facts; and it is easier +to find excuses or form minor theories to account for isolated and +apparently erratic facts, like the retrograde motions of the satellites of +Uranus and Neptune, than to give up a theory, at once so grand in itself +and at the same time harmonizing so many important astronomical phenomena. +The same is true of the undulatory theory of light, and again of the +theory of evolution, which forty years ago was looked upon as a flimsy +hypothesis, but which is now universally accepted as an established truth. +Some of the facts are still unclassified and unexplained, yet it so +harmonizes in general the facts of the visible world, that instead of a +mass of disjointed and heterogeneous objects and phenomena, such as men +beheld in nature only a hundred years ago, the arbitrary work of a blind +chance or a capricious Creator, we now behold a beautiful and orderly +sequence, progression, and unfolding of the natural world according to +laws which command our admiration and stimulate our reverence. + +Apart from recent studies, exactly the same condition of chaos and +confusion exists regarding psychical phenomena as existed concerning the +facts in the physical world only a hundred years ago. Nor is it likening +great things to small when we compare the nebular hypothesis, or the +theory of evolution, conceptions which have educated an age and vastly +enlarged the boundary of human thought, to the theory of telepathy and the +fact and power of the subliminal self. For if it was important that men +should know the laws governing inanimate matter, to comprehend the orbits +and motions of the planets; if it developed the understanding to +contemplate the grandeur of their movements, the vast spaces which they +traverse, and the wonderful speed with which they accomplish their various +journeys--if such knowledge has enlarged the capacity of men's minds, +given them truer notions of the magnitude of the universe, and grander +conceptions of nature and the infinite power and intelligence which +pervades and is exhibited in it, is it not equally important and equally +improving and practical to study the subtler forces which pervade living +organisms, the still finer laws and adjustments which govern the action of +mind? + +It has been contended by a large and intelligent class of writers, and +those who most pride themselves on scientific methods and the +infallibility of scientific inductions, that mind is only the product of +organization and ceases to have any activity or even existence when the +organs through which it usually manifests itself have perished. The +general consensus of mankind is a sharp protest against this +conclusion--but the experimental proofs have, to many, seemed in favor of +this scientific denial;--the healthy brain in general exhibits a healthy +mental activity, the diseased or imperfect brain shows impaired mental +action, and the disorganized brain simply exhibits no mental activity nor +any evidence whatever of the existence of mind. Nevertheless, it is a lame +argument; it is simply an attempt to prove a negative. + +The healthy rose emits an agreeable odor which our senses appreciate. You +may destroy the rose--it does not prove that the fragrance which it +emitted does not still exist even though our senses fail to appreciate it. + +But experiment and scientific methods have also somewhat to say upon this +subject. And first, in August, 1874, twenty-two years ago, at the moment +when the materialistic school was at the height of its influence, both the +scientific and religious world were brought to a momentary +standstill--like a ship under full headway suddenly struck by a tidal +wave--when one of the most eminent scientific men of his time, or of any +time, standing in his place as president of the foremost scientific +association in the world, spoke as follows: "Abandoning all disguise, the +confession which I feel bound to make before you is that I prolong the +vision backward across the boundary of experimental evidence and discover +in matter, which we, in our ignorance, and notwithstanding our professed +reverence for its Creator, have hitherto covered with opprobrium, the +promise and potency of every form of life."[2] + + [2] Prof. Tyndall's address before the British Association at Belfast, + August, 1874. + +On that day the tap-root of materialism was wounded, and materialism +itself has been an invalid of increasing languor and desuetude ever since. +On the other hand, supernaturalism in every form was left in little better +plight. + +To thinking men of all classes this bold declaration opened up the grand +thought, not new, but newly formulated and endorsed, that as the seed +contained all the possibilities of the future plant--the ovum all the +possibilities of the future animal, so matter, which had been thought so +lightly of, contained within itself the germ, potency, and promise of +nature in all her subsequent developments--of the vast universe of suns +and systems, planets and satellites, and of every form of life, +sensation, and intelligence which in due process of evolution has appeared +upon their surfaces. It pointed the way to the thought of an infinite +causal energy and intelligence pervading matter and working through nature +in all its various grades of life from the first organized cell up to the +grandest man. It gave a new meaning to mind in man, as being an +individualized portion of that divine potency which ever existed in +matter, and which acting through constantly improving and developing +organisms, amidst constantly improving environments, at length appeared a +differentiated, individualized, seeing, reasoning, knowing, loving spirit. + +The mind, then, is of importance. It is no transient visitor which may +have made its appearance by chance--a concatenation of coincidences, +fortunate or unfortunate, but it is the intelligent tenant and master of a +singularly beautiful and complicated house, a house which has been +millions upon millions of years in the building, and yet which will be +lightly laid aside when it ceases to accommodate