from the ,google ,print project47       
,,human ,,personality  ,,and ,,its      
,,survival ,,of ,,bodily ,,death  ,,by  
,,frederic ,w4 ,h4 ,,myers  ,,edited    
,,and ,,abridged ,,by ,,his ,,son       
,,leopold ,,hamilton ,,myers            
,cessas in vota procesque1     ,tros1   
ait1 ,aenea1 cessas8 ,neque enim ante   
dehiscent     ,adtonitoe magna ora      
domus4--,,virgil4      ,nay6 quoth the  
,sybil1 ,trojan6 wilt thou spare        
,the impassioned effort and the         
conquering prayer8     ,nay6 not save   
thus those doors shall open roll1--     
,that ,power within them burst upon the 
soul4  ,,new ,,impression  ,,longmans1  
,,green ,,and ,,co4 #ci ,,paternoster   
,,row1 ,,london ,,fourth ,,avenue       
#cj,,th ,,street1 ,,new ,,york ,,bombay1
 ,,calcutta1 ,,and ,,madras #aiah       
,,copyright1 #aijf1 ,,by ,,longmans1    
,,green ,,and ,,co4  ,all rights        
reserved  ,first ,edition1 ,december1   
#aijf ,reprinted1 ,march1 #aijg         
,october1 #aiji2 ,april1 #aiac ,august1 

#aiag2 ,april1 #aiah  ,,the ,,plimpton  
,,press ,,norwood,,mass,u,s,a           
,,dedicated ,,to ,,henry ,,sidgwick     
,,and ,,edmund ,,gurney     ,,contents  
,,page  ,,editor',s ,,note              
vii  ,,preface                          
ix  ,,glossary                          
xiii   ,,chap4     ,i4 ,,introduction   
#a    ,,ii4 ,,disintegrations ,,of      
,,personality        #bf   ,,iii4       
,,genius                                
#ee    ,,iv4 ,,sleep                    
#ic     ,v4 ,,hypnotism                 
#aaf    ,,vi4 ,,sensory ,,automatism    
#afh   ,,vii4 ,,phantasms ,,of ,,the    
,,dead                #bab  ,,viii4     
,,motor ,,automatism                    
#bed    ,,ix4 ,,trance1 ,,possession1   
,,and ,,ecstasy      #big     ,x4       
,,epilogue                              
#cdj  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,,ii  
#cef  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,,iv  
#cfd  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,v    
#cgh  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,,vi  
#chd  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,,vii 

#djj  ,,appendices ,,to ,,chapter ,,viii
                 #dcj  ,,appendices ,,to
 ,,chapter ,,ix                   #dda  
,,index                                 
#dec     ,,editor',s ,,note   ,nearly   
four years have elapsed since the first 
appearance of my ,father's book ,human  
,personality and its ,survival of       
,bodily ,death4 ,it cost two guineas and
 was published in two volumes1 each of  
which was little under #gjj pages in    
length4  ,the price and dimensions of   
such a work made the future issue of a  
more popular edition not improbable4    
,indeed1 my ,father himself indicated   
briefly the lines on which an abridgment
 could best be made4 ,in accordance with
 his indications ,i have endeavoured to 
keep as closely as possible to the      
original scheme and construction of the 
book4  ,the task of abridging1 however1 
must always be an ungrateful one4 ,it is
 inevitable that somewhere or other ,i  
should disappoint the reader who1       
already acquainted with the unabridged  

edition1 finds some admired passage     
curtailed in favour of others that are  
to him of secondary interest4 ,this ,i  
cannot avoid4 ,all ,i can hope to do is 
so to reconcile the principles of       
omission and condensation as least to do
 violence to the style while preserving 
as far as possible the completeness of  
the exposition4  ,one half of each      
volume in the unabridged edition        
consists of appendices containing       
examples of the various kinds of        
phenomena discussed and analyzed in the 
text4 ,it has been possible to reduce   
considerably the number of these cases  
without1 ,i think1 detracting much from 
the value of the work for the purposes  
of the ordinary reader4 ,those cases1   
however1 which are included in this     
edition are quoted in full1 an abridged 
version having very little value4  ,it  
must be remembered that the author in   
his preface insists that the book is an 
exposition rather than a proof1 and the 
remark naturally applies with even      

greater force to this abridgment4 ,here 
the cases must be regarded simply as    
illustrative of the different types of  
the evidence upon which in its entirety 
the argument of the book ultimately     
rests4  ,the reader who may feel        
disposed to study this evidence will    
find numerous references given in the   
foot-notes4 ,the cases1 however1 to     
which he is thus referred are scattered 
in many different publications1 some of 
which will probably be less easy of     
access than the unabridged edition4 ,in 
the many instances1 therefore1 where a  
case is quoted in the latter its place  
therein is indicated by means of a      
number or a number and letter in square 
brackets1 thus #dcd ,a3 these being in  
accordance with the plan of arrangement 
observed in the larger book4         99 
99       99       99       99  ,i wish  
to express my sincere thanks to ,miss   
,alice ,johnson1 who very kindly read   
over the whole of the proof of this     
abridgment4 ,i have profited largely by 

her advice as well as from that given me
 by ,miss ,jane ,barlow1 to whom my     
thanks are also due4  ,l4 ,h4 ,m4       
,,preface        ,this unfinished       
preface consists of several passages    
written at      different times by the  
author1 who died on ,january #agth1     
#aija4 ,in      #ahif he arranged that  
the completion of his book should be in 
the      hands of ,dr4 ,richard ,hodgson
 in case of his death before its        
publication4 ,in the meantime he had    
entrusted the general      supervision  
of the press work and much of the detail
 in marshalling      the ,appendices to 
,miss ,alice ,johnson 7now ,secretary of
 the ,society      for ,psychical       
,research71 who was therefore associated
 with ,dr4      ,hodgson also in the    
editorial work needed for the completion
 of the      book1 and much the greater 
part of the labour involved fell to her 
share4   ,the book which is now at last 
given to the world is but a partial     
presentation of an ever-growing subject 

which ,i have long hoped to become able 
to treat in more adequate fashion4 ,but 
as knowledge increases life rolls by1   
and ,i have thought it well to bring out
 while ,i can even this most imperfect  
text-book to a branch of research whose 
novelty and strangeness call urgently   
for some provisional systematisation1   
which1 by suggesting fresh inquiries and
 producing further accumulation of      
evidence1 may tend as speedily as       
possible to its own supersession4 ,few  
critics of this book can1 ,i think1 be  
more fully conscious than its author of 
its defects and its lacun2 but also few 
critics1 ,i think1 have yet realised the
 importance of the new facts which in   
some fashion the book does actually     
present4  ,many of these facts have     
already appeared in ,phantasms of the   
,living2 many more in the ,proceedings  
of the ,society for ,psychical          
,research2 but they are far indeed from 
having yet entered into the scientific  
consciousness of the age4 ,in future    

years the wonder1 ,i think1 will be that
 their announcement was so largely left 
to a writer with leisure so scanty1 and 
with scientific equipment so incomplete4
  ,whatever value this book may possess 
is in great measure due to other minds  
than its actual author's4 ,its very     
existence1 in the first place1 probably 
depends upon the existence of the two   
beloved friends and invaluable          
coadjutors to whose memory ,i dedicate  
it now4  ,the help derived from these   
departed colleagues1 ,henry ,sidgwick   
and ,edmund ,gurney1 although of a kind 
and quantity absolutely essential to the
 existence of this work1 is not easy to 
define in all its fulness under the     
changed circumstances of to-day4 ,there 
was indeed much which is                
measurable2--much of revision of        
previous work of my own1 of             
collaborative experiments1 of original  
thought and discovery4 ,large quotations
 purposely introduced from ,edmund      
,gurney indicate1 although imperfectly1 

how closely interwoven our work on all  
these subjects continued to be until his
 death4 ,but the benefit which ,i drew  
from the association went deeper still4 
,the conditions under which this inquiry
 was undertaken were such as to         
emphasise the need of some intimate     
moral support4 ,a recluse1 perhaps1 or  
an eccentric1--or a man living mainly   
with his intellectual inferiors1 may    
find it easy to work steadily and       
confidently at a task which he knows    
that the bulk of educated men will      
ignore or despise4 ,but this is more    
difficult for a man who feels manifold  
links with his kind1 a man whose desire 
it is to live among minds equal or      
superior to his own4 ,it is hard1 ,i    
say1 for such a man to disregard        
altogether the expressed or implied     
disapproval of those groups of weighty  
personages to whom in other matters he  
is accustomed to look up4  ,i need not  
say that the attitude of the scientific 
world--of all the intellectual          

world--then was very much more marked   
than now4 ,even now ,i write in full    
consciousness of the low value commonly 
attached to inquiries of the kind which 
,i pursue4 ,even now a book on such a   
subject must still expect to evoke1 not 
only legitimate criticism of many kinds1
 but also much of that disgust and      
resentment which novelty and heterodoxy 
naturally excite4 ,but ,i have no wish  
to exalt into a deed of daring an       
enterprise which to the next generation 
must seem the most obvious thing in the 
world4 ,nihil ausi nisi vana contemnere 
will certainly be the highest compliment
 which what seemed to us our bold       
independence of men will receive4 ,yet  
gratitude bids me to say that however ,i
 might in the privacy of my own bosom   
have 'dared to contemn things           
contemptible1' ,i should never have     
ventured my amateurish acquirements on a
 publication of this scale were it not  
for that slow growth of confidence which
 my respect for the judgment of these   

two friends inspired4 ,their countenance
 and fellowship1 which at once          
transformed my own share in the work    
into a delight1 has made its            
presentation to the world appear as a   
duty4  ,my thanks are due also to       
another colleague who has passed away1  
my brother1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,t4 ,myers1        
,f4,r4,c4,p41 who helped me for many    
years in all medical points arising in  
the work4  ,to the original furnishers  
of the evidence my obligations are great
 and manifest1 and to the ,council of   
the ,s4,p4,r4 ,i also owe thanks for    
permission to use that evidence freely4 
,but ,i must leave it to the book itself
 to indicate in fuller detail how much  
is owing to how many men and women3--how
 widely diffused are the work and the   
interest which have found in this book  
their temporary outcome and exposition4 
,the book1 indeed1 is an exposition     
rather than a proof4 ,i cannot summarise
 within my modest limits the mass of    
evidence already gathered together in   

the sixteen volumes of ,proceedings and 
the nine volumes of the ,journal of the 
,s4,p4,r41 in ,phantasms of the ,living 
and other books hereafter referred to1  
and in ,,ms4 collections4 ,the attempt  
indeed would be quite out of place4     
,this branch of knowledge1 like others1 
must be studied carefully and in detail 
by those who care to understand or to   
advance it4  ,what ,i have tried to do  
here is to render that knowledge more   
assimilable by co-ordinating it in a    
form as clear and intelligible as my own
 limited skill and the nature of the    
facts themselves have permitted4 ,i have
 tried to give1 in text and in          
,appendices1 enough of actual evidence  
to illustrate each step in my           
argument3--and ,i have constantly       
referred the reader to places where     
further evidence will be found4  ,in    
minor matters ,i have aimed above all   
things at clearness and readiness in    
reference4 ,the division of the book    
into sections1 with ,appendices bearing 

the same numbers1 will1 it is hoped1    
facilitate the use both of syllabus and 
of references in general4 ,i have even  
risked the appearance of pedantry in    
adding a glossary4 ,where many          
unfamiliar facts and ideas have to be   
dealt with1 time is saved in the end if 
the writer explains precisely what his  
terms mean4         99       99       99
       99       99  ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,myers4
     ,,glossary       ,,note4--,the     
words and phrases here included fall    
under three main      heads3--          
7#a7 ,words common only in philosophical
 or medical use4       7#b7 ,words or   
phrases used in psychical research with 
some special      significance4         
7#c7 ,a few words1 distinguished by an  
asterisk1 for which the author      is  
himself responsible4   ,aboulia4--,loss 
of power of willing4  ,after-image4--,a 
retinal picture of an object seen after 
removing the gaze from the object4      
,agent4--,the person who seems to       
initiate a telepathic transmission4     

,agraphia4--,lack of power to write     
words4  ,alexia or                      
,word-blindness4--,lack of power to     
understand words written4  ,ansthesia1  
or the loss of sensation generally1 must
 be distinguished from analgesia1 or the
 loss of the sense of pain alone4       
,analgesia4--,insensibility to pain4    
,aphasia4--,incapacity of coherent      
utterance1 not caused by structural     
impairment of the vocal organs1 but by  
lesion of the cerebral centres for      
speech4  ,aphonia4--,incapacity of      
uttering sounds4  ,automatic4--,used of 
mental images arising and movements made
 without the initiation1 and generally  
without the concurrence1 of conscious   
thought and will4 ,sensory automatism   
will thus include visual and auditory   
hallucinations4 ,motor automatism will  
include messages written and words      
uttered without intention 7automatic    
script1 trance-utterance1 etc474        
,automnesia4--,spontaneous revival of   
memories of an earlier condition of     

life4  ,autoscope4--,any instrument     
which reveals a subliminal motor impulse
 or sensory impression1 e4g41 a divining
 rod1 a tilting table1 or a planchette4 
,bilocation4--,the sensation of being in
 two different places at once1 namely   
where one's organism is1 and in a place 
distant from it4  ,catalepsy4--,an      
intermittent neurosis producing         
inability to change the position of a   
limb1 while another person can place the
 muscles in a state of flexion or       
contraction as he will4 7,tuke's        
,dictionary of ,psychological           
,medicine47  ,centre of                 
,consciousness4--,the place where a     
percipient imagines himself to be4 ,the 
point of view from which he seems to    
himself to be surveying some phantasmal 
scene4  ,chromatism4--,see ,secondary   
,sensations4  ,clair-audience4--,the    
sensation of hearing an internal 7but in
 some way veridical7 voice4             
,clairvoyance 7,lucidit74--,the faculty 
or act of perceiving1 as though         

visually1 with some coincidental truth1 
some distant scene4  ,cnesthesia4--,that
 consensus or agreement of many organic 
sensations which is a fundamental       
element in our conception of personal   
identity4  ,control4--,this word is used
 of the intelligence which purports to  
communicate messages which are written  
or uttered by the automatist1 sensitive 
or medium4  99,cosmopathic4--,open to   
the access of supernormal knowledge or  
emotion4  ,cryptomnesia4--,submerged or 
subliminal memory of events forgotten by
 the supraliminal self4                 
99,dextro-cerebral 7opposed to          
99,sinistro-cerebral7 of left-handed    
persons as employing preferentially the 
right hemisphere of the brain4          
,diathesis4--,habit1 capacity1          
constitutional disposition or tendency4 
,dimorphism4--,in crystals the property 
of assuming two incompatible forms3 in  
plants and animals1 difference of form  
between members of the same species4    
,used of a condition of alternating     

personalities1 in which memory1         
character1 etc41 present themselves at  
different times in different forms in   
the same person4                        
,discarnate4--,disembodied1 opposed to  
incarnate4  ,disintegration of          
,personality4--,used of any condition   
where the sense of personality is not   
unitary and continuous3 especially when 
secondary and transitory personalities  
intervene4  ,dynamogeny4--,the increase 
of nervous energy by appropriate        
stimuli1 often opposed to inhibition4   
,ecmnesia4--,loss of memory of a period 
of time4  99,entencephalic4--,on the    
analogy of entoptic3 of sensations1     
etc41 which have their origin within the
 brain1 not in the external world4      
,eugenics4--,the science of improving   
the race4  ,falsidical4--,of            
hallucinations delusive1 i4e41 when     
there is nothing objective to which they
 correspond4 ,the correlative term to   
veridical4  ,glossolaly4--,speaking with
 tongues1 i4e41 automatic utterance of  

words not belonging to any real         
language4  ,hallucination4--,any sensory
 perception which has no objective      
counterpart within the field of vision1 
hearing1 etc41 is termed a              
hallucination4  ,hetersthesia4--,a form 
of sensibility decidedly different from 
any of those which can be referred to   
the action of the known senses4         
,hyperboulia4--,increased power over the
 organism1--resembling the power which  
we call will when it is exercised over  
the voluntary muscles1--which is seen in
 the bodily changes effected by         
self-suggestion4                        
,hypersthesia4--,unusual acuteness of   
the senses4                             
,hypermnesia4--,over-activity of the    
memory2 a condition in which past acts1 
feelings1 or ideas are brought vividly  
to the mind1 which1 in its normal       
condition1 has wholly lost the          
remembrance of them4 7,tuke's ,dict47   
99,hyperpromethia4--,supernormal power  
of foresight4  ,hypnagogic4--,illusions 

hypnagogiques 7,maury7 are the vivid    
illusions of sight or sound--faces in   
the dark1 etc4--which sometimes         
accompany the oncoming of sleep4 ,to    
similar illusions accompanying the      
departure of sleep1 as when a           
dream-figure persists for a few moments 
into waking life1 ,i have given the name
 99hypnopompic4  ,hypnogenous           
zones4--,regions by pressure on which   
hypnosis is induced in some hysterical  
persons4  99,hypnopompic4--,see         
,hypnagogic4  ,hysteria4--,a disordered 
condition of the nervous system1 the    
anatomical seat and nature of which are 
unknown to medical science1 but of which
 the symptoms consist in well-marked and
 very varied disturbances of            
nerve-function 7,ency4 ,brit474         
,hysterical affections are not dependent
 on any discoverable lesion4            
,hysterogenous zones4--,points or tracts
 on the skin of a hysterical person1    
pressure on which will induce a         
hysterical attack4  ,ideational4--,used 

of impressions which display some       
distinct notion1 but not of sensory     
nature4  ,induced4--,of hallucinations1 
etc41 intentionally produced4           
,levitation4--,a raising of objects from
 the ground by supposed supernormal     
means2 especially of living persons4    
,medium4--,a person through whom        
communication is deemed to be carried on
 between living men and spirits of the  
departed4 ,it is often better replaced  
by automatist or sensitive4             
,message4--,used for any communication1 
not necessarily verbal1 from one to     
another stratum of the automatist's     
personality1 or from an external        
intelligence to the automatist's mind4  
,metallsthesia4--,a form of sensibility 
alleged to exist which enables some     
hypnotised or hysterical subjects to    
discriminate between the contacts of    
various metals by sensations not derived
 from their ordinary properties of      
weight1 etc4  ,metastasis4--,change of  
the seat of a bodily function from one  

place 7e4g41 brain-centre7 to another4  
99,metetherial4--,that which appears to 
lie after or beyond the ether3 the      
metetherial environment denotes the     
spiritual or transcendental world in    
which the soul may be supposed to exist4
  99,methectic4--,of communications     
between one stratum of a man's          
intelligence and another4               
,mirror-writing 7criture renverse1      
,spiegel-schrift74--,writing so         
inverted1 or1 more exactly1 perverted1  
as to resemble writing reflected in a   
mirror4  ,mnemonic chain4--,a continuous
 series of memories1 especially when the
 continuity persists after an           
interruption4  ,motor4--,used of an     
impulse to action not carrying with it  
any definite idea or sensory impression4
  ,negative hallucination or            
systematised anthesia4--,signifies the  
condition of an entranced subject who1  
as the result of a suggestion1 is unable
 to perceive some object or to hear some
 sound1 etc4  ,number forms4--,see      

,secondary sensations4  ,objectify4--,to
 externalize a phantom as if it were a  
material object2 to see it as a part of 
the waking world4  99,panmnesia4--,a    
potential recollection of all           
impressions4  ,parsthesia4--,erroneous  
or morbid sensation4  ,paramnesia4--,all
 forms of erroneous memory4             
,paraphasia4--,the erroneous and        
involuntary use of one word for another4
  ,percipient4--,the correlative term to
 ,agent2 the person on whose mind the   
telepathic impact falls2 or1 more       
generally1 the person who perceives any 
motor or sensory impression4  ,phantasm 
and ,phantom4--,phantasm and phantom    
are1 of course1 mere variants of the    
same word2 but since phantom has become 
generally restricted to visual          
hallucinations1 it is convenient to take
 phantasm to cover a wider range1 and to
 signify any hallucinatory sensory      
impression1 whatever sense--whether     
sight1 hearing1 touch1 smell1 taste1 or 
diffused sensibility--may happen to be  

affected4  ,phantasmogenetic centre4--,a
 point in space apparently modified by a
 spirit in such a way that persons      
present near it perceive a phantasm4    
,phobies4--,irrational restricting or   
disabling preoccupations or fears2 e4g41
 agoraphobia1 fear of open spaces4      
,photism4--,see ,secondary sensations4  
,point de repre4--,guiding mark4 ,used  
of some 7generally inconspicuous7 real  
object which a hallucinated subject     
sometimes sees as the nucleus of his    
hallucination1 and the movements of     
which suggest corresponding movements of
 the hallucinatory object4              
,polyzoism4--,the property1 in a complex
 organism1 of being composed of minor   
and quasi-independent organisms4 ,this  
is sometimes called colonial            
constitution1 from animal colonies4     
,possession4--,a developed form of motor
 automatism1 in which the automatist's  
own personality disappears for a time1  
while there appears to be a more or less
 complete substitution of personality1  

writing or speech being given by another
 spirit through the entranced organism4 
,post-hypnotic4--,used of a suggestion  
given during the hypnotic trance1 but   
intended to operate after that trance   
has ceased4  ,precognition4--,knowledge 
of impending events supernormally       
acquired4  ,premonition4--,a supernormal
 indication of any kind of event still  
in the future4  99,preversion4--,a      
tendency to characteristics assumed to  
lie at a further point of the           
evolutionary progress of a species than 
has yet been reached2 opposed to        
reversion4  99,promnesia4--,the         
paradoxical sensation of recollecting a 
scene which is only now occurring for   
the first time2 the sense of the dj vu4 
99,psychorrhagy4--,a special            
idiosyncrasy which tends to make the    
phantasm of a person easily perceptible2
 the breaking loose of a psychical      
element1 definable mainly by its power  
of producing a phantasm1 perceptible by 
one or more persons1 in some portion of 

space4  99,psychorrhagic diathesis4--,a 
habit or capacity of detaching some     
psychical element1 involuntarily and    
without purpose1 in such a manner as to 
produce a phantasm4                     
,psycho-therapeutics4--,treatment of    
disease by the influence of the mind on 
the body4 7,tuke's ,dict47              
,reciprocal4--,used of cases where there
 is both agency and percipience at each 
end of the telepathic chain1 so that ,a 
perceives ,p1 and ,p perceives ,a also4 
99,retrocognition4--,knowledge of the   
past1 supernormally acquired4           
,secondary personality4--,it sometimes  
happens1 as the result of shock1        
disease1 or unknown causes1 that an     
individual experiences an alteration of 
memory and character1 amounting to a    
change of personality1 which generally  
seems to have come on during sleep4 ,the
 new personality is in that case termed 
secondary1 in distinction to the        
original1 or primary1 personality4      
,secondary sensations                   

7,secunddrempfindungen1 audition colore1
 sound-seeing1 synsthesia1 etc474--,with
 some persons every sensation of one    
type is accompanied by a sensation of   
another type2 as for instance1 a special
 sound may be accompanied by a special  
sensation of colour or light            
7chromatisms or photisms74 ,this        
phenomenon is analogous to that of      
number-forms1--a kind of diagrammatic   
mental picture which accompanies the    
conception of a progression of numbers4 
,see ,galton's ,inquiries into ,human   
,faculty4  ,shell-hearing4--,the        
induction of hallucinatory voices1 etc41
 by listening to a shell4 ,analogous to 
crystal-gazing4  ,stigmatisation4--,the 
production of blisters or other         
cutaneous changes on the hands1 feet1 or
 elsewhere1 by suggestion or            
self-suggestion4  ,subliminal4--,of     
thoughts1 feelings1 etc41 lying beneath 
the ordinary threshold 7limen7 of       
consciousness1 as opposed to            
supraliminal1 lying above the threshold4

  ,suggestion4--,the process of         
effectively impressing upon the         
subliminal intelligence the wishes of   
some other person4 ,self-suggestion     
means a suggestion conveyed by the      
subject himself from one stratum of his 
personality to another1 without external
 intervention4  99,supernormal4--,of a  
faculty or phenomenon which transcends  
ordinary experience4 ,used in preference
 to the word supernatural1 as not       
assuming that there is anything outside 
nature or any arbitrary interference    
with natural law4  ,supraliminal4--,see 
,subliminal4  ,synsthesia4--,see        
,secondary ,sensations4  ,synergy4--,a  
number of actions correlated together1  
or combined into a group4               
,telekinesis4--,used of alleged         
supernormal movements of objects1 not   
due to any known force4                 
99,telepathy4--,the communication of    
impressions of any kind from one mind to
 another1 independently of the          
recognised channels of sense4           

99,telsthesia4--,any direct sensation or
 perception of objects or conditions    
independently of the recognised channels
 of sense1 and also under such          
circumstances that no known mind        
external to the percipient's can be     
suggested as the source of the knowledge
 thus gained4  99,telergy4--,the force  
exercised by the mind of an agent in    
impressing a percipient1--involving a   
direct influence of the extraneous      
spirit on the brain or organism of the  
percipient4  ,veridical4--,of           
hallucinations1 when they correspond to 
real events happening elsewhere and     
unknown to the percipient4     ,,chapter
 ,i  ,,introduction      ,maior agit    
deus1 atque opera la maiora remittit4   
--,,virgil4   ,in the long story of     
man's endeavours to understand his own  
environment and to govern his own fates1
 there is one gap or omission so        
singular that1 however we may afterwards
 contrive to explain the fact1 its      
simple statement has the air of a       

paradox4 ,yet it is strictly true to say
 that man has never yet applied to the  
problems which most profoundly concern  
him those methods of inquiry which in   
attacking all other problems he has     
found the most efficacious4  ,the       
question for man most momentous of all  
is whether or no he has an immortal     
soul2 or--to avoid the word immortal1   
which belongs to the realm of           
infinities--whether or no his           
personality involves any element which  
can survive bodily death4 ,in this      
direction have always lain the gravest  
fears1 the farthest-reaching hopes1     
which could either oppress or stimulate 
mortal minds4  ,on the other hand1 the  
method which our race has found most    
effective in acquiring knowledge is by  
this time familiar to all men4 ,it is   
the method of modern ,science--that     
process which consists in an            
interrogation of ,nature entirely       
dispassionate1 patient1 systematic2 such
 careful experiment and cumulative      

record as can often elicit from her     
slightest indications her deepest       
truths4 ,that method is now dominant    
throughout the civilised world2 and     
although in many directions experiments 
may be difficult and dubious1 facts rare
 and elusive1 ,science works slowly on  
and bides her time1--refusing to fall   
back upon tradition or to launch into   
speculation1 merely because strait is   
the gate which leads to valid discovery1
 indisputable truth4  ,i say1 then1 that
 this method has never yet been applied 
to the all-important problem of the     
existence1 the powers1 the destiny of   
the human soul4  ,nor is this strange   
omission due to any general belief that 
the problem is in its nature incapable  
of solution by any observation whatever 
which mankind could make4 ,that         
resolutely agnostic view--,i may almost 
say that scientific                     
superstition--ignoramus et              
ignorabimus--is no doubt held at the    
present date by many learned minds4 ,but

 it has never been the creed1 nor is it 
now the creed1 of the human race        
generally4 ,in most civilised countries 
there has been for nearly two thousand  
years a distinct belief that survival   
has actually been proved by certain     
phenomena observed at a given date in   
,palestine4 ,and beyond the ,christian  
pale--whether through reason1 instinct1 
or superstition--it has ever been       
commonly held that ghostly phenomena of 
one kind or another exist to testify to 
a life beyond the life we know4  ,but1  
nevertheless1 neither those who believe 
on vague grounds nor those who believe  
on definite grounds that the question   
might possibly be solved1 or has        
actually been solved1 by human          
observation of objective facts1 have    
hitherto made any serious attempt to    
connect and correlate that belief with  
the general scheme of belief for which  
,science already vouches4 ,they have not
 sought for fresh corroborative         
instances1 for analogies1 for           

explanations2 rather they have kept     
their convictions on these fundamental  
matters in a separate and sealed        
compartment of their minds1 a           
compartment consecrated to religion or  
to superstition1 but not to observation 
or to experiment4  ,it is my object in  
the present work--as it has from the    
first been the object of the ,society   
for ,psychical ,research1 on whose      
behalf most of the evidence here set    
forth has been collected1--to do what   
can be done to break down that          
artificial wall of demarcation which has
 thus far excluded from scientific      
treatment precisely the problems which  
stand in most need of all the aids to   
discovery which such treatment can      
afford4  ,yet let me first explain that 
by the word scientific ,i signify an    
authority to which ,i submit myself--not
 a standard which ,i claim to attain4   
,any science of which ,i can here speak 
as possible must be a nascent           
science--not such as one of those vast  

systems of connected knowledge which    
thousands of experts now steadily push  
forward in laboratories in every        
land--but such as each one of those     
great sciences was in its dim and poor  
beginning1 when a few monks groped among
 the properties of the noble metals1 or 
a few ,chaldean shepherds outwatched the
 setting stars4  ,what ,i am able to    
insist upon is the mere ,socratic       
rudiment of these organisms of exact    
thought--the first axiomatic            
prerequisite of any valid progress4 ,my 
one contention is that in the discussion
 of the deeper problems of man's nature 
and destiny there ought to be exactly   
the same openness of mind1 exactly the  
same diligence in the search for        
objective evidence of any kind1 exactly 
the same critical analysis of results1  
as is habitually shown1 for instance1 in
 the discussion of the nature and       
destiny of the planet upon which man now
 moves4  ,obvious truism although this  
statement may at first seem1 it will    

presently be found1 ,i think1 that those
 who subscribe to it are in fact        
committing themselves to inquiries of a 
wider and stranger type than any to     
which they are accustomed2--are stepping
 outside certain narrow limits within   
which1 by ancient convention1 disputants
 on either side of these questions are  
commonly confined4  ,a brief recall to  
memory of certain familiar historical   
facts will serve to make my meaning     
clearer4 ,let us consider how it has    
come about that1 whereas the problem of 
man's survival of death is by most      
persons regarded as a problem in its    
nature soluble by sufficient evidence1  
and whereas to many persons the         
traditional evidence commonly adduced   
appears insufficient1--nevertheless no  
serious effort has been made on either  
side to discover whether other and more 
recent evidence can or cannot be brought
 forward4  ,a certain broad answer to   
this inquiry1 although it cannot be said
 to be at all points familiar1 is not in

 reality far to seek4 ,it is an answer  
which would seem strange indeed to some 
visitant from a planet peopled wholly by
 scientific minds4 ,yet among a race    
like our own1 concerned first and       
primarily to live and work with thoughts
 undistracted from immediate needs1 the 
answer is natural enough4 ,for the fact 
simply is that the intimate importance  
of this central problem has barred the  
way to its methodical1 its scientific   
solution4  ,there are some beliefs for  
which mankind cannot afford to wait4    
,what must ,i do to be saved8 is a      
question quite otherwise urgent than the
 cause of the tides or the meaning of   
the marks on the moon4 ,men must settle 
roughly somehow what it is that from the
 ,unseen ,world they have reason to fear
 or to hope4 ,beliefs grow up in direct 
response to this need of belief2 in     
order to support themselves they claim  
unique sanction2 and thus along with    
these specific beliefs grows also the   
general habit of regarding matters that 

concern that ,unseen ,world as somehow  
tabooed or segregated from ordinary     
observation or inquiry4  ,let us pass   
from generalities to the actual history 
of ,western civilisation4 ,in an age    
when scattered ritual1 local            
faiths--tribal solutions of cosmic      
problems--were destroying each other by 
mere contact and fusion1 an event       
occurred which in the brief record of   
man's still incipient civilisation may  
be regarded as unique4 ,a life was lived
 in which the loftiest response which   
man's need of moral guidance had ever   
received was corroborated by phenomena  
which have been widely regarded as      
convincingly miraculous1 and which are  
said to have culminated in a            
,resurrection from the dead4 ,to those  
phenomena or to that ,resurrection it   
would at this point be illegitimate for 
me to refer in defence of my argument4  
,i have appealed to ,science1 and to    
,science ,i must go2--in the sense that 
it would be unfair for me to claim      

support from that which ,science in her 
strictness can set aside as the         
tradition of a pre-scientific age4 ,yet 
this one great tradition1 as we know1   
has1 as a fact1 won the adhesion and    
reverence of the great majority of      
,european minds4 ,the complex results   
which followed from this triumph of     
,christianity have been discussed by    
many historians4 ,but one result which  
here appears to us in a new light was   
this--that the ,christian religion1 the 
,christian ,church1 became for ,europe  
the accredited representative and       
guardian of all phenomena bearing upon  
the ,world ,unseen4 ,so long as         
,christianity stood dominant1 all       
phenomena which seemed to transcend     
experience were absorbed in her         
realm--were accounted as minor          
indications of the activity of her      
angels or of her fiends4 ,and when      
,christianity was seriously attacked1   
these minor manifestations passed       
unconsidered4 ,the priests thought it   

safest to defend their own traditions1  
their own intuitions1 without going     
afield in search of independent evidence
 of a spiritual world4 ,their assailants
 kept their powder and shot for the     
orthodox ramparts1 ignoring any isolated
 strongholds which formed no part of the
 main line of defence4  ,meantime1      
indeed1 the laws of ,nature held their  
wonted way4 ,as ever1 that which the    
years had once brought they brought     
again2 and every here and there some    
marvel1 liker to the old stories than   
any one cared to assert1 cropped up     
between superstition on the one hand and
 contemptuous indifference on the other4
 ,witchcraft1 ,swedenborgianism1        
,mesmerism1 ,spiritism--these           
especially1 amid many minor phenomena1  
stood out in turn as precursory of the  
inevitable wider inquiry4 ,a very few   
words on each of these four movements   
may suffice here to show their          
connection with my present theme4       
,witchcraft4--,the lesson which         

witchcraft teaches with regard to the   
validity of human testimony is the more 
remarkable because it was so long and so
 completely misunderstood4 ,the belief  
in witches long passed--as well it      
might--as the culminant example of human
 ignorance and folly2 and in so         
comparatively recent a book as ,mr4     
,lecky's ,history of ,rationalism1 the  
sudden decline of this popular          
conviction1 without argument or         
disapproval1 is used to illustrate the  
irresistible melting away of error and  
falsity in the intellectual climate of a
 wiser age4 ,since about #ahhj1 however1
 when ,french experiments especially had
 afforded conspicuous examples of what a
 hysterical woman could come to believe 
under suggestion from others or from    
herself1 it has begun to be felt that   
the phenomena of witchcraft were very   
much what the phenomena of the          
,salptrire would seem to be to the      
patients themselves1 if left alone in   
the hospital without a medical staff4   

,and in ,phantasms of the ,living1      
,edmund ,gurney1 after subjecting the   
literature of witchcraft to a more      
careful analysis than any one till then 
had thought it worth while to apply1 was
 able to show that practically all      
recorded first-hand depositions 7made   
apart from torture7 in the long story of
 witchcraft may quite possibly have been
 true1 to the best belief of the        
deponents2 true1 that is to say1 as     
representing the conviction of sane     
7though often hysterical7 persons1 who  
merely made the almost inevitable       
mistake of confusing self-suggested     
hallucinations with waking fact4 ,nay1  
even the insensible spots on the witches
 were no doubt really                   
ansthetic--involved a first discovery of
 a now familiar clinical symptom--the   
zones analgsiques of the patients of    
,pitres or ,charcot4 ,witchcraft1 in    
fact1 was a gigantic1 a cruel           
psychological and pathological          
experiment conducted by inquisitors upon

 hysteria2 but it was conducted in the  
dark1 and when the barbarous explanation
 dropped out of credence much of        
possible discovery was submerged as     
well4  ,mesmer4--,again1 the latent     
possibilities of suggestion1--though not
 yet under that name1 and mingled with  
who knows what else8--broke forth into a
 blaze in the movement headed by        
,mesmer2--at once discoverer and        
charlatan4 ,again the age was unripe1   
and scientific opposition1 although not 
so formidable as the religious          
opposition which had sent witches to the
 stake1 was yet strong enough to check  
for the second time the struggling      
science4 ,hardly till our own           
generation--hardly even now--has a third
 effort found better acceptance1 and    
hypnotism and psycho-therapeutics1 in   
which every well-attested fact of       
witchcraft or of mesmerism finds1 if not
 its explanation1 at least its parallel1
 are establishing themselves as a       
recognised and advancing method of      

relieving human ills4  ,this brief      
sketch of the development as it were by 
successive impulses1 under strong       
disbelief and discouragement1 of a group
 of mental tendencies1 faculties1 or    
sensibilities now recognised as truly   
existing and as often salutary1 is      
closely paralleled by the development1  
under similar difficulties1 of another  
group of faculties or sensibilities1    
whose existence is still disputed1 but  
which if firmly established may prove to
 be of even greater moment for mankind4 
,at no time known to us1 whether before 
or since the ,christian era1 has the    
series of trance-manifestations1--of    
supposed communications with a supernal 
world1--entirely ceased4 ,sometimes1 as 
in the days of ,st4 ,theresa1 such      
trance or ecstasy has been1 one may say1
 the central or culminant fact in the   
,christian world4 ,of these experiences 
,i must not here treat4 ,the evidence   
for them is largely of a subjective     
type1 and they may belong more fitly to 

some future discussion as to the amount 
of confidence due to the interpretation 
given by entranced persons to their own 
phenomena4  ,but in the midst of this   
long series1 and in full analogy to many
 minor cases1 occurs the exceptional    
trance-history of ,emmanuel ,swedenborg4
 ,in this case1 as is well known1 there 
appears to have been excellent objective
 evidence both of clairvoyance or       
telsthesia#a and of communication with  
departed persons2--and we can only      
regret that the philosopher ,kant1 who  
satisfied himself of some part of       
,swedenborg's supernormal#b gift1 did   
not press further an inquiry surpassed  
in importance by none of those upon     
which his master-mind was engaged4      
,apart1 however1 from these objective   
evidences1 the mere subject-matter of   
,swedenborg's trance-revelations was    
enough to claim respectful attention4 ,i
 cannot here discuss the strange mixture
 which they present of slavish          
literalism with exalted speculation1 of 

pedantic orthodoxy with physical and    
moral insight far beyond the level of   
that age4 ,it is enough to say here that
 even as ,socrates called down          
philosophy from heaven to earth1 so in a
 somewhat different sense it was        
,swedenborg who called up philosophy    
again from earth to heaven2--who        
originated the notion of science in the 
spiritual world1 as earnestly1 though   
not so persuasively1 as ,socrates       
originated the idea of science in this  
world which we seem to know4 ,it was to 
,swedenborg first that that unseen world
 appeared before all things as a realm  
of law2 a region not of mere emotional  
vagueness or stagnancy of adoration1 but
 of definite progress according to      
definite relations of cause and effect1 
resulting from structural laws of       
spiritual existence and intercourse     
which we may in time learn partially to 
apprehend4 ,for my own part ,i regard   
,swedenborg1--not1 assuredly1 as an     
inspired teacher1 nor even as a         

trustworthy interpreter of his own      
experiences1--but yet as a true and     
early precursor of that great inquiry   
which it is our present object to       
advance4  ,the next pioneer--fortunately
 still amongst us--whom ,i must mention 
even in this summary notice1 is the     
celebrated physicist and chemist1 ,sir  
,w4 ,crookes4 ,just as ,swedenborg was  
the first leading man of science who    
distinctly conceived of the spiritual   
world as a world of law1 so was ,sir ,w4
 ,crookes the first leading man of      
science who seriously endeavoured to    
test the alleged mutual influence and   
interpenetration of the spiritual world 
and our own by experiments of scientific
 precision4#c ,beyond the establishment 
of certain supernormal facts ,crookes   
declined to go4 ,but a large group of   
persons have founded upon these and     
similar facts a scheme of belief known  
as ,modern ,spiritualism1 or ,spiritism4
 ,later chapters in this book will show 
how much ,i owe to certain observations 

made by members of this group--how often
 my own conclusions concur with         
conclusions at which they have          
previously arrived4 ,and yet this work  
of mine is in large measure a critical  
attack upon the main ,spiritist         
position1 as held1 say1 by ,mr4 ,a4 ,r4 
,wallace1 its most eminent living       
supporter1--the belief1 namely1 that all
 or almost all supernormal phenomena are
 due to the action of spirits of the    
dead4 ,by far the larger proportion1 as 
,i hold1 are due to the action of the   
still embodied spirit of the agent or   
percipient himself4 ,apart from         
speculative differences1 moreover1 ,i   
altogether dissent from the conversion  
into a sectarian creed of what ,i hold  
should be a branch of scientific        
inquiry1 growing naturally out of our   
existing knowledge4 ,it is1 ,i believe1 
largely to this temper of uncritical    
acceptance1 degenerating often into     
blind credulity1 that we must refer the 
lack of progress in ,spiritualistic     

literature1 and the encouragement which 
has often been bestowed upon manifest   
fraud1--so often1 indeed1 as to create  
among scientific men a strong           
indisposition to the study of phenomena 
recorded or advocated in a tone so alien
 from ,science4  ,i know not how much of
 originality or importance may be       
attributed by subsequent students of the
 subject to the step next in order in   
this series of approximations4 ,to those
 immediately concerned1 the feeling of a
 new departure was inevitably given by  
the very smallness of the support which 
they for a long time received1 and by   
the difficulty which they found in      
making their point of view intelligible 
to the scientific1 to the religious1 or 
even to the spiritualistic world4 ,in   
about #ahgc--;at the crest1 as one may  
say1 of perhaps the highest wave of     
materialism which has ever swept over   
these shores--it became the conviction  
of a small group of ,cambridge friends  
that the deep questions thus at issue   

must be fought out in a way more        
thorough than the champions either of   
religion or of materialism had yet      
suggested4 ,our attitudes of mind were  
in some ways different2 but to myself1  
at least1 it seemed that no adequate    
attempt had yet been made even to       
determine whether anything could be     
learnt as to an unseen world or no2 for 
that if anything were knowable about    
such a world in such fashion that       
,science could adopt and maintain that  
knowledge1 it must be discovered by no  
analysis of tradition1 and by no        
manipulation of metaphysics1 but simply 
by experiment and observation2--simply  
by the application to phenomena within  
us and around us of precisely the same  
methods of deliberate1 dispassionate1   
exact inquiry which have built up our   
actual knowledge of the world which we  
can touch and see4 ,i can hardly even   
now guess to how many of my readers this
 will seem a truism1 and to how many a  
paradox4 ,truism or paradox1 such a     

thought suggested a kind of effort1     
which1 so far as we could discover1 had 
never yet been made4 ,for what seemed   
needful was an inquiry of quite other   
scope than the mere analysis of         
historical documents1 or of the origines
 of any alleged revelation in the past4 
,it must be an inquiry resting          
primarily1 as all scientific inquiries  
in the stricter sense now must rest1    
upon objective facts actually           
observable1 upon experiments which we   
can repeat to-day1 and which we may hope
 to carry further to-morrow4 ,it must be
 an inquiry based1 to use an old term1  
on the uniformitarian hypothesis2 on the
 presumption1 that is to say1 that if a 
spiritual world exists1 and if that     
world has at any epoch been manifest or 
even discoverable1 then it ought to be  
manifest or discoverable now4  ,it was  
from this side1 and from these general  
considerations1 that the group with     
which ,i have worked approached the     
subject4 ,our methods1 our canons1 were 

all to make4 ,in those early days we    
were more devoid of precedents1 of      
guidance1 even of criticism that went   
beyond mere expressions of contempt1    
than is now readily conceived4 ,seeking 
evidence as best we could--collecting   
round us a small group of persons       
willing to help in that quest for       
residual phenomena in the nature and    
experience of man--we were at last      
fortunate enough to discover a          
convergence of experimental and of      
spontaneous evidence upon one definite  
and important point4 ,we were led to    
believe that there was truth in a thesis
 which at least since ,swedenborg and   
the early mesmerists had been           
repeatedly1 but cursorily and           
ineffectually1 presented to mankind--the
 thesis that a communication can take   
place from mind to mind without the     
agency of the recognised organs of      
sense4 ,we found that this agency1      
discernible even on trivial occasions by
 suitable experiment1 seemed to connect 

itself with an agency more intense1 or  
at any rate more recognisable1 which    
operated at moments of crisis or at the 
hour of death4 ,edmund ,gurney--the     
invaluable collaborator and friend whose
 loss in #ahhh was our heaviest         
discouragement--set forth this evidence 
in a large work1 ,phantasms of the      
,living1 in whose preparation ,mr4      
,podmore and ,i took a minor part4 ,the 
fifteen years which have elapsed since  
the publication of this book in #ahhf   
have added to the evidence on which     
,gurney relied1 and have shown 7,i      
venture to say7 the general soundness of
 the canons of evidence and the lines of
 argument which it was his task to shape
 and to employ4#d  ,of fundamental      
importance1 indeed1 is this doctrine of 
telepathy--the first law1 may one not   
say8--laid open to man's discovery1     
which1 in my view at least1 while       
operating in the material1 is itself a  
law of the spiritual or metetherial     
world4 ,in the course of this work it   

will be my task to show in many         
connections how far-reaching are the    
implications of this direct and         
supersensory communion of mind with     
mind4 ,among those implications none can
 be more momentous than the light thrown
 by this discovery upon man's intimate  
nature and possible survival of death4  
,we gradually discovered that the       
accounts of apparitions at the moment of
 death--testifying to a supersensory    
communication between the dying man and 
the friend who sees him--led on without 
perceptible break to apparitions        
occurring after the death of the person 
seen1 but while that death was yet      
unknown to the percipient1 and thus     
apparently due1 not to mere brooding    
memory1 but to a continued action of    
that departed spirit4 ,the task next    
incumbent on us therefore seemed plainly
 to be the collection and analysis of   
evidence of this and other types1       
pointing directly to the survival of    
man's spirit4 ,but after pursuing this  

task for some years ,i felt that in     
reality the step from the action of     
embodied to the action of disembodied   
spirits would still seem too sudden if  
taken in this direct way4 ,so far1      
indeed1 as the evidence from apparitions
 went1 the series seemed continuous from
 phantasms of the living to phantasms of
 the dead4 ,but the whole mass of       
evidence prim facie pointing to man's   
survival was of a much more complex     
kind4 ,it consisted largely1 for        
example1 in written or spoken           
utterances1 coming through the hand or  
voice of living men1 but claiming to    
proceed from a disembodied source4 ,to  
these utterances1 as a whole1 no        
satisfactory criterion had ever been    
applied4  ,in considering cases of this 
kind1 then1 it became gradually plain to
 me that before we could safely mark off
 any group of manifestations as         
definitely implying an influence from   
beyond the grave1 there was need of a   
more searching review of the capacities 

of man's incarnate personality than     
psychologists unfamiliar with this new  
evidence had thought it worth their     
while to undertake4  ,it was only       
slowly1 and as it were of necessity1    
that ,i embarked on a task which needed 
for its proper accomplishment a         
knowledge and training far beyond what  
,i could claim4 ,the very inadequate    
sketch which has resulted from my       
efforts is even in its author's view no 
more than preparatory and precursive to 
the fuller and sounder treatment of the 
same subject which ,i doubt not that the
 new century will receive from more     
competent hands4 ,the truest success of 
this book will lie in its rapid         
supersession by a better4 ,for this will
 show that at least ,i have not erred in
 supposing that a serious treatise on   
these topics is nothing else than the   
inevitable complement and conclusion of 
the slow process by which man has       
brought under the domain of science     
every group of attainable phenomena in  

turn--every group save this4  ,let me   
then without further preamble embark    
upon that somewhat detailed survey of   
human faculty1 as manifested during     
various phases of human personality1    
which is needful in order to throw fresh
 light on these unfamiliar themes4 ,my  
discussion1 ,i may say at once1 will    
avoid metaphysics as carefully as it    
will avoid theology4 ,i avoid theology1 
as already explained1 because ,i        
consider that in arguments founded upon 
experiment and observation ,i have no   
right to appeal for support to          
traditional or subjective               
considerations1 however important4 ,for 
somewhat similar reasons ,i do not      
desire to introduce the idea of         
personality with any historical rsum of 
the philosophical opinions which have   
been held by various thinkers in the    
past1 nor myself to speculate on matters
 lying beyond the possible field of     
objective proof4 ,i shall merely for the
 sake of clearness begin by the briefest

 possible statement of two views of     
human personality which cannot be       
ignored1 namely1 the old-fashioned or   
common-sense view thereof1 which is     
still held by the mass of mankind1 and  
the newer view of experimental          
psychology1 bringing out that composite 
or colonial character which on a close  
examination every personality of men or 
animals is seen to wear4  ,the following
 passage1 taken from a work once of much
 note1 ,reid's ,essay on the            
,intellectual ,powers of ,man1 expresses
 the simple prim facie view with care   
and precision1 yet with no marked       
impress of any one philosophical school3
       ,the conviction which every man  
has of his identity1 as far back as     
his memory reaches1 needs no aid of     
philosophy to strengthen it2      and no
 philosophy can weaken it without first 
producing some degree      of           
insanity4444 ,my personal identity1     
therefore1 implies the      continued   
existence of that indivisible thing     

which ,i call myself4      ,whatever    
this self may be1 it is something which 
thinks1 and      deliberates1 and       
resolves1 and acts1 and suffers4 ,i am  
not thought1      ,i am not action1 ,i  
am not feeling2 ,i am something that    
thinks1 and      acts1 and suffers4 ,my 
thoughts and actions and feelings change
      every moment2 they have no        
continued1 but a successive existence2  
but that self or ,i1 to which they      
belong1 is permanent1 and has      the  
same relation to all succeeding         
thoughts1 actions1 and feelings         
which ,i call mine4444 ,the identity of 
a person is a perfect      identity2    
wherever it is real it admits of no     
degrees2 and it is      impossible that 
a person should be in part the same and 
in part      different1 because a person
 is a monad1 and is not divisible into  
parts4 ,identity1 when applied to       
persons1 has no ambiguity1 and          
admits not of degrees1 or of more and   
less4 ,it is the foundation of      all 

rights and obligations1 and of all      
accountableness2 and the      notion of 
it is fixed and precise4  ,contrast with
 this the passage with which ,m4 ,ribot 
concludes his essay on ,les ,maladies de
 la ,personnalit4       ,it is the      
organism1 with the brain1 its supreme   
representative1      which constitutes  
the real personality2 comprising in     
itself the      remains of all that we  
have been and the possibilities of all  
that      we shall be4 ,the whole       
individual character is there inscribed1
      with its active and passive       
aptitudes1 its sympathies and           
antipathies1 its genius1 its talent or  
its stupidity1 its virtues      and its 
vices1 its torpor or its activity4 ,the 
part thereof which      emerges into    
consciousness is little compared with   
what remains      buried1 but operative 
nevertheless4 ,the conscious personality
 is      never more than a small        
fraction of the psychical personality4  
,the      unity of the ,ego is not      

therefore the unity of a single entity  
diffusing itself among multiple         
phenomena2 it is the co-ordination      
of a certain number of states           
perpetually renascent1 and having for   
their sole common basis the vague       
feeling of our body4 ,this unity        
does not diffuse itself downwards1 but  
is aggregated by ascent from      below2
 it is not an initial but a terminal    
point4       ,does then this perfect    
unity really exist8 ,in the rigorous1   
the      mathematical sense1 assuredly  
it does not4 ,in a relative sense it    
is met with1--rarely and for a moment4  
,when a good marksman takes      aim1 or
 a skilful surgeon operates1 his whole  
body and mind      converge towards a   
single act4 ,but note the result2 under 
those      conditions the sentiment of  
real personality disappears1 for the    
conscious individual is simplified into 
a single idea1 and the      personal    
sentiment is excluded by the complete   
unification of      consciousness4 ,we  

thus return by another route to the same
      conclusion2 the ,self is a        
co-ordination4 ,it oscillates between   
two extremes at each of which it ceases 
to exist2--absolute unity      and      
absolute incoherence4       ,the last   
word of all this is that since the      
consensus of      consciousness is      
subordinated to the consensus of the    
organism1 the      problem of the unity 
of the ,ego is in its ultimate form a   
problem      of ,biology4 ,let ,biology 
explain1 if it can1 the genesis of      
organisms and the solidarity of their   
constituent parts4 ,the                 
psychological explanation must needs    
follow on the same track4  ,here1 then1 
we have two clear and definite          
views1--supported1 the one by our inmost
 consciousness1 the other by            
unanswerable observation and            
inference1--yet apparently incompatible 
the one with the other4 ,and in fact by 
most writers they have been felt and    
acknowledged to be even hopelessly      

incompatible4 ,the supporters of the    
view that ,the ,self is a               
co-ordination1--and this1 ,i need hardly
 say1 is now the view prevalent among   
experimental psychologists1--have       
frankly given up any notion of an       
underlying unity1--of a life independent
 of the organism1--in a word1 of a human
 soul4 ,the supporters of the unity of  
the ,ego1 on the other hand1 if they    
have not been able to be equally        
explicit in denying the opposite view1  
have made up for this by the            
thorough-going way in which they have   
ignored it4 ,i know of no source from   
which valid help has been offered       
towards the reconcilement of the two    
opposing systems in a profounder        
synthesis4 ,if ,i believe--as ,i do     
believe--that in the present work some  
help in this direction is actually      
given1 this certainly does not mean that
 ,i suppose myself capable of stitching 
the threadbare metaphysical arguments   
into a more stable fabric4 ,it simply   

means that certain fresh evidence can   
now be adduced1 which has the effect of 
showing the case on each side in a novel
 light2--nay1 even of closing the       
immediate controversy by a judgment more
 decisively in favour of both parties   
than either could have expected4 ,on the
 one side1 and in favour of the         
co-ordinators1--all their analysis of   
the ,self into its constituent elements1
 all that they urge of positive         
observation1 of objective experiment1   
must--as ,i shall maintain on the       
strength of the new facts which ,i shall
 adduce--be unreservedly conceded4 ,let 
them push their analysis as far as they 
like1--let them get down1 if they can1  
to those ultimate infinitesimal         
psychical elements from which is upbuilt
 the complex1 the composite1 the        
colonial structure and constitution of  
man4 ,all this may well be valid and    
important work4 ,it is only on their    
negative side that the conclusions of   
this school need a complete overhauling4

 ,deeper1 bolder inquiry along their own
 line shows that they have erred when   
they asserted that analysis showed no   
trace of faculty beyond such as the life
 of earth--as they conceive it--could   
foster1 or the environment of earth     
employ4 ,for in reality analysis shows  
traces of faculty which this material or
 planetary life could not have called   
into being1 and whose exercise even here
 and now involves and necessitates the  
existence of a spiritual world4  ,on the
 other side1 and in favour of the       
partisans of the unity of the ,ego1 the 
effect of the new evidence is to raise  
their claim to a far higher ground1 and 
to substantiate it for the first time   
with the strongest presumptive proof    
which can be imagined for it2--a proof1 
namely1 that the ,ego can and does      
survive--not only the minor             
disintegrations which affect it during  
earth-life--but the crowning            
disintegration of bodily death4 ,in view
 of this unhoped-for ratification of    

their highest dream1 they may be more   
than content to surrender as untenable  
the far narrower conception of the      
unitary ,self which was all that        
common-sense philosophies had ventured  
to claim4 ,the conscious ,self of each  
of us1 as we call it1--the empirical1   
the supraliminal ,self1 as ,i should    
prefer to say1--does not comprise the   
whole of the consciousness or of the    
faculty within us4 ,there exists a more 
comprehensive consciousness1 a          
profounder faculty1 which for the most  
part remains potential only so far as   
regards the life of earth1 but from     
which the consciousness and the faculty 
of earth-life are mere selections1 and  
which reasserts itself in its plenitude 
after the liberating change of death4   
,towards this conclusion1 which assumed 
for me something like its present shape 
some fourteen years since1#e a long     
series of tentative speculations1 based 
on gradually accruing evidence1 has     
slowly conducted me4 ,the conception is 

one which has hitherto been regarded as 
purely mystical2 and if ,i endeavour to 
plant it upon a scientific basis ,i     
certainly shall not succeed in stating  
it in its final terms or in supporting  
it with the best arguments which longer 
experience will suggest4 ,its validity1 
indeed1 will be impressed--if at        
all--upon the reader only by the        
successive study of the various kinds of
 evidence to which this book will refer 
him4  ,yet so far as the initial        
possibility or plausibility of such a   
widened conception of human             
consciousness is concerned2--and this is
 all which can be dealt with at this    
moment of its first introduction2--,i   
have not seen in such criticism as has  
hitherto been bestowed upon my theory   
any very weighty demurrer4#f  ,normally 
at least1 says one critic1 summarising  
in a few words the ordinary view1 all   
the consciousness we have at any moment 
corresponds to all the activity which is
 going on at that moment in the brain4  

,there is one unitary conscious state   
accompanying all the simultaneous brain 
excitations together1 and each single   
part of the brain-process contributes   
something to its nature4 ,none of the   
brain-processes split themselves off    
from the rest and have a separate       
consciousness of their own4 ,this is1 no
 doubt1 the apparent dictum of          
consciousness1 but it is nothing more4  
,and the dicta of consciousness have    
already been shown to need correction in
 so many ways which the ordinary        
observer could never have anticipated   
that we have surely no right to trust   
consciousness1 so to say1 a step further
 than we can feel it1--to hold that     
anything whatever--even a separate      
consciousness in our own organisms--can 
be proved not to exist by the mere fact 
that we--as we know ourselves--are not  
aware of it4  ,but indeed this claim to 
a unitary consciousness tends to become 
less forcible as it is more             
scientifically expressed4 ,it rests on  

the plain man's conviction that there is
 only one of him2 and this conviction   
the experimental psychologist is always 
tending to weaken or narrow by the      
admission of coexistent localised       
degrees of consciousness in the brain1  
which are at any rate not obviously     
reducible to a single state4 ,even those
 who would stop far short of my own     
position find it needful to resort to   
metaphors of their own to express the   
different streams of awareness which we 
all feel to be habitually coexistent    
within us4 ,they speak of fringes of    
ordinary consciousness2 of marginal     
associations2 of the occasional         
perception of currents of low intensity4
 ,these metaphors may all of them be of 
use1 in a region where metaphor is our  
only mode of expression2 but none of    
them covers all the facts now collected4
 ,and on the other side1 ,i need not    
say1 are plenty of phrases which beg the
 question of soul and body1 or of the   
man's own spirit and external spirits1  

in no scientific fashion4 ,there seems  
to be need of a term of wider           
application1 which shall make as few    
assumptions as possible4 ,nor is such a 
term difficult to find4  ,the idea of a 
threshold 7limen1 ,schwelle71 of        
consciousness2--of a level above which  
sensation or thought must rise before it
 can enter into our conscious life2--is 
a simple and familiar one4 ,the word    
subliminal1--meaning beneath that       
threshold1--has already been used to    
define those sensations which are too   
feeble to be individually recognised4 ,i
 propose to extend the meaning of the   
term1 so as to make it cover all that   
takes place beneath the ordinary        
threshold1 or say1 if preferred1 outside
 the ordinary margin of                 
consciousness2--not only those faint    
stimulations whose very faintness keeps 
them submerged1 but much else which     
psychology as yet scarcely recognises2  
sensations1 thoughts1 emotions1 which   
may be strong1 definite1 and            

independent1 but which1 by the original 
constitution of our being1 seldom emerge
 into that supraliminal current of      
consciousness which we habitually       
identify with ourselves4 ,perceiving 7as
 this book will try to show7 that these 
submerged thoughts and emotions possess 
the characteristics which we associate  
with conscious life1 ,i feel bound to   
speak of a subliminal or ultra-marginal 
consciousness1--a consciousness which we
 shall see1 for instance1 uttering or   
writing sentences quite as complex and  
coherent as the supraliminal            
consciousness could make them4          
,perceiving further that this conscious 
life beneath the threshhold or beyond   
the margin seems to be no discontinuous 
or intermittent thing2 that not only are
 these isolated subliminal processes    
comparable with isolated supraliminal   
processes 7as when a problem is solved  
by some unknown procedure in a dream71  
but that there also is a continuous     
subliminal chain of memory 7or more     

chains than one7 involving just that    
kind of individual and persistent       
revival of old impressions1 and response
 to new ones1 which we commonly call a  
,self1--,i find it permissible and      
convenient to speak of subliminal       
,selves1 or more briefly of a subliminal
 ,self4 ,i do not indeed by using this  
term assume that there are two          
correlative and parallel selves existing
 always within each of us4 ,rather ,i   
mean by the subliminal ,self that part  
of the ,self which is commonly          
subliminal2 and ,i conceive that there  
may be1--not only co-operations between 
these quasi-independent trains of       
thought1--but also upheavals and        
alternations of personality of many     
kinds1 so that what was once below the  
surface may for a time1 or permanently1 
rise above it4 ,and ,i conceive also    
that no ,self of which we can here have 
cognisance is in reality more than a    
fragment of a larger ,self1--revealed in
 a fashion at once shifting and limited 

through an organism not so framed as to 
afford it full manifestation4  ,now this
 hypothesis is exposed manifestly to two
 main forms of attack1 which to a       
certain extent neutralise each other4   
,on the one hand it has been attacked1  
as has already been indicated1 as being 
too elaborate for the facts1--as        
endowing transitory moments of          
subconscious intelligence with more     
continuity and independence than they   
really possess4 ,these ripples over the 
threshold1 it may be said1 can be       
explained by the wind of circumstance1  
without assuming springs or currents in 
the personality deep below4  ,but soon  
we shall come upon a group of phenomena 
which this view will by no means meet4  
,for we shall find that the subliminal  
uprushes1--the impulses or              
communications which reach our emergent 
from our submerged selves1--are 7in     
spite of their miscellaneousness7 often 
characteristically different in quality 
from any element known to our ordinary  

supraliminal life4 ,they are different  
in a way which implies faculty of which 
we have had no previous knowledge1      
operating in an environment of which    
hitherto we have been wholly unaware4   
,this broad statement it is of course   
the purpose of my whole work to justify4
 ,assuming its truth here for argument's
 sake1 we see at once that the problem  
of the hidden self entirely changes its 
aspect4 ,telepathy and telsthesia--the  
perception of distant thoughts and of   
distant scenes without the agency of the
 recognised organs of sense2--those     
faculties suggest either incalculable   
extension of our own mental powers1 or  
else the influence upon us of minds     
freer and less trammelled than our own4 
,and this second hypothesis1--which     
would explain by the agency of          
discarnate minds1 or spirits1 all these 
supernormal phenomena1--does at first   
sight simplify the problem1 and has by  
,mr4 ,a4 ,r4 ,wallace and others been   
pushed so far as to remove all need of  

what he deems the gratuitous and        
cumbrous hypothesis of a subliminal     
self4  ,i believe1 indeed1 that it will 
become plain as we proceed that some    
such hypothesis as this1--of almost     
continuous spirit-intervention and      
spirit-guidance1--is at once rendered   
necessary if the subliminal faculties   
for which ,i argue are denied to man4   
,and my conception of a subliminal self 
will thus appear1 not as an extravagant 
and needless1 but as a limiting and     
rationalising hypothesis1 when it is    
applied to phenomena which at first     
sight suggest ,mr4 ,wallace's extremer  
view1 but which ,i explain by the action
 of man's own spirit1 without invoking  
spirits external to himself4 ,i do not  
indeed say that the explanation here    
suggested is applicable in all cases1 or
 to the complete exclusion of the       
spirit-hypothesis4 ,on the contrary1 the
 one view gives support to the other4   
,for these faculties of distant         
communication exist none the less1 even 

though we should refer them to our own  
subliminal selves4 ,we can1 in that     
case1 affect each other at a distance1  
telepathically2--and if our incarnate   
spirits can act thus in at least        
apparent independence of the fleshly    
body1 the presumption is strong that    
other spirits may exist independently of
 the body1 and may affect us in similar 
manner4  ,the much-debated hypothesis of
 spirit-intervention1 in short1 still   
looms behind the hypothesis of the      
subliminal ,self2 but that intermediate 
hypothesis should1 ,i think1 in this    
early stage of what must be a long      
inquiry1 prove useful to the partisans  
of either side4 ,for those who are      
altogether unwilling to admit the action
 of agencies other than the spirits of  
living men1 it will be needful to form  
as high an estimate as possible of the  
faculties held in reserve by these      
spirits while still in the flesh4 ,for  
those1 on the other hand1 who believe in
 the influence of discarnate spirits1   

this scheme affords a path of           
transition1 and as it were a provisional
 intelligibility4  ,these far-reaching  
speculations make the element of keenest
 interest in the inquiry which follows4 
,but even apart from its possible       
bearing on a future life1 the further   
study of our submerged mentation1--of   
the processes within us of which we     
catch only indirect1 and as it were1    
refracted glimpses1--seems at this time 
especially called for by the trend of   
modern research4 ,for of late years we  
have realised more and more fully upon  
how shifting and complex a foundation of
 ancestral experience each individual   
life is based4 ,in recapitulation1 in   
summary1 in symbol1 we retraverse1 from 
the embryo to the corpse1 the history of
 life on earth for millions of years4   
,during our self-adaptation to          
continually wider environments1 there   
may probably have been a continual      
displacement of the threshold of        
consciousness2--involving the lapse and 

submergence of much that once floated in
 the main stream of our being4 ,our     
consciousness at any given stage of our 
evolution is but the phosphorescent     
ripple on an unsounded sea4 ,and1 like  
the ripple1 it is not only superficial  
but manifold4 ,our psychical unity is   
federative and unstable2 it has arisen  
from irregular accretions in the remote 
past2 it consists even now only in the  
limited collaboration of multiple       
groups4 ,these discontinuities and      
incoherences in the ,ego the elder      
psychologists managed to ignore4 ,yet   
infancy1 idiocy1 sleep1 insanity1       
decay2--these breaks and stagnancies in 
the conscious stream were always present
 to show us1 even more forcibly than    
more delicate analyses show us now1 that
 the first obvious conception of man's  
continuous and unitary personality was  
wholly insecure2 and that if indeed a   
soul inspired the body1 that soul must  
be sought for far beneath these bodily  
conditions by which its                 

self-manifestation was clouded and      
obscured4  ,the difference between older
 and newer conceptions of the unifying  
principle or soul 7if soul there be7 in 
man1 considered as manifesting through  
corporeal limitations1 will thus        
resemble the difference between the     
older and newer conceptions of the way  
in which the sun reveals himself to our 
senses4 ,night and storm-cloud and      
eclipse men have known from the earliest
 ages2 but now they know that even at   
noonday the sunbeam which reaches them1 
when fanned out into a spectrum1 is     
barred with belts and lines of varying  
darkness2--while they have learnt also  
that where at either end the spectrum   
fades out into what for us is blackness1
 there stretches onwards in reality an  
undiscovered illimitable ray4  ,it will 
be convenient for future reference if ,i
 draw out this parallel somewhat more   
fully4 ,i compare1 then1 man's gradual  
progress in self-knowledge to his       
gradual decipherment of the nature and  

meaning of the sunshine which reaches   
him as light and heat indiscernibly     
intermingled4 ,so also ,life and        
,consciousness--the sense of a world    
within him and a world without--come to 
the child indiscernibly intermingled in 
a pervading glow4 ,optical analysis     
splits up the white ray into the various
 coloured rays which compose it4        
,philosophical analysis in like manner  
splits up the vague consciousness of the
 child into many faculties2--into the   
various external senses1 the various    
modes of thought within4 ,this has been 
the task of descriptive and             
introspective psychology4 ,experimental 
psychology is adding a further          
refinement4 ,in the sun's spectrum1 and 
in stellar spectra1 are many dark lines 
or bands1 due to the absorption of      
certain rays by certain vapours in the  
atmosphere of sun or stars or earth4    
,and similarly in the range of spectrum 
of our own sensation and faculty there  
are many inequalities--permanent and    

temporary--of brightness and definition4
 ,our mental atmosphere is clouded by   
vapours and illumined by fires1 and is  
clouded and illumined differently at    
different times4 ,the psychologist who  
observes1 say1 how his reaction-times   
are modified by alcohol is like the     
physicist who observes what lines are   
darkened by the interposition of a      
special gas4 ,our knowledge of our      
conscious spectrum is thus becoming     
continually more accurate and detailed4 
,but turning back once more to the      
physical side of our simile1 we observe 
that our knowledge of the visible solar 
spectrum1 however minute1 is but an     
introduction to the knowledge which we  
hope ultimately to attain of the sun's  
rays4 ,the limits of our spectrum do not
 inhere in the sun that shines1 but in  
the eye that marks his shining4 ,beyond 
each end of that prismatic ribbon are   
ether-waves of which our retina takes no
 cognisance4 ,beyond the red end come   
waves whose potency we still recognise1 

but as heat and not as light4 ,beyond   
the violet end are waves still more     
mysterious2 whose very existence man for
 ages never suspected1 and whose        
ultimate potencies are still but        
obscurely known4 ,even thus1 ,i venture 
to affirm1 beyond each end of our       
conscious spectrum extends a range of   
faculty and perception1 exceeding the   
known range1 but as yet indistinctly    
guessed4 ,the artifices of the modern   
physicist have extended far in each     
direction the visible spectrum known to 
,newton4 ,it is for the modern          
psychologist to discover artifices which
 may extend in each direction the       
conscious spectrum as known to ,plato or
 to ,kant4 ,the phenomena cited in this 
work carry us1 one may say1 as far      
onwards as fluorescence carries us      
beyond the violet end4 ,the ,x rays of  
the psychical spectrum remain for a     
later age to discover4  ,our simile1    
indeed--be it once for all noted--is a  
most imperfect one4 ,the range of human 

faculty cannot be truly expressed in any
 linear form4 ,even a three-dimensional 
scheme1--a radiation of faculties from a
 centre of life1--would ill render its  
complexity4 ,yet something of clearness 
will be gained by even this rudimentary 
mental picture2--representing conscious 
human faculty as a linear spectrum whose
 red rays begin where voluntary muscular
 control and organic sensation begin1   
and whose violet rays fade away at the  
point at which man's highest strain of  
thought or imagination merges into      
reverie or ecstasy4  ,at both ends of   
this spectrum ,i believe that our       
evidence indicates a momentous          
prolongation4 ,beyond the red end1 of   
course1 we already know that vital      
faculty of some kind must needs extend4 
,we know that organic processes are     
constantly taking place within us which 
are not subject to our control1 but     
which make the very foundation of our   
physical being4 ,we know that the       
habitual limits of our voluntary action 

can be far extended under the influence 
of strong excitement4 ,it need not      
surprise us to find that appropriate    
artifices--hypnotism or                 
self-suggestion--can carry the power of 
our will over our organism to a yet     
further point4  ,the faculties that lie 
beyond the violet end of our            
psychological spectrum will need more   
delicate exhibition and will command a  
less ready belief4 ,the actinic energy  
which lies beyond the violet end of the 
solar spectrum is less obviously        
influential in our material world than  
is the dark heat which lies beyond the  
red end4 ,even so1 one may say1 the     
influence of the ultra-intellectual or  
supernormal faculties upon our welfare  
as terrene organisms is less marked in  
common life than the influence of the   
organic or subnormal faculties4 ,yet it 
is that prolongation of our spectrum    
upon which our gaze will need to be most
 strenuously fixed4 ,it is there that we
 shall find our inquiry opening upon a  

cosmic prospect1 and inciting us upon an
 endless way4  ,even the first stages of
 this progress are long and             
labyrinthine2 and it may be useful to   
conclude this introductory chapter by a 
brief summary of the main tracts across 
which our winding road must lie4 ,it    
will be my object to lead by transitions
 as varied and as gradual as possible   
from phenomena held as normal to        
phenomena held as supernormal1 but which
 like the rest are simply and solely the
 inevitable results and manifestations  
of universal ,law4  ,following then on  
this first or introductory chapter is   
one containing a discussion of the ways 
in which human personality disintegrates
 and decays4 ,alternations of           
personality and hysterical phenomena    
generally are in this connection the    
most instructive to us4  ,in the third  
chapter we utilize the insight thus     
gained and discuss the line of evolution
 which enables man to maintain and      
intensify his true normality4 ,what type

 of man is he to whom the epithet of    
normal1--an epithet often obscure and   
misleading1--may be most fitly applied8 
,i claim that that man shall be regarded
 as normal who has the fullest grasp of 
faculties which inhere in the whole     
race4 ,among these faculties ,i count   
subliminal as well as supraliminal      
powers2--the mental processes which take
 place below the conscious threshold as 
well as those which take place above it2
 and ,i attempt to show that those who  
reap most advantage from this submerged 
mentation are men of genius4  ,the      
fourth chapter deals with the           
alternating phase through which man's   
personality is constructed habitually to
 pass4 ,i speak of sleep2 which ,i      
regard as a phase of personality1       
adapted to maintain our existence in the
 spiritual environment1 and to draw from
 thence the vitality of our physical    
organisms4 ,in this chapter ,i also     
discuss certain supernormal phenomena   
which sometimes occur in the state of   

sleep4  ,the fifth chapter treats of    
hypnotism1 considered as an empirical   
development of sleep4 ,it will be seen  
that hypnotic suggestion intensifies the
 physical recuperation of sleep1 and    
aids the emergence of those supernormal 
phenomena which ordinary sleep and      
spontaneous somnambulism sometimes      
exhibit4  ,from hypnotism we pass on in 
the sixth chapter to experiments1 less  
familiar to the public than those       
classed as hypnotic1 but which give a   
still further insight into our          
subliminal faculty4 ,with these         
experiments are intermingled many       
spontaneous phenomena2 and the chapter  
will take up and continue the           
spontaneous phenomena of ,chapters      
,,iii4 and ,,iv4 as well as the         
experiments of ,chapter ,v4 ,its theme  
will be the messages which the          
subliminal self sends up to the         
supraliminal in the form of sensory     
hallucinations3--the visions fashioned  
internally1 but manifested not to the   

inward eye alone2 the voices which      
repeat as though in audible tones the   
utterance of the self within4  ,these   
sensory automatisms1 as ,i have termed  
them1 are very often                    
telepathic--involve1 that is to say1 the
 transmission of ideas and sensations   
from one mind to another without the    
agency of the recognised organs of      
sense4 ,nor would it seem that such     
transmission need necessarily cease with
 the bodily death of the transmitting   
agent4 ,in the seventh chapter evidence 
is brought forward to show that those   
who communicated with us telepathically 
in this world may communicate with us   
telepathically from the other4 ,thus    
phantasms of the dead receive a new     
meaning from observations of the        
phenomena occurring between living men4 
,but besides the hallucinatory hearing  
or picture-seeing which we have classed 
as sensory automatisms1 there is another
 method by which the subliminal may     
communicate with the supraliminal self4 