and fulfil the needs of +its tenant. + +Who and what, then, is this lordly tenant whose germ was coeval with +matter, whose birth was in the first living cell which appeared upon the +planet, whose apprenticeship has been served through every grade of +existence from the humble polyp upwards, whose education has been carried +on through the brain and organs of every grade of animal life with its +countless expedients for existence and enjoyment, until now, as lord of +its domain, it looks back upon its long course of development and +education, looks about upon its environments and wonders at itself, at +what it sees, and at what it prophesies. Truly what is this tenant, what +are its powers, and why is it here at all? + +These are the questions which it has been the business of the strongest +and wisest to discuss, from the time men began to think and record their +thoughts until the present time; but how various and unsatisfactory have +been the conclusions. The mental philosophers, psychologists, and +encyclopedists simply present a chaos of conflicting definitions, +principles, and premises, upon none of which are they in full agreement +amongst themselves; they are not even agreed regarding the nature of +mind--whether it is material or immaterial--how it should be studied, how +it is related to the body, indeed whether it is an entity at all, or +simply "a series of feelings or possibilities of them"; whether it +possesses innate ideas or is simply an accretion of experiences. In +short, the stock of generally received facts relating to mind has always +remained exceedingly small. Psychologists have busied themselves chiefly +about its usual and obvious actions, and when in full relation to the +body, ignoring all other mental action or arbitrarily excluding it as +abnormal and not to be taken into account in the study of normal mind; so +with only half the subject under consideration true results could hardly +be attained. + +Since the organization of the Society for Psychical Research, in 1882, new +fields of investigation have been undertaken and the _unusual_ phenomena +connected with the operations of mind have been systematically studied. A +very hasty and imperfect sketch of this study and of the results obtained +has been given in the preceding chapters, but for the use here made of +these studies in connection with his own observations the writer alone is +responsible. In these studies the field of investigation has been greatly +extended beyond that examined by the old philosophers and physiologists. +Beyond the usual activities in which we constantly see the mind +engaged--observation of surroundings made by the senses, memory of them, +reasoning about them, and putting them in new combinations in science, +literature, or art--new activities have been observed, activities lying +entirely outside the old lines, in new and hitherto unexplored fields. + +It has been demonstrated by experiment after experiment carefully made by +competent persons that sensations, ideas, information, and mental pictures +can be transferred from one mind to another without the aid of speech, +sight, hearing, touch, or any of the ordinary methods of communicating +such information or impressions. That is, Telepathy is a fact, and mind +communicates with mind through channels other than the ordinary use of the +senses. + +It has been demonstrated that in the hypnotic condition, in ordinary +somnambulism, in the dreams and vision of ordinary sleep, in reverie, and +in various other subjective conditions the mind may perceive scenes and +events at the moment transpiring at such a distance away or under such +physical conditions as to render it impossible that knowledge of these +scenes and events could be obtained by means of the senses acting in their +usual manner. That is, mind under some circumstances _sees_ without the +use of the physical organ of sight. + +Again, it has been demonstrated that some persons can voluntarily project +the mind--some mind--some centre of intelligence or independent mental +activity, clothed in a recognizable form, a distance of one, a hundred, or +a thousand miles, and that it can there make itself known and recognized, +perform acts, and even carry on a conversation with the person to whom it +was sent. That is, mind can _act_ at a distance from, and independent of, +the physical body and the organs through which it usually manifests +itself. + +These propositions present an aspect of mind which the authorities in the +old fields of psychology have failed to observe or to recognize; or if +they have at times caught a glimpse of it they have rather chosen to close +their eyes and deny altogether the phenomena which these propositions +imply, because they found it was impossible to classify them in their +system. It has been to a degree a repetition of the folly exhibited by +Galileo's contemporaries and critics, who refused to look through his +telescope lest their favorite theories of the universe should be damaged. +Nevertheless, this newly studied aspect exists, and is adding greatly to +our knowledge of the nature and action of mind. + +Still another class of unusual mental phenomena found in this outlying +field of psychology is that known under the general name of automatism; +and by this is meant something more than the "unconscious cerebration" and +"unconscious muscular action" of the physiologists, and something quite +different from that. + +There is, first, the class of motor automatisms, including +Planchette-writing and other methods of automatic writing, drawing, +painting, and kindred performances, also poetical or metrical +improvisations, and trance, and so-called inspirational speaking:--Second, +there are the sensory automatisms; or such as are manifested by +impressions made upon the senses and which are reckoned as hallucinations. +The impression of hearing a voice, of feeling a touch, or seeing a vision +may be reckoned as examples of this kind of automatism. + +No other division of this newly cultivated field presents so many unusual +and debatable phenomena. Not only do