,in ,chapter ,,viii41 we consider in    
what ways motor automatism--the unwilled
 activity of hand or voice--may be used 
as a means of such communication4       
,unwilled writings and utterances       
furnish the opportunity for experiment  
more prolonged and continuous than the  
phantasms or pictures of sensory        
automatism can often give1 and1 like    
them1 may sometimes originate in        
telepathic impressions received by the  
subliminal self from another mind4      
,these motor automatisms1 moreover1 as  
the ninth chapter shows1 are apt to     
become more complete1 more controlling1 
than sensory automatisms4 ,they may lead
 on1 in some cases1 to the apparent     
possession of the sensitive by some     
extraneous spirit1 who seems to write   
and talk through the sensitive's        
organism1 giving evidence of his own    
surviving identity4  ,the reader who may
 feel disposed to give his adhesion to  
this culminating group of the long      
series of evidences which have pointed  

with more and more clearness to the     
survival of human personality1 and to   
the possibility for men on earth of     
actual commerce with a world beyond1 may
 feel perhaps that the desiderium orbis 
catholici1 the intimate and universal   
hope of every generation of men1 has    
never till this day approached so near  
to fulfilment4 ,there has never been so 
fair a prospect for ,life and ,love4    
,but the goal to which we tend is not an
 ideal of personal happiness alone4 ,the
 anticipation of our own future is but  
one element in the prospect which opens 
to us now4 ,our inquiry has broadened   
into a wider scope4 ,the point from     
which we started was an analysis of the 
latent faculties of man4 ,the point     
towards which our argument has carried  
us is the existence of a spiritual      
environment in which those faculties    
operate1 and of unseen neighbours who   
speak to us thence with slowly gathering
 power4 ,deep in this spiritual         
environment the cosmic secret lies4 ,it 

is our business to collect the smallest 
indications2 to carry out from this     
treasury of ,rhampsinitus so much as our
 bare hands can steal away4 ,we have won
 our scraps of spiritual experience1 our
 messages from behind the veil2 we can  
try them in their connection with       
certain enigmas which philosophy hardly 
hoped to be able to put to proof4 ,can  
we1 for instance1 learn anything1--to   
begin with fundamental problems1--of the
 relation of spiritual phenomena to     
,space1 to ,time1 to the material world8
  ,as to the idea of ,space1 the        
evidence which will have been presented 
will enable us to speak with perhaps    
more clearness than could have been     
hoped for in such a matter4 ,spiritual  
life1 we infer1 is not bound and        
confined by space-considerations in the 
same way as the life of earth4 ,but in  
what way is that greater freedom        
attained8 ,it appears to be attained by 
the mere extension of certain licenses  
7so to call them7 permitted to          

ourselves4 ,we on earth submit to two   
familiar laws of the ordinary material  
universe4 ,a body can only act where it 
is4 ,only one body can occupy the same  
part of space at the same moment4       
,applied to common affairs these rules  
are of plain construction4 ,but once get
 beyond ponderable matter1--once bring  
life and ether into play1 and           
definitions become difficult indeed4    
,the orator1 the poet1 we say1 can only 
act where he is2--but where is he8 ,he  
has transformed the sheet of paper into 
a spiritual agency2--nay1 the mere      
memory of him persists as a source of   
energy in other minds4 ,again1 we may   
say that no other body can be in the    
same place as this writing-table2 but   
what of the ether8 ,what we have thus   
far learnt of spiritual operation seems 
merely to extend these two              
possibilities4 ,telepathy indefinitely  
extends the range of an unembodied      
spirit's potential presence4 ,the       
interpenetration of the spiritual with  

the material environment leaves this    
ponderable planet unable to check or to 
hamper spiritual presence or operation4 
,strange and new though our evidence may
 be1 it needs at present in its relation
 to space nothing more than an immense  
extension of conceptions which the      
disappearance of earthly limitations was
 certain immensely to extend4  ,how1    
then1 does the matter stand with regard 
to our relation to ,time8 ,do we find   
that our new phenomena point to any mode
 of understanding or of transcending    
,time fundamentally different from those
 modes which we have at our command8    
,in dealing with ,time ,past we have    
memory and written record2 in dealing   
with ,time ,future we have forethought1 
drawing inferences from the past4  ,can1
 then1 the spiritual knowledge of ,past 
and ,future which our evidence shows be 
explained by assuming that these        
existing means of knowledge are raised  
to a higher power8 ,or are we driven to 
postulate something in the nature of    

,time which is to us                    
inconceivable2--some co-existence of    
,past and ,future in an eternal ,now8   
,it is plainly with ,time ,past that we 
must begin the inquiry4  ,the knowledge 
of the past which automatic             
communications manifest is in most cases
 apparently referable to the actual     
memory of persons still existing beyond 
the tomb4 ,it reaches us telepathically1
 as from a mind in which remote scenes  
are still imprinted4 ,but there are     
certain scenes which are not easily     
assigned to the individual memory of any
 given spirit4 ,and if it be possible   
for us to learn of present facts by     
telsthesia as well as by telepathy2--by 
some direct supernormal percipience     
without the intervention of any other   
mind to which the facts are already     
known1--may there not be also a         
retrocognitive telsthesia by which we   
may attain a direct knowledge of facts  
in the past8  ,some conception of this  
kind may possibly come nearest to the   

truth4 ,it may even be that some        
,world-,soul is perennially conscious of
 all its past2 and that individual      
souls1 as they enter into deeper        
consciousness1 enter into something     
which is at once reminiscence and       
actuality4 ,but nevertheless a narrower 
hypothesis will cover the actual cases  
with which we have to deal4 ,past facts 
are known to men on earth not from      
memory only1 but by written record2 and 
there may be records1 of what kind we   
know not1 which persist in the spiritual
 world4 ,our retrocognitions seem often 
a recovery of isolated fragments of     
thought and feeling1 pebbles still hard 
and rounded amid the indecipherable     
sands over which the mighty waters are  
rolling evermore4  ,when we look from   
,time ,past to ,time ,future we are     
confronted with essentially the same    
problems1 though in a still more        
perplexing form1 and with the world-old 
mystery of ,free ,will versus ,necessity
 looming in the background4 ,again we   

find that1 just as individual memory    
would serve to explain a large          
proportion of ,retrocognition1 so       
individual forethought--a subliminal    
forethought1 based often on profound    
organic facts not normally known to     
us--will explain a large proportion of  
,precognition4 ,but here again we find  
also precognitions which transcend what 
seems explicable by the foresight of any
 mind such as we know2 and we are       
tempted to dream of a ,world-,soul whose
 ,future is as present to it as its     
,past4 ,but in this speculation also1 so
 vast and vague an explanation seems for
 the present beyond our needs2 and it is
 safer--if aught be safe in this region 
which only actual evidence could have   
emboldened us to approach--to take      
refuge in the conception of             
intelligences not infinite1 yet gifted  
with a foresight which strangely        
transcends our own4  ,closely allied to 
speculations such as these is another   
speculation1 more capable of subjection 

to experimental test1 yet which remains 
still inconclusively tested1 and which  
has become for many reasons a           
stumbling-block rather than a           
corroboration in the spiritual inquiry4 
,i refer to the question whether any    
influence is exercised by spirits upon  
the gross material world otherwise than 
through ordinary organic structures4 ,we
 know that the spirit of a living man   
controls his own organism1 and we shall 
see reason to conclude that discarnate  
spirits may also control1 by some form  
of possession1 the organisms of living  
persons1--may affect directly1 that is  
to say1 some portions of matter which we
 call living1 namely1 the brain of the  
entranced sensitive4 ,there seems to me1
 then1 no paradox in the supposition    
that some effect should be produced by  
spiritual agency--possibly through the  
mediation of some kind of energy derived
 from living human beings--upon         
inanimate matter as well4 ,and ,i       
believe that as a fact such effects have

 been observed and recorded in a        
trustworthy manner by ,sir ,w4 ,crookes1
 the late ,dr4 ,speer1 and others1 in   
the cases especially of ,d4 ,d4 ,home   
and of ,w4 ,stainton ,moses4 ,if1       
indeed1 ,i call these and certain other 
records still inconclusive1 it is mainly
 on account of the mass of worthless    
narratives with which they have been in 
some sense smothered2 the long history  
of so-called investigations which have  
consisted merely in an interchange of   
credulity and fraud4 ,for the present   
the evidence of this kind which has real
 value is better presented1 ,i think1 in
 separate records than collected or     
discussed in any generalised form4 ,all 
that ,i purpose in this work1 therefore1
 is briefly to indicate the relation    
which these physical phenomena hold to  
the psychical phenomena with which my   
book is concerned4 ,alongside of the    
faculty or achievement of man's ordinary
 or supraliminal self ,i shall demarcate
 the faculty or achievement which ,i    

ascribe to his subliminal self2 and     
alongside of this again ,i shall arrange
 such few well-attested phenomena as    
seem prim facie to demand the physical  
intervention of discarnate              
intelligences4  ,i have traced the      
utmost limits to which any claim to a   
scientific basis for these inquiries can
 at present be pushed4 ,yet the         
subject-matter has not yet been         
exhausted of half its significance4 ,the
 conclusions to which our evidence      
points are not such as can be discussed 
or dismissed as a mere matter of        
speculative curiosity4 ,they affect     
every belief1 every faculty1 every hope 
and aim of man2 and they affect him the 
more intimately as his interests grow   
more profound4 ,whatever meaning be     
applied to ethics1 to philosophy1 to    
religion1 the concern of all these is   
here4  ,it would have been inconsistent 
with my main purpose had ,i interpolated
 considerations of this kind into the   
body of this work4 ,for that purpose was

 above all to show that realms left thus
 far to philosophy or to religion1--too 
often to mere superstition and idle     
dream1--might in the end be brought     
under steady scientific rule4 ,i contend
 that ,religion and ,science are no     
separable or independent provinces of   
thought or action2 but rather that each 
name implies a different aspect of the  
same ideal2--that ideal being the       
completely normal reaction of the       
individual spirit to the whole of cosmic
 law4  ,assuredly this deepening        
response of man's spirit to the ,cosmos 
deepening round him must be affected by 
all the signals which now are glimmering
 out of night to tell him of his inmost 
nature and his endless fate4 ,who can   
think that either ,science or           
,revelation has spoken as yet more than 
a first half-comprehended word8 ,but if 
in truth souls departed call to us1 it  
is to them that we shall listen most of 
all4 ,we shall weigh their undesigned   
concordances1 we shall analyse the      

congruity of their message with the     
facts which such a message should       
explain4 ,to some thoughts which may    
thus be generated ,i shall try to give  
expression in an ,epilogue to the       
present work4     ,,chapter ,,ii        
,,disintegrations ,,of ,,personality    
,greek3 ,thanatos estin okosa           
egerthentes oreomen1    okosa de        
eudontes1 upnos4    --,,heraclitus4     
,of the race of man we know for certain 
that it has been evolved through many   
ages and through countless forms of     
change4 ,we know for certain that its   
changes continue still2 nay1 that more  
causes of change act upon us in fifty   
years of ,europe than in a cycle of     
,cathay4 ,we may reasonably conjecture  
that the race will continue to change   
with increasing rapidity1 and through a 
period in comparison with which our     
range of recorded history shrinks into a
 moment4  ,the actual nature of these   
coming changes1 indeed1 lies beyond our 
imagination4 ,many of them are probably 

as inconceivable to us now as eyesight  
would have been to our eyeless          
ancestors4 ,all that we can do is to    
note so far as possible the structural  
laws of our personality as deduced from 
its changes thus far2 inferring that for
 some time to come1 at any rate1 its    
further changes will proceed upon       
similar lines4  ,i have already         
7,chapter ,i7 indicated the general view
 as to the nature of human personality  
which is maintained in this work4 ,i    
regard each man as at once profoundly   
unitary and almost infinitely composite1
 as inheriting from earthly ancestors a 
multiplex and colonial                  
organism--polyzoic and perhaps          
polypsychic in an extreme degree2 but   
also as ruling and unifying that        
organism by a soul or spirit absolutely 
beyond our present analysis--a soul     
which has originated in a spiritual or  
metetherial environment2 which even     
while embodied subsists in that         
environment2 and which will still       

subsist therein after the body's decay4 
,it is1 of course1 impossible for us to 
picture to ourselves the way in which   
the individual life of each cell of the 
body is reconciled with the unity of the
 central life which controls the body as
 a whole4 ,but this difficulty is not   
created or intensified by the hypothesis
 of a separate and persistent soul4 ,on 
no hypothesis can we really understand  
the collaboration and subordination of  
the cell-lives of any multicellular     
animal4 ,it is as mysterious in the     
starfish as it is in ,plato2 and the    
eight brains of ,aurelia1 with their    
individual and their common life1 are as
 inconceivable as the life of the       
phagocytes in the philosopher's veins1  
in their relation to his central        
thought4#g  ,i claim1 in fact1 that the 
ancient hypothesis of an indwelling     
soul1 possessing and using the body as a
 whole1 yet bearing a real1 though      
obscure relation to the various more or 
less apparently disparate conscious     

groupings manifested in connection with 
the organism and in connection with more
 or less localised groups of            
nerve-matter1 is a hypothesis not more  
perplexing1 not more cumbrous1 than any 
other hypothesis yet suggested4 ,i claim
 also that it is conceivably            
provable1--,i myself hold it as actually
 proved1--by direct observation4 ,i hold
 that certain manifestations of central 
individualities1 associated now or      
formerly with certain definite          
organisms1 have been observed in        
operation apart from those organisms1   
both while the organisms were still     
living1 and after they had decayed4     
,whether or no this thesis be as yet    
sufficiently proved1 it is at least at  
variance with no scientific principle   
nor established fact whatever2 and it is
 of a nature which continued observation
 may conceivably establish to the       
satisfaction of all4 ,the negative      
thesis1 on the other hand1 is a thesis  
in unstable equilibrium4 ,it cannot be  

absolutely proved by any number of      
negative instances2 and it may be       
absolutely disproved by a single        
positive instance4 ,it may have at      
present a greater scientific currency1  
but it can have no real scientific      
authority as against the view defended  
in these pages4  ,leaving these         
questions1 however1 aside for the       
present1 we may agree that in the       
organism as we can observe it in common 
life we have no complete or unchanging  
unity1 but rather a complex hierarchy of
 groups of cells exercising vaguely     
limited functions1 and working together 
with rough precision1 tolerable harmony1
 fair success4 ,that these powers ever  
work perfectly together we have no      
evidence4 ,our feeling of health is but 
a rough haphazard register of what is   
passing within us4 ,nor would it ever be
 possible to define a permanently ideal 
status in an organism in moving         
equilibrium1--an organism which lives by
 exploding unstable compounds1 and which

 is constantly aiming at new ends at the
 expense of the old4  ,many disturbances
 and disintegrations of the personality 
must presently fall to be discussed4    
,but the reader who may follow me must  
remember the point of view from which ,i
 am writing4 ,the aim of my analysis is 
not to destroy but to fulfil2--or say1  
rather1 my hope is that observation of  
the ways in which the personality tends 
to disintegrate may suggest methods     
which may tend on the other hand to its 
more complete integration4  ,such       
improvements upon the natural conditions
 of the organism are not unknown4 ,just 
as the study of hysteria deals mainly   
with instabilities in the threshold of  
consciousness1 so does the study of     
zymotic disease deal mainly with        
instabilities in the constitution of the
 blood4 ,the ordinary object of the     
physician is to check these             
instabilities when they occur2 to       
restore healthy blood in the place of   
vitiated4 ,the experimental biologist   

has a further aim4 ,he wishes to provide
 men with better blood than nature has  
bestowed2 to elicit from virus and decay
 some element whose infusion into the   
veins may give immunity against microbic
 invasion4 ,as the adult is safer       
against such attacks than the child by  
dint of his more advanced development1  
so is the immunised adult safer than the
 common man4 ,the change of his blood   
which healthy maturity has induced has  
made him safe against whooping-cough4   
,the change in his blood which we effect
 by injecting antitoxin makes him       
temporarily safe against diphtheria4 ,we
 have improved upon nature2--and our    
artifice has been prophylactic by virtue
 of being in a certain sense            
developmental4  ,even such1 ,i trust1   
may be the achievement of experimental  
psychology in a later day4 ,i shall be  
well content if in this chapter ,i can  
give hints for some future colligation  
of such evolutive phenomena as may lurk 
amid a mass of phenomena mainly         

dissolutive--phenomena whose records are
 scattered and imperfect1 and have as   
yet only in some few directions1 and by 
quite recent writers1 been collated or  
systematised on any definite plan4  ,the
 discussion of these disintegrations of 
personality needs1 ,i think1 some little
 clearing of the ground beforehand1 if  
it is to avoid confusion4 ,it will be   
needful to speak of concurrent and      
alternating streams of                  
consciousness1--of subliminal and       
supraliminal strata of personality and  
the like2--phrases which save much      
trouble when used with care1 but which  
need some words of preliminary          
explanation4 ,it is not easy to realise 
that anything which deserves the name of
 consciousness can be going on within   
us1 apart from that central stream of   
thought and feeling with which we       
identify ourselves in common life4      
,something of definition is needed2--not
 indeed of any formal or dogmatic       
kind2--but enough to make clear the     

sense given to such words as            
consciousness1 memory1 personality1 in  
the ensuing pages4  ,i begin1 then1 with
 the obvious remark that when we        
conceive any act other than our own as a
 conscious act1 we do so either because 
we regard it as complex1 and therefore  
purposive1 or because we perceive that  
it has been remembered4 ,thus we call   
the fencer or the chess-player fully    
conscious2 or1 again1 we say1 ,the man  
who seemed stunned after that blow on   
the head must really have been conscious
 all the time2 for he afterwards        
recalled every incident4 ,the           
memorability of an act is1 in fact1 a   
better proof of consciousness than its  
complexity4 ,thus consciousness has been
 denied both to hypnotised subjects and 
to dogs2 but it is easier to prove that 
the hypnotised subject is conscious than
 that the dog is conscious4 ,for the    
hypnotised subject1 though he may forget
 the incidents of the trance when he    
awakes1 will remember them in the next  

trance2 or he may be trained to remember
 them in the waking state also2 while   
with regard to the dog we cannot decide 
from the mere complexity of his actions 
how far he is conscious of their        
performance4 ,with him1 too1 the best   
line of proof lies in his obvious memory
 of past acts4 ,and yet1 although all   
agree that our own memory1 broadly      
speaking1 proves our past consciousness1
 some persons would not admit that a    
dog's memory does so too4 ,the dog's    
organism1 they would say1 responds1 no  
doubt1 in a new manner to a second      
repetition of a previous stimulus2 but  
this is more or less true of all living 
organisms1 or parts of organisms1 even  
far below what we generally regard as a 
conscious level4  ,reflections of this  
kind naturally lead to a wider          
conception of consciousness4 ,it is     
gradually seen that the earlier         
inquiries which men have made about     
consciousness have been of a merely     
ethical or legal character2--have simply

 aimed at deciding whether at a given   
moment a man was responsible for his    
acts1 either to a human or to a divine  
tribunal4 ,commonsense has seemed to    
encourage this method of definite       
demarcation2 we judge practically either
 that a man is conscious or that he is  
not2 in the experience of life          
intermediate states are of little       
importance4  ,as soon1 however1 as the  
problem is regarded as a psychological  
one1 to be decided by observation and   
experiment1 these hard and fast lines   
grow fainter and fainter4 ,we come to   
regard consciousness as an attribute    
which may possibly be present in all    
kinds of varying degrees in connection  
with the animal and vegetable worlds2 as
 the psychical counterpart of life2 as  
conceivably the psychical counterpart of
 all phenomenal existence4 ,or1 rather1 
we may say this of mind1 to which1 in   
its more elementary forms1 consciousness
 bears somewhat the same relation as    
self-consciousness bears to             

consciousness1 or some higher evolution 
may bear to self-consciousness4  ,this  
being so1 ,i cannot see how we can      
phrase our definition more simply than  
by saying that any act or condition must
 be regarded as conscious if it is      
potentially memorable2--if it can be    
recollected1 under any circumstances1 by
 the subject concerned4 ,it does not    
seem needful that the circumstances     
under which such recollection may occur 
should arise while the subject is still 
incarnated on this planet4 ,we shall    
never on this planet remember the great 
majority of our dreams2 but those dreams
 were presumably no less conscious than 
the dreams which a sudden awakening     
allowed us to keep in memory4 ,certain  
hypnotic subjects1 indeed1 who can be   
made to remember their dreams by        
suggestion1 apparently remember dreams  
previously latent just as easily as     
dreams previously remembered4 ,and we   
shall have various other examples of the
 unexpected recollection of experiences 

supposed to have been entirely devoid of
 consciousness4  ,we are bound1 ,i      
think1 to draw at least this negative   
conclusion3 that we must not take for   
granted that our apparently central     
consciousness is something wholly       
different in kind from the minor        
consciousnesses out of which it is in   
some sense elaborated4 ,i do indeed     
believe it to be in an important sense  
different2 but this difference must not 
be assumed on the basis of our          
subjective sensations alone4 ,we must   
approach the whole subject of split or  
duplicated personalities with no        
prepossession against the possibility of
 any given arrangement or division of   
the total mass of consciousness which   
exists within us4  ,before we can       
picture to ourselves how that mass of   
consciousness may disintegrate1 we      
ought1 were it possible1 to picture to  
ourselves how it is in the first        
instance integrated4 ,that1 however1 is 
a difficulty which does not begin with  

the constitution of man4 ,it begins when
 unicellular develop into multicellular 
organisms4 ,it is1 of course1 a mystery 
how a single cell can hold together1 and
 what kind of unity it can possess4 ,but
 it is a fresh mystery when several     
cells cohere in a conjoint and          
independent life4 ,in the collective    
unity of certain colonial animals we    
have a kind of sketch or parody of our  
own complex being4 ,higher intelligences
 may possibly see us as we see the      
hydrozoon--a creature split up into     
different persons1 a hydriform person   
who feeds1 a medusiform person who      
propagates1 and so on--elements of the  
animal differentiated for different     
ends--interconnected from one point of  
view as closely as our stomach and      
brain1 yet from another point of view   
separable existences1 capable of        
detachment and of independent           
regeneration in all kinds of different  
ways4 ,still more composite1 though less
 conspicuously composite1 is every      

animal that we meet as we rise through  
the scale2 and in man we reach the      
summit both of colonial complexity and  
of centralised control4  ,i need hardly 
say that as regards the inner nature of 
this close co-ordination1 this central  
government1 science can at present tell 
us little or nothing4 ,the growth of the
 nervous mechanism may be to some extent
 deciphered2 but how this mechanism is  
centrally governed2 what is the tendency
 which makes for unity2 where precisely 
this unity resides1 and what is its     
exact relation to the various parts of  
the multicellular organism--all these   
are problems in the nature of life1 to  
which as yet no solution is known4  ,the
 needed clue1 as ,i believe1 can be     
afforded only by the discovery of laws  
affecting primarily that unseen or      
spiritual plane of being where ,i       
imagine the origin of life to lie4 ,if  
we can suppose telepathy to be a first  
indication of a law of this type1 and to
 occupy in the spiritual world some such

 place as gravitation occupies in the   
material world1 we might imagine        
something analogous to the force of     
cohesion as operating in the psychical  
contexture of a human personality4 ,such
 a personality1 at any rate1 as the     
development of higher from lower        
organisms shows1 involves the           
aggregation of countless minor psychical
 entities1 whose characteristics still  
persist1 although in a manner consistent
 with the possibility that one larger   
psychical entity1 whether pre-existent  
or otherwise1 is the unifying continuum 
of which those smaller entities are     
fragments1 and exercises over them a    
pervading1 though an incomplete1        
control4  ,it is plainly impossible to  
say beforehand what will be the relation
 to the ordinary stream of consciousness
 of a personality thus composed4 ,we    
have no right to assume that all our    
psychical operations will fall at the   
same time1 or at any time1 into the same
 central current of perception1 or rise 

above what we have called the ordinary  
conscious threshold4 ,we can be sure1 in
 fact1 that there will be much which    
will not so rise2 can we predict what   
will rise8  ,we can only reply that the 
perception of stimuli by the            
supraliminal consciousness is a kind of 
exercise of function2 and that here1 as 
in other cases where a function is      
exercised1 part of its range will       
consist of such operation as the primary
 structure of the organism obliges it to
 perform1 and part will consist of such 
operation as natural selection 7after   
the structure has come into being7 has  
trained it to perform4 ,there will be   
something which is structurally         
inevitable1 and something which was not 
structurally inevitable1 but which has  
proved itself practically advantageous4 
,thus it may be inevitable--a necessary 
result of nervous structure--that       
consciousness should accompany          
unfamiliar cerebral combinations2--that 
the fraying of fresh channels should    

carry with it a perceptible tingle of   
novelty4 ,or it is possible1 again1 that
 this vivid consciousness of new        
cerebral combinations may be a later    
acquisition1 and merely due to the      
obvious advantage of preventing new     
achievements from stereotyping          
themselves before they have been        
thoroughly practised2--as a musician    
will keep his attention fixed on a      
difficult novelty1 lest his execution   
should become automatic before he has   
learnt to render the piece as he        
desires4 ,it seems likely1 at any rate1 
that the greater part of the contents of
 our supraliminal consciousness may be  
determined in some such fashion as this1
 by natural selection so operating as to
 keep ready to hand those perceptions   
which are most needed for the conduct of
 life4  ,the notion of the upbuilding of
 the personality here briefly given is  
of use1 ,i think1 in suggesting its     
practical tendencies to dissolution4    
,subjected continually to both internal 

and external stress and strain1 its ways
 of yielding indicate the grain of its  
texture4  ,it is possible that if we    
could discern the minute psychology of  
this long series of changes1 ranging    
from modifications too minute to be     
noted as abnormal to absolute           
revolutions of the whole character and  
intelligence1 we might find no definite 
break in all the series2 but rather a   
slow1 continuous detachment of one      
psychical unit or element of            
consciousness after another from the    
primary synthesis4 ,it is possible1 on  
the other hand1 that there may be a real
 break at a point where there appears to
 our external observation to be a break1
 namely1 where the personality passes   
into its new phase through an interval  
of sleep or trance4 ,and ,i believe that
 there is another break1 at a point much
 further advanced1 and not to be reached
 in this chapter1 where some external   
intelligence begins in some way to      
possess the organism and to replace for 

a time the ordinary intellectual        
activity by an activity of its own4     
,setting1 however1 this last possibility
 for the present aside1 we must adopt   
some arrangement on which to hang our   
cases4 ,for this purpose the appearance 
of sleep or trance will make a useful1  
although not a definite1 line of        
demarcation4  ,we may begin with        
localised psychical hypertrophies and   
isolations1--terms which ,i shall       
explain as we proceed2 and then pass on 
through hysterical instabilities 7where 
intermediate periods of trance may or   
may not be present7 to those more       
advanced sleep-wakings and dimorphisms  
which a barrier of trance seems always  
to separate from the primary stream of  
conscious life4 ,all such changes1 of   
course1 are generally noxious to the    
psychical organism2 and it will be      
simpler to begin by dwelling on their   
noxious aspect1 and regarding them as   
steps on the road--on one of the many   
roads--to mental overthrow4  ,the       

process begins1 then1 with something    
which is to the psychical organism no   
more than a boil or a corn is to the    
physical4 ,in consequence of some       
suggestion from without1 or of some     
inherited tendency1 a small group of    
psychical units set up a process of     
exaggerated growth which shuts them off 
from free and healthy interchange with  
the rest of the personality4  ,the first
 symptom of disaggregation is thus the  
ide fixe1 that is to say1 the           
persistence of an uncontrolled and      
unmodifiable group of thoughts or       
emotions1 which from their brooding     
isolation1--from the very fact of       
deficient interchange with the general  
current of thought1--become alien and   
intrusive1 so that some special idea or 
image presses into consciousness with   
undue and painful frequency4  ,the fixed
 idea1 thus originating1 may develop in 
different ways4 ,it may become a centre 
of explosion1 or a nucleus of           
separation1 or a beginning of death4 ,it

 may induce an access of hysterical     
convulsions1 thus acting like a material
 foreign body which presses on a        
sensitive part of the organism4 ,or it  
may draw to its new parasitic centre so 
many psychical elements that it forms a 
kind of secondary personality1          
co-existing secretly with the primary   
one1 or even able at times 7as in some  
well-known cases7 to carry the whole    
organism by a coup-de-main4 7,such      
changes1 it may be noted in passing1 are
 not always for the worse47 ,or1 again1 
the new quasi-independent centres may be
 merely anarchical2 the revolt may      
spread to every cell2 and the forces of 
the environment1 ever making war upon   
the organism1 may thus effect its total 
decay4  ,let us dwell for a few moments 
on the nature of these fixed or         
insistent ideas4 ,they are not generally
 or at the first outset extravagant     
fancies1--as that one is made of glass  
or the like4 ,rather will fixed ideas   
come to seem a mere expression for      

something in a minor degree common to   
most of us4 ,hardly any mind1 ,i        
suppose1 is wholly free from tendencies 
to certain types of thought or emotion  
for which we cannot summon any adequate 
check--useless recurrent broodings over 
the past or anxieties for the future1   
perhaps traces of old childish          
experience which have become too firmly 
fixed wholly to disappear4 ,nay1 it may 
well be that we must look even further  
back than our own childhood for the     
origin of many haunting troubles4       
,inherited tendencies to terror1        
especially1 seem to reach far back into 
a prehistoric past4 ,in a recent ,study 
of ,fears1 which ,professor ,stanley    
,hall has based on a wide statistical   
collection1#h it would seem that the    
fears of childhood often correspond to  
no existing cause for uneasiness1 but   
rather to the vanished perils of        
primitive man4 ,the fear of darkness1   
for instance1 the fear of solitude1 the 
fear of thunder-storms1 the fear of the 

loss of orientation1 speak of primitive 
helplessness1 just as the fear of       
animals1 the fear of strangers1 suggest 
the fierce and hazardous life of early  
man4 ,to all such instinctive feelings  
as these a morbid development is easily 
given4  ,of what nature must we suppose 
this morbid development to be8 ,does it 
fall properly within our present        
discussion8 or is it not simply a       
beginning of brain-disease1 which       
concerns the physician rather than the  
psychologist8 ,the psychologist's best  
answer to this question will be to show 
cases of fixed ideas cured by           
psychological means4#i ,and indeed there
 are few cases to show which have been  
cured by any methods except the         
psychological2 if hypnotic suggestion   
does not succeed with an ide fixe1 it is
 seldom that any other treatment will   
cure it4 ,we may1 of course1 say that   
the brain troubles thus cured were      
functional1 and that those which went on
 inevitably into insanity were organic1 

although the distinction between        
functional and organic is not easily    
demonstrable in this ultra-microscopic  
realm4  ,at any rate1 we have actually  
on record1--and that is what our        
argument needs1--a great series of ides 
fixes1 of various degrees of intensity1 
cured by suggestion2--cured1 that is to 
say1 by a subliminal setting in action  
of minute nervous movements which our   
supraliminal consciousness cannot in    
even the blindest manner manage to set  
to work4 ,some such difference as exists
 on a gross scale between striped and   
unstriped muscle seems to exist on a    
minute scale among these smallest       
involved cells and fibres1 or whatever  
they be4 ,some of them obey our         
conscious will1 but most of them are    
capable of being governed only by       
subliminal strata of the self4  ,if1    
however1 it be the subliminal self which
 can reduce these elements to order1 it 
is often probably the subliminal self to
 which their disorder is originally due4

 ,if a fixed idea1 say agoraphobia1     
grows up in me1 this may probably be    
because the proper controlling          
co-ordinations of thought1 which ,i     
ought to be able to summon up at will1  
have sunk below the level at which will 
can reach them4 ,i am no longer able1   
that is to say1 to convince myself by   
reasoning that there is no danger in    
crossing the open square4 ,and this may 
be the fault of my subliminal self1     
whose business it is to keep the ideas  
which ,i need for common life easily    
within my reach1 and which has failed to
 do this1 owing to some enfeeblement of 
its grasp of my organism4  ,if we       
imagine these obscure operations under  
some such form as this1 we get the      
advantage of being able to connect these
 insistent ideas in a coherent sequence 
with the more advanced phenomena of     
hysteria4 ,we have seen that the        
presence of insistent ideas implies an  
instability of the conscious threshold2 
and this1 in its turn1 indicates a      

disorderly or diseased condition of the 
hypnotic stratum1--of that region of the
 personality which1 as we shall see1 is 
best known to us through the fact that  
it is reached by hypnotic suggestion4   
,now we shall find1 ,i think1 that all  
the phenomena of hysteria are reducible 
to the same general conception4 ,to     
understand their many puzzles we have to
 keep our eyes fixed upon just these    
psychological notions--upon a threshold 
of ordinary consciousness above which   
certain perceptions and faculties ought 
to be1 but are not always1 maintained1  
and upon a hypnotic stratum or region of
 the personality to which hypnotic      
suggestion appeals2 and which includes  
faculty and perception which surpass the
 supraliminal1 but whose operation is   
capricious and dreamlike1 inasmuch as   
they lie1 so to say1 in a debateable    
region between two rules--the known rule
 of the supraliminal self1 adapted to   
this life's experience and uses1 and the
 conjectured rule of a fuller and       

profounder self1 rarely reached by any  
artifice which our present skill        
suggests4 ,some of these conscious      
groupings have got separated from the   
ordinary stream of consciousness4 ,these
 may still be unified in the subliminal1
 but they need to be unified in the     
supraliminal also4 ,the normal relation 
between the supraliminal and the        
subliminal may be disturbed by the      
action of either4  ,let us now see how  
far this view1 which ,i suggested in the
 ,s4,p4,r4 ,proceedings as far back as  
#ahib1aj fits in with those modern      
observations of hysteria1 in ,paris and 
,vienna especially1 which are           
transforming all that group of troubles 
from the mere opprobrium of medicine    
into one of the most fertile sources of 
new knowledge of body and mind4  ,first1
 then1 let us briefly consider what is  
the general type of hysterical troubles4
 ,speaking broadly1 we may say that the 
symptoms of hysteria form1 in the first 
place1 a series of phantom copies of    

real maladies of the nervous system2    
and1 in the second place1 a series of   
fantasies played upon that system--of   
unreal1 dreamlike ailments1 often such  
as no physiological mechanism can be    
shown to have determined4 ,these latter 
cases are often due1 as we shall see1   
not to purely physiological1 but rather 
to intellectual causes2 they represent1 
not a particular pattern in which the   
nervous system tends of itself to       
disintegrate1 but a particular pattern  
which has been imposed upon it by some  
intellectual process2--in short1 by some
 form of self-suggestion4  ,let us      
briefly review some common types of     
hysterical disability1--taking as our   
first guide ,dr4 ,pierre ,janet's       
admirable work1 ,l',etat ,mental des    
,hystriques 7,paris1 #ahic74  ,what1    
then1 to begin with1 is ,dr4 ,janet's   
general conception of the psychological 
states of the advanced hysteric8 ,in the
 expression ,i feel1 he says 7,l',etat  
,mental1 p4 #ci71 we have two elements3 

a small new psychological fact1 'feel1' 
and an enormous mass of thoughts already
 formed into a system ',i4' ,these two  
things mix and combine1 and to say ,i   
feel is to say that the personality1    
already enormous1 has seized and        
absorbed this small new sensation2 444  
as though the ,i were an amoeba which   
sent out a prolongation to suck in this 
little sensation which has come into    
existence beside it4 ,now it is in the  
assimilation of these elementary        
sensations or affective states with the 
perception personnelle1 as ,janet terms 
it1 that the advanced hysteric fails4   
,his field of consciousness is so far   
narrowed that it can only take in the   
minimum of sensations necessary for the 
support of life4 ,one must needs have   
consciousness of what one sees and      
hears1 and so the patient neglects to   
perceive the tactile and muscular       
sensations with which he thinks that he 
can manage to dispense4 ,at first he    
could perhaps turn his attention to     

them1 and recover them at least         
momentarily within the field of personal
 perception4 ,but the occasion does not 
present itself1 and the psychological   
bad habit is formed4444 ,one day the    
patient--for he is now veritably a      
patient--is examined by the doctor4 ,his
 left arm is pinched1 and he is asked   
whether he feels the pinch4 ,to his     
surprise the patient realises that he   
can no longer feel consciously1 can no  
longer bring back into his personal     
perception sensations which he has      
neglected too long--he has become       
ansthetic4444 ,hysterical ansthesia is  
thus a fixed and perpetual distraction1 
which renders its subjects incapable of 
attaching certain sensations to their   
personality2 it is a restriction of the 
conscious field4  ,the proof of these   
assertions depends on a number of       
observations1 all of which point in the 
same direction1 and show that hysterical
 ansthesia does not descend so deep into
 the personality1 so to say1 as true    

ansthesia caused by nervous decay1 or by
 the section of a nerve4  ,thus the     
hysteric is often unconscious of the    
ansthesia1 which is only discovered by  
the physician4 ,there is none of the    
distress caused by true ansthesia1 as1  
for instance1 by the tabetic mask1 or   
insensibility of part of the face1 which
 sometimes occurs in tabes dorsalis4    
,an incident reported by ,dr4 ,jules    
,janet illustrates this peculiarity4 ,a 
young woman cut her right hand severely 
with broken glass1 and complained of    
insensibility in the palm4 ,the         
physician who examined her found that   
the sensibility of the right palm was1  
in fact1 diminished by the section of   
certain nerves4 ,but he discovered at   
the same time that the girl was         
hysterically ansthetic over the whole   
left side of her body4 ,she had never   
even found out this disability1 and the 
doctor twitted her with complaining of  
the small patch of ansthesia1 while she 
said nothing of that which covered half 

her body4 ,but1 as ,dr4 ,pierre ,janet  
remarks1 she might well have retorted   
that these were the facts1 and that it  
was for the man of science to say why   
the small patch annoyed her while the   
large one gave her no trouble at all4   
,of similar import is the ingenious     
observation that hysterical ansthesia   
rarely leads to any accident to the     
limb2--differing in this respect1 for   
instance1 from the true and profound    
ansthesia of syringomyelitis1 in which  
burns and bruises frequently result from
 the patient's forgetfulness of the part
 affected4 ,there is usually1 in fact1 a
 supervision--a subliminal              
supervision--exercised over the         
hysteric's limbs4 ,part of her          
personality is still alive to the       
danger1 and modifies her movements1     
unknown to her supraliminal self4  ,this
 curious point1 ,i may remark in        
passing1 well illustrates the kind of   
action which ,i attribute to the        
subliminal self in many phases of life4 

,thus it is that the hypnotised subject 
is prevented 7as ,i hold7 from          
committing a real as opposed to a       
fictitious crime2 thus it is that fresh 
ideas are suggested to the man of       
genius2 thus it is--,i will even        
say--that in some cases monitory        
hallucinations are generated1 which save
 the supraliminal self from some sudden 
danger4  ,i pass on to another          
peculiarity of hysterical               
ansthesi2--also in my eyes of deep      
significance4 ,the ansthetic belts or   
patches do not always1 or even          
generally1 correspond with true         
anatomical areas1 such as would be      
affected by the actual lesion of any    
given nerve4 ,they follow arbitrary     
arrangements2--sometimes corresponding  
to rough popular notions of divisions of
 the body1--sometimes seeming to reflect
 a merely childish caprice4  ,in these  
cases what is only a silly fancy seems  
to produce an effect which is not merely
 fanciful2--which is objective1         

measurable1 and capable of causing long 
and serious disablement4 ,this result1  
however1 is quite accordant with my view
 of what ,i have termed the hypnotic    
stratum of the personality4 ,i hold1 as 
our coming discussion of hypnotism will 
more fully explain1 that the region into
 which the hypnotic suggestion gives us 
access is one of strangely mingled      
strength and weakness2--of a faculty at 
once more potent and less coherent than 
that of waking hours4 ,i think that in  
these cases we get at the subliminal    
self only somewhat in the same sense as 
we get at the supraliminal self when the
 highest-level centres are for the time 
inoperative 7as in a dream7 and only    
middle-level centres are left to follow 
their own devices without inhibition or 
co-ordination4 ,i hold that this is the 
explanation of the strange contrasts    
which hypnosis makes familiar to us--the
 combination of profound power over the 
organism with childish readiness to obey
 the merest whims of the hypnotiser4    

,the intelligence which thus responds is
 in my view only a fragmentary          
intelligence2 it is a dreamlike scrap of
 the subliminal self1 functioning apart 
from that self's central and profounder 
control4  ,what happens in hypnotism in 
obedience to the hypnotiser's caprice   
happens in hysteria in obedience to the 
caprice of the hypnotic stratum itself4 
,some middle-level centre of the        
subliminal self 7to express a difficult 
idea by the nearest phrase ,i can find7 
gets the notion that there is an        
ansthetic bracelet1 say1 round the left 
wrist2--and lo1 this straight-way is so2
 and the hysteric loses supraliminal    
sensation in this fantastic belt4 ,that 
the notion does not originate in the    
hysteric's supraliminal self is proved  
by the fact that the patient is         
generally unaware of the existence of   
the bracelet until the physician        
discovers it4 ,nor is it a chance       
combination2--even were there such a    
thing as chance4 ,it is a dream of the  

hypnotic stratum2--an incoherent        
self-suggestion starting from and       
affecting a region below the reach of   
conscious will4 ,such cases are most    
instructive2 for they begin to show us  
divisions of the human body based not   
upon local innervation but upon ideation
 7however incoherent72--upon            
intellectual conceptions like a         
bracelet1 a cross1--applied though these
 conceptions may be with dreamlike      
futility4  ,in this view1 then1 we      
regard the fragments of perceptive power
 over which the hysteric has lost       
control as being by no means really     
extinguished1 but rather as existing    
immediately beneath the threshold1 in   
the custody1 so to say1 of a dreamlike  
or hypnotic stratum of the subliminal   
self1 which has selected them for       
reasons sometimes explicable as the     
result of past suggestions1 sometimes to
 us inexplicable4 ,if this be so1 we may
 expect that the same kind of           
suggestions which originally cut off    

these perceptions from the main body of 
perception may stimulate them again to  
action either below or above the        
conscious threshold4  ,we have already1 
indeed1 seen reason to suppose that the 
submerged perceptions are still at work1
 when ,dr4 ,janet pointed out how rare a
 thing it was that any accident or      
injury followed upon hysterical loss of 
feeling in the limbs4 ,a still more     
curious illustration is afforded by the 
condition of the field of vision in a   
hysteric4 ,it often happens that the    
field of vision is much reduced1 so that
 the hysteric1 when tested with the     
perimeter1 can discern only objects     
almost directly in front of the eye4    
,but if an object which happens to be   
particularly exciting to the hypnotic   
stratum--for instance the hypnotiser's  
finger1 used often as a signal for      
trance--is advanced into that part of   
the hysteric's normal visual field of   
which she has apparently lost all       
consciousness1 there will often be an   

instant subliminal perception1--shown by
 the fact that the subject promptly     
falls into trance4  ,in such cases the  
action of the submerged perceptions1    
while provoked by very shallow          
artifices1 continues definitely         
subliminal4 ,the patient herself1 as we 
say1 does not know why she does not burn
 her ansthetic limbs1 or why she        
suddenly falls into a trance while being
 subjected to optical tests4  ,but it is
 equally easy to devise experiments     
which shall call these submerged        
sensations up again into supraliminal   
consciousness4 ,a hysteric has lost     
sensation in one arm3 ,dr4 ,janet tells 
her that there is a caterpillar on that 
arm1 and the reinforcement of attention 
thus generated brings back the          
sensibility4  ,these hysterical         
ansthesi1 it may be added here1 may be  
not only very definite but very         
profound4 ,just as the reality1--though 
also the impermanence1--of the          
hysterical retrenchment of field of     

vision of which ,i have been speaking   
can be shown by optical experiments     
beyond the patient's comprehension1 so  
the reality of some profound organic    
hysterical insensibilities is sometimes 
shown by the progress of independent    
disease4 ,a certain patient feels no    
hunger or thirst3 this indifference     
might be simulated for a time1 but her  
ignorance of severe inflammation of the 
bladder is easily recognisable as real4 
,throw her into hypnosis and her        
sensibilities return4 ,the disease is   
for the first time felt1 and the patient
 screams with pain4 ,this result well   
illustrates one main effect of hypnosis1
 viz41 to bring the organism into a more
 normal state4 ,the deep organic        
ansthesia of this patient was           
dangerously abnormal2 the missing       
sensibility had first to be restored1   
although it might be desirable          
afterwards to remove the painful        
elements in that sensibility again1     
under1 so to say1 a wiser and deeper    

control4  ,what has been said of        
hysterical defects of sensation might be
 repeated for motor defects4 ,there1    
too1 the powers of which the            
supraliminal self has lost control      
continue to act in obedience to         
subliminal promptings4 ,the hysteric who
 squeezes the dynamometer like a weak   
child can exert great muscular force    
under the influence of emotion4  ,very  
numerous are the cases which might be   
cited to give a notion of dissolutive   
hysterical processes1 as now observed   
with closer insight than formerly1 in   
certain great hospitals4 ,but1          
nevertheless1 these hospital            
observations do not exhaust what has    
recently been learnt of hysteria4       
,dealing almost exclusively with a      
certain class of patients1 they leave   
almost untouched another group1 smaller1
 indeed1 but equally instructive for our
 study4  ,hysteria is no doubt a        
disease1 but it is by no means on that  
account an indication of initial        

weakness of mind1 any more than an      
,arctic explorer's frost-bite is an     
indication of bad circulation4 ,disease 
is a function of two variables3 power of
 resistance and strength of injurious   
stimulus4 ,in the case of hysteria1 as  
in the case of frost-bite1 the inborn   
power of resistance may be unusually    
great1 and yet the stimulus may be so   
excessive that that power may be        
overcome4 ,arctic explorers have        
generally1 of course1 been among the    
most robust of men4 ,and with some      
hysterics there is an even closer       
connection between initial strength and 
destructive malady4 ,for it has often   
happened that the very feelings which we
 regard as characteristically civilised1
 characteristically honourable1 have    
reached a pitch of vividness and        
delicacy which exposes their owners to  
shocks such as the selfish clown can    
never know4 ,it would be a great mistake
 to suppose that all psychical upsets   
are due to vanity1 to anger1 to terror1 

to sexual passion4 ,the instincts of    
personal cleanliness and of feminine    
modesty are responsible for many a      
breakdown of a sensitive1 but not a     
relatively feeble organisation4 ,the    
love of one's fellow-creatures and the  
love of ,god are responsible for many   
more4 ,and why should it not be so8     
,there exist for many men and women     
stimuli far stronger than self-esteem or
 bodily desires4 ,human life rests more 
and more upon ideas and emotions whose  
relation to the conservation of the race
 or of the individual is indirect and   
obscure4 ,feelings which may once have  
been utilitarian have developed wholly  
out of proportion to any advantage which
 they can gain for their possessor in   
the struggle for life4 ,the dangers     
which are now most shudderingly felt are
 often no real risks to life or fortune4
 ,the aims most ardently pursued are    
often worse than useless for man        
regarded as a mere over-runner of the   
earth4  ,there is thus real             

psychological danger in fixing our      
conception of human character too low4  
,some essential lessons of a complex    
perturbation of personality are apt to  
be missed if we begin with the          
conviction that there is nothing before 
us but a study of decay4 ,as ,i have    
more than once found need to maintain1  
it is his steady advance1 and not his   
occasional regression1 which makes the  
chief concern of man4  ,to this side of 
the study of hysteria ,drs4 ,breuer and 
,freud have made valuable contribution4 
,drawing their patients not from        
hospital wards1 but from private        
practice1 they have had the good fortune
 to encounter1 and the penetration to   
understand1 some remarkable cases where 
unselfish but powerful passions have    
proved too much for the equilibrium of  
minds previously well-fortified both by 
principle and by education4#aa  ,wax to 
receive and marble to retain2 such1 as  
we all have felt1 is the human mind in  
moments of excitement which transcend   

its resistant powers4 ,this may be for  
good or for evil1 may tend to that      
radical change in ethical standpoint    
which is called conversion1 or to the   
mere setting-up of some hysterical      
disability4 ,who shall say how far we   
desire to be susceptible to stimulus8   
,most rash would it be to assign any    
fixed limit1 or to class as inferior    
those whose main difference from        
ourselves may be that they feel         
sincerely and passionately what we feel 
torpidly1 or perhaps only affect to     
feel4 ,the term degenerate1 says ,dr4   
,milne ,bramwell1 is applied so freely  
and widely by some modern authors that  
one cannot help concluding that they    
rank as such all who do not conform to  
some primitive1 savage type1 possessing 
an imperfectly developed nervous system4
 ,our degenerates may sometimes be in   
truth progenerate2 and their            
perturbation may mask an evolution which
 we or our children needs must traverse 
when they have shown the way4  ,let us  

pause for a moment and consider what is 
here implied4 ,we are getting here among
 the hystriques qui mnent le monde4 ,we 
have advanced1 that is to say1 from the 
region of ides fixes of a paltry or     
morbid type to the region of ides fixes 
which in themselves are reasonable and  
honourable1 and which become morbid only
 on account of their relative intensity4
 ,here is the debateable ground between 
hysteria and genius4 ,the kind of genius
 which we approach here is not1 indeed1 
the purely intellectual form4 ,rather it
 is the moral genius1 the genius of     
sanctity1 or that possession by some    
altruistic idea which lies at the root  
of so many heroic lives4  ,the hagiology
 of all religions offers endless        
examples of this type4 ,that man would  
hardly be regarded as a great saint     
whose conduct seemed completely         
reasonable to the mass of mankind4 ,the 
saint in consequence is apt to be set   
unduly apart1 whether for veneration or 
for ridicule4 ,he is regarded either as 

inspired or as morbid2 when in reality  
all that his mode of life shows is that 
certain ides fixes1 in themselves of no 
unworthy kind1 have obtained such       
dominance that their impulsive action   
may take and retake1 as accident wills1 
the step between the sublime and the    
ridiculous4  ,martyrs1 missionaries1    
crusaders1 nihilists1--enthusiasts of   
any kind who are swayed by impulses     
largely below the threshold of ordinary 
consciousness1--these men bring to bear 
on human affairs a force more           
concentrated and at higher tension than 
deliberate reason can generate4 ,they   
are virtually carrying out              
self-suggestions which have acquired the
 permanence of ides fixes4 ,their fixed 
ideas1 however1 are not so isolated1 so 
encysted as those of true hysterics4    
,although more deeply and immutably     
rooted than their ideas on other        
matters1 these subliminal convictions   
are worked in with the products of      
supraliminal reason1 and of course can  

only thus be made effective over other  
minds4 ,a deep subliminal horror1       
generated1 say1 by the sight of some    
loathsome cruelty1 must not only prompt 
hallucinations1--as it might do in the  
hysteric and has often done in the      
reformer as well1--it must also1 if it  
is to work out its mission of reform1 be
 held clearly before the supraliminal   
reason1 and must learn to express itself
 in writing or speech adapted to        
influence ordinary minds4         99    
99       99       99       99  ,we may  
now pass from the first to the second of
 the categories of disintegration of    
personality suggested at the beginning  
of this chapter4 ,the cases which ,i    
have thus far discussed have been mainly
 cases of isolation of elements of      
personality4 ,we have not dealt as yet  
with secondary personalities as such4   
,there is1 however1 a close connection  
between these two classes4 ,there are   
cases1 for example1 where a kind of     
secondary state at times intervenes--a  

sort of bewilderment arising from       
confluent ides fixes and overrunning the
 whole personality4 ,this new state is  
often preceded or accompanied by        
something of somnambulic change4 ,it is 
this new feature of which we have here a
 first hint which seems to me of        
sufficient importance for the diagnosis 
of my second class of psychical         
disintegrations4 ,this second class     
starts from sleep-wakings of all kinds1 
and includes all stages of alternation  
of personality1 from brief somnambulisms
 up to those permanent and thorough     
changes which deserve the name of       
dimorphisms4  ,we are making here a     
transition somewhat resembling the      
transition from isolated bodily injuries
 to those subtler changes of diathesis  
which change of climate or of nutrition 
may induce4 ,something has happened     
which makes the organism react to all   
stimuli in a new way4 ,our best         
starting-point for the study of these   
secondary states lies among the         

phenomena of dream4  ,we shall in a     
later chapter discuss certain rare      
characteristics of dreams2 occasional   
manifestations in sleep of waking       
faculty heightened1 or of faculty       
altogether new4 ,we have now to consider
 ordinary dreams in their aspect as     
indications of the structure of our     
personality1 and as agencies which tend 
to its modification4  ,in the first     
place1 it should be borne in mind that  
the dreaming state1 though ,i will not  
call it the normal form of mentation1 is
 nevertheless the form which our        
mentation most readily and habitually   
assumes4 ,dreams of a kind are probably 
going on within us both by night and by 
day1 unchecked by any degree of tension 
of waking thought4 ,this                
view--theoretically probable--seems to  
me to be supported by one's own actual  
experience in momentary dozes or even   
momentary lapses of attention4 ,the     
condition of which one then becomes     
conscious is that of swarming fragments 

of thought or imagery1 which have       
apparently been going on continuously1  
though one may become aware of them and 
then unaware at momentary               
intervals2--while one tries1 for        
instance1 to listen to a speech or to   
read a book aloud between sleep and     
waking4  ,this1 then1 is the kind of    
mentation from which our clearer and    
more coherent states may be supposed to 
develop4 ,waking life implies a fixation
 of attention on one thread of thought  
running through a tangled skein4 ,in    
hysterical patients we see some cases   
where no such fixation is possible1 and 
other cases where the fixation is       
involuntary1 or follows a thread which  
it is not desirable to pursue4  ,there  
is1 moreover1 another peculiarity of    
dreams which has hardly attracted       
sufficient notice from psychologists1   
but which it is essential to review when
 we are dealing with fractionations of  
personality4#ab ,i allude to their      
dramatic character4 ,in dream1 to begin 

with1 we have an environment1 a         
surrounding scene which we have not     
wittingly invented1 but which we find1  
as it were1 awaiting our entry4 ,and in 
many cases our dream contains a         
conversation in which we await with     
eagerness and hear with surprise the    
remarks of our interlocutor1 who must1  
of course1 all the time represent only  
another segment or stratum of ourselves4
 ,this duplication may become either    
painful or pleasant4 ,a feverish dream  
may simulate the confusions of          
insanity--cases where the patient       
believes himself to be two persons at   
once1 and the like4 ,see ,r4 ,l4        
,stevenson's dream1 given in ,appendix  
,,ii4 ,a ,these complications rarely    
cause the dreamer any surprise4 ,one may
 even say that with the first touch of  
sleep the superficial unity of          
consciousness disappears1 and that the  
dream world gives a truer representation
 than the waking world of the real      
fractionation or multiplicity existing  

beneath that delusive simplicity which  
the glare of waking consciousness       
imposes upon the mental field of view4  
,bearing these analogies in mind1 we    
shall see that the development of       
somnambulism out of ordinary dream is no
 isolated oddity4 ,it is parallel to the
 development of a secondary state from  
ides fixes when these have passed a     
certain pitch of intensity4 ,the        
sleep-waking states which develop from  
sleep have the characteristics which we 
should expect from their largely        
subliminal origin4 ,they are less       
coherent than waking secondary          
personalities1 but richer in supernormal
 faculty4 ,it is in connection with     
displays of such faculty--hypersthesia  
or telsthesia--that they have been      
mainly observed1 and that ,i shall1 in a
 future chapter1 have most need to deal 
with them4 ,but there is also great     
interest simply in observing what       
fraction of the sleep-waker's           
personality is able to hold intercourse 

with other minds4 ,a trivial instance of
 such intercourse reduced to its lowest 
point has often recurred to me4 ,when ,i
 was a boy another boy sleeping in the  
same room began to talk in his sleep4   
,to some slight extent he could answer  
me2 and the names and other words       
uttered--,harry1 the boat1 etc4--were   
appropriate to the day's incidents1 and 
would have been enough to prove to me1  
had ,i not otherwise known1 who the boy 
was4 ,but his few coherent remarks      
represented not facts but dreaming      
fancies--the boat is waiting1 and so    
forth4 ,this trivial jumble1 ,i say1 has
 since recurred to me as precisely      
parallel to many communications         
professing to come from disembodied     
spirits4 ,there are other explanations1 
no doubt1 but one explanation of such   
incoherent utterances would be that the 
spirit was speaking under conditions    
resembling those in which this sleeping 
boy spoke4  ,there are1 of course1 many 
stages above this4 ,spontaneous         

somnambulistic states become longer in  
duration1 more coherent in content1 and 
may gradually merge1 as in the          
well-known case of ,flida ,x4 7see      
,appendix ,,ii4 ,c7 into a continuous or
 dimorphic new personality4  ,the       
transition which has now to be made is a
 very decided one4 ,we have been dealing
 with a class of secondary personalities
 consisting of elements emotionally     
selected from the total or primary      
personality4 ,we have seen some special 
group of feelings grow to morbid        
intensity1 until at last it dominates   
the sufferer's mental being1 either     
fitfully or continuously1 but to such an
 extent that he is a changed person1 not
 precisely insane1 but quite other than 
he was when in normal mental health4 ,in
 such cases the new personality is of   
course dyed in the morbid emotion4 ,it  
is a kind of dramatic impersonation1    
say1 of jealousy1 or of fear1 like the  
case of demoniacal possession1 quoted   
from ,dr4 ,janet in ,appendix ,,ii4 ,b4 

,in other respects the severance between
 the new and the old self is not very   
profound4 ,dissociations of memory1 for 
instance1 are seldom beyond the reach of
 hypnotic suggestion4 ,the cleavage has 
not gone down to the depths of the      
psychical being4  ,we must now go on to 
cases where the origin of the cleavage  
seems to us quite arbitrary1 but where  
the cleavage itself seems even for that 
very reason to be more profound4 ,it is 
no longer a question of some one        
morbidly exaggerated emotion1 but rather
 of a scrap of the personality taken at 
random and developing apart from the    
rest4  ,the commonest mode of origin for
 such secondary personalities is from   
some access of sleep-waking1 which1     
instead of merging into sleep again1    
repeats and consolidates itself1 until  
it acquires a chain of memories of its  
own1 alternating with the primary       
chain4#ac  ,and now1 as an illustration 
of a secondary condition purely         
degenerative1 ,i may first mention      

post-epileptic states1 although they    
belong too definitely to pathology for  
full discussion here4 ,post-epileptic   
conditions may run parallel to almost   
all the secondary phases which we have  
described4 ,they may to all outward     
semblance closely resemble              
normality1--differing mainly by a lack  
of rational purpose1 and perhaps by a   
recurrence to the habits and ideas of   
some earlier moment in the patient's    
history4 ,such a condition resembles    
some hypnotic trances1 and some         
factitious personalities as developed by
 automatic writing4 ,or1 again1 the     
post-epileptic state may resemble a     
suddenly developed ide fixe triumphing  
over all restraint1 and may prompt to   
serious crime1 abhorrent to the normal1 
but premeditated in the morbid state4   
,there could not1 in fact1 be a better  
example of the unchecked rule of        
middle-level centres2--no longer        
secretly controlled1 as in hypnotic     
trance1 by the higher-level             

centres1--which centres in the epileptic
 are in a state not merely of           
psychological abeyance1 but of          
physiological exhaustion4#ad  ,the case 
of ,ansel ,bourne is interesting in this
 connection4#ae ,subject from childhood 
to fits of deep depression1 and         
presenting in later life symptoms       
suggestive of epilepsy1 ,ansel ,bourne  
was struck down in his thirty-first year
 by what was supposed to be a severe    
sunstroke4 ,connected with this event   
were circumstances which led to a       
profound religious conversion4 ,at      
sixty-one years of age1 being at that   
time an itinerant preacher1 and living  
in the small town of ,greene1 in the    
,state of ,rhode ,island1 ,ansel ,bourne
 disappeared one morning1 whilst        
apparently in his usual state of health1
 and remained undiscovered for a period 
of two months4 ,at the end of this time 
he turned up at ,norristown1            
,pennsylvania1 where for the previous   
six weeks he had been keeping a small   

variety store under the name of ,a4 ,j4 
,brown1 appearing to his neighbours and 
customers as an ordinary normal person1 
but being1 as it would seem1 in a       
somnambulistic condition all the while4 
,when he regained his ordinary waking   
consciousness1 ,ansel ,bourne lost all  
memory of his actions while in his      
secondary state4 ,in the year #ahij1    
however1 having been hypnotised by      
,professor ,james1 he was able while in 
the trance state to give an account of  
his doings during the eight weeks that  
the ,brown personality lasted4  ,in this
 case it is perhaps safest to regard the
 change of personality as               
post-epileptic1 although ,i know of no  
recorded parallel to the length of time 
during which the influence of the attack
 must have continued4 ,the effect on    
mind and character would suit well      
enough with this hypothesis4 ,the ,brown
 personality showed the narrowness of   
interests and the uninquiring           
indifference which is common in such    

states4 ,but on this theory the case    
shows one striking novelty1 namely1 the 
recall by the aid of hypnotism of the   
memory of the post-epileptic state4 ,it 
is doubtful1 ,i think1 whether any      
definite post-epileptic memory had ever 
previously been recovered4 ,on the other
 hand1 it is doubtful whether serious   
recourse had ever been had at such times
 to hypnotic methods1 whose increasing  
employment certainly differentiates the 
latter from the earlier cases of split  
personality in a very favourable way4   
,and this application of hypnotism to   
post-epileptic states affords us        
possibly our best chance--,i do not say 
of directly checking epilepsy1 but of   
getting down to the obscure conditions  
which predispose to each attack4  ,next 
we may mention two cases reported by    
,dr4 ,proust and ,m4 ,boeteau4 ,dr4     
,proust's patient1#af ,emile ,x41 aged  
thirty-three1 was a barrister in ,paris4
 ,although of good ability and education
 in classical studies1 both as a boy and

 at the university he was always nervous
 and over sensitive1 showing signs1 in  
fact1 of la grande hystrie4 ,during his 
attacks he apparently underwent no loss 
of consciousness1 but would lose the    
memory of all his past life during a few
 minutes or a few days1 and in this     
condition of secondary consciousness    
would lead an active and apparently     
normal life4 ,from such a state he woke 
suddenly1 and was entirely without      
memory of what had happened to him in   
this secondary state4 ,this memory was1 
however1 restored by hypnotism4  ,m4    
,boeteau's patient1 ,marie ,m41#ag had  
been subject to hysterical attacks since
 she was twelve years old4 ,she became  
an out-patient at the ,hpital ,andral   
for these attacks3 and on ,april #bd1   
#ahia1 being then twenty-two years old1 
the house physician there advised her to
 enter the surgical ward at the         
,htel-,dieu1 as she would probably need 
an operation for an internal trouble4   
,greatly shocked by this news1 she left 

the hospital at ten ,a4,m41 and lost    
consciousness4 ,when she recovered      
consciousness she found herself in quite
 another hospital--that of ,ste4        
,anne--at six ,a4,m4 on ,april #bg4 ,she
 had been found wandering in the streets
 of ,paris1 in the evening of the day on
 which she left the ,hpital ,andral4 ,on
 returning to herself1 she could        
recollect absolutely nothing of what had
 passed in the interval4 ,while she was 
thus perplexed at her unexplained       
fatigue and footsoreness1 and at the gap
 in her memory1 ,m4 ,boeteau hypnotised 
her4 ,she passed with ease into the     
hypnotic state1 and at once remembered  
the events which filled at least the    
earlier part of the gap in her primary  
consciousness4  ,these two cases belong 
to the same general type as ,ansel      
,bourne's4 ,there does not seem1        
however1 to be any definite evidence    
that the secondary state was connected  
with epileptic attacks4 ,it was referred
 rather by the physicians who witnessed 

it to a functional derangement analogous
 to hysteria1 though it must be         
remembered that there are various forms 
of epilepsy which are not completely    
understood1 and some of which may be    
overlooked by persons who are not       
familiar with the symptoms4  ,another   
remarkable case is that of the ,rev4    
,thomas ,c4 ,hanna1#ah in whom complete 
amnesia followed an accident4 ,by means 
of a method which ,dr4 ,sidis 7who      
studied the case7 calls hypnoidisation1 
he was able to prove that the patient   
had all his lost memories stored in his 
subliminal consciousness1 and could     
temporarily recall them to the          
supraliminal4 ,by degrees the two       
personalities which had developed since 
the accident were thus fused into one   
and the patient was completely cured4   
,for another case of the ambulatory     
type1 like ,ansel ,bourne's1 but        
remarkable in that it was associated    
with a definite physical lesion--an     
abscess in the ear--the cure of which   

was followed by the rapid return of the 
patient to his normal condition1 see    
,dr4 ,drewry's article in the           
,medico-,legal ,journal for ,june #ahif 
#bbh ,a4  ,again1 in a case reported by 
,dr4 ,david ,skae1#ai the secondary     
state seems to owe its origin to a kind 
of tidal exhaustion of vitality1 as     
though the repose of sleep were not     
enough to sustain the weakened          
personality1 which lapsed on alternate  
days into exhaustion and incoherence4   
,the secondary personalities thus far   
dealt with have been the spontaneous    
results of some form of misre           
psychologique1 of defective integration 
of the psychical being4 ,but there are  
also cases where1 the cohesion being    
thus released1 a slight touch from      
without can effect dissociations which1 
however shallow and almost playful in   
their first inception1 may stiffen by   
repetition into phases as marked and    
definite as those secondary states which
 spring up of themselves1 that is to    

say1 from self-suggestions which we     
cannot trace4 ,in ,professor ,janet's   
,l',automatisme ,psychologique the      
reader will find some instructive       
examples of these fictitious secondary  
personalities #bcj ,a and ,b4  ,up to   
this point the secondary states which we
 have considered2 however startling to  
old-fashioned ideas of personality1 may1
 at any rate1 be regarded as forms of   
mental derangement or decay--varieties  
on a theme already known4 ,now1 however1
 we approach a group of cases to which  
it is difficult to make any such        
definition apply4 ,they are cases where 
the secondary state is not obviously a  
degeneration2--where it may even appear 
to be in some ways an improvement on the
 primary2 so that one is left wondering 
how it came about that the man either   
originally was what he was1 or--being   
what he was--suddenly became something  
so very different4 ,there has been a    
shake given to the kaleidoscope1 and no 
one can say why either arrangement of   

the component pieces should have had the
 priority4  ,in the classical case of   
,flida ,x4 the second state is1 as      
regards health and happiness1 markedly  
superior to the first4 7,see ,appendix  
,,ii4 ,c47  ,the old case of ,mary      
,reynolds#bj is again remarkable in     
respect of the change of character      
involved4 ,the deliverance from gloomy  
preoccupations--the childish insouciance
 of the secondary state--again          
illustrates the difference between these
 allotropic changes or reconstructions  
of personality and that mere            
predominance of a morbid factor which   
marked the cases of ide fixe and        
hysteria4 ,observe1 also1 in ,mary      
,reynolds's case the tendency of the two
 states gradually to coalesce apparently
 in a third phase likely to be          
preferable to either of the two already 
known4  ,we now come to spontaneous     
cases of multiple personality1 of which 
,louis ,viv's is one of the best known4 
,louis ,viv exhibited an extraordinary  

number and variety of phases of         
personality1 affording an extreme       
example of dissociations dependent on   
time-relations1 on the special epoch of 
life in which the subject was ordered to
 find himself4#ba ,among various        
conditions of his organism--all but one 
of them implying1 or at least           
simulating1 some grave central          
lesion--any given condition could be    
revived in a moment1 and the whole gamut
 of changes rung on his nervous system  
as easily as if one were setting back or
 forward a continuous cinematograph4 ,it
 is hard to frame a theory of memory    
which shall admit of these sudden       
reversions1--of playing fast and loose  
in this manner with the accumulated     
impressions of years4  ,yet if ,louis   
,viv's case thus strangely intensifies  
the already puzzling notion of          
ecmnesia--as though the whole organism  
could be tricked into forgetting the    
events which had most deeply stamped    
it--what are we to say to ,dr4 ,morton  