those modern mysteries, +Planchette-writing, trance-speaking, and mediumistic utterances come +easily under this class of mental phenomena, but all that vast array of +alleged supernatural phenomena which pervades the literature of every +nation since the time when men first began to record their experiences. +The oracles of the Greeks and Romans, the daemon of Socrates, the voices +of Joan of Arc, and the widespread custom of divination by means of +crystal-gazing in some of its many forms have already been referred to and +their relation to automatism or the action of the subliminal self has been +noted. + +There is still one important class of persons who have wielded an enormous +influence upon mankind, an influence in the main wholesome, elevating, and +developing, whose relation to automatism demands a passing consideration. +I refer to the religious chiefs of the world. + +As prominent examples of those founders of religions we will briefly +notice Moses, Zoroaster, Mahomet, and Swedenborg. Each either professed +himself to be, or his followers have credited him with being, the inspired +mouthpiece of the Deity. There can be no doubt in the minds of candid +students that each one of these religious leaders was perfectly honest, +both as regards his conception of the character and importance of his +doctrines and also regarding the method by which he professed to receive +them. Each believed that what he taught was ultimate and infallible truth, +and was received directly from the Deity. It is evident, however, that +from whatever source they were derived the doctrines could not all be +ultimate truth, since they were not in harmony amongst themselves; but +the authors of them all present their claim to inspiration, and whose +claim to accept and whose to reject it is difficult to decide. But +accepting the theory that each promulgated the doctrines, theological, +cosmological, and ethical, that came to him automatically through the +superior perception of the subliminal self, all the phenomena fall into +line with the well ascertained action of that subliminal self. + +The truth which Moses saw was such as was adapted to his age and the +people with whom he had to deal. So there came to his perception not only +the sublime laws received at Sinai, but also the particulars regarding the +tabernacle and its furnishing--the rings and the curtains, the dishes and +spoons and bowls and covers, the rams' skins dyed red, the badgers' skins, +and the staves of shittim wood. The same also is true regarding the +teachings of Zoroaster. + +The splendid results which followed the promulgation of Mahomet's +revelation to a few insignificant Arab tribes are proof of its vital germ +of truth and of its adaptability to the soil into which it fell. It +developed into a civilization from which, at a later period, a benighted +and debased Christianity relighted its torch. + +Also the teachings of Swedenborg, notwithstanding the apparent egotism of +the man and the tiresome verbiage of many of his communications, are +elevating and refining in character and useful to those who are attracted +to them. That in either case an infinite Deity spoke the commonplace which +is attributed to Him in these communications is incredible, but to suppose +it all, both the grand and the trivial, the work of the subconscious self +of the respective authors is in accordance with what we know of automatism +and of the wonderful work of the subliminal self when left free to +exercise its highest activities. + +Let us examine with some care the history of two examples of unusual or +supranormal mental action, the first found in one of the earliest of human +records, and reckoned as fully inspired; the other equally unusual +occurring within the last half century and making no claim to any +supernatural assistance. + +The first example is presented in the first chapter of Genesis, and is a +clear, connected, and in the main correct, though by no means complete, +account of the changing conditions of the earth in the earliest geological +periods, and of the appearance in their proper order of the different +grades of life upon its surface. That such a written account should have +existed three thousand years before any scientifically constructed +schedule even of the order in which plants and animals succeeded each +other, much less of the manner in which the earth was prepared for their +reception and nurture, is a most remarkable circumstance, regarded either +from a literary or a scientific standpoint. It has been criticised for its +lack of scientific exactness, and the supposed error of representing light +as created before the sun, ignoring the early existence of aquatic life, +and similar points. But let us take our stand with the grand old seer, +whoever he may have been, whom we know as Moses, who gave to the world +this graphic account of the order of creation so many centuries before +science had thrown its light upon the condition of the earth in those +far-off ages, and let us endeavor to see what his quickened vision enabled +him to behold. + +The panorama opens and discloses in an hour the grand progressive action +of millions upon millions of years. + +The first picture represents the created earth covered with water and +enveloped in a thick mantle of steaming mist, causing a condition of +absolute and impenetrable darkness upon its surface. In the language of +the seer, "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the +face of the deep." For ages the unbroken ocean which covered the earth was +heated by internal fires; the rising vapor as it met the cooler atmosphere +above was condensed and fell in one constant downpour of rain. Unceasing, +steaming mist, vapor, and rain, wholly impenetrable to light: such were +the conditions. + +At length, as the cooling process went on, the density of the mists was +diminished;--the wonderful fiat went forth, "Let light be"--and light was. +But still the mantle hung close upon the unbroken ocean. + +The second picture appears. Not only was there light but a firmament--an +arch with a clear space