,prince's case of ,sally ,beauchamp1#bb 
with its grotesque exaggeration of a    
subliminal self--a kind of hostile      
bedfellow which knows everything and    
remembers everything--which mocks the   
emotions and thwarts the projects of the
 ordinary reasonable self which can be  
seen and known8 ,the case must be       
studied in full as it stands2 its later 
developments may help to unravel the    
mysteries which its earlier stages have 
already woven4#bc  ,i quote in full in  
the text the next case1 reported by ,dr4
 ,r4 ,osgood ,mason 7in a paper entitled
 ,duplex ,personality3 its ,relation to 
,hypnotism and to ,lucidity1 in the     
,journal of the ,american ,medical      
,association1 ,november #cjth1 #ahie74  
,dr4 ,mason writes3--       ,alma ,z4   
was an unusually healthy and            
intellectual girl1 a strong      and    
attractive character1 a leading spirit  
in whatever she      undertook1 whether 
in study1 sport1 or society4 ,from      
overwork in      school1 and overtaxed  

strength in a case of sickness at home1 
her      health was completely broken   
down1 and after two years of great      
suffering suddenly a second personality 
appeared4 ,in a peculiar      child-like
 and ,indian-like dialect she announced 
herself as      ,twoey1 and that she had
 come to help ,number ,one in her       
suffering4 ,the condition of ,number    
,one was at this time most              
deplorable2 there was great pain1       
extreme debility1 frequent      attacks 
of syncope1 insomnia1 and a mercurial   
stomatitis which had      been kept up  
for months by way of medical treatment  
and which      rendered it nearly       
impossible to take nourishment in any   
form4      ,twoey was vivacious and     
cheerful1 full of quaint and witty talk1
      never lost consciousness1 and     
could take abundant nourishment1        
which she declared she must do for the  
sake of ,number ,one4 ,her      talk was
 most quaint and fascinating1 but       
without a trace of the      acquired    

knowledge of the primary personality4   
,she gave frequent      evidence of     
supranormal intelligence regarding      
events transpiring      in the          
neighbourhood4 ,it was at this time that
 the case came under      my            
observation1 and has remained so for the
 past ten years4 ,four      years later1
 under depressing circumstances1 a third
 personality      made its appearance   
and announced itself as ,the ,boy4 ,this
      personality was entirely distinct 
and different from either of the        
others4 ,it remained the chief          
alternating personality for four        
years1 when ,twoey again returned4      
,all these personalities1 though        
absolutely different and                
characteristic1 were delightful each in 
its own way1 and ,twoey      especially 
was1 and still is1 the delight of the   
friends who are      permitted to know  
her1 whenever she makes her appearance2 
and this      is always at times of     
unusual fatigue1 mental excitement1 or  

prostration2 then she comes and remains 
days at a time4 ,the      original self 
retains her superiority when she is     
present1 and the      others are always 
perfectly devoted to her interest and   
comfort4      ,number ,one has no       
personal knowledge of either of the     
other      personalities1 but she knows 
them well1 and especially ,twoey1       
from the report of others and from      
characteristic letters which are        
often received from her2 and ,number    
,one greatly enjoys the spicy1          
witty1 and often useful messages which  
come to her through these      letters  
and the report of friends4  ,dr4 ,mason 
goes on to say3--       ,here are three 
cases the one just given1 that of       
another patient      of his own1 and    
that of ,flida ,x4 in which a second    
personality--perfectly sane1 thoroughly 
practical1 and perfectly in      touch  
and harmony with its surroundings--came 
to the surface1 so to      speak1 and   
assumed absolute control of the physical

 organisation      for long periods of  
time together4 ,during the stay of the  
second      personality the primary or  
original self was entirely blotted out1 
and the time so occupied was a blank4   
,in neither of the cases      described 
had the primary self any knowledge of   
the second      personality1 except from
 the report of others or letters from   
the      second self1 left where they   
could be found on the return of the     
primary self to consciousness4 ,the     
second personality1 on the other        
hand1 in each case1 knew of the primary 
self1 but only as another               
person--never as forming a part of1 or  
in any way belonging to      their own  
personalities4 ,in the case of both     
,flida ,x4 and ,alma ,z41      there was
 always immediate and marked improvement
 in the physical      condition when the
 second personality made its appearance4
  ,the case of ,mollie ,fancher1#bd     
which1 had it been observed and recorded
 with scientific accuracy1 might have   

been one of the most instructive of all1
 seems to stand midway between the      
transformations of ,louis ,viv--each of 
them frankly himself at a different     
epoch of life--and the                  
pseudo-possessions of imaginary spirits 
with which we shall in a later chapter  
have to deal4  ,the case of ,anna       
,winsor#be goes so far further in its   
suggestion of interference from without 
that it presents to us1 at any rate1 a  
contrast and even conflict between      
positive insanity on the part of the    
organism generally with wise and        
watchful sanity on the part of a single 
limb1 with which that organism professes
 to have no longer any concern4  ,the   
last case#bf that ,i shall mention is   
that of ,miss ,mary ,lurancy ,vennum1   
the ,watseka ,wonder4  ,the case briefly
 is one of alleged possession1 or       
spirit-control4 ,the subject of the     
account1 a girl nearly fourteen years   
old1 living at ,watseka1 ,illinois1     
became apparently controlled by the     

spirit of ,mary ,roff1 a neighbour's    
daughter1 who had died at the age of    
eighteen years and nine months1 when    
,lurancy ,vennum was a child of about   
fifteen months old4 ,the most           
extraordinary feature in the case was   
that the control by ,mary ,roff lasted  
almost continuously for a period of four
 months4  ,for the present we must      
consider this case as a duplication of  
personality--a pseudo-possession1 if you
 will--determined in a hysterical child 
by the suggestion of friends1 but at a  
later stage1 and when some other wonders
 have become more familiar than now1 we 
may find that this singular narrative   
has further lessons to teach us4  ,we   
have now briefly surveyed a series of   
disintegrations of personality ranging  
from the most trifling ide fixe to      
actual alternations or permanent changes
 of the whole type of character4 ,all   
these form a kind of continuous series1 
and illustrate the structure of the     
personality in concordant ways4 ,there  

do exist1 it must be added1 other forms 
of modified personality with which ,i   
shall not at present deal4 ,those are   
cases where some telepathic influence   
from outside has been at work1 so that  
there is not merely dissociation of     
existing elements1 but apparent         
introduction of a novel element4 ,such  
cases also pass through a long series1  
from small phenomena of motor automatism
 up to trance and so-called possession4 
,but all this group ,i mention here     
merely in order to defer their          
discussion to later chapters4  ,the     
brief review already made will suffice  
to indicate the complex and separable   
nature of the elements of human         
personality4 ,of course a far fuller    
list might have been given2 many        
phenomena of actual insanity would need 
to be cited in any complete conspectus4 
,but hysteria is in some ways a better  
dissecting agent than any other where   
delicate psychical dissociations are    
concerned4 ,just as the microscopist    

stains a particular tissue for          
observation1 so does hysteria stain with
 definiteness1 as it were1 particular   
synergies--definite complexes of thought
 and action--more manifestly than any   
grosser lesion1 any more profound or    
persistent injury could do4 ,hysterical 
mutism1 for instance 7the observation is
 ,charcot's#bg71 supplies almost the    
only cases where the faculty of vocal   
utterance is attacked in a quite        
isolated way4 ,in aphasia dependent upon
 organic injury we generally find other 
word-memories attacked also1--elements  
of agraphy1 of word-blindness1 of       
word-deafness appear4 ,in the hysteric  
the incapacity to speak may be the      
single symptom4 ,so with ansthesi2 we   
find in hysteria a separation of        
sensibility to heat and to pain1        
possibly even a separate subsistence of 
electrical sensibility4 ,it is worth    
remarking here that it was during the   
hypnotic trance1 which in delicacy of   
discriminating power resembles hysteria1

 that 7so far as ,i can make out7 the   
distinctness of the temperature-sense   
from the pain-sense was first observed4 
,esdaile1 when removing tumours under   
mesmerism in ,calcutta1 noticed that    
patients1 who were actually undergoing  
capital operations without a murmur1    
complained if a draught blew in upon    
them from an open window4  ,nor is it   
only as a dissecting agent that hysteria
 can aid our research4 ,there are in    
hysteria frequent acquisitions as well  
as losses of faculty4 ,it is not unusual
 to find great hypersthesia in certain  
special directions--of touch1 hearing1  
perception of light1 etc4--combined with
 hysterical loss of sensation of other  
kinds4 ,this subject will be more       
conveniently treated along with the     
hypersthesia of the hypnotic trance4    
,but ,i may note here that just such    
occasional quickenings of faculty were1 
in my view1 almost certain to accompany 
that instability of psychical threshold 
which is the distinguishing             

characteristic of hysteria1 since ,i    
hold that subliminal faculty habitually 
overpasses supraliminal4 ,these also are
 a kind of capricious ides fixes2 only  
the caprice in such cases raises what   
was previously submerged instead of     
exaggerating what was previously        
emergent4  ,and from this point it is   
that our inquiries must now take their  
fresh departure4 ,we in this work are   
concerned with changes which are the    
converse of hysterical changes4 ,we are 
looking for integrations in lieu of     
disintegrations2 for intensifications of
 control1 widenings of faculty1 instead 
of relaxation1 scattering1 or decay4    
,suppose1 then1 that in a case of       
instability of the psychical            
threshold1--ready permeability1 if you  
will1 of the psychical diaphragm        
separating the supraliminal from the    
subliminal self1--the elements of       
emergence tend to increase and the      
elements of submergence to diminish4    
,suppose that the permeability depends  

upon the force of the uprushes from     
below the diaphragm rather than on the  
tendency to sink downwards from above   
it4 ,we shall then reach the point where
 the vague name of hysteria must give   
place to the vague name of genius4 ,the 
uprushes from the subliminal self will  
now be the important feature2 the       
down-draught from the supraliminal1 if  
it still exists1 will be trivial in     
comparison4 ,the content of the uprush  
will be congruous with the train of     
voluntary thought2 and the man of genius
 will be a man more capable than others 
of utilising for his waking purposes the
 subliminal region of his being4  ,next 
in order to the uprushes of genius will 
come the uprushes of dream4 ,all men    
pass normally and healthily into a      
second phase of personality1 alternating
 with the first4 ,that is sleep1 and    
sleep is characterised by those         
incoherent forms of subliminal uprush   
which we know as dreams4 ,it is here    
that our evidence for telepathy and     

telsthesia will first present itself for
 discussion4 ,sleep will indicate the   
existence of submerged faculty of a     
rarer type than even that to which      
genius has already testified4  ,there   
are1 moreover1 other states1 both       
spontaneous and induced1 analogous to   
sleep1 and these will form the subject  
of the fifth chapter1 that on           
,hypnotism4 ,hypnotism1 however1 does   
not mean trance or somnambulism only4   
,it is a name1 if not for the whole     
ensemble1 yet for a large group of those
 artifices which we have as yet         
discovered for the purpose of eliciting 
and utilising subliminal faculty4 ,the  
results of hypnotic suggestion will be  
found to imitate sometimes the          
subliminal uprushes of genius1 and      
sometimes the visions of spontaneous    
somnambulism2 while they also open to us
 fresh and characteristic accesses into 
subliminal knowledge and power4         
,further than this point our immediate  
forecast need not go4 ,but when we have 

completed the survey here indicated1 we 
shall see1 ,i think1 how significant are
 the phenomena of hysteria in any       
psychological scheme which aims at      
including the hidden powers of man4 ,for
 much as the hysteric stands in         
comparison to us ordinary men1 so       
perhaps do we ordinary men stand in     
comparison with a not impossible ideal  
of faculty and of self-control4  ,but   
apart from these broader speculations1  
it has become evident that disturbances 
of personality are not mere empty       
marvels1 but psycho-pathological        
problems of the utmost interest3--no one
 of them exactly like another1 and no   
one of them without some possible aperu 
into the intimate structure of man4     
,the purpose of this book1 of course1 is
 not primarily practical4 ,it aims      
rather at the satisfaction of scientific
 curiosity as to man's psychical        
structure2 esteeming that as a form of  
experimental research which the more    
urgent needs of therapeutics have kept  

in the background too long4 ,yet it may 
not have been amiss to realise thus1 on 
the threshold of our discussion1 that   
already even the most delicate          
speculations in this line have found    
their justification in helpful act2 that
 strange bewilderments1 paralysing      
perturbations1 which no treatment could 
alleviate1 no drug control1 have been   
soothed and stablished into sanity by   
some appropriate and sagacious mode of  
appeal to a natura medicatrix           
deep-hidden in the labouring breast4    
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,genius      ,igneus  
est ollis vigor et coelestis origo      
,seminibus1 quantum non noxia corpora   
tardant     ,terrenique hebetant artus  
moribundaque membra4      --,,virgil4   
,in my second chapter ,i made no formal 
attempt to define that human personality
 which is to form the main subject of   
this book4 ,i was content to take the   
conception roughly for granted1 and to  
enter at once on the study of the lapses
 of personality into abnormal           

conditions1--short of the lowest depths 
of idiocy or madness4 ,from that survey 
it appeared that these degenerations    
could be traced to some defect in that  
central control which ought to clasp and
 integrate into steady manhood the      
hierarchies of living cells which       
compose the human organism4 ,this       
insight into the ,self's decay was the  
needed prerequisite to our present      
task--that of apprehending its true     
normality1 and thereafter of analysing  
certain obscurer faculties which        
indicate the line of its evolution      
during and after the life of earth4     
,strength and concentration of the      
inward unifying control--that must be   
the true normality which we seek2 and in
 seeking it we must remember how much of
 psychical operation goes on below the  
conscious threshold1 imperfectly        
obedient to any supraliminal appeal4    
,what advance can we make in inward     
mastery8 how far extend our grasp over  
the whole range of faculty with which we

 are obscurely endowed8  ,human         
perfectibility has been the theme of    
many enthusiasts2 and many utopian      
schemes of society have been and still  
are suggested1 which postulate in the   
men and women of the future an increase 
in moral and physical health and vigour4
 ,and it is plain that in a broad and   
general way natural selection1 sexual   
selection1 and the advance of science   
are working together towards            
improvements of these kinds4 ,but it is 
plain also that these onward tendencies1
 at least in comparison with our desires
 and ideals1 are slow and uncertain2 and
 it is possible to argue that the       
apparent advance in our race is due     
merely to the improvement which science 
has affected in its material            
environment1 and not to any real        
development1 during the historical      
period1 in the character or faculties of
 man himself4 ,nay1 since we have no    
means of knowing to what extent any     
genus has an inward potentiality of     

improvement1 it is possible for the     
pessimist to argue that the genus homo  
has reached its fore-ordained           
evolutionary limit2 so that it cannot be
 pushed further in any direction without
 risk of nervous instability1 sterility1
 and ultimate extinction4 ,some dim     
apprehension of this kind lends         
plausibility to many popular diatribes4 
,dr4 ,max ,nordau's works afford a      
well-known example of this line of      
protest against the present age as an   
age of overwork and of nervous          
exhaustion4 ,and narrowing the vague    
discussion to a somewhat more definite  
test1 ,professor ,lombroso and other    
anthropologists have discussed the      
characteristics of the man of genius2   
with the result of showing 7as they     
believe7 that this apparently highest   
product of the race is in reality not a 
culminant but an aberrant manifestation2
 and that men of genius must be classed 
with criminals and lunatics1 as persons 
in whom a want of balance or            

completeness of organisation has led on 
to an over-development of one side of   
the nature2--helpful or injurious to    
other men as accident may decide4  ,on  
this point ,i shall join issue2 and ,i  
shall suggest1 on the other hand1 that  
,genius--if that vaguely used word is to
 receive anything like a psychological  
definition--should rather be regarded as
 a power of utilising a wider range than
 other men can utilise of faculties in  
some degree innate in all2--a power of  
appropriating the results of subliminal 
mentation to subserve the supraliminal  
stream of thought2--so that an          
inspiration of ,genius will be in truth 
a subliminal uprush1 an emergence into  
the current of ideas which the man is   
consciously manipulating of other ideas 
which he has not consciously originated1
 but which have shaped themselves beyond
 his will1 in profounder regions of his 
being4 ,i shall urge that there is here 
no real departure from normality2 no    
abnormality1 at least in the sense of   

degeneration2 but rather a fulfilment of
 the true norm of man1 with suggestions1
 it may be1 of something                
supernormal2--of something which        
transcends existing normality as an     
advanced stage of evolutionary progress 
transcends an earlier stage4  ,but      
before proceeding further ,i wish to    
guard against a possible                
misapprehension4 ,i shall be obliged in 
this chapter to dwell on valuable aid   
rendered by subliminal mentation2 but ,i
 do not mean to imply that such         
mentation is ipso facto superior to     
supraliminal1 or even that it covers a  
large proportion of practically useful  
human achievement4 ,when ,i say ,the    
differentia of genius lies in an        
increased control over subliminal       
mentation1 ,i express1 ,i think1 a      
well-evidenced thesis1 and ,i suggest an
 important inference1--namely1 that the 
man of genius is for us the best type of
 the normal man1 in so far as he effects
 a successful co-operation of an        

unusually large number of elements of   
his personality--reaching a stage of    
integration slightly in advance of our  
own4 ,thus much ,i wish to say3 but my  
thesis is not to be pushed further3--as 
though ,i claimed that all our best     
thought was subliminal1 or that all that
 was subliminal was potentially         
inspiration4  ,it is true1 however1 that
 the range of our subliminal mentation  
is more extended than the range of our  
supraliminal4 ,at one end of the scale  
we find dreams1--a normal subliminal    
product1 but of less practical value    
than any form of sane supraliminal      
thought4 ,at the other end of the scale 
we find that the rarest1 most precious  
knowledge comes to us from outside the  
ordinary field1--through the eminently  
subliminal processes of telepathy1      
telsthesia1 ecstasy4 ,and between these 
two extremes lie many subliminal        
products1 varying in value according to 
the dignity and trustworthiness of the  
subliminal mentation concerned4  ,this  

last phrase--inevitably obscure--may be 
illustrated by reference to that        
hierarchical arrangement of supraliminal
 action and perception which ,dr4       
,hughlings ,jackson has so used as to   
clear up much previous confusion of     
thought4 ,following him1 we now speak of
 highest-level nerve-centres1 governing 
our highest1 most complex thought and   
will2 of middle-level centres1 governing
 movements of voluntary muscles1 and the
 like2 and of lowest-level centres      
7which from my point of view are purely 
subliminal71 governing those automatic  
processes1 as respiration and           
circulation1 which are independent of   
conscious rule1 but necessary to the    
maintenance of life4 ,we can roughly    
judge from the nature of any observed   
action whether the highest-level centres
 are directing it1 or whether they are  
for the time inhibited1 so that         
middle-level centres operate            
uncontrolled4  ,thus ordinary speech and
 writing are ruled by highest-level     

centres4 ,but when an epileptic         
discharge of nervous energy has         
exhausted the highest-level centres1 we 
see the middle-level centres operating  
unchecked1 and producing the convulsive 
movements of arms and legs in the fit4  
,as these centres in their turn become  
exhausted1 the patient is left to the   
guidance of lowest-level centres        
alone2--that is to say1 he becomes      
comatose1 though he continues to breathe
 as regularly as usual4  ,now this      
series of phenomena1--descending in     
coherence and coordination from an      
active consensus of the whole organism  
to a mere automatic maintenance of its  
most stably organised processes1--may be
 pretty closely paralleled by the series
 of subliminal phenomena also4          
,sometimes we seem to see our subliminal
 perceptions and faculties acting truly 
in unity1 truly as a                    
,self2--co-ordinated into some          
harmonious inspiration of genius1 or    
some profound and reasonable hypnotic   

self-reformation1 or some far-reaching  
supernormal achievement of clairvoyant  
vision or of self-projection into a     
spiritual world4 ,whatever of subliminal
 personality is thus acting corresponds 
with the highest-level centres of       
supraliminal life4 ,at such moments the 
subliminal represents 7as ,i believe7   
most nearly what will become the        
surviving ,self4  ,but it seems that    
this degree of clarity1 of integration1 
cannot be long preserved4 ,much oftener 
we find the subliminal perceptions and  
faculties acting in less co-ordinated1  
less coherent ways4 ,we have products   
which1 while containing traces of some  
faculty beyond our common scope1        
involve1 nevertheless1 something as     
random and meaningless as the discharge 
of the uncontrolled middle-level centres
 of arms and legs in the epileptic fit4 
,we get1 in short1 a series of phenomena
 which the term dream-like seems best to
 describe4  ,in the realm of genius1--of
 uprushes of thought and feeling fused  

beneath the conscious threshold into    
artistic shape1--we get no longer       
masterpieces but half-insanities1--not  
the ,sistine ,madonna1 but ,wiertz's    
,vision of the ,guillotined ,head2 not  
,kubla ,khan1 but the disordered opium  
dream4 ,throughout all the work of      
,william ,blake 7,i should say7 we see  
the subliminal self flashing for moments
 into unity1 then smouldering again in a
 lurid and scattered glow4  ,in the     
realm of hypnotism1 again1 we sink from 
the reasonable self-suggestion to the   
platform experiments1--the smelling of  
ammonia1 the eating of tallow           
candles2--all the tricks which show a   
profound control1 but not a wise        
control1 over the arcana of organic     
life4 ,i speak1 of course1 of the       
subject's own control over his organism2
 for in the last resort it is he and not
 his hypnotiser who really exercises    
that directive power4 ,and ,i compare   
these tricks of middle-level subliminal 
centres to the powerful yet irrational  

control which the middle-level centres  
ruling the epileptic's arms and legs    
exercise over his muscles in the        
violence of the epileptic attack4  ,and 
so again with the automatisms which are1
 one may say1 the subliminal self's     
peculiar province4 ,automatic script1   
for instance1 may represent             
highest-level subliminal centres1 even  
when no extraneous spirit1 but the      
automatist's own mind alone1 is         
concerned4 ,it will then give us true   
telepathic messages1 or perhaps messages
 of high moral import1 surpassing the   
automatist's conscious powers4 ,but much
 oftener the automatic script is        
regulated by what ,i have called        
middle-level subliminal centres         
only2--and then1 though we may have     
scraps of supernormal intelligence1 we  
have confusion and incoherence as well4 
,we have the falsity which the disgusted
 automatist is sometimes fain to ascribe
 to a devil2 though it is in reality not
 a devil1 but a dream4  ,and hence      

again1 just as the epileptic sinks lower
 and lower in the fit1--from the        
incoordinated movements of the limbs    
down to the mere stertorous breathing of
 coma1--so do these incoherent          
automatisms sink down at last1 through  
the utterances and drawings of the      
degenerate and the paranoiac1--through  
mere fragmentary dreams1 or vague       
impersonal bewilderment1--into the      
minimum psychical concomitant1 whatever 
that be1 which must coexist with        
brain-circulation4  ,such is the        
apparent parallelism2 but of course no  
knowledge of a hierarchy of the familiar
 forms of nervous action can really     
explain to us the mysterious            
fluctuations of subliminal power4  ,when
 we speak of the highest-level and other
 centres which govern our supraliminal  
being1 and which are fitted to direct   
this planetary life in a material world1
 we can to some extent point out actual 
brain-centres whose action enables us to
 meet those needs4 ,what are the needs  

of our cosmic life we do not know2 nor  
can we indicate any point in our        
organism 7as in the solar plexus1 or the
 like71 which is adapted to meet them4  
,we cannot even either affirm or deny   
that such spiritual life as we maintain 
while incarnated in this material       
envelope involves any physical          
concomitants at all4  ,for my part1 ,i  
feel forced to fall back upon the       
old-world conception of a soul which    
exercises an imperfect and fluctuating  
control over the organism2 and exercises
 that control1 ,i would add1 along two  
main channels1 only partly              
coincident--that of ordinary            
consciousness1 adapted to the           
maintenance and guidance of earth-life2 
and that of subliminal consciousness1   
adapted to the maintenance of our larger
 spiritual life during our confinement  
in the flesh4  ,we men1 therefore1      
clausi tenebris et carcere cco1 can     
sometimes widen1 as we must sometimes   
narrow1 our outlook on the reality of   

things4 ,in mania or epilepsy we lose   
control even of those highest-level     
supraliminal centres on which our       
rational earth-life depends4 ,but       
through automatism and in trance and    
allied states we draw into supraliminal 
life some rivulet from the undercurrent 
stream4 ,if the subliminal centres which
 we thus impress into our waking service
 correspond to the middle-level only1   
they may bring to us merely error and   
confusion2 if they correspond to the    
highest-level1 they may introduce us to 
previously unimagined truth4  ,it is to 
work done by the aid of some such       
subliminal uprush1 ,i say once more1    
that the word genius may be most fitly  
applied4 ,a work of genius1 indeed1 in  
common parlance1 means a work which     
satisfies two quite distinct            
requirements4 ,it must involve something
 original1 spontaneous1 unteachable1    
unexpected2 and it must also in some way
 win for itself the admiration of       
mankind4 ,now1 psychologically speaking1

 the first of these requirements        
corresponds to a real class1 the second 
to a purely accidental one4 ,what the   
poet feels while he writes his poem is  
the psychological fact in his history2  
what his friends feel while they read it
 may be a psychological fact in their   
history1 but does not alter the poet's  
creative effort1 which was what it was1 
whether any one but himself ever reads  
his poem or no4  ,and popular           
phraseology justifies our insistence    
upon this subjective side of genius4    
,thus it is common to say that ,hartley 
,coleridge 7for example7 was a genius1  
although he never produced anything     
worth speaking of4 ,men recognise1 that 
is to say1 from descriptions of ,hartley
 ,coleridge1 and from the fragments     
which he has left1 that ideas came to   
him with what ,i have termed a sense of 
subliminal uprush1--with an authentic1  
although not to us an instructive1      
inspiration4  ,as psychologists1 ,i     
maintain1 we are bound to base our      

definition of genius upon some criterion
 of this strictly psychological kind1   
rather than on the external tests which 
as artists or men of letters we should  
employ2--and which consider mainly the  
degree of delight which any given       
achievement can bestow upon other men4  
,the artist will speak of the pictorial 
genius of ,raphael1 but not of ,haydon2 
of the dramatic genius of ,corneille1   
but not of ,voltaire4 ,yet ,haydon's    
,autobiography--a record of tragic      
intensity1 and closing in suicide--shows
 that the tame yet contorted figures of 
his ,raising of ,lazarus flashed upon   
him with an overmastering sense of      
direct inspiration4 ,voltaire1 again1   
writes to the president ,hnault of his  
unreadable tragedy ,catilina3 ,five acts
 in a week6 ,i know that this sounds    
ridiculous2 but if men could guess what 
enthusiasm can do1--how a poet in spite 
of himself1 idolising his subject1      
devoured by his genius1 can accomplish  
in a few days a task for which without  

that genius a year would not            
suffice2--in a word1 si scirent donum   
,dei1--if they knew the gift of         
,god1--their astonishment might be less 
than it must be now4 ,i do not shrink   
from these extreme instances4 ,it would 
be absurd1 of course1 to place ,haydon's
 ,raising of ,lazarus in the same       
artistic class as ,raphael's ,madonna di
 ,san ,sisto4 ,but in the same          
psychological class ,i maintain that    
both works must be placed4 ,for each    
painter1 after his several kind1 there  
was the same inward process1--the same  
sense of subliminal uprush2--that       
extension1 in other words1 of mental    
concentration which draws into immediate
 cognisance some workings or elements of
 the hidden self4  ,let me illustrate   
this conception by a return to the      
metaphor of the conscious spectrum to   
which ,i introduced my reader in the    
first chapter4 ,i there described our   
conscious spectrum as representing but a
 small fraction of the aurai simplicis  

ignis1 or individual psychical          
ray2--just as our visible solar spectrum
 represents but a small fraction of the 
solar ray4 ,and even as many waves of   
ether lie beyond the red end1 and many  
beyond the violet end1 of that visible  
spectrum1 so have ,i urged that much of 
unrecognised or subliminal faculty lies 
beyond the red 7or organic7 end1 and    
much beyond the violet 7or intellectual7
 end of my imaginary spectrum4 ,my main 
task in this book will be to prolong the
 psychical spectrum beyond either limit1
 by collecting traces of latent         
faculties1 organic or                   
transcendental3--just as by the         
bolometer1 by fluorescence1 by other    
artifices1 physicists have prolonged the
 solar spectrum far beyond either limit 
of ordinary visibility4  ,but at        
present1 and before entering on that    
task of rendering manifest supernormal  
faculty1 ,i am considering what we ought
 to regard as the normal range of       
faculty from which we start2--what1 in  

relation to man1 the words norm and     
normal should most reasonably mean4     
,the word normal in common speech is    
used almost indifferently to imply      
either of two things1 which may be very 
different from each other--conformity to
 a standard and position as an average  
between extremes4 ,often indeed the     
average constitutes the standard--as    
when a gas is of normal density2 or is  
practically equivalent to the           
standard--as when a sovereign is of     
normal weight4 ,but when we come to     
living organisms a new factor is        
introduced4 ,life is change2 each living
 organism changes2 each generation      
differs from its predecessor4 ,to assign
 a fixed norm to a changing species is  
to shoot point-blank at a flying bird4  
,the actual average at any given moment 
is no ideal standard2 rather1 the       
furthest evolutionary stage now reached 
is tending1 given stability in the      
environment1 to become the average of   
the future4 ,human evolution is not so  

simple or so conspicuous a thing as the 
evolution of the pouter pigeon4 ,but it 
would be rash to affirm that it is not  
even swifter than any variation among   
domesticated animals4 ,not a hundred    
generations separate us from the dawn of
 history2--about as many generations as 
some microbes can traverse in a         
month2--about as many as separate the   
modern ,derby-winner from the war-horse 
of ,gustavus ,adolphus4 ,man's change   
has been less than the horse's change in
 physical contour1--probably only       
because man has not been specially bred 
with that view2--but taking as a test   
the power of self-adaptation to         
environment1 man has traversed in these 
thirty centuries a wider arc of         
evolution than separates the racehorse  
from the eohippus4 ,or if we go back    
further1 and to the primal germ1 we see 
that man's ancestors must have varied   
faster than any animal's1 since they    
have travelled farthest in the same     
time4 ,they have varied also in the     

greatest number of directions2 they have
 evoked in greatest multiplicity the    
unnumbered faculties latent in the      
irritability of a speck of slime4 ,of   
all creatures man has gone furthest both
 in differentiation and in integration2 
he has called into activity the greatest
 number of those faculties which lay    
potential in the primal germ1--and he   
has established over those faculties the
 strongest central control4 ,the process
 still continues4 ,civilisation adds to 
the complexity of his faculties2        
education helps him to their            
concentration4 ,it is in the direction  
of a still wider range1 a still firmer  
hold1 that his evolution now must lie4  
,i shall maintain that this ideal is    
best attained by the man of genius4     
,let us consider the way in which the   
maximum of faculty is habitually        
manifested2 the circumstances in which a
 man does what he has never supposed    
himself able to do before4 ,we may take 
an instance where the faculty drawn upon

 lies only a little way beneath the     
surface4 ,a man1 we say1 outdoes himself
 in a great emergency4 ,if his house is 
on fire1 let us suppose1 he carries his 
children out over the roof with a       
strength and agility which seem beyond  
his own4 ,that effective impulse seems  
more akin to instinct than to           
calculation4 ,we hardly know whether to 
call the act reflex or voluntary4 ,it is
 performed with almost no conscious     
intervention of thought or judgment1 but
 it involves a new and complex          
adaptation of voluntary muscles such as 
would need habitually the man's most    
careful thought to plan and execute4    
,from the point of view here taken the  
action will appear to have been neither 
reflex nor voluntary in the ordinary    
sense1 but subliminal2--a subliminal    
uprush1 an emergence of hidden          
faculty1--of nerve co-ordinations       
potential in his organism but till now  
unused1--which takes command of the man 
and guides his action at the moment when

 his being is deeply stirred4  ,this    
stock instance of a man's possible      
behaviour in moments of great physical  
risk does but illustrate in a gross and 
obvious manner1 and in the motor region1
 a phenomenon which1 as ,i hold1 is     
constantly occurring on a smaller scale 
in the inner life of most of us4 ,we    
identify ourselves for the most part    
with a stream of voluntary1 fully       
conscious ideas1--cerebral movements    
connected and purposive as the movement 
of the hand which records them4         
,meantime we are aware also of a        
substratum of fragmentary automatic1    
liminal ideas1 of which we take small   
account4 ,these are bubbles that break  
on the surface2 but every now and then  
there is a stir among them4 ,there is a 
rush upwards as of a subaqueous spring2 
an inspiration flashes into the mind for
 which our conscious effort has not     
prepared us4 ,this so-called inspiration
 may in itself be trivial or worthless2 
but it is the initial stage of a        

phenomenon to which1 when certain rare  
attributes are also present1 the name of
 genius will be naturally given4  ,i am 
urging1 then1 that where life is        
concerned1 and where1 therefore1 change 
is normality1 we ought to place our norm
 somewhat ahead of the average man1     
though on the evolutionary track which  
our race is pursuing4 ,i have suggested 
that that evolutionary track is at      
present leading him in the direction of 
greater complexity in the perceptions   
which he forms of things without1 and of
 greater concentration in his own will  
and thought1--in that response to       
perceptions which he makes from within4 
,lastly ,i have argued that men of      
genius1 whose perceptions are presumably
 more vivid and complex than those of   
average men1 are also the men who carry 
the power of concentration              
furthest2--reaching downwards1 by some  
self-suggestion which they no more than 
we can explain1 to treasures of latent  
faculty in the hidden ,self4  ,i am not 

indeed here assuming that the faculty   
which is at the service of the man of   
genius is of a kind different from that 
of common men1 in such a sense that it  
would need to be represented by a       
prolongation of either end of the       
conscious spectrum4 ,rather it will be  
represented by such a brightening of the
 familiar spectrum as may follow upon an
 intensification of the central light4  
,for the spectrum of man's conscious    
faculty1 like the solar spectrum1 is not
 continuous but banded4 ,there are      
groups of the dark lines of obstruction 
and incapacity1 and even in the best of 
us a dim unequal glow4  ,it will1 then1 
be the special characteristic of genius 
that its uprushes of subliminal faculty 
will make the bright parts of the       
habitual spectrum more brilliant1 will  
kindle the dim absorption-bands to      
fuller brightness1 and will even raise  
quite dark lines into an occasional     
glimmer4  ,but1 if1 as ,i believe1 we   
can best give to the idea of genius some

 useful distinctness by regarding it in 
some such way as this1 we shall find    
also that genius will fall into line    
with many other sensory and motor       
automatisms to which the word could not 
naturally be applied4 ,genius represents
 a narrow selection among a great many  
cognate phenomena2--among a great many  
uprushes or emergences of subliminal    
faculty both within and beyond the      
limits of the ordinary conscious        
spectrum4  ,it will be more convenient  
to study all these together1 under the  
heading of sensory or of motor          
automatism4 ,it will then be seen that  
there is no kind of perception which may
 not emerge from beneath the threshold  
in an indefinitely heightened form1 with
 just that convincing suddenness of     
impression which is described by men of 
genius as characteristic of their       
highest flights4 ,even with so simple a 
range of sensation as that which records
 the lapse of time there are subliminal 
uprushes of this type1 and we shall see 

that a man may have a sudden and        
accurate inspiration of what o'clock it 
is1 in just the same way as ,virgil     
might have an inspiration of the second 
half of a difficult hexameter4  ,for the
 purpose of present illustration of the 
workings of genius it seems well to     
choose a kind of ability which is quite 
indisputable1 and which also admits of  
some degree of quantitative measurement4
 ,i would choose the higher mathematical
 processes1 were data available2 and ,i 
may say in passing how grateful ,i      
should be to receive from mathematicians
 any account of the mental processes of 
which they are conscious during the     
attainment of their highest results4    
,meantime there is a lower class of     
mathematical gift which by its very     
specialisation and isolation seems      
likely to throw light on our present    
inquiry4  ,during the course of the     
present century1--and alas6 the         
scientific observation of unusual       
specimens of humanity hardly runs back  

further1 or so far1--the public of great
 cities has been from time to time      
surprised and diverted by some so-called
 calculating boy1 or arithmetical       
prodigy1 generally of tender years1 and 
capable of performing in his head1 and  
almost instantaneously1 problems for    
which ordinary workers would require    
pencil and paper and a much longer time4
 ,in some few cases1 indeed1 the        
ordinary student would have no means    
whatever of solving the problem which   
the calculating boy unriddled with ease 
and exactness4  ,the especial advantage 
of the study of arithmetical prodigies  
is that in their case the subjective    
impression coincides closely with the   
objective result4 ,the subliminal       
computator feels that the sum is right1 
and it is right4 ,forms of real or      
supposed genius which are more          
interesting are apt to be less          
undeniable4  ,an ,american and a ,french
 psychologist#bh have collected such    
hints and explanations as these         

prodigies have given of their methods of
 working2 methods which one might       
naturally hope to find useful in        
ordinary education4 ,the result1        
however1 has been very meagre1 and the  
records left to us1 imperfect as they   
are1 are enough to show that the main   
and primary achievement has in fact been
 subliminal1 while conscious or         
supraliminal effort has sometimes been  
wholly absent1 sometimes has supervened 
only after the gift has been so long    
exercised that the accesses between     
different strata have become easy by    
frequent traversing4 ,the prodigy grown 
to manhood1 who now recognises the      
arithmetical artifices which he used    
unconsciously as a boy1 resembles the   
hypnotic subject trained by suggestion  
to remember in waking hours the events  
of the trance4  ,in almost every point1 
indeed1 where comparison is possible1 we
 shall find this computative gift       
resembling other manifestations of      
subliminal faculty1--such as the power  

of seeing hallucinatory figures1--rather
 than the results of steady supraliminal
 effort1 such as the power of logical   
analysis4 ,in the first place1 this     
faculty1 in spite of its obvious        
connection with general mathematical    
grasp and insight1 is found almost at   
random1--among non-mathematical and even
 quite stupid persons1 as well as among 
mathematicians of mark4 ,in the second  
place1 it shows itself mostly in early  
childhood1 and tends to disappear in    
later life2--in this resembling         
visualising power in general1 and the   
power of seeing hallucinatory figures in
 particular2 which powers1 as both ,mr4 
,galton's inquiries and our own tend to 
show1 are habitually stronger in        
childhood and youth than in later years4
 ,again1 it is noticeable that when the 
power disappears early in life it is apt
 to leave behind it no memory whatever  
of the processes involved4 ,and even    
when1 by long persistence in a          
reflective mind1 the power has become1  

so to say1 adopted into the supraliminal
 consciousness1 there nevertheless may  
still be flashes of pure inspiration1   
when the answer comes into the mind with
 absolutely no perception of            
intermediate steps4  ,i subjoin a table1
 compiled by the help of ,dr4           
,scripture's collection1 which will     
broadly illustrate the main points above
 mentioned4 ,some more detailed remarks 
may then follow4    ,,table ,,of        
,,principal ,,arithmetical ,,prodigies4 
----------------------------------------
----------------------------            
,name            ,age when gift         
,duration of                            
7alphabetically74     was observed4     
gift4      ,intelligence4               
----------------------------------------
----------------------------   ,ampre   
#d               8           eminent    
,bidder                      #aj        
through life       good        ,buxton  
8               8             low       
,colburn                      #f        

few years       average       ,dase or  
,dahse           boyhood       through  
life     very low      ,fuller          
boyhood            8             low    
,gauss                        #c        
8           eminent       ,mangiamele   
#aj           few years       average8  
,mondeux                     #aj        
few years         low                   
,prolongeau                   #f        
few years         low         ,safford  
#f           few years         good     
,mr4 ,van ,r41 of ,utica       #f       
few years       average8      ,whately  
#c           few years         good     
----------------------------------------
----------------------------  ,now among
 these thirteen names we have two men of
 transcendent1 and three of high        
ability4 ,what accounts have they given 
us of their methods8  ,of the gift of   
,gauss and ,ampre we know nothing except
 a few striking anecdotes4 ,after       
manifesting itself at an age when there 
is usually no continuous supraliminal   

mental effort worth speaking of1 it     
appears to have been soon merged in the 
general blaze of their genius4 ,with    
,bidder the gift persisted through life1
 but grew weaker as he grew older4 ,his 
paper in ,vol4 ,,xv4 of the ,proceedings
 of the ,institute of ,civil ,engineers1
 while furnishing a number of practical 
hints to the calculator1 indicates also 
a singular readiness of communication   
between different mental strata4        
,whenever1 he says 7p4 #bee7 ,i feel    
called upon to make use of the stores of
 my mind1 they seem to rise with the    
rapidity of lightning4 ,and in ,vol4    
,,ciii4 of the same ,proceedings1 ,mr4  
,w4 ,pole1 ,f4,r4,s41 in describing how 
,mr4 ,bidder could determine mentally   
the logarithm of any number to #g or #h 
places1 says 7p4 #beb73 ,he had an      
almost miraculous power of seeing1 as it
 were1 intuitively what factors would   
divide any large number1 not a prime4   
,thus1 if he were given the number      
#ag1hfa1 he would instantly remark it   

was #ccgec4444 ,he could not1 he said1  
explain how he did this2 it seemed a    
natural instinct to him4  ,passing on to
 the two other men of high ability known
 to have possessed this gift1 ,professor
 ,safford and ,archbishop ,whately1 we  
are struck with the evanescence of the  
power after early youth1--or even before
 the end of childhood4 ,i quote from    
,dr4 ,scripture ,archbishop ,whately's  
account of his powers4       ,there was 
certainly something peculiar in my      
calculating faculty4      ,it began to  
show itself at between five and six1 and
 lasted about      three years4444 ,i   
soon got to do the most difficult sums1 
always in      my head1 for ,i knew     
nothing of figures beyond numeration4 ,i
 did      these sums much quicker than  
any one could upon paper1 and ,i never  
remember committing the smallest error4 
,when ,i went to school1 at      which  
time the passion wore off1 ,i was a     
perfect dunce at      ciphering1 and    
have continued so ever since4  ,still   

more remarkable1 perhaps1 was ,professor
 ,safford's loss of power4 ,professor   
,safford's whole bent was mathematical2 
his boyish gift of calculation raised   
him into notice2 and he is now a        
,professor of ,astronomy4 ,he had       
therefore every motive and every        
opportunity to retain the gift1 if      
thought and practice could have retained
 it4 ,but whereas at ten years old he   
worked correctly in his head1 in one    
minute1 a multiplication sum whose      
answer consisted of #cf figures1 he is  
now1 ,i believe1 neither more nor less  
capable of such calculation than his    
neighbours4  ,similar was the fate of a 
personage who never rises above         
initials1 and of whose general capacity 
we know nothing4  ,mr4 ,van ,r41 of     
,utica1 says ,dr4 ,scripture on the     
authority of ,gall1 at the age of six   
years distinguished himself by a        
singular faculty for calculating in his 
head4 ,at eight he entirely lost this   
faculty1 and after that time he could   

calculate neither better nor faster than
 any other person4 ,he did not retain   
the slightest idea of the manner in     
which he performed his calculations in  
childhood4  ,turning now to the stupid  
or uneducated prodigies1 ,dase alone    
seems to have retained his power through
 life4 ,colburn and ,mondeux1 and       
apparently ,prolongeau and ,mangiamele1 
lost their gift after childhood4  ,on   
the whole the ignorant prodigies seldom 
appear to have been conscious of any    
continuous logical process1 while in    
some cases the separation of the        
supraliminal and subliminal trains of   
thought must have been very complete4   
,buxton would talk freely whilst doing  
his questions1 that being no molestation
 or hindrance to him4#bi ,fixity and    
clearness of inward visualisation seems 
to have been the leading necessity in   
all these achievements2 and it          
apparently mattered little whether the  
mental blackboard 7so to say7 on which  
the steps of the calculation were       

recorded were or were not visible to the
 mind's eye of the supraliminal self4   
,i have been speaking only of           
visualisation2 but it would be          
interesting if we could discover how    
much actual mathematical insight or     
inventiveness can be subliminally       
exercised4 ,here1 however1 our materials
 are very imperfect4 ,from ,gauss and   
,ampre we have1 so far as ,i know1 no   
record4 ,at the other end of the scale1 
we know that ,dase 7perhaps the most    
successful of all these prodigies7 was  
singularly devoid of mathematical grasp4
 ,on one occasion ,petersen tried in    
vain for six weeks to get the first     
elements of mathematics into his head4  
,he could not be made to have the least 
idea of a proposition in ,euclid4 ,of   
any language but his own he could never 
master a word4 ,yet ,dase received a    
grant from the ,academy of ,sciences at 
,hamburg1 on the recommendation of      
,gauss1 for mathematical work2 and      
actually in twelve years made tables of 

factors and prime numbers for the       
seventh and nearly the whole of the     
eighth million1--a task which probably  
few men could have accomplished1 without
 mechanical aid1 in an ordinary         
lifetime4 ,he may thus be ranked as the 
only man who has ever done valuable     
service to ,mathematics without being   
able to cross the ,ass's ,bridge4  ,no  
support is given by what we know of this
 group to the theory which regards      
subliminal mentation as necessarily a   
sign of some morbid dissociation of     
physical elements4 ,is there1 on the    
other hand1 anything to confirm a       
suggestion which will occur in some     
similar cases1 namely1 that1--inasmuch  
as the addition of subliminal to        
supraliminal mentation may often be a   
completion and integration rather than a
 fractionation or disintegration of the 
total individuality1--we are likely     
sometimes to find traces of a more than 
common activity of the right or less    
used cerebral hemisphere8 ,finding no   

mention of ambidexterity in the meagre  
notices which have come down to us of   
the greater prodigies1 ,i begged the    
late ,mr4 ,bidder1 ,q4,c41 and ,mr4     
,blyth1 of ,edinburgh 7the well-known   
civil engineer and perhaps the best     
living ,english representative of what  
we may call the calculating diathesis71 
to tell me whether their left hands     
possessed more than usual power4 ,and ,i
 find that in these--the only two cases 
in which ,i have been able to make      
inquiry--there is somewhat more of      
dextro-cerebral capacity than in the    
mass of mankind4  ,we may now pass on to
 review some further instances of       
subliminal co-operation with conscious  
thought2--first looking about us for any
 cases comparable in definiteness with  
the preceding2 and then extending our   
view over the wider and vaguer realm of 
creative and artistic work4  ,but before
 we proceed to the highly-specialised   
senses of hearing and sight1 we must    
note the fact that there are cases of   

subliminal intensification of those     
perceptions of a less specialised kind  
which underlie our more elaborate modes 
of cognising the world around us4 ,the  
sense of the efflux of time1 and the    
sense of weight1 or of muscular         
resistance1 are amongst the profoundest 
elements in our organic being4 ,and the 
sense of time is indicated in several   
ways as a largely subliminal faculty4   
,there is much evidence to show that it 
is often more exact in men sleeping than
 in men awake1 and in men hypnotised    
than in men sleeping4 ,the records of   
spontaneous somnambulism are full of    
predictions made by the subject as to   
his own case1 and accomplished1         
presumably by self-suggestion1 but      
without help from clocks1 at the precise
 minute foretold4 ,or this hidden       
knowledge may take shape in the imagery 
of dream1 as in a case published by     
,professor ,royce1 of ,harvard1#cj where
 his correspondent describes a dream in 
which ,i saw an enormous flaming        

clock-dial with the hands standing at   
#b4bj4 ,awaking immediately1 ,i struck a
 match1 and upon looking at my watch    
found it was a few seconds past #b4bj4  
,similarly we find cases where the      
uprush of subliminal faculty is         
concerned with the deep organic         
sensation of muscular resistance4 ,we   
need not postulate any direct or        
supernormal knowledge1--but merely a    
subliminal calculation1 such as we see  
in the case of arithmetical prodigies1  
expressing itself supraliminally1       
sometimes in a phantasmal picture1      
sometimes as a mere conviction1 without 
sensory clothing4#ca  ,passing on here  
to subliminal products of visual type1  
,i am glad to be able to quote the      
following passage which seems to me to  
give in germ the very theory for which  
,i am now contending on the authority of
 one of the most lucid thinkers of the  
last generation4  ,the passage occurs in
 an article by ,sir ,john ,herschel on  
,sensorial ,vision1 in his ,familiar    

,lectures on ,scientific ,subjects1     
#ahaf4 ,sir ,john describes some        
experiences of his own1 which consist in
 the involuntary production of visual   
impressions1 into which geometrical     
regularity of form enters as the leading
 character1 and that1 under             
circumstances which altogether preclude 
any explanation drawn from a possible   
regularity of structure in the retina or
 the optic nerve4#cb ,twice these       
patterns appeared in waking daylight    
hours1--with no illness or discomfort at
 the time or afterwards4 ,more          
frequently they appeared in darkness2   
but still while ,sir ,john was fully    
awake4 ,they appeared also twice when he
 was placed under chloroform2 and ,i    
should observe that ,i never lost my    
consciousness of being awake and in full
 possession of my mind1 though quite    
insensible to what was going on4444 ,now
 the question at once presents          
itself--,what are these ,geometrical    
,spectres8 and how1 and in what         

department of the bodily or mental      
economy do they originate8 ,they are    
evidently not dreams4 ,the mind is not  
dormant1 but active and conscious of the
 direction of its thoughts2 while these 
things obtrude themselves on notice1 and
 by calling attention to them1 direct   
the train of thought into a channel it  
would not have taken of itself4444 ,if  
it be true that the conception of a     
regular geometrical pattern implies the 
exercise of thought and intelligence1 it
 would almost seem that in such cases as
 those above adduced we have evidence of
 a thought1 an intelligence1 working    
within our own organisation distinct    
from that of our own personality4 ,and  
,sir ,john further suggests that these  
complex figures1 entering the mind in   
this apparently arbitrary fashion1 throw
 light upon the suggestive principle to 
which we must look for much that is     
determinant and decisive of our volition
 when carried into action4 ,it strikes  
me as not by any means devoid of        

interest to contemplate cases where1 in 
a matter so entirely abstract1 so       
completely devoid of any moral or       
emotional bearing1 as the production of 
a geometrical figure1 we1 as it were1   
seize upon that principle in the very   
act1 and in the performance of its      
office4  ,from my point of view1 of     
course1 ,i can but admire the acumen    
which enabled this great thinker to     
pierce to the root of the matter by the 
aid of so few observations4 ,he does not
 seem to have perceived the connection  
between these schematic phantasms1 to   
borrow a phrase from ,professor         
,ladd1#cc and the hallucinatory figures 
of men or animals seen in health or in  
disease4 ,but even from his scanty data 
his inference seems to me               
irresistible2--we have evidence of a    
thought1 an intelligence1 working within
 our own organisation1 distinct from    
that of our own personality4 ,i shall   
venture to claim him as the first       
originator of the theory to which the   

far fuller evidence now accessible had  
independently led myself4  ,cases       
observed as definitely as those just    
quoted are few in number2 and ,i must   
pass on into a much trodden--even a     
confusedly trampled--field2--the        
records1 namely1 left by eminent men as 
to the element of subconscious          
mentation1 which was involved in their  
best work4 ,most of these stories have  
been again and again repeated2--and they
 have been collected on a large scale in
 a celebrated work1--to me especially   
distasteful1 as containing what seems to
 me the loose and extravagant parody of 
important truth4 ,it is not my business 
here to criticise ,dr4 ,von ,hartmann's 
,philosophy of the ,unconscious in      
detail2 but ,i prefer to direct my      
readers' attention to a much more modest
 volume1 in which a young physician has 
put together the results of a direct    
inquiry addressed to some ,frenchmen of 
distinction as to their methods         
especially of imaginative work4#cd ,i   

quote a few of the replies addressed to 
him1 beginning with some words from ,m4 
,sully ,prudhomme1--at once psychologist
 and poet1--who is here speaking of the 
subconscious clarification of a chain of
 abstract reasoning4 ,i have sometimes  
suddenly understood a geometrical       
demonstration made to me a year         
previously without having in any way    
directed thereto my attention or will4  
,it seemed that the mere spontaneous    
ripening of the conceptions which the   
lectures had implanted in my brain had  
brought about within me this novel grasp
 of the proof4  ,with this we may       
compare a statement of                  
,arago's--,instead of obstinately       
endeavouring to understand a proposition
 at once1 ,i would admit its truth      
provisionally2--and next day ,i would be
 astonished at understanding thoroughly 
that which seemed all dark before4      
,condillac similarly speaks of finding  
an incomplete piece of work finished    
next day in his head4  ,somewhat        

similarly1 though in another field1 ,m4 
,rett1 a poet1 tells ,dr4 ,chabaneix    
that he falls asleep in the middle of an
 unfinished stanza1 and when thinking of
 it again in the morning finds it       
completed4 ,and ,m4 ,vincent d',indy1 a 
musical composer1 says that he often has
 on waking a fugitive glimpse of a      
musical effect which 7like the memory of
 a dream7 needs a strong immediate      
concentration of mind to keep it from   
vanishing4  ,de ,musset writes1 ,on ne  
travaille pas1 on coute1 c'est comme un 
inconnu qui vous parle  l'oreille4      
,lamartine says1 ,ce n'est pas moi qui  
pense2 ce sont mes ides qui pensent pour
 moi4  ,rmy de ,gourmont3 ,my           
conceptions rise into the field of      
consciousness like a flash of lightning 
or like the flight of a bird4  ,m4 ,s4  
writes3 ,in writing these dramas ,i     
seemed to be a spectator at the play2 ,i
 gazed at what was passing on the scene 
in an eager1 wondering expectation of   
what was to follow4 ,and yet ,i felt    

that all this came from the depth of my 
own being4  ,saint-,saens had only to   
listen1 as ,socrates to his ,dmon2 and  
,m4 ,ribot1 summing up a number of      
similar cases1 says3 ,it is the         
unconscious which produces what is      
vulgarly called inspiration4 ,this      
condition is a positive fact1           
accompanied with physical and psychical 
characteristics peculiar to itself4     
,above all1 it is impersonal and        
involuntary1 it acts like an instinct1  
when and how it chooses2 it may be      
wooed1 but cannot be compelled4 ,neither
 reflection nor will can supply its     
place in original creation4444 ,the     
bizarre habits of artists when composing
 tend to create a special physiological 
condition1--to augment the cerebral     
circulation in order to provoke or to   
maintain the unconscious activity4  ,in 
what precise way the cerebral           
circulation is altered we can hardly at 
present hope to know4 ,meantime a few   
psychological remarks fall more easily  

within our reach4  ,in the first place1 
we note that a very brief and shallow   
submergence beneath the conscious level 
is enough to infuse fresh vigour into   
supraliminal trains of thought4 ,ideas  
left to mature unnoticed for a few days1
 or for a single night1 seem to pass but
 a very little way beneath the          
threshold4 ,they represent1 one may say1
 the first stage of a process which1    
although often inconspicuous1 is not    
likely to be discontinuous1--the        
sustenance1 namely1 of the supraliminal 
life by impulse or guidance from below4 
,in the second place1 we see in some of 
these cases of deep and fruitful        
abstraction a slight approach to        
duplication of personality4 ,john       
,stuart ,mill1 intent on his ,principles
 of ,logic1 as he threaded the crowds of
 ,leadenhall ,street1 recalls certain   
morbid cases of hysterical              
distraction2--only that with ,mill the  
process was an integrative one and not a
 dissolutive one--a gain and not a loss 

of power over the organism4  ,and       
thirdly1 in some of these instances we  
see the man of genius achieving         
spontaneously1 and unawares1 much the   
same result as that which is achieved   
for the hypnotic subject by deliberate  
artifice4 ,for he is in fact            
co-ordinating the waking and the        
sleeping phases of his existence4 ,he is
 carrying into sleep the knowledge and  
the purpose of waking hours2--and he is 
carrying back into waking hours again   
the benefit of those profound           
assimilations which are the privilege of
 sleep4 ,hypnotic suggestion aims at    
co-operations of just this kind between 
the waking state in which the           
suggestion1 say1 of some functional     
change1 is planned and the sleeping     
state in which that change is carried   
out1--with benefit persisting anew into 
waking life4 ,the hypnotic trance1 which
 is a developed sleep1 thus accomplishes
 for the ordinary man what ordinary     
sleep accomplishes for the man of       

genius4  ,the coming chapters on ,sleep 
and ,hypnotism will illustrate this     
point more fully4 ,but ,i may here      
anticipate my discussion of dreams by   
quoting one instance where dreams1      
self-suggested by waking will1 formed1  
as one may say1 an integral element in  
distinguished genius4  ,the late ,robert
 ,louis ,stevenson1 being in many ways a
 typical man of genius1 was in no way   
more markedly gifted with that          
integrating faculty--that increased     
power over all strata of the            
personality--which ,i have ascribed to  
genius1 than in his relation to his     
dreams 7see ,a ,chapter on ,dreams in   
his volume ,across the ,plains74 ,seldom
 has the essential analogy between      
dreams and inspiration been exhibited in
 such a striking way4 ,his dreams had   
always 7he tells us7 been of great      
vividness1 and often of markedly        
recurrent type4 ,but the point of       
interest is that1 when he began to write
 stories for publication1 the little    

people who managed man's internal       
theatre understood the change as well as
 he4       ,when he lay down to prepare 
himself for sleep1 he no longer sought  
amusement1 but printable and profitable 
tales2 and after he had      dozed off  
in his box-seat1 his little people      
continued their      evolutions with the
 same mercantile designs4444 ,for the   
most part1      whether awake or asleep1
 he is simply occupied--he or his little
      people--in consciously making     
stories for the market4444       ,the   
more ,i think of it1 the more ,i am     
moved to press upon the world      my   
question3 ,who are the ,little ,people8 
,they are near connections      of the  
dreamer's1 beyond doubt2 they share in  
his financial worries      and have an  
eye to the bank book2 they share plainly
 in his      training2 444 they have    
plainly learned like him to build the   
scheme of a considerate story and to    
arrange emotion in progressive          
order2 only ,i think they have more     

talent2 and one thing is beyond         
doubt1--they can tell him a story piece 
by piece1 like a serial1      and keep  
him all the while in ignorance of where 
they aim4444       ,that part of my work
 which is done while ,i am sleeping is  
the      ,brownies' part beyond         
contention2 but that which is done when 
,i am      up and about is by no means  
necessarily mine1 since all goes to     
show the ,brownies have a hand in it    
even then4  ,slight and imperfect as the
 above statistics and observations      
admittedly are1 they seem to me to point
 in a more useful direction than do some
 of the facts collected by that modern  
group of anthropologists who hold that  
genius is in itself a kind of nervous   
malady1 a disturbance of mental balance1
 akin to criminality or even to madness4
  ,it is certainly not true1 as ,i hold1
 either that the human race in general  
is nervously degenerating1 or that      
nervous degeneration tends to a maximum 
in its most eminent members4 ,but it can

 be plausibly maintained that the       
proportion of nervous to other disorders
 tends to increase4 ,and it is certain  
that not nervous degeneration but       
nervous change or development is now    
proceeding among civilised peoples more 
rapidly than ever before1 and that this 
self-adaptation to wider environments   
must inevitably be accompanied in the   
more marked cases by something of       
nervous instability4 ,and it is true    
also that from one point of view these  
changes might form matter for regret2   
and that in order to discern what ,i    
take to be their true meaning we have to
 regard the problem of human evolution  
from a somewhat unfamiliar standpoint4  
,the nervous system is probably tending 
in each generation to become more       
complex and more delicately ramified4   
,as is usual when any part of an        
organism is undergoing rapid evolutive  
changes1 this nervous progress is       
accompanied with some instability4      
,those individuals in whom the          

hereditary or the acquired change is the
 most rapid are likely also to suffer   
most from a perturbation which masks    
evolution--an occasional appearance of  
what may be termed nervous sports of a  
useless or even injurious type4 ,such   
are the fancies and fanaticisms1 the    
bizarre likes and dislikes1 the         
excessive or aberrant sensibilities1    
which have been observed in some of the 
eminent men whom ,lombroso discusses in 
his book on the ,man of ,genius4 ,their 
truest analogue1 as we shall presently  
see more fully1 lies in the oddities or 
morbidities of sentiment or sensation   
which so often accompany the development
 of the human organism into its full    
potencies1 or precede the crowning      
effort by which a fresh organism is     
introduced into the world4  ,such at    
least is my view2 but the full          
acceptance of this view must depend upon
 some very remote and very speculative  
considerations bearing upon the nature  
and purport of the whole existence and  

evolution of man4 ,yet however remote   
and speculative the thesis which ,i     
defend may be1 it is not one whit       
remoter or more speculative than the    
view which1 faute de mieux1 is often    
tacitly assumed by scientific writers4  
,in our absolute ignorance of the source
 from whence life came1 we have no      
ground for assuming that it was a purely
 planetary product1 or that its unknown 
potentialities are concerned with purely
 planetary ends4 ,it would be as rash   
for the biologist to assume that life on
 earth can only point to generations of 
further life on earth as it would have  
been for some cosmic geologist to       
assume--before the appearance of life on
 earth--that geological forces must     
needs constitute all the activity which 
could take place on this planet4  ,since
 the germ of life appeared on earth1 its
 history has been a history not only of 
gradual self-adaptation to a known      
environment1 but of gradual discovery of
 an environment1 always there1 but      

unknown4 ,what we call its primitive    
simple irritability was in fact a dim   
pansthesia2 a potential faculty1 as yet 
unconscious of all the stimuli to which 
it had not yet learnt to respond4 ,as   
these powers of sensation and of        
response have developed1 they have      
gradually revealed to the living germ   
environments of which at first it could 
have no conception4  ,it is probable1 to
 begin with1 that the only environment  
which the vast majority of our ancestors
 knew was simply hot water4 ,for the    
greater part of the time during which   
life has existed on earth it would have 
been thought chimerical to suggest that 
we could live in anything else4 ,it was 
a great day for us when an ancestor     
crawled up out of the slowly-cooling    
sea2--or say rather when a previously   
unsuspected capacity for directly       
breathing air gradually revealed the    
fact that we had for long been breathing
 air in the water2--and that we were    
living in the midst of a vastly extended

 environment1--the atmosphere of the    
earth4 ,it was a great day again when   
another ancestor felt on his            
pigment-spot the solar ray2--or say     
rather when a previously unsuspected    
capacity for perceiving light revealed  
the fact that we had for long been acted
 upon by light as well as by heat2 and  
that we were living in the midst of a   
vastly extended environment1--namely1   
the illumined ,universe that stretches  
to the ,milky ,way4 ,it was a great day 
when the first skate 7if skate he were7 
felt an unknown virtue go out from him  
towards some worm or mudfish2--or say   
rather when a previously unsuspected    
capacity for electrical excitation      
demonstrated the fact that we had long  
been acted upon by electricity as well  
as by heat and by light2 and that we    
were living in an inconceivable and     
limitless environment1--namely1 an ether
 charged with infinite energy1          
overpassing and interpenetrating alike  
the last gulf of darkness and the       

extremest star4 ,all this1--phrased     
perhaps in some other fashion1--all men 
admit as true4 ,may we not then suppose 
that there are yet other environments1  
other interpretations1 which a further  
awakening of faculty still subliminal is
 yet fated by its own nascent response  
to discover8 ,will it be alien to the   
past history of evolution if ,i add3 ,it
 was a great day when the first thought 
or feeling flashed into some mind of    
beast or man from a mind distant from   
his own8--when a previously unsuspected 
capacity of telepathic percipience      
revealed the fact that we had long been 
acted upon by telepathic as well as by  
sensory stimuli2 and that we were living
 in an inconceivable and limitless      
environment1--a thought-world or        
spiritual universe charged with infinite
 life1 and interpenetrating and         
overpassing all human spirits1--up to   
what some have called ,world-,soul1 and 
some ,god8  ,and now it will be easily  
understood that one of the corollaries  

from the conception of a constantly     
widening and deepening perception of an 
environment infinite in infinite ways1  
will be that the faculties which befit  
the material environment have absolutely
 no primacy1 unless it be of the merely 
chronological kind1 over those faculties
 which science has often called         
by-products1 because they have no       
manifest tendency to aid their possessor
 in the struggle for existence in a     
material world4 ,the higher gifts of    
genius--poetry1 the plastic arts1 music1
 philosophy1 pure mathematics--all of   
these are precisely as much in the      
central stream of evolution--are        
perceptions of new truth and powers of  
new action just as decisively           
predestined for the race of man--as the 
aboriginal ,australian's faculty for    
throwing a boomerang or for swarming up 
a tree for grubs4 ,there is1 then1 about
 those loftier interests nothing exotic1
 nothing accidental2 they are an        
intrinsic part of that ever-evolving    

response to our surroundings which forms
 not only the planetary but the cosmic  
history of all our race4  ,what         
inconsistencies1 what absurdities1      
underlie that assumption that evolution 
means nothing more than the survival of 
animals fittest to conquer enemies and  
to overrun the earth4 ,on that bare     
hypothesis the genus homo is impossible 
to explain4 ,no one really attempts to  
explain him except on the tacit         
supposition that ,nature somehow tended 
to evolve intelligence--somehow needed  
to evolve joy2 was not satisfied with   
such an earth-over-runner as the rabbit1
 or such an invincible conqueror as the 
influenza microbe4 ,but how much        
intelligence1 what kind of joy ,nature  
aimed at--is this to be left to be      
settled by the instinct of l'homme      
sensuel moyen8 or ought we not rather to
 ask of the best specimens of our race  
what it is that they live for8--whether 
they labour for the meat that perisheth1
 or for ,love and ,wisdom8 ,to more and 

more among mankind the need of food is  
supplied with as little conscious effort
 as the need of air2 yet these are often
 the very men through whom evolution is 
going on most unmistakably--who are     
becoming the typical figures of the     
swiftly-changing race4  ,once more4 ,if 
this point of view be steadily          
maintained1 we shall gain further light 
on some of those strangenesses and      
irregularities of genius which have led 
to its paradoxical juxtaposition with   
insanity as a divergence from the       
accepted human type4 ,the distinctive   
characteristic of genius is the large   
infusion of the subliminal in its mental
 output2 and one characteristic of the  
subliminal in my view is that it is in  
closer relation than the supraliminal to
 the spiritual world1 and is thus nearer
 to the primitive source and            
extra-terrene initiation of life4 ,and  
earthly ,life itself--embodied as it is 
in psycho-physically individualised     
forms--is1 on the theory advanced in    

these pages1 a product or characteristic
 of the etherial or metetherial and not 
of the gross material world4 ,thence in 
some unknown fashion it came2 there in  
some unknown fashion it subsists even   
throughout its earthly manifestation2   
thither in some unknown fashion it must 
after earthly death return4 ,if indeed  
the inspirations of genius spring from a
 source one step nearer to primitive    
reality than is that specialised        
consensus of faculties which natural    
selection has lifted above the threshold
 for the purposes of working-day        
existence1 then surely we need not      
wonder if the mind and frame of man     
should not always suffice for smooth and
 complete amalgamation2 if some         
prefiguration of faculties adapted to a 
later stage of being should mar the     
symmetry of the life of earth4  ,and    
thus there may really be something at   
times incommensurable between the       
inspirations of genius and the results  
of conscious logical thought4 ,just as  

the calculating boy solves his problems 
by methods which differ from the methods
 of the trained mathematician1 so in    
artistic matters also that something of 
strangeness which is in all excellent   
beauty1 may be the expression of a real 
difference between subliminal and       
supraliminal modes of perception4 ,i    
cannot help thinking that such a        
difference is perceptible in subliminal 
relations to speech2 that the subliminal
 self will sometimes surpass conscious  
effort1 if it is treating speech as a   
branch of ,art1 in ,poetry2--or else in 
some sense will fall short of conscious 
effort1 when it is merely using words as
 an unavoidable medium to express ideas 
which common speech was hardly designed 
to convey4  ,thus1 on the one hand1 when
 in presence of one of the great verbal 
achievements of the race--say the       
,agamemnon of schylus--it is hard to    
resist the obscure impression that some 
form of intelligence other than         
supraliminal reason or conscious        

selection has been at work4 ,the result 
less resembles the perfection of        
rational choice among known data than   
the imperfect presentation of some      
scheme based on perceptions which we    
cannot entirely follow4  ,but1 on the   
other hand1 even though words may thus  
be used by genius with something of the 
mysterious remoteness of music itself1  
it seems to me that our subliminal      
mentation is less closely bound to the  
faculty of speech than is our           
supraliminal4 ,there is a phrase in     
common use which involves perhaps more  
of psychological significance than has  
yet been brought out4 ,of all which we  
can call genius1 or which we can ally   
with genius--of art1 of love1 of        
religious emotion--it is common to hear 
men say that they transcend the scope of
 speech4 ,nor have we any reason for    
regarding this as a mere vague          
sentimental expression4  ,there is no a 
priori ground for supposing that        
language will have the power to express 

all the thoughts and emotions of man4   
,it may indeed be maintained that the   
inevitable course of its development    
tends to exhibit more and more clearly  
its inherent limitations4 ,every        
language1 it has been said1 begins as   
poetry and ends as algebra4 ,to use the 
terms employed in this work1 every      
language begins as a subliminal uprush  
and ends as a supraliminal artifice4    
,organic instincts impel to primitive   
ejaculation2 unconscious laws of mind   
shape early grammar4 ,but even in our   
own day--and we are still in the earth's
 infancy--this navet of language is fast
 disappearing4 ,the needs of science and
 of commerce have become dominant1 and  
although our vocabulary1 based as it is 
on concrete objects and direct          
sensations1 is refined for the          
expression of philosophic thought1 still
 we cannot wonder if our supraliminal   
manipulation leaves us with an          
instrument less and less capable of     
expressing the growing complexity of our

 whole psychical being4  ,what then1 we 
may ask1 is the attitude and habit of   
the subliminal self likely to be with   
regard to language8 ,is it not probable 
that other forms of symbolism may retain
 a greater proportional importance among
 those submerged mental operations which
 have not been systematised for the     
convenience of communication with other 
men8  ,i think that an intelligent study
 of visual and motor automatism will    
afford us sufficient proof that         
symbolism1 at any rate pictorial        
symbolism1 becomes increasingly         
important as we get at the contents of  
those hidden strata4 ,telepathic        
messages1 especially1 which form1 as we 
shall see1 the special prerogative or   
characteristic of subliminal            
communication1 seem to be conveyed by   
vague impression or by inward or        
externalised picture oftener than by    
articulate speech4 ,and ,i may so far   
anticipate later discussion of automatic
 writings 7whether self-inspired or     

telepathic7 as to point out a curious   
linguistic quality which almost all such
 writings share4 ,the messages of a     
number of automatists1 taken at random1 
will be sure to resemble each other much
 more closely than do the supraliminal  
writings of the same persons4 ,quite    
apart from their general correspondence 
in ideas--which belongs to another      
branch of our subject--there is among   
the automatic writings of quite         
independent automatists a remarkable    
correspondence of literary style4 ,there
 is a certain quality which reminds one 
of a translation1 or of the compositions
 of a person writing in a language which
 he is not accustomed to talk4 ,these   
characteristics appear at once in       
automatic script1 even of the incoherent
 kind2 they persist when there is no    
longer any dream-like incoherence2 they 
are equally marked1 even when1 as often 
happens1 the automatic script surpasses 
in intelligence1 and even in its own    
kind of eloquence1 the products of the  

waking or supraliminal mind4  ,and side 
by side and intercurrent with these     
written messages come those strange     
meaningless arabesques which have been  
baptized as spirit-drawings--though they
 rarely show any clear trace of the     
operation of an external                
intelligence4#ce ,these complex and     
fanciful compositions--often absolutely 
automatic--appear to me like a          
stammering or rudimentary symbolism2 as 
though the subliminal intelligence were 
striving to express itself through a    
vehicle perhaps more congenial to its   
habits than articulate language4        
,returning1 then1 from these            
illustrations drawn from actual         
automatism to our proper subject of     
genius1--that happy mixture of          
subliminal with supraliminal            
faculty1--we may ask ourselves in what  
kind of subliminal uprush this hidden   
habit of wider symbolism1 of            
self-communion beyond the limits of     
speech1 will be likely to manifest      

itself above the conscious threshold4   
,the obvious answer to this question    
lies in the one word ,art4 ,the         
inspiration of ,art of all kinds        
consists in the invention of precisely  
such a wider symbolism as has been above
 adumbrated4 ,i am not speaking1 of     
course1 of symbolism of a forced and    
mechanical kind--symbolism designed and 
elaborated as such--but rather of that  
pre-existent but hidden concordance     
between visible and invisible things1   
between matter and thought1 between     
thought and emotion1 which the plastic  
arts1 and music1 and poetry1 do each in 
their own special field discover and    
manifest for human wisdom and joy4  ,in 
using these words1 ,i must repeat1 ,i am
 far from adopting the formul of any    
special school4 ,the symbolism of which 
,i speak implies nothing of mysticism4  
,nor indeed1 in my view1 can there be   
any real gulf or deep division between  
so-called realistic and idealistic      
schools4 ,all that exists is continuous2

 nor can ,art symbolise any one aspect  
of the universe without also implicitly 
symbolising aspects which lie beyond4   
,and thus in the ,arts we have symbolism
 at every stage of transparency and     
obscurity2 from symbolisms which merely 
summarise speech to symbolisms which    
transcend it4 ,sometimes1 as with       
,music1 it is worse than useless to     
press for too close an interpretation4  
,music marches1 and will march for ever1
 through an ideal and unimaginable      
world4 ,her melody may be a mighty      
symbolism1 but it is a symbolism to     
which man has lost the key4 ,poetry's   
material1 on the other hand1 is the very
 language which she would fain          
transcend4 ,but her utterance must be   
subliminal and symbolic1 if it is to be 
poetry indeed2 it must rise 7as has been
 already hinted7 from a realm profounder
 than deliberate speech2 it must come   
charged1 as ,tennyson has it1 with that 
charm in words1 a charm no words can    
give4  ,here1 too1 we must dwell for a  

moment upon another and higher kind of  
internal visualisation4 ,i have spoken  
of the arithmetical prodigy as          
possessing a kind of internal           
blackboard1 on which he inscribes with  
ease and permanence his imaginary       
memoranda4 ,but blackboards are not the 
only surfaces on which inscriptions can 
be made4 ,there are other men--prodigies
 of a different order--whose internal   
tabula is not of blackened wood1 but of 
canvas or of marble2 whose inscriptions 
are not rows of ,arabic numerals but    
living lines of colour1 or curves of    
breathing stone4 ,even the most         
realistic art is something more than    
transcript and calculation2 and for     
art's higher imaginative achievements   
there must needs be moments of inward   
idealisation when visible beauty seems  
but the token and symbol of beauty      
unrevealed2 when ,praxiteles must draw  
from his own heart the archetype of the 
,eros that he made2 when ,tintoret must 
feel with ,heraclitus that whatsoever we

 see waking is but deadness1 and        
whatsoever sleeping1 is but dream4  ,but
 when we reach this point we have begun 
7as ,i say7 to transcend the special    
province to which1 in ,chapter ,i1 ,i   
assigned the title of genius4 ,i there  
pointed out that the influence of the   
subliminal on the supraliminal might    
conveniently be divided under three main
 heads4 ,when the subliminal mentation  
co-operates with and supplements the    
supraliminal1 without changing the      
apparent phase of personality1 we have  
genius4 ,when subliminal operations     
change the apparent phase of personality
 from the state of waking in the        
direction of trance1 we have hypnotism4 
,when the subliminal mentation forces   
itself up through the supraliminal1     
without amalgamation1 as in             
crystal-vision1 automatic writing1 etc41
 we have sensory or motor automatism4   
,in accordance with this definition1 the
 content of the inspirations of genius  
is supposed to be of the same general   

type as the content of ordinary thought4
 ,we have regarded genius as            
crystallising fluid ideas2 or1 if you   
will1 as concentrating and throwing     
upwards in its clear fountain a maze of 
subterranean streams4 ,but we have not  
regarded it as modifying1 in such       
operation1 the ordinary alert           
wakefulness of the thinker1 nor as      
providing bun with any fresh knowledge1 
obtainable by supernormal methods alone4
  ,it is plain1 however1 that such      
distinctions as those which ,i have     
drawn between genius1 trance1           
automatism1 cannot possibly be rigid or 
absolute4 ,they are distinctions made   
for convenience between different phases
 of what must really be a continuous    
process--namely1 the influence of the   
,self below the threshold upon the ,self
 above it4 ,between each of these       
definite phases all kinds of connections
 and intermediate stages must surely    
exist4  ,connections between trance and 
automatism1 indeed1 are obvious enough4 

,the difficulty has rather lain in their
 clear separation4 ,trance1 when        
habitual1 is pretty sure to lead to     
automatic speech or writing4            
,automatism1 when prolonged1 is         
similarly apt to induce a state of      
trance4  ,the links between ,genius and 
these cognate states are of a less      
conspicuous kind4 ,they do1 however1    
exist in such variety as to confirm in  
marked fashion the analogies suggested  
above4  ,and first1 as to the connection
 between genius and automatism1 one may 
say that just as anger is a brief       
madness1 so the flash of ,genius is     
essentially a brief automatism4         
,wordsworth's moments of inspiration1   
when1 as he says1      ,some lovely     
image in the song rose up               
,full-formed1 like ,venus rising from   
the sea1  were in effect moments of     
automatic utterance2 albeit of utterance
 held fast in immediate co-operation    
with the simultaneous workings of the   
supraliminal self4 ,such a sudden poetic

 creation1 like the calculating boy's   
announcement of the product of two      
numbers1 resembles the sudden rush of   
planchette or pencil1 in haste to scrawl
 some long-wished-for word4  ,now extend
 this momentary automatism a little     
further4 ,we come then to what is called
 the faculty of improvisation4 ,how much
 is meant by this term8 ,is the         
extempore oration1 the unpremeditated   
lay1 in truth a subliminal product8 or  
have we to do merely with the rapid     
exercise of ordinary powers8  ,in the   
first place1 it is clear that much of   
what is called improvisation is a matter
 of memory4 ,the so-called secondary    
automatism which enables the pianist to 
play a known piece without conscious    
attention passes easily into            
improvisations which the player himself 
may genuinely accept as original2 but   
which really consist of remembered      
fragments united by conventional links  
of connection4 ,thus also the orator1   
thinking on his legs1 trusts himself at 

first to the automatic repetition of a  
few stock phrases1 but gradually finds  
that long periods flow unforeseen and   
unremembered from his tongue4  ,we thus 
get beyond the range of stereotyped     
synergies1 of habituations of particular
 groups of nerve-centres to common      
action4 ,there is some adaptability and 
invention2 some new paths are traversed2
 adjustments are made for which no mere 
recurrence to old precedents will       
suffice4  ,the problem here resembles   
that well-known difficulty of explaining
 what goes on during the restoration or 
substitution of function after an injury
 to the brain4 ,in that case1 the       
brain-elements which remain uninjured   
slowly assume functions which they      
apparently never exercised              
before1--rearranging paths of cerebral  
communication in order to get the old   
efficiency out of the damaged and       
diminished brain-material4 ,this        
recovery is not rapid like an           
extemporisation1 but gradual1 like a    

healing or re-growth1 and it therefore  
does not suggest an intelligent control 
so much as a physiological process1 like
 the re-budding on a certain            
pre-ordained pattern of the severed claw
 of a crab4 ,of course this restoration 
of brain-functions is inexplicable1 as  
all growth is at present inexplicable4  
,we may call it indeed with some reason 
the highest process of human growth4 ,so
 viewed1 it forms a kind of middle term 
between ordinary growth of bone or      
muscle1 always on a predetermined plan1 
and that sudden creation of new cerebral
 connections or pathways which is       
implied in an inspiration of genius4    
,such a juxtaposition need not weaken my
 claim that the inspirations of genius  
represent a co-operant stream of        
submerged mentation1 fully as developed 
in its own way as the mentation of which
 we are conscious above the threshold4  
,the nature and degree of subliminal    
faculty must of course be judged by its 
highest manifestations4 ,and this       

analogy between the hidden operations of
 genius and of growth would rather      
support me in regarding organic growth  
also as controlled by something of      
intelligence or memory1 which under     
fitting conditions--as in the hypnotic  
trance--may be induced to co-operate    
with the waking will4  ,moreover1 the   
talent of improvisation1 which suggested
 these analogies1 will sometimes act    
much more persistently than in the case 
of the orator or the musician4 ,there is
 reason to believe 7both from internal  
style and from actual statements7 that  
it plays a large part in imaginative    
literature4 ,various passages from      
,george ,sand's life-history1           
corroborated by the statements of other 
persons familiar with her methods of    
working1 reveal in her an unusual vigour
 and fertility of literary outflow going
 on in an almost dream-like condition2 a
 condition midway between the actual    
inventive dreams of ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson  
and the conscious labour of an ordinary 

man's composition4  ,what ,george ,sand 
felt in the act of writing was a        
continuous and effortless flow of ideas1
 sometimes with and sometimes without an
 apparent externalisation of the        
characters who spoke in her romances4   
,and turning to another author1 as sane 
and almost as potent as ,george ,sand   
herself1 we find a phenomenon which     
would have suggested to us actual       
insanity if observed in a mind less     
robust and efficient4 ,if the allusions 
to the apparent independence of         
,dickens's characters which are         
scattered through his letters be read   
with our related facts in view1 it will 
no longer be thought that they are      
intended as a mystification4 ,mrs4      
,gamp1 his greatest creation1 spoke to  
him1 he tells us 7generally in church7  
as with an inward monitory voice4  ,and 
note further that as scientific         
introspection develops we are likely to 
receive fuller accounts of these        
concurrent mental processes1 these      

partial externalisations of the         
creatures of the romancer's brain4 ,one 
such account1 both definite and         
elaborate1 has been published by ,m4    
,binet in ,l',anne ,psychologique for   
#ahid4cf  ,this account1--contributed as
 serious evidence1 as ,m4 ,binet's long 
article shows1--is thoroughly concordant
 with several other cases already known 
to us4 ,it comes midway between         
,stevenson's dreams and the hysteric's  
ides fixes4  ,i have thus far           
endeavoured to show that ,genius        
represents not only the crystallisation 
of ideas already existing in floating   
form in the supraliminal intelligence1  
but also an independent1 although       
concurrent1 stream of mentation1        
spreading often to wider range1 although
 still concerned with matters in        
themselves cognisable by the normal     
intelligence4  ,let us proceed to push  
the inquiry a step further4 ,it has been
 claimed in this work for subliminal    
uprushes generally that they often      

contain knowledge which no ordinary     
method of research could acquire4 ,is   
this supernormal knowledge--we ought now
 to ask--ever represented in the        
uprushes to which we give the name of   
,genius8  ,what is the relation1 in     
short1 of the man of ,genius to the     
sensitive8  ,if the man of ,genius be1  
as ,i have urged1 on the whole the      
completest type of humanity1 and if the 
sensitive's special gift be in itself   
one of the most advanced forms of human 
faculty1 ought not the inspirations of  
genius to bring with them flashes of    
supernormal knowledge as intimate as    
those which the sensitive--perhaps in   
other respects a commonplace            
person--from time to time is privileged 
to receive8  ,some remarkable instances 
of this kind undoubtedly do exist4 ,the 
most conspicuous and most important of  
all cannot1 from motives of reverence1  
be here discussed4 ,nor will ,i dwell   
upon other founders of religions1 or on 
certain traditional saints or sages4    

,but among historical characters of the 
first mark the names of ,socrates and of
 ,joan of ,arc are enough to cite4 ,i   
believe that the monitions of the ,dmon 
of ,socrates--the subliminal self of a  
man of transcendent genius--have in all 
probability been described to us with   
literal truth3 and did in fact convey to
 that great philosopher precisely the   
kind of telsthetic or precognitive      
information which forms the sensitive's 
privilege to-day4 ,we have thus in      
,socrates the ideal unification of human
 powers4  ,it must1 however1 be admitted
 that such complete unification is not  
the general rule for men of genius2 that
 their inspirations generally stop short
 of telepathy or of telsthesia4 ,i think
 we may explain this limitation somewhat
 as follows4 ,the man of genius is what 
he is by virtue of possessing a readier 
communication than most men possess     
between his supraliminal and his        
subliminal self4 ,from his subliminal   
self1 he can only draw what it already  

possesses2 and we must not assume as a  
matter of course that the subliminal    
region of any one of us possesses that  
particular sensitivity--that specific   
transparency--which can receive and     
register definite facts from the unseen4
 ,that may be a gift which stands as    
much alone--in independence of other    
gifts or faculties--in the subliminal   
region as1 say1 a perfect musical ear in
 the supraliminal4 ,the man of genius   
may draw much from those hidden wells of
 being without seeing reflected therein 
any actual physical scene in the        
universe beyond his ordinary ken4  ,and 
yet neither must we hastily assume that 
because the man of genius gets no       
definite impression of a world beyond   
our senses he does not therefore get any
 true impression1 which is all his own4 
,i believe1 on the contrary1 that true1 
though vague1 impressions of a world    
beyond the range of sense are actually  
received--,i do not say by all men of   
genius1 but by men of genius of certain 

types4#cg  ,a dim but genuine           
consciousness of the spiritual          
environment2 that 7it seems7 is the     
degree of revelation which artistic or  
philosophic genius is capable of        
conferring4 ,subliminal uprushes1 in    
other words1 so far as they are         
intellectual1 tend to become telsthetic4
 ,they bring with them indefinite       
intimations of what ,i hold to be the   
great truth that the human spirit is    
essentially capable of a deeper than    
sensorial perception1 of a direct       
knowledge of facts of the universe      
outside the range of any specialised    
organ or of any planetary view4  ,but   
this conclusion points the way to a     
speculation more important still4       
,telsthesia is not the only spiritual   
law1 nor are subliminal uprushes affairs
 of the intellect alone4 ,beyond and    
above man's innate power of world-wide  
perception1 there exists also that      
universal link of spirit with spirit    
which in its minor earthly              

manifestations we call telepathy4 ,our  
submerged faculty--the subliminal       
uprushes of genius--can expand in that  
direction as well as in the direction of
 telsthesia4 ,the emotional content1    
indeed1 of those uprushes is even       
profounder and more important than the  
intellectual2--in proportion as ,love   
and ,religion are profounder and more   
important than ,science or ,art4  ,that 
primary passion1 ,i repeat1 which binds 
life to life1 which links us both to    
life near and visible and to life       
imagined but unseen2--that is no mere   
organic1 no mere planetary impulse1 but 
the inward aspect of the telepathic law4
 ,love and religion are thus continuous2
 they represent different phases of one 
all-pervading mutual gravitation of     
souls4 ,the flesh does not conjoin1 but 
dissever2 although through its very     
severance it suggests a shadow of the   
union which it cannot bestow4 ,we have  
to do here neither with a corporeal nor 
with a purely human emotion4 ,love is   

the energy of integration which makes a 
,cosmos of the ,sum of ,things4  ,but   
here there is something of controversy  
to traverse before a revived ,platonic  
conception of love can hope to be       
treated by the physiologist as more than
 a pedantic jest4 ,and naturally so2    
since there is no emotion subliminal    
over so wide a range of origin1--fed so 
obscurely by all thoughts1 all passions1
 all delights1--and consequently so     
mysterious even to the percipient       
himself4 ,at one end of its scale love  
is based upon an instinct as primitive  
as the need of nutrition2 even if at the
 other end it becomes1 as ,plato has it1
 the ,greek3 hermneuon kai the          
,interpreter and ,mediator between ,god 
and ,man4 ,the controversy as to the    
planetary or cosmical scope of the      
passion of ,love is in fact central to  
our whole subject4  ,it will give       
clearness to the question in dispute if 
,i quote here a strong expression of    
each view in turn4 ,for the             

physiological or materialist conception 
of the passion of love1--where love's   
subliminal element is held to be of the 
organic type1--set forth in no light or 
cynical spirit1 but with the moral      
earnestness of a modern ,lucretius1 ,i  
can turn to no better authority than    
,professor ,pierre ,janet4 ,the passage 
which follows is no mere boutade or     
paradox2 it is a kind of culminating    
expression of the theory which regards  
the supraliminal man as the normal man1 
and distrusts all deep disturbance of   
his accustomed psychical routine4       
,it is commonly said that love is a     
passion to which man is always          
liable1 and which may surprise him at   
any moment of his life from      #ae to 
#ge4 ,this does not seem to me accurate2
 and a man is not      throughout all   
his life and at every moment susceptible
 of falling      in love 7de devenir    
amoureux74 ,when a man is in good       
physical and      moral health1 when he 
has easy and complete command of all his

      ideas1 he may expose himself to   
circumstances the most capable of       
giving rise to a passion1 but he will   
not feel it4 ,his desires will      be  
reasonable and obedient to his will1    
leading the man only so far      as he  
wishes to go1 and disappearing when he  
wishes to be rid of      them4 ,on the  
other hand1 if a man is morally below   
the mark      7malade au moral71--if in 
consequence of physical fatigue or      
excessive intellectual work1 or of      
violent shocks and prolonged            
sorrow1 he is exhausted1 melancholy1    
distracted1 timid1 incapable      of    
controlling his ideas1--in a word1      
depressed1--then he will      fall in   
love1 or receive the germ of some kind  
of passion1 on the      first and most  
trivial occasion4444 ,the least thing is
 then enough2      the sight of some    
face1 a gesture1 a word1 which          
previously would      have left us      
altogether indifferent1 strikes us1 and 
becomes the      starting point of a    

long amorous malady4 ,or more than this1
 an      object which had made no       
impression on us1 at a moment when our  
mind was healthier and not capable of   
inoculation1 may have left in      us   
some insignificant memory which         
reappears in a moment of morbid         
receptivity4 ,that is enough2 the germ  
is sown in a favourable soil2      it   
will develop itself and grow4           
,there is at first1 as in every virulent
 malady1 a period of      incubation2   
the new idea passes and repasses in the 
vague reveries      of the enfeebled    
consciousness2 then seems for a few days
 to have      disappeared and to leave  
the mind to recover from its passing    
trouble4 ,but the idea has done its work
 below the surface2 it has      become  
strong enough to shake the body2 and to 
provoke movements      whose origin lies
 outside the primary consciousness4     
,what is the      surprise of a sensible
 man when he finds himself piteously    
returning beneath the windows of his    

charmer1 whither his wandering      feet
 have taken him without his             
knowledge2--or when in the midst of     
his daily work he hears his lips        
murmuring perpetually the               
well-known name6444 ,such is passion in 
its reality2 not as      idealised by   
fantastic description1 but reduced to   
its essential      psychological        
characteristics4 7,l',automatisme       
,psychologique1 p4      #dff47  ,on the 
other side ,i will appeal to ,plato     
himself1 giving a brief sketch merely of
 one of the leading passages            
7,symposium1 #aib-bab7 where the        
,platonic conception of love is set     
forth4#ch  ,plato begins by recognising1
 as fully as pessimist or cynic could   
do1 the absolute inadequacy of what is  
called on earth the satisfaction of this
 profound desire4 ,lovers who love      
aright will feel that no physical       
nearness can content them1 but what will
 content them they cannot say4 ,their   
soul1 says ,plato1 is manifestly        

desiring something else2 and what it is 
she cannot tell1 only she darkly        
prophesies thereof and guesses it from  
afar4 ,but if ,hephstus with his forging
 fire were to stand beside that pair and
 say3 ',is this what ye desire--to be   
wholly one8 to be together by night and 
day8--for ,i am ready to melt you       
together and to make you grow in one1 so
 that from two ye shall become one only1
 and in this life shall be undivided1   
and dying shall die together1 and in the
 underworld shall be a single           
soul'2--there is no lover who would not 
eagerly accept the offer1 and           
acknowledge it as the expression of the 
unknown yearning and the fulfilment of  
the ancient need4 ,and through the mouth
 of ,diotima1 ,plato insists that it is 
an unfailing sign of true love that its 
desires are for ever2 nay1 that love may
 be even defined as the desire of the   
everlasting possession of the good4 ,and
 in all love's acts he finds the impress
 of man's craving for immortality1--for 

immortality whose only visible image for
 us on earth is the birth of children to
 us as we ourselves decay1--so that when
 the slow self-renewal of our own       
everchanging bodies has worn out and    
ceased1 we may be renewed in brighter1  
younger bodies which we desire to be    
born to us from whomsoever we find most 
fair4 ,and then1 says ,plato1 rising1 as
 ever1 from visible to invisible things1
 if active bodies have so strong a      
yearning that an endless series of      
lovely images of themselves may         
constitute1 as it were1 an earthly      
immortality for them when they have worn
 away1 how greatly must creative souls  
desire that partnership and close       
communion with other souls as fair as   
they may bring to birth a brood of lofty
 thoughts1 poems1 statues1 institutions1
 laws1--the fitting progeny of the soul8
  ,and he who in his youth hath the need
 of these things in him1 and grows to be
 a godlike man1 wanders about in search 
of a noble and well-nurtured soul2 and  

finding it1 and in presence of that     
beauty which he forgets not night or    
day1 brings forth the beautiful which he
 conceived long ago2 and the twain      
together tend that which he hath brought
 forth1 and are bound by a far closer   
bond than that of earthly children1     
since the children which are born to    
them are fairer and more immortal far4  
,who would not choose to have ,homer's  
offspring rather than any sons or       
daughters of men8 ,who would not choose 
the offspring which ,lycurgus left      
behind him1 to be the very salvation of 
,lacedmon and of ,greece8 or the        
children of ,solon1 whom we call ,father
 of our ,laws8 or of other men like     
these1 whether ,greeks or barbarians1   
who by great deeds that they have done  
have become the begetters of every kind 
of virtue8--ay1 and to these men's      
children have temples been set up1 and  
never to any other progeny of man4444   
,he1 then1 who to this end would strive 
aright1 must begin in youth to seek fair

 forms1 and should learn first to love  
one fair form only1 and therein to      
engender noble thoughts4 ,and then he   
will perceive that the beauty of one    
fair form is to the beauty of another   
near akin2 and that if it be ,beauty's  
self he seek1 it were madness not to    
account the beauty of all forms as one  
same thing2 and considering this1 he    
will be the lover of all lovely shapes1 
and will abate his passion for one shape
 alone1 despising and deeming it but a  
little thing4 ,and this will lead him on
 to see that the beauty of the soul is  
far more precious than any beauty of    
outward form1 so that if he find a fair 
soul1 though it be in a body which hath 
but little charm1 he will be constant   
thereunto1 and bring to birth such      
thoughts as teach and strengthen1 till  
he lead that soul on to see the beauty  
of actions and of laws1 and how all     
beauty is in truth akin1 and the body's 
beauty is but a little matter2 and from 
actions he will lead him on to sciences1

 that he may see how sciences are fair2 
and looking on the abundance of beauty  
may no longer be as the slave or bondman
 of one beauty or of one law2 but       
setting sail into the ocean of beauty1  
and creating and beholding many fair and
 glorious thoughts and images in a      
philosophy without stint or stay1 he may
 thus at last wax strong and grow1 and  
may perceive that there is one science  
only1 the science of infinite beauty4   
,for he who hath thus far had           
intelligence of love1 and hath beheld   
all fair things in order and aright1--he
 drawing near to the end of things      
lovable shall behold a ,,being          
marvellously fair2 for whose sake in    
truth it is that all the previous       
labours have been undergone3 ,one who is
 from everlasting1 and neither is born  
nor perisheth1 nor can wax nor wane1 nor
 hath change or turning or alteration of
 foul and fair2 nor can that beauty be  
imagined after the fashion of face or   
hands or bodily parts and members1 nor  

in any form of speech or knowledge1 nor 
as dwelling in aught but in itself2     
neither in beast nor man nor earth nor  
heaven nor any other creature2 but      
,beauty only and alone and separate and 
eternal1 which1 albeit all other fair   
things partake thereof and grow and     
perish1 itself without change or        
increase or diminution endures for      
everlasting4 ,and whoso being led on and
 upward by human loves begins to see    
that ,beauty1 he is not far1 ,i say1    
from reaching the end of all4 ,and      
surely then1 ,o ,socrates 7said that    
guest from ,mantinea71 man's life is    
worth the living1 when he beholds that  
,primal ,fair2 which when thou seest it 
shall not seem to thee to be made after 
the fashion of gold or raiment or those 
forms of earth1--whom now beholding thou
 art stricken dumb1 and fain1 if it were
 possible1 without thought of meat or   
drink1 wouldst look and love for ever4  
,what would it be1 then1 were it granted
 to any man to see ,very ,beauty        

clear2--incorruptible and undefiled1 not
 mingled with colour or flesh of man1 or
 with aught that can consume away1 but  
single and divine8 ,could man's life1 in
 that vision and beatitude1 be poor or  
low8 or deemest thou not 7said she71    
that then alone it will be possible for 
this man1 discerning spiritual beauty   
with those eyes by which it is          
spiritually discerned1 to beget no      
shadows of virtue1 since that is no     
shadow to which he clings1 but virtue in
 very truth1 since he hath the very     
,truth in his embrace8 and begetting and
 rearing ,virtue as his child1 he must  
needs become the friend of ,god2 and if 
there be any man who is immortal1 that  
man is he4  ,between the aspects of love
 here expressed in extreme terms1--the  
planetary aspect1 if ,i may so term it1 
and the cosmical1--the choice is        
momentous4 ,i do not indeed say that in 
our estimate of love is involved our    
estimate of ,religion2 for ,religion    
should mean the sane response of the    

spirit to all that is known of ,cosmic  
,law4 ,but ,religion in the sense in    
which it is often used1--our emotional  
and ethical attitude towards ,life      
,unseen2--this is in reality too closely
 parallel to ,platonic ,love to allow   
the psychologist who denies reality in  
the one to assume reality in the other4 
,for the ,platonic lover the image of   
the ,beloved one--no longer a matter of 
conscious summons and imagination--has  
become the indwelling and instinctive   
impulse to noble thought and deed4 ,even
 such to a ,francis or to a ,theresa is 
the image of the ,divinity whom they    
adore2 and if they claim that sometimes 
in moments of crisis they feel a sway1 a
 guidance1 a communicatio idiomatum with
 the ,divine1 we may point in reply to  
the humbler1 but more tangible1 evidence
 which assures us that even between     
souls still inhabiting and souls who    
have quitted the flesh there may exist a
 telepathic intercommunication and an   
impalpable confluence from afar4  ,brief

 as this survey has been1 it has served 
to indicate that the psychical type to  
which we have applied the name of genius
 may be recognized in every region of   
thought and emotion1 as in each         
direction a man's every-day self may be 
more or less permeable to subliminal    
impulses4 ,coming1 then1 to the         
question1 ,what is the origin of genius8
 ,i cannot accept the ordinary          
explanation that it is a mere sport or  
mental by-product1 occurring as physical
 sports do in the course of evolution4  
,the view which ,i hold1--the view which
 ,i am here suggesting1 is in some sort 
a renewal of the old ,platonic          
reminiscence1 in the light of that      
fuller knowledge which is common        
property to-day4 ,i hold that in the    
protoplasm or primary basis of all      
organic life there must have been an    
inherent adaptability to the            
manifestation of all faculties which    
organic life has in fact manifested4 ,i 
hold1 of course1 that sports or         

variations occur1 which are at present  
unpredictable1 and which reveal in      
occasional offspring faculties which    
their parents showed no signs of        
possessing4 ,but ,i differ from those   
who hold that the faculty itself thus   
manifested is now for the first time    
initiated in that stock by some chance  
combination of hereditary elements4 ,i  
hold that it is not initiated1 but only 
revealed2 that the sport has not called 
a new faculty into being1 but has merely
 raised an existing faculty above the   
threshold of supraliminal consciousness4
  ,this view1 if pushed back far enough1
 is no doubt inconsistent with the way  
in which evolution is generally         
conceived4 ,for it denies that all human
 faculties must have been evoked by     
terrene experience4 ,it assumes a       
subliminal self1 with unknown faculties1
 originated in some unknown way1 and not
 merely by contact with the needs which 
the terrene organism has had to meet4   
,it thus seems at first sight to be     

introducing a new mystery1 and to be    
introducing it in a gratuitous way4  ,to
 this ,i reply in the first place that  
so far as the origin of man's known     
powers is concerned1 no fresh mystery is
 in fact introduced4 ,all human powers1 
to put the thing broadly1 have somehow  
or other to be got into protoplasm and  
then got out again4 ,you have to explain
 first how they became implicit in the  
earliest and lowest living thing1 and   
then how they have become thus far      
explicit in the latest and highest4 ,all
 the faculties of that highest being1 ,i
 repeat1 existed virtually in the       
lowest1 and in so far as the admitted   
faculties are concerned1 the difference 
between my view and the ordinary view   
may be said to be little more than a    
difference as to the sense which that   
word virtually is here to assume4  ,the 
real difference between the two views   
appears when the faculties which ,i have
 called unknown come to be considered4  
,if they are held to be real1 my view is

 certainly the better able to embrace   
them4 ,i hold that telepathy and        
telsthesia do in fact exist--telepathy1 
a communication between incarnate mind  
and incarnate mind1 and perhaps between 
incarnate minds and minds unembodied2   
telsthesia1 a knowledge of things       
terrene which overpasses the limits of  
ordinary perception1 and which perhaps  
also achieves an insight into some other
 than terrene world4 ,and these         
faculties1 ,i say1 cannot have been     
acquired by natural selection1 for the  
preservation of the race1 during the    
process of terrene evolution2 they were 
7as we may phrase it7 the products of   
extra-terrene evolution4 ,and if they   
were so1 man's other powers may well    
have been so also4 ,the specialised     
forms of terrene perception were not    
real novelties in the universe1 but     
imperfect adaptations of protoplasm to  
the manifestation of the indwelling     
general perceptive power4 ,the          
mathematical faculty1 for instance 7we  

may1 perhaps1 say with ,plato71         
pre-existed4 ,when ,dase solved all     
those sums in his head1 his power of    
solving them was not a fresh development
 in his ancestral stock1 but depended on
 the accidental adaptation of his       
organism to the manifestation of the    
indwelling computative power4 ,i do not 
indeed venture to follow ,plato in his  
ontogenetic argument--his claim that the
 individual computator has had already  
an individual training in computation4  
,i do not say that ,dase himself learnt 
or divined the multiplication-table in  
some ideal world4 ,i only say that ,dase
 and all the rest of us are the spawn or
 output of some unseen world in which   
the multiplication-table is1 so to      
speak1 in the air4 ,dase trailed it     
after him1 as the poet says of the      
clouds of glory1 when he descended into 
generation in a humble position at      
,hamburg4  ,in him and in his ancestors 
were many faculties which were called   
out by the struggle for existence1 and  

became supraliminal4 ,but there were    
many faculties also which were not thus 
called out1 and which consequently      
remained subliminal4 ,to these          
faculties1 as a rule1 his supraliminal  
self could get no access4 ,but by some  
chance of evolution--some sport--a      
vent-hole was opened at this one point  
between the different strata of his     
being1 and a subliminal uprush carried  
his computative faculty into the open   
day4  ,two things1 of course1 are       
assumed in this argument for which      
,science offers no guarantee4 ,i assume 
in the man a soul which can draw        
strength and grace from a spiritual     
,universe1 and conversely ,i assume in  
the ,universe a ,spirit accessible and  
responsive to the soul of man4 ,these   
are familiar postulates4 ,every religion
 has claimed them in turn2 although     
every religion in turn has so narrowed  
their application as grievously to      
narrow the evidence available for their 
support4 ,but that which religions have 

claimed for their ,founders or for their
 ,saints--and what is sanctity but the  
genius of the ethical                   
realm8--,psychology must claim for every
 form of spiritual indrawing1 every form
 of spiritual response2 for sleeping    
vision1 for hypnotic rejuvenation1 for  
sensory and motor automatisms1 for      
trance1 for ecstasy4 ,the philosopher   
who has cried with ,marcus ,aurelius    
,either ,providence or atoms6--who has  
declared that without this basis in the 
,unseen1 the moral ,cosmos would be     
reduced to a ,chaos2--should he not     
welcome even the humblest line of       
research which fain would gather from   
every unsolved problem some hint as to  
the spiritual law unknown which in time 
may give the solution of all8  ,we know 
not in what directions--directions how  
definitely predetermined--even physical 
organisms can vary from the common type4
 ,we know not what amount of energy any 
given plant or animal can absorb and    
incorporate from earth and air and sun4 

,still less can we predict or limit the 
possible variations of the soul1 the    
fulness which it may receive from the   
,world-,soul1 its possible heritage of  
grace and truth4 ,but in genius we can  
watch at each stage the processes of    
this celestial nurture4 ,we can imagine 
the outlook of joyous trustfulness2 we  
can almost seem1 with ,wordsworth1 to   
remember the child's soul entering into 
the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,childhood is  
genius without capacity2 it makes for   
most of us our best memory of           
inspiration1 and our truest outlook upon
 the real1 which is the ideal1 world4   
,from a greater distance we can watch   
the inward stir of mighty thought1 the  
same for schylus1 for ,newton1 for      
,virgil2--a stir independent of worldly 
agitation2 like the swing and libration 
of the tide-wave across the ocean1 which
 takes no note of billow or of storm4   
,nay1 we can see against the sun the    
eagle soaring above the tomb of ,plato1 
and in ,paul1 as in ,plotinus1 we can   

catch that sense of self-fulfilment in  
self-absorption1 of rapture1 of         
deliverance1 which the highest minds    
have bequeathed to us as the heritage of
 their highest hours4  ,these our       
spiritual ancestors are no eccentrics   
nor degenerates2 they have made for us  
the sanest and most fruitful experiment 
yet made by man2 they have endeavoured  
to exalt the human race in a way in     
which it can in truth be exalted2 they  
have drawn on forces which exist1 and on
 a ,soul which answers2 they have dwelt 
on those things by dwelling on which it 
is1 as ,plato has it1 that even ,god is 
divine4     ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,sleep     
,greek3 olbia d' hapantes aisa lysiponon
 metanissontai teleutan4   kai sma men  
pantn hepetai thanat peristhenei1   zon 
d' eti leipetai ainos eidlon2 to gar    
esti monon   ek then2 heudei de         
prassontn melen1 atar heudontessin en   
pollois oneirois   deiknysi terpnn      
epserpoisan chalepn te krisin4          
--,,pindar4   ,the preceding chapters   

have carried us two steps upon our way4 
,in ,chapter ,,ii4 we gained some       
insight into the structure of human     
personality by analysing some of the    
accidents to which it is subject2 in the
 third chapter we viewed this           
personality in its normal waking state1 
and considered how that norm should be  
defined1 and in what manner certain     
fortunate persons had integrated the    
personality still further by utilising  
uprushes of subliminal faculty to       
supplement or to crystallise the        
products of supraliminal thought4  ,the 
review of these two chapters indicates  
clearly enough what my next step must   
be4 ,it is obvious that in my review of 
phases or alternations of personality ,i
 have left out of sight the most        
constant1 the most important alternation
 of all4 ,i have thus far said nothing  
of sleep4 ,yet that change of           
personality1 at least1 has been borne in
 on every one's notice2--not1 certainly1
 as a morbid curiosity1 but as an       

essential part of life4  ,let us then   
consider the specific characteristics of
 sleep4 ,the definition of sleep is an  
acknowledged crux in physiology4 ,and ,i
 would point out that the increased     
experience of hypnotic sleep which      
recent years have afforded has made this
 difficulty even more striking than     
before4 ,a physiological explanation    
must needs assume that some special     
bodily condition1--such1 for instance1  
as the clogging of the brain by         
waste-products1--is at least the usual  
antecedent of sound sleep4 ,but it is   
certain1 on the other hand1 that with a 
large percentage of persons profound and
 prolonged sleep can be induced1 in any 
bodily condition1 by simple suggestion4 
,hypnosis1 indeed 7as ,wetterstrand and 
others have shown7 may be prolonged1    
with actual benefit to the sleeper1 far 
beyond the point which the spontaneous  
sleep of a healthy subject ever reaches4
 ,a good subject can be awakened and    
thrown into hypnosis again almost at    

pleasure1 and independently of any state
 either of nutrition or of fatigue4     
,such sleep belongs to those phenomena  
which we may call nervous if we will1   
but which we can observe or influence   
from the psychological side alone4  ,we 
can hardly hope1 from the ordinary data1
 to arrive at a definition of sleep more
 satisfactory than others have reached4 
,we must defer that attempt until we    
have collected something more than the  
ordinary evidence as to what occurs or  
does not occur during the abeyance of   
waking life4 ,one point1 however1 is    
plain at once4 ,we cannot treat         
sleep1--as it has generally been        
treated1--in its purely negative aspect4
 ,we cannot be content merely to dwell1 
with the common text-books1 on the mere 
absence of waking faculties2--on the    
diminution of external perception1 the  
absence of controlling intelligence4 ,we
 must treat sleep positively1 so far as 
we can1 as a definite phase of our      
personality1 co-ordinate with the waking

 phase4 ,each phase1 as ,i believe1 has 
been differentiated alike from a        
primitive indifference2--from a         
condition of lowly organisms which      
merited the name neither of sleep nor of
 waking4 ,nay1 if there were to be a    
contest as to which state should be     
deemed primary and which secondary1     
sleep might put forward its claim to be 
regarded as the more primitive phase4   
,it is sleep rather than vigilance which
 prenatal and infantile life suggest2   
and even for us adults1 however much we 
may associate ourselves in thought with 
the waking state alone1 that state has  
at least thus much of secondary and     
adventitious that it is maintained for  
short periods only1 which we cannot     
artificially lengthen1 being plainly    
unable to sustain itself without        
frequent recourse to that fuller influx 
of vitality which slumber brings4  ,out 
of slumber proceeds each fresh arousal  
and initiation of waking activities4    
,what other activities may in slumber be

 aroused and initiated the evidence to  
be set forth in this chapter should help
 us to say4 ,to some extent at least the
 abeyance of the supraliminal life must 
be the liberation of the subliminal4 ,to
 some extent the obscuration of the     
noonday glare of man's waking           
consciousness must reveal the           
far-reaching faint corona of his        
unsuspected and impalpable powers4      
,entering1 then1 upon a review of       
sleeping faculty1 thus inevitably       
imperfect1 we may best begin from the   
red end of our spectrum of              
consciousness2--the red end which       
represents the deepest power which      
waking effort can exert upon our        
physical organism4  ,our survey of the  
efficacy of sleep1 indeed1 must make its
 beginning beyond that limit4 ,for      
assuredly in sleep some agency is at    
work which far surpasses waking efficacy
 in this respect4 ,it is a fully        
admitted1 although an absolutely        
unexplained fact1 that the regenerative 

quality of healthy sleep is something   
sui generis1 which no completeness of   
waking quiescence can rival or approach4
 ,a few moments of sleep--a mere blur   
across the field of consciousness--will 
sometimes bring a renovation which hours
 of lying down in darkness and silence  
would not yield4 ,a mere bowing of the  
head on the breast1 if consciousness    
ceases for a second or two1 may change a
 man's outlook on the world4 ,at such   
moments1--and many persons1 like myself1
 can fully vouch for their reality1--one
 feels that what has occurred in one's  
organism1--alteration of blood-pressure1
 or whatever it be1--has been in some   
sense discontinuous2 that there has been
 a break in the inward rgime1 amounting 
to much more than a mere brief ignoring 
of stimuli from without4 ,the break of  
consciousness is associated in some way 
with a potent physiological change4     
,that is to say1 even in the case of a  
moment of ordinary sleep we already note
 the appearance of that special         

recuperative energy which is familiar in
 longer periods of sleep1 and which1 as 
we shall presently see1 reaches a still 
higher level in hypnotic trance4  ,this 
recuperative power1 then1 lies just     
beyond the red end of our spectrum of   
waking faculty4 ,in that obscure region 
we note only added power2 an increased  
control over organic functions at the   
foundation of bodily life4 ,but when we 
pass on within the limits of our        
spectrum of waking consciousness2--when 
we come to control over voluntary       
muscles1 or to sensory capacity1 we find
 that our comparison between sleeping   
and waking faculty is no longer a simple
 one4 ,on the one hand1 there is of     
course a general blank and abeyance of  
control over the realm of waking        
energies2--or in partial sleep a mere   
fantastic parody of those energies in   
incoherent dream4 ,on the other hand1 we
 find that sleep is capable of strange  
developments1--and that night can       
sometimes suddenly outdo the most       

complex achievements of day4  ,take     
first the degree of control over the    
voluntary muscles4 ,in ordinary sleep   
this is neither possessed nor desired2  
in nightmare its loss is exaggerated1 in
 quasi-hysterical fashion1 into an      
appalling fear2 while in                
somnambulism1--a kind of new personality
 developed ad hoc1--the sleeper 7as we  
shall see later on7 walks on perilous   
ridges with steady feet4 ,i have already
 said that morbid somnambulism bears to 
sound sleep a relation something like   
that which hysteria bears to normal     
life4 ,but between the healthy          
somnambulist and the subject of         
nightmare we find from another point of 
view a contrast resembling that between 
the man of genius and the hysteric4 ,the
 somnambulist1 like the man of genius1  
brings into play resources which are    
beyond ordinary reach4 ,on the other    
hand1 just as in many hysterics certain 
ordinary powers of movement have lapsed 
below voluntary control1 so also the    

dreamer who dimly wishes to move a      
constrained limb is often unable to send
 thither a sufficient current of motor  
energy to effect the desired change of  
position4 ,that nightmare inability to  
move1 which we thus feel in dream1--when
 neither he that fleeth can flee1 nor he
 that pursueth pursue1--that sensation  
which both ,homer and ,virgil have      
selected as the type of paralysing      
bewilderment1#ci--this is just the      
aboulia of the hysteric2--the condition 
when it takes a man half an hour to put 
on his hat1 or when a woman sits all the
 morning looking at her knitting1 but   
unable to add a stitch4  ,somnambulism1 
however1 is too vague and undefined a   
term for our present discussion4 ,it    
will only be by a comparison with       
hypnotism1 in the next chapter1 that we 
can hope to get some clearer notion of  
sleep-waking states4  ,let us pass on to
 consider entencephalic sensory         
faculty1--mind's eye faculty1--as shown 
in sleep or dream4 ,here too we shall   

find the same rule to prevail as with   
motor faculty4 ,that is to say1 on the  
whole the sensory faculty is of course  
dimmed and inhibited by sleep2 but there
 are nevertheless indications of a power
 subsisting as vividly as ever1 or with 
even added acuteness4  ,baillarger in   
,france and ,griesinger in ,germany     
7both about #ahde7 were among the first 
to call attention to the vivid images   
which rise before the internal vision of
 many persons1 between sleep and waking4
 ,m4 ,alfred ,maury1 the well-known     
,greek scholar and antiquary1 gave to   
these images a few years later the title
 of illusions hypnagogiques1 and        
published a remarkable series of        
observations upon himself4 ,mr4 ,galton 
has further treated of them in his      
,inquiry into ,human ,faculty2 and cases
 will be found in ,phantasms of the     
,living1 vol4 i1 pp4 #cij1 #dgc1 etc4   
,these visions may be hypnopompic as    
well as hypnagogic2--may appear1 that is
 to say1 at the moment when slumber is  

departing as well as at the moment when 
it is coming on2--and in either case    
they are closely related to dreams2 the 
hypnagogic illusions or pictures being  
sometimes repeated in dream 7as with    
,maury71 and the hypnopompic pictures   
consisting generally in the persistence 
of some dream-image into the first      
moments of waking4 ,in either case they 
testify to an intensified power of      
inward visualisation at a very          
significant moment2--a moment which is  
actually or virtually one of sleep1 but 
which yet admits of definite comparison 
with adjacent moments of waking4 ,we may
 call the condition one of cerebral or  
mind's eye hypersthesia1--an exalted    
sensibility of special brain-centres in 
response to those unknown internal      
stimuli which are always giving rise to 
similar but fainter inward visions even 
in broadly waking hours4  ,for those who
 are already good visualisers such      
phenomena as these1 though striking     
enough1 present no quite unique         

experience4 ,for bad visualisers1 on the
 other hand1 the vividness of these     
hypnagogic pictures may be absolutely a 
revelation4  ,the degree of acuteness1  
not of the visualising faculty alone1   
but of all the senses in dream1 is a    
subject for direct observation1 and     
even--for persons who can at all control
 their dreams--for direct experiment4   
,some correspondents report a           
considerable apparent accession of      
sensory power in dream4 ,others again   
speak of the increased vividness of     
dramatic conception1 or of what has been
 called in a hypnotic subject           
objectivation of types4 ,in each of     
these dreams1 writes one lady1 ,i was a 
man2--in one of them a low brute1 in the
 other a dipsomaniac4 ,i never had the  
slightest conception of how such persons
 felt or thought until these            
experiences4 ,another correspondent     
speaks of dreaming two disconnected     
dreams1--one emotional and one          
geometrical1--simultaneously1 and of    

consequent sense of confusion and       
fatigue4  ,the ,chapter on ,dreams1 in  
,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson's volume1 ,across the
 ,plains 7already referred to in the    
last chapter71 contains a description of
 the most successful dream-experiments  
thus far recorded4 ,by self-suggestion  
before sleep ,stevenson could secure a  
visual and dramatic intensity of        
dream-representation which furnished him
 with the motives for some of his most  
striking romances4 ,his account1 written
 with admirable psychological insight1  
is indispensable to students of this    
subject4 ,i am mentioning these         
well-known phenomena1 as the reader will
 understand1 with a somewhat novel      
purpose--to show1 namely1 that the      
internal sensory perceptions or         
imaginative faculty of sleep may exceed 
that of vigilance in something the same 
way as the recuperative agency of sleep 
surpasses the vis medicatrix of waking  
hours4  ,i pass on to a less frequent   
phenomenon1 which shows us at once      

intense imagination during sleep1 and a 
lasting imprint left by these           
imaginations upon the waking            
organism2--an unintended self-suggestion
 which we may compare with ,stevenson's 
voluntary self-suggestion mentioned just
 above4  ,the permanent result of a     
dream1 ,i say1 is sometimes such as to  
show that the dream has not been a mere 
superficial confusion of past waking    
experiences1 but has had an unexplained 
potency of its own1--drawn1 like the    
potency of hypnotic suggestion1 from    
some depth in our being which the waking
 self cannot reach4 ,two main classes of
 this kind are conspicuous enough to be 
easily recognised--those1 namely1 where 
the dream has led to a conversion or    
marked religious change1 and those where
 it has been the starting-point of an   
insistent idea or of a fit of actual    
insanity4#dj ,the dreams which convert1 
reform1 change character and creed1 have
 of course a prim facie claim to be     
considered as something other than      

ordinary dreams2 and their discussion   
may be deferred till a later stage of   
our inquiry4 ,those1 on the other hand1 
which suddenly generate an insistent    
idea of an irrational type are closely  
and obviously analogous to post-hypnotic
 self-suggestions1 which the self that  
inspired them cannot be induced to      
countermand4 ,such is the dream related 
by ,m4 ,taine1#da where a gendarme1     
impressed by an execution at which he   
has assisted1 dreams that he himself is 
to be guillotined1 and is afterwards so 
influenced by the dream that he attempts
 suicide4 ,several cases of this kind   
have been collected by ,dr4 ,faure2#db  
and ,dr4 ,tissi1 in his interesting     
little work1 ,les ,rves1 has added some 
curious instances from his own          
observation4  ,a striking illustration  
may be drawn from the following incident
 in the story of ,krafft-,ebing's       
patient1#dc ,ilma ,s41 the genuineness  
of whose stigmata seems proved by that  
physician's care in observation1 and by 

the painfulness of certain experiments  
performed upon her by students as       
practical jokes and against her will3-- 
,may #fth1 #ahhh4--,the patient is      
disturbed to-day4 ,she complains to     
the sister of severe pain under the left
 breast1 thinks that the      professor 
has burnt her in the night1 and begs the
 sister to obtain      a retreat for her
 in a convent1 where she will be secure 
against      such attacks4 ,the sister's
 refusal causes a hystero-epileptic     
attack4 ,at length1 in the hypnotic     
trance the patient gives the            
following explanation of the origin of  
the pain3 ,last night an old      man   
came to me2 he looked like a priest and 
came in company with a      ,sister of  
,charity1 on whose collet there was a   
large golden ,b4 ,i      was afraid of  
her4 ,the old man was amiable and       
friendly4 ,he dipped      a pen in the  
sister's pocket1 and with it wrote a ,w 
and ,b on my      skin under the left   
breast4 ,once he dipped his pen badly   

and made a      blot in the middle of   
the figure4 ,this spot and the ,b pain  
me      severely1 but the ,w does not4  
,the man explained the ,w as meaning    
that ,i should go to the ,m church and  
confess at the ,w      confessional4    
,after this account the patient cried   
out and said1 ,there stands      the man
 again4 ,now he has chains on his hands4
       ,when the patient woke into      
ordinary life she was suffering pain in 
the place indicated1 where there were   
superficial losses of      substance1   
penetrating to the corium1 which have a 
resemblance to a      reversed ,w and   
,b1 with a hypermic raised spot between 
the two4      ,nowhere in this peculiar 
neurotrophic alteration of the skin1    
which      is identical with those      
previously produced experimentally1 are 
there traces of inflammation4 ,the pain 
and the memory of the dream      were   
removed by the doctor's suggestion2 but 
the dream      self-suggestion to       
confess at the ,m church persisted2 and 

the      patient1 without knowing why1  
did actually go and confess to the      
priest of her vision4  ,in this last    
case we have a dream playing the part of
 a powerful post-hypnotic suggestion4   
,the meaning of this vague term         
suggestion we shall have to discuss in a
 later chapter4 ,it is enough to notice 
here the great power of a subliminal    
suggestion which can make an impression 
so much stronger not only than the usual
 evanescent touch of dream1 but than the
 actual experiences of waking day4  ,but
 this case may also serve to lead us on 
to further reflections as to the        
connection between dream-memory and     
hypnotic memory1 a connection which     
points1 as we shall presently see1      
towards the existence of some subliminal
 continuity of memory1 lying deeper down
 than the evocable memory of common     
life--the stock of conscious            
reminiscences on which we can draw at   
will4  ,with regard to memory1 as with  
regard to sensation1 we seem in waking  

life to be dealing with a selection made
 for purposes of earthly use4 ,from the 
pre-conscious unselective memory which  
depends on the mere organisation of     
living matter1 it is the task of        
consciousness1 as it dawns in each      
higher organism1 to make its own        
appropriate selection and to develop    
into distinctness certain helpful lines 
of reminiscence4 ,the question of       
self-preservation--,what must ,i needs  
be aware of in order to escape my       
foes8--involves the question1 ,what must
 ,i needs remember in order to act upon 
the facts of which ,i am aware8 ,the    
selected currents of memory follow the  
selected avenues of sensation2 what by  
disuse ,i lose the power of noticing at 
the time1 ,i also lose the power of     
recalling afterwards4  ,for simpler     
organisms this rule may perhaps suffice4
 ,man needs a more complex formula4 ,for
 it may happen1 as we have already seen1
 that two or more phases of personality 
in one man may each select from the mass

 of potential reminiscences a special   
group of memories of its own4 ,these    
special groups1 moreover1 may bear to   
one another all kinds of relations2 one 
may include another1 or they may        
alternate and may be apparently         
co-exclusive4  ,from these dissociations
 and alternations of memory there will  
be many lessons to learn4 ,the lesson   
which here presents itself is not the   
least important4 ,what is the relation  
of the sleeping state to these          
dissociated1 these parallel or          
concentric memories8 ,is it the case    
that when one memory includes another it
 is the waking memory--as one might     
expect from that state's apparently     
superior vividness--which shows itself  
the deeper1 the more comprehensive      
record8  ,the answer of actual          
experience to these questions is        
unexpectedly direct and clear4 ,in every
 recorded instance--so far at least as  
my memory serves me1 where there has    
been any unification between alternating

 states1 so as to make comparison       
possible--it is the memory furthest from
 waking life whose span is the widest1  
whose grasp of the organism's upstored  
impressions is the most profound4       
,inexplicable as this phenomenon has    
been to observers who have encountered  
it without the needed key1 the          
independent observations of hundreds of 
physicians and hypnotists have united in
 affirming its reality4 ,the commonest  
instance1 of course1 is furnished by the
 ordinary hypnotic trance4 ,the degree  
of intelligence1 indeed1 which finds its
 way to expression in that trance or    
slumber varies greatly in different     
subjects and at different times4 ,but   
whensoever there is enough of alertness 
to admit of our forming a judgment1 we  
find that in the hypnotic state there is
 a considerable memory--though not      
necessarily a complete or a reasoned    
memory--of the waking state2 whereas    
with most subjects in the waking        
state--unless some special command be   

imposed upon the hypnotic self--there is
 no memory whatever of the hypnotic     
state4 ,in many hysterical conditions   
also the same general rule subsists2    
namely1 that the further we get from the
 surface the wider is the expanse of    
memory which we encounter4  ,if all this
 be true1 there are several points on   
which we may form expectations definite 
enough to suggest inquiry4 ,ordinary    
sleep is roughly intermediate between   
waking life and deep hypnotic trance2   
and it seems a priori probable that its 
memory will have links of almost equal  
strength with the memory which belongs  
to waking life and the memory which     
belongs to the hypnotic trance4 ,and    
this is in fact the case2 the fragments 
of dream-memory are interlinked with    
both these other chains4 ,thus1 for     
example1 without any suggestion to that 
effect1 acts accomplished in the        
hypnotic trance may be remembered in    
dream2 and remembered under the illusion
 which was thrown round them by the     

hypnotiser4 ,thus ,dr4 ,auguste ,voisin 
suggested to a hypnotised subject to    
stab a patient--really a stuffed        
figure--in the neighbouring bed4#dd ,the
 subject did so2 and of course knew     
nothing of it on waking4 ,but three days
 afterwards he returned to the hospital 
complaining that his dreams were haunted
 by the figure of a woman1 who accused  
him of having stabbed and killed her4   
,appropriate suggestion laid this ghost 
of a doll4  ,conversely1 dreams         
forgotten in waking life may be         
remembered in the hypnotic trance4 ,thus
 ,dr4 ,tissi's patient1 ,albert1 dreamt 
that he was about to set out on one of  
his somnambulic fugues1 or aimless      
journeys1 and when hypnotised mentioned 
to the physician this dream1 which in   
his waking state he had forgotten4#de   
,the probable truth of this statement   
was shown by the fact that he did       
actually set out on the journey thus    
dreamt of1 and that his journeys were   
usually preceded and incited by         

remembered dreams4  ,i need not dwell on
 the existence1 but at the same time the
 incompleteness1 of our dream-memory of 
waking life2 nor on the occasional      
formation of a separate chain of memory1
 constructed from successive and        
cohering dreams4 ,it should be added    
that we do not really know how far our  
memory in dream of waking life may have 
extended2 since we can only infer this  
from our notoriously imperfect waking   
memory of past dreams4  ,a cognate      
anticipation to which our theory will   
point will be that dream-memory will    
occasionally be found to fill up gaps in
 waking memory1 other than those due to 
hypnotic trance2 such so-called ecmnesic
 periods1 for instance1 as sometimes    
succeed a violent shock to the system1  
and may even embrace some space of time 
anterior to the shock4 ,these periods   
themselves resemble prolonged and       
unremembered dreams4 ,such accidents1   
however1 are so rare1 and such          
dream-memory so hard to detect1 that ,i 

mention the point mainly for the sake of
 theoretical completeness2 and must     
think myself fortunate in being able to 
refer the reader to a recent case of ,m4
 ,charcot's which affords an interesting
 confirmation of the suggested view4#df 
,i pass on to the still more novel and  
curious questions involved in the       
apparent existence of a dream-memory    
which1 while accompanying the memory of 
ordinary life1 seems also to have a     
wider purview1 and to indicate that the 
record of external events which is kept 
within us is far fuller than we know4   
,let us consider what stages such a     
memory may show4  ,i4 ,it may include   
events once known to the waking self1   
but now definitely forgotten4  ,,ii4 ,it
 may include facts which have fallen    
within the sensory field1 but which have
 never been supraliminally apperceived  
or cognised in any way4 ,and thus also  
it may indicate that from this wider    
range of remembered facts               
dream-inferences have been drawn2--which

 inferences may be retrospective1       
prospective1 or1--if ,i may use a word  
of ,pope's with a new meaning1          
circumspective1--that is to say1        
relating not to the past or to the      
future1 but to the present condition of 
matters beyond the range of ordinary    
perception4 ,it is plain that inferences
 of this kind 7if they exist7 will be   
liable to be mistaken for direct        
retrocognition1 direct premonition1     
direct clairvoyance2 while yet they need
 not actually prove anything more than a
 perception on the part of the          
subliminal self more far-reaching1--a   
memory more stable1--than is the        
perception or the memory of the         
supraliminal self which we know4  ,these
 hypermnesic dreams1 then1 may afford a 
means of drawing our lines of evidence  
more exactly2 of relegating some        
marvellous narratives to a realm of     
lesser marvel1 and at the same time of  
realising more clearly what it is in the
 most advanced cases which ordinary     

theories are really powerless to        
explain4  ,as to the first of the       
above-mentioned categories no one will  
raise any doubt4 ,it is a familiar      
fact--or a fact only sufficiently       
unfamiliar to be noted with slight      
surprise--that we occasionally recover  
in sleep a memory which has wholly      
dropped out of waking consciousness4    
,in such cases the original piece of    
knowledge has at the time made a        
definite impress on the mind1--has come 
well within the span of apprehension of 
the supraliminal consciousness4 ,its    
reappearance after however long an      
interval is a fact to which there are   
already plenty of parallels4 ,but the   
conclusion to which some cases seem to  
me to point is one of a much stranger   
character4 ,i think that there is       
evidence to show that many facts or     
pictures which have never even for a    
moment come within the apprehension of  
the supraliminal consciousness are      
nevertheless retained by the subliminal 

memory1 and are occasionally presented  
in dreams with what seems a definite    
purpose4 ,i quote an interesting case in
 ,appendix ,,iv4 ,a4#dg  ,the same      
point1 as we shall hereafter see1 is    
illustrated by the phenomena of         
crystal-vision4 ,miss                   
,goodrich-,freer1#dh for example1 saw in
 the crystal the announcement of the    
death of a friend2--a piece of news     
which certainly had never been          
apprehended by her ordinary conscious   
self4 ,on referring to the ,times1 it   
was found that an announcement of the   
death of some one of the same unusual   
name was contained in a sheet with which
 she had screened her face from the     
fire2--so that the words may have fallen
 within her range of vision1 although   
they had not reached what we broadly    
call her waking mind4  ,this instance   
was of value from the strong probability
 that the news could never have been    
supraliminally known at all2--since it  
was too important to have been merely   

glanced at and forgotten4  ,in these    
cases the dream-self has presented a    
significant scene1--has chosen1 so to   
say1 from its gallery of photographs the
 special picture which the waking mind  
desired1--but has not needed to draw any
 more complex inference from the facts  
presumably at its disposal4 ,i have now 
to deal with a small group of dreams    
which reason as well as remember2--if   
indeed in some of them there be not     
something more than mere reasoning on   
facts already in some way               
acquired1--something which overpasses   
the scheme prescribed for the present   
chapter4  ,in the first place we cannot 
doubt that definite data already known  
may sometimes be treated in somnambulism
 or ordinary dream with more than waking
 intelligence4 ,such are the cases of   
mathematical problems solved in         
somnambulism1 or of the skeletal        
arrangement discovered by ,agassiz in   
common sleep for scattered bones which  
had baffled his waking skill4 ,i give in

 ,appendix ,,iv4 ,b4 the striking case  
of ,professor ,hilprecht where          
dream-intelligence is carried to its    
highest point4 ,professor ,romaine      
,newbold 7who records the case7 is well 
versed in the analysis of evidence      
making for supernormal powers1 and his  
explanation of the vision as the result 
of processes of associative reasoning   
analogous to those of the upper         
consciousness must1 ,i think1 be taken  
as correct4 ,but had the incident       
occurred in a less critical age of the  
world1--in any generation1 one may say1 
but this1--how majestic a proof would   
the phantasmal ,babylonian's message be 
held to have afforded of his veritable  
co-operation with the modern savant in  
the reconstruction of his remote past6  
,i repeat that with this case of        
,professor ,hilprecht's we seem to have 
reached the utmost intensity of sleep   
faculty within the limits of our        
ordinary spectrum4 ,in almost every     
region of that spectrum we have found   

that the sleeper's faculty1 under its   
narrow conditions1 shows scattered signs
 of at least a potential equality with  
the faculty of waking hours4  ,we have  
already seen this as regards muscular   
movements1 as regards inward vision and 
audition1 and as regards memory2 and    
these last records complete the series  
by showing us the achievement in sleep  
of intellectual work of the severest    
order4 ,coleridge's ,kubla ,khan had    
long ago shown the world that a great   
poet might owe his masterpiece to the   
obscuration of waking sense4#di ,and the
 very imperfection of ,kubla ,khan--the 
memory truncated by an interruption--may
 again remind us how partial must ever  
be our waking knowledge of the          
achievements of sleep4  ,may ,i not1    
then1 claim a real analogy between      
certain of the achievements of sleep and
 the achievements of genius8 ,in both   
there is the same triumphant            
spontaneity1 the same sense of drawing  
no longer upon the narrow and brief     

endurance of nerves and brain1 but upon 
some unknown source exempt from those   
limitations4  ,thus far1 indeed1 the    
sleep-faculties which we have been      
considering1 however strangely          
intensified1 have belonged to the same  
class as the normal faculties of waking 
life4 ,we have now to consider whether  
we can detect in sleep any manifestation
 of supernormal faculty--any experience 
which seems to suggest that man is a    
cosmical spirit as well as a terrestrial
 organism1 and is in some way in        
relation with a spiritual as well as    
with a material world4 ,it will seem1 in
 this view1 to be natural that this     
commerce with a spiritual environment   
should be more perceptible in sleep than
 in waking4 ,the dogma which my point of
 view thus renders probable is perhaps1 
as a mere matter of history1 the dogma  
of all dogmas which has been most       
universally believed by mankind4  ,quod 
semper1 quod ubique1 quod ab            
omnibus--for how many narrow theological

 propositions have we not heard this    
proud claim--that they have been        
believed everywhere1 and by everybody1  
and in every age8 ,yet what can approach
 the antiquity1 the ubiquity1 the       
unanimity of man's belief in the        
wanderings of the spirit in dream8 ,in  
the ,stone ,age1 the sceptic would have 
been rash indeed who ventured to        
contradict it4 ,and though ,i grant that
 this palolithic psychology has gone out
 of fashion for the last few centuries1 
,i do not think that 7in view of the    
telsthetic evidence now collected7 we   
can any longer dismiss as a mere        
bizarrerie of dream-imagery the constant
 recurrence of the idea of visiting in  
sleep some distant scene1--with the     
acquisition thereby of new facts not    
otherwise accessible4  ,starting1 then1 
not from savage authority1 but from the 
evidential scrutiny of modern facts1 we 
shall find1 ,i think1 that there are    
coincidences of dream with truth which  
neither pure chance nor any subconscious

 mentation of an ordinary kind will     
adequately explain4 ,we shall find that 
there is a perception of concealed      
material objects or of distant scenes   
and also a perception of a communion    
with the thoughts and emotions of other 
minds4 ,both these phenomena have been  
noted sporadically in many ages and     
countries1 and were observed with       
serious attention especially by the     
early ,french mesmerists4 ,the first    
group of phenomena was called           
clairvoyance or lucidit1 and the second 
communication de penses1 or in ,english1
 thought-transference4 ,these terms are 
scarcely comprehensive enough to satisfy
 a more systematic study4 ,the distant  
perception is not optical1 nor is it    
confined even to the apparent sense of  
sight alone4 ,it extends to all the     
senses1 and includes also impressions   
hardly referable to any special sense4  
,similarly the communication between    
distant persons is not a transference of
 thought alone1 but of emotion1 of motor

 impulses1 and of many impressions not  
easy to define4 ,i ventured in #ahhb to 
suggest the wider terms telsthesia1     
sensation at a distance1 and telepathy1 
fellow-feeling at a distance1 and shall 
use these words in the present work4    
,but ,i am far from assuming that these 
terms correspond with definite and      
dearly separated groups of phenomena1 or
 comprise the whole field of supernormal
 faculty4 ,on the contrary1 ,i think it 
probable that the facts of the          
metetherial world are far more complex  
than the facts of the material world2   
and the ways in which spirits perceive  
and communicate1 apart from fleshly     
organisms1 are subtler and more varied  
than any perception or communication    
which we know4  ,i have halted above at 
another line of demarcation which the   
dreamer's own sensations suggest1--the  
distinction between active psychical    
excursion or invasion and the passive   
reception of psychical invasion from    
without4 ,but even here1 as was also    

hinted1 a clear line of division is hard
 to draw4 ,for whether we are dealing   
with dream-perceptions of distant       
material scenes1 or of distant living   
persons1 or of discarnate spirits1 it is
 often impossible for the dreamer       
himself to say either from what point he
 is himself observing1 or where the     
scene of the vision is laid4  ,for the  
present ,i must confine myself to a     
brief sketch of some of the main types  
of supernormal dreams1 arranged in a    
kind of ascending order4 ,i shall begin 
with such dreams as primarily suggest a 
kind of heightening or extension of the 
dreamer's own innate perceptive powers1 
as exercised on the world around him4   
,and ,i shall end with dreams which     
suggest his entrance into a spiritual   
world1 where commerce with incarnate or 
discarnate spirits is subject no longer 
to the conditions of earthly thought4   
,i begin1 then1 with some dreams which  
seem to carry perceptive faculty beyond 
the point at which some unusual form of 

common vision can be plausibly suggested
 in explanation4 ,mr4 ,lewis's dream of 
the landing-order 7,appendix ,,iv4 ,a7  
may be taken as an instance of such a   
dream4#ej  ,i will next refer to certain
 cases where the sleeper by clairvoyant 
vision discerns a scene of direct       
interest to a mind other than his       
own2--as the danger or death of some    
near friend4 ,sometimes there is a flash
 of vision1 which seems to represent    
correctly the critical scene4 ,sometimes
 there is what seems like a longer gaze1
 accompanied1 perhaps by some sense of  
communion with the invaded person4 ,and 
in some few cases--the most interesting 
of all--the circumstances of a death    
seem to be symbolically shown to a      
dreamer1 as though by the deceased      
person1 or by some intelligence         
connected with him4 7,see ,mrs4         
,storie's narrative p4 #aji47  ,one of  
the best instances of the flash of      
vision is ,canon ,warburton's1 which ,i 
quote from ,phantasms of the ,living1   

vol4 i4 p4 #cch--;a case whose          
remoteness is rendered less of a        
drawback than usual by the character of 
the narrator and the simplicity and     
definiteness of the fact attested4  ,the
 following is his account3--   ,,the    
,,close1 ,,winchester1 ,july #afth1     
#ahhc4       ,somewhere about the year  
#ahdh ,i went up from ,oxford to stay a 
day      or two with my brother1 ,acton 
,warburton1 then a barrister1 living    
at #aj ,fish ,street1 ,lincoln's ,inn4  
,when ,i got to his chambers ,i         
found a note on the table apologising   
for his absence1 and saying      that he
 had gone to a dance somewhere in the   
,west ,end1 and intended      to be home
 soon after one o'clock4 ,instead of    
going to bed1 ,i dozed      in an       
arm-chair1 but started up wide awake    
exactly at one1      ejaculating ,by    
,jove6 he's down6 and seeing him coming 
out of a      drawing-room into a       
brightly illuminated landing1 catching  
his foot      in the edge of the top    

stair1 and falling headlong1 just saving
      himself by his elbows and hands4  
7,the house was one which ,i had        
never seen1 nor did ,i know where it    
was47 ,thinking very little of      the 
matter1 ,i fell a-doze again for half an
 hour1 and was awakened      by my      
brother suddenly coming in and saying1  
,oh1 there you are6 ,i      have just   
had as narrow an escape of breaking my  
neck as ,i ever had      in my life4    
,coming out of the ballroom1 ,i caught  
my foot1 and      tumbled full length   
down the stairs4       ,that is all4 ,it
 may have been only a dream1 but ,i     
always thought      it must have been   
something more4  ,w4 ,,warburton4  ,in a
 second letter ,canon ,warburton adds3--
     ,july #bjth1 #ahhc4       ,my      
brother was hurrying home from his      
dance1 with some little                 
self-reproach in his mind for not having
 been at his chambers to      receive   
his guest1 so the chances are that he   
was thinking of me4      ,the whole     

scene was vividly present to me at the  
moment1 but ,i did      not note        
particulars any more than one would in  
real life4 ,the      general impression 
was of a narrow landing brilliantly     
illuminated1      and ,i remember       
verifying the correctness of this by    
questions at      the time4       ,this 
is my sole experience of the kind4      
,the last words are in answer to the    
question whether he had had      similar
 vivid visions which had not            
corresponded with any real      event4  
,the impression here produced is as     
though a jerk were given to some        
delicate link connecting the two        
brothers4 ,the brother suffering the    
crisis thinks vividly of the other2 and 
one can of course explain the incident1 
as we did on its first publication1 as  
the endangered man's projection of the  
scene upon his brother's mind4 ,the     
passive dozing brother1 on the other    
hand1 feels as though he were suddenly  
present in the scene1--say in response  

to some sudden call from the brother in 
danger1--and ,i am here bringing into   
relief that aspect of the incident1 on  
account of its analogy with cases soon  
to be quoted4 ,but the main lesson no   
doubt may be that no hard and fast line 
can be drawn between the two            
explanations4#ea  ,and here ,i feel     
bound to introduce a sample of a certain
 class of dreams1--more interesting1    
perhaps1 and certainly more perplexing  
than any2--but belonging to a category  
of phenomena which at present ,i can    
make no attempt to explain4 ,i mean     
precognitive dreams2--pictures or       
visions in which future events are      
foretold or depicted1 generally with    
more or less of symbolism1--and         
generally also in a mode so remote from 
the previsions of our earthly sagacity  
that we shall find ourselves driven1 in 
a later discussion1 to speak in vague   
terms of glimpses into a cosmic         
picture-gallery2--or of scenic          
representations composed and offered to 

us by intelligences higher and more     
distant than any spirit whom we have    
known4 ,i give in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,c1 a 
thoroughly characteristic               
example2--characteristic alike in its   
definiteness1 its purposelessness1 its  
isolated unintelligibility4  ,dr4       
,bruce's narrative1 which ,i next give  
in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,d1 written by an    
intelligent man1 while the facts were   
yet fresh1 seems to me of high          
importance4 ,if we accept the rest of   
his story1 we must1 ,i think1 suppose   
that the sense of spiritual presence    
with which the incident began was more  
than a mere subjective fancy4 ,shall we 
refer it to the murdered man's          
wife2--with whom the dreamer seemed     
afterwards to be in telepathic relation8
 ,or shall we interpret it as a kind of 
summons from the dying man1 drawing on1 
as it were1 his friend's spirit to      
witness the actual murder and the       
subsequent scene8 ,the fact that another
 friend1 in another locality apparently1

 had a vision of similar nature1 tells  
somewhat in favour of the supposition   
that the decedent's spirit was operative
 in both cases2 since we very seldom--if
 ever--find an agent producing an       
impression in two separate places at    
once--or nearly so--except at or just   
after the moment of death4  ,in this    
view1 the incident resembles a scene    
passing in a spiritual world4 ,the dying
 man summons his brother-in-law2 the    
brother-in-law visits the scene of      
murder1 and there spiritually           
communicates with his sister1 the widow1
 who is corporeally in that scene1 and  
then sees further details of the scene  
after death1 which he does not          
understand1 and which are not explained 
to him4  ,fantastic though this         
explanation seems1 it is not easy to hit
 on a simpler one which will cover the  
facts as stated4 ,could we accept it1 we
 should have a kind of transition       
between two groups of cases1 which      
although apparently so different may    

form parts of a continuous series4 ,i   
mean the cases where the dreamer visits 
a distant scene1 and the cases where    
another spirit visits the dreamer4      
,taking1 then1 ,dr4 ,bruce's case to    
bridge the interval between these two   
groups1 ,i go on to a case which        
properly belongs to the second1 though  
it still has much in common with the    
first4 ,i shall quote ,mrs4 ,storie's   
narrative at full length in the text2   
because the case is1 in my judgment1    
both evidentially very strong1 and also1
 in the naivet of its confusion1        
extremely suggestive of the way in which
 these psychical communications are     
made4 ,mrs4 ,storie1 who is now dead1   
was1 by the testimony of ,edmund        
,gurney1 ,professor ,sidgwick1 and      
others1 a witness eminently deserving of
 trust2 and1 besides a corroboration    
from her husband of the manifestation of
 a troubled dream1 before the event was 
known1 we have the actual notes written 
down by her1 as she informed us1 the    

day1 or the day after1 the news of the  
fatal accident arrived1 solely for her  
own use1 and unmistakably reflecting the
 incoherent impressiveness of the broken
 vision4 ,these notes form the narrative
 given in ,phantasms of the ,living     
7vol4 i4 p4 #cgj7 which ,i reproduce    
here4 ,the fact that the deceased       
brother was a twin of ,mrs4 ,storie's   
adds interest to the case1 since one    
clue 7a vague one as yet7 to the causes 
directing and determining telepathic    
communications lies in what seems their 
exceptional frequency between           
twins2--the closest of all relations4   
,,hobart ,,town1 ,july #ahgd4       ,on 
the evening of the #ahth ,july1 ,i felt 
unusually nervous4 ,this      seemed to 
begin with the occurrence of a small    
domestic annoyance      about half past 
eight o'clock4 ,when ,i went to my room 
,i even felt      as if some one was    
there4 ,i fancied1 as ,i stepped into   
bed1 that      some one in thought tried
 to stop me4 ,at #b o'clock ,i woke from

      the following dream4 ,it seemed   
like in dissolving views4 ,in a         
twinkle of light ,i saw a railway1 and  
the puff of the engine4 ,i      thought1
 ,what's going on up there8 ,travelling8
 ,i wonder if any of      us are        
travelling and ,i dreaming of it4 ,some 
one unseen by me      answered1 ,no2    
something quite different--something    
wrong4 ,i      don't like to look at    
these things1 ,i said4 ,then ,i saw     
behind and      above my head ,william's
 upper half reclining1 eyes and mouth   
half      shut2 his chest moved forward 
convulsively1 and he raised his right   
arm4 ,then he bent forward1 saying1 ,i  
suppose ,i should move out of      this4
 ,then ,i saw him lying1 eyes shut1 on  
the ground1 flat4 ,the      chimney of  
an engine at his head4 ,i called in     
excitement1 ,that      will strike him6 
,the some one answered ,yes--well1      
here's what      it was2 and immediately
 ,i saw ,william sitting in the open    
air--faint moonlight--on a raised place 

sideways4 ,he raised his      right arm1
 shuddered1 and said1 ,i can't go on1 or
 back1 ,no4      ,then he seemed lying  
flat4 ,i cried out1 ,oh6 ,oh6 and others
 seemed      to echo1 ,oh6 ,oh6 ,he     
seemed then upon his elbow1 saying1 ,now
 it      comes4 ,then as if struggling  
to rise1 turned twice round quickly1    
saying1 ,is it the train8 the train1 the
 train1 his right      shoulder         
reverberating as if struck from behind4 
,he fell back like      fainting2 his   
eyes rolled4 ,a large dark object came  
between us like      panelling of wood1 
and rather in the dark something rolled 
over1      and like an arm was thrown   
up1 and the whole thing went away with a
      swish4 ,close beside me on the    
ground there seemed a long dark         
object4 ,i called out1 ,they've left    
something behind2 it's like a      man4 
,it then raised its shoulders and head1 
and fell down again4      ,the same some
 one answered1 ,yes1 sadly4 8 ,yes1     
sadly4      ,after a moment ,i seemed   

called on to look up1 and said1 ,is that
      thing not away yet8 ,answered1    
,no4 ,and in front1 in light1      there
 was a railway compartment in which sat 
,rev4 ,mr4 ,johnstone1 of      ,echuca4 
,i said1 ,what's he doing there8        
,answered1 ,he's there4 ,a      railway 
porter went up to the window asking1    
,have you seen any      of----4 ,i      
caught no more1 but ,i thought he       
referred to the      thing left behind4 
,mr4 ,johnstone seemed to answer ,no2   
and the      man went quickly away--,i  
thought to look for it4 ,after all this 
the      some one said close to me1 ,now
 ,i'm going4 ,i started1 and at         
once saw      a tall dark figure at my  
head      ,william's back at my side4   
,he put his right hand 7in grief7 over  
his face1 and the other almost touching 
my shoulder1 he crossed in front1       
looking stern and solemn4 ,there was a  
flash from the eyes1 and ,i      caught 
a glimpse of a fine pale face like      
ushering him along1 and                 

indistinctly another4 ,i felt           
frightened1 and called out1 ,is he      
angry8      ,oh1 no4 ,is he going away8 
,answered1 ,yes1 by the same some one1  
and ,i woke with a loud sigh1 which woke
 my husband1 who said1 ,what is      it8
 ,i told him ,i had been dreaming       
something unpleasant--named a           
railway1 and dismissed it all from my   
mind as a dream4 ,as ,i fell      asleep
 again ,i fancied the some one said1    
,it's all gone1 and another             
answered1 ,i'll come and remind her4    
,the news reached me one week           
afterwards4 ,the accident had happened  
to my brother on the same night about   
half past #i o'clock4 ,rev4 ,mr4        
,johnstone and his wife were actually in
 the train which struck him4      ,he   
was walking along the line which is     
raised two feet on a level      country4
 ,he seemed to have gone #af miles--must
 have been tired and      sat down to   
take off his boot1 which was beside him1
 dozed off and      was very likely     

roused by the sound of the train2 #gf   
sheep-trucks      had passed without    
touching him1 but some wooden           
projection1 likely      the step1 had   
touched the right side of his head1     
bruised his      right shoulder1 and    
killed him instantaneously4 ,the night  
was very      dark4 ,i believe now that 
the some one was 7from something in the 
way he spoke7 ,william himself4 ,the    
face with him was white as              
alabaster and something like this a     
small sketch pasted on in      profile4 
,there were many other thoughts or words
 seemed to pass1      but they are too  
many to write down here4       ,the     
voice of the some one unseen seemed     
always above the figure      of ,william
 which ,i saw4 ,and when ,i was shown   
the compartment of the      carriage    
with ,mr4 ,johnstone1 the some one      
seemed on a line      between me and    
it--above me4       ,in an account-book 
of ,mrs4 ,storie's1 on a page1 headed   
,july #ahgd1      we find the #ahth day 

marked1 and the words1 ,dear ,willie    
died1 and      ,dreamed1 dreamed of it  
all1 appended4       ,the first letter1 
from the ,rev4 ,j4 ,c4 ,johnstone to the
 ,rev4 ,john      ,storie1 announcing   
the news of the accident1 is lost4 ,the 
following      are extracts from his    
second and third letters on the         
subject3--   ,,echuca1 #ajth ,august    
#ahgd4       ,the place where ,hunter   
was killed is on an open plain1 and     
there      was consequently plenty of   
room for him to escape the train had he 
been conscious2 but ,i think ,meldrum's 
theory is the correct one1      that he 
had sat down to adjust some bandages on 
his leg and had      thoughtlessly gone 
off to sleep4 ,there is only one line of
 rails1      and the ground is raised   
about #b feet--the ground on which the  
rails rest4 ,he had probably sat down on
 the edge1 and lain down      backwards 
so as to be within reach of some part of
 the train4 ,it      was not known at   
the time that an accident had occurred4 