underneath it; and it divided the waters which +were above it from the waters which were beneath it. + +Picture the third. The waters were gathered together and the continents +appeared; and the land was covered with verdure--plants and trees, each +bearing seed after its kind. Of the inhabitants of the sea the seer had +taken no account. It was simply a picture that he saw--a natural, +phenomenal representation. + +Picture the fourth. The mists and clouds are altogether dispelled. The +clear sky appears. The sun comes forth to rule the day--the moon to rule +the night. The stars also appear. + +Picture the fifth. The lower orders of animals are in full possession of +the earth and sea--fish, fowl, and sea-monsters. + +Picture the sixth. The higher orders of creation, mammals and man. + +Such was the phenomenal aspect of the various epochs of creation roughly +outlined, strong, distinct, and in the main true. Not even the scientific +critic with his present knowledge could combine more strength and truth, +with so few strokes of the brush. + +Relieved of the burden of inspiration and the necessity for presenting +absolute and unchangeable truth, and presenting the seer as simply telling +what he saw, the picture is wonderful, and the telling is most graphic. It +needed no deity nor angel to tell it--it was there--and the subliminal +self of the seer whose special faculty it was to see, perceived the scene +in all its grandeur. He also was the one best fitted to perceive the laws +which should make his people great, and describe the forms and ceremonies +which should captivate their senses and lead them on to higher +intellectual, moral, and ethical development. + +Next take the other example. Fifty years ago a young man, not yet twenty +years of age, uneducated, a grocer's boy and shoemaker's apprentice, was +hypnotized; and it was found that he had a most remarkable mental or +psychical constitution. He had most unusual experiences, and presented +unusual psychical phenomena which need not be recounted here. + +At length it was impressed upon him as it might have been upon Socrates or +Joan of Arc, or Swedenborg or Mahomet, that he had a mission and had a +message to give to the world. He came from the rural town where he had +spent his boyhood to the city of New York and hired a room on a prominent +thoroughfare. He then, in his abnormal condition, proceeded to choose +those who should be specially associated with him in his work--men of +character and ability whom he did not even know in his normal state. +First: Three witnesses were chosen who should be fully cognizant of +everything relating to the method by which the message or book was +produced. Of these one was a clergyman, one a physician, and one an +intelligent layman. Second: A scribe qualified to write out the messages +as he dictated them, to edit and publish them. Third: A physician to put +him into the hypnotic, or as it was then called, the magnetic condition, +in which he was to dictate his messages. + +The first lecture was given November 28th, 1845, and the last June 21st, +1847. During this time 157 lectures were given, varying in length from +forty minutes to four hours, and they were all carefully written out by +the scribe. To 140 of these manuscripts were attached 267 names of persons +who listened to them and subscribed their names as witnesses at the end of +each lecture--to some a single signature was affixed, to some, many. Any +person really desirous of knowing the purport of these lectures and the +manner of their delivery could be admitted by making application +beforehand. + +At each sitting the speaker was first put into the deep hypnotic trance in +which he was rigid and unconscious; but his sub-conscious or second self +was active and lucid, and associated with the principles and knowledge +which he needed and which he was to communicate. From this condition he +came back to the somnambulic state in which he dictated that which he had +acquired in the deep trance, or what he called the "superior condition"; +and the transition from one of these states to the other took place many +times during each lecture. Such were the conditions under which Andrew +Jackson Davis produced the _Principles of Nature--Her Divine +Revelation_--a book of nearly 800 pages, divided into three parts:--First, +a setting forth of first principles, which served as a philosophical +explanation or key to the main work. Second, a cosmogony or description of +the method by which the universe came to its present state of development, +and third, a statement of the ethical principles upon which society should +be based and the practical working of these principles. It assumes to be +thoroughly scientific and philosophical. It has literary faults, and there +is plenty of opportunity for cavil and scientific fault-finding; but these +remarkable facts remain. + +A poor boy, thoroughly well known and vouched for by his neighbors for his +strict integrity, having had only five months of ordinary district school +instruction for his education, having never read a scientific or +philosophical book, and not a dozen all told of every kind, having never +associated with people of education except in the most casual way, yet in +the manner just described he dictated a book containing the outlines of a +thoroughly sound and reasonable system of philosophy, theology, and +ethics, and a complete system of cosmogony representing the most advanced +views in geology, which was then in its infancy--astronomy, chemistry, and +other departments of physical science, criticising current scientific +opinions, and in points where he differed from these opinions giving full +and cogent reason for that difference. + +On March 16th, 17th, and 20th, 1846, he announced the fact of the motion +of our sun and solar system about a still greater centre, in harmony with +the Nebular Hypothesis by which he explained the formation of the whole +vast system. He also announced the existence of an eighth and ninth +planet, and the apparently abnormal revolution of the satellites of +Uranus. Neptune, the eighth