,mrs4      ,johnstone and myself were in
 the train4 ,meldrum says he was not    
very much crushed4 ,the top of the skull
 was struck off1 and some      ribs were
 broken under the armpit on one side4   
,his body was found      on the ,sunday 
morning by a herd-boy from the adjoining
 station4   ,august #bith1 #ahgd4       
,the exact time at which the train      
struck poor ,hunter must have been      
about #i4ee ,p4,m41 and his death must  
have been instantaneous4       ,the     
above corresponds with the account of   
the inquest in the      ,riverine       
,herald for ,july #bbnd4 ,the ,melbourne
 ,argus also      describes the accident
 as having taken place on the night of  
,saturday1 the #ahth4       ,the        
following remarks are taken from notes  
made by ,professor      ,sidgwick1      
during an interview with ,mrs4 ,storie1 
in ,april #ahhd1 and      by ,mrs4      
,sidgwick after another interview in    
,september #ahhe3--       ,mrs4 ,storie 
cannot regard the experience exactly as 

a dream1 though      she woke up from   
it4 ,she is sure that it did not grow   
more definite      in recollection      
afterwards4 ,she never had a series of  
scenes in a      dream at any other     
time2 and she has never had anything    
like a      hallucination4 ,they were   
introduced by a voice in a whisper1 not 
recognised as her brother's4 ,he had sat
 on the bank as he appeared      in the 
dream4 ,the engine she saw behind him   
had a chimney of      peculiar shape1   
such as she had not at that time seen2  
and she      remembers that ,mr4 ,storie
 thought her foolish about insisting on 
the chimney--unlike 7he said7 any which 
existed2 but he informed      her when  
he came back from ,victoria1 where her  
brother was1 that      engines of this  
kind had just been introduced there4    
,she had no      reason to think that   
any conversation between the porter and 
the      clergyman actually occurred4   
,the persons who seemed to lead her     
brother away were not recognised by her1

 and she only saw the face      of one  
of them4       ,mr4 ,storie confirms his
 wife having said to him at the time of 
the      dream1 ,what is that light8    
,before writing the account first       
quoted1 she had just mentioned the dream
 to her husband1 but had      not       
described it4 ,she desired not to think 
of it1 and also was      unwilling to   
worry him about it because of his       
,sunday's work4 ,this      last point1  
it will be observed1 is a confirmation  
of the fact that      the dream took    
place on the ,saturday night2 and it    
came out      clearly 7,mrs4 ,sidgwick  
says7 that her recollection about the   
,saturday night was an independent      
recollection1 and not read back         
after the accident was known4 ,the      
strongly nervous state that             
preceded the dream was quite unique in  
,mrs4 ,s4's experience4 ,but as      it 
appeared that1 according to her         
recollection1 it commenced at      least
 an hour before the accident took place1

 it must be regarded      as of no      
importance evidentially4 ,the feeling of
 a presence in the      room was also   
quite unique4  ,here1 says ,gurney1 the 
difficulty of referring the true        
elements of the dream to the agent's    
mind is very great4 ,for ,mr4 ,hunter   
was asleep2 and even if we can conceive 
that the image of the advancing engine  
may have had some place in his mind1 the
 presence of ,mr4 ,johnstone could not  
have been perceived by him4 ,but it is  
possible1 of course1 to regard this last
 item of correspondence as accidental1  
even though the dream was telepathic4   
,it will be observed that the dream     
followed the accident by about four     
hours2 such deferment is1 ,i think1 a   
strong point in favour of telepathic1 as
 opposed to independent1 clairvoyance4  
,i propose as an alternative            
explanation1--for reasons which ,i      
endeavour to justify in later           
chapters1--that the deceased brother1   
aided by some other dimly discerned     

spirit1 was endeavouring to present to  
,mrs4 ,storie a series of pictures      
representing his death--as realised     
after his death4 ,i add this last       
clause1 because one of the marked points
 in the dream was the presence in the   
train of ,mr4 ,johnstone of ,echuca--a  
fact which 7as ,gurney remarks7 the     
dying man could not possibly know4  ,i  
have dwelt on these two cases of ,dr4   
,bruce and ,mrs4 ,storie1 because the   
reader will1 ,i think1 come to feel1 as 
our evidence unrolls itself1 that he has
 here complex experiences which are     
confirmed at various points by simpler  
experiences1 in such a way as to make   
these stories seem a confused but an    
intimate transcript of what other       
narratives show in hints and glimpses   
alone4  ,in ,mrs4 ,storie's case the    
whole experience1 as we have seen1      
presented itself as a dream2 yet as a   
dream of quite unusual type1 like a     
series of pictures presented to the     
sleeper who was still conscious that she

 was lying in bed4 ,in other cases the  
psychical invasion of the spirit either 
of a living or of a deceased person     
seems to set up a variety of            
sleep-waking states--both in agent and  
percipient4 ,in one bizarre narrative a 
man dreaming that he has returned home  
is heard in his home calling for hot    
water--and has himself a singular sense 
of bilocation between the railway       
carriage and his bedroom4#eb ,in another
 curious case is recorded a kind of     
encounter in dreamland1 apparently more 
or less remembered by both persons4#ec  
,an invasion of this type coming upon a 
sleeping person is apt to induce some   
change in the sleeper's state1 which1   
even if he regards it as a complete     
awakening1 is generally shown not to be 
so in fact by the dreamlike character of
 his own recorded feelings and          
utterances4 ,gurney called these        
,borderland ,cases1 and the whole       
collection in ,phantasms of the ,living 
will repay perusal4 ,i introduce one    

such case in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,e1 as     
being at once very perplexing and1 ,i   
think1 very strongly attested4 ,i knew  
,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,t41 who certainly were  
seriously anxious for complete accuracy1
 and who had 7as the narrative shows7   
made a brief memorandum and consulted   
various persons on the incident at the  
time4  ,these cases of invasion by the  
spirits of living persons pass on into  
cases of invasion by the dying1 the     
impression being generally that of the  
presence of the visitant in the         
percipient's surroundings4#ed ,sometimes
 the phantasm is seen as nearly as can  
be ascertained at the time of death4    
,but there is no perceptible break in   
the series at this point4 ,some appear  
shortly after death1 but before the     
death is known to the percipient4 ,see  
,appendix ,,iv4 ,f4 ,finally1 there are 
cases when the appearance takes place   
some time after death1 but presents     
features unknown to the percipient4#ee  
,we have now briefly reviewed certain   

phenomena of sleep from a standpoint    
somewhat differing from that which is   
commonly taken4 ,we have not 7as is     
usual7 fixed our attention primarily on 
the negative characteristics of sleep1  
or the extent to which it lacks the     
capacities of waking hours4 ,on the     
contrary1 we have regarded sleep as an  
independent phase of personality1       
existing with as good a right as the    
waking phase1 and dowered with          
imperfectly expressed faculties of its  
own4 ,in investigating those faculties  
we have been in no wise deterred by the 
fact of the apparent uselessness of some
 of them for our waking ends4 ,useless  
is a pre-scientific1 even an            
anti-scientific term1 which has perhaps 
proved a greater stumbling-block to     
research in psychology than in any other
 science4 ,in science the use of        
phenomena is to prove laws1 and the more
 bizarre and trivial the phenomena1 the 
greater the chance of their directing us
 to some law which has been overlooked  

till now4 ,in reviewing the phenomena of
 sleep1 then1 we found in the first     
place that it possesses a specific      
recuperative energy which the commonly  
accepted data of physiology and         
psychology cannot explain4 ,we saw that 
in sleep there may be an increased      
co-ordination or centralisation of      
muscular control1 and also an increased 
vividness of entencephalic perception1  
indicating a more intimate appreciation 
of intra-peripheral changes than is     
manifest in waking life4 ,in accordance 
with this view1 we found that the       
dreaming self may undergo sensory and   
emotional experiences apparently more   
intense than those of vigilance1 and may
 produce thereby lasting effects upon   
the waking body and mind4 ,similarly    
again1 we saw that that specific impress
 on body and mind which we term memory  
may in sleeping or hypnotic states be   
both wider in range and fuller in       
content than the evocable memory of the 
waking day4 ,nay1 not memory only1 but  

power of inference1 of argument1 may be 
thus intensified1 as is shown by the    
solution in sleep of problems which have
 baffled waking effort4  ,all these are 
fragmentary indications1--useless for   
practical purposes if you will1--of     
sleeping faculty exercised on the same  
order of things as waking faculty1 and  
with comparable or even superior power4 
,but we were bound to push our inquiry  
further still--we were bound to ask     
whether the self of sleep showed any    
faculty of a quite different order from 
that by which waking consciousness      
maintains the activity of man4 ,we found
 that this was so indeed2 that there was
 evidence that the sleeping spirit was  
susceptible of relations unfettered by  
spatial bonds2 of telsthetic perception 
of distant scenes2 of telepathic        
communication with distant persons1 or  
even with spirits of whom we can        
predicate neither distance nor nearness1
 since they are released from the prison
 of the flesh4  ,the inference which all

 this evidence suggests is entirely in  
accordance with the hypothesis on which 
my whole work is based4  ,i have assumed
 that man is an organism informed or    
possessed by a soul4 ,this view         
obviously involves the hypothesis that  
we are living a life in two worlds at   
once2 a planetary life in this material 
world1 to which the organism is intended
 to react2 and also a cosmic life in    
that spiritual or metetherial world1    
which is the native environment of the  
soul4 ,from that unseen world the energy
 of the organism needs to be perpetually
 replenished4 ,that replenishment we    
cannot understand3 we may figure it to  
ourselves as a protoplasmic process2--as
 some relation between protoplasm1      
ether1 and whatever is beyond ether1 on 
which it is at present useless to       
speculate4  ,admitting1 for the sake of 
argument1 these vast assumptions1 it    
will be easy to draw the further        
inference that it may be needful that   
the soul's attention should be          

frequently withdrawn from the business  
of earthly life1 so as to pursue with   
greater intensity what we may call its  
protoplasmic task1--the maintenance of  
the fundamental1 pervading connection   
between the organism and the spiritual  
world4 ,nay1 this profounder condition1 
as responding to more primitive1 more   
fundamental needs1 will itself be more  
primitive than the waking state4 ,and   
this is so3 sleep is the infant's       
dominant phase3 the pre-natal state     
resembles sleep rather than waking2 and 
so does the whole life-condition of our 
lowly ancestors4 ,and as the sleeping   
state is the more primitive1 so also is 
it the more generalised1 and the more   
plastic4 ,out of this dreamy abeyance   
between two worlds1 the needs of the    
material world are constantly developing
 some form of alert activity1 some      
faculty which was potential only until  
search for food and the defence against 
enemies compelled a closer heed to the  
life of relation1 lest the relation     

should become only that of victim to    
devourer4  ,we shall thus have two      
phases of personality developing into   
separate purposes and in separate       
directions from a parent stem4 ,the     
waking personality will develop external
 sense organs and will fit itself       
progressively for the life of relation  
to the external world4 ,it will         
endeavour to attain an ever completer   
control over the resources of the       
personality1 and it will culminate in   
what we term genius when it has unified 
the subliminal as far as possible with  
the supraliminal in its pursuit of      
deliberate waking ends4  ,the sleeping  
personality will develop in ways less   
easy to foresee4 ,what1 on any theory1  
will it aim at1 beyond the familiar     
intensification of recuperative power8  
,we can only guess1 on my theory1 that  
its development will show some          
increasing trace of the soul's less     
exclusive absorption in the activity of 
the organism4 ,the soul has withdrawn   

from the specialised material surface of
 things 7to use such poor metaphor as we
 can7 into a realm where the nature of  
the connection between matter and       
spirit--whether through the intermediacy
 of the ether or otherwise--is more     
profoundly discerned4 ,that same        
withdrawal from the surface which1 while
 it diminishes power over complex       
muscular processes1 increases power over
 profound organic processes1 may at the 
same time increase the soul's power of  
operating in that spiritual world to    
which sleep has drawn it nearer4  ,on   
this view of sleep1 be it observed1     
there will be nothing to surprise us in 
the possibility of increasing the       
proportion of the sleeping to the waking
 phase of life by hypnotic suggestion4  
,all we can say is that1 while the soul 
must insist on at least the minimum     
quantity of sleep needful to keep the   
body alive1 we can see no superior limit
 to the quantity of sleep which it may  
choose to take1--the quantity of        

attention1 that is1 which it may choose 
to give to the special operations of    
sleep as compared with those of waking  
life4  ,at this point we must for the   
present pause4 ,the suggested hypothesis
 will indeed cover the actual facts as  
to sleep adduced in this chapter4 ,but  
it covers them by virtue of assumptions 
too vast to be accepted without further 
confirmation4 ,it must necessarily be   
our duty in later chapters to trace the 
development of the sleeping personality 
in both the directions indicated        
above2--in the direction of organic     
recuperation through the hypnotic       
trance1 and in the direction of the     
soul's independent operation through    
that form of trance which leads to      
possession and to ecstasy4 ,we shall    
begin at once in the next chapter to    
trace out that great experimental       
modification of sleep1 from which1 under
 the names of mesmerism or of hypnotism1
 results of such conspicuous practical  
value have already been won4            

,,chapter ,v  ,,hypnotism      ,greek3  
eileto de rhabdon1 tu t' andrn dmmata   
thelgei1     ,on ethelei1 tout d aute ka
 upnontas egerei4      --,,homer4   ,in 
the last chapter we were led on to adopt
 a conception of sleep which1 whether or
 not it prove ultimately in any form    
acceptable by science1 is at any rate in
 deep congruity with the evidence       
brought forward in this work4 ,our human
 life1 in this view1 exists and         
energises1 at the present moment1 both  
in the material and in the spiritual    
world4 ,human personality1 as it has    
developed from lowly ancestors1 has     
become differentiated into two phases2  
one of them mainly adapted to material  
or planetary1 the other to spiritual or 
cosmic operation4 ,the subliminal self1 
mainly directing the sleeping phase1 is 
able either to rejuvenate the organism  
by energy drawn in from the spiritual   
world2--or1 on the other hand1          
temporarily and partially to relax its  
connection with that organism1 in order 

to expatiate in the exercise of         
supernormal powers2--telepathy1         
telesthsia1 ecstasy4  ,such were the    
suggestions of the evidence as to dream 
and vision2 such1 ,i may add1 will be   
seen to be the suggestions of           
spontaneous somnambulism1 which has not 
yet fallen under our discussion4 ,yet   
claims so large as these demand         
corroboration from observation and      
experiment along many different lines of
 approach4 ,some such corroboration we  
have1 in anticipatory fashion1 already  
acquired4 ,discussing in ,chapter ,,ii4 
the various forms of disintegration of  
personality1 we had frequent glimpses of
 beneficent subliminal powers4 ,we saw  
the deepest stratum of the self         
intervening from time to time with a    
therapeutic object1 or we caught it in  
the act of exercising1 even if aimlessly
 or sporadically1 some faculty beyond   
supraliminal reach4 ,and we observed1   
moreover1 that the agency by which these
 subliminal powers were invoked was     

generally the hypnotic trance4 ,of the  
nature of that trance ,i then said      
nothing2 it was manifest only that here 
was some kind of induced or artificial  
somnambulism1 which seemed to           
systematise that beneficial control of  
the organism which spontaneous          
sleep-waking states had exercised in a  
fitful way4 ,it must plainly be our     
business to understand ab initio these  
hypnotic phenomena2 to push as far as   
may be what seems like an experimental  
evolution of the sleeping phase of      
personality4  ,let us suppose1 then1    
that we are standing at our present     
point1 but with no more knowledge of    
hypnotic phenomena than existed in the  
boyhood of ,mesmer4 ,we shall know well 
enough what1 as experimental            
psychologists1 we desire to do2 but we  
shall have little notion of how to set  
about it4 ,we desire to summon at our   
will1 and to subdue to our use1 these   
rarely emergent sleep-waking faculties4 
,on their physical side1 we desire to   

develop their inhibition of pain and    
their reinforcement of energy2 on their 
intellectual side1 their concentration  
of attention2 on their emotional side1  
their sense of freedom1 expansion1 joy4 
,above all1 we desire to get hold of    
those supernormal faculties--telepathy  
and telsthesia--of which we have caught 
fitful glimpses in somnambulism and in  
dream4  ,yet to such hopes as these the 
so-called experience of ages 7generally 
a very short and scrappy induction67    
will seem altogether to refuse any      
practical outcome4 ,history1            
indeed1--with the wonted vagueness of   
history1--will offer us a long series of
 stories of the strange sanative        
suggestion or influence of man on       
man2--beginning1 say1 with ,david and   
,saul1 or with ,david and ,abishag1 and 
ending with ,valentine ,greatrakes1--or 
with the ,stuarts' last touch for the   
,king's evil4 ,but in knowledge of how  
actually to set about it1 we should     
still be just on the level of the ,seven

 ,sages4#ef  ,and now let the reader    
note this lesson on the unexhausted     
possibilities of human organisms and    
human life4 ,let him take his stand at  
one of the modern centres of hypnotic   
practice1--in ,professor ,bernheim's    
hospital-ward1 or ,dr4 van ,renterghem's
 clinique2 let him see the hundreds of  
patients thrown daily into hypnotic     
trance1 in a few moments1 and as a      
matter of course2 and let him then      
remember that this process1 which now   
seems as obvious and easy as giving a   
pill1 was absolutely unknown not only to
 ,galen and to ,celsus1 but to ,hunter  
and to ,harvey2 and when at last        
discovered was commonly denounced as a  
fraudulent fiction1 almost up to the    
present day4 ,nay1 if one chances to    
have watched as a boy some cure effected
 in ,dr4 ,elliotson's ,mesmeric         
,hospital1 before neglect and calumny   
had closed that too early effort for    
human good2--if one has seen popular    
indifference and professional prejudice 

check the new healing art for a         
generation2--is not one likely to have  
imbibed a deep distrust of all a priori 
negations in the matter of human        
faculty2--of all obiter dicta of eminent
 men on subjects with which they do not 
happen to be acquainted8 ,would not one1
 after such an experience1 rather choose
 7with ,darwin7 the fool's experiment   
than any immemorial ignorance which has 
stiffened into an unreasoning           
incredulity8  ,mesmer's experiment was  
almost a fool's experiment1 and ,mesmer 
himself was almost a charlatan4 ,yet    
,mesmer and his successors1--working    
from many different points of view1 and 
following many divergent theories1--have
 opened an ever-widening way1 and have  
brought us now to a position where we   
can fairly hope1 by experiments made no 
longer at random1 to reproduce and      
systematise most of those phenomena of  
spontaneous somnambulism which once     
seemed to lie so tantalisingly beyond   
our grasp4  ,that promise is great      

indeed2 yet it is well to begin by      
considering precisely how far it        
extends4 ,we must not suppose that we   
shall at once be subduing to our        
experiment a central1 integrated1       
reasonable ,self4  ,we must be content  
7at first at any rate7 if we can affect 
the personality in the same limited way 
as hysteria and somnambulism have       
affected it2 but yet can act            
deliberately and usefully where these   
have acted hurtfully and at random4 ,it 
is enough to hope that we may inhibit   
pain1 as it is inhibited for the        
hysteric2 or concentrate attention1 as  
it is concentrated for the somnambulist2
 or change the tastes and passions1 as  
these are changed in alternating        
personalities2 or 7best of all7 recover 
and fix something of that supernormal   
faculty of which we have caught fugitive
 glimpses in vision and dream4 ,our     
proof of the origination of any         
phenomenon in the deeper strata of our  
being must lie in the intrinsic nature  

of the faculty exhibited2--not in the   
wisdom of its actual direction4 ,that   
must often depend on the order given    
from above the threshold2 just as the   
magic mill of the fable continues       
magical1 although1 for lack of the      
proper formula to stop it1 it be still  
grinding out superfluous salt at the    
bottom of the sea4  ,this brief         
introduction will1 ,i hope1 show that   
hypnotism is no disconnected or         
extraneous insertion into experimental  
psychology1 but rather a summary name   
for a group of necessary1 though        
empirical and isolated1 attempts to     
bring under control that range of       
submerged faculty which has already from
 time to time risen into our            
observation4 ,the inquiry has been      
mainly the work of a few distinguished  
men1 who have each of them pushed some  
useful ideas as far as they could1 but  
whose work has not been adequately      
supported by successors4  ,i should much
 doubt whether there have been a hundred

 men in all countries together1 at the  
ordinary level of professional          
intelligence1 who during the century    
since ,mesmer have treated hypnotism as 
the serious study of their lives4 ,some 
few of the men who have so treated it   
have been men of great force and strong 
convictions2 and it will be found that  
there has consequently been a series of 
sudden developments of groups of        
phenomena1 differing much from each     
other1 but corresponding with the       
special beliefs and desires of the      
person who headed each movement in turn4
 ,i will mention some of the chief      
examples1 so as to show the sporadic    
nature of the efforts made1 and the     
great variety of the phenomena elicited4
  ,the first name that must be mentioned
 is1 of course1 that of ,mesmer himself4
 ,he believed primarily in a sanative   
effluence1 and his method seems to have 
been a combination of passes1           
suggestion1 and a supposed              
metallotherapy or magneto-therapy--the  

celebrated baquet--which no doubt was   
merely a form of suggestion4 ,his       
results1 though very imperfectly        
described1 seem to have been peculiar to
 himself4 ,the crise which many of his  
patients underwent sounds like a        
hysterical attack2 but there can be no  
doubt that rapid improvement in symptoms
 often followed it1 or he would not have
 made so great an impression on savants 
as well as on the fashionable world of  
,paris4 ,to ,mesmer1 then1 we owe the   
first conception of the therapeutic     
power of a sudden and profound nervous  
change4 ,to ,mesmer1 still more         
markedly1 we owe the doctrine of a      
nervous influence or effluence passing  
from man to man1--a doctrine which1     
though it must assume a less exclusive  
importance than he assigned to it1      
cannot1 in my view1 be altogether       
ignored or denied4  ,the leading figure 
among his immediate successors1 the     
,marquis de ,puysgur1 seems from his    
writings#eg to have been one of the     

ablest and most candid men who have     
practised mesmerism2 and he was one of  
the very few who have conducted         
experiments1 other than therapeutic1 on 
a large scale4 ,the somnambulic state   
may also be said to have been his       
discovery2 and he obtained clairvoyance 
or telsthesia in so many instances1 and 
recorded them with so much of detail1   
that it is hard to attribute all to     
mal-observation1 or even to telepathy   
from persons present4 ,other observers1 
as ,bertrand1 a physician of great      
promise1 followed in the same track1 and
 this brief period was perhaps the most 
fertile in disinterested experiments    
that our subject has yet known4 ,much   
was then done in ,germany also2 and     
there1 too1 there is scattered testimony
 to supernormal powers4#eh  ,next came  
the era of ,elliotson in ,england1 and  
of ,esdaile in his hospital at          
,calcutta4 ,their method lay in mesmeric
 passes1 ,elliotson's object being      
mostly the direct cure of maladies1     

,esdaile's a deep ansthesia1 under which
 he performed hundreds of serious       
operations4 ,his success in this        
direction was absolutely unique2--was   
certainly 7setting aside supernormal    
phenomena7 the most extraordinary       
performance in mesmeric history4 ,had   
not his achievements been matters of    
official record1 the apparent           
impossibility of repeating them would   
probably by this time have been held to 
have disproved them altogether4  ,the   
next great step which hypnotism made was
 actually regarded by ,elliotson and his
 group as a hostile demonstration4 ,when
 ,braid discovered that hypnosis could  
be induced without passes1 the          
mesmerists felt that their theory of a  
sanative effluence was dangerously      
attacked4 ,and this was true2 for that  
theory has in fact been thrown into the 
shade1--too completely so1 in my        
opinion1--first by the method used in   
,braid's earlier work of the production 
of hypnotic phenomena by means of the   

upward and inward squint1 and secondly1 
by the much wider and more important    
discovery of the efficacy of mere       
suggestion1 set forth in his later      
writings4 ,braid's hypnotic experience  
differed much from that of hypnotists   
before and after him4 ,his early method 
of the convergent squint produced       
results which no one else has been able 
to produce2 and the state which it      
induced appeared in his view to arrest  
and dissipate even maladies of which    
neither hypnotist nor patient had       
thought as capable of cure4 ,but he     
afterwards abandoned this method in     
favour of simple verbal suggestion1 as  
he found that what was required was     
merely to influence the ideas of his    
patients4 ,he showed further that all   
so-called phrenological phenomena and   
the supposed effects of magnets1 metals1
 etc41 could be produced equally well by
 suggestion4#ei ,he also laid stress on 
the subject's power both of resisting   
the commands of the operator and of     

inducing hypnotic effects in himself    
without the aid of an operator4 ,to my  
mind the most important novelty brought 
out by ,braid was the possibility of    
self-hypnotisation by concentration of  
will4 ,this inlet into human faculty1 in
 some ways the most important of all1   
has been as yet but slackly followed4   
,but it is along with ,braid's group of 
ideas that ,i should place those of an  
able but much inferior investigator1    
,dr4 ,fahnestock1 although it is not    
clear that the latter knew of ,braid's  
work4 ,his book1 ,statuvolism1 or       
,artificial ,somnambulism 7,chicago1    
#ahga71 has received less attention than
 it merits2--partly perhaps from its    
barbarous title1 partly from the        
crudities with which it is encumbered1  
and partly from the fact of its         
publication at what was at that date a  
town on the outskirts of civilisation4  
,fahnestock seems to have obtained by   
self-suggestion with healthy persons    
results in some ways surpassing anything

 since recorded4  ,there is no reason to
 doubt these results1 except the fact   
that they have not yet been repeated    
with equal success2 and my present      
purpose is to show how little importance
 can as yet be attached in the history  
of hypnotic experiment to the mere      
absence thus far of successful          
repetition4  ,the next great stage was  
again strikingly different4 ,it was     
mainly ,french2 the impulse was given   
largely by ,professor ,charles ,richet1 
whose work has proved singularly free   
from narrowness or misconception2 but   
the movement was developed in a special 
and a very unfortunate direction by     
,charcot and his school4 ,it is a       
remarkable fact that although ,charcot  
was perhaps the only man of eminence    
whose professional reputation has ever  
been raised by his dealings with        
hypnotism1 most of his work thereon is  
now seen to have been mistaken and      
aberrant1--a mere following of a blind  
alley1 from which his disciples are now 

gradually returning4 ,charcot's leading 
phenomena 7as with several of his       
predecessors above mentioned7 were of a 
type which has seldom since been        
obtained4 ,the once celebrated three    
stages of the grand hypnotisme are      
hardly anywhere now to be seen4 ,but in 
this case the reason is not that other  
hypnotists could not obtain the         
phenomena if they would2 it is rather   
7as ,i have already indicated7 that     
experience has convinced them that the  
sequences and symptoms on which ,charcot
 laid stress were merely very elaborate 
products of the long-continued1 and1 so 
to say1 endemic suggestions of the      
,salptrire4  ,we come next to the       
movement which is now on the whole      
dominant1 and to which the greatest     
number of cures may at present be       
credited4 ,the school of ,nancy--which  
originated with ,libeault1 and which is 
now gradually merging into a general    
consensus of hypnotic practice--threw   
aside more and more decisively the      

supposed somatic signs of ,charcot1--the
 phenomena of neuro-muscular            
irritability and the like1 which he     
regarded as the requisite proof of      
hypnosis2--until ,bernheim boldly       
affirmed that hypnotic trance was no    
more than sleep1 and that hypnotic      
suggestion was at once the sole cause of
 hypnotic responsiveness and yet was    
undifferentiated from mere ordinary     
advisory speech4 ,this was unfortunately
 too good to be true4 ,not one sleep in 
a million is really hypnosis2 not one   
suggestion in a million reaches or      
influences the subliminal self4 ,if     
,bernheim's theories1 in their extreme  
form1 were true1 there would by this    
time have been no sufferers left to     
heal4  ,what ,bernheim has done is to   
cure a number of people without mesmeric
 passes1 and without any special        
predisposing belief on either           
side1--beyond a trust in his own power4 
,and this is a most valuable            
achievement1 especially as showing how  

much may be dispensed with in hypnotic  
practice--to how simple elements it may 
be reduced4  ,hypnotic trance1 says     
,bernheim1 in effect1 is ordinary sleep2
 hypnotic suggestion is ordinary        
command4 ,you tell the patient to go to 
sleep1 and he goes to sleep2 you tell   
him to get well1 and he gets well       
immediately4 ,even thus 7one thinks7 has
 one heard the conjuror explaining how  
it's done1--with little resulting hope  
of emulating his brilliant performance4 
,an ordinary command does not enable an 
ordinary man to get rid of his          
rheumatism1 or to detest the previously 
too acceptable taste of brandy4 ,in     
suggestion1 in short1 there must needs  
be something more than a name2 a        
profound nervous change must needs be   
started by some powerful nervous        
stimulus from without or from within4   
,before contenting ourselves with       
,bernheim's formula1 we must consider   
yet again what change we want to effect1
 and whether hypnotists have actually   

used any form of stimulus which was     
likely to effect it4  ,according to     
,bernheim we are all naturally          
suggestible1 and what we want to effect 
through suggestion is increased         
suggestibility4 ,but let us get rid for 
the moment of that oracular word4 ,what 
it seems to mean here is mainly a       
readier obedience of the organism to    
what we wish it to do4 ,the sleep or    
trance with which hypnotism is popularly
 identified is not essential to our     
object1 for the subliminal modifications
 are sometimes attained without any     
trace of somnolence4 ,let us consider1  
then1 whether any known nervous stimuli1
 either massive or specialised1 tend to 
induce--not mere sleep or catalepsy--but
 that kind of ready modifiability1--of  
responsiveness both in visible gesture  
and in invisible nutritive              
processes1--for the sake of which       
hypnosis is in serious practice induced4
  ,now of the external stimuli which    
influence the whole nervous system the  

most conspicuous are narcotic drugs4    
,opium1 alcohol1 chloroform1 cannabis   
indica1 etc41 affect the nerves in so   
many strange ways that one might hope   
that they would be of use as hypnotic   
agents4 ,and some observers have found  
that slight chloroformisation rendered  
subjects more suggestible4 ,janet has   
cited one case where suggestibility was 
developed during recovery from delirium 
tremens4 ,other hypnotisers 7as         
,bramwell7 have found chloroform fail to
 render patients hypnotisable2 and      
alcohol is generally regarded as a      
positive hindrance to hypnotic          
susceptibility4 ,more experiment with   
various narcotics is much needed2 but   
thus far the scantiness of proof that   
narcotics help towards hypnosis goes    
rather against the view that hypnosis is
 a direct physiological sequence from   
any form of external stimulus4  ,the    
apparent resemblance1 indeed1 between   
narcosis and hypnosis diminishes on a   
closer analysis4 ,a stage may occur both

 in narcotised and in hypnotised        
subjects where there is incoherent1     
dream-like mentation2 but in the        
narcotised subject this is a step       
towards inhibition of the whole nervous 
energy--the highest centres being       
paralysed first2 whereas in hypnosis the
 inhibition of supraliminal faculty     
seems often at least to be merely a     
necessary preliminary to the liberation 
of fresh faculty which presently        
manifests itself from a profounder      
region of the self4  ,next take another 
group of massive effects produced on the
 nervous system by external             
stimuli2--those forms1 namely1 of trance
 and cataplexy which are due to sudden  
shock4 ,with human beings this          
phenomenon varies from actual death from
 failure of heart-action1 or paralysis1 
or stupor attonitus 7a recognised form  
of insanity71 any of which may result   
from a mere alarming sight or unwelcome 
announcement1 down to the cataleptic    
immobility of a ,salptrire patient1 when

 she hears a sudden stroke on the gong4 
,similar phenomena in certain animals1  
as frogs1 beetles1 etc41 are well known4
 ,it is doubtful1 however1 whether any  
of these sudden disablements should be  
classed as true hypnoses4 ,it has not1  
,i think1 been shown that in any case   
they have induced any real              
responsiveness to control1 or power of  
obeying suggestion2 unless it be 7as in 
some ,salptrire cases7 a form of        
suggestion so obvious and habitual that 
the obedience thereto may be called part
 of the actual cataplexy itself4 ,thus  
the wax-like flexibility of the         
cataleptic1 whose arms remain in the    
position where you place them1 must not 
be regarded as a readier obedience to   
control1 but rather as a state which    
involves not a more but a less alert and
 capable responsiveness of the organism 
to either external or internal stimuli4 
,so with regard to animals--crocodiles1 
frogs1 and the like4 ,i hold            
theoretically that animals are probably 

hypnotisable and suggestible2 and the   
records of ,rarey's horse-taming1 etc41 
seem to point in that direction4#fj ,but
 in the commoner experiments with frogs1
 where mere passivity is produced1 the  
resemblance seems to extend only to the 
lethargic stage in human beings1#fa and 
what relation that lethargy bears to    
suggestibility is not1 ,i think1 really 
known2 although ,i shall later on       
suggest some explanation on             
psychological grounds4  ,it seems plain1
 at any rate1 that it must be from      
stimuli applied to men and not to       
animals1 and from stimuli of a special  
and localised rather than of a massive  
kind1 that we shall have to learn       
whatever can be learnt as to the genesis
 of the true hypnotic control4  ,now    
there exists a way of inducing hypnosis 
in some hysterical persons which seems  
intermediate between massive and        
localised stimulations4 ,it is indeed a 
local stimulation2 but there seems no   
reason beyond some deep-seated caprice  

of the organism why the special tract   
which is thus sensitive should have     
become developed in that direction4  ,i 
speak of the induction of trance in     
certain subjects by pressure upon       
so-called hypnogenous zones4 ,these     
zones form a curious development of     
hysterical cliniques4 ,their            
starting-point is the well-known        
phenomenon of patches of ansthesia found
 upon hysterical subjects--the          
witch-marks of our ancestors4  ,so far  
as we at present know1 the situation of 
these marks is altogether capricious4   
,it does not apparently depend1 that is 
to say1 upon any central lesion1 in the 
same way as do the referred pains1      
familiar in deep-seated organic         
complaints1 which manifest themselves by
 superficial patches of tenderness1     
explicable by the distribution of       
nerve-trunks4 ,the ansthetic patches are
 an example of what ,i have called the  
irrational self-suggestions of the      
hypnotic stratum2--determined by        

dream-like fancies rather than          
necessitated by purely physiological    
antecedents4  ,quite in accordance with 
this view1 we find that under favourable
 conditions--especially in a hospital of
 hysterics--these anomalous patches or  
zones develop and specialise themselves 
in various ways4 ,under ,dr4 ,pitres at 
,bordeaux 7for example71 we have zones  
hystrognes1 zones hypnognes1 zones      
hypnofrnatrices1 etc42 that is to say1  
he finds that pressure on certain spots 
in certain subjects will bring on or    
will check hysterical accesses1 or      
accesses of what is ranked as hypnotic  
sleep4 ,there is no doubt that this     
sleep does in certain subjects follow   
instantly upon the pressure of certain  
spots1--constant for each subject1 but  
different for one subject and for       
another2--and this without any conscious
 co-operation1 or even foreknowledge1 on
 the patient's part4 ,stated thus       
nakedly1 this seems the strongest       
possible instance of the induction of   

hypnosis by localised stimulus4 ,the    
reader1 however1 will at once understand
 that in my view there is here no simple
 physiological sequence of cause and    
effect4 ,i must regard the local        
pressure as a mere signal--an appeal to 
the pre-formed capacities of lawlessly  
acting centres in the hypnotic stratum4 
,a scrap of the self has decided1 in    
dreamlike fashion1 that pressure on a   
certain point of the body's surface     
shall produce sleep2--just as it has    
decided that pressure on that same point
 or on some other point shall not       
produce pain4 ,self-suggestion1 and no  
mere physiological nexus1 is responsible
 for the sleep or the hysterical access 
which follows the touch4 ,the ansthetic 
patches are here a direct1 but a        
capriciously chosen avenue to the       
subliminal being1 and the same random   
self-suggestiveness which is responsible
 for frequent determinations that       
hysterical subjects shall not be        
hypnotised has in this case decided that

 they shall be hypnotised1 if you go    
about it in exactly the right way4      
,next in order among forms of localised 
stimulus used for inducing hypnosis may 
be placed monotonous stimulation1--to   
whatever part of the body it be applied4
 ,it was at one time the fashion to     
attribute almost all hypnotic phenomena 
to this cause1 and ,edmund ,gurney and  
,i endeavoured to point out the         
exaggeration4#fb ,of this presently2 but
 first let us consider the few cases    
where the monotonous stimulation has    
undoubtedly been of a kind to affect the
 organism strongly4 ,the late ,dr4      
,auguste ,voisin1 of ,paris1 was perhaps
 more markedly successful than any      
physician in producing hypnosis in      
extreme cases2--in maniacal persons     
especially1 whose attention it seemed   
impossible to fix4 ,he often            
accomplished this by holding their eyes 
open with the blepharostat1 and         
compelling them to gaze1 sometimes for  
hours together1 at a brilliant electric 

light4 ,exhaustion produces tranquillity
 and an almost comatose sleep--in which 
the physician has often managed to give 
suggestions of great value4 ,this seems 
practically the only class of cases     
where a directly physiological          
antecedent for the sleep can be proved2 
and even here the provable effect is    
rather the exhaustion of morbid         
excitability than any direct induction  
of suggestibility4 ,this dazzling       
process is generally accompanied with   
vigorous verbal suggestion2 and it is1  
of course1 quite possible that the      
patients might have been thrown into    
hypnosis by that suggestion alone1 had  
their minds been capable at first of    
sufficient attention to receive it4     
,braid's upward and inward squint has an
 effect of the same deadening kind as   
the long gazing at a light1 and helps in
 controlling wandering attention2 but   
,braid himself in later years 7as       
mentioned above7 attributed his hypnotic
 successes wholly to suggestion4  ,from 

monotonous excitations which1 whatever  
their part in inducing hypnosis1 are1 at
 any rate1 such as can sensibly affect  
the organism1 ,i come down to the       
trivial monotonies of watch-tickings1   
passes1 etc41 which are still by a      
certain school regarded as capable of   
producing a profound change in the      
nervous condition of the person before  
whose face the hypnotiser's hands are   
slowly waved for ten or twenty minutes4 
,i regard this as a much exaggerated    
view4 ,the clock's ticking1 for         
instance1 if it is marked at all1 is at 
least as likely to irritate as to       
soothe2 and the constant experience of  
life shows that continued monotonous    
stimuli1 say the throbbing of the screw 
at sea1 soon escape notice and produce  
no hypnotic effect at all4 ,it is true1 
indeed1 that monotonous rocking sends   
some babies to sleep2 but other babies  
are merely irritated by the process1 and
 such soporific effect as rocking may   
possess is probably an effect on spinal 

centres or on the semicircular canals4  
,it depends less on mere monotony than  
on massive movement of the whole        
organism4  ,i think1 then1 that there is
 no real ground for supposing that the  
trivial degree of monotonous stimulation
 produced by passes often repeated can  
induce in any ordinary physiological    
manner that profound nervous change     
which is recognised as the prerequisite 
condition of any hypnotic results4 ,i   
think that passes are effectual         
generally as mere suggestions1 and must 
prim facie be regarded in that light1 as
 they are1 in fact1 regarded by many    
experienced hypnotisers 7as ,milne      
,bramwell7 who have employed them with  
good effect4 ,afterwards1 when reason is
 given for believing in a telepathic    
influence or impact occasionally        
transmitted from the operator to the    
subject at a distance1 we shall consider
 whether passes may represent some other
 form of the same influence1 operating  
in close physical contiguity4  ,first1  

however1 let us consider the point which
 we have now reached4 ,we have          
successively dismissed various supposed 
modes of physiologically inducing       
hypnotic trance4 ,we stand at present in
 the position of the ,nancy school2--we 
have found nothing but suggestion which 
really induces the phenomena4  ,but on  
the other hand we cannot possibly regard
 the word suggestion as any real answer 
to the important question how the       
hypnotic responsiveness is induced1 on  
what conditions it depends4#fc  ,it must
 be remembered that many of the results 
which follow upon suggestion are of a   
type which no amount of willingness to  
follow the suggestion could induce1     
since they lie quite outside the        
voluntary realm4 ,however disposed a man
 may be to believe me1 however anxious  
to please me1 one does not see how that 
should enable him1 for instance1 to     
govern the morbidly-secreting cells in  
an eruption of erysipelas4 ,he already  
fruitlessly wishes them to stop their   

inflammation2 the mere fact of my       
expressing the same wish can hardly     
alter his cellular tissue4  ,here1 then1
 we come to an important conclusion     
which cannot well be denied1 yet is     
seldom looked fully in the face4        
,suggestion from without must for the   
most part resolve itself into suggestion
 from within4 ,unless there be some     
telepathic or other supernormal         
influence at work between hypnotiser and
 patient 7which ,i shall presently show 
ground for believing to be sometimes1   
though not often1 the case71 the        
hypnotiser can plainly do nothing by his
 word of command beyond starting a train
 of thought which the patient has in    
most cases started many times for       
himself with no result2 the difference  
being that now at last the patient      
starts it again1 and it has a result4   
,but why it thus succeeds on this       
particular occasion1 we simply do not   
know4 ,we cannot predict when the result
 will occur2 still less can we bring it 

about at pleasure4  ,nay1 we do not even
 know whether it might not be possible  
to dispense altogether with suggestion  
from outside in most of the cases now   
treated in this way1 and merely to teach
 the patient to make the suggestions for
 himself4 ,if there be no mesmeric      
effluence passing from hypnotiser to    
patient1 the hypnotiser seems little    
more than a mere objet de luxe2--a      
personage provided simply to impress the
 imagination1 who must needs become even
 absurdly useless so soon as it is      
understood that he has no other function
 or power4  ,self-suggestion1 whatever  
this may really mean1 is thus in most   
cases1 whether avowedly or not1 at the  
bottom of the effect produced4 ,it has  
already been used most successfully1 and
 it will probably become much commoner  
than it now is2--or1 ,i should rather   
say 7since every one no doubt suggests  
to himself when he is in pain that he   
would like the pain to cease71 ,i       
anticipate that self-suggestion1 by     

being in some way better directed1 will 
become more effective1 and that the     
average of voluntary power over the     
organism will rise to a far higher level
 than it at present reaches4 ,i believe 
that this is taking place even now2 and 
that certain schemes of self-suggestion1
 so to call them1 are coming into vogue1
 where patients in large masses are     
supplied with effective conceptions1    
which they thus impress repeatedly upon 
themselves without the need of a        
hypnotiser's attendance on each         
occasion4 ,the ,miracles of ,lourdes and
 the cures effected by ,christian       
,science fall1 in my view1 under this   
category4 ,we have here suggestions     
given to a quantity of more or less     
suitable people en masse1 much as a     
platform hypnotiser gives suggestions to
 a mixed audience1 some of whom may then
 be affected without individual         
attention from himself4 ,the suggestion 
of the curative power of the ,lourdes   
water1 for instance1 is thus thrown out1

 partly in books1 partly by oral        
addresses2 and a certain percentage of  
persons succeed in so persuading        
themselves of that curative efficacy    
that when they bathe in the water they  
are actually cured4  ,these schemes of  
self-suggestion1 as ,i have termed them1
 constitute one of the most interesting 
parts of my subject1 but space forbids  
that ,i should enter into a discussion  
of them here4 ,it is sufficient to point
 out that in order to make              
self-suggestion operative1 no strong    
belief or enthusiasm1 such as those     
schemes imply1 is really necessary4 ,no 
recorded cases of self-suggestion1 ,i   
think1 are more instructive than those  
published by ,dr4 ,hugh ,wingfield in   
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #bgi4
 7,the paper was printed anonymously47  
,dr4 ,wingfield was a ,demonstrator in  
,physiology in the ,university of       
,cambridge1 and his subjects were mainly
 candidates for the ,natural ,sciences  
,tripos4 ,in these cases there was no   

excitement of any kind1 and no previous 
belief4 ,the phenomena occurred         
incidentally during a series of         
experiments on other points1 and were a 
surprise to every one concerned4 ,the   
results achieved were partly automatic  
writing and partly phenomena of         
neuro-muscular excitability2--stiffening
 of the arms1 and so forth4 ,it seems   
probable1 says ,dr4 ,wingfield1 that all
 phenomena capable of being produced by 
the suggestion of the hypnotiser can    
also be produced by self-suggestion in a
 self-suggestive subject4  ,experiments 
like these--confirming with modern care 
the conclusions reached by ,fahnestock  
and others at various points in hypnotic
 history--seem to me to open a new inlet
 into human faculty1 as surprising in   
its way as those first wild experiments 
of ,mesmer himself4 ,who would have     
supposed that a healthy undergraduate   
could by an effort of mind throw his    
whole body into a state of cataleptic   
rigidity1 so that he could rest with his

 heels on one chair and his head on     
another8 or that other healthy young men
 could close their own eyes so that they
 were unable to open them1 and the like8
 ,the trivial character of these        
laboratory experiments makes them       
physiologically the more remarkable4    
,there is the very minimum of           
predisposing conditions1 of excited     
expectation1 or of external motive      
prompting to extraordinary effort4 ,and 
the results are not subjective          
merely--relief of pain and so on--but   
are definite neuro-muscular changes1    
capable 7as in the case of the head and 
heels on separate chairs7 of            
unmistakable test4  ,yet1 important     
though these and similar experiments in 
self-suggestion may be1 they do not     
solve our problem as to the ultimate    
origin and distribution of the faculty  
thus displayed4 ,we know no better with 
self-suggestion than with suggestion    
from outside why it is that one man     
succeeds where others fail1 or why a man

 who succeeds once fails in his next    
attempt4 ,within the ordinary range of  
physiological explanations nothing 7,i  
repeat7 has as yet been discovered which
 can guide us to the true nature or     
exciting causes of this characteristic  
responsiveness of hypnosis4 ,if we are  
to find any light1 it must be in some   
direction which has as yet been little  
explored4  ,the hint which ,i have to   
offer here involves1 ,i hope1 something 
more than a mere change of appellation4 
,i define suggestion as successful      
appeal to the subliminal self2--not     
necessarily to that self in its most    
central1 most unitary aspect2 but to    
some one at least of those strata of    
subliminal faculty which ,i have in an  
earlier chapter described4 ,i do not    
indeed pretend that my explanation can  
enable us to reduce hypnotic success to 
a certainty4 ,i cannot say why the      
process should be so irregular and      
capricious2 but ,i can show that this   
puzzle is part and parcel of a wider    

mystery2--of the obscure relationships  
and interdependencies of the            
supraliminal and the subliminal self4   
,in split personalities1 in genius1 in  
dreams1 in sensory and motor            
automatisms1 we find the same           
fitfulness1 the same apparent caprice4  
,leaving perforce this problem for the  
present unsolved1 let us consider the   
various ways in which this conception of
 subliminal operation may throw light on
 the actual phenomena of                
hypnotism2--phenomena at present        
scattered in bewildering confusion4     
,the word hypnotism itself implies that 
some kind of sleep or trance is regarded
 as its leading characteristic4 ,and    
although so-called hypnotic suggestions 
do often take effect in the waking      
state1#fd our usual test of the         
hypnotiser's success lies in the        
slumber--light or deep--into which his  
subject is thrown4 ,it is1 indeed1 a    
slumber which admits at times of strange
 wakings and activities2 but it is also 

manifestly profounder than the sleep    
which we habitually enjoy4  ,if sleep1  
then1 be the phase of personality       
specially consecrated to subliminal     
operation1 it follows that any          
successful appeal to the subliminal self
 will be likely to induce some form of  
sleep4 ,and further1 if that form of    
sleep be in fact not an inevitable      
result of physiological needs1 but a    
response to a psychological appeal1 it  
seems not unlikely that we should be    
able to communicate with it without     
interrupting it2--and should thus be    
able to guide or supplement subliminal  
operations1 just as in genius the       
subliminal self guided or supplemented  
supraliminal operations4  ,now ,i hold  
that in all the varied trances1         
lethargies1 sleep-waking states1 to     
which hypnotism introduces us1 we see   
the subliminal self coming to the       
surface in ways already familiar1 and   
displacing just so much of the          
supraliminal as may from time to time be

 needful for the performance of its own 
work4 ,that work1 ,i say1 will be of a  
character which we know already2 the    
difference is that what we have seen    
done spontaneously we now see done in   
response to our appeal4  ,armed with    
this simplifying                        
conception1--simplifying in spite of its
 frank admission of an underlying       
mystery1--we shall find no added        
difficulty in several points which have 
been the subjects of eager controversy4 
,the sequence of hypnotic phenomena1 the
 question of the stages of hypnotism1 is
 one of these4 ,i have already briefly  
described how ,charcot propounded his   
three stages--lethargy1 catalepsy1      
somnambulism--as though they formed the 
inevitable development of a             
physiological law2--and how completely  
this claim has now had to be withdrawn4 
,other schemes have been drawn out1 by  
,libeault1 etc41 but none of them seems 
to do more than reflect the experience  
of some one hypnotist's practice4 ,the  

simplest arrangement is that of ,edmund 
,gurney1 who spoke only of an alert     
stage and a deep stage of hypnosis2 and 
even here we cannot say that either     
stage invariably precedes the other4    
,the alert stage1 which often came first
 with ,gurney's subjects1 comes last in 
,charcot's scheme2 and it is hardly safe
 to say more than that hypnotism is apt 
to show a series of changes from        
sleep-waking to lethargy and back again1
 and that the advanced stages show more 
of subliminal faculty than the earlier  
ones4 ,there is much significance in an 
experiment of ,dr4 ,jules ,janet1 who1  
by continued passes1 carried on         
,wittman1 ,charcot's leading subject1   
beyond her usual somnambulic state into 
a new lethargic state1 and out again    
from thence into a new sleep-waking     
state markedly superior to the old4     
,gurney held the view that the main     
distinction of kind between his alert   
and his deep stage of hypnosis was to be
 found in the domain of memory1 while   

memory also afforded the means for      
distinguishing the hypnotic state as a  
whole from the normal one4 ,as a general
 rule 7though with numerous exceptions71
 the events of ordinary life are        
remembered in the trance1 while the     
trance events are forgotten on waking1  
but tend to recur to the memory on      
rehypnotisation4 ,but the most          
interesting part of his observations    
consisted in showing alternations of    
memory in the alert and deep stages of  
the trance itself2--the ideas impressed 
in the one sort of state being almost   
always forgotten in the other1 and as   
invariably again remembered when the    
former state recurs4 7,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r4 vol4 ii41 pp4 #fa et seq4 #ebc
 ,a47 ,on experimenting further1 he met 
with a stage in which there was a       
distinct third train of memory1         
independent of the others2--and this1 of
 course1 suggests a further doubt as to 
there being any fixed number of stages  
in the trance4 ,the later experiments of

 ,mrs4 ,sidgwick #ebc ,b on the same    
subject1 in which eight or nine distinct
 trains of memory were found--each      
recurring when the corresponding stage  
of depth of the trance was reached--seem
 to show conclusively that the number1  
may vary almost indefinitely4 ,we have  
already seen that in cases of           
alternating personalities the number of 
personalities similarly varies1 and the 
student who now follows or repeats      
,gurney's experiments1 with the         
increased knowledge of split            
personalities which recent years have   
brought1 cannot fail to be struck with  
the analogies between ,gurney's         
artificial light and deep states1--with 
their separate chains of memory1--and   
those morbid alternating personalities1 
with their complex mnemonic cleavages   
and lacun1 with which we dealt in       
,chapter ,,ii4 ,the hypnotic stages are 
in fact secondary or alternating        
personalities of very shallow type1 but 
for that very reason all the better     

adapted for teaching us from what kinds 
of subliminal disaggregation the more   
serious splits in personality take their
 rise4  ,and beneath and between these  
awakenings into limited1 partial        
alertness lies that profound hypnotic   
trance which one can best describe as a 
scientific or purposive rearrangement of
 the elements of sleep2--a rearrangement
 in which what is helpful is            
intensified1 what is merely hindering or
 isolating is removed or reduced4 ,a    
man's ordinary sleep is at once unstable
 and irresponsive4 ,you can wake him    
with a pin-prick1 but if you talk to him
 he will not hear or answer you1 until  
you rouse him with the mere noise4 ,that
 is sleep as the needs of our timorous  
ancestors determined that it should be4 
,hypnotic sleep1 on the contrary1 is at 
once stable and responsive2 strong in   
its resistance to such stimuli as it    
chooses to ignore2 ready in its         
accessibility to such appeals as it     
chooses to answer4  ,prick or pinch the 

hypnotised subject1 and although some   
stratum of his personality may be aware1
 in some fashion1 of your act1 the sleep
 will generally remain unbroken4 ,but if
 you speak to him1--or even speak before
 him1--then1 however profound his       
apparent lethargy1 there is something in
 him which will hear4#fe  ,all this is  
true even of earlier stages of trance4  
,deeper still lies the stage of highest 
interest2--that sleep-waking in which   
the subliminal self is at last set      
free1--is at last able not only to      
receive but to respond3 when it begins  
to tell us the secrets of the sleeping  
phase of personality1 beginning with    
directions as to the conduct of the     
trance or of the cure1 and going on to  
who knows what insight into who knows   
what world afar8  ,without1 then1       
entering into more detail as to the     
varying forms which hypnosis at         
different stages may assume1 ,i have    
here traced its central                 
characteristic2--the development1       

namely1 of the sleeping phase of        
personality in such fashion as to allow 
of some supraliminal guidance of the    
subliminal self4  ,we have here a       
definition of much wider purview than   
any which has been habitually applied to
 the process of hypnotisation or to the 
state of hypnosis4 ,to test its         
validity1 to explain its scope1 we need 
a survey of hypnotic results much wider 
in range than any enumeration of the    
kind at present usual in text-books4    
,regarding hypnotic achievements mainly 
in their mental aspects1 ,i must seek   
for some broad principle of             
classification which on the one hand may
 not be so exclusively moral as to be   
physiologically untranslatable1--like   
the distinction between vice and        
virtue2--or on the other hand so        
exclusively physiological as to be      
morally untranslatable1--like the       
distinction between cerebral anmia and  
hypermia4  ,perhaps the broadest        
contrast which is expressible in both   

moral and physiological terms is the    
contrast between check and              
stimulus1--between inhibition and       
dynamogeny4 ,not1 indeed1 that such     
terms as check and stimulus can be      
pressed in detail4 ,the central         
power1--the ruling agency within the man
 which gives the command1--is no doubt  
the same in both cases4 ,but the common 
contrast between negative and positive  
exhortations1--this you shall not do1   
this you shall do1--will help to give   
clearness to our review of the          
influences of hypnotism in its bearings 
on intelligence and character1--its     
psychological efficacy4  ,the most      
rudimentary form of restraint or        
inhibition lies in our effort to        
preserve the infant or young child from 
acquiring what we call bad tricks4      
,these morbid affections of motor       
centres1 trifling in their inception1   
will sometimes grow until they are      
incurable by any rgime or               
medicament2--nay1 till an action so     

insignificant as sucking the thumb may  
work the ruin of a life4  ,in no        
direction1 perhaps1 do the results of   
suggestion appear more inexplicable than
 here4 ,nowhere have we a more          
conspicuous touching of a spring2--a    
more complete achievement1 almost in a  
single moment1 of the deliverance which 
years of painful effort have failed to  
effect4#ff  ,these cases stand midway   
between ordinary therapeutics and moral 
suasion4 ,no one can here doubt the     
importance of finding the shortest and  
swiftest path to cure4 ,nor is there any
 reason to think that cures thus        
obtained are less complete or permanent 
than if they had been achieved by       
gradual moral effort4 ,these facts      
should be borne in mind throughout the  
whole series of the higher hypnotic     
effects1 and should serve to dispel any 
anxiety as to the possible loss of moral
 training when cure is thus magically   
swift4 ,each of these effects consists1 
as we must suppose1 in the modification 

of some group of nervous centres2 and1  
so far as we can tell1 that is just the 
same result which moral effort made     
above the conscious threshold more      
slowly and painfully attains4 ,this     
difference1 in fact1 is like the        
difference between results achieved by  
diligence and results achieved by       
genius4 ,something valuable in the way  
of training1--some exercise in patience 
and resolve1--no doubt may be missed by 
the man who is suggested into           
sobriety2--in the same way as it was    
missed by the schoolboy ,gauss1--writing
 down the answers to problems as soon as
 set1 instead of spending on them a     
diligent hour4 ,but moral progress is in
 its essence as limitless as            
mathematical2 and the man who is thus   
carried over rudimentary struggles may  
still find plenty of moral effort in    
life to train his character and tax his 
resolution4  ,among these morbid tricks 
kleptomania has an interest of its own1 
on account of the frequent doubt whether

 it is not put forward as a mere excuse 
for pilfering4 ,it may thus happen that 
the cure is the best proof of the       
existence of the disease2 and certain   
cures indicate that the impulse has     
veritably involved a morbid excitability
 of motor centres1 acted on by special  
stimuli1--an ide fixe with an immediate 
outcome in act4#fg  ,many words and acts
 of violence fall under the same        
category1 in cases where the impulse to 
swear or to strike has acquired the     
unreasoning automatic promptness of a   
tic1 and yet may be at once inhibited by
 suggestion4 ,many undesirable impulses 
in the realm of sex are also capable of 
being thus corrected or removed4  ,the  
stimulants and narcotics1 to which our  
review next leads us1 form a standing   
menace to human virtue4 ,by some strange
 accident of our development1 the       
impulse of our organisms towards certain
 drugs--alcohol1 opium1 and the like--is
 strong enough to overpower1 in a large 
proportion of mankind1 not only the     

late-acquired altruistic impulses1 but  
even the primary impulses of self-regard
 and self-preservation4 ,we are brought 
back1 one may almost say1 to the        
chimiotaxy of the lowest organisms1     
which arrange themselves inevitably in  
specific relation to oxygen1 malic acid1
 or whatever the stimulus may be4 ,we   
thus experience in ourselves a strange  
conflict between moral responsibility   
and molecular affinities2--the central  
will overborne by dumb unnumbered       
elements of our being4 ,with this       
condition of things hypnotic suggestion 
deals often in a curious way4 ,the      
suggestion is not generally felt as a   
strengthening of the central will4 ,it  
resembles rather a molecular            
redisposition2 it leaves the patient    
indifferent to the stimulus1 or even    
disgusted with it4 ,the man for whom    
alcohol has combined the extremes of    
delight and terror now lives as though  
in a world in which alcohol did not     
exist at all4#fh  ,even for the slave of

 morphia the same sudden freedom is     
sometimes achieved4 ,it has been said of
 victims to morphia-injection that a    
cure means death2--so often has suicide 
followed on the distress caused by      
giving up the drug4 ,but in certain     
cases cured by suggestion it seems that 
no craving whatsoever has persisted     
after the sudden disuse of the drug4    
,there is something here which is in one
 sense profounder than moral reform4    
,there is something which suggests a    
spirit within us less injured than we   
might have feared by the body's         
degradation4 ,the morphinomaniac        
character--the lowest type of subjection
 to a ruling vice--disappears from the  
personality in proportion as the drug is
 eliminated from the system4 ,the       
shrinking outcast turns at once into the
 respectable man4#fi  ,but apart from   
troubles consequent on any intelligible 
instinct1 any discoverable stimulus of  
pleasure1 there are a multitude of      
impulses1 fears1 imaginations1 one or   

more of which may take possession of    
persons not otherwise apparently        
unhealthy or hysterical1 sometimes to an
 extent so distressing as to impel to   
suicide4  ,some of these phobies have   
been often described of late years1--as1
 for instance1 agoraphobia1 which makes 
a man dread to cross an open space2 and 
its converse claustrophobia1 which makes
 him shrink from sitting in a room with 
closed doors2 or the still more         
distressing mysophobia1 which makes him 
constantly uneasy lest he should have   
become dirty or defiled4  ,all these    
disorders involve a kind of displacement
 or cramp of the attention2 and for all 
of them1 one may broadly say1 hypnotic  
suggestion is the best and often the    
only cure4 ,suggestion seems to         
stimulate antagonistic centres2 to open 
clogged channels2 to produce1 in short1 
however we imagine the process1 a rapid 
disappearance of the insistent notion4  
,i have spoken of this effect as though 
it were mainly to be valued             

intellectually1 as a readjustment of the
 dislocated attention4 ,but ,i must note
 also that the moral results may be as  
important here as in the cases of       
inhibition of dipsomania and the like1  
already mentioned4 ,these morbid fears  
which suggestion relieves may be        
ruinously degrading to a man's          
character4 ,the ingredients of          
antipathy1 of jealousy1 which they      
sometimes contain1 may make him         
dangerous to his fellows as well as     
loathsome to himself4 ,one or two cases 
of the cure of morbid jealousy are to my
 mind among the best records which      
hypnotism has to show4#gj  ,but this is 
not all4 ,the treasure of memory is     
mixed with rubbish2 the caution which   
experience has taught has often been    
taught too well2 philosophic calm has   
often frozen into apathy4 ,plato would  
have the old men in his republic plied  
well with wine on festal days1 that     
their tongues might be unloosed to      
communicate their wisdom without        

reserve4 ,accumulated experience1 it has
 been said with much truth in more      
modern language1#ga hampers action1     
disturbs the logical reaction of the    
individual to his environment4 ,the want
 of control which marks the decadence of
 mental power is sometimes itself undue 
control1 a preponderance of the         
secondary over the primary influences4  
,now the removal of shyness1 or mauvaise
 honte1 which hypnotic suggestion can   
effect1 is in fact a purgation of       
memory1--inhibiting the recollection of 
previous failures1 and setting free     
whatever group of aptitudes is for the  
moment required4 ,thus1 for the boy     
called on to make an oration in a       
platform exhibition1 hypnotisation sets 
free the primary instinct of garrulity  
without the restraining fear of         
ridicule4 ,for the musical executant1 on
 the other hand1 a similar suggestion   
will set free the secondary instinct    
which the fingers have acquired1 without
 the interference of the learner's      

puzzled1 hesitating thoughts4  ,i may   
remark here 7following ,gurney and      
,bramwell7 how misleading a term is     
mono-ideism for almost any hypnotic     
state4 ,there is a selection of ideas to
 which the hypnotic subject will attend1
 and there is a concentration upon the  
idea thus selected2 but those ideas     
themselves may be both complex and      
constantly shifting1 and indeed this is 
just one of the ways in which the       
hypnotic trance differs from the        
somnambulic--in which it may happen that
 only a relatively small group of       
brain-centres are awake enough to act4  
,the somnambulic servant-girl1 for      
instance1 may persist in laying the     
tea-table1 whatever you say to her1 and 
this may fairly be called mono-ideism2  
but the hypnotic subject 7as ,bramwell  
has justly insisted7 can be made to obey
 simultaneously a greater number of     
separate commands than he could possibly
 attend to in waking life4  ,from these 
inhibitions of memory1--of attention as 

directed to the experiences of the      
past1--we pass on to attention as       
directed to the experiences of the      
present4 ,and here we are reaching a    
central point2 we are affecting the     
macula lutea 7as it has been well       
called7 of the mental field4 ,many of   
the most important of hypnotic results  
will be best described as modifications 
of attention4  ,any modification of     
attention is of course likely to be at  
once a check and a stimulus2--a check to
 certain thoughts and emotions1 a       
stimulus to others4 ,and in many cases  
it will be the dynamogenic aspect of the
 change--the new vigour supplied in     
needed directions--which will be for us 
of greatest interest4 ,yet from the     
inhibitive side also we have already had
 important achievements to record4 ,all 
these arrests and destructions of ides  
fixes1 of which so much has been said1  
were powerful modifications of          
attention1 although the limited field   
which they covered made it simpler to   

introduce them under a separate heading4
  ,and even now it may not be without   
surprise that the reader finds described
 under the heading of inhibition of     
attention a phenomenon so considerable  
and so apparently independent as        
hypnotic suppression of pain4 ,this     
induced analgesia has from the first    
been one of the main triumphs of        
mesmerism or hypnotism4 ,all have heard 
that mesmerism will stop                
headaches2--that you can have a tooth   
out under mesmerism without feeling it4 
,the rivalry between mesmerism and      
ether1 as ansthetic agents in capital   
operations1 was a conspicuous fact in   
the medical history of early ,victorian 
times4 ,but the ordinary talk1 at any   
rate of that day1 seemed to assume that 
if mesmerism produced an effect at all  
it was an effect resembling that        
produced by narcotics--a modification of
 the intimate structure of the nerve or 
of the brain which rendered them for the
 time incapable of transmitting or of   

feeling painful sensations4 ,the state  
of a man's nervous system1 in fact1 when
 he is poisoned by chloroform1 or       
stunned by a blow1 or almost frozen to  
death1 or nearly drowned1 etc41 is such 
that a great part of it is no longer fit
 for its usual work1--is no longer      
capable of those prolongations of       
neurons1 or whatever they be1 which     
constitute its specific nervous         
activity4 ,we thus get rid of pain by   
getting rid for the time of a great deal
 of other nervous action as well2 and we
 have to take care lest by pushing the  
experiment too far we get rid of life   
into the bargain4 ,but on the other     
hand1 a man's nervous system1 when      
hypnotic suggestion has rendered him    
incapable of pain1 is quite as active   
and vigorous as ever1--quite as capable 
of transmitting and feeling             
pain1--although capable also of         
inhibiting it altogether4 ,in a word1   
the hypnotic subject is above instead of
 below pain4  ,to understand this       

apparent paradox we must remind         
ourselves that pain probably originated 
as a warning of danger1--a warning      
which1 while useful to active creatures 
with miscellaneous risks1 has become    
only a mixed advantage to beings of more
 advanced intelligence and sensitivity4 
,there are many occasions when1 knowing 
it to be useless1 we wish to shut off   
pain1 to rise as definitely above it as 
our earliest ancestors were below it1 or
 as the drunken or narcotised man is    
below it4 ,this is just what hypnotic   
suggestion enables us to do4  ,hypnotism
 attacks the real origo mali2--not1     
indeed1 the pressure on the tooth-nerve1
 which can only be removed by           
extraction1 but the representative power
 of the central sensorium which converts
 that pressure for us into pain4 ,it    
diverts attention from the pain1 as the 
excitement of battle might do2 but      
diverts it without any competing        
excitement whatever4 ,to this topic of  
influence on attention we shall have to 

recur again and again4 ,for the present 
it may suffice if ,i refer the reader to
 a few cases--chosen from among some    
thousands where hypnotic practice has   
removed or obviated the distress or     
anguish till now unmistakably associated
 with various bodily incidents--from the
 extraction of a tooth to the great pain
 and peril of childbirth4#gb  ,this     
suppression of pain has naturally been  
treated from the therapeutic point of   
view1 as an end in itself2 and neither  
physician nor patient has been inclined 
to inquire exactly what has             
occurred2--what physiological or        
psychological condition has underlain   
this great subjective relief4 ,yet in   
the eye of experimental psychology the  
matter is far from a simple one4 ,we are
 bound to ask what has been altered4    
,has there been a total ablation1 or    
some mere translation of pain8 ,what    
objective change on the bodily side has 
occurred in nerve or tissue8 and1 on the
 mental side1 how far does the change in

 consciousness extend8 ,how deep does it
 go8 ,does any subliminal knowledge of  
the pain persist8  ,the very imperfect  
answers which can at present be given to
 these questions may1 at any rate1      
suggest directions for further inquiry4 
7#a7 ,in the first place1 it seems clear
 that when pain is inhibited in any but 
the most simple cases1 a certain group  
of changes is produced whose nexus is   
psychological rather than physiological4
 ,that is to say1 one suggestion seems  
to relieve at once all the symptoms     
which form one idea of pain or distress 
in the patient's mind2 while another    
suggestion is often needed to remove    
some remaining symptom1 which the       
patient regards as a different trouble  
altogether4 ,the suggestion thus differs
 both from a specific remedy1 which     
might relieve a specific symptom1 and   
from a general narcotisation1 which     
would relieve all symptoms equally4 ,in 
making suggestions1 moreover1 the       
hypnotiser finds that he has to consider

 and meet the patient's own subjective  
feelings1 describing the intended relief
 as the patient wishes it to be         
described1 and not attempting technical 
language which the patient could not    
follow4 ,in a word1 it is plain that in 
this class1 as in other classes of      
suggestion1 we are addressing ourselves 
to a mind1 an intelligence1 which can of
 itself select and combine1 and not     
merely to a tissue or a gland responsive
 in a merely automatic way4  7#b7 ,it   
will not then surprise us if1--pain     
being thus treated as a psychological   
entity1--there shall prove to be a      
certain psychological complexity in the 
response to analgesic suggestion4  ,by  
this ,i mean that there are occasional  
indications that some memory of the     
pain1 say1 of an operation has persisted
 in some stratum of the                 
personality2--thus apparently indicating
 that there was somewhere an actual     
consciousness of the pain when the      
operation was performed4#gc ,we find    

accounts of the revival of pain in      
dreams after operations performed under 
chloroform4#gd  7#c7 ,such experiences1 
if more frequent1 might tempt us to     
suppose that the pain is not wholly     
abrogated1 but merely translated to some
 stratum of consciousness whose         
experiences do not enter into our       
habitual chain of memories4 ,yet we     
possess 7strangely enough7 what seems   
direct evidence that the profoundest    
organic substratum of our being is by   
suggestion wholly freed from pain4 ,it  
had long been observed that recoveries  
from operations performed in hypnotic   
trance were unusually benign2--there    
being less tendency to inflammation than
 when the patient had felt the knife4   
,the same observation--perhaps in a less
 marked degree--has since been made as  
to operations under chemical ansthesia4 
,the shock to the system1 and the       
irritation to the special parts         
affected1 are greatly diminished by     
chloroform4 ,and more recently          

,professor ,delboeuf1 by an experiment  
of great delicacy on two symmetrical    
wounds1 of which one was rendered       
painless by suggestion1 has distinctly  
demonstrated that pain tends to induce  
and keep up inflammation4#ge  ,thus it  
seems that pain is abrogated at once on 
the highest and on the lowest level of  
consciousness2 yet possibly in some     
cases 7though not usually#gf7 persists  
obscurely in some stratum of our        
personality into which we gain only     
occasional and indirect glimpses4 ,and  
if indeed this be so1 it need in no way 
surprise us4 ,we need to remember at    
every point that we have no reason      
whatever to suppose that we are         
cognisant of all the trains of          
consciousness1 or chains of memory1     
which are weaving themselves within us4 
,i shall never attain on earth--perhaps 
,i never shall in any world attain--to  
any complete conspectus of the variously
 interwoven streams of vitality which   
are1 in fact1 obscurely present in my   

conception of myself4  ,it is to        
hypnotism in the first place that we may
 look for an increased power of analysis
 of these intercurrent streams1 these   
irregularly super-posed strata of our   
psychical being4 ,in the meantime1 this 
power of inhibiting almost any fraction 
of our habitual consciousness at        
pleasure gives for the first time to the
 ordinary man--if only he be a          
suggestible subject--a power of         
concentration1 of choice in the exercise
 of faculty1 such as up till now only   
the most powerful spirits--a ,newton or 
an ,archimedes--have been able to exert4
  ,the man who sits down in his study to
 write or read1--in perfect safety and  
intent on his work1--continues          
nevertheless to be involuntarily and    
inevitably armed with all that alertness
 to external sights and sounds1 and all 
that sensibility to pain1 which         
protected his lowly ancestors at        
different stages of even pre-human      
development4 ,it is much as though he   

were forced to carry about with him all 
the external defences which his         
forefathers have invented for their     
defence2--to sit at his writing-table   
clad in chain-mail and a respirator1 and
 grasping an umbrella and a boomerang4  
,let him learn1 if he can1 inwardly as  
well as outwardly1 to get rid of all    
that1 to keep at his command only the   
half of his faculties which for his     
purpose is worth more than the whole4   
,dissociation and choice2--dissociation 
between elements which have always      
hitherto seemed inextricably            
knit2--choice between faculties which   
till now we have had to use all together
 or not at all2--such is the promise1   
such is the incipient performance of    
hypnotic plasticity in its aspect of    
inhibitive suggestion4  ,i come now to  
the division of hypnotic achievement    
with which ,i next proposed to deal1    
namely1 the dynamogenic results of      
hypnotic suggestion4 ,these ,i shall    
arrange in an order resembling that     

which we try to follow in               
education3--proceeding from external    
senses to internal sensory and other    
central operations2 and thence again to 
attention and will1 and so to character 
which is a kind of resultant of all     
these4  ,i will begin1 then1 with what  
seems the most external and measurable  
of these different influences--the      
influence1 namely1 of suggestion upon   
man's perceptive faculties2--its power  
to educate his external organs of sense4
  ,this wide subject is almost untouched
 as yet2 and there is no direction in   
which one could be more confident of    
interesting results from further        
experiment4  ,the exposition falls      
naturally into three parts1 as          
suggestion effects one or other of the  
three following objects3      7#a7      
,restoration of ordinary senses from    
some deficient condition4     7#b7      
,verification of ordinary               
senses2--hypersthesi4     7#c7          
,development of new                     

senses2--hetersthesi4  7#a7 ,the first  
of these three headings seems at first  
sight to belong to therapeutics rather  
than to psychology4 ,it is1 however1    
indispensable as a preliminary to the   
other two heads2 since by learning how  
and to what extent suggestion can repair
 defective senses we have the best      
chance of guessing at its modus operandi
 when it seems to excite the healthy    
senses to a point beyond their normal   
powers4#gg  ,two points may be mentioned
 here4 ,improvement of vision seems     
sometimes to result from relaxation of  
an involuntary ciliary spasm1 which     
habitually over-corrects some defect of 
the lens4 ,this is interesting1 from the
 analogy thus shown in quite healthy    
persons to the fixed ideas1 the         
subliminal errors and fancies           
characteristics of hysteria4 ,the       
stratum of self whose business it is to 
correct the mechanical defect of the eye
 has in these instances done so amiss1  
and cannot set itself right4 ,the       

corrected form of vision is as defective
 as the form of vision which it         
replaced4 ,but if the state of trance be
 induced1 or if it occur spontaneously1 
it sometimes happens that the error is  
suddenly righted2 the patient lays aside
 spectacles2 and since we must assume   
that the original defect of mechanism   
remains1 it seems that that defect is   
now perfectly instead of imperfectly    
met4 ,this shows a subliminal adjusting 
power operating during trance more      
intelligently than the supraliminal     
intelligence had been able to operate   
during waking life4  ,another point of  
interest lies in the effect of increased
 attention1 as stimulated by suggestion1
 upon the power of hearing4 ,dr4        
,libeault#gh records two cases which are
 among the most significant that ,i     
know4 ,if such susceptibility to        
self-suggestion could be reached by     
patients generally1 there might be1 with
 no miracle at all1 a removal of perhaps
 half the annoyance which deafness      

inflicts on mankind4  ,i pass on to     
cases of the production by suggestion or
 self-suggestion of hypersthesia1--of a 
degree of sensory delicacy which        
overpasses the ordinary level1 and the  
previous level of the subject himself4  
,the rudimentary state of our study of  
hypnotism is somewhat strangely         
illustrated by the fact that most of the
 experiments which show hypersthesia    
most delicately have been undertaken    
with a view of proving something        
else--namely1 mesmeric rapport1 or the  
mesmerisation of objects1 or telepathy4 
,in these cases the proof of rapport1   
telepathy1 etc41 generally just falls   
short1--because one cannot say that the 
action of the ordinary senses might not 
have reached the point necessary for the
 achievement1 though there is often good
 reason to believe that the subject was 
supraliminally ignorant of the way in   
which he was1 in fact1 attaining the    
knowledge in question4  ,in these       
extreme cases1 indeed1 the explanation  

by hypersthesia is not always proved4   
,there may have been telepathy1 although
 one has not the right to assume        
telepathy1 in view of certain slighter1 
but still remarkable1 hypersthetic      
achievements1 which are common subjects 
of demonstration4 ,the ready recognition
 of points de repre1 on the back of a   
card or the like1 which are hardly      
perceptible to ordinary eyes1 is one of 
the most usual of these performances4   
,in this connection the question arises 
as to the existence of physiological    
limits to the exercise of the ordinary  
senses4 ,in the case of the eye a       
minimum visibile is generally assumed2  
and there is special interest in a case 
of clairvoyance versus cornea-reading1  
where1 if the words were read 7as       
appears most probable7 from their       
reflection upon the cornea of the       
hypnotiser1 the common view as to the   
minimum visibile is greatly             
stretched4#gi  ,with regard to the other
 senses1 whose mechanism is less capable

 of minute dissection1 one meets        
problems of a rather different kind4    
,what are the definitions of smell and  
touch8 ,touch is already split up into  
various factors--tactile1 algesic1      
thermal2 and thermal touch is itself a  
duplicate sense1 depending apparently on
 one set of nerve-terminations adapted  
to perceive heat1 and another set       
adapted to perceive cold4 ,taste is     
similarly split up2 and we do not call  
anything taste which is not definitely  
referred to the mouth and adjacent      
regions4 ,smell is vaguer2 and there are
 cognate sensations 7like that of the   
presence of a cat7 which are not        
referred by their subject to the nose4  
,the study of hypersthesia does in this 
sense prepare the way for what ,i have  
termed hetersthesia2 in that it leaves  
us more cautious in definition as to    
what the senses are1 it accustoms us to 
the notion that people become aware of  
things in many ways which they cannot   
definitely realise4  ,let us now        

consider the evidence for               
hetersthesia2--for the existence1 that  
is to say1 under hypnotic suggestion1 of
 any form of sensibility decidedly      
different from those with which we are  
familiar4 ,it would sound more accurate 
if one could say demanding some         
end-organ different from those which we 
know that we possess4 ,but we know too  
little of the range of perceptivity of  
these end-organs in the skin which we   
are gradually learning to               
distinguish--of the heat-feeling spots1 
cold-feeling spots1 and the like--to be 
able to say for what purposes a new     
organ would be needed4 ,for certain     
hetersthetic sensations1 indeed1 as the 
perception of a magnetic field1 one can 
hardly assume that any end-organ would  
be necessary4 ,it is better1 therefore1 
to speak only of modes of sensibility4  
,looking at the matter from the         
evolutionary point of view1 the question
 among sensations was one of the        
development of the fittest2 that is to  

say that1 as the organism became more   
complex and needed sensations more      
definite than sufficed for the          
protozoon1 certain sensibilities got    
themselves defined and stereotyped upon 
the organism by the evolution of        
end-organs4#hj ,others failed to get    
thus externalised2 but may1 for aught we
 know1 persist nevertheless in the      
central organs2--say1 for instance1 in  
what for man are the optic or olfactory 
tracts of the brain4 ,there will then be
 no apparent reason why these latent    
powers should not from time to time     
receive sufficient stimulus1 either from
 within or from without1 to make them   
perceptible to the waking intelligence1 
or perceptible at least in states 7like 
trance7 of narrow concentration4  ,as   
the result of these considerations1 ,i  
approach alleged hetersthesi of various 
kinds with no presumption whatever      
against their real occurrence4 ,yet on  
the other hand1 my belief in the extent 
of possible hypersthesia continually    

suggests to me that the apparently new  
perceptions may only consist of a       
mixture of familiar forms of perception1
 pushed to a new extreme1 and centrally 
interpreted with a new acumen1 while    
there is no doubt that many experiments 
supposed to furnish evidence of such new
 perceptions merely illustrate the      
effect of suggestion or self-suggestion4
  ,without1 however1 presuming to       
criticise past evidence wholesale1 ,i   
yet hope that the experience now        
attained may lead to a much greater     
number of well-guarded experiments in   
the near future4 ,in ,appendix ,v4,a1 ,i
 very briefly present the actual state  
of this inquiry4 ,in default of any     
logical principle1 ,i shall there divide
 these alleged forms of sensibility     
according as they are excited by        
inorganic objects on the one hand1 or by
 organisms 7dead or living7 on the      
other4  ,in the meantime ,i pass on to  
that group of the dynamogenic effects of
 suggestion which affect the more       

central vital operations--either the    
vaso-motor system1 or the neuro-muscular
 system1 or the central sensory tracts4 
,the effects of suggestion on           
character--induced changes to which we  
can hardly guess the nervous            
concomitant--will remain to be dealt    
with later4  ,first1 then1 as to the    
effects of suggestion on the vaso-motor 
system4 ,simple effects of this type    
form the commonest of platform          
experiments4 ,the mesmerist holds       
ammonia under his subject's nose1 and   
tells him it is rose-water4 ,the subject
 smells it eagerly1 and his eyes do not 
water4 ,the suggestion1 that is to say1 
that the stinging vapour is inert has   
inhibited the vaso-motor reflexes which 
would ordinarily follow1 and which no   
ordinary effort of will could restrain4 
,vice vers1 when the subject smells     
rose-water1 described as ammonia1 he    
sneezes and his eyes water4 ,these      
results1 which his own will could not   
produce1 follow on the mesmerist's word4

 ,no one who sees these simple tests    
applied can doubt the genuineness of the
 influence at work4 ,we find then1 as   
might be expected1 that action on glands
 and secretions constitutes a large     
element in hypnotic therapeutics4 ,the  
literature of suggestion is full of     
instances where a suppressed secretion  
has been restored at a previously       
arranged moment1 almost with            
astronomical punctuality4 ,and yet to   
what memory is that command retained8 by
 what signal is it announced8 or by what
 agency obeyed8  ,in spite of this      
underlying obscurity1 common to every   
branch of suggestion1 these vaso-motor  
phenomena are by this time so familiar  
that no further description of them is  
necessary4  ,this delicate              
responsiveness of the vaso-motor system 
has given rise to some curious          
spontaneous phenomena1 and has suggested
 some experiments1 which are probably as
 yet in their infancy4 ,the main point  
of interest is that at this point       

spontaneous self-suggestion1 and        
subsequently suggestion from without1   
have made a kind of first attempt at the
 modification of the human organism in  
what may be called fancy directions1--at
 the production of a change which has no
 therapeutic aim1 and so to say1 no     
physiological unity2 but which is guided
 by an intellectual caprice along lines 
with which the organism is not          
previously familiar4 ,i speak of the    
phenomenon commonly known as            
stigmatisation1 from the fact that its  
earliest spontaneous manifestations were
 suggested by imaginations brooding on  
the stigmata of ,christ's passion2--the 
marks of wounds in hands and feet and   
side4 ,this phenomenon1 which was long  
treated both by savants and by devotees 
as though it must be either fraudulent  
or miraculous1--ou supercherie1 ou      
miracle1--is now found 7like a good many
 other phenomena previously deemed      
subject to that dilemma7 to enter       
readily within the widening circuit of  

natural law4 ,stigmatisation is1 in     
fact1 a form of vesication2 and         
suggested vesication--with the          
quasi-burns and real blisters which     
obediently appear in any place and      
pattern that is ordered--is a high      
development of that same vaso-motor     
plasticity of which the                 
ammonia-rose-water experiment was an    
early example4#ha  ,the group of        
suggestive effects which we reach next  
in order is a wide and important one4   
,the education of the central sensory   
faculties1--of our power of inwardly    
representing to ourselves sights and    
sounds1 etc41--is not less important    
than the education of the external      
senses4 ,the powers of construction and 
combination which our central organs    
possess differ more widely in degree in 
different healthy individuals than the  
degrees of external perception itself4  
,and the stimulating influence of       
hypnotism on imagination is perhaps the 
most conspicuous phenomenon which the   

whole subject offers2 yet it has been   
little dwelt upon1 save from one quite  
superficial point of view4  ,every one  
knows that a hypnotised subject is      
easily hallucinated2--that if he is told
 to see a non-existent dog1 he sees a   
dog1--that if he is told not to see ,mr4
 ,a41 he sees everything in the room1   
,mr4 ,a4 excepted4 ,common and          
conspicuous1 ,i say1 as this experiment 
is1 even the scientific observer has too
 often dealt with it with the           
shallowness of the platform lecturer4   
,the lecturer represents this induced   
hallucinability simply as an odd        
illustration of his own power over the  
subject4 ,i tell him to forget his name1
 and he forgets his name2 ,i tell him   
that he has a baby on his lap1 and he   
sees and feels and dandles it4 ,at the  
best1 such a hallucination is quoted as 
an instance of mono-ideism4 ,but the    
real kernel of the phenomenon is not the
 inhibition but the dynamogeny2--not the
 abstraction of attention or imagination

 from other topics1 but the increased   
power which imagination gains under     
suggestion2--the development of faculty1
 useless1 if you will1 in that special  
form of imagining the baby1 but faculty 
mentally of a high order--faculty in one
 shape or another essential to the      
production of almost all the most       
admired forms of human achievement4  ,on
 this theme ,i shall have much to say2  
yet here again it will be convenient to 
defer fuller discussion until ,i review 
what ,i have termed sensory automatism  
in a more general way4 ,we shall then   
see that this quickened imaginative     
faculty is not educed by hypnosis alone2
 that it is a part of the equipment of  
the subliminal self1 and will be better 
treated at length in connection with    
other spontaneous manifestations4       
,enough here to have pointed out the    
main fact2 for when pointed out it can  
hardly be disputed1 although its        
significance for the true comprehension 
of hypnotic phenomena has been too often

 overlooked4  ,yet here1 and in direct  
connection with hypnotism1 certain      
special features of hallucinations need 
to be insisted upon1 both as partly     
explaining certain more advanced        
hypnotic phenomena1 and also as         
suggesting lines of important           
experiment4 ,the first point is this4   
,post-hypnotic hallucinations can be    
postponed at will4 ,that is to say1 a   
constant watchfulness is exercised by   
the subject1 so that if1 for example1   
the hypnotiser tells him that he will   
7when awakened7 poke the fire when the  
hypnotiser has coughed three times1 the 
awakened subject1 although knowing      
nothing of the order in his waking      
state1 will be on the look-out for the  
coughs1 amid all other disturbances1 and
 will poke the fire at the fore-ordained
 signal4#hb ,moreover1 when the         
post-hypnotic suggestion is executed    
there will often be a slight momentary  
relapse into the hypnotic state1 and the
 subject will not afterwards be aware   

that he has 7for instance7 poked the    
fire at all4 ,this means that the       
suggested act belongs properly to the   
hypnotic1 not to the normal chain of    
memory2 so that its performance involves
 a brief reappearance of the subliminal 
self which received the order4  ,another
 characteristic of these suggested      
hallucinations tells in exactly the same
 direction4 ,it is possible to suggest  
no mere isolated picture1--a black cat  
on the table1 or the like1--but a whole 
complex series of responses to          
circumstances not at the time           
predictable4 ,this point is well        
illustrated by what are called negative 
hallucinations or systematised ansthesi4
 ,suppose1 for instance1 that ,i tell a 
hypnotised subject that when he awakes  
there will be no one in the room with   
him but myself4 ,he awakes and remembers
 nothing of this order1 but sees me     
alone in the room4 ,other persons       
present endeavour to attract his        
attention in various ways4 ,sometimes he

 will be quite unconscious of their     
noises and movements2 sometimes he will 
perceive them1 but will explain them    
away1 as due to other causes1 in the    
same irrational manner as one might do  
in a dream4 ,or he may perceive them1 be
 unable to explain them1 and feel       
considerable terror until the negative  
hallucination is dissolved by a fresh   
word of command4 ,it is plain1 in fact1 
throughout1 that some element in him is 
at work all the time in obedience to the
 suggestion given1--is keeping him by   
ever fresh modifications of his illusion
 from discovering its unreality4        
,nothing could be more characteristic of
 what ,i have called a middle-level     
centre of the subliminal self--of some  
element in his nature which is potent   
and persistent without being completely 
intelligent2--a kind of dream-producer1 
ready at any moment to vary and defend  
the dream4  ,another indication of the  
subliminal power at work to produce     
these hallucinations is their remarkable

 range--a range as wide1 perhaps1 as    
that over which therapeutic effects are 
obtainable by suggestion4 ,the          
post-hypnotic hallucination may affect  
not sight and hearing alone 7to which   
spontaneous hallucinations are in most  
cases confined71 but all kinds of       
vaso-motor responses and organic        
sensations--cardiac1 stomachic1 and the 
like--which no artifice can affect in a 
waking person4 ,the legendary flow of   
perspiration with which the flatterer   
sympathises with his patron's complaint 
of heat--si dixeris stuo1 sudat--is no  
exaggeration if applied to the hypnotic 
subject1 who will often sweat and shiver
 at your bidding as you transplant him  
from the ,equator to frosty ,caucasus4  
,well1 then1 given this strength and    
vigour of hallucination1 one sees a     
possible extension of knowledge in more 
than one direction4 ,to begin with1 by  
suggestion to the subject that he is    
feeling or doing something which is     
beyond his normal range of faculties1 we

 may perhaps enable him to perceive or  
to act as thus suggested4  ,what we need
 is to address to a sensitive subject a 
series of strong suggestions of the     
increase of his sensory range and power4
 ,we must needs begin by suggesting     
hallucinatory sensations3--the subject  
should be told that he perceives some   
stimulus which is1 in fact1 too feeble  
for ordinary perception4 ,if you can    
make him think that he perceives it1 he 
probably will after a time perceive it2 
the direction given to his attention    
heightening either peripheral or central
 sensory faculty4 ,you may then be able 
to attack the question as to how far his
 specialised end-organs are really      
concerned in the perception2--and it may
 then be possible to deal in a more     
fruitful way with those alleged cases of
 transposition of senses which have so  
great a theoretical interest as being   
apparently intermediate between         
hypersthesia and telsthesia or          
clairvoyance4 ,if we once admit 7as ,i1 

of course1 admit7 the reality of        
telsthesia1 it is just in some such way 
as this that we should expect to find it
 beginning4  ,i start from the thesis   
that the perceptive power within us     
precedes and is independent of the      
specialised sense-organs1 which it has  
developed for earthly use4  ,greek3 nous
 ora kai nous akouei talla kpha kai     
typhla4  ,i conceive further that under 
certain circumstances this primary      
telsthetic faculty resumes direct       
operations1 in spite of the fleshly     
barriers which are constructed so as to 
allow it to operate through certain     
channels alone4 ,and ,i conceive that in
 thus resuming exercise of the wider    
faculty1 the incarnate spirit will be   
influenced or hampered by the habits or 
self-suggestions of the more specialised
 faculty2 so that there may be apparent 
compromises of different kinds between  
telsthetic and hypersthetic             
perception1--as the specialised senses  
endeavour1 as it were1 to retain credit 

for the perception which is in reality  
widening beyond their scope4  ,in this  
attitude of mind1 then1 ,i approach the 
recorded cases of transposition of      
special sense4#hc  ,two main hypotheses 
have been put forward as a general      
explanation of such cases1 neither of   
which seems to me quite satisfactory4   
7#a7 ,the common theory would be that   
these are merely cases of erroneous     
self-suggestion2--that the subject      
really sees with the eye1 but thinks    
that he sees with the knee1 or the      
stomach1 or the finger-tips4 ,this may  
probably have been so in many1 but not1 
,i think1 in all instances4 7#b7 ,dr4   
,prosper ,despine and others suppose    
that1 while the accustomed cerebral     
centres are still concerned in the act  
of sight1 the finger-end 7for example7  
acts for the nonce as the end-organ     
required to carry the visual sensation  
to the brain4 ,i cannot here get over   
the mechanical difficulty of the absence
 of a lens4 ,however hypersthetic the   

finger-end might be 7say7 to light and  
darkness1 ,i can hardly imagine its     
acting as an organ of definite sight4   
,my own suggestion 7which1 for aught ,i 
know1 may have been made before7 is that
 the finger-end is no more a true organ 
of sight than the arbitrary hypnogenous 
zone is a true organ for inducing       
trance4 ,i think it possible that there 
may be actual telsthesia1--not          
necessarily involving any perception by 
the bodily organism2--and that the      
spirit which thus perceives in wholly   
supernormal fashion may be under the    
impression that it is perceiving through
 some bizarre corporeal channel--as the 
knee or the stomach4 ,i think1          
therefore1 that the perception may not  
be optical sight at all1 but rather some
 generalised telsthetic perception      
represented as visual1 but incoherently 
so represented2 so that it may be       
referred to the knee instead of the     
retina4 ,and here again1 as at several  
previous points in my argument1 ,i must 

refer the reader to what will be said in
 my chapter on ,possession by external  
spirits 7,chapter ,,ix47 to illustrate  
the operation even of the subject's own 
spirit acting without external aid4     
,and now ,i come to the third main type 
of the dynamogenic efficacy of          
suggestion3 its influence1 namely1 on   
attention1 on will1 and on              
character--character1 indeed1 being     
largely a resultant of the direction and
 persistence of voluntary attention4    
,it will be remembered that for         
convenience' sake ,i have discussed the 
dynamogenic effect of suggestion first  
upon the external senses1 then upon the 
internal sensibility1--the mind's eye1  
the mind's ear1 and the imagination     
generally2--and now ,i am turning to    
similar effects exercised upon that     
central power which reasons upon the    
ideas and images which external and     
internal senses supply1 which chooses   
between them1 and which reacts according
 to its choice4 ,these are highest-level

 centres1 which ,i began by saying that 
the hypnotist could rarely hope to      
reach2--since those spontaneous         
somnambulisms which the hypnotic trance 
imitates and develops do so seldom reach
 them4 ,we have1 however1 already found 
a good deal of intelligence of a certain
 kind in hypnotic phenomena2 what we do 
here is to pass from one stage to       
another and higher stage of             
consciousness of intelligent action4    
,to explain this statement1 let us dwell
 for a moment upon the degree of        
intelligence which is sometimes         
displayed in those modifications of the 
organism which suggestion effects4      
,take1 for instance1 the formation of a 
cruciform blister1 as recorded by ,dr4  
,biggs1 of ,lima4#hd ,in this experiment
 the hypnotised subject was told that a 
red cross would appear on her chest     
every ,friday during a period of four   
months4 ,for the carrying out of this   
suggestion an unusual combination of    
capacities was needed2--the capacity of 

directing physiological changes in a new
 way1 and also1 and combined therewith1 
the capacity of recognising and         
imitating an abstract1 arbitrary1       
non-physiological idea1 such as that of 
cruciformity4  ,all this1 in my view1 is
 the expression of subliminal control   
over the organism--more potent and      
profound than supraliminal1 and         
exercised neither blindly nor wisely1   
but with intelligent caprice4  ,bearing 
this in mind as we go on to suggestions 
more directly affecting central faculty1
 in which highest-level centres begin to
 be involved1 we need not be surprised  
to find an intermediate stage in which  
high faculties are used in obedience to 
suggestion1 for purely capricious ends4 
,i speak of calculations subliminally   
performed in the carrying out of        
post-hypnotic suggestions4  ,these      
suggestions  chance--commands1 given in 
the trance1 to do something under       
certain contingent circumstances1 or    
after a certain time has elapsed--form a

 very convenient mode of testing the    
amount of mentation which can be started
 and carried out without the            
intervention of the supraliminal        
consciousness4 ,experiments have been   
made in this direction by three men     
especially who have in recent times done
 some of the best work on the           
psychological side of hypnotism1 namely1
 ,edmund ,gurney1 ,delboeuf1 and ,milne 
,bramwell4  ,dr4 ,milne ,bramwell's     
experiments#he 7to mention these as a   
sample of the rest7 were post-hypnotic  
suggestions involving arithmetical      
calculations2 the entranced subject1 for
 instance1 being told to make a cross   
when #bj1ahj minutes had elapsed from   
the moment of the order4 ,their primary 
importance lay in showing that a        
subliminal or hypnotic memory persisted 
across the intervening gulf of          
time1--days and nights of ordinary      
life1--and prompted obedience to the    
order when at last it fell due4 ,but    
incidentally1 as ,i say1 it became clear

 that the subject1 whose arithmetical   
capacity in common life was small1      
worked out these sums subliminally a    
good deal better than she could work    
them out by her normal waking           
intelligence4  ,of course1 all that was 
needed for such simple calculations was 
close attention to easy rules2 but this 
was just what the waking mind was unable
 to give1 at least without the help of  
pencil and paper4 ,if we lay this long  
and careful experiment side by side with
 the accounts already given of the      
solution of problems in somnambulic     
states1 it seems clear that there is yet
 much to be done in the education of    
subliminal memory and acumen as a help  
to supraliminal work4  ,important in    
this connection is ,dr4 ,dufay's account
 of help given to an actress in the     
representation of her rles by           
hypnotisation4#hf ,it seems obvious that
 stage-fright is just the kind of       
nervous annoyance from which            
hypnotisation should give relief4       

,somewhat similarly ,i believe some     
persons can secure a cheap substitute   
for genius on stage or platform1 evoking
 by suggestion or self-suggestion a     
helpful subliminal uprush4 ,here again1 
the hypnotisation is a kind of extension
 of secondary automatism1--of the       
familiar lapse from ordinary            
consciousness of movements 7walking1    
pianoforte-playing1 etc471 which have   
been very frequently performed4 ,the    
possibilities thus opened up are very   
great3 no less than the combination by  
mankind of the stability of instinct    
with the plasticity of reason4 ,there   
seems no reason why man's range of      
automatism should not thus be largely   
increased in two main ways3 many things 
now unpleasant to do might be done with 
indifference1 and many things now       
difficult to do might be done with ease4
  ,and now let us pass on from these    
specialised influences of suggestion on 
certain kinds of attention to its       
influence on attention generally1 as    

needed1 for instance1 in education4 ,if 
we can arrest the shifting of the mental
 focus to undesired ideational centres  
in at all the same way as we can arrest 
the choreic or fidgety shiftings of     
motor impulse to undesired motor        
centres1 we shall have done perhaps as  
much for the world's ordinary work as if
 we had raised the average man's actual 
intelligence a step higher in the scale4
 ,we shall have checked waste1 although 
we may not have improved quality4 ,the  
well-known case of ,dr4 ,forel's        
warders1#hg who were enabled by hypnotic
 suggestion to sleep soundly by the side
 of the patients they had to watch1 and 
wake only when the patients required to 
be restrained1 shows us how by this     
means the attention may be concentrated 
on selected impressions and waste of    
energy be avoided in a way that could   
hardly be compassed by any ordinary     
exercise of the will4  ,how far1 indeed1
 we can go in actually heightening      
intelligence by suggestion we have yet  

to learn4 ,we must not expect to add a  
cubit to intellectual any more than to  
physical stature4 ,limitations at birth 
must prevent our developing the common  
man into a ,newton2 but there seems no  
reason why we should not bring up his   
practical achievements much nearer than 
at present to the maximum of his innate 
capacity4#hh  ,in passing on from the   
influence of suggestion on attention to 
its influence on will1 ,i am not meaning
 to draw any but the most every-day     
distinction between these two forms of  
inward concentration4 ,the point1 in    
fact1 which ,i wish now to notice is    
rather a matter of common observation   
than a provable and measurable          
phenomenon4 ,i speak of the energy and  
resolution with which a hypnotic        
suggestion is carried out2--the         
ferocity1 even1 with which the entranced
 subject pushes aside the opposition of 
much more powerful men4 ,i do not1      
indeed1 assert that he would thus risk  
very serious injury2 for ,i believe     

7with ,bramwell and others7 that there  
does exist somewhere within him a       
knowledge that the whole proceeding is a
 mere experiment4 ,but1 nevertheless1 he
 actually risks something2 he behaves1  
in short1 as a confident1 resolute man  
would behave1 and this however timid and
 unaggressive his habitual character may
 be4 ,i believe that much advantage may 
yet be drawn from this confident temper4
 ,we can thus inhibit the acquired      
self-distrust and shyness of the        
supraliminal self1 and get the          
subliminal self concentrated upon some  
task which may be as difficult as we    
please2--which may1 if we can adjust it 
rightly1 draw out to the uttermost the  
innate powers of man4  ,it has been     
supposed that the mere fact of being    
hypnotised tended to weaken the will2   
that the hypnotised person fell         
inevitably more and more under the      
control of the hypnotiser1 and even that
 he could at last be induced to commit  
crimes by suggestion4 ,in his article   

,what is ,hypnotism8#hi ,dr4 ,milne     
,bramwell shows on how small a          
foundation of fact these fanciful       
theories have been erected4 ,it may     
suffice to say here that nothing is     
easier1 either for subject or for       
hypnotiser1 than to avert undue         
influence4 ,a trusted friend has only to
 suggest to the hypnotised subject that 
no one else will be able to affect him1 
and the thing is done4 ,as to the crimes
 supposed to be committed by hypnotised 
persons under the influence of          
suggestion1 the evidence for such       
crimes1 in spite of great efforts made  
to collect it and set it forth1 remains1
 ,i think1 practically nil4  ,this fact1
 ,i must add1 is quite in harmony with  
the views expressed in the present      
chapter4 ,for it implies that the higher
 subliminal centres 7so to term them7   
never really abdicate their rule2 that  
they may indeed remain passive while the
 middle centres obey the experimenter's 
caprice1 but are still ready to resume  

their control if such experiment should 
become really dangerous to the          
individual4 ,and this runs parallel with
 common experience in the spontaneous   
somnambulisms4 ,the sleeper may perform 
apparently rash exploits2 but yet1      
unless he be suddenly awakened1 serious 
accidents are very rare4 ,nevertheless1 
both in spontaneous and in induced      
somnambulism1 accidents may occur2 nor  
should any experiment be undertaken in a
 careless or jesting spirit4  ,but the  
rle of the hypnotiser1 as our command   
over hypnotic artifice increases1 is    
likely to become continually smaller in 
proportion to the rle played by the     
subject himself4 ,especially must this  
be so where the object is to strengthen 
the subject's own power of will4 ,all   
that can be done from without in such a 
case is to imbue the man's spirit with  
the sense of its unexhausted            
prerogatives1--the strength which he may
 then employ1 not only to avert pain or 
anxiety1 but in any active direction    

which his original nature itself admits4
  ,these last words may naturally lead  
us on to our next topic3 the influence  
of suggestion on character1--on that    
function of combined attention and will1
 which is1 of course1 also ultimately a 
function of the possibilities latent in 
the individual germ4  ,first of all1    
then1 and going back to the evidence    
already given as to the cure of the     
victims of morphia1 we may say with     
truth that there we have seen as        
tremendous a moral lift--as sudden an   
elevation from utter baseness to at     
least normal living--as can be anywhere 
presented to us4  ,here1 then1 the      
question arises as to the possible range
 of such sudden reformations4 ,did we   
succeed with the morphinomaniac only    
because his was a functional1 and not an
 organic1 degradation8  ,and may it not 
be a much harder task to create honesty1
 purity1 unselfishness in a brain whose 
very conformation must keep the spirit  
that thinks through it nearly on the    

level of the brute8 ,the question is of 
the highest psychological interest2 the 
answer1 though as yet rudimentary1 is   
unexpectedly encouraging4 ,the examples 
given in ,appendix ,v4 ,b show that if  
the subject is hypnotisable1 and if     
hypnotic suggestion be applied with     
sufficient persistency and skill1 no    
depth of previous baseness and foulness 
need prevent the man or woman whom we   
charge with moral insanity1 or stamp as 
a criminal-born1 from rising into a     
state where he or she can work steadily1
 and render services useful to the      
community4#ij  ,i purposely limit my    
assertion to these words4 ,we must still
 work within the bounds of natural      
capacity4 ,just as we cannot improvise a
 genius1 we cannot improvise a saint4   
,but what experience seems to show is   
that we can select from the lowest and  
poorest range of feelings and faculties 
enough of sound feeling1 enough of      
helpful faculty1 to keep the man in a   
position of moral stability1 and capable

 of falling in with the common labours  
of his kind4  ,and here we approach a   
point of much interest4 ,hypnotic       
suggestion or self-suggestion is not an 
agency which stands wholly alone4 ,it   
melts into the suasion of ordinary life4
 ,ministers of religion as well as      
physicians have always wielded with     
authority the suasive power4 ,from the  
crude animistic dances and ceremonies of
 the savage up to the missions and      
revivals in ,english and ,american      
churches and chapels1 we find sudden and
 exciting impressions on mind and sense 
called into play for the purpose of     
producing religious and moral change4#ia
 ,among the lower races especially these
 exciting reunions often involve both   
hysterical and hypnotic phenomena4      
,there are sometimes convulsive accesses
 and there is sometimes the milder      
phenomenon of a deep restorative sleep4 
,the influence exerted upon the convert 
is intermediate between hypnotic        
artifice1 dependent on trance-states for

 access to subliminal plasticity1 and   
ordinary moral suasion1 addressed       
primarily to ordinary waking reason4    
,let us pause here to consider the point
 which we have already reached4 ,we     
began by defining hypnotism as the      
empirical development of the sleeping   
phase of man's personality4 ,in that    
sleeping phase the most conspicuous     
element--the most obvious function of   
the subliminal self--is the repair of   
wasted tissues1 the physical1 and       
therefore also largely the moral1       
refreshment and rejuvenation of the     
tired organism4  ,but we found reason to
 believe that the subliminal self has   
other functions to fulfil during sleep4 
,those other functions are concerned in 
some unknown way with the spiritual     
world2 and the indication of their      
exercise is given by the sporadic       
occurrence1 in the sleeping phase1 of   
supernormal phenomena4 ,such phenomena1 
as we shall presently see1 occur also at
 various points in hypnotic practice4   

,to them we must now turn1 if our       
account of the phenomena of induced     
somnambulism is to be complete4  ,yet   
here1 in order to give completeness to  
our intended review1 we shall need a    
certain apparent extension of the scope 
of this chapter4 ,we shall need to      
consider a group of cases which might   
have been introduced at various points  
in our scheme1 but which are perhaps    
richest in their illustrations of the   
supernormal phenomena of hypnotism4     
,spontaneous somnambulisms1--those crude
 uprushes of incoherent subliminal      
faculty which sometimes break through   
the surface of sleep1--seem to occupy a 
kind of midway position among the       
various phenomena through which our     
inquiry has thus far carried us4  ,the  
somnambulism often starts as an         
exaggerated dream2 it develops into a   
kind of secondary personality4 ,the     
thoughts and impulses which the upheaval
 raises into manifestations--the        
psychical output--resemble sometimes the

 inspirations of genius1 sometimes the  
follies of hysteria4 ,and1 finally1 the 
spontaneous sleep-waking state itself is
 manifestly akin to hypnosis1--is       
sometimes actually interchangeable with 
the induced somnambulisms of the        
hypnotic trance4 ,the chain of memory   
which repeated spontaneous somnambulisms
 gradually form1--while lying quite     
outside the primary or waking           
memory1--will often be found to form a  
part of the hypnotic memory1 which      
gradually accretes in similar fashion   
from repeated hypnosis4  ,for one form  
of sleep-waking capacity we are already 
prepared by what has been said in       
,chapter ,,iv4 of the solution of       
problems in sleep4 ,this is one of the  
ways in which we can watch the gradual  
merging of a vivid dream into a definite
 somnambulic act4 ,the solution of a    
problem 7as we have seen7 may present   
itself merely as a sentence or a        
diagram1 constructed in dream and       
remembered on waking4 ,or the sleeper   

7as in various cases familiar in        
text-books7 may rise from bed and write 
out the chain of reasoning1 or the      
sermon1 or whatever it may be4 ,or      
again1 in rarer cases the somnambulic   
output may take the form of oratory1 and
 edifying discourses may be delivered by
 a preacher whom no amount of shaking or
 pinching will silence or1 generally1   
even interrupt4 ,this1 so to speak1 is  
genius with a vengeance2 this is a too  
persistent uprush of subliminal zeal1   
co-operating even out of season with the
 hortatory instincts of the waking self4
  ,the group of sleep-waking cases which
 we may next discuss illustrates a      
natural evolution of the faculty of the 
sleeping phase of personality4 ,the     
subliminal self1 exercising in sleep a  
profounder influence over the organism  
than the supraliminal can exert1 may    
also be presumed to possess a profounder
 knowledge of the organism--of its      
present1 and therefore of its           
future--than the supraliminal self      

enjoys4  ,there are cases#ib in which   
the somnambulic personality is discerned
 throughout as a wiser self--advising a 
treatment1 or at least foreseeing future
 developments of the disease with great 
particularity4 ,of course1 in such a    
case prediction is often simply a form  
of suggestion2 the symptom occurs simply
 because it has been ordained           
beforehand4 ,in the case of cures of    
long-standing disease the sagacity which
 foresees probably co-operates with the 
control which directs the changes in the
 organism4  ,the next stage is a very   
important one4 ,we come to the          
manifestation in spontaneous            
sleep-waking states of manifestly       
supernormal powers1--sometimes of       
telepathy1 but more commonly of         
clairvoyance or telsthesia4             
,unfortunately1 these cases have been1  
as a rule1 very insufficiently observed4
 ,still1 it appears that in spontaneous 
somnambulism there is frequently some   
indication of supernormal powers1 though

 the observers--even if competent in    
other ways--have generally neglected to 
take account of the hypersthesia and    
heightening of memory and of general    
intelligence that often accompany the   
state4  ,before leaving this subject of 
spontaneous sleep-waking states ,i ought
 briefly to mention a form of trance    
with which we shall have to deal more at
 length in a later chapter4 ,i speak of 
trance ascribed to spirit-possession4   
,as will be seen1 ,i myself fully adopt 
this explanation in a small number of   
the cases where it is put forward4 ,yet 
,i do not think that spirit-agency is   
necessarily present in all the trances  
even of a true subject of possession4   
,with all the leading sensitives--with  
,d4 ,d4 ,home1 with ,stainton ,moses1   
with ,mrs4 ,piper and with others--,i   
think that the depth of the trance has  
varied greatly on different occasions1  
and that sometimes the subliminal self  
of the sensitive is vaguely simulating1 
probably in an unconscious dream-like   

way1 an external intelligence4 ,this    
hypothesis suggested itself to several  
observers in the case especially of ,d4 
,d4 ,home1 with whom the moments of     
strong characterisation of a departed   
personality1 though far from rare1 were 
yet scattered among tracts of dreamy    
improvisation which suggested only the  
utterance of ,home's subliminal self4   
,however we choose to interpret these   
trances1 they should be mentioned in    
comparison with all the other           
sleep-waking states4 ,they probably form
 the best transition between those      
shallow somnambulisms1 on the one hand1 
which are little more than a vivid      
dream1 and those profound trances1 on   
the other hand1 in which the native     
spirit quits1 as nearly as may be1 the  
sensitive's organism1 and is for the    
time replaced1 as nearly as may be1 by  
an invading spirit from that unseen     
world4  ,this brief review of           
non-hypnotic somnambulisms has not been 
without its lessons4 ,it has shown us   

that the supernormal powers which we    
have traced in each of the preceding    
chapters in turn do also show           
themselves1 in much the same fashion1 in
 spontaneous sleep-waking states of     
various types4 ,we must now inquire how 
far they occur in sleep-waking states   
experimentally induced4  ,and here the  
very fact of induction suggests to us a 
question specially applicable to the    
hypnotic state itself4 ,is hypnosis ever
 supernormally induced8 ,can any one1   
that is to say1 be thrown into hypnotic 
trance by a telepathic impact8 or1 to   
phrase it more generally1 by any        
influence1 inexplicable by existing     
science1 which may pass from man to man8
  ,in the first place one may say that  
of the anti-mesmeric schools of opinion1
 the purely physiological school has on 
the whole failed1 the purely suggestive 
school has triumphantly succeeded4 ,the 
school of ,nancy1 reinforced by         
hypnotists all over ,europe1 has        
abundantly proved that pure suggestion  

7whatever that be7 is the determining   
cause of a very large proportion of     
hypnotic phenomena4 ,that is beyond     
dispute2 and the two other schools1 the 
pure physiologists and the mesmerists   
alike1 must now manage to prove as best 
they can that their favourite methods   
play any real part in the induction of  
any case of hypnosis4 ,for to the pure  
suggestionist1 monotonous stimulation   
and mesmeric passes are alike in        
themselves inert1 are alike mere        
facilitations of suggestion1 acting not 
directly on the patient's organism1 but 
rather on his state of mental           
expectation4  ,i reply that there is    
absolutely no need to go as far as this4
 ,in admitting suggestion as a vera     
causa of hypnosis1 we are recognising a 
cause which1 if we really try to grasp  
it1 resolves itself into subliminal     
operation1 brought about we know not    
how4 ,so far1 therefore1 from negativing
 and excluding any obscure and perhaps  
supernormal agency1 the suggestion      

theory leaves the way for any such      
agency broadly open4 ,some unknown cause
 or other must determine whether each   
suggestion is to take or no2 and that   
unknown cause must presumably act       
somehow upon the subliminal self4 ,we   
should have something like a real       
explanation of suggestion1 if we could  
show that a suggestion's success or     
failure was linked with some telepathic 
impact from the suggester's mind1 or    
with some mesmeric effluence from his   
person4  ,i know well that in many cases
 we can establish no link of this kind4 
,in ,bernheim's rapid hospital practice 
there seems no opportunity to bring the 
hypnotist's will1 or the hypnotiser's   
organism1 into any effective rapport    
with the subject4 ,rather1 the subject  
seems to do all that is wanted for      
himself almost instantaneously4 ,he     
often falls into the suggested slumber  
almost before the word ,dormez6 has left
 the physician's mouth4 ,but on the     
other hand1 this is by no means the only

 type of hypnotic success4 ,just as in  
the mesmeric days1 so also now there are
 continual instances where much more    
than the mere command has been needed   
for effective hypnotisation4            
,persistence1 proximity1 passes--all    
these prove needful still in the        
practice even of physicians who place no
 faith at all in the old mesmeric       
theory4  ,the fact is1 that since the   
days of those old controversies between 
mesmerists proper and hypnotists proper1
 the conditions of the controversy have 
greatly changed4 ,the supposed mesmeric 
effluence was then treated as an        
entirely isolated1 yet an entirely      
physiological phenomenon4 ,there was    
supposed to be a kind of radiation or   
infection passing from one nervous      
system to another4 ,it was of this that 
,cuvier 7for instance7 was convinced2 it
 was this theory which ,elliotson       
defended in the ,zoist with a wealth of 
illustration and argument to which      
little justice has even yet been done4  

,yet it was hard to prove effluence as  
opposed to suggestion1 because where    
there was proximity enough for effluence
 to be effective there was also         
proximity enough for suggestion to be   
possible4 ,only in some few             
circumstances1--such as ,esdaile's      
mesmerisation of a blind man over a     
wall1#ic--was it possible to claim that 
the mesmeric trance had been induced    
without any suspicion whatever on the   
subject's part that the mesmerist was   
trying to entrance him4  ,since those   
days1 however1 the evidence for         
telepathy--for psychical influence from 
a distance--has grown to goodly         
proportions4 ,a new form of experiment  
has been found possible1 from which the 
influence of suggestion can be entirely 
excluded4 ,it has now1 as ,i shall      
presently try to show1 been actually    
proved that the hypnotic trance can be  
induced from a distance so great1 and   
with precautions so complete1 that      
telepathy or some similar supernormal   

influence is the only efficient cause   
which can be conceived4  ,i subjoin one 
of a series of experiments in this      
telepathic hypnotism4 7,see ,appendix   
,v4 ,c47 ,these experiments are not easy
 to manage1 since it is essential at    
once to prevent the subject from        
suspecting that the experiment is being 
tried1 and also to provide for his      
safety in the event of its success4 ,in 
,dr4 ,gibert's experiment1 for instance1
 it was a responsible matter to bring   
this elderly woman in her dream-like    
state through the streets of ,havre4 ,it
 was needful to provide her with an     
unnoticed escort2 and1 in fact1 several 
persons had to devote themselves for    
some hours to a single experiment4  ,i  
have cited first this experiment at a   
distance1 without attempting to analyse 
the nature of the suggestion given or   
power employed by the hypnotist4 ,of    
course it is plain that if one can thus 
influence unexpectant persons from a    
distance there must be sometimes some   

kind of power actually exercised by the 
hypnotiser2--something beyond the mere  
tact and impressiveness of address1     
which is all that ,bernheim and his     
followers admit or claim4 ,evidence of  
this has been afforded by the occasional
 production of organic and other effects
 in hypnotised subjects by the unuttered
 will of the operator when near them4   
,the ingenious experiments of ,gurney#id
 in the production of local rigidity and
 ansthesia were undertaken to test      
whether the agency employed were more in
 the nature of an effort of will or1--as
 the early mesmerists claimed1--of an   
emission of actual mesmeric fluid or    
physical effluence of some sort4 ,gurney
 was inclined to think that his results 
could not be explained solely by mental 
suggestion or telepathy1 because the    
physical proximity of the operator's    
hand seemed necessary to produce them1  
and he thought it probable that they    
were due to a direct nervous influence1 
exercised through the hand of the       

operator1 but not perceptible through   
the ordinary sensory channels4 ,mrs4    
,sidgwick's experiments#ie of the same  
kind1 however1 in which success was     
obtained when the operator was standing 
with folded arms several feet away from 
the subject1 removed ,gurney's main     
objection to the telepathic explanation4
 ,the fact that a thick sheet of glass  
over the subject's hands did not        
interfere with the results also afforded
 some presumption against the hypothesis
 of a physical influence2 and ,mrs4     
,sidgwick pointed out that the delicate 
discrimination involved in the specific 
limitations of the effects is much more 
easily attributable to mental           
suggestion1 through the action of the   
operator's mind on that of the subject1 
than to any direct physical influence on
 the latter's nerves4  ,it is1 however1 
in my view1 by no means improbable that 
effluences1 as yet unknown to science1  
but perceptible by sensitive persons as 
the telepathic impulse is perceptible1  

should radiate from living human        
organisms4 ,i see no reason to assume   
that the varied and concordant          
statements made by patients in the      
,zoist and early mesmeric works merely  
reflect subjective fancies4 ,i have     
myself performed and witnessed          
experiments on intelligent persons      
expressly designed to test whether or no
 the sensation following the hand was a 
mere fancy4 ,it seems to me hardly      
likely that persons who have never      
experienced other purely subjective     
sensations1 and who are expressly alive 
to the question here at issue1 should   
nevertheless again and again feel the   
classical tingling1 etc41 along the     
track of the hypnotiser's passes without
 any real external cause4 ,to assume    
that all which they feel is a mere      
result of suggestion1 may be a premature
 attempt at simplifying modes of        
supernormal communication which1 in     
fact1 are probably not simpler but more 
complex than any idea which we have as  

yet formed of them4  ,and here at last  
we arrive at what is in reality the most
 interesting group of inquiries         
connected with the hypnotic trance4  ,we
 have just seen that the subliminal     
state of the hypnotised subject may be  
approached by ways subtler than mere    
verbal suggestion--by telepathic impacts
 and perhaps by some effluence of       
kindred supernormal type4 ,we have now  
to trace the supernormal elements in the
 hypnotic response4 ,whether those      
elements are most readily excited by a  
directly subliminal appeal1 or whether  
they depend mainly on the special powers
 innate in the hypnotised person1 we can
 as yet but imperfectly guess4 ,we can  
be pretty sure1 at any rate1 that they  
are not often evoked in answer to any   
rapid and1 so to say1 perfunctory       
hypnotic suggestion2 they do not spring 
up in miscellaneous hospital practice2  
they need an education and a development
 which is hardly bestowed on one        
hypnotised subject in a hundred4 ,the   

first stage of this response lies in a  
subliminal relation established between 
the subject and his hypnotiser1 and     
manifesting itself in what is called    
rapport1 or in community of sensation4  
,the earlier stages of                  
rapport--conditions when the subject    
apparently bears or feels the hypnotiser
 only1 and so forth--arise probably from
 mere self-suggestion or from the       
suggestions of the operator1 causing the
 conscious attention of the subject to  
be exclusively directed to him4         
,indications of the possible development
 of a real link between the two persons 
may rather be found in the cases where  
there is provable community of          
sensation1--the hypnotised subject      
tasting or feeling what the hypnotiser  
7unknown to the subject7 does actually  
at that moment taste or feel4  ,we have 
thus brought the hypnotised subject up  
to the point of knowing supernormally1  
at any rate1 the superficial sensations 
of his hypnotiser4 ,from that           

starting-point1--or1 at any rate1 from  
some supernormal perception of narrow   
range1--his cognition widens and        
deepens4 ,he may seem to discern some   
picture of the past1 and may retrace the
 history of some object which he holds  
in his hand1 or he may seem to wander in
 spirit over the habitable globe1 and to
 bring back knowledge of present facts  
discernible by no other means4 ,perhaps 
he seems to behold the future1          
predicting oftenest the organic history 
of some person near him2 but sometimes  
discerning1 as it were pictorially1     
scattered events to which we can guess  
at no attainable due4 ,for all this     
there is already more of positive       
evidence than is generally realised2 nor
 7,i must repeat7 is there any negative 
evidence which might lead us to doubt   
that further care in developing hypnotic
 subjects may not at any moment be      
rewarded in the same way4 ,we have here1
 in fact1 a successful branch of        
investigation which has of late years   

been practically dropped from mere      
inattention to what has been done       
already1--mere diversion of effort to   
the easier and more practical triumphs  
of suggestive therapeutics4#if  ,the    
next group of cases to which ,i pass    
relate chiefly to knowledge of present  
facts4 ,i may first refer to some       
experiments in thought-transference with
 hypnotised persons#ig analogous to the 
experiments with persons in a normal    
condition recorded in my next chapter4  
,here the subject seems simply to become
 aware telepathically of the thoughts of
 his hypnotiser1 the hypnotic condition 
perhaps facilitating the transfer of the
 impression4 ,next come the cases of    
what used to be called travelling       
clairvoyance in the hypnotic state4     
,these are more like the partially      
retrocognitive cases in that they cannot
 be traced with certainty to the        
contemporary thoughts of any particular 
person4 ,in travelling clairvoyance we  
seem to have a development of invasive  

dreams1--of those visions of the night  
in which the sleeper seems to visit     
distant scenes and to bring back        
intelligence otherwise unattainable4    
,these distant hypnotic visions seem to 
develop out of thought-transference2    
thus the subject may discern an         
imaginary picture as it is conceived in 
the hypnotiser's mind4 ,thence he may   
pass on and discern a true              
contemporaneous scene1#ih unknown to any
 one present1 and in some few cases     
there is an element of apparent         
prevision in the impression4#ii  ,our   
survey of that important1 though        
inchoate1 appeal to the subliminal self 
which passes under the name of hypnotism
 is now nearly as complete--in its brief
 sketchy form--as the present state of  
knowledge permits4  ,i have attempted to
 trace the inevitable rise of           
hypnotism--its necessary development out
 of the spontaneous phenomena which     
preceded and which might so naturally   
have suggested it4 ,i have shown1       

nevertheless1 its almost accidental     
initiation1 and then its rapid          
development in ways which no single     
experimenter has ever been able to      
correlate or to foresee4 ,i am bound to 
say something further as to its prospect
 in the future4 ,a systematic appeal to 
the deeper powers in man--conceived with
 the generality with which ,i have here 
conceived it--cannot remain a mere      
appanage of medical practice4 ,it must  
be fitted on in some way to the whole   
serious life of man2 it must present    
itself to him as a development of faiths
 and instincts which lie already deep in
 his heart4 ,in other words1 there must 
needs be some scheme of                 
self-suggestion1--some general theory   
which can give the individual a basis   
for his appeal1 whether he regards that 
appeal as directed to an intelligence   
outside himself or to his own inherent  
faculties and informing soul4 ,these    
helps to the power of generalisation--to
 the feeling of confidence--we must     

consider now4  ,the schemes of          
self-suggestion which have actually been
 found effective have covered1 not      
unnaturally1 a range as wide as all the 
superstition and all the religion of    
men4 ,that is to say that each form of  
supernatural belief in turn has been    
utilised as a means of securing that    
urgently-needed temporal                
blessing--relief from physical pain4 ,we
 see the same tendency running through  
fetichistic1 polytheistic1 monotheistic 
forms of belief4 ,beginning with        
fetichistic peoples1 we observe that    
charms of various kinds1--inert objects1
 arbitrary gestures1 meaningless        
words1--have probably been actually the 
most general means which our race has   
employed for the cure of disease4 ,we   
know how long some forms of primitive   
belief persisted in medicine1--as1 for  
example1 the doctrine of likenesses1 or 
the cure of a disease by some object    
supposed to resemble its leading        
symptom4 ,what is1 however1 even more   

remarkable is the efficacy which charms 
still continue in some cases to possess1
 even when they are worn merely as an   
experiment in self-suggestion by a      
person who is perfectly well aware of   
their intrinsic futility4 ,experiments  
on this subject seem to show that the   
mere continual contact of some small    
unfamiliar object will often act as a   
reminder to the subliminal self1 and    
keep1 at any rate1 some nervous         
disturbances in check4 ,until one reads 
these modern examples1 one can hardly   
realise how veritably potent for good   
may have been the savage amulet1 the    
savage incantation4  ,the transition    
from fetichistic to polytheistic        
conceptions of cure is1 of course1 a    
gradual one4 ,it may be said to begin   
when curative properties are ascribed to
 objects not arbitrarily1 nor on account
 of the look of the objects themselves1 
but on account of their having been     
blessed or handled by some divine or    
semi-divine personage1 or having formed 

part of his body or surroundings during 
some incarnation4 ,thus ,lourdes water1 
bottled and exported1 is still held to  
possess curative virtue on account of   
the ,virgin's original blessing bestowed
 upon the ,lourdes spring4 ,but         
generally the influence of the divine or
 divinised being is more directly       
exercised1 as in oracles1 dreams1       
invisible touches1 or actual            
theophanies1 or appearances of the gods 
to the adoring patient4 ,it will be seen
 as we proceed how amply the tradition  
of ,lourdes has incorporated these      
ancient aids to faith4  ,but at this    
point our modern experience suggests to 
us a remarkable interpolation in the    
antique chain of ideas4 ,it is now      
alleged that departed persons need not  
exert influence through their dead bones
 alone1 nor yet only by their supposed  
intermediacy with higher powers4 ,there 
intervenes1 in fact1 the whole topic of 
spirit-healing1--which cannot1 however1 
be treated fully here4  ,next in the    

ascending scale from polytheism to      
monotheism we come to the ,miracles of  
,lourdes1 to which ,i have just alluded1
 where the supposed healer is the       
,virgin ,mary1 reverenced as            
semi-divine4 ,this form of belief1      
however1 retains 7as has been said7 some
 affinity with fetichism1 since the     
actual water from the ,lourdes spring1  
supposed to have been blessed by the    
,virgin1 is an important factor in the  
cures4#ajj  ,much further removed from  
primitive belief is the appeal made by  
,christian scientists to the aid of     
,jesus ,christ2--either as directly     
answering prayer1 or as enabling the    
worshippers to comprehend the infinite  
love on which the universe is based1 and
 in face of which pain and sickness     
become a vain imagination or even a     
sheer nonentity4 ,to the readers of this
 chapter1 however1 there will be nothing
 surprising in my own inclination to    
include all these efforts at health     
under the general category of schemes of

 self-suggestion4  ,in my view they are 
but crude attempts at a practical       
realisation of the essential truth that 
it is possible by a right disposition of
 our own minds to draw energy from an   
environing world of spiritual life4  ,it
 seems1 at least1 that no real          
explanation of hypnotic vitalisation    
can1 in fact1 be given except upon the  
general theory supported in this        
work--the theory that a world of        
spiritual life exists1 an environment   
profounder than those environments of   
matter and ether which in a sense we    
know4 ,let us look at this hypothesis a 
little more closely4 ,when we say that  
an organism exists in a certain         
environment1 we mean that its energy1 or
 some part thereof1 forms an element in 
a certain system of cosmic forces1 which
 represents some special modification of
 the ultimate energy4 ,the life of the  
organism consists in its power of       
interchanging energy with its           
environment1--of appropriating by its   

own action some fragment of that        
pre-existent and limitless ,power4 ,we  
human beings exist in the first place in
 a world of matter1 whence we draw the  
obvious sustenance of our bodily        
functions4  ,we exist also in a world of
 ether2--that is to say1 we are         
constructed to respond to a system of   
laws1--ultimately continuous1 no doubt1 
with the laws of matter1 but affording a
 new1 a generalised1 a profounder       
conception of the ,cosmos4 ,so widely   
different1 indeed1 is this new aspect of
 things from the old1 that it is common 
to speak of the ether as a newly-known  
environment4 ,on this environment our   
organic existence depends as absolutely 
as on the material environment1 although
 less obviously4 ,in ways which we      
cannot fathom1 the ether is at the      
foundation of our physical being4       
,perceiving heat1 light1 electricity1 we
 do but recognise in certain conspicuous
 ways1--as in perceiving the ,x rays we 
recognise in a way less                 

conspicuous1--the pervading influence of
 etherial vibrations which in range and 
variety far transcend our capacity of   
response4  ,within1 beyond1 the world of
 ether1--as a still profounder1 still   
more generalised aspect of the          
,cosmos1--must lie1 as ,i believe1 the  
world of spiritual life4 ,that the world
 of spiritual life does not depend upon 
the existence of the material world ,i  
hold as now proved by actual evidence4  
,that it is in some way continuous with 
the world of ether ,i can well suppose4 
,but for our minds there must needs be a
 critical point in any such imagined    
continuity2 so that the world where life
 and thought are carried on apart from  
matter1 must certainly rank again as a  
new1 a metetherial environment4 ,in     
giving it this name ,i expressly imply  
only that from our human point of view  
it lies after or beyond the ether1 as   
metaphysic lies after or beyond physics4
 ,i say only that what does not         
originate in matter or in ether         

originates there2 but ,i well believe   
that beyond the ether there must be not 
one stage only1 but countless stages in 
the infinity of things4  ,on this       
hypothesis there will be an essential   
concordance between all views--spiritual
 or materialistic--which ascribe to any 
direction of attention or will any      
practical effect upon the human         
organism4 ,the prayer of faith shall    
save the sick1 says ,st4 ,james4 ,there 
is nothing in hypnotism but suggestion1 
says ,bernheim4 ,in my clumsier language
 these two statements 7setting aside a  
possible telepathic element in ,st4     
,james' words7 will be expressible in   
identical terms4 ,there will be         
effective therapeutical or ethical      
self-suggestion whenever by any artifice
 subliminal attention to a bodily       
function or to a moral purpose is       
carried to some unknown pitch of        
intensity which draws energy from the   
metetherial world4  ,a great practical  
question remains1 to which ,st4 ,james' 

words supply a direct1 though perhaps an
 inadequate answer1 while ,bernheim's   
words supply no answer at all4  ,what is
 this saving faith to be1 and how is it 
to be attained8 ,can we find any sure   
way of touching the spring which moves  
us so potently1 at once from without and
 from within8 ,can we propose any form  
of self-suggestion effective for all the
 human race8 any controlling thought on 
which all alike can fix that long-sought
 mountain-moving faith8  ,assuredly no  
man can extemporise such a faith as     
this4 ,whatever form it may ultimately  
take1 it must begin as the purification1
 the intensification1 of the purest1 the
 intensest beliefs to which human minds 
have yet attained4 ,it must invoke the  
whole strength of all philosophies1 of  
all religions2--not indeed the special  
arguments or evidence adduced for each1 
which lie outside my present theme1 but 
all the spiritual energy by which in    
truth they live4 ,and so far as this    
purpose goes1 of drawing strength from  

the unseen1 if one faith is true1 all   
faiths are true2 in so far at least as  
human mind can grasp or human prayer    
appropriate the unknown metetherial     
energy1 the inscrutable ,grace of ,god4 
,,chapter ,,vi  ,,sensory ,,automatism  
,greek3 ,blepomen gar arti di' esuptrou 
en ainigmati4   ,each of the several    
lines of inquiry pursued in the         
foregoing chapters has brought          
indications of something transcending   
sensory experience in the reserves of   
human faculty2 and we have come to a    
point where we need some further        
colligating generalisation--some        
conception under which these scattered  
phenomena may be gathered in their true 
kinship4  ,some steps at least towards  
such a generalisation the evidence to be
 presented in these next chapters may   
allow us to take4 ,considering together1
 under the heading of sensory and motor 
automatism1 the whole range of that     
subliminal action of which we have as   
yet discussed fragments only1 we shall  

gradually come to see that its          
distinctive faculty of telepathy or     
telsthesia is in fact an introduction   
into a realm where the limitations of   
organic life can no longer be assumed to
 persist4 ,considering1 again1 the      
evidence which shows that that portion  
of the personality which exercises these
 powers during our earthly existence    
does actually continue to exercise them 
after our bodily decay1 we shall        
recognise a relation--obscure but       
indisputable--between the subliminal and
 the surviving self4  ,i begin1 then1   
with my definition of automatism1 as the
 widest term under which to include the 
range of subliminal emergences into     
ordinary life4 ,the turbulent uprush and
 downdraught of hysteria2 the helpful   
uprushes of genius1 co-operating with   
supraliminal thought2 the profound and  
recuperative changes which follow on    
hypnotic suggestion2 these have been    
described under their separate headings4
 ,but the main mass of subliminal       

manifestations remains undescribed4 ,i  
have dealt little with veridical        
hallucinations1 not at all with         
automatic writing1 nor with the         
utterances of spontaneous trance4 ,the  
products of inner vision or inner       
audition externalised into              
quasi-percepts1--these form what ,i term
 sensory automatisms4 ,the messages     
conveyed by movement of limbs or hand or
 tongue1 initiated by an inner motor    
impulse beyond the conscious will--these
 are what ,i term motor automatisms4    
,and ,i claim that when all these are   
surveyed together their essential       
analogy will be recognised beneath much 
diversity of form4 ,they will be seen to
 be messages from the subliminal to the 
supraliminal self2 endeavours--conscious
 or unconscious--of submerged tracts of 
our personality to present to ordinary  
waking thought fragments of a knowledge 
which no ordinary waking thought could  
attain4  ,i regard supraliminal life    
merely as a privileged case of          

personality2 a special phase of our     
personality1 which is easiest for us to 
study1 because it is simplified for us  
by our ready consciousness of what is   
going on in it2 yet which is by no means
 necessarily either central or          
prepotent1 could we see our whole being 
in comprehensive view4  ,now if we thus 
regard the whole supraliminal           
personality as a special case of        
something much more extensive1 it       
follows that we must similarly regard   
all human faculty1 and each sense       
severally1 as mere special or privileged
 cases of some more general power4  ,all
 human terrene faculty will be in this  
view simply a selection from faculty    
existing in the metetherial world2 such 
part of that antecedent1 even if not    
individualised1 faculty as may be       
expressible through each several human  
organism4  ,each of our special senses1 
therefore1 may be conceived as straining
 towards development of a wider kind    
than earthly experience has as yet      

allowed4 ,and each special sense is both
 an internal and an external sense2     
involves a tract of the brain1 of       
unknown capacity1 as well as an         
end-organ1 whose capacity is more nearly
 measurable4 ,the relation of this      
internal1 mental1 mind's-eye vision to  
non-sensory psychological perception on 
the one hand1 and to ocular vision on   
the other hand1 is exactly one of the   
points on which some profounder         
observation will be seen to be          
necessary4 ,one must at least speak of  
mind's eye perception in these sensory  
terms1 if one is to discuss it at all4  
,but ordinary experience at any rate    
assumes that the end-organ alone can    
acquire fresh information1 and that the 
central tract can but combine this new  
information already sent in to it4 ,this
 must plainly be the case1 for instance1
 with optical or acoustic               
knowledge2--with such knowledge as is   
borne on waves of ether or of air1 and  
is caught by a terminal apparatus1      

evolved for the purpose4 ,but observe   
that it is by no means necessary that   
all seeing and all hearing should be    
through eye or ear4  ,the vision of our 
dreams--to keep to vision alone for     
greater simplicity--is non-optical      
vision4 ,it is usually generated in the 
central brain1 not sent up thither from 
an excited retina4 ,optical laws can    
only by a stretch of terms be said to   
apply to it at all4  ,let us attempt    
some rough conspectus1 which may show   
something of the relation in which      
central and peripheral vision stand to  
each other4  ,we start from a region    
below the specialisation of visual      
faculty4 ,the study of the successive   
dermal and nervous modifications which  
have led up to that faculty belongs to  
,biology1 and all that our argument     
needs here is to point out that the very
 fact that this faculty has been        
developed in a germ1 animated by        
metetherial life1 indicates that some   
perceptivity from which sight could take

 its origin pre-existed in the          
originating1 the unseen world4 ,we know 
vaguely how vision differentiated itself
 peripherally1 with the growing         
sensibility of the pigment-spot to light
 and shadow4 ,but there must have been a
 cerebral differentiation also1 and also
 a psychological differentiation1       
namely1 a gradual shaping of a distinct 
feeling from obscure feelings1 whose    
history we cannot recover4  ,yet ,i     
believe that we have still persistent in
 our brain-structure some dim vestige of
 the transition from that early         
undifferentiated continuous sensitivity 
to our existing specialisation of sense4
 ,probably in all of us1 though in some 
men much more distinctly than in others1
 there exist certain synsthesi or       
concomitances of sense-impression1 which
 are at any rate not dependent on any   
recognisable link of association4#aja   
,my present point is that such synsthesi
 stand on the dividing line between     
percepts externally and internally      

originated4 ,these irradiations of      
sensitivity1 sometimes apparently       
congenital1 cannot1 on the one hand1 be 
called a purely mental phenomenon4 ,nor 
again can they be definitely classed    
under external vision2 since they do    
sometimes follow upon a mental process  
of association4 ,it seems safer to term 
them entencephalic1 on the analogy of   
entoptic1 since they seem to be due to  
something in brain-structure1 much as   
entoptic percepts are due to something  
in the structure of the eye4  ,i will1  
then1 start with the synsthesi as the   
most generalised form of inward         
perception1 and will pass on to other   
classes which approach more nearly to   
ordinary external vision4  ,from these  
entencephalic photisms we seem to       
proceed by an easy transition to the    
most inward form of unmistakable        
entoptic vision--which is therefore the 
most inward form of all external        
vision--the flash of light consequent on
 electrisation of the optic nerve4 ,next

 on our outward road we may place the   
phosphenes caused by pressure on the    
optic nerve or irritation of the retina4
 ,next ,purkinje's figures1 or shadows  
cast by the blood-vessels of the middle 
layer upon the bacillary layer of the   
retina4 ,then musc volitantes1 or       
shadows cast by motes in the vitreous   
humour upon the fibrous layer of the    
retina4  ,midway1 again1 between        
entoptic and ordinary external vision we
 may place after-images2 which1 although
 themselves perceptible with shut eyes1 
presuppose a previous retinal           
stimulation from without2--forming1 in  
fact1 the entoptic sequel of ordinary   
external vision4  ,next comes our       
ordinary vision of the external         
world--and this1 again1 is pushed to its
 highest degree of externality by the   
employment of artificial aids to sight4 
,he who gazes through a telescope at the
 stars has mechanically improved his    
end-organs to the furthest point now    
possible to man4  ,and now1 standing    

once more upon our watershed of         
entencephalic vision1 let us trace the  
advancing capacities of internal vision4
 ,the forms of vision now to be         
considered are virtually independent of 
the eye2 they can persist1 that is to   
say1 after the destruction of the eye1  
if only the eye has worked for a few    
years1 so as to give visual education to
 the brain4 ,we do not1 in fact1 fully  
know the limits of this independence1   
which can only be learnt by a fuller    
examination of intelligent blind persons
 than has yet been made4 ,nor can we say
 with certainty how far in a seeing     
person the eye is in its turn influenced
 by the brain4 ,i shall avoid           
postulating any retropulsive current    
from brain to retina1 just as ,i have   
avoided any expression more specific    
than the brain to indicate the primary  
seat of sight4 ,the arrangement here    
presented1 as already explained1 is a   
psychological one1 and can be set forth 
without trespassing on controverted     

physiological ground4  ,we may take     
memory-images as the simplest type of   
internal vision4 ,these images1 as      
commonly understood1 introduce us to no 
fresh knowledge2 they preserve the      
knowledge gained by conscious gaze upon 
the outer world4 ,in their simplest     
spontaneous form they are the cerebral  
sequel of external vision1 just as      
after-images are its entoptic sequel4   
,these two classes of vision have been  
sometimes confounded1 although the      
distinction is a marked one4 ,into the  
cerebral storage of impressions one     
element habitually enters which is      
totally absent from the mere retinal    
storage1 namely1 a psychical element--a 
rearrangement or generalisation of the  
impressions retinally received4  ,next  
we come to a common class of            
memory-images1 in which the subliminal  
rearrangement is particularly marked4 ,i
 speak of dreams--which lead us on in   
two directions from memory-images2 in   
the direction of imagination-images1 and

 in the direction of hallucinations4    
,certain individual dreams1 indeed1 of  
rare types point also in other          
directions which later on we shall have 
to follow4 ,but dreams as a class       
consist of confused memory-images1      
reaching a kind of low hallucinatory    
intensity1 a glow1 so to say1 sufficient
 to be perceptible in darkness4  ,i will
 give the name of imagination-images to 
those conscious recombinations of our   
store of visual imagery which we compose
 either for our mere enjoyment1 as      
waking dreams1 or as artifices to help  
us to the better understanding of facts 
of nature confusedly discerned4 ,such1  
for instance1 are imagined geometrical  
diagrams2 and ,watt1 lying in bed in a  
dark room and conceiving the            
steam-engine1 illustrates the utmost    
limit to which voluntary internal       
visualisation can go4  ,here at any rate
 the commonly admitted category of      
stages of inward vision will close4     
,thus far and no farther the brain's    

capacity for presenting visual images   
can be pushed on under the guidance of  
the conscious will of man4 ,it is now my
 business to show1 on the contrary1 that
 we have here reached a mere            
intermediate point in the development of
 internal vision4 ,these                
imagination-images1 valuable as they    
are1 are merely attempts to control     
supraliminally a form of vision         
which--as spontaneous memory-images have
 already shown us--is predominantly     
subliminal4 ,the memory-images welled up
 from a just-submerged stratum2 we must 
now consider what other images also well
 upward from the same hidden source4    
,to begin with1 it is by no means       
certain that some of ,watt's images of  
steam-engines did not well up from that 
source1--did not emerge ready-made into 
the supraliminal mind while it rested in
 that merely expectant state which forms
 generally a great part of invention4   
,we have seen in ,chapter ,,iii4 that   
there is reason to believe in such a    

conveyance in the much inferior mental  
processes of calculating boys1 etc41 and
 also in the mental processes of the    
painter4 ,in short1 without pretending  
to judge of the proportion of voluntary 
to involuntary imagery in each several  
creative mind1 we must undoubtedly rank 
the spontaneously emergent visual images
 of genius as a further stage of        
internal vision4  ,and now we have      
reached1 by a triple road1 the verge of 
a most important development of inward  
vision--namely1 that vast range of      
phenomena which we call hallucination4  
,each of our last three classes had led 
up to hallucination in a different way4 
,dreams actually are hallucinations2 but
 they are usually hallucinations of low 
intensity2 and are only rarely capable  
of maintaining themselves for a few     
seconds 7as hypnopompic illusions7 when 
the dreamer wakes to the stimuli of the 
material world4 ,imagination-images may 
be carried to a hallucinatory pitch by  
good visualisers4#ajb ,and the          

inspirations of genius--,raphael's ,san 
,sisto is the classical instance--may   
present themselves in hallucinatory     
vividness to the astonished artist4  ,a 
hallucination1 one may say boldly1 is in
 fact a hypersthesia2 and generally a   
central hypersthesia4 ,that is to say1  
the hallucination is in some cases due  
indirectly to peripheral stimulation2   
but often also it is the result of a    
stimulus to mind's-eye vision1 which    
sweeps the idea onwards into visual     
form1 regardless of ordinary checks4    
,here1 then1 is a comprehensive and     
reasonable way of regarding these       
multifarious hallucinations or sensory  
automatisms4 ,they are phenomena which  
must neither be feared nor ignored1 but 
rather controlled and interpreted4 ,nor 
will that interpretation be an easy     
matter4 ,the interpretation of the      
symbols by which the retina represents  
the external world has been1 whether for
 the race or for the individual1 no     
short or simple process4 ,yet ocular    

vision is in my view a simple1 easy1    
privileged case of vision generally2 and
 the symbols which represent our        
internal percepts of an immaterial world
 are likely to be far more complex than 
any impressions from the material world 
on the retina4  ,all inward visions are 
like symbols abridged from a            
picture-alphabet4 ,in order to          
understand any one class of             
hallucinations we ought to have all     
classes before us4 ,at the lower limit  
of the series1 indeed1 the analysis of  
the physician should precede that of the
 psychologist4 ,we already know to some 
extent1 and may hope soon to know more  
accurately1 what sensory disturbance    
corresponds to what nervous lesion4 ,yet
 these violent disturbances of inward   
perception--the snakes of the drunkard1 
the scarlet fire of the epileptic1 the  
jeering voices of the paranoiac--these  
are perhaps of too gross a kind to      
afford more than a kind of neurological 
introduction to the subtler points which

 arise when hallucination is            
unaccompanied by any observable defect  
or malady4  ,it is1 indeed1 obvious     
enough that the more idiognomonic the   
hallucination is1 the more isolated from
 any other disturbance of normality1 the
 greater will be its psychological      
interest4 ,an apparently spontaneous    
modification of central percepts--what  
phenomenon could promise to take us     
deeper into the mystery of the mind8    
,yet until quite recently--until1 in    
short1 ,edmund ,gurney took up the      
inquiry in #ahhb--this wide1 important  
subject was treated1 even in serious    
text-books1 in a superficial and        
perfunctory way4 ,few statistics were   
collected2 hardly anything was really   
known2 rather there was a facile        
assumption that all hallucinations or   
sensory automatisms must somehow be due 
to physical malady1 even when there was 
no evidence whatever for such a         
connection4 ,i must refer my readers to 
,gurney's rsum in his chapter on        