planet, had not then been discovered and was +not found until six months later. On the 29th of April he announced the +discovery and application of diamagnetism by Faraday, concerning which +none of his associates had any knowledge, and which I believe had not then +been noticed in this country. He gave a distinct and vivid description of +the formation of the different bodies constituting the solar system, of +the introduction of life upon our planet, and of its evolution from grade +to grade from the lowest to the highest--all in minute detail, in general +accord with established scientific deduction and in scientific and +technical language. In several particulars he differed from the received +opinions, and gave his reasons for so doing. No claim was made to +inspiration nor to the presentation of absolute or infallible truth, but +when hypnotized and in what he termed the "superior condition," his +perceptive faculties were vastly increased, and that which he then +perceived he made known. He simply gave the truth as he saw it, and he +commended it to the judgment and reason of mankind for reception or +rejection. In other words, the subliminal self was brought into action by +hypnotism, and then by means of its greatly increased perceptive powers he +gathered knowledge from various sources quite inaccessible to him in his +ordinary state, and seemingly inaccessible also to others. + +Concerning the truth or falsity of the revelations beyond what was already +known or has since been confirmed by science, I do not assume to pronounce +judgment; but that this also, as well as the first chapter of Genesis, +from either a literary or scientific standpoint, is one of the most +remarkable productions of this or of any age, will not be denied by any +competent and candid examiner; while the remarkable character of the book +will be still better appreciated when the status of the theory of +evolution and of the science of geology fifty years ago is taken into the +account. + +Here are presented two prominent examples of supranormal mental +activity--one in the early ages of man's development, when _everything_ +was supernatural, the immediate work of a god--the other in man's later +development when natural law is found intervening between phenomena and +their cause, and when it is found possible for men to comprehend the fact +that truth, extraordinary and even that which had previously been unknown +or was beyond the reach of the senses in their ordinary state, may +nevertheless be discovered or revealed by other means than direct +communications from Deity. + +It is seen, then, how various and how wonderfully important are the mental +phenomena grouped under the general designation of automatism. + +Many examples of this and other classes of unusual mental action have been +given in previous chapters, not as cumulative evidence of their +verity--that would require volumes, but simply to illustrate the subject +and give some degree of definiteness to our reasoning regarding them. Not +even all the _classes_ of facts properly belonging to our subject have +here been represented; but taking them as they have been enumerated and +hastily described, they constitute a body of well observed and well +authenticated facts and phenomena of undeniable interest, and if received +as true their importance is certainly to be compared with the greatest +discoveries of modern science. They are, however, the very facts which the +science and philosophy of to-day hesitates to accept. The only exception +to this statement is found in the treatment lately accorded to hypnotism, +which after a hundred years of hesitation, rejection and even ridicule, +has at length been definitely received as regards its main facts. It is +true, however, that in numerous other instances the evidence regarding +unusual mental states and phenomena is equally weighty and unimpeachable; +but because these phenomena are unusual, marvelous or seemingly +miraculous, belonging to no recognized class of mental action, therefore +it is argued, they cannot be genuine; there _must be_ some flaw in the +evidence and they cannot be accepted. + +It is tedious going over the arguments which reduce this mode of reasoning +to an absurdity. The same reasoning has been applied to every important +discovery in physical science for the past three hundred years; and if it +were carried out to its logical conclusions no substantial advance in +human knowledge could ever take place, since every discovery or +observation of phenomena outside of known laws must on that ground be +rejected. And the history of scientific discoveries shows that this has +actually been the case. The announcement of the discovery of the movements +of the planets around the sun, of the attraction of gravitation, of the +identity of lightning with electricity, of the relation and derivation of +species in the world of living forms--of the discovery of living toads in +geological strata of untold antiquity, and scores of other now accepted +facts, were accounted visionary and were received with scoffs and jeers by +the accredited leaders of science, because they were outside of any known +natural laws; and it was only after the study and contemplation of the new +discoveries had educated and enlarged the minds of a new generation of men +to a better understanding of the extent and magnitude of nature and her +laws that the scoffs subsided and the new facts quietly took their places +as accredited science. + +The same process is going on regarding mental phenomena to-day. It may +require a generation for men unused to think in this direction to become +familiarized with the thought that telepathy, clairvoyance, and the +subliminal self, with its augmented powers, are facts in nature; but +thousands of intelligent people, and many accustomed to examine facts +critically and according to approved methods, are already so interpreting +nature, and their number is constantly increasing. + +Such are some of the facts discovered by the pioneers in this outlying +field of psychology. In attempting to explain or account