,hallucinations in ,phantasms of the    
,living1 if they would realise the      
gradual confused fashion in which men's 
minds had been prepared for the wider   
view soon to be opened1 largely by      
,gurney's own statistical and analytical
 work4 ,the wide collection of          
first-hand experiences of sensory       
automatisms of every kind which he      
initiated1 and which the ,s4,p4,r4      
,census of ,hallucinations continued    
after his death1 has for the first time 
made it possible to treat these         
phenomena with some surety of hand4#ajc 
,the results of these inquiries show    
that a great number of sensory          
automatisms occur among sane and healthy
 persons1 and that for many of these we 
can at present offer no explanation     
whatever4 ,for some of them1 however1 we
 can offer a kind of explanation1 or at 
least an indication of a probable       
determining cause1 whose mode of working
 remains wholly obscure4  ,thus1 in some
 few instances1 although there is no    

disturbance of health1 there seems to be
 a predisposition to the externalisation
 of figures or sounds4 ,since this in no
 way interferes with comfort1 we must   
simply class it as an idiosyncratic     
central hypersthesia--much like the     
tendency to extremely vivid dreams1     
which by no means always implies a poor 
quality of sleep4  ,in a few instances1 
again1 we can trace moral predisposing  
causes--expectation1 grief1 anxiety4    
,these causes1 however1 turn out to be  
much less often effective than might    
have been expected from the popular     
readiness to invoke them4 ,in two ways  
especially the weakness of this         
predisposing cause is impressed upon us4
 ,in the first place1 the bulk of our   
percipients experience their            
hallucinations at ordinary unexciting   
moments2 traversing their more anxious  
crises without any such phenomenon4 ,in 
the second place1 those of our          
percipients whose hallucination is in   
fact more or less coincident with some  

distressing external event1 seldom seem 
to have been predisposed to the         
hallucination by a knowledge of the     
event4 ,for the event was generally     
unknown to them when the corresponding  
hallucination occurred4  ,this last     
remark1 it will be seen1 introduces us  
to the most interesting and important   
group of percipients and of percepts2   
the percipients whose gift constitutes a
 fresh faculty rather than a            
degeneration2 the percepts which are    
veridical--which are 7as we shall see   
cause to infer7 in some way generated by
 some event outside the percipient's    
mind1 so that their correspondence with 
that event conveys some new fact1 in    
however obscure a form4 ,it is this     
group1 of course1 which gives high      
importance to the whole inquiry2 which  
makes the study of inward vision no mere
 curiosity1 but rather the opening of an
 inlet into forms of knowledge to which 
we can assign no bound4  ,now these     
telepathic hallucinations will introduce

 us to very varying forms of inward     
vision4 ,it will be well to begin their 
study by recalling and somewhat         
expanding the thesis already advanced3  
that man's ocular vision is but a       
special or privileged case of visual    
power1 of which power his inner vision  
affords a more extensive example4       
,ocular vision is the perception of     
material objects1 in accordance with    
optical laws1 from a definite point in  
space4 ,our review of hallucinations has
 already removed two of these           
limitations4 ,if ,i see a hallucinatory 
figure--and figures seen in dreams come 
under this category--,i see something   
which is not a material object1 and ,i  
see it in a manner not determined by    
optical laws4 ,a dream-figure may indeed
 seem to conform to optical laws2 but   
that will be the result of              
self-suggestion1 or of organised        
memories1 and will vary according to the
 dreamer's visualising power4 ,while a  
portrait-painter may see a face in dream

 which he can paint from memory when he 
wakes1 the ordinary man's dream-percept 
will be vague1 shifting1 and            
unrememberable4  ,similarly1 if ,i see a
 subjective hallucinatory figure out in 
the room1 its aspect is not determined  
by optical laws 7it may even seem to    
stand behind the observer1 or otherwise 
outside his visual field71 but it will  
more or less conform--by my mere        
self-suggestion1 if by nothing else--to 
optical laws2 and1 moreover1 it will    
still seem to be seen from a fixed point
 in space1 namely1 from the stationary  
observer's eyes or brain4  ,all this    
seems fairly plain1 so long as we are   
admittedly dealing with hallucinatory   
figures whose origin must be in the     
percipient's own mind4 ,but so soon as  
we come to quasi-percepts which we      
believe to exist or to originate        
somewhere outside the percipient's mind1
 our difficulties come thick and fast4  
,if there be some external origin for   
our inward vision 7which thereby becomes

 veridical7 we must not any longer      
assume that all veridical inward vision 
starts or is exercised from the same    
point4 ,if it gets hold of facts        
7veridical impressions or pictures1 not 
mere subjective fancies71 we cannot be  
sure a priori whether it somehow goes to
 find the facts1 or the facts come to   
find it4 ,again1 we cannot any longer   
take for granted that it will be        
cognisant only of phantasmal or         
immaterial percepts4 ,if it can get at  
phantasmal percepts outside the         
organism1 may it not get at material    
percepts also8 ,may it not see distant  
houses1 as well as the images of distant
 souls8  ,hazardous as these            
speculations may seem1 they nevertheless
 represent an attempt to get our notions
 of supersensory things as near down to 
our notions of sensory things as we     
fairly can4 ,whatever may be our        
ultimate conception of an ideal world1  
we must not for the present attempt to  
start from any standpoint too far       

removed from the temporal and spatial   
existence which alone we know4  ,as     
telepathy is a conception intermediate  
between the apparent isolation of minds 
here communicating only as a rule       
through material organs1 and the        
ultimate conception of the unity of all 
mind1 so the conception which ,i am     
about to propose1 of a recognition of   
space without our concomitant subjection
 to laws of matter1 is strictly         
intermediate between man's incarnate    
condition and the condition which we may
 imagine him ultimately to attain4 ,we  
cannot possibly infer a priori that all 
recognition of space must needs         
disappear with the disappearance of the 
particular bodily sensations by means of
 which our conception of space has been 
developed4 ,but we can imagine that a   
spirit should be essentially independent
 of space1 and yet capable of           
recognising it4  ,provisionally         
admitting this view1 let us consider    
what range we are now led to assign to  

inner vision1 when it is no longer      
merely subjective but veridical2        
bringing news to the percipient of      
actual fact outside his own organism4   
,we infer that it may represent to us   
7#a7 material objects2 or 7#b7 symbols  
of immaterial things2 7#c7 in ways not  
necessarily accordant with optical laws2
 and 7#d7 from a point of view not      
necessarily located within the organism1
 by means of what ,i have called a      
psychical excursion4 ,i will take an    
illustration from a case which is       
recorded in detail in ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #da #fff ,c4  ,a
 ,mrs4 ,wilmot has a vision of her      
husband in a cabin in a distant steamer4
 ,besides her husband1 she sees in the  
cabin a stranger 7who was in fact       
present there71 with certain material   
details4 ,now here ,i should say that   
,mrs4 ,wilmot's inner vision discerned  
material objects1 from a point of view  
outside her own organism4 ,but1 on the  
other hand1 although the perception came

 to her in visual terms1 ,i do not      
suppose that it was really optical1 that
 it came through the eye4  ,mrs4 ,wilmot
 might believe1 say1 that her husband's 
head concealed from her some part of the
 berth in which he lay2 but this would  
not mean a real optical concealment1 but
 only a special direction of her        
attention1 guided by preconceived       
notions of what would be optically      
visible from a given point4  ,as we     
proceed further we shall see1 ,i think1 
in many ways how needful is this        
excursive theory to explain many        
telepathic and all telsthetic           
experiences2 many1 ,i mean1 of the cases
 where two minds are in communication1  
and all the cases where the percipient  
learns material facts 7as words in a    
closed book1 etc47 with which no other  
known mind is concerned4  ,another most 
important corollary of this excursive   
theory must just be mentioned here4 ,if 
there be spiritual excursion to a       
particular point of space1 it is        

conceivable that this should involve not
 only the migrant spirit's perception   
from that point1 but also perception of 
that point by persons materially present
 near it4 ,that point may become a      
phantasmogenetic centre1 as well as a   
centre of outlook4 ,in plain words1 if  
,a has spiritually invaded ,b's room1   
and there sees ,b1 ,b on his part may   
see ,a symbolically standing there2 and 
,c and ,d if present may see ,a as well4
  ,this hint1 here thrown out as an     
additional argument for the excursive   
theory1 will fall to be developed later 
on4 ,for the present we must confine our
 attention to our immediate subject3 the
 range of man's inner vision1 and the   
means which he must take to understand1 
to foster1 and to control it4  ,the     
first and simplest step in the control  
of inner vision is the repression by    
hypnotic suggestion of degenerative     
hallucinations4 ,it is a noteworthy fact
 that such of these as are at all       
curable are much more often curable by  

hypnotism than in any other way4  ,the  
next step is one to which1 as the reader
 of my chapter on hypnotism already     
knows1 ,i attribute an importance much  
greater than is generally accorded to   
it4 ,i refer to the hypnotiser's power  
not only of controlling but of inducing 
hallucinations in his subject4  ,as ,i  
have already said1 the evocation of     
hallucinations is commonly spoken of as 
a mere example of the subject's         
obedience to the hypnotiser4 ,i tell my 
subject to raise his arm1 and he raises 
it2 ,i tell him to see a tiger in the   
room1 and he sees one accordingly4 ,but 
manifestly these two incidents are not  
on the same level1 and only appear to be
 so through a certain laxity of         
language4 ,the usage of speech allows me
 to say1 ,i will make my subject lift   
his arm1 although ,i am of course unable
 to affect the motor centres in his     
brain which start that motion4 ,but it  
is so easy for a man to lift his arm    
that my speech takes that familiar power

 for granted1 and notes1 only his       
readiness to lift it when ,i tell       
him--the hypnotic complaisance which    
prompts him to obey me if ,i suggest    
this trivial action4 ,but when ,i say1  
,i will make him see a tiger1 ,i take   
for granted a power on his part which is
 not familiar1 which ,i have no longer a
 right to assume4 ,for under ordinary   
circumstances my subject simply cannot  
see a tiger at will2 nor can ,i affect  
the visual centres which might enable   
him to do so4 ,all that ,i can ask him  
to do1 therefore1 is to choose this     
particular way of indicating that in his
 hypnotic condition he has become able  
to stimulate his central sensory tracts 
more powerfully than ever before4  ,and 
not only this4 ,his hallucinations are  
in most cases elaborate                 
products--complex images which must have
 needed intelligence to fashion         
them--although the process of their     
fashioning is hidden from our view4 ,in 
this respect they resemble the          

inspirations of genius4 ,for here we    
find again just what we found in those  
inspirations--the uprush of a complex   
intellectual product1 performed beneath 
the threshold1 and projected ready-made 
into ordinary consciousness4 ,the       
uprushing stream of intelligence1       
indeed1 in the man of genius flowed     
habitually in conformity with the       
superficial stream4 ,only rarely does   
the great conception intrude itself upon
 him with such vigour and such          
untimeliness as to bring confusion and  
incoherence into his ordinary life4 ,but
 in the case of these induced           
hallucinations the incongruity between  
the two streams of intelligence is much 
more marked4 ,when a subject1 for       
instance1 is trying to keep down some   
post-hypnotic hallucinatory suggestion1 
one can watch the smooth surface of the 
supraliminal river disturbed by that    
suggestion as though by jets of steam   
from below1 which sometimes merely break
 in bubbles1 but sometimes force        

themselves up bodily through the        
superficial film4  ,it is by considering
 hallucinations in this generalised     
manner and among these analogies1 that  
we can best realise their absence of    
necessary connection with any bodily    
degeneration or disease4 ,often1 of     
course1 they accompany disease2 but that
 is only to say that the central sensory
 tracts1 like any other part of the     
organism1 are capable of morbid as well 
as of healthful stimulus4 ,taken in     
itself1 the mere fact of the            
quasi-externalisation of a centrally    
initiated image indicates strong central
 stimulation1 and absolutely nothing    
more4 ,there is no physiological law    
whatever which can tell us what degree  
of vividness our central pictures may   
assume consistently with health--short  
of the point where they get to be so    
indistinguishable from external         
preceptions that1 as in madness1 they   
interfere with the rational conduct of  
life4 ,that point no well-attested case 

of veridical hallucinations1 so far as  
my knowledge goes1 has yet approached4  
,it was1 of course1 natural that in the 
study of these phantasms1 as elsewhere1 
the therapeutic interest should have    
preceded the psychological1 but in the  
newer practical study of eugenics--the  
study which aims at improving the human 
organism1 instead of merely conserving  
it--experimental psychology is          
indispensable1 and one branch of this is
 the experimental study of mental       
visions4  ,let us consider whether1     
apart from such a rare and startling    
incident as an actual hallucination1    
there is any previous indication of a   
habit of receiving1 or a power of       
summoning1 pictures from a subliminal   
store-house8 ,any self-suggestion1      
conscious or unconscious1 which places  
before the supraliminal intelligence    
visual images apparently matured        
elsewhere8  ,such indications have not  
been wanting4 ,in the chapter on        
,genius1 and in the chapter on ,sleep1  

we have traced the existence of many    
classes of these pictures2 all of them  
ready1 as it would seem1 to manifest    
themselves on slight inducement4        
,dream-figures will rise in any         
momentary blur of consciousness2        
inspirations will respond to the        
concentrated desire or the mere passing 
emotion of the man of genius2           
after-images will recur1 under unknown  
conditions1 long after the original     
stimulus has been withdrawn2            
memory-images will surge up into our    
minds with even unwished-for vividness2 
the brilliant exactness of illusions    
hypnagogiques will astonish us in the   
revealing transition from waking to     
sleep4  ,all is prepared1 so to say1 for
 some empirical short-cut to a fuller   
control of these subjacent pictures2    
just as before ,mesmer and ,puysgur all 
was prepared for an empirical short-cut 
to trance1 somnambulism1 suggestibility4
  ,all that we want is to hit on some   
simple empirical way of bringing out the

 correlation between all these types of 
subjacent vision1 just as mesmerism was 
a simple empirical way of bringing out  
the correlation between various trances 
and sleep-waking states4                
,crystal-vision1 then1 like hypnotic    
trance1 might have been gradually       
evolved by a series of reasoned         
experiments1 along an unexceptionable   
scientific road4  ,in reality1 of       
course1 this prehistoric practice must  
have been reached in some quite         
different way4 ,it does not fall within 
the scope of this book to trace the     
various streams of divination which     
converge into ,dr4 ,dee's magic1 and the
 attracting of spirits into the ball4   
,but it is really to the ,elizabethan   
,dr4 ,dee--one of the leading savants of
 his time--that the credit must be given
 of the first systematic attempt to     
describe1 analyse1 and utilise these    
externalised pictures4#ajd  ,i will     
describe briefly the general type of the
 experiment1 and we shall see how near  

we can get to a psychological           
explanation4  ,let the observer gaze1   
steadily but not fatiguingly1 into some 
speculum1 or clear depth1 so arranged as
 to return as little reflection as      
possible4 ,a good example of what is    
meant will be a glass ball enveloped in 
a black shawl1 or placed in the back    
part of a half-opened drawer2 so        
arranged1 in short1 that the observer   
can gaze into it with as little         
distraction as may be from the          
reflection of his own face or of        
surrounding objects4 ,after he has tried
 7say7 three or four times1 for ten     
minutes or so at a time--preferably in  
solitude1 and in a state of mental      
passivity--he will perhaps begin to see 
the glass ball or crystal clouding1 or  
to see some figure or picture apparently
 in the ball4 ,perhaps one man or woman 
in twenty will have some slight         
occasional experience of this kind2 and 
perhaps one in twenty of these seers    
7the percentages must as yet be mainly  

guess-work7 will be able by practice to 
develop this faculty of inward vision up
 to a point where it will sometimes     
convey to him information not attainable
 by ordinary means4  ,how comes it1 in  
the first place1 that he sees any figure
 in the crystal at all8 ,common hypnotic
 experiments supply two obvious answers1
 each of which no doubt explains some   
part of the phenomena4  ,in the first   
place1 we know that the hypnotic trance 
is often induced by gazing at some small
 bright object4 ,this may or may not be 
a mere effect of suggestion2 but it     
certainly sometimes occurs1 and the     
scryer consequently may be partially    
hypnotised1 and in a state which        
facilitates hallucinations4  ,in the    
second place1 a hypnotised              
subject--hypnotised but in a fully alert
 state--can often be caused by          
suggestion to see 7say7 a portrait upon 
a blank card2 and will continue to see  
that portrait on that card1 after the   
card has been shuffled with others2 thus

 showing that he discerns with unusual  
acuteness such points de repre1 or      
little guiding marks1 as may exist on   
the surface of even an apparently blank 
card4  ,correspondently with the first  
of these observations1 we find that     
crystal-vision is sometimes accompanied 
by a state of partial hypnotisation1    
perhaps merging into trance4 ,this has  
been the case with various ,french      
hysterical subjects2 and not only with  
them but with that exceptionally sound  
and vigorous observer1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,g4     
,keulemans4 ,his evidence 7in           
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 pp4  
#eaf-eba7 is just what one would have   
expected a priori on such a matter4     
,correspondently with the second of the 
above observations1 we find that points 
de repre do occasionally seem to        
determine crystal visions4  ,this1      
again1 has been noticed among the       
,french hysterical subjects2 and not    
only with them1 but with another among  
our best observers1 ,mrs4 ,verrall4     

,these things being so--both these      
causes being apparently operative along 
the whole series of scryers1 or         
crystal-gazers1 from the most unstable  
to the most scientific--one might be    
tempted to assume that these two clues1 
if we could follow them far enough1     
would explain the whole group of        
phenomena4 ,persons who have not seen   
the phenomena1 indeed1 can hardly be    
persuaded to the contrary4 ,but the real
 fact is1 as even those who have seen   
much less of crystal-gazing than ,i have
 will very well know1 that these        
explanations cannot be stretched to     
cover a quarter--perhaps not even a     
tenth--of the phenomena which actually  
occur4  ,judging both from the testimony
 of scryers themselves1 and from the    
observations of ,dr4 ,hodgson and others
 7myself included71 who have had many   
opportunities of watching them1 it is   
very seldom that the gaze into the glass
 ball induces any hypnotic symptoms     
whatever4 ,it does not induce such      

symptoms with successful scryers any    
more than with unsuccessful4            
,furthermore1 there is no proof that the
 gift of crystal-vision goes along with 
hypnotic sensibility4 ,the most that one
 can say is that the gift often goes    
along with telepathic sensibility2 but  
although telepathic sensibility may     
sometimes be quickened by hypnotism1 we 
have no proof that those two forms of   
sensitiveness habitually go together4   
,the ordinary attitude of the scryer1 ,i
 repeat1 is one of complete detachment2 
an interested and often puzzled scrutiny
 and analysis of the figures which      
display themselves in swift or slow     
succession in the crystal ball4  ,this  
last sentence applies to the theory of  
points de repre as well4 ,as a general  
rule1 the crystal vision1 however       
meaningless and fantastic1 is a thing   
which changes and develops somewhat as a
 dream does2 following1 it may be1 some 
trivial chain of associations1 but not  
maintaining1 any more than a dream      

maintains1 any continuous scheme of line
 or colour4 ,at the most1 the scraps of 
reflection in the crystal could only    
start such a series of pictures as this4
 ,and the start1 the initiation of one  
of these series1 is often accompanied by
 an odd phenomenon mentioned above--a   
milky clouding of the crystal1 which    
obscures any fragments of reflected     
images1 and from out of which the images
 of the vision gradually grow clear4 ,i 
cannot explain this clouding4 ,it occurs
 too often and too independently to be a
 mere effect of suggestion4 ,it does not
 seem to depend on any optical          
condition--to be1 for instance1 a result
 of change of focus of the eye1 or of   
prolonged gazing4 ,it is a picture like 
other pictures2 it may come when the    
eyes are quite fresh 7nor ought they    
ever to be strained72 and it may persist
 for some time1 so that the scryer looks
 away and back again1 and sees it still4
 ,it comes at the beginning of a first  
series of pictures1 or as a kind of drop

 scene between one series of pictures   
and another4 ,its closest parallel1     
perhaps1 is the mist or cloud out of    
which phantasmal figures1 out in the    
room1 sometimes seem to form themselves4
  ,moreover1 the connection1 if one can 
so call it1 between the crystal and the 
vision is a very variable one4          
,sometimes the figures seem clearly     
defined within the crystal and limited  
thereby2 sometimes all perception of the
 crystal or other speculum disappears1  
and the scryer seems clairvoyantly      
introduced into some group of life-sized
 figures4 ,nay1 further1 when the habit 
of gazing is fully acquired1 some       
scryers can dispense with any speculum  
whatever1 and can see pictures in mere  
blackness2 thus approximating to the    
seers of faces in the dark1 or of       
illusions hypnagogiques4  ,on the whole 
it seems safest to attempt at present no
 further explanation of crystal-gazing  
than to say that it is an empirical     
method of developing internal vision2 of

 externalising pictures which are       
associated with changes in the sensorial
 tracts of the brain1 due partly to     
internal stimuli1 and partly to stimuli 
which may come from minds external to   
the scryer's own4 ,the hallucinations   
thus induced appear to be absolutely    
harmless4 ,i at least know of no kind of
 injury resulting from them2 and ,i have
 probably heard of most of the          
experiments made in ,england1 with any  
scientific aim or care1 during the      
somewhat limited revival of             
crystal-gazing which has proceeded for  
the last few years4  ,the crystal       
picture is what we must call 7for want  
of knowledge of determining causes7 a   
random glimpse into inner vision1 a     
reflection caught at some odd angle from
 the universe as it shines through the  
perturbing medium of that special soul4 
,normal and supernormal knowledge and   
imaginings are blended in strangely     
mingled rays4 ,memory1 dream1 telepathy1
 telsthesia1 retrocognition1            

precognition1 all are there4 ,nay1 there
 are indications of spiritual           
communications and of a kind of         
ecstasy4#aje  ,we cannot pursue all     
these phenomena at once4 ,in turning1 as
 we must now turn1 to the spontaneous   
cases of sensory automatism--of every   
type of which the induced visions of the
 crystal afford us a foretaste--we must 
needs single out first some fundamental 
phenomenon1 illustrating some principle 
from which the rarer or more complex    
phenomena may be in part at least       
derived4 ,nor will there be difficulty  
in such a choice4 ,theory and actual    
experience point here in the same       
direction4 ,if this inward vision1 this 
inward audition1 on whose importance ,i 
have been insisting1 are to have any    
such importance--if they are to have any
 validity at all--if their contents are 
to represent anything more than dream or
 meditation--they must receive knowledge
 from other minds or from distant       
objects2--knowledge which is not        

received by the external organs of      
sense4 ,communication must exist from   
the subliminal to the subliminal as well
 as from the supraliminal to the        
supraliminal parts of the being of      
different individual men4 ,telepathy1 in
 short1 must be the prerequisite of all 
these supernormal phenomena4  ,actual   
experience1 as we shall presently see1  
confirms this view of the place of      
telepathy4 ,for when we pass from the   
induced to the spontaneous phenomena we 
shall find that these illustrate before 
all else this transmission of thought   
and emotion directly from mind to mind4 
,now as to telepathy1 there is in the   
first place this to be said1 that such a
 faculty must absolutely exist somewhere
 in the universe1 if the universe       
contains any unembodied intelligences at
 all4 ,if there be any life less rooted 
in flesh than ours--any life more       
spiritual 7as men have supposed that a  
higher life would be71 then either it   
must not be social life--there can be no

 exchange of thought in it at all--or   
else there must exist some method of    
exchanging thought which does not depend
 upon either tongue or brain4  ,thus    
much1 one may say1 has been evident     
since man first speculated on such      
subjects at all4 ,but the advance of    
knowledge has added a new               
presumption--it can be no more than a   
presumption--to all such cosmic         
speculations4 ,i mean the presumption of
 continuity4 ,learning how close a tie  
in reality unites man with inferior     
lives1--once treated as something wholly
 alien1 impassably separated from the   
human race--we are led to conceive that 
a close tie may unite him also with     
superior lives1--that the series may be 
fundamentally unbroken1 the essential   
qualities of life the same throughout4  
,it used to be asked whether man was    
akin to the ape or to the angel4 ,i     
reply that the very fact of his kinship 
with the ape is proof presumptive of his
 kinship with the angel4  ,it is natural

 enough that man's instinctive feeling  
should have anticipated any argument of 
this speculative type4 ,men have in most
 ages believed1 and do still widely     
believe1 in the reality of prayer2 that 
is1 in the possibility of telepathic    
communication between our human minds   
and minds above our own1 which are      
supposed not only to understand our wish
 or aspiration1 but to impress or       
influence us inwardly in return4  ,so   
widely spread has been this belief in   
prayer that it is somewhat strange that 
men should not have more commonly made  
what seems the natural                  
deduction--namely1 that if our spirits  
can communicate with higher spirits in a
 way transcending sense1 they may also  
perhaps be able in like manner to       
communicate with each other4 ,the idea1 
indeed1 has been thrown out at intervals
 by leading thinkers--from ,augustine to
 ,bacon1 from ,bacon to ,goethe1 from   
,goethe to ,tennyson4  ,isolated        
experiments from time to time indicated 

its practical truth4 ,yet it is only    
within the last few years that the vague
 and floating notion has been developed 
into definite theory by systematic      
experiment4  ,to make such experiment   
possible has indeed been no easy matter4
 ,it has been needful to elicit and to  
isolate from the complex emotions and   
interactions of common life a certain   
psychical element of whose nature and   
working we have beforehand but a very   
obscure idea4  ,if indeed we possessed  
any certain method of detecting the     
action of telepathy1--of distinguishing 
it from chance coincidence or from      
unconscious suggestion1--we should      
probably find that its action was widely
 diffused and mingled with other more   
commonplace causes in many incidents of 
life4 ,we should find telepathy1        
perhaps1 at the base of many sympathies 
and antipathies1 of many wide           
communities of feeling2 operating1 it   
may be1 in cases as different as the    
quasi-recognition of some friend in a   

stranger seen at a distance just before 
the friend himself unexpectedly appears1
 and the ,phm or ,rumour which in       
,hindostan or in ancient ,greece is said
 to have often spread far an            
inexplicable knowledge of victory or    
disaster4  ,but we are obliged1 for the 
sake of clearness of evidence1 to set   
aside1 when dealing with                
experimentation1 all these mixed        
emotional cases1 and to start from      
telepathic communications intentionally 
planned to be so trivial1 so devoid of  
associations or emotions1 that it shall 
be impossible to refer them to any      
common memory or sympathy2 to anything  
save a direct transmission of idea1 or  
impulse1 or sensation1 or image1 from   
one to another mind4  ,the reader who   
has studied the evidence originally set 
forth in ,chapters ,,ii4 and ,,iii4 of  
,phantasms of the ,living will1 ,i      
trust1 carry away a pretty clear notion 
of what can at present actually be done 
in the way of experimental transferences

 of small definite ideas or pictures    
from one or more persons--the agent or  
agents--to one or more persons--the     
percipient or percipients4#ajf ,in these
 experiments actual contact has been    
forbidden1 to avoid the risk of         
unconscious indications by pressure4 ,it
 is at present still doubtful how far   
close proximity really operates in aid  
of telepathy1 or how far its advantage  
is a mere effect of self-suggestion--on 
the part either of agent or of          
percipient4 ,some few pairs of          
experimenters have obtained results of  
just the same type at distances of half 
a mile or more4#ajg ,similarly1 in the  
case of induction of hypnotic trance1   
,dr4 ,gibert attained at the distance of
 nearly a mile results which are usually
 supposed to require close and actual   
presence4 ,see ,appendix ,v4 ,c4  ,we   
must clearly realise that in telepathic 
experiment we encounter just the same   
difficulty which makes our results in   
hypnotic therapeutics so unpredictable  

and irregular4 ,we do not know how to   
get our suggestions to take hold of the 
subliminal self4 ,they are liable to    
fail for two main reasons4 ,either they 
somehow never reach the subliminal      
centres which we wish to affect1 or they
 find those centres preoccupied with    
some self-suggestion hostile to our     
behest4 ,this source of uncertainty can 
only be removed by a far greater number 
of experiments than have yet been       
made--experiments repeated until we have
 oftener struck upon the happy veins    
which make up for an immense amount of  
sterile exploration4 ,meantime we must  
record1 but can hardly interpret4 ,yet  
there is one provisional interpretation 
of telepathic experiment which must be  
noticed thus early in our discussion1   
because1 if true1 it may conceivably    
connect our groping work with more      
advanced departments of science1 while1 
if seen to be inadequate1 it may bid us 
turn our inquiry in some other          
direction4 ,i refer to the suggestion   

that telepathy is propagated by         
brain-waves2 or1 as ,sir ,w4 ,crookes   
has more exactly expressed it1 by       
ether-waves of even smaller amplitude   
and greater frequency than those which  
carry the ,x rays4 ,these waves are     
conceived as passing from one brain to  
another1 and arousing in the second     
brain an excitation or image similar to 
the excitation or image from which they 
start in the first4 ,the hypothesis is  
an attractive one2 because it fits an   
agency which certainly exists1 but whose
 effect is unknown1 to an effect which  
certainly exists1 but whose agency is   
unknown4  ,in this world of vibrations  
it may seem at first the simplest plan  
to invoke a vibration the more4 ,it     
would be rash1 indeed1 to affirm that   
any phenomenon perceptible by men may   
not be expressible1 in part at least1 in
 terms of ethereal undulations4 ,but in 
the case of telepathy the analogy which 
suggests this explanation1 the obvious  
likeness between the picture emitted 7so

 to say7 by the agent and the picture   
received by the percipient--as when ,i  
fix my mind on the two of diamonds1 and 
he sees a mental picture of that        
card--goes but a very short way4 ,one   
has very soon to begin assuming that the
 percipient's mind modifies the picture 
despatched from the agent3 until the    
likeness between the two pictures       
becomes a quite symbolical affair4 ,we  
have seen that there is a continuous    
transition from experimental to         
spontaneous telepathy2 from our         
transferred pictures of cards to        
monitions of a friend's death at a      
distance4 ,these monitions may indeed be
 pictures of the dying friend1 but they 
are seldom such pictures as the         
decedent's brain seems likely to project
 in the form in which they reach the    
percipient4 ,mr4 ,l4--to take a         
well-known case in our collection       
7,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4  
#baj7--;dies of heart disease when in   
the act of lying down undressed1 in bed4

 ,at or about the same moment ,mr4 ,n4  
,j4 ,s4 sees ,mr4 ,l4 standing beside   
him with a cheerful air1 dressed for    
walking and with a cane in his hand4    
,one does not see how a system of       
undulations could have transmuted the   
physical facts in this way4  ,a still   
greater difficulty for the              
vibration-theory is presented by        
collective telepathic hallucinations4   
,it is hard to understand how ,a can    
emit a pattern of vibrations which1     
radiating equally in all directions1    
shall affect not only his distant friend
 ,b1 but also the strangers ,c and ,d1  
who happen to be standing near ,b2--and 
affect no other persons1 so far as we   
know1 in the world4  ,the above points  
have been fair matter of argument almost
 since our research began4 ,but as our  
evidence has developed1 our conception  
of telepathy has needed to be more and  
more generalised in other and new       
directions1--still less compatible with 
the vibration theory4 ,three such       

directions may be briefly specified     
here--namely1 the relation of telepathy 
7a7 to telsthesia or clairvoyance1 7b7  
to time1 and 7c7 to disembodied spirits4
 7a7 ,it is increasingly hard to refer  
all the scenes of which percipients     
become aware to the action of any given 
mind which is perceiving those distant  
scenes4 ,this is especially noticeable  
in crystal-gazing experiments4 7b7 ,and 
these crystal visions also show what1   
from the strict telepathic point of     
view1 we should call a great laxity of  
time relations4 ,the scryer chooses his 
own time to look in the ball2--and      
though sometimes he sees events which   
are taking place at the moment1 he may  
also see past events1--and even1 as it  
seems1 future events4 ,i at least cannot
 deny precognition1 nor can ,i draw a   
definite line amid these complex visions
 which may separate precognition from   
telepathy 7see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 xi4 pp4 #djh-eic74 7c7             
,precognition itself may be explained1  

if you will1 as telepathy from          
disembodied spirits2--and this would at 
any rate bring it under a class of      
phenomena which ,i think all students of
 our subject must before long admit4    
,admitting here1 for argument's sake1   
that we do receive communications from  
the dead which we should term telepathic
 if we received them from the living1 it
 is of course open to us to conjecture  
that these messages also are conveyed on
 ether-waves4 ,but since those waves do 
not at any rate emanate from material   
brains1 we shall by this time have got  
so far from the original brain-wave     
hypothesis that few will care still to  
defend it4  ,i doubt1 indeed1 whether we
 can safely say of telepathy anything   
more definite than this3 ,life has the  
power of manifesting itself to life4    
,the laws of life1 as we have thus far  
known them1 have been only laws of life 
when already associated with matter4    
,thus limited1 we have learnt little as 
to ,life's true nature4 ,we know not    

even whether ,life be only a directive  
,force1 or1 on the other hand1 an       
effective ,energy4 ,we know not in what 
way it operates on matter4 ,we can in no
 way define the connection between our  
own consciousness and our organisms4    
,just here it is1 ,i should say1 that   
telepathic observations ought to supply 
us with some hint4 ,from the mode in    
which some element of one individual    
life1--apart from material impact1--gets
 hold of another organism1 we may in    
time learn something of the way in which
 our own life gets hold of our own      
organism1--and maintains1 intermits1 or 
abandons its organic sway4#ajh  ,the    
hypothesis which ,i suggested in        
,phantasms of the ,living itself1 in my 
,note on a possible mode of psychical   
interaction1 seems to me to have been   
rendered increasingly plausible by      
evidence of many kinds since received2  
evidence of which the larger part falls 
outside the limits of this present work4
 ,i still believe--and more confidently 

than in #ahhf--that a psychical invasion
 does take place2 that a                
phantasmogenetic centre is actually     
established in the percipient's         
surroundings2 that some movement bearing
 some relation to space as we know it is
 actually accomplished2 and some        
presence is transferred1 and may or may 
not be discerned by the invaded person2 
some perception of the distant scene in 
itself is acquired1 and may or may not  
be remembered by the invader4  ,but the 
words which ,i am here beginning to use 
carry with them associations from which 
the scientific reader may well shrink4  
,fully realising the offence which such 
expressions may give1 ,i see no better  
line of excuse than simply to recount   
the way in which the gradual accretion  
of evidence has obliged me1 for the mere
 sake of covering all the phenomena1 to 
use phrases and assumptions which go far
 beyond those which ,edmund ,gurney and 
,i employed in our first papers on this 
inquiry in #ahhc4  ,when in #ahhb our   

small group began the collection of     
evidence bearing upon veridical         
hallucinations--or apparitions which    
coincided with other events in such a   
way as to suggest a causal              
connection--we found scattered among the
 cases from the first certain types     
which were with difficulty reducible    
under the conception of telepathy pure  
and simple--even if such a conception   
could be distinctly formed4 ,sometimes  
the apparition was seen by more than one
 percipient at once--a result which we  
could hardly have expected if all that  
had passed were the transference of an  
impression from the agent's mind to     
another mind1 which then bodied forth   
that impression in externalised shape   
according to laws of its own structure4 
,there were instances1 too1 where the   
percipient seemed to be the agent       
also--in so far that it was he who had  
an impression of having somehow visited 
and noted a distant scene1 whose        
occupant was not necessarily conscious  

of any immediate relation with him4 ,or 
sometimes this telepathic clairvoyance  
developed into reciprocity1 and each of 
the two persons concerned was conscious 
of the other2--the scene of their       
encounter being the same in the vision  
of each1 or at least the experience     
being in some way common to both4 ,these
 and cognate difficulties were present  
to my mind from the first2 and in the   
above-mentioned ,note on a suggested    
mode of psychical interaction1 included 
in vol4 ii of ,phantasms of the ,living1
 ,i indicated briefly the extension of  
the telepathic theory to which they     
seemed to me to point4  ,meantime cases 
of certain other definite types         
continued to come steadily to hand1     
although in lesser numbers than the     
cases of apparition at death4 ,to       
mention two important types only--there 
were apparitions of the so-called dead1 
and there were cases of precognition4   
,with regard to each of these classes1  
it seemed reasonable to defer belief    

until time should have shown whether the
 influx of first-hand cases was likely  
to be permanent2 whether independent    
witnesses continued to testify to       
incidents which could be better         
explained on these hypotheses than on   
any other4 ,before ,edmund ,gurney's    
death in #ahhh our cases of apparitions 
and other manifestations of the dead had
 reached a degree of weight and         
consistency which1 as his last paper    
showed1 was beginning to convince him of
 their veridical character2 and since   
that date these have been much further  
increased2 and especially have drawn    
from ,mrs4 ,piper's and other           
trance-phenomena an unexpected          
enlargement and corroboration4 ,the     
evidence for communication from the     
departed is now in my personal estimate 
quite as strong as that for telepathic  
communication between the living2 and it
 is moreover evidence which inevitably  
alters and widens our conception of     
telepathy between living men4  ,the     

evidence for precognition1 again1 was   
from the first scantier1 and has        
advanced at a slower rate4 ,it has      
increased steadily enough to lead me to 
feel confident that it will have to be  
seriously reckoned with2 but ,i cannot  
yet say--as ,i do say with reference to 
the evidence for messages from the      
departed--that almost every one who     
accepts our evidence for telepathy at   
all1 must ultimately accept this        
evidence also4 ,it must run on at any   
rate for some years longer before it    
shall have accreted a convincing weight4
  ,but at whatever point one or another 
inquirer may happen at present to stand1
 ,i urge that this is the reasonable    
course for conviction to follow4 ,first 
analyse the miscellaneous stream of     
evidence into definite types2 then      
observe the frequency with which these  
types recur1 and let your sense of their
 importance gradually grow1 if the      
evidence grows also4  ,now this mode of 
procedure evidently excludes all        

definite a priori views1 and compels    
one's conceptions to be little more than
 the mere grouping to which the facts   
thus far known have to be subjected in  
order that they may be realised in their
 ensemble4  ,what definite reason do ,i 
know why this should not be true8--this 
is the question which needs to be pushed
 home again and again if one is to      
realise--and not in the ordinary paths  
of scientific speculation alone--how    
profound our ignorance of the ,universe 
really is4  ,my own ignorance1 at any   
rate1 ,i recognise to be such that my   
notions of the probable or improbable in
 the ,universe are not of weight enough 
to lead me to set aside any facts which 
seem to me well attested1 and which are 
not shown by experts actually to        
conflict with any better-established    
facts or generalisations4 ,wide though  
the range of established science may be1
 it represents1 as its most far-sighted 
prophets are the first to admit1 a      
narrow glance only into the unknown and 

infinite realm of law4  ,the evidence1  
then1 leading me thus unresisting along1
 has led me to this main difference from
 our early treatment of veridical       
phantasms4 ,instead of starting from a  
root-conception of a telepathic impulse 
merely passing from mind to mind1 ,i now
 start from a root-conception of the    
dissociability of the self1 of the      
possibility that different fractions of 
the personality can act so far          
independently of each other that the one
 is not conscious of the other's action4
  ,naturally the two conceptions        
coincide over much of the ground4 ,where
 experimental thought-transference is   
concerned--even where the commoner types
 of coincidental phantasms are          
concerned--the second formula seems a   
needless and unprovable variation on the
 first4 ,but as soon as we get among the
 difficult types--reciprocal cases1     
clairvoyant cases1 collective cases1    
above all1 manifestations of the        
dead--we find that the conception of a  

telepathic impulse as a message         
despatched and then left alone1 as it   
were1 to effect its purpose needs more  
and more of straining1 of manipulation1 
to fit it to the evidence4 ,on the other
 hand1 it is just in those difficult    
regions that the analogies of other     
splits of personality recur1 and that   
phantasmal or automatic behaviour       
recalls to us the behaviour of segments 
of personality detached from primary    
personality1 but operating through the  
organism which is common to both4  ,the 
innovation which we are here called upon
 to make is to suppose that segments of 
the personality can operate in apparent 
separation from the organism4 ,such a   
supposition1 of course1 could not have  
been started without proof of telepathy1
 and could with difficulty be sustained 
without proof of survival of death4     
,but1 given telepathy1 we have some     
psychical agency connected with man     
operating apart from his organism4      
,given survival1 we have an element of  

his personality--to say the least of    
it--operating when his organism is      
destroyed4 ,there is therefore no very  
great additional burden in supposing    
that an element of his personality may  
operate apart from his organism1 while  
that organism still exists4  ,ce n'est  
que le premier pas qui cote4 ,if we have
 once got a man's thought operating     
apart from his body--if my fixation of  
attention on the two of diamonds does   
somehow so modify another man's brain a 
few yards off that he seems to see the  
two of diamonds floating before         
him--there is no obvious halting-place  
on his side till we come to possession  
by a departed spirit1 and there is no   
obvious halting-place on my side till we
 come to travelling clairvoyance1 with a
 corresponding visibility of my own     
phantasm to other persons in the scenes 
which ,i spiritually visit4 ,no obvious 
halting-place1 ,i say2 for the point    
which at first seems abruptly           
transitional has been already shown to  

be only the critical point of a         
continuous curve4 ,i mean1 of course1   
the point where consciousness is        
duplicated--where each segment of the   
personality begins to possess a separate
 and definite1 but contemporaneous      
stream of memory and perception4 ,that  
these can exist concurrently in the same
 organism our study of hypnotism has    
already shown1 and our study of motor   
automatisms will still further prove to 
us4  ,dissociation of personality1      
combined with activity in the           
metetherial environment2 such1 in the   
phraseology used in this book1 will be  
the formula which will most easily cover
 those actually observed facts of       
veridical apparition on which we must   
now enter at considerable length4 ,and  
after this preliminary explanation ,i   
shall ask leave to use for clearness in 
my argument such words as are simplest  
and shortest1 however vague or          
disputable their connotation may be4 ,i 
must needs1 for instance1 use the word  

spirit1 when ,i speak of that unknown   
fraction of a man's personality--not the
 supraliminal fraction--which we discern
 as operating before or after death in  
the metetherial environment4 ,for this  
conception ,i can find no other term1   
but by the word spirit ,i wish to imply 
nothing more definite than this4 ,of the
 spirit's relation to space1 or 7which  
is a part of the same problem7 to its   
own spatial manifestation in definite   
form1 something has already been said1  
and there will be more to say hereafter4
 ,and similarly those terms1 invader or 
invaded1 from whose strangeness and     
barbarity our immediate discussion      
began1 will depend for their meaning    
upon conceptions which the evidence     
itself must gradually supply4  ,that    
evidence1 as it now lies before us1 is  
perplexingly various both in content and
 quality4 ,for some of the canons needed
 in its analysis ,i have already        
referred the reader to extracts from    
,edmund ,gurney's writings4 ,certain    

points must still be mentioned here     
before the narrative begins4  ,it must  
be remembered1 in the first place1 that 
all these veridical or coincidental     
cases stand out together as a single    
group from a background of              
hallucinations which involve no         
coincidence1 which have no claim to     
veridicality4 ,if purely subjective     
hallucinations of the senses affected   
insane or disordered brains alone1--as  
was pretty generally the assumption1    
even in scientific circles1 when our    
inquiry began1--our task would have been
 much easier than it is4 ,but while     
there can be no question as to the sound
 and healthy condition of the great     
majority of our percipients1 ,edmund    
,gurney's ,census of ,hallucinations of 
#ahhd1 confirmed and extended by the    
wider inquiry of #ahhi-ahib1 showed a   
frequency1 previously unsuspected1 of   
scattered hallucinations among sane and 
healthy persons1 the experience being   
often unique in a lifetime1 and in no   

apparent connection with any other      
circumstance whatever4#aji  ,since      
casual hallucinations of the sane1 then1
 are thus frequent1 we can hardly       
venture to assume that they are all     
veridical4 ,and the existence of all    
these perhaps merely subjective         
hallucinations greatly complicates our  
investigation of veridical              
hallucinations4 ,it prevents the mere   
existence of the hallucinations1 however
 strangely interposed in ordinary life1 
from having any evidential value1 and   
throws us upon evidence afforded by     
external coincidence2--on the mere fact1
 to put such a coincidence in its       
simplest form1 that ,i see a phantom of 
my friend ,smith at the moment when     
,smith is unexpectedly dying at a       
distance4 ,a coincidence of this general
 type1 if it occurs1 need not be        
difficult to substantiate1 and we have  
in fact substantiated it with more or   
less completeness in several hundred    
cases4  ,the prim facie conclusion will 

obviously be that there is a causal     
connection between the death and the    
apparition4 ,to overcome this           
presumption it would be necessary either
 to impugn the accuracy of the          
informant's testimony1 or to show that  
chance alone might have brought about   
the observed coincidences4  ,on both of 
these questions there have been full and
 repeated discussions elsewhere4 ,i need
 not re-argue them at length here1 but  
will refer the reader to the ,report on 
the ,census of ,hallucinations1         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x41 where  
every source of error as yet discovered 
has been pretty fully considered4  ,to  
that volume also ,i must refer him for a
 thorough discussion of the arguments   
for and against chance-coincidence4 ,the
 conclusion to which the ,committee     
unanimously came is expressed in the    
closing words3 ,between deaths and      
apparitions of the dying person a       
connection exists which is not due to   
chance alone4  ,we have a right1 ,i     

think1 to say that only by another      
census of hallucinations1 equally       
careful1 more extensive1 and yielding   
absolutely different results1 could this
 conclusion be overthrown4  ,in forming 
this conclusion1 apparitions at death   
are of course selected1 because1 death  
being an unique event in man's earthly  
existence1 the coincidences between     
death and apparitions afford a          
favourable case for statistical         
treatment4 ,but the coincidences between
 apparitions and crises other than      
death1 although not susceptible of the  
same arithmetical precision of estimate1
 are1 as will be seen1 quite equally    
convincing4 ,to this great mass of      
spontaneous cases we must now turn4     
,the arrangement of these cases is not  
easy2 nor are they capable of being     
presented in one logically consequent   
series4  ,but the conception of         
psychical invasion or excursion on which
 ,i have already dwelt has at any rate  
this advantage1 that it is sufficiently 

fundamental to allow of our arrangement 
of all our recorded cases--perhaps of   
all possible cases of apparition--in    
accordance with its own lines4  ,our    
scheme will include all observable      
telepathic action1 from the faint       
currents which we may imagine to be     
continually passing between man and man1
 up to the point--reserved for the      
following chapter--where one of the     
parties to the telepathic intercourse   
has definitely quitted the flesh4 ,the  
first term in our series must be        
conveniently vague3 the last must lead  
us to the threshold of the spiritual    
world4  ,i must begin with cases where  
the action of the excursive fragment of 
the personality is of the weakest       
kind--the least capable of affecting    
other observers1 or of being recalled   
into the agent's own waking memory4     
,such cases1 naturally enough1 will be  
hard to bring up to evidential level4   
,it must depend on mere chance whether  
these weak and aimless psychical        

excursions are observed at all2 or are  
observed in such a way as to lead us to 
attribute them to anything more than the
 subjective fancy of the observers4     
,how can a casual vision--say1 of a lady
 sitting in her drawing-room1--of a man 
returning home at six o'clock--be       
distinguished from memory-images on the 
one hand and from what ,i may term      
expectation-images on the other8 ,the   
picture of the lady may be a slightly   
modified and externalised reminiscence2 
the picture of the man walking up to the
 door may be a mere projection of what  
the observer was hoping to see4  ,i have
 assumed that these phantoms coincided  
with no marked event4 ,the lady may have
 been thinking of going to her          
drawing-room2 the man may have been in  
the act of walking home2--but these are 
trivial circumstances which might be    
repeated any day4  ,yet1 however        
trivial1 almost any set of human        
circumstances are sufficiently complex  
to leave room for coincidence4 ,if the  

sitter in the drawing-room is wearing a 
distinctive article of dress1 never seen
 by the percipient until it is seen in  
the hallucination2--if the phantasmal   
homeward traveller is carrying a parcel 
of unusual shape1 which the real man    
does afterwards unexpectedly bring home 
with him2--there may be reason to think 
that there is a causal connection       
between the apparent agent's condition  
at the moment1 and the apparition4  ,in 
,appendix ,,vi4 ,a1 ,i quote one of     
these arrival-cases1 so to term them1   
where the peculiarity of dress was such 
as to make the coincidence between      
vision and reality well worth attention4
 ,the case is interesting also as one of
 our earliest examples of a psychical   
incident carefully recorded at the time2
 so that after the lapse of nearly forty
 years it was possible to correct the   
percipient's surviving recollection by  
his contemporary written statement4  ,in
 these arrival cases1 there is1 ,i say1 
a certain likelihood that the man's mind

 may be fixed on his return home1 so    
that his phantasm is seen in what might 
seem both to himself and to others the  
most probable place4#aaj ,but there are 
other cases where a man's phantasm is   
seen1 in a place where there is no      
special reason for his appearing1       
although these places seem always to lie
 within the beat and circuit of his     
habitual thought4  ,in such cases there 
are still possible circumstances which  
may give reason to think that the       
apparition is causally connected with   
the apparent agent4 ,the phantasm of a  
given person may be seen repeatedly by  
different percipients1 or it may be seen
 collectively by several persons at a   
time2 or it may combine both these      
evidential characteristics1 and may be  
seen several times and by several       
persons together4  ,now considering the 
rarity of phantasmal appearances1       
considering that not one person in 7say7
 five thousand is ever phantasmally seen
 at all2 the mere fact that a given     

person's phantasm is seen even twice1 by
 different percipients 7for we cannot   
count a second appearance to the same   
percipient as of equal value71 is in    
itself a remarkable fact2 while if this 
happens three or four times 7as in the  
case of ,mrs4 ,hawkins7#aaa we can      
hardly ascribe such a sequence of rare  
occurrences to chance alone4  ,again1   
impressive as is the repetition of the  
apparition in these cases1 it is yet    
less so to my mind than the collective  
character of some of the perceptions4   
,in ,mrs4 ,hawkins's first case there   
were two simultaneous percipients1 and  
in ,canon ,bourne's first case 7given in
 ,appendix ,,vi4 ,b7 there were three4  
,and we now come to other cases1 where  
the percipience has been collective1    
although it has not been repeated4      
,there is a case#aab where two persons  
at one moment--a moment of no stress or 
excitement whatever--see the phantasm of
 a third2 that third person being       
perhaps occupied with some supraliminal 

or subliminal thought of the scene in   
the midst of which she is phantasmally  
discerned4 ,both the percipients        
supposed at the moment that it was their
 actual sister whom they saw2 and one   
can hardly fancy that a mere act of     
tranquil recognition of the figure by   
one percipient would communicate to the 
other percipient a telepathic shock such
 as would make her see the same figure  
as well4  ,the question of the true     
import of collectivity of percipience   
renews in another form that problem of  
invasion to which our evidence so often 
brings us back4 ,when two or three      
persons see what seems to be the same   
phantom in the same place and at the    
same time1 does that mean that that     
special part of space is somehow        
modified8 or does it mean that a mental 
impression1 conveyed by the distant     
agent--the phantom-begetter--to one of  
the percipients is reflected            
telepathically from that percipient's   
mind to the minds of the other--as it   

were secondary--percipients8 ,the reader
 already knows that ,i prefer the former
 of these views4 ,and ,i observe--as    
telling against that other view1 of     
psychical contagion--that in certain    
collective cases we discern no probable 
link between any one of the percipient  
minds and the distant agent4  ,in some  
of that group of collective cases which 
we are at this moment considering1 this 
absence of link is noticeable in a      
special way4 ,there is nothing to show  
that any thought or emotion was passing 
from agent to percipients at the moment 
of the apparition4 ,on the contrary1 the
 indication is that there is no         
necessary connection whatever between   
the agent's condition of mind at the    
moment and the fact that such and such  
persons observed his phantasm4 ,the     
projection of the phantasm1 if ,i may so
 term it1 seems a matter wholly         
automatic on the agent's part1 as       
automatic and meaningless as a dream4   
,assuming1 then1 that this is so--that  

these bilocations or self-projections to
 a point apparently remote from one's   
body do occur without any appreciable   
stimulus from without1 and in moments of
 apparent calm and indifference--in what
 way will this fact tend to modify      
previous conceptions8  ,it suggests that
 the continuous dream-life which we must
 suppose to run concurrently with our   
waking life is potent enough to effect  
from time to time enough of dissociation
 to enable some element of the          
personality to be perceived at a        
distance from the organism4 ,how much of
 consciousness1 if any1 may be felt at  
the point where the excursive phantasm  
is seen1 we cannot say4 ,but the notion 
that a mere incoherent quasi-dream      
should thus become perceptible to others
 is fully in accordance with the        
theories suggested in this work4 ,for ,i
 regard subliminal operation as         
continuously going on1 and ,i hold that 
the degree of dissociation which can    
generate a perceptible phantasm is not  

necessarily a profound change1 since    
that perceptibility depends so largely  
upon idiosyncrasies of agent and        
percipient as yet wholly unexplained4   
,that special idiosyncracy on the part  
of the agent which tends to make his    
phantasm easily visible has never yet1  
so far as ,i know1 received a name1     
although for convenience' sake it       
certainly needs one4 ,i propose to use  
the ,greek word ,greek3 psuchorrag1     
which means strictly to let the soul    
break loose1 and from which ,i form the 
words psychorrhagy and psychorrhagic1 on
 obvious analogies4 ,when ,i say that   
the agents in these cases were born with
 the psychorrhagic diathesis1 ,i express
 what ,i believe to be an important     
fact1 physiological as well as          
psychological1 in terms which seem      
pedantic1 but which are the only ones   
which mean exactly what the facts oblige
 me to say4 ,that which breaks loose on 
my hypothesis is not 7as in the ,greek  
use of the word7 the whole principle of 

life in the organism2 rather it is some 
psychical element probably of very      
varying character1 and definable mainly 
by its power of producing a phantasm1   
perceptible by one or more persons1 in  
some portion or other of space4 ,i hold 
that this phantasmogenetic effect may be
 produced either on the mind1 and       
consequently on the brain of another    
person--in which case he may discern the
 phantasm somewhere in his vicinity1    
according to his own mental habit or    
prepossession--or else directly on a    
portion of space1 out in the open1 in   
which case several persons may          
simultaneously discern the phantasm in  
that actual spot4  ,let us apply this   
view to one of our most bizarre and     
puzzling cases--that of ,canon ,bourne  
7see ,appendix ,,vi4 ,b74 ,here ,i      
conceive that ,canon ,bourne1 while     
riding in the hunting-field1 was also   
subliminally dreaming of himself        
7imagining himself with some part of his
 submerged consciousness7 as having had 

a fall1 and as beckoning to his         
daughters--an incoherent dream indeed1  
but of a quite ordinary type4 ,i go on  
to suppose that1 ,canon ,bourne being   
born with the psychorrhagic diathesis1 a
 certain psychical element so far       
detached itself from his organism as to 
affect a certain portion of space--near 
the daughters of whom he was            
thinking--to effect it1 ,i say1 not     
materially nor even optically1 but yet  
in such a manner that to a certain kind 
of immaterial and non-optical           
sensitivity a phantasm of himself and   
his horse became discernible4 ,his horse
 was of course as purely a part of the  
phantasmal picture as his hat4 ,the     
non-optical distinctness with which the 
words printed inside his hat were seen  
indicates that it was some inner        
non-retinal vision which received the   
impression from the phantasmogenetic    
centre4 ,the other phantasmal appearance
 of ,canon ,bourne chanced to affect    
only one percipient1 but was of         

precisely the same character2 and of    
course adds1 so far as it goes1 to the  
plausibility of the above explanation4  
,that explanation1 indeed1 suffers from 
the complexity and apparent absurdity   
inevitable in dealing with phenomena    
which greatly transcend known laws2 but 
on the other hand it does in its way    
colligate ,canon ,bourne's case with a  
good many others of odd and varying     
types4 ,thus appearances such as ,canon 
,bourne's are in my view exactly        
parallel to the hauntings ascribed to   
departed spirits4 ,there also we find a 
psychorrhagic diathesis--a habit or     
capacity on the part of certain spirits 
of detaching some psychical element in  
such a manner as to form a phantasmal   
picture1 which represents the spirit as 
going through some dream-like action in 
a given place4  ,the phantasmogenetic   
centre may thus1 in my view1 be equally 
well produced by an incarnate or by a   
discarnate spirit4  ,again1 my          
hypothesis of a real modification of a  

part of space1 transforming it into a   
phantasmogenetic centre1 applies to a   
phantasmal voice just as well as to a   
phantasmal figure4 ,the voice is not    
heard acoustically any more than the    
figure is seen optically4 ,yet a        
phantasmal voice may in a true sense    
come from a given spot4  ,these         
psychorrhagic cases are1 ,i think1      
important as showing us the earliest or 
feeblest stages of                      
self-projection--where the dissociation 
belongs to the                          
dream-stratum--implicating neither the  
supraliminal will nor the profounder    
subliminal strata4  ,and now let us pass
 on from these1 which hardly concern    
anybody beyond the phantom-begetter     
himself--and do not even add anything to
 his own knowledge--to cases where there
 is some sort of communication from one 
mind to another1 or some knowledge      
gained by the excursive spirit4  ,it is 
impossible to arrange these groups in   
one continuous logical series4 ,but1    

roughly speaking1 the degree in which   
the psychical collision is recollected  
on either side may in some degree       
indicate its intensity1 and may serve as
 a guide to our provisional arrangement4
  ,following this scheme ,i shall begin 
with a group of cases which seem to     
promise but little information1--cases1 
namely1 where ,a1 the agent1 in some way
 impresses or invades ,p1 the           
percipient1--but nevertheless neither ,a
 nor ,p retains in supraliminal memory  
any knowledge of what has occurred4     
,now to begin with we shall have no     
difficulty in admitting that cases of   
this type are likely often to occur4    
,the psychical rapprochement of         
telepathy takes place1 ex hypothesi1 in 
a region which is subliminal for both   
agent and percipient1 and from whence   
but few and scattered impressions rise  
for either of them above the conscious  
threshold4 ,telepathy will thus probably
 operate far more continuously than our 
scattered glimpses would in themselves  

suggest4  ,but how can we outside       
inquirers know anything of telepathic   
incidents which the principals          
themselves fail altogether to remember8 
,in ordinary life we may sometimes learn
 from bystanders incidents which we     
cannot learn from the principals        
themselves4 ,can there be bystanders who
 look on at a psychical invasion8  ,the 
question is of much theoretical import4 
,on my view that there is a real        
transference of something from the      
agent1 involving an alteration of some  
kind in a particular part of space1     
there might theoretically be some       
bystander who might discern that        
alteration in space more clearly than   
the person for whose benefit1 so to say1
 the alteration was made4 ,if1 on the   
other hand1 what has happened is merely 
a transference of some impulse from mind
 to mind2--then one can hardly          
understand how any mind except the mind 
aimed at could perceive the telepathic  
impression4 ,yet1 in collective cases1  

persons in whom the agent feels no      
interest1 nay1 of whose presence along  
with the intended percipient he is not  
aware1 do in fact receive the impression
 in just the same way as that intended  
percipient himself4 ,this was explained 
by ,gurney as probably due to a fresh   
telepathic transmission1--this time from
 the due or original percipient's mind  
to the minds of his neighbours of the   
moment4  ,such a supposition1 however1  
in itself a difficult one1 becomes much 
more difficult when the telepathic      
impulse has never1 so far as we know1   
penetrated into the due or intended     
percipient's mind at all4 ,if in such a 
case a bystander perceives the invading 
figure1 ,i must think that he perceives 
it merely as a bystander1--not as a     
person telepathically influenced by the 
intended percipient1 who does not in    
fact perceive anything whatsoever4 ,i   
quote in illustration a bizarre but     
well-attested case 7see ,appendix ,,vi4 
,c7 which this explanation seems to fit 

better than any other4  ,in a somewhat  
similar case#aac there is strong        
attestation that a sailor1 watching by a
 dying comrade1 saw figures around his  
hammock1 apparently representing the    
dying man's family1 in mourning garb4   
,the family1 although they had no       
ordinary knowledge of the sailor's      
illness1 had been alarmed by noises1    
etc41 which rightly or wrongly they took
 as indications of some danger to him4  
,i conceive1 then1 that the wife paid a 
psychical visit to her husband2 and ,i  
take the mourning garb and the          
accompanying children's figures to be   
symbolical accompaniments1 representing 
her thought1 ,my children will be       
orphans4 ,i think this more likely than 
that the sailor's children also should  
have possessed this rare peculiarity of 
becoming perceptible at a distant point 
in space4 ,and secondary figures1 as we 
shall see later on1 are not uncommon in 
such telepathic presentations4 ,one may 
picture oneself as though holding a     

child by the hand1 or even driving in a 
carriage and pair1 as vividly as though 
carrying an umbrella or walking across a
 room2 and one may be thus pictured to  
others4  ,and here ,i note a gradual    
transition to the next large class of   
cases on which ,i am about to enter4 ,i 
am about to deal with telsthesia2--with 
cases where an agent-percipient--for he 
is both in one--makes a clairvoyant     
excursion 7of a more serious type than  
the mere psychorrhagies already         
described71 and brings back some memory 
of the scene which he has psychically   
visited4 ,now1 of course1 it may happen 
that he fails to bring back any such    
memory1 or that if he does bring it     
back1 he tells no one about it4 ,in such
 cases1 just as in the telepathic cases 
of which ,i have just spoken1 the       
excursive phantom may possibly be       
observed by a bystander1 and the        
circumstances may be such as to involve 
some coincidence which negatives the    
supposition of the bystander's mere     

subjective fancy4 ,such1 ,i think1 is   
the case which ,i give in ,appendix     
,,vi4 ,d4  ,there is a similar case in  
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#eda1 where a girl1 who is corporeally  
present in a certain drawing-room1 is   
seen phantasmally in a neighbouring     
grove1 whither she herself presently    
goes and hangs herself4  ,ponderings on 
projected suicide form perhaps the      
strongest instance of mental            
preoccupation with a particular spot4   
,but of course1 in our ignorance of the 
precise quality of thought or emotion   
needed to prompt a psychical excursion1 
we need not be surprised to find such an
 excursion observed on some occasions as
 trivial as the arrival-case of ,col4   
,reed1 with which ,i prefaced the mere  
psychorrhagic cases4  ,again1 there is a
 strange case1#aad which comes to us on 
good authority1 where we must suppose   
one man's subliminal impulse to have    
created a picture of himself1 his wife1 
a carriage and a horse1 persistent      

enough to have been watched for some    
seconds at least by three observers in  
one place1 and by a fourth and          
independent observer at another point in
 the moving picture's career4 ,the only 
alternative1 if the narrative be        
accepted as substantially true1 will be 
the hypothesis before alluded to of the 
flashing of an impending scene1 as in   
crystal-vision1 from some source        
external to any of the human minds      
concerned4 ,i need hardly at this point 
repeat that in my view the wife and the 
horse will be as purely a part of the   
man's conception of his own aspect or   
environment as the coat on his back4    
,and here1 for purposes of comparison1  
,i must refer to one of the most bizarre
 cases in our collection4#aae ,four     
credible persons1 to some extent        
independently1 see a carriage and pair1 
with two men on the box and an inside   
occupant1 under circumstances which make
 it impossible that the carriage was    
real4 ,now this vision cannot have been 

precognitive2 nothing of the kind       
occurred for years after it1 nor well   
could occur2 and ,i am forced to regard 
it as the externalisation of some dream1
 whether of an incarnate or of a        
discarnate mind4 ,the parallel between  
this case and the one mentioned above   
tends therefore to show that the first1 
in spite of the paraphernalia of wife1  
horse1 and dog-cart1 may have been the  
outcome of a single waking dream2--of   
the phantasmogenetic dissociation of    
elements of one sole personality4  ,in  
the cases which ,i have just been       
discussing there has been a psychical   
excursion1 with its possibilities of    
clairvoyance2 but the excursive element 
has not brought home any assignable     
knowledge to the supraliminal           
personality4 ,i go on now to cases where
 such knowledge has thus been garnered4 
,but here there is need of some further 
pause1 to consider a little in how many 
ways we can imagine that knowledge to be
 reached4  ,firstly1 the distant        

knowledge may1 it would seem1 be reached
 through hypersthesia1--an extended     
power of the ordinary senses4 ,secondly1
 it sometimes seems to come through     
crystal-gazing or its correlative       
shell-hearing1--artifices which seem to 
utilise the ordinary senses in a new    
way4 ,and besides these two avenues to  
distant knowledge there is a third1 the 
telepathic avenue1 which1 as we have    
already surmised1 sometimes shades off  
into the purely telsthetic2 when no     
distant mind1 but only the distant      
scene1 seems to be attracting the       
excursive spirit4 ,and in the fourth    
place we must remember that it is mainly
 in the form of dream or vision that the
 most striking instances of telsthesia  
which ,i have as yet recorded have come4
 ,can we in any way harmonise these     
various modes of perception8 ,can we    
discover any condition of the percipient
 which is common to all8  ,to a certain 
limited extent such co-ordination is    
possible4 ,in each approach to          

telsthesia in turn we find a tendency to
 something like a dream-excursion4      
,hypersthesia1 in the first place1      
although it exists sometimes in persons 
wide awake1 is characteristically an    
attribute of sleep-waking states4  ,we  
have seen in discussing hypnotic        
experiments that it is sometimes        
possible to extend the subject's        
perceptive faculty by gradual           
suggestion1 so far as to transform a    
hypersthesia which can still be referred
 to the action of the sense-organs into 
a telsthesia which cannot be so         
referred4 ,it is observable that        
percipients in such cases sometimes     
describe their sensation as that of     
receiving an impression1 or seeing a    
picture placed before them2 sometimes as
 that of travelling and visiting the    
distant scene or person4 ,or the feeling
 may oscillate between these two        
sensations1 just as the sense of        
time-relation in the picture shown may  
oscillate between past1 present1 and    

future4  ,to all these complex          
sensations the phenomena of             
crystal-gazing offer close analogies4 ,i
 have already remarked on the curious   
fact that the simple artifice of gazing 
into a speculum should prove the avenue 
to phenomena of such various types4     
,there may be very different origins    
even for pictures which in the crystal  
present very similar aspects2 and       
certain sensations do also accompany    
these pictures2 sensations not merely of
 gazing but sometimes 7though rarely7 of
 partial trance2 and oftener of         
bilocation2--of psychical presence among
 the scenes which the crystal has indeed
 initiated1 but no longer seems to limit
 or to contain4  ,the idea of psychical 
excursion thus suggested must1 however1 
be somehow reconciled with the          
frequently symbolic character of these  
visions4 ,the features of a             
crystal-vision seem often to be no mere 
transcription of material facts1 but an 
abbreviated selection from such facts1  

or even a bold modification of such     
facts with a view of telling some story 
more quickly and clearly4 ,we are       
familiar with the same kind of          
succession of symbolical scenes in      
dream1 or in waking reverie4 ,and of    
course if an intelligence outside the   
crystal-gazer's mind is endeavouring to 
impress him1 this might well be the     
chosen way4  ,and moreover through all  
telsthetic vision some element of       
similar character is wont to run--some  
indication that mind has been at work   
upon the picture--that the scene has not
 been presented1 so to say1 in crude    
objectivity1 but that there has been    
some choice as to the details discerned2
 and some symbolism in the way in which 
they are presented4  ,let us consider   
how these characteristics affect        
different theories of the mechanism of  
clairvoyance4 ,let us suppose first that
 there is some kind of transition from  
hypersthesia to telsthesia1 so that when
 peripheral sensation is no longer      

possible1 central perception may be     
still operating across obstacles        
otherwise insurmountable4  ,if this be  
the case1 it seems likely that central  
perception will shape itself on the     
types of perception to which the central
 tracts of the brain are accustomed2 and
 that the connaissance suprieure1 the   
telsthetic knowledge1 however it may    
really be acquired1 will present itself 
mainly as clairvoyance or               
clairaudience--as some form of sight or 
sound4 ,yet these telsthetic sights and 
sounds may be expected to show some     
trace of their unusual origin4 ,they    
may1 for instance1 be imperfectly       
co-ordinated with sights and sounds     
arriving through external channels2 and1
 since they must in some way be a       
translation of supernormal impressions  
into sensory terms1 they are likely to  
show something symbolic in character4   
,this tendency to subliminal symbolism1 
indeed1 meets us at each point of our   
inquiry4 ,as an instance of it in its   

simplest form1 ,i may mention a case    
where a botanical student passing       
inattentively in front of the glass door
 of a restaurant thought that he had    
seen ,verbascum ,thapsus printed        
thereon4 ,the real word was ,bouillon2  
and that happens to be the trivial name 
in ,french for the plant ,verbascum     
,thapsus4 ,the actual optical perception
 had thus been subliminally transformed2
 the words ,verbascum ,thapsus were the 
report to the inattentive supraliminal  
self by a subliminal self more          
interested in botany than in dinner4    
,nay1 we know that our own optical      
perception is in its own way highly     
symbolic4 ,the scene which the baby sees
 instinctively1--which the impressionist
 painter manages to see by a sort of    
deliberate self-simplification1--is very
 different from the highly elaborate    
interpretation and selection of blotches
 of colour by which the ordinary adult  
figures to himself the visible world4   
,now we adults stand towards this       

subliminal symbolism in much the same   
attitude as the baby stands towards our 
educated optical symbolism4 ,just as the
 baby fails to grasp the third          
dimension1 so may we still be failing to
 grasp a fourth2--or whatever be the law
 of that higher cognisance which begins 
to report fragmentarily to man that     
which his ordinary senses cannot        
discern4  ,assuredly then we must not   
take the fact that any knowledge comes  
to us symbolically as a proof that it   
comes to us from a mind outside our own4
 ,the symbolism may be the inevitable   
language in which one stratum of our    
personality makes its report to another4
 ,the symbolism1 in short1 may be either
 the easiest1 or the only possible      
psychical record of actual objective    
fact2 whether that fact be in the first 
instance discerned by our deeper selves1
 or be conveyed to us from other minds  
in this form2--elaborated for our mind's
 digestion1 as animal food has been     
elaborated for our body's digestion1    

from a primitive crudity of things4     
,but again one must question1 on general
 idealistic principles1 whether there be
 in such cases any real distinction     
between symbolism and reality1--between 
subjective and objective as we commonly 
use those terms4 ,the resisting matter  
which we see and touch has solid reality
 for minds so constituted as to have the
 same subjective feeling awakened by it4
 ,but to other minds1 endowed with other
 forms of sensibility--minds possibly   
both higher and more numerous than our  
own--this solid matter may seem         
disputable and unreal1 while thought and
 emotion1 perceived in ways unknown to  
us1 may be the only reality4  ,this     
material world constitutes1 in fact1 a  
privileged case--a simplified           
example--among all discernible worlds1  
so far as the perception of incarnate   
spirits is concerned4 ,for discarnate   
spirits it is no longer a privileged    
case2 to them it is apparently easier to
 discern thoughts and emotions by       

non-material signs4#aaf ,but they need  
not therefore be wholly cut off from    
discerning material things1 any more    
than incarnate spirits are wholly cut   
off from discerning immaterial          
things--thoughts and emotions symbolised
 in phantasmal form4 ,the ghost in man1 
the ghost that once was man1 to use     
,tennyson's words1 have each of them to 
overcome by empirical artifices certain 
difficulties which are of different type
 for each1 but are not insurmountable by
 either4  ,these reflections1 applicable
 at various points in our argument1 have
 seemed specially needed when we had    
first to attack the meaning of the      
so-called travelling clairvoyance1 of   
which instances were given in the       
chapter on hypnotism4 ,it was needful to
 consider how far there was a continuous
 transition between these excursions and
 directer transferences between mind and
 mind1--between telsthesia and          
telepathy4 ,it now seems to me that such
 a continuous transition may well exist1

 and that there is no absolute gulf     
between the supernormal perception of   
ideas as existing in other minds1 and   
the supernormal perception of what we   
know as matter4 ,all matter may1 for    
aught we know1 exist as an idea in some 
cosmic mind1 with which mind each       
individual spirit may be in relation1 as
 fully as with individual minds4 ,the   
difference perhaps lies rather in the   
fact that there may be generally a      
summons from a cognate mind which starts
 the so-called agent's mind into action2
 his invasion may be in some way        
invited2 while a spiritual excursion    
among inanimate objects only may often  
lack an impulse to start it4 ,if this be
 so1 it would explain the fact that such
 excursions have mainly succeeded under 
the influence of hypnotic suggestion4   
,we see in travelling clairvoyance1#aag 
just as we see in crystal-visions1 a    
kind of fusion of all our forms of      
supernormal faculty4 ,there is          
telepathy1 telsthesia1 retrocognition1  

precognition2 and in the cases reported 
by ,cahagnet1 which will be referred to 
in ,chapter ,,ix41 there is apparently  
something more besides4 ,we see1 in     
short1 that any empirical inlet into the
 metetherial world is apt to show us    
those powers1 which we try to           
distinguish1 coexisting in some         
synthesis by us incomprehensible4 ,here1
 therefore1 just as with the            
crystal-visions1 we have artificially to
 separate out the special class of      
phenomena with which we wish first to   
deal4  ,in these experiments1 then1     
there seems to be an independent power  
of visiting almost any desired place1   
its position having been perhaps first  
explained by reference to some landmark 
already known4 ,the clairvoyante 7,i use
 the female word1 but in several cases a
 man or boy has shown this power7 will  
frequently miss her way1 and describe   
houses or scenes adjacent to those      
desired4 ,then if she--almost           
literally--gets on the scent1--if she   

finds some place which the man whom she 
is sent to seek has some time           
traversed1--she follows up his track    
with greater ease1 apparently           
recognising past events in his life as  
well as present circumstances4  ,in     
these prolonged experimental cases there
 is thus time enough to allow of the    
clairvoyante's traversing certain       
places1 such as empty rooms1 factories1 
and the like1 whither no assignable link
 from any living person could draw her4 
,the evidence to prove telsthesia1      
unmixed with telepathy1 has thus        
generally come incidentally in the      
course of some experiment mainly        
telepathic in character4  ,these long   
clairvoyant wanderings are more nearly  
paralleled by dreams than by waking     
hallucinations4  ,in a case which ,i    
will here quote a physician is          
impressed1 probably in dream1 with a    
picture of a special place in a street1 
where something is happening1 which1    
though in itself unemotional--merely    

that a man is standing and talking in   
the street--is of moment to the         
physician1 who wants to get             
unobtrusively into the man's house4     
,from ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4
 p4 #bfg4 ,the case is there described  
as coming from a ,fellow of the ,college
 of ,physicians1 who fears professional 
injury if he were 'supposed to defend   
opinions at variance with general       
scientific belief1' and does not        
therefore allow his name to appear4     
,may #bjth1 #ahhd4       ,twenty years  
ago abroad ,i had a patient1 wife of a  
parson4 ,she      had a peculiar kind of
 delirium which did not belong to her   
disease1 and perplexed me4 ,the house in
 which she lived was closed      at     
midnight1 that is--the outer door had no
 bell4 ,one night ,i saw      her at    
nine4 ,when ,i came home ,i said to my  
wife1 ,i don't      understand that     
case2 ,i wish ,i could get into the     
house late4 ,we      went to bed rather 
early4 ,at about one o'clock ,i got up4 

,she said1      ,what are you about8 are
 you not well8 ,i said1 ,perfectly so4  
,then why get up8 ,because ,i can get   
into that house4 ,how1 if it      is    
shut up8 ,i see the proprietor standing 
under the lamp-post      this side of   
the bridge1 with another man4 ,you have 
been      dreaming4 ,no1 ,i have been   
wide awake2 but dreaming or waking1 ,i  
mean to try4 ,i started with the firm   
conviction that ,i should find      the 
individual in question4 ,sure enough    
there he was under the      lamp-post1  
talking to a friend4 ,i asked him if he 
was going home4      7,i knew him very  
well47 ,he said he was1 so ,i told him  
,i was going      to see a patient1 and 
would accompany him4 ,i was positively  
ashamed      to explain matters2 it     
seemed so absurd that ,i knew he would  
not      believe me4 ,on arriving at the
 house ,i said1 ,now ,i am here1 ,i will
      drop in and see my patient4 ,on   
entering the room ,i found the maid     
giving her a tumbler of strong grog4    

,the case was clear2 it was as      ,i  
suspected--delirium from drink4 ,the    
next day ,i delicately spoke      to the
 husband about it4 ,he denied it1 and in
 the afternoon ,i      received a note  
requesting me not to repeat the visits4 
,three weeks      ago ,i was recounting 
the story and mentioned the name4 ,a    
lady      present said3 ,that is the    
name of the clergyman in my parish1 at  
,b41 and his wife is in a lunatic asylum
 from drink6  ,in conversation with     
,gurney1 the narrator explained that the
 vision--though giving an impression of 
externality and seen1 as he believes1   
with open eyes--was not definably       
located in space4 ,he had never         
encountered the proprietor in the spot  
where he saw him1 and it was not a      
likely thing that he should be standing 
talking in the streets at so late an    
hour4  ,in this case we cannot consider 
either the drunken patient or the       
indifferent proprietor as in any sense  
the agent4 ,somehow or other the        

physician's own persistent wish to get  
some such opportunity induced a         
collaboration of his subliminal with his
 supraliminal self1 akin to the         
inspirations of genius4 ,genius1        
however1 operates within ordinary       
sensory limits2 while in this           
physician's case the subliminal self    
exercised its farthest-reaching         
supernormal powers4  ,with this again   
may be compared a case in ,phantasms of 
the ,living 7vol4 ii4 p4 #cfh71 where a 
dreamer seems to himself to be present  
in the ,thames ,tunnel during a fatal   
accident1 which did in fact occur during
 that night4 ,here again the drowned    
workman--who was quite unknown to the   
distant dreamer--can hardly be called an
 agent2 yet it may have been the        
excitement surrounding his death which  
attracted the dreamer's spirit to that  
scene1 as a conflagration might attract 
a waking night-wanderer4  ,there are1 on
 the other hand1 a good many cases where
 a scene thus discerned in a flash is   

one of special interest to the          
percipient1 although no one in the scene
 may have actually wished to transfer it
 to him4  ,a case again of a somewhat   
different type is the sudden waking     
vision of ,mr4 ,gottschalk1#aah who sees
 in a circle of light the chalked hands 
and ruffled wrists of ,mr4 ,courtenay   
,thorpe--a well-known actor--who was    
opening a letter of ,mr4 ,gottschalk's  
in that costume at the time4 ,trivial in
 itself1 this incident illustrates an   
interesting class of cases1 where a     
picture very much like a crystal-vision 
suddenly appears on a wall or even in   
the air with no apparent background4  ,i
 know one or two persons who have had in
 their lives one single round or oval   
hallucinatory picture of this kind1 of  
which no interpretation was apparent1--a
 curious indication of some subliminal  
predisposition towards this somewhat    
elaborate form of message4  ,somewhat   
like ,mr4 ,gottschalk's projection of   
his picture upon a background of dark   

air is the experience of ,mrs4          
,taunton4#aai ,in this case the phantasm
 was perfectly external2 yet it         
certainly did not hold to the real      
objects around the same relation as a   
figure of flesh and blood would have    
held2 it was in a peculiar way          
transparent4 ,gurney regards this       
transparency as indicating imperfect    
externalisation of the hallucinatory    
image4  ,my own phrase1 imperfect       
co-ordination of inner with outward     
vision1 comes to much the same thing1   
and seems specially applicable to ,mrs4 
,taunton's words3 ,the appearance was   
not transparent or filmy1 but perfectly 
solid-looking2 and yet ,i could somehow 
see the orchestra1 not through1 but     
behind it4 ,there are a few cases where 
the percipient seems to see a           
hallucinatory figure behind him1 out of 
the range of optical vision4#abj ,there 
is of course no reason why this should  
not be so1--even if a part of space     
external to the percipient's brain      

should be actually affected4  ,mr4      
,searle's case also is very             
interesting4#aba ,here ,mrs4 ,searle    
faints when visiting a house a few miles
 from ,mr4 ,searle's chambers in the    
,temple4 ,at or about the same time1 he 
sees as though in a looking-glass1 upon 
a window opposite him1 his wife's head  
and face1 white and bloodless4  ,gurney 
suggests that this was a transference   
from ,mrs4 ,searle's mind simply of the 
idea of fainting1 which then worked     
itself out into perception in an        
appropriate fashion4  ,was it thus8 ,or 
did ,mr4 ,searle in the ,temple see with
 inner vision his wife's head as she lay
 back faint and pallid in ,gloucester   
,gardens8 ,our nearest analogy here is  
plainly crystal-vision2 and             
crystal-visions1 as we have observed1   
point both ways4 ,sometimes the picture 
in the crystal is conspicuously         
symbolical2 sometimes it seems a        
transcript of an actual distant scene4  
,there are two further problems which   

occur as we deal with each class of     
cases in turn1--the problem of          
time-relations and the problem of       
spirit-agency4 ,can an incident be said 
to be seen clairvoyantly if it is seen  
some hours after it occurred8 ,ought we 
to say that a scene is clairvoyantly    
visited1 or that it is spiritually      
shown1 if it represents a still chamber 
of death1#abb where no emotion is any   
longer stirring2 but to which the freed 
spirit might desire to attract the      
friend's attention and sympathy8  ,such 
problems cannot at present be solved2   
nor1 as ,i have said1 can any one class 
of these psychical interchanges be      
clearly demarcated from other classes4  
,recognising this1 we must explain the  
central characteristics of each group in
 turn1 and show at what points that     
group appears to merge into the next4   
,and now we come to that class of cases 
where ,b invades ,a1 and ,a perceives   
the invasion2 but ,b retains no memory  
of it in supraliminal life4 ,from one   

point of view1 as will be seen1 this is 
just the reverse of the class last      
discussed--where the invader remembered 
an invasion which the invaded person    
7when there was one7 did not perceive4  
,we have already discussed some cases of
 this sort which seemed to be           
psychorrhagic--to have occurred without 
will or purpose on the part of the      
invader4 ,what we must now do is to     
collect cases where there may probably  
have been some real projection of will  
or desire on the invader's part1 leading
 to the projection of his phantasm in a 
manner recognisable by the distant      
friend whom he thus invades--yet without
 subsequent memory of his own4 ,these   
cases will be intermediate between the  
psychorrhagic cases already described   
and the experimental cases on which we  
shall presently enter4  ,in the case of 
,canon ,warburton--in ,chapter          
,,iv4--the person undergoing the        
accident did recollect having had a     
vivid thought of his brother at the     

moment2--while his brother on the other 
hand was startled from a slight doze by 
the vision of the scene of danger as    
then taking place2--the steep stairs and
 the falling figure4 ,this is an acute  
crisis1 much resembling impending death 
by drowning1 etc42 and the apparition   
may be construed either way--either as a
 scene clairvoyantly discerned by ,canon
 ,warburton1 owing1 as ,i say1 to a     
spasmodic tightening of his psychical   
link with his brother1 or as a sudden   
invasion on that brother's part1 whose  
very rapidity perhaps helped to prevent 
his remembering it4  ,the case given in 
,appendix ,,vi4 ,e is interesting1 both 
evidentially and from its intrinsic     
character4 ,the narrative1 printed in   
,phantasms of the ,living1 on the       
authority of one only of the witnesses  
concerned1 led to the discovery of the  
second witness--whom we had no other    
means of finding--and has been amply    
corroborated by her independent account4
  ,the case stands about midway between 

psychorrhagic cases and intentional     
self-projections1 and is clearly of the 
nature of an invasion1 since the        
phantasm was seen by a stranger as well 
as by the friend1 and seemed to both to 
be moving about the room4 ,the figure1  
that is to say1 was adapted to the      
percipient's environment4  ,cases of    
this general character1 both visual and 
auditory1 occupy a great part of        
,phantasms of the ,living1 and others   
have been frequently quoted in the      
,s4,p4,r4 ,journal during recent        
years4#abc  ,of still greater interest  
is the class which comes next in order  
in my ascending scale of apparent       
intensity2 the cases1 namely1 where     
there is recollection on both sides1 so 
that the experience is reciprocal4#abd  
,these deserve study1 for it is by      
noting under what circumstances these   
spontaneously reciprocal cases occur    
that we have the best chance of learning
 how to produce them experimentally4 ,it
 will be seen that there have been      

various degrees of tension of thought on
 the agent's part4  ,and here comes in a
 small but important group--the group of
 what ,i may call death-compacts        
prematurely fulfilled4 ,we shall see in 
the next chapter that the exchange of a 
solemn promise between two friends to   
appear to one another1 if possible1     
after death is far from being a useless 
piece of sentiment4 ,such posthumous    
appearances1 it is true1 may be in most 
cases impossible1 but nevertheless there
 is real ground to believe that the     
previous tension of the will in that    
direction makes it more likely that the 
longed-for meeting shall be             
accomplished4 ,if so1 this is a kind of 
experiment1 and an experiment which all 
can make4  ,now we have two or three    
cases where this compact has been made1 
and where an apparition has             
followed--but before and not after the  
agent's death--at the moment1 that is to
 say1 of some dangerous accident1 when  
the sufferer was perhaps all but        

drowned1 or was stunned1 or otherwise   
insensible4#abe  ,lastly1 the lessons of
 these spontaneous apparitions have been
 confirmed and widened by actual        
experiment4 ,it is plain that just as we
 are not confined to noting small       
spontaneous telepathic transferences    
when they occur1 but can also endeavour 
to reproduce them by experiment1 so also
 we can endeavour to reproduce          
experimentally these more advanced      
telepathic phenomena of the invasion of 
the presence of the percipient by the   
agent4 ,it is to be hoped1 indeed1 that 
such experiment may become one of the   
most important features of our inquiry4 
,the type of the experiment is somewhat 
as follows4 ,the intending agent        
endeavours by an effort at              
self-concentration1 made either in      
waking hours or just before sleep1 to   
render himself perceptible to a given   
person at a distance1 who1 of course1   
must have no reason to expect a         
phantasmal visit at that hour4          

,independent records must be made on    
each side1 of all attempts made1 and of 
all phantoms seen4 ,the evidential point
 is1 of course1 the coincidence between 
the attempt and the phantom1 whether or 
not the agent can afterwards remember   
his own success4#abf  ,now the          
experimental element here is obviously  
very incomplete4 ,it consists in little 
more than in a concentrated desire to   
produce an effect which one can never   
explain1 and seldom fully remember4 ,i  
have seen no evidence to show that any  
one can claim to be an adept in such    
matters--has learned a method of thus   
appearing at will4#abg ,we are acting in
 the dark4 ,yet nevertheless the mere   
fact that on some few occasions this    
strong desire has actually been followed
 by a result of this extremely          
interesting kind is one of the most     
encouraging phenomena in our whole      
research4 ,the successes indeed have    
borne a higher proportion to the        
failures than ,i should have ventured to

 hope4 ,but nowhere is there more need  
of persistent and careful               
experimentation2--nowhere1 ,i may add1  
have emotions quite alien from          
,science--mere groundless fears of      
seeing anything unusual--interfered with
 more disastrous effect4 ,such fears1   
one hopes1 will pass away1 and the      
friend's visible image will be          
recognised as a welcome proof of the    
link that binds the two spirits         
together4  ,the case which ,i quote in  
,appendix ,,vi4 ,f illustrates both the 
essential harmlessness--nay1            
naturalness--of such an experiment1 and 
the causeless fear which it may engender
 even in rational and serious minds4    
,in these experimental apparitions1     
which form1 as it were1 the spolia opima
 of the collector1 we naturally wish to 
know all that we can about each detail  
in the experience4 ,two important points
 are the amount of effort made by the   
experimenter1 and the degree of his     
consciousness of success4 ,the amount of

 effort in ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,b4's case 7for 
instance7 seems to have been great2 and 
this is encouraging1 since what we want 
is to be assured that the tension of    
will has really some power4 ,it seems to
 act in much the same way as a          
therapeutic suggestion from the         
conscious self2 one can never make sure 
that any given self-suggestion will     
take2 but1 on the whole1 the stronger   
the self-suggestions1 the better the    
result4 ,it is therefore quite in       
accordance with analogy that a          
suggestion from without1 given to a     
hypnotised person1 should be the most   
promising way of inducing these         
self-projections4 ,it should be strongly
 impressed on hypnotised subjects that  
they can and must temporarily leave the 
body1 as they call it1 and manifest     
themselves to distant persons--the      
consent1 of course1 of both parties to  
the experiment having been previously   
secured4  ,of this type were ,dr4       
,backman's experiments with his subject 

,alma1#abh and although that series of  
efforts was prematurely broken off1 it  
was full of promise4 ,there were some   
slight indications that ,alma's         
clairvoyant excursions were sometimes   
perceptible to persons in the scenes    
psychically invaded2 and there was      
considerable and growing evidence to her
 own retention in subsequent memory of  
some details of those distant scenes4   
,by all analogy1 indeed1 that subsequent
 memory should be an eminently educable 
thing4 ,the carrying over of            
recollections from one stratum of       
personality into another--as hypnotic   
experiment shows us--is largely a matter
 of patient suggestion4 ,it would be    
very desirable to hypnotise the person  
who had succeeded in producing an       
experimental apparition1 of ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4
 ,b4's type1 and to see if he could then
 recall the psychical excursion4        
,hypnotic states should be far more     
carefully utilised in connection with   
all these forms of self-projection4  ,in

 these self-projections we have before  
us1 ,i do not say the most useful1 but  
the most extraordinary achievement of   
the human will4 ,what can lie further   
outside any known capacity than the     
power to cause a semblance of oneself to
 appear at a distance8 ,what can be a   
more central action--more manifestly the
 outcome of whatsoever is deepest and   
most unitary in man's whole being8      
,here1 indeed1 begins the justification 
of the conception expressed at the      
beginning of this chapter2--that we     
should now see the subliminal self no   
longer as a mere chain of eddies or     
backwaters1 in some way secluded from   
the main stream of man's being1 but     
rather as itself the central and potent 
current1 the most truly identifiable    
with the man himself4 ,other            
achievements have their manifest limit2 
where is the limit here8 ,the spirit has
 shown itself in part dissociated from  
the organism2 to what point may its     
dissociation go8 ,it has shown some     

independence1 some intelligence1 some   
permanence4 ,to what degree of          
intelligence1 independence1 permanence1 
may it conceivably attain8 ,of all vital
 phenomena1 ,i say1 this is the most    
significant2 this self-projection is the
 one definite act which it seems as     
though a man might perform equally well 
before and after bodily death4          
,,chapter ,,vii  ,,phantasms ,,of ,,the 
,,dead                                  
,greek3 ouketi prhos     ebhatas ela    
kidnu hyper ,hrakleos perhas eumares    
444 thume1 tiua prhos dllodapas         
xkras emos plsou paramelbeai2           
--,,pindar   ,the course of our argument
 has gradually conducted us to a point  
of capital importance4 ,a profound and  
central question1 approached in         
irregular fashion from time to time in  
previous chapters1 must now be directly 
faced4 ,from the actions and perceptions
 of spirits still in the flesh1 and     
concerned with one another1 we must pass
 on to inquire into the actions of      

spirits no longer in the flesh1 and into
 the forms of perception with which men 
still in the flesh respond to that      
unfamiliar and mysterious agency4       
,there need1 ,i hope1 be no real break  
here in my previous line of argument4   
,the subliminal self1 which we have     
already traced through various phases of
 growing sensitivity1 growing           
independence of organic bonds1 will now 
be studied as sensitive to yet remoter  
influences2--as maintaining an          
independent existence even when the     
organism is destroyed4 ,our subject will
 divide itself conveniently under three 
main heads4 ,first1 it will be well to  
discuss briefly the nature of the       
evidence to man's survival of death     
which may theoretically be obtainable1  
and its possible connections with       
evidence set forth in previous chapters4
 ,secondly1--and this must form the bulk
 of the present chapter1--we need a     
classified exposition of the main       
evidence to survival thus far           

obtained2--so far1 that is to say1 as   
sensory automatism--audition or         
apparition--is concerned2 for motor     
automatism--automatic writing and       
trance-utterance--must be left for later
 discussion4 ,thirdly1 there will be    
need of some consideration of the       
meaning of this evidence as a whole1 and
 of its implications alike for the      
scientific and for the ethical future of
 mankind4 ,much more1 indeed1 of        
discussion 7as well as of evidence7 than
 ,i can furnish will be needed before   
this great conception can be realised or
 argued from with the scientific        
thoroughness due to its position among  
fundamental cosmical laws4 ,considering 
how familiar the notion--the vague      
shadowy notion--of immortality has      
always been1 it is strange indeed that  
so little should have been done in these
 modern days to grasp or to criticise   
it2--so little1 one might almost say1   
since the ,phdo of ,plato4  ,beginning1 
then1 with the inquiry as to what kind  

of evidence ought to be demanded for    
human survival1 we are met first by the 
bluff statement which is still often    
uttered even by intelligent men1 that no
 evidence would convince them of such a 
fact2 neither would they be persuaded   
though one rose from the dead4          
,extravagant as such a profession       
sounds1 it has a meaning which we shall 
do well to note4 ,these resolute        
antagonists mean that no new evidence   
can carry conviction to them unless it  
be continuous with old evidence2 and    
that they cannot conceive that evidence 
to a world of spirit can possibly be    
continuous with evidence based upon our 
experience of a world of matter4 ,i     
agree with this demand for continuity2  
and ,i agree also that the claims       
usually advanced for a spiritual world  
have not only made no attempt at        
continuity with known fact1 but have    
even ostentatiously thrown such         
continuity to the winds4 ,the popular   
mind has expressly desired something    

startling1 something outside ,law and   
above ,nature4 ,it has loved1 if not a  
,credo quia absurdum1 at least a ,credo 
quia non probatum4 ,but the inevitable  
retribution is a deep insecurity in the 
conviction thus attained4 ,unsupported  
by the general fabric of knowledge1 the 
act of faith seems to shrink into the   
background as that great fabric stands  
and grows4  ,i can hardly too often     
repeat that my object in these pages is 
of a quite opposite character4          
,believing that all cognisable ,mind is 
as continuous as all cognisable ,matter1
 my ideal would be to attempt for the   
realm of mind what the spectroscope and 
the law of gravitation have effected for
 the realm of matter1 and to carry that 
known cosmic uniformity of substance and
 interaction upwards among the essences 
and operations of an unknown spiritual  
world4 ,and in order to explore these   
unreachable altitudes ,i would not ask  
to stand with the theologian on the     
summit of a cloud-capt tower1 but rather

 on plain earth at the measured base of 
a trigonometrical survey4  ,if we would 
measure such a base1 the jungle must be 
cleared to begin with4 ,let us move for 
a while among first definitions2 trying 
to make clear to ourselves what kind of 
thing it is that we are endeavouring to 
trace or discover4 ,in popular parlance1
 we are looking out for ghosts4 ,what   
connotation1 then1 are we to give to the
 word ghost--a word which has embodied  
so many unfounded theories and causeless
 fears8 ,it would be more satisfactory1 
in the present state of our knowledge1  
simply to collect facts without offering
 speculative comment4 ,but it seems     
safer to begin by briefly pointing out  
the manifest errors of the traditional  
view2 since that tradition1 if left     
unnoticed1 would remain lodged in the   
background even of many minds which have
 never really accepted it4  ,briefly1   
then1 the popular view regards a ghost  
as a deceased person permitted by       
,providence to hold communication with  

survivors4 ,and this short definition   
contains1 ,i think1 at least three      
unwarrantable assumptions4  ,in the     
first place1 such words as permission   
and ,providence are simply neither more 
nor less applicable to this phenomenon  
than to any other4 ,we conceive that all
 phenomena alike take place in          
accordance with the laws of the         
universe1 and consequently by permission
 of the ,supreme ,power in the universe4
 ,undoubtedly the phenomena with which  
we are dealing are in this sense        
permitted to occur4 ,but there is no a  
priori reason whatever for assuming that
 they are permitted in any especial     
sense of their own1 or that they form   
exceptions to law1 instead of being     
exemplifications of law4 ,nor is there  
any a posteriori reason for supposing   
any such inference to be deducible from 
a study of the phenomena themselves4 ,if
 we attempt to find in these phenomena  
any poetical justice or manifest        
adaptation to human cravings1 we shall  

be just as much disappointed as if we   
endeavoured to find a similar           
satisfaction in the ordinary course of  
terrene history4  ,in the second place1 
we have no warrant for the assumption   
that the phantom seen1 even though it be
 somehow caused by a deceased person1 is
 that deceased person1 in any ordinary  
sense of the word4 ,instead of appealing
 to the crude analogy of the living     
friend who1 when he has walked into the 
room1 is in the room1 we shall find for 
the ghost a much closer parallel in     
those hallucinatory figures or phantasms
 which living persons can sometimes     
project at a distance4  ,but experience 
shows that when--as with these          
post-mortem phantoms--the deceased      
person has gone well out of sight or    
reach there is a tendency1 so to say1 to
 anthropomorphose the apparition2 to    
suppose that1 as the deceased person is 
not provably anywhere else1 he is       
probably here2 and that the apparition  
is bound to behave accordingly4 ,all    

such assumptions must be dismissed1 and 
the phantom must be taken on its merits1
 as indicating merely a certain         
connection with the deceased1 the       
precise nature of that connection being 
a part of the problem to be solved4     
,and in the third place1 just as we must
 cease to say that the phantom is the   
deceased1 so also must we cease to      
ascribe to the phantom the motives by   
which we imagine that the deceased might
 be swayed4 ,we must therefore exclude  
from our definition of a ghost any words
 which assume its intention to          
communicate with the living4 ,it may    
bear such a relation to the deceased    
that it can reflect or represent his    
presumed wish to communicate1 or it may 
not4 ,if1 for instance1 its relation to 
his post-mortem life be like the        
relation of my dreams to my earthly     
life1 it may represent little that is   
truly his1 save such vague memories and 
instincts as give a dim individuality to
 each man's trivial dreams4  ,let us    

attempt1 then1 a truer definition4      
,instead of describing a ghost as a dead
 person permitted to communicate with   
the living1 let us define it as a       
manifestation of persistent personal    
energy1 or as an indication that some   
kind of force is being exercised after  
death which is in some way connected    
with a person previously known on earth4
 ,in this definition we have eliminated1
 as will be seen1 a great mass of       
popular assumptions4 ,yet we must       
introduce a further proviso1 lest our   
definition still seem to imply an       
assumption which we have no right to    
make4 ,it is theoretically possible that
 this force or influence1 which after a 
man's death creates a phantasmal        
impression of him1 may indicate no      
continuing action on his part1 but may  
be some residue of the force or energy  
which he generated while yet alive4     
,there may be veridical                 
after-images--such as ,gurney hints at  
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4     

#dag7 when in his comments on the       
recurring figure of an old woman--seen  
on the bed where she was murdered--he   
remarks that this figure suggests not so
 much any continuing local interest on  
the part of the deceased person1 as the 
survival of a mere image1 impressed1 we 
cannot guess how1 on we cannot guess    
what1 by that person's physical         
organism1 and perceptible at times to   
those endowed with some cognate form of 
sensitiveness4  ,strange as this notion 
may seem1 it is strongly suggested by   
many of the cases of haunting which do  
not fall within the scope of the present
 chapter4 ,we shall presently find that 
there is strong evidence for the        
recurrence of the same hallucinatory    
figures in the same localities1 but weak
 evidence to indicate any purpose in    
most of these figures1 or any connection
 with bygone individuals1 or with such  
tragedies as are popularly supposed to  
start a ghost on its career4 ,in some of
 these cases of frequent1 meaningless   

recurrence of a figure in a given spot1 
we are driven to wonder whether it can  
be some deceased person's past          
frequentation of that spot1 rather than 
any fresh action of his after death1    
which has generated what ,i have termed 
the veridical after-image--veridical in 
the sense that it communicates          
information1 previously unknown to the  
percipient1 as to a former inhabitant of
 the haunted locality4  ,such are some  
of the questions which our evidence     
suggests4 ,and ,i may point out that the
 very fact that such bizarre problems   
should present themselves at every turn 
does in a certain sense tend to show    
that these apparitions are not purely   
subjective things1--do not originate    
merely in the percipient's imagination4 
,for they are not like what any man     
would have imagined4 ,what man's mind   
does tend to fancy on such topics may be
 seen in the endless crop of fictitious 
ghost stories1 which furnish1 indeed1 a 
curious proof of the persistence of     

preconceived notions4 ,for they go on   
being framed according to canons of     
their own1 and deal with a set of       
imaginary phenomena quite different from
 those which actually occur4 ,the actual
 phenomena1 ,i may add1 could scarcely  
be made romantic4 ,one true ghost story 
is apt to be very like another1 and most
 of them to be fragmentary and          
apparently meaningless4 ,their meaning1 
that is to say1 lies in their           
conformity1 not to the mythopoeic       
instinct of mankind1 which fabricates   
and enjoys the fictitious tales1 but to 
some unknown law1 not based on human    
sentiment or convenience at all4  ,and  
thus1 absurdly enough1 we sometimes hear
 men ridicule the phenomena which       
actually do happen1 simply because those
 phenomena do not suit their            
preconceived notions of what ghostly    
phenomena ought to be2--not perceiving  
that this very divergence1 this very    
unexpectedness1 is in itself no slight  
indication of an origin outside the     

minds which obviously were so far from  
anticipating anything of the kind4  ,and
 in fact the very qualities which are   
most apt to raise derision are such as  
the evidence set forth in the earlier   
chapters of this work might reasonably  
lead us to expect4 ,for ,i hold that now
 for the first time can we form a       
conception of ghostly communications    
which shall in any way consist or cohere
 with more established conceptions2     
which can be presented as in any way a  
development of facts which are already  
experimentally known4 ,two preliminary  
conceptions were needed--conceptions in 
one sense ancient enough2 but yet the   
first of which has only in this         
generation found its place in science1  
while the second is as yet awaiting its 
brevet of orthodoxy4 ,the first         
conception is that with which hypnotism 
and various automatisms have            
familiarised us1--the conception of     
multiplex personality1 of the potential 
coexistence of many states and many     

memories in the same individual4 ,the   
second is the conception of telepathy2  
of the action of mind on mind apart from
 the ordinary organs of sense2 and      
especially of its action by means of    
hallucinations2 by the generation of    
veridical phantasms which form1 as it   
were1 messages from men still in the    
flesh4 ,and ,i believe that these two   
conceptions are in this way connected1  
that the telepathic message generally   
starts from1 and generally impinges     
upon1 a subconscious or submerged       
stratum in both agent and               
percipient4#abi ,wherever there is      
hallucination1 whether delusive or      
veridical1 ,i hold that a message of    
some sort is forcing its way upwards    
from one stratum of personality to      
another1--a message which may be merely 
dreamlike and incoherent1 or which may  
symbolise a fact otherwise unreachable  
by the percipient personality4 ,and the 
mechanism seems much the same whether   
the message's path be continued within  

one individual or pass between two2     
whether ,a's own submerged self be      
signalling to his emergent self1 or ,b  
be telepathically stimulating the hidden
 fountains of perception in ,a4 ,if     
anything like this be true1 it seems    
plainly needful that all that we know of
 abnormal or supernormal communications 
between minds1 or states of the same    
mind1 still embodied in flesh1 should be
 searched for analogies which may throw 
light on this strangest mode of         
intercourse between embodied and        
disembodied minds4  ,a communication 7if
 such a thing exists7 from a departed   
person to a person still on earth is1 at
 any rate1 a communication from a mind  
in one state of existence to a mind in a
 very different state of existence4 ,and
 it is1 moreover1 a communication from  
one mind to another which passes through
 some channel other than the ordinary   
channels of sense1 since on one side of 
the gulf no material sense-organs exist4
 ,it will apparently be an extreme      

instance of both these classes--of      
communications between state and        
state1#acj and of telepathic            
communications2 and we ought1 therefore1
 to approach it by considering the less 
advanced cases of both these types4  ,on
 what occasions do we commonly find a   
mind conversing with another mind not on
 the same plane with itself8--with a    
mind inhabiting in some sense a         
different world1 and viewing the        
environment with a difference of outlook
 greater than the mere difference of    
character of the two personages will    
account for8  ,the first instance of    
this sort which will occur to us lies in
 spontaneous somnambulism1 or colloquy  
between a person asleep and a person    
awake4 ,and observe here how slight an  
accident allows us to enter into        
converse with a state which at first    
sight seems a type of incommunicable    
isolation4 ,awake1 we share our world1  
runs the old saying1 but each dreamer   
inhabits a world of his own4 ,yet the   

dreamer1 apparently so self-enclosed1   
may be gently led1 or will spontaneously
 enter1 into converse with waking men4  
,the somnambulist1 or rather the        
somniloquist--for it is the talking     
rather than the walking which is the    
gist of the matter--is thus our first   
natural type of the revenant4  ,and     
observing the habits of somnambulists1  
we note that the degree in which they   
can communicate with other minds varies 
greatly in different cases4 ,one        
sleep-waker will go about his customary 
avocations without recognising the      
presence of any other person whatever2  
another will recognise certain persons  
only1 or will answer when addressed1 but
 only on certain subjects1 his mind     
coming into contact with other minds    
only on a very few points4 ,rarely or   
never will a somnambulist spontaneously 
notice what other persons are doing1 and
 adapt his own actions thereto4  ,next  
let us turn from natural to induced     
sleep-waking1 from idiopathic           

somnambulism to the hypnotic trance4    
,here1 too1 throughout the different    
stages of the trance1 we find a varying 
and partial 7or elective7 power of      
communication4 ,sometimes the entranced 
subject makes no sign whatever2         
sometimes he seems able to hear and     
answer one person1 or certain persons1  
and not others2 sometimes he will talk  
freely to all2 but1 however freely he   
may talk1 he is not exactly his waking  
self1 and as a rule he has no           
recollection1 or a very imperfect       
recollection1 in waking life of what he 
has said or done in his trance4         
,judging1 then1 from such analogy as    
communications from one living state to 
another can suggest to us1 we shall     
expect that the communication of a      
disembodied or discarnate person with an
 incarnate1 if such exist1 will be      
subject to narrow limitations1 and very 
possibly will not form a part of the    
main current of the supposed discarnate 
consciousness4  ,these preliminary      

considerations are applicable to any    
kind of alleged communication from the  
departed--whether well or ill evidenced2
 whether conveyed in sensory or in motor
 form4  ,let us next consider what types
 of communication from the dead our     
existing evidence of communications     
among the living suggests to us as      
analogically possible4 ,it appears to me
 that there is an important parallelism 
running through each class of our       
experiments in automatism and each class
 of our spontaneous phenomena4 ,roughly 
speaking1 we may say that our experiment
 and observation up to this point have  
comprised five different stages of      
phenomena1 viz41 7,i47 hypnotic         
suggestion2 7,,ii47 telepathic          
experiments2 7,,iii47 spontaneous       
telepathy during life2 7,,iv47 phantasms
 at death2 7,v47 phantasms after death4 
,and we find1 ,i think1 that the same   
types of communication meet us at each  
stage2 so that this recurrent similarity
 of types raises a presumption that the 

underlying mechanism of manifestation at
 each stage may be in some way similar4 
,again using a mere rough form of       
division1 we shall find three main forms
 of manifestation at each stage3 7#a7   
hallucinations of the senses2 7#b7      
emotional and motor impulses2 7#c7      
definite intellectual messages4  7,i47  
,and first let us start from a class of 
experiments into which telepathy does   
not enter1 but which exhibit in its     
simplest form the mechanism of the      
automatic transfer of messages from one 
stratum to another of the same          
personality4 ,i speak1 of course1 of    
post-hypnotic suggestions4 ,here the    
agent is a living man1 operating in an  
ordinary way1 by direct speech4 ,the    
unusual feature lies in the condition of
 the percipient1 who is hypnotised at   
the time1 and is thus undergoing a kind 
of dislocation of personality1 or       
temporary upheaval of a habitually      
subjacent stratum of the self4 ,this    
hypnotic personality1 being for the time

 at the surface1 receives the agent's   
verbal suggestion1 of which the         
percipient's waking self is unaware4    
,then afterwards1 when the waking self  
has resumed its usual upper position1   
the hypnotic self carries out at the    
stated time the given suggestion1--an   
act whose origin the upper stratum of   
consciousness does not know1 but which  
is in effect a message communicated to  
the upper stratum from the now submerged
 or subconscious stratum on which the   
suggestion was originally impressed4    
,and this message may take any one of   
the three leading forms mentioned       
above2--say a hallucinatory image of the
 hypnotiser or of some other person2 or 
an impulse to perform some action2 or a 
definite word or sentence to be written 
automatically by the waking self1 which 
thus learns what order has been laid    
upon the hypnotic self while the waking 
consciousness was in abeyance4  7,,ii47 
,now turn to our experiments in         
thought-transference4 ,here again the   

agent is a living man2 but he is no     
longer operating by ordinary means1--by 
spoken words or visible gestures4 ,he is
 operating on the percipient's          
subconscious self by means of a         
telepathic impulse1 which he desires1   
indeed1 to project from himself1 and    
which the percipient may desire to      
receive1 but of whose modus operandi the
 ordinary waking selves of agent and    
percipient alike are entirely unaware4  
,here again we may divide the messages  
sent into the same three main classes4  
,first come the hallucinatory           
figures--always or almost always of     
himself--which the agent causes the     
percipient to see4 ,secondly come       
impulses to act1 telepathically         
impressed2 as when the hypnotiser       
desires his subject to come to him at an
 hour not previously notified4 ,and     
thirdly1 we have a parallel to the      
post-hypnotic writing of definite words 
or figures in our own experiments on the
 direct telepathic transmission of      

words1 figures1 cards1 etc41 from the   
agent1 using no normal means of         
communication1 to the percipient1 either
 in the hypnotised or in the waking     
state4  7,,iii47 ,we come next to the   
spontaneous phantasms occurring during  
life4 ,here we find the same three broad
 classes of messages1 with this         
difference1 that the actual apparitions1
 which in our telepathic experimentation
 are thus far unfortunately rare1 become
 now the most important class4 ,i need  
not recall the instances given in       
,chapters ,,iv4 and ,,vi41 etc41 where  
an agent undergoing some sudden crisis  
seems in some way to generate an        
apparition of himself seen by a distant 
percipient4 ,important also in this     
connection are those apparitions of the 
double1 where some one agent is seen    
repeatedly in phantasmal form by        
different percipients at times when that
 agent is undergoing no special crisis4 
,again1 among our telepathic impressions
 generated 7spontaneously1 not          

experimentally7 by living agents1 we    
have cases1 which ,i need not here      
recapitulate1 of pervading sensations of
 distress2 or impulses to return home1  
which are parallel to the hypnotised    
subject's impulse to approach his       
distant hypnotiser1 at a moment when    
that hypnotiser is willing him to do so4
  ,and thirdly1 among these telepathic  
communications from the living to the   
living1 we have definite sentences      
automatically written1 communicating    
facts which the distant person knows1   
but is not consciously endeavouring to  
transmit4  7,,iv47 ,passing on to       
phantasms which cluster about the moment
 of death1 we find our three main       
classes of cases still meeting us4 ,our 
readers are familiar with the visual    
cases1 where there is an actual         
apparition of the dying man1 seen by one
 or more persons2 and also with the     
emotional and motor cases1 where the    
impression1 although powerful1 is not   
definitely sensory in character4 ,and   

various cases also have been published  
where the message has consisted of      
definite words1 not always externalised 
as an auditory hallucination1 but       
sometimes automatically uttered or      
automatically written by the percipient 
himself1 as in the case communicated by 
,dr4 ,libeault 7see ,appendix ,,viii4   
,c71 where a girl writes the message    
announcing her friend's death at the    
time when that friend is1 in fact1 dying
 in a distant city4  7,v47 ,and now ,i  
maintain that in these post-mortem cases
 also we find the same general classes  
persisting1 and in somewhat the same    
proportion4 ,most conspicuous are the   
actual apparitions1 with which1 indeed1 
the following pages will mainly deal4   
,it is very rare to find an apparition  
which seems to impart any verbal        
message2 but a case of this kind has    
been given in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,f4 ,as a 
rule1 however1 the apparition is of the 
apparently automatic1 purposeless       
character1 already so fully described4  

,we have also the emotional and motor   
class of post-mortem cases2#aca and     
these may1 perhaps1 be more numerous in 
proportion than our collection would    
indicate2 for it is obvious that        
impressions which are so much less      
definite than a visual hallucination    
7although they may be even more         
impressive to the percipient himself7   
can rarely be used as evidence of       
communication with the departed4  ,but  
now ,i wish to point out that1 besides  
these two classes of post-mortem        
manifestations1 we have our third class 
also still persisting2 we have definite 
verbal messages which at least purport1 
and sometimes1 ,i think1 with strong    
probability1 to come from the departed4 
,i have1 indeed1 for the reader's       
convenience1 postponed these motor cases
 to a subsequent chapter1 so that the   
evidence here and now presented for     
survival will be very incomplete4 ,yet1 
at any rate1 we are gradually getting   
before us a fairly definite task4 ,we   

have in this chapter to record and      
analyse such sensory experiences of     
living men as seem referable to the     
action of some human individuality      
persisting after death4 ,we have also   
obtained some preliminary notion as to  
the kind of phenomena for which we can  
hope1 especially as to what their       
probable limitations must be1           
considering how great a gulf between    
psychical states any communication must 
overpass4  ,let us now press the actual 
evidential question somewhat closer4    
,let us consider1 for it is by no means 
evident at first sight1 what conditions 
a visual or auditory phantasm is bound  
to fulfil before it can be regarded as  
indicating prim facie the influence of a
 discarnate mind4 ,the discussion may be
 best introduced by quoting the words in
 which ,edmund ,gurney opened it in     
#ahhh4acb ,the main evidential lines as 
there laid down retain their validity1  
although the years which have since     
passed have greatly augmented the       

testimony1 and in so doing have         
illustrated yet other tests of true     
post-mortem communication1--to which we 
shall presently come4       ,it is      
evident that in alleged cases of        
apparitions of the dead1      the point 
which we have held to distinguish       
certain apparitions of      living      
persons from purely subjective          
hallucinations is      necessarily      
lacking4 ,that point is coincidence     
between the      apparition and some    
critical or exceptional condition of the
 person      who seems to appear2 but   
with regard to the dead1 we have no     
independent knowledge of their          
condition1 and therefore never have     
the opportunity of observing any such   
coincidences4       ,there remain three1
 and ,i think only three1 conditions    
which might      establish a presumption
 that an apparition or other immediate  
manifestation of a dead person is       
something more than a mere              
subjective hallucination of the         

percipient's senses4 ,either 7#a7       
more persons than one might be          
independently affected by the           
phenomenon2 or 7#b7 the phantasm might  
convey information1      afterwards     
discovered to be true1 of something     
which the percipient      had never     
known2 or 7#c7 the appearance might be  
that of a person      whom the          
percipient himself had never seen1 and  
of whose aspect he      was ignorant1   
and yet his description of it might be  
sufficiently      definite for          
identification4 ,but though one or more 
of these      conditions would have to  
be fully satisfied before we could be   
convinced that any particular apparition
 of the dead had some cause             
external to the percipient's own mind1  
there is one more general               
characteristic of the class which is    
sufficiently suggestive of      such a  
cause to be worth considering4 ,i mean  
the disproportionate      number of     
cases which occur shortly after the     

death of the person      represented4   
,such a time-relation1 if frequently    
enough      encountered1 might enable us
 to argue for the objective origin of   
the phenomenon in a manner analogous to 
that which leads us to      conclude    
that many phantasms of the living have  
an objective 7a      telepathic7 origin4
 ,for1 according to the doctrines of    
probabilities1 a hallucination          
representing a known person would       
not by chance present a definite        
time-relation to a special      cognate 
event--viz41 the death of that          
person--in more than a      certain     
percentage of the whole number of       
similar hallucinations      that occur2 
and if that percentage is decidedly     
exceeded1 there is      reason to       
surmise that some other cause than      
chance--in other      words1 some       
objective origin for the phantasm--is   
present4  ,but on the other hand1 a     
phantasm representing a person whose    
death is recent is specially likely to  

arouse interest and1 in cases where the 
death is previously known to the        
percipient1 his emotional state may be  
considered a sufficient cause of the    
hallucination4       ,if1 then1 ,gurney 
continues1 we are to draw any probable  
conclusion as to the objective nature of
 post-mortem appearances      and       
communications 7or of some of them7 from
 the fact of their      special         
frequency soon after death1 we must     
confine ourselves to      cases where   
the fact of death has been unknown to   
the percipient at      the time of his  
experience4 ,now1 in these days of      
letters and      telegrams1 people for  
the most part hear of the deaths of     
friends      and relatives within a very
 few days1 sometimes within a very few  
hours1 after the death occurs2 so that  
appearances of the sort      required   
would1 as a rule1 have to follow very   
closely indeed on      the death4 ,have 
we evidence of any considerable number  
of such      cases8       ,readers of   

,phantasms of the ,living will know that
 we have4 ,in a      number of cases    
which were treated in that book as      
examples of      telepathic transference
 from a dying person1 the person was    
actually dead at the time that the      
percipient's experience      occurred2  
and the inclusion of such cases under   
the title of      ,phantasms of the     
,living naturally occasioned a certain  
amount of      adverse criticism4 ,their
 inclusion1 it will be remembered1      
required      an assumption which cannot
 by any means be regarded as certain4   
,we      had to suppose that the        
telepathic transfer took place just     
before1      or exactly at1 the moment  
of death2 but that the impression       
remained latent in the percipient's     
mind1 and only after an      interval   
emerged into his consciousness1 whether 
as waking vision      or as dream or in 
some other form4 ,now1 as a provisional 
hypothesis1 ,i think that this          
assumption was justified4 ,for in the   

first place1 the moment of death is1 in 
time1 the central point of      a       
cluster of abnormal experiences         
occurring to percipients at a           
distance1 of which some precede1 while  
others follow1 the death2      it is    
natural1 therefore1 to surmise that the 
same explanation will      cover the    
whole group1 and that the motive force  
in each of its      divisions lies in a 
state of the 'agent' prior to bodily    
death4 ,in      the second place1 some  
of the facts of experimental            
thought-transference countenance the    
view that 'transferred      impressions'
 may be latent for a time before the    
recipient becomes      aware of them2   
and recent discoveries with respect to  
the whole      subject of automatism and
 'secondary intelligence' make it seem  
far      less improbable than it would  
otherwise have seemed that telepathy    
may take effect first on the            
'unconscious' part of the mind4#acc     
,and in the third place1 the period of  

supposed latency has in a      good many
 instances been a period when the person
 affected was in      activity1 and when
 his mind and senses were being         
solicited by      other things2 and in  
such cases it is specially easy to      
suppose      that the telepathic        
impression did not get the right        
conditions for      rising into         
consciousness until a season of silence 
and      recueillement arrived4#acd ,but
 though the theory of latency has       
thus a good deal to be said for it1 my  
colleagues and ,i are most      anxious 
not to be supposed to be putting forward
 as a dogma what      must be regarded  
at present merely as a working          
hypothesis4      ,psychical research is 
of all subjects the one where it is most
      important to avoid this error1 and
 to keep the mind open for new          
interpretations of the facts4 ,and in   
the present instance there are          
certain definite objections which may   
fairly be made to the      hypothesis   

that a telepathic impression derived    
from a dying person      may emerge     
after hours of latency4 ,the            
experimental cases to which      ,i have
 referred as analogous are few and      
uncertain1 and1 moreover1      in them  
the period of latency has been measured 
by seconds or      minutes1 not by      
hours4 ,and though1 as ,i have said1    
some of the      instances of apparent  
delay among the death-cases might be    
accounted for by the fact that the      
percipient's mind or senses      needed 
to be withdrawn from other occupations  
before the      manifestation could take
 place1 there are other instances where 
this is not so1 and where no ground at  
all appears for connecting      the     
delay with the percipient's condition4  
,on the whole1 then1 the                
alternative hypothesis--that the        
condition of the phenomenon on the      
'agent's' side 7be it psychical or be it
 physical7 is one which      only comes 
into existence at a distinct interval   

after death1 and      that the          
percipient really is impressed at the   
moment1 and not      before the moment1 
when he is conscious of the             
impression--is one      which must be   
steadily kept in view4       ,so far ,i 
have been speaking of cases where the   
interval between      the death and the 
manifestation was so short as to make   
the theory      of latency possible4    
,the rule adopted in ,phantasms of the  
,living      was that this interval must
 not exceed twelve hours4 ,but we have  
records of a few cases where this       
interval has been greatly      exceeded1
 and yet where the fact of the death was
 still unknown to      the percipient at
 the time of his experience4 ,the theory
 of latency      cannot reasonably be   
applied to cases where weeks or months  
divide      the vision 7or whatever it  
may be7 from the moment of death1 which 
is the latest at which an ordinary#ace  
telepathically transferred      idea    
could have obtained access to the       

percipient4 ,and the      existence of  
such cases--so far as it tends to       
establish the      reality of           
objectively-caused apparitions of the   
dead--diminishes      the objection to  
conceiving that the appearances1 etc41  
which have      very shortly followed   
death have had a different causation    
from      those which have coincided    
with or very shortly preceded it4 ,for  
we shall not be inventing a wholly new  
class for the former cases1      but    
only provisionally shifting them from   
one class to another--to      a much    
smaller and much less well-evidenced    
class1 it is true1 but      one         
nevertheless for which we have evidence 
enough to justify us in      expecting  
more4  ,this1 as ,i conceive1 is a sound
 method of proceeding from ground made  
secure in ,phantasms of the ,living--and
 traversed in my own just previous      
chapter--to cases closely analogous1    
save for that little difference in      
time-relations1 that occurrence in the  

hours which follow1 instead of the hours
 which precede1 bodily dissolution1     
which counts for so much in our insight 
into cosmic law4#acf  ,the hypothesis of
 latency which thus meets us in limine  
in this inquiry will soon be found      
inadequate to cover the facts4 ,yet it  
will be well to dwell somewhat more     
fully upon its possible range4  ,if we  
examine the proportionate number of     
apparitions observed at various periods 
before and after death1 we find that    
they increase very rapidly for the few  
hours which precede death1 and decrease 
gradually during the hours and days     
which follow1 until after about a year's
 time they become merely sporadic4  ,yet
 one more point must be touched on1 to  
avoid misconception of the phrase cited 
above1 that the moment of death is the  
centre of a cluster of abnormal         
experiences1 of which some precede1     
while others follow1 the death4 ,gurney1
 of course1 did not mean to assume that 
the act of death itself was the cause of

 all these experiences4 ,those which    
occur before death may be caused or     
conditioned1 not by the death itself1   
but by the abnormal state1 as of coma1  
delirium1 etc41 which preceded the      
death4 ,this we say because we have many
 instances where veridical phantasms    
have coincided with moments of          
crisis--carriage-accidents and the      
like--occurring to distant agents1 but  
not followed by death4 ,accordingly we  
find that in almost all cases where a   
phantasm1 apparently veridical1 has     
preceded the agent's death1 that death  
was the result of disease and not of    
accident4 ,to this rule there are very  
few exceptions4 ,there is a case given  
in ,phantasms of the ,living 7vol4 ii4  
p4 #eb71 where the phantasm seems on the
 evidence to have preceded by about half
 an hour 7longitude allowed for7 a      
sudden death by drowning4 ,in this case 
the percipient was in a ,norfolk        
farmhouse1 the drowning man--or         
agent--was in a storm off the island of 

,tristan d',acunha2 and we have         
suggested that an error of clocks or of 
observation may account for the         
discrepancy4 ,in another case the death 
was in a sense a violent one1 for it was
 a suicide2 but the morbidly excited    
state of the girl a few hours before    
death--when her phantasm was seen--was  
in itself a state of crisis4 ,but there 
are also a few recorded cases 7none of  
which were cited in ,phantasms of the   
,living7 where a phantasm or double of  
some person has been observed some days 
previous to that person's accidental    
death4 ,the evidence obtained in the    
,census of ,hallucinations1 however1    
tended to show that cases of this sort  
are too few to suggest even prim facie a
 causal connection between the death and
 the apparition 7see ,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r4 vol4 x4 p4 #cca74  ,i now     
proceed briefly to review some of the   
cases where the interval between death  
and phantasm has been measurable by     
minutes or hours4  ,it is not easy to   

get definite cases where the interval   
has been measurable by minutes2 for if  
the percipient is at a distance from the
 agent we can seldom be sure that the   
clocks at both places have been correct1
 and correctly observed2 while if he is 
present with the agent we can rarely be 
sure that the phantasm observed is more 
than a mere subjective hallucination4   
,thus we have several accounts of a     
rushing sound heard by the watcher of a 
dying man just after his apparent death1
 or of some kind of luminosity observed 
near his person2 but this is just the   
moment when we may suppose some         
subjective hallucination likely to      
occur1 and if one person's senses alone 
are affected we cannot allow much       
evidential weight to the occurrence4#acg
  ,there are some circumstances1        
however1 in which1 in spite of the fact 
that the death is already known1 a      
hallucination occurring shortly         
afterwards may have some slight         
evidential value4 ,thus we have a case  

where a lady who knew that her sister   
had died a few hours previously1 but who
 was not herself in any morbidly excited
 condition1 seemed to see some one enter
 her own dining-room1 opening and       
shutting the door4 ,the percipient 7who 
had never had any other hallucination7  
was much astonished when she found no   
one in the dining-room2 but it did not  
till some time afterwards occur to her  
that the incident could be in any way   
connected with her recent loss4 ,this   
reminds us of a case 7ii4 p4 #fidach7   
where the ,rev4 ,r4 ,m4 ,hill sees a    
tall figure rush into the room1 which   
alarms and surprises him1 then vanishes 
before he has time to recognise it4 ,an 
uncle1 a tall man1 dies about that      
moment1 and it is remarked that although
 ,mr4 ,hill knew his uncle to be ill1   
the anxiety which he may have felt would
 hardly have given rise to an           
unrecognised and formidable apparition4 
,there are cases also where a percipient
 who has had an apparition of a friend  

shortly after that friend's known death 
has had veridical hallucinations at     
other times1 and has never had any      
hallucination of purely subjective      
origin4 ,such a percipient may naturally
 suppose that his apparition of the     
departed friend possessed the same      
veridical character which was common to 
the rest1 although it was not per se    
evidential1 since the fact of the death 
was already known4  ,for the present1   
however1 it will be better to return to 
the cases which are free from this      
important prim facie drawback--cases    
where the percipient was1 at any rate1  
unaware that the death1 which the       
phantasm seemed to indicate1 had in fact
 taken place4  ,in the first place1     
there are a few cases where a percipient
 is informed of a death by a veridical  
phantasm1 and then some hours afterwards
 a similar phantasm differing perhaps in
 detail1 recurs4  ,such was the case of 
,archdeacon ,farler 7i4 p4 #dad71 who   
twice during one night saw the dripping 

figure of a friend who1 as it turned    
out1 had been drowned during the        
previous day4 ,even the first appearance
 was several hours after the death1 but 
this we might explain by the latency of 
the impression till a season of quiet4  
,the second appearance may have been a  
kind of recrudescence of the first2 but 
if the theory of latency be discarded1  
so that the first appearance 7if more   
than a mere chance coincidence7 is held 
to depend upon some energy excited by   
the deceased person after death1 it     
would afford some ground for regarding  
the second appearance as also veridical4
 ,the figure in this case was once more 
seen a fortnight later1 and on this     
occasion1 as ,archdeacon ,farler informs
 me1 in ordinary garb1 with no special  
trace of accident4  ,a similar          
repetition occurs in seven other cases  
recorded in ,phantasms of the           
,living4#aci  ,turning now to the cases 
where the phantasm is not repeated1 but 
occurs some hours after death1 let us   

take a few narratives where the interval
 of time is pretty certain1 and consider
 how far the hypothesis of latency looks
 probable in each instance4  ,where     
there is no actual hallucination1 but   
only a feeling of unique malaise or     
distress following at a few hours'      
interval on a friend's death at a       
distance1 as in ,archdeacon ,wilson's   
case 7i4 p4 #bhj71 it is very hard to   
picture to ourselves what has taken     
place4 ,some injurious shock            
communicated to the percipient's brain  
at the moment of the agent's death may  
conceivably have slowly worked itself   
into consciousness4 ,the delay may have 
been due1 so to say1 to physiological   
rather than to psychical causes4  ,next 
take a case like that of ,mrs4          
,wheatcroft 7i4 p4 #dbj71 or of ,mrs4   
,evens 7ii4 p4 #fij71 or ,sister ,bertha
 7quoted below in ,appendix ,,vii4 ,f71 
where a definite hallucination of sight 
or sound occurs some hours after the    
death1 but in the middle of the night4  

,it is in a case of this sort that we   
can most readily suppose that a         
telepathic impact received during the   
day has lain dormant until other        
excitations were hushed1 and has        
externalised itself as a hallucination  
after the first sleep1 just as when we  
wake from a first sleep some subject of 
interest or anxiety1 which has been     
thrust out of our thoughts during the   
day1 will often well upwards into       
consciousness with quite a new          
distinctness and force4 ,but on the     
other hand1 in the case 7for instance7  
of ,mrs4 ,teale 7ii4 p4 #fic71 there is 
a deferment of some eight hours1 and    
then the hallucination occurs while the 
percipient is sitting wide awake in the 
middle of her family4 ,and in one of the
 most remarkable dream-cases in our     
collection 7given in ,chapter ,,iv471   
,mrs4 ,storie's experience does not     
resemble the mere emergence of a latent 
impression4 ,it is long and complex1 and
 suggests some sort of clairvoyance2 but

 if it be telepathic clairvoyance1 that 
is1 a picture transferred from the      
decedent's mind1 then it almost requires
 us to suppose that a post-mortem       
picture was thus transferred1 a view of 
the accident and its consequences fuller
 than any which could have flashed      
through the dying man's mind during his 
moment of sudden and violent death from 
the striking off of the top of the skull
 by a railway train4  ,if once we assume
 that the deceased person's mind could  
continue to act on living persons after 
his bodily death1 then the confused     
horror of the series of pictures which  
were presented to ,mrs4 ,storie's       
view--mixed1 it should be said1 with an 
element of fresh departure which there  
was nothing in the accident itself to   
suggest--would correspond well enough to
 what one can imagine a man's feelings a
 few hours after such a death to be4    
,this is trespassing1 no doubt1 on      
hazardous ground2 but if once we admit  
communication from the other side of    

death as a working hypothesis1 we must  
allow ourselves to imagine something as 
to the attitude of the communicating    
mind1 and the least violent supposition 
will be that that mind is still in part 
at least occupied with the same thoughts
 which last occupied it on earth4 ,it is
 possible that there may be some        
interpretation of this kind for some of 
the cases where a funeral scene1 or a   
dead body1 is what the phantasm         
presents4 ,there is a remarkable case   
7i4 p4 #bfe7  #ffd where a lady sees the
 body of a well-known ,london           
physician--about ten hours after        
death--lying in a bare unfurnished room 
7a cottage hospital abroad74 ,here the  
description1 as we have it1 would       
certainly fit best with some kind of    
telepathic clairvoyance prolonged after 
death--some power on the deceased       
person's part to cause the percipient to
 share the picture which might at that  
moment be occupying his own mind4  ,it  
will be seen that these phenomena are   

not of so simple a type as to admit of  
our considering them from the point of  
view of time-relations alone4 ,whatever 
else1 indeed1 a ghost may be1 it is     
probably one of the most complex        
phenomena in nature4 ,it is a function  
of two unknown variables--the incarnate 
spirit's sensitivity and the discarnate 
spirit's capacity of self-manifestation4
 ,our attempt1 therefore1 to study such 
intercourse may begin at either end of  
the communication--with the percipient  
or with the agent4 ,we shall have to    
ask1 ,how does the incarnate mind       
receive the message8 and we shall have  
to ask also1 ,how does the discarnate   
mind originate and convey it8  ,now it  
is by pressing the former of these two  
questions that we have1 ,i think1 the   
best chance at present of gaining fresh 
light4 ,so long as we are considering   
the incarnate mind we are1 to some      
extent at least1 on known ground2 and we
 may hope to discern analogies in some  
other among that mind's operations to   

that possibly most perplexing of all its
 operations1 which consists in taking   
cognisance of messages from unembodied  
minds1 and from an unseen world4 ,i     
think1 therefore1 that the surest way1  
though most about1 as ,bacon would say1 
to the comprehension of this sudden and 
startling phenomenon lies in the study  
of other rare mental phenomena which can
 be observed more at leisure1 just as   
the surest way1 though most about1 to   
the comprehension of some blazing       
inaccessible star has lain in the       
patient study of the spectra of the     
incandescence of terrestrial substances 
which lie about our feet4 ,i am in hopes
 that by the study of various forms of  
subliminal consciousness1 subliminal    
faculty1 subliminal perception1 we may  
ultimately obtain a conception of our   
own total being and operation which may 
show us the incarnate mind's perception 
of the discarnate mind's message as no  
isolated anomaly1 but an orderly        
exercise of natural and innate powers1  

frequently observed in action in        
somewhat similar ways4  ,it is1 ,i say1 
from this human or terrene side that ,i 
should prefer1 were it possible1 to     
study in the first instance all our     
cases4 ,could we not only share but     
interpret the percipient's subjective   
feelings1 could we compare those        
feelings with the feelings evoked by    
ordinary vision or telepathy among      
living men1 we might get at a more      
intimate knowledge of what is happening 
than any observation from outside of the
 details of an apparition can supply4   
,but this1 of course1 is not possible in
 any systematic way2 occasional         
glimpses1 inferences1 comparisons1 are  
all that we can attain to as yet4 ,on   
the other hand1 it is comparatively easy
 to arrange the whole group of our cases
 in some series depending on their      
observed external character and details4
 ,they can1 indeed1 be arranged in more 
than one series of this kind--the       
difficulty is in selecting the most     

instructive4 ,that which ,i shall here  
select is in some points arbitrary1 but 
it has the advantage of bringing out the
 wide range of variation in the         
clearness and content of these          
apparitional communications1 here       
arranged mainly in a descending series1 
beginning with those cases where fullest
 knowledge or purpose is shown1 and     
ending with those where the indication  
of intelligence becomes feeblest1 dying 
away at last into vague sounds and      
sights without recognisable             
significance4  ,but ,i shall begin by   
referring to a small group of cases1#adj
 which ,i admit to be anomalous and     
non-evidential--for we cannot prove that
 they were more than subjective         
experiences--yet which certainly should 
not be lost1 filling as they do1 in all 
their grotesqueness1 a niche in our     
series otherwise as yet vacant4 ,if     
man's spirit is separated at death from 
his organism1 there must needs be cases 
where that separation1 although         

apparently1 is not really complete4     
,there must be subjective sensations    
corresponding to the objective external 
facts of apparent death and subsequent  
resuscitation4 ,nor need it surprise    
those who may have followed my general  
argument1 if those subjective sensations
 should prove to be dreamlike and       
fantastic4 ,here1 as so often in our    
inquiries1 the very oddity and          
unexpectedness of the details--the      
absence of that solemnity which one     
would think the dying man's own mind    
would have infused into the             
occasion--may point to the existence of 
some reality beneath the grotesque      
symbolism of the transitional dream4    
,the transitional dream1 ,i call it1 for
 it seems to me not improbable--remote  
though such a view may be from current  
notions--that the passage from one state
 to another may sometimes be accompanied
 with some temporary lack of adjustment 
between experiences taking place in such
 different environments--between the    

systems of symbolism belonging to the   
one and to the other state4 ,but the    
reason why ,i refer to the cases in this
 place is that here we have perhaps our 
nearest possible approach to the        
sensations of the spirit which is       
endeavouring to manifest itself2--an    
inside view of a would-be apparition4   
,the narratives suggest1 moreover1 that 
spirits recently freed from the body may
 enjoy a fuller perception of earthly   
scenes than it is afterwards possible to
 retain1 and that thus the predominance 
of apparitions of the recently dead may 
be to some extent explained4  ,we have1 
indeed1 very few cases where actual     
apparitions give evidence of any        
continuity in the knowledge possessed by
 a spirit of friends on earth4 ,such    
evidence is1 naturally enough1 more     
often furnished by automatic script or  
utterance4 ,but there is one case 7which
 ,i give in ,appendix ,,vii4 ,a7 where a
 spirit is recorded as appearing        
repeatedly--in guardian-angel           

fashion--and especially as foreseeing   
and sympathising with the survivor's    
future marriage4  ,among repeated       
apparitions this case at present stands 
almost alone2 its parallels will be     
found when we come to deal with the     
persistent controls1 or alleged         
communicating spirits1 which influence  
trance-utterance or automatic script4 ,a
 case bearing some resemblance to it1   
however1 is given in ,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #bcc1 the main 
difference being that the repeated      
communications are there made in dream1 
and in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4  
p4 #dej1 #gad ,a1 is recorded another   
case1 where the deceased person seems to
 make repeated efforts to impress on    
survivors a wish prompted by continued  
affection4  ,less uncommon are the cases
 where an apparition1 occurring singly  
and not repeated1 indicates a continued 
knowledge of the affairs of earth4 ,that
 knowledge1 indeed1 runs mainly1 as we  
shall presently see1 in two directions4 

,there is often knowledge of some       
circumstance connected with the deceased
 person's own death1 as the appearance  
of his body after dissolution1 or the   
place of its temporary deposit or final 
burial4 ,and there is often knowledge of
 the impending or actual death of some  
friend of the deceased person's4 ,on the
 view here taken of the gradual passage 
from the one environment into the other1
 both these kinds of knowledge seem     
probable enough4 ,i think it likely that
 some part of the consciousness after   
death may for some time be dreamily     
occupied with the physical scene4 ,and  
similarly1 when some surviving friend is
 gradually verging towards the same     
dissolution1 the fact may be readily    
perceptible in the spiritual world4     
,when the friend has actually died1 the 
knowledge which his predecessor may have
 of his transition is knowledge         
appertaining to events of the next world
 as much as of this4  ,but apart from   
this information1 acquired perhaps on   

the borderland between two states1      
apparitions do sometimes imply a        
perception of more definitely terrene   
events1 such as the moral crises 7as    
marriage1 grave quarrels1 or impending  
crimes7 of friends left behind on earth4
 ,in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4
 #be #gaf ,a1 is a case of impressive   
warning1 in which the phantom was seen  
by two persons1 one of whom had already 
had a less evidential experience4  ,in  
another case of similar type1#ada the   
message1 while felt by the percipient to
 be convincing and satisfactory1 was    
held too private to be communicated in  
detail4 ,it is plain that just in the   
cases where the message is most         
ultimately veracious1 the greatest      
difficulty is likely to be felt as to   
making it known to strangers4  ,i have  
already given a case 7,appendix ,,vii4  
,a7 where a departed spirit seems to    
show a sympathetic anticipation of a    
marriage some time before it is         
contemplated4 ,in another case 7,journal

 ,s4,p4,r41 vol v4 p4 #aj71 the         
percipient1 ,mrs4 ,v41 describes a      
vision of a mother's form suspended1 as 
it were1 in a church where her son is   
undergoing the rite of confirmation4    
,that vision1 indeed1 might have been   
purely subjective1 as ,mrs4 ,v4 was     
familiar with the departed mother's     
aspect2 though value is given to it by  
the fact that ,mrs4 ,v4 has had other   
experiences which included evidential   
coincidences4  ,from these instances of 
knowledge shown by the departed of      
events which seem wholly terrene1 ,i    
pass to knowledge of events which seem  
in some sense more nearly concerned with
 the spirit-world4 ,we have1 as already 
hinted1 a considerable group of cases   
where a spirit seems to be aware of the 
impending death of a survivor4#adb ,in  
some few of those cases the             
foreknowledge is entirely inexplicable  
by any such foresight as we mortals can 
imagine1 but in the case given in       
,appendix ,,vii4 ,b1 though the family  

did not foresee the death1 a physician  
might1 for aught we know1 have been able
 to anticipate it4 ,however explained1  
the case is one of the best-attested1   
and in itself one of the most           
remarkable1 that we possess4  ,i place  
next by themselves a small group of     
cases which have the interest of uniting
 the group just recounted1 where the    
spirit anticipates the friend's         
departure1 with the group next to be    
considered1 where the spirit welcomes   
the friend already departed from earth4 
,this class forms at the same time a    
natural extension of the clairvoyance of
 the dying exemplified in some          
reciprocal cases 7e4g4 in the case of   
,miss ,w41 where a dying aunt has a     
vision of her little niece who sees an  
apparition of her at the same time2 see 
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#bec74 ,just as the approaching         
severance of spirit from body there     
aided the spirit to project its         
observation among incarnate spirits at a

 distance upon this earth1 so here does 
that same approaching severance enable  
the dying person to see spirits who are 
already in the next world4 ,it is not   
very uncommon for dying persons to say1 
or to indicate when beyond speech1 that 
they see spirit friends apparently near 
them4 ,but1 of course1 such vision      
becomes evidential only when the dying  
person is unaware that the friend whose 
spirit he sees has actually departed1 or
 is just about to depart1 from earth4   
,such a conjuncture must plainly be     
rare2 it is even rather surprising that 
these ,peak in ,darien cases1 as ,miss  
,cobbe has termed them in a small       
collection which she made some years    
ago1 should be found at all4 ,we can add
 to ,miss ,cobbe's cases two of fair    
attestation4 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41   
vol4 iii4 p4 #ic1 and vol4 xiv4 p4 #bhh 
#gah ,a and ,b74  ,from this last group1
 then1 there is scarcely a noticeable   
transition to the group where departed  
spirits manifest their knowledge that   

some friend who survived them has now   
passed on into their world4 ,that such  
recognition and welcome does in fact    
take place1 later evidence1 drawn       
especially from trance-utterances1 will 
give good ground to believe4 ,only      
rarely1 however1 will such              
welcome--taking place as it does in the 
spiritual world--be reflected by        
apparitions in this4 ,when so reflected1
 it may take different forms1 from an   
actual utterance of sympathy1 as from a 
known departed friend1 down to a mere   
silent presence1 perhaps inexplicable   
except to those who happen to have known
 some long predeceased friend of the    
decedent's4  ,i quote in ,appendix      
,,vii4 ,c one of the most complete cases
 of this type1 which was brought to us  
by the ,census of ,hallucinations4      
,there are other cases more or less     
analogous to this4 ,in one#adc the      
apparition of a dying mother brings the 
news of her own death and that her baby 
is living4 ,in another#add a mother sees

 a vision of her son being drowned and  
also an apparition of her own dead      
mother1 who tells her of the drowning4  
,in this case1 the question may be      
raised as to whether the second figure  
seen may not have been1 so to say1      
substitutive--a symbol in which the     
percipient's own mind clothed a         
telepathic impression of the actual     
decedent's passage from earth4 ,such a  
view might perhaps be supported by some 
anomalous cases where news of the death 
is brought by the apparition of a person
 still living1 who1 nevertheless1 is not
 by any normal means aware of the death4
 7,see the case of ,mrs4 ,t41 already   
given in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,e47  ,but such
 an explanation is not always possible4 
,in the case of ,mrs4 ,bacchus1#ade for 
instance1 both the deceased person and  
the phantasmal figure were previously   
unknown to the percipient4 ,this        
case--the last which ,edmund ,gurney    
published--comes from an excellent      
witness4 ,the psychical incident which  

it seems to imply1 while very remote    
from popular notions1 would be quite in 
accordance with the rest of our present 
series4 ,a lady dies2 her husband in the
 spirit-world is moved by her arrival2  
and the direction thus given to his     
thought projects a picture of him1      
clothed as in the days when he lived    
with her1 into visibility in the house  
where her body is lying4 ,we have thus a
 dream-like recurrence to earthly       
memories1 prompted by a revival of those
 memories which had taken place in the  
spiritual world4 ,the case is midway    
between a case of welcome and a case of 
haunting4  ,i now come to a considerable
 group of cases where the departed      
spirit shows a definite knowledge of    
some fact connected with his own        
earth-life1 his death1 or subsequent    
events connected with that death4 ,the  
knowledge of subsequent events1 as of   
the spread of the news of his death1 or 
as to the place of his burial1 is1 of   
course1 a greater achievement 7so to    

term it7 than a mere recollection of    
facts known to him in life1 and ought   
strictly1 on the plan of this series1 to
 be first illustrated4 ,but it will be  
seen that all these stages of knowledge 
cohere together2 and their connection   
can better be shown if ,i begin at the  
lower stage1--of mere earth-memory4 ,now
 here again1 as so often already1 we    
shall have to wait for automatic script 
and the like to illustrate the full     
extent of the deceased person's possible
 memory4 ,readers of the utterances1 for
 instance1 of ,george ,pelham 7see      
,chapter ,,ix47 will know how full and  
accurate may be these recollections from
 beyond the grave4 ,mere apparitions1   
such as those with which we are now     
dealing1 can rarely give more than one  
brief message1 probably felt by the     
deceased to be of urgent importance4  ,a
 well-attested case where the           
information communicated in a vision    
proved to be definite1 accurate1 and    
important to the survivors is given in  

,appendix ,,vii4 ,d4 ,in the same       
,appendix another case in this group is 
also quoted4 ,it illustrates the fact   
that the cases of deepest interest are  
often the hardest for the inquirer to   
get hold of4  ,in this connection ,i may
 refer again to ,mrs4 ,storie's dream of
 the death of her brother in a railway  
accident1 given in ,chapter ,,iv4 ,while
 ,i think that ,gurney was right--in the
 state of the evidence at the time      
,phantasms of the ,living was           
written--in doing his best to bring this
 incident under the head of telepathic  
clairvoyance1 ,i yet feel that the      
knowledge since gained makes it         
impossible for me to adhere to that     
view4 ,i cannot regard the visionary    
scene as wholly reflected from the mind 
of the dying man4 ,i cannot think1 in   
the first place1 that the vision of ,mr4
 ,johnstone--interpolated with seeming  
irrelevance among the details of the    
disaster--did only by accident coincide 
with the fact that that gentleman really

 was in the train1 and with the further 
fact that it was he who communicated the
 fact of ,mr4 ,hunter's death to ,mr4   
and ,mrs4 ,stone4 ,i must suppose that  
the communicating intelligence was aware
 of ,mr4 ,johnstone's presence1 and at  
least guessed that upon him 7as a       
clergyman7 that task would naturally    
fall4 ,nor can ,i pass over as purely   
symbolic so important a part of the     
vision as the second figure1 and the    
scrap of conversation1 which seemed to  
be half heard4 ,i therefore consider    
that the case falls among those where a 
friend recently departed appears in     
company of some other friend1 dead some 
time before4  ,we have thus seen the    
spirit occupied shortly after death with
 various duties or engagements1 small or
 great1 which it has incurred during    
life on earth4 ,such ties seem to prompt
 or aid its action upon its old         
surroundings4 ,and here an important    
reflection occurs4 ,can we prepare such 
a tie for the departing spirit8 ,can we 

create for it some welcome and helpful  
train of association which may          
facilitate the self-manifestation which 
many souls appear to desire8 ,i believe 
that we can to some extent do this4 ,at 
an early stage of our collection1       
,edmund ,gurney was struck by the       
unexpectedly large proportion of cases  
where the percipient informed us that   
there had been a compact between himself
 and the deceased person that whichever 
passed away first should try to appear  
to the other4 ,considering1 he adds1    
what an extremely small number of       
persons make such a compact1 compared   
with those who do not1 it is difficult  
to resist the conclusion that its       
existence has a certain efficacy4  ,let 
us now review the compact-cases given in
 ,phantasms of the ,living and consider 
how far they seem to indicate           
ante-mortem or post-mortem              
communication4 ,the twelve cases there  
recorded are such as fell1 or may have  
fallen1 within twelve hours of the      

death4 ,in three of these cases1 the    
agent whose phantasm appeared was       
certainly still alive4 ,in most of the  
other cases the exact time relation is  
obscure2 in a few of them there is      
strong probability that the agent was   
already dead4 ,the inference will be    
that the existence of a promise or      
compact may act effectively both on the 
subliminal self before death and also   
probably on the spirit after death4     
,this conclusion is confirmed by several
 other cases1 one of which is given in  
,appendix ,,vii4 ,e4 ,this case suggests
 an important practical reflection4     
,when a compact to appear1 if possible1 
after death is made1 it should be       
understood that the appearance need not 
be to the special partner in the        
compact1 but to any one whom the agent  
can succeed in impressing4 ,it is likely
 enough that many such attempts1 which  
have faded on account of the surviving  
friend's lack of appropriate            
sensitivity1 might have succeeded if the

 agent had tried to influence some one  
already known to be capable of receiving
 these impressions4#adf ,there is a case
 given in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
v4 p4 #ddj1 in which a lady1 having made
 a compact with her husband and also    
with a friend1 her phantom is seen after
 her death by her husband and daughter  
and the latter's nurse1 collectively2   
but not by the friend1 who was living   
elsewhere4  ,again1 we cannot tell how  
long the spirit may continue the effort1
 or1 so to say1 renew the experiment4   
,in a case recorded in ,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #cgh1 the compact 
is fulfilled after a space of five      
years4 ,in another case1#adg there had  
been no formal compact2 but there is an 
attempt to express gratitude on an      
anniversary of death2 and this implies  
the same kind of mindful effort as the  
fulfilment of a definite promise4  ,i   
have now traced certain post-mortem     
manifestations which reveal a           
recollection of events known at death1  

and also a persistence of purpose in    
carrying out intentions formed before   
death4 ,in this next group ,i shall     
trace the knowledge of the departed a   
little further1 and shall discuss some  
cases where they appear cognisant of the
 aspect of their bodies after death1 or 
of the scenes in which those bodies are 
temporarily deposited or finally laid4  
,such knowledge may appear              
trivial1--unworthy the attention of     
spirits transported into a higher world4
 ,but it is in accordance with the view 
of a gradual transference of interests  
and perceptions1--a period of           
intermediate confusion1 such as may     
follow especially upon a death of a     
sudden or violent kind1 or perhaps upon 
a death which interrupts very strong    
affections4  ,thus we have already      
7,appendix ,,vii4 ,b7 encountered one   
striking case of this type1--the scratch
 on the cheek1 perceived by the departed
 daughter1 as we may conjecture1 by     
reason of the close sympathy which      

united her to the mother who was caring 
for her remains4  ,there are also two   
cases closely resembling each other1    
though from percipients in widely       
different parts of the world1 where a   
clairvoyant vision seems to be presented
 of a tranquil death-chamber4 ,in that  
of ,mr4 ,hector of ,valencia1 ,south    
,australia 7see ,phantasms of the       
,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #cec71 the          
percipient sees in a dream his father   
dying in the room he usually occupied1  
with a candle burning on a chair by his 
bed2 and the father is found dead in the
 morning1 with a candle by his bedside  
in the position seen in the dream4      
,there is not1 however1 in this case any
 sure indication that the dead or dying 
person was cognisant of his own body's  
aspect or surroundings4 ,there may have 
been a clairvoyant excursion on the     
percipient's part1 evoked by some       
impulse from the agent which did not    
itself develop into distinctness4#adh   
,but in certain cases of violent death  

there seems to have been an intention on
 the deceased person's part to show the 
condition in which his body is left4    
,such was ,mrs4 ,storie's dream1 or     
rather series of visions referred to    
earlier in this chapter4 ,such are the  
cases given in ,phantasms of the        
,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #cfe #dbi ,a1 and   
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4       
7#ahhe7 p4 #ie  #gcj4 ,here1 too1 may be
 placed two cases--those of ,dr4 ,bruce 
7in ,appendix ,,iv4 ,d7 and ,miss ,hall 
7,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #agc  
#gca ,a7--where there are successive    
pictures of a death and the subsequent  
arrangement of the body4 ,the milieux of
 the percipients1 the nature of the     
deaths1 are here again totally          
disparate2 yet we seem to see the same  
unknown laws producing effects closely  
similar4  ,in ,dr4 ,bruce's case one    
might interpret the visions as coming to
 the percipient through the mind of his 
wife1 who was present at the scene of   
the murder4 ,but this explanation would 

be impossible in ,miss ,hall's case4    
,rather it seems as though some         
telepathic link1 set up between the     
dying brother and the sister1 had been  
maintained after death until all duties 
had been fulfilled to the departed4 ,the