for them it is +useless to take refuge in the hazy definitions of the old psychologists, +or to imagine that the secret is bound up in the vital processes which +occupy the biologist and physiologist, interesting and important as those +studies are; even the neurologist can help us comparatively little--he can +tell us all about diseases of the nervous system and how they manifest +themselves, and his labor has earned for him the gratitude of mankind; but +he cannot tell us how thinking is accomplished, nor what thought is; he +cannot tell the cause of so normal and easily observed a phenomenon as +ordinary sleep, much less of the new faculties which are developed in +somnambulism. In all these related departments of science, in considering +mental phenomena it is found convenient to deny the existence of that for +which they cannot account. Nature's processes, however, are simple when +once we comprehend them, so much so that we wonder at their simplicity, +and wonder that we ever could have failed to understand them; and we learn +to distrust explanations which are involved and complicated, knowing that +error often lies that way. And of this kind for the most part, the +attempted explanations of mental processes in terms of physiology have +proved to be; they are complicated, inapplicable, and unsatisfactory; and +they give no aid in the generalizations which have hitherto been so much +needed. + +The phenomena in this new field at first sight seem heterogeneous, without +system or any common bond; they seem each to demand a separate origin and +field. But let the idea of the subliminal self, intelligent, and endowed +with its higher perceptive faculties, be presented, and lo! all these +refractory phenomena fall into place in one harmonious system. The +subliminal self is the active and efficient agent in telepathy--it is that +which sees and hears and acts far away from the body, and reports the +knowledge which it gains to the ordinary senses, sometimes by motor and +sometimes by sensory automatism--by automatic writing, speaking, audition, +the vision, the phantasm. It acts sometimes while the primary self is +fully conscious--better and most frequently in reverie, in dreams, in +somnambulism, but best of all when the ordinary self is altogether +subjective and the body silent, inactive, and insensible, as in that +strange condition which accompanies the higher phases of trance and +lucidity, into which few enter, either spontaneously or by the aid of +hypnotism. Then still retaining its attenuated vital connection, it goes +forth and sees with extended vision and gathers truth from a thousand +various and hidden sources. + +Will it act less freely, less intelligently, with less consciousness and +individuality when that attenuated vital connection is severed, and the +body lies--untenanted? + + +THE END. + + + + +INDEX. + + + A. + + A., Miss, Perceives an induced phantom, 236 + + A., Miss, Her journey automatically described, 188 + + A. B., Clairvoyance of, 102-105 + + Alexis, " , 86-87 + + Anaesthesia, local, produced by hypnotism, 67 + + Apollonius, Clairvoyance of, 80 + + Apparitions or Phantasms, Collective Cases, 293, 294, 295, 299 + + Automatism, 151 + " Ancient and modern, 331 + " Grades or kinds of, 151-154 + " Motor and sensory, 198, 319 + + Automatisms, Sensory, considered as hallucinations, 219 + " " manifested by hearing, 220 + " The daemon of Socrates, 220 + " Voices and visions of Joan of Arc, 221 + + Automatic writing, by Planchette, 158, 180 + " " Mr. W. T. Stead, 186-193 + " drawing and painting by Mrs. Burton, 194 + + Aylesbury, Commander T. W., Case by, 289 + + + B. + + B., Madame, Hypnotic subject, 58-61, 131-135, 183 + + Barrett, Prof. W. T., and the S. P. R., 5 + + Bernheim, Prof., His theories of hypnotism, 36 + " " Post hypnotic suggestions, cases, 63-67 + + Bishop, The mind-reader, 8 + + Bourne, Ansel, Double personality of, 119, 182 + + Borderland cases. Between sleeping and waking, 269 + " " --visions, 269, 271, 273 + + Braid, His theory of hypnotism, 31 + + Brettany, Mrs., Vision, percipient awake, 304 + + Brittan, Dr. S. B., Cases reported by, 99-101 + + Brown, A. J., A second personality, 119, 182 + + Brougham, Lord, Borderland case, 273-279 + + Buchanan, Dr. W. B., Case by, collective, 295 + + Burton, Mrs. Julietta T., Automatic writing, 194 + " " " Drawing and painting by, 195 + " " " Portrait, by (Frontispiece), 196 + " " " Psychometric powers, 199 + + + C. + + Carpenter, Dr. Wm. B., His theory, 9 + + Charcot, Prof., His theory of hypnotism, 33 + + Chiefs, Religious, 320 + " " Moses, Zoroaster, Mahomet, Swedenborg, 320 + + Clairvoyance, 74 + " Instances of, 78-109 + " Ancient and modern, 81 + " Nature of, 109 + + Cleave, Mr. A. H. W., and Mr. H. P. Sparks, Phantasm produced by, 234 + + Clerke, May, Case reported by, 296 + + Collyer, Dr. R. H., Case, vision, reported by, 285, 288 + + Coues, Dr. E., Case reported by, 88-90 + + Crystal-gazing, Used for producing visions, 200 + " " Cases reported by Mr. E. W. Lane, 201 + " " Practised in all ages, 203 + " " Amongst the Hebrews, 204 + " " " " Greeks, 205 + " " In the Opera of Parsifal, 206 + " " The Shew-stone of Dr. Dee, 204 + " " What it really is, 208 + " " Experiments of Miss X., 209-214 + " " Col. Wickham's pouch-belt found by, 214 + " " Springs and wells used for, 216 + + Cumberland, Mind-reader, 8 + + + D. + + Davis, A. J., Production of _Principles of Nature, Her Divine + Revelation_, by, 328 + + Deyer, Col. J. J., His well, in relation to Crystal-gazing, 216 + + Diagrams, Illustrating thought-transference, 19 + + Dreams, Definite impressions during, 263 + " Veridical, cases of, 263, 266 + + Dufay, Dr., Case reported by, 95 + + + E. + + Elliotson, Dr., Mesmeric treatment by, 43 + + + F. + + Fenton, Mr, F. D., Vision, case reported by, 284 + + Fitzgerald, John, Clairvoyance of, 101 + + + G. + + Gerault, Dr., Clairvoyance, case reported by, 95 + + Gibert, Dr., Experiments, hypnotizing at a distance, 59 + + Ghost-stories, Status of, 1 + + Glissoid, Mr. E. M., Hypnotic experiments by, 231 + + Gurney, Mr. E., Experiments, 21 + " " Cases reported, 263-266, 284-289, 291-294, 295, 299 + + Gurwood, John, His supposed spirit, 170 + " " His crest, 171 + " " In the Peninsular War, 173 + + Guthrie, Malcolm, Experiments in Thought-Transference, 18 + + + H. + + Hammond, Dr. Wm. A., Experiments reported by, 56 + + Harris, Surgeon, A child's vision, case reported, 282 + + Hauffe, Madame, The Seeress of Proverst, 83-86 + + Hodgson, Dr. Richard, Case reported by, 122 + + Hosmer, Harriet, Borderland case, 271 + + Hypnotism, In literature, 2 + " Historical sketch of, 28 + " Braid's theory of, 31 + " Mesmer's theory of, 29 + " Charcot's theory of, 33 + " Bernheim's theory of, 36-39 + " Stages of, 41, 51, 52 + " Therapeutic effects of, 42-50 + " Psychic aspect of, 51-71 + " Rapport in, 54 + " Suggestion in, 61-67 + + Hypnotizing at a distance, 57 + " " " Experiments by Prof. Janet and Dr. Gibert, 58 + " " " Experiments by Prof Richet and Dr. Hericourt, 60 + + + I. + + Individual, The, Conception of, 149 + + + J. + + James, Prof., Case examined by, 122 + + Jane, Clairvoyance of, 90-94 + + Janet, Prof., Hypnotizing at a distance, 60 + " " Hypnotic experiments by, 131 + + Joan of Arc, Her voices and visions, 221 + + Joy, Mr. A., Case hallucination affecting sight, hearing and touch, 291 + + + L. + + L. A. W., Remarkable dream or vision, 263 + + Leonie, Leontine, Leonore, 131-135 + + Liebeault, Dr., Suggestion fulfilled after many days, 63 + " " Suggests a disappearance, 66 + + Lucidity, See Clairvoyance. + + + M. + + "Marie," Clairvoyance of, 95-99 + + Mesmer, Anton, 29 + + Mesmerists, The early, 31 + + Mesmerization of inanimate objects, 69 + + Magnetized water, Detection of, 71, 215 + + M. L., Clairvoyance of, 105-108 + + Moses, The vision of, 323 + + Mouat, Mr. R., Narrates a case, phantasms, 299 + + Myers, Mr. F. W. H., His important work, 145 + " " " Cases examined and reported by, 91, 124, 164, 214 + + + N. + + Newnham, Rev. Mr. and Mrs., Planchette writing, 164-168 + + + O. + + Oracles, Greek, 79 + + + P. + + Perception, Definition of, 225 + + Perceptions, which are reckoned as hallucinations, 226 + + Personality, Double or multiplex, 116 + " " " cases of, 117, 124-128 + " " in dreaming, 141 + + _Phantasms of the Living_, Cases from, 231, 263, 289 + " Produced at a distance, case, 234-238 + " Collective cases, 293, 294, 295-299 + + Phenomena, Psychical, Compared with physical, 311 + + Planchette, 154-180 + + Podmore, Mr. F., Case by, 288 + + Psychical Research, Eng. Society for, established, 3 + + Puysegur, Marquis de, 30 + + + R. + + R., Miss, and Miss V., Planchette writing, 168 + + Rapport, Hypnotic, Example, 56 + " " Experiments by Mr. Gurney and Dr. Myers, 56 + " " Experiments by Dr. Hammond, 56 + " " At a distance, 57 + + Reed, On Personality, 116 + + Revelation, A modern, 327 + + Richardson, Mrs. M. A., Borderland case reported by, 269 + + Russell, Mrs. J. M., Case by, 246-248 + + Ruth, Mrs. Wickham's servant, Crystal-gazing, 214 + + + S. + + Sidgwick, Prof. H., Vice-Pres. S. P. R., 5 + " Mrs. H., Cases reported by, 88-94 + + Society for Psychical Research, formation of, 3-5, 316 + + Socrates, Daemon of, 220 + + Somnambulism, 129 + " Hypnotic, 131 + + Stainton, Moses, Rev. W., Phantoms perceived by, 237, 238 + + Stead, W. T., His automatic writing, 186 + " " Miss A.'s journey automatically described by, 188 + " " Needs of a stranger written out by, 189 + " " His correspondent in a railway car, 192 + + Stewart, Prof. Balfour, 5 + + Subliminal self, The key to many psychical phenomena, 260 + " " Sources of information of, 177 + " " Theory of, 257 + + Suggestion, Post-hypnotic, 61 + + Smith, J. W., and Kate, Experiments, 22 + + Swedenborg, Clairvoyance of, 81-83 + + + T. + + Telepathy, Theories regarding, 250-261 + " Explained by the action of the subliminal self, 257-261 + " No longer a mere fancy, 309 + + Thought-transference, First report on, 6 + " " Classification, 11 + " " Experiments by diagrams, 18 + " " Tested by taste, 21 + " " " objects, 13 + " " " cards, 13 + " " " fictitious names, 14 + " " " two percipients, 23, 24 + + Tyndall, Prof., His Belfast address, effect of, 312-313 + + + U. + + Urim and Thummim, A method of Crystal-gazing, 204 + + + V. + + V., Louis, Case of, 124 + + V., Miss, Planchette writing by, 159-164 + + Verity, The Misses, perceive induced phantasms, 239-244 + + Visions, Percipient being awake, 282 + " Cases, 282, 284-286, 289-291, 304 + + Voisin, Dr., Cases reported by, 124, 148 + + + W. + + Water, magnetized, detected by patients, 71, 77 + + Wedgwood, Mr. H., Planchette-writing, 168-174 + + Willing game, 6 + + Wyld, Dr., Case reported by, 294 + + + X. + + X., Case illustrating sensory automatism, 184 + + X., Felida, Case, double personality, 117-119 + + X. Miss., On Crystal-gazing, 209 + + + Y. + + Young, Dr. A. K., Remarkable dream or vision, 266 + + + Z. + + Z., Alma, Case of, 125 + + _Zoist, The_, Report of cases in, 42 + + + + +_January, 1897._ + +Henry Holt & Co.'s + +Newest Books. + + +The Island of Cuba. + +By Lieut. A. S. ROWAN, U. S. A., and Prof. M. M. RAMSAY. With Maps and +Index. 12mo, $1.25. + + "Excellent and timely, a clear and judicial account of Cuba and its + history."--_The Dial._ "Conveys just the information needed at this + time."--_Philadelphia Times._ + + +English Literature. + +By BERNHARD TEN BRINK. Vol. II. Part 2. From the Middle of the Fourteenth +Century to the Accession of Elizabeth. 12mo, $2.00. + + "Has taken highest rank in its department."--_Outlook._ + +Earlier Volumes:--_Vol. I._ To Wyclif. $2.00.--_Vol. II._ Part 1. Through +the Renaissance. $2.00. + +Ten Brink's Lectures on Shakespeare. $1.25. + + +Telepathy and the Subliminal Self. + +By Dr. R. OSGOOD MASON. 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Times._ + + +The Buckram Series. + +Narrow 16mo, with frontispiece, 75c. each. + + "That admirable Buckram Series--to which a dull book is never + admitted."--_N. Y. Times._ + + +Out of Bounds. + +Being the Adventures of an Unadventurous Young Man. By A. GARRY. + + "An exceedingly good story ... graceful and interesting."--_N. Y. + Commercial Advertiser._ "A story which none will read but to + enjoy."--_Boston Times._ + + +_Earlier Issues._ + +Anthony Hope's Romances. + + 6 vols. The Prisoner of Zenda (31st Ed.). The Indiscretion of the + Duchess (10th Ed.). A Man of Mark (9th Ed.). The Dolly Dialogues (9th + Ed.). A Change of Air (9th Ed.). Sport Royal (3d Ed.). + +A Man and His Womankind. A novel. By NORA VYNNE. + +Sir Quixote of the Moors. A Scotch Romance. By JOHN BUCHAN. + +Lady Bonnie's Experiment. A quaint pastoral. By TIGHE HOPKINS. + +Kafir Stories. Tales of adventure. By WM. CHAS. SCULLY. + +The Master-Knot (2d Edition). And "Another Story." By CONOVER DUFF. + +The Time Machine. The Story of an Invention. By H. G. WELLS. + +Tenement Tales of New York. By J. W. SULLIVAN. + +Slum Stories of London. (_Neighbors of Ours._) By H. W. NEVINSON. + +The Ways of Yale (6th Edition). Sketches, mainly humorous. By H. A. BEERS. + +A Suburban Pastoral (5th Edition). American stories. By HENRY A. BEERS. + +Jack O'Doon (2d Edition). An American novel. By MARIA BEALE. + +Quaker Idyls (5th Edition). By Mrs. S. M. H. GARDNER. + +John Ingerfield (6th Edition). A love tragedy. By JEROME K. JEROME. + + + + +_Sixteenth Edition of a New York Novel._ + +The Hon. Peter Stirling + +And what people thought of him. + +By PAUL LEICESTER FORD. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + +_The Nation_: "Floods of light on the _raison d'etre_, origin, and methods +of the dark figure that directs the destinies of our cities.... So +strongly imagined and logically drawn that it satisfies the demand for the +appearance of truth in art.... Telling scenes and incidents and +descriptions of political organization, all of which are literal +transcripts of life and fact--not dry irrelevancies thrown in by way of +imparting information, but lively detail, needful for a clear +understanding of Stirling's progress from the humble chairmanship of a +primary to the dictator's throne.... In the use of dramatic possibilities, +Mr. Ford is discreet and natural, and without giving Stirling a heroic +pose, manages to win for him very hearty sympathy and belief. Stirling's +private and domestic story is well knit with that of his public +adventures.... A very good novel." + +_The Atlantic Monthly_: "Commands our very sincere respect ... there is no +glaring improbability about his story ... the highly dramatic crisis of +the story.... The tone and manner of the book are noble.... A timely, +manly, thoroughbred, and eminently suggestive book." + +_The Review of Reviews_: "His relations with women were of unconventional +sincerity and depth.... Worth reading on several accounts." + +_The Dial_: "One of the strongest and most vital characters that have +appeared in our fiction.... A very charming love-story. To discern the +soul of good in so evil a thing as Municipal politics calls for sympathies +that are not often united with a sane ethical outlook; but Peter Stirling +is possessed of the one without losing his sense of the other, and it is +this combination of qualities that make him so impressive and admirable a +figure.... Both a readable and an ethically helpful book." + +_The New York Tribune_: "A portrait which is both alive and easily +recognizable." + +_New York Times_: "Mr. Ford's able political novel." + +_The Literary World_: "A fine, tender love-story.... A very unusual but, +let us believe, a possible character.... Peter Stirling is a man's +hero.... Very readable and enjoyable." + +_The Independent_: "Full of life. The interest never flags.... It is long +since we have read a better novel or one more thoroughly and naturally +American." + +_The Boston Advertiser_: "Sure to excite attention and win popularity." + + + + +Anthony Hope's Romances + +In Buckram Series. + +18mo, with Frontispieces, 75 cents each. + + +The Prisoner of Zenda. _32d Edition._ + + "A glorious story, which cannot be too warmly recommended to all who + love a tale that stirs the blood. Perhaps not the least among its many + good qualities is the fact that its chivalry is of the nineteenth, not + of the sixteenth, century; that it is a tale of brave men and true, + and of a fair woman of to-day. The Englishman who saves the king ... + is as interesting a knight as was Bayard.... The story holds the + reader's attention from first to last."--_Critic._ + + +The Indiscretion of the Duchess. _10th Edition._ + + "Told with an old-time air of romance that gives the fascination of an + earlier day; an air of good faith, almost of religious chivalry, gives + reality to their extravagance.... Marks Mr. Hope as a wit, if he were + not a romancer."--_Nation._ + + +A Man of Mark. _9th Edition._ + + "More plentifully charged with humor, and the plot is every whit as + original as that of Zenda ... returns to the entrancing manner of 'The + Prisoner of Zenda.'... The whole game of playing at revolution is + pictured with such nearness and intimacy of view that the wildest + things happen as though they were every-day occurrences.... Two + triumphs of picturesque description--the overthrow and escape of the + President, and the night attack on the bank. The charmingly wicked + Christina is equal to anything that Mr. Hope has done, with the + possible exception of the always piquant Dolly."--_Life._ + + +The Dolly Dialogues. _9th Edition._ + + "Characterized by a delicious drollery; ... beneath the surface play + of words lies a tragi-comedy of life.... There is infinite suggestion + in every line."--_Boston Transcript._ + + +A Change of Air. _9th Edition._ + +With portrait and notice of the author. + + "A highly clever performance, with little touches that recall both + Balzac and Meredith.... Is endowed with exceeding originality."--_New + York Times._ + + +Sport Royal. _3d Edition._ + + "His many admirers will be happy to find in these stories full + evidence that Anthony Hope can write short stories fully as dramatic + in incident as his popular novels."--_Philadelphia Call._ + + +HENRY HOLT & CO., 29 W. 23d St., New York. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Telepathy and the Subliminal Self, by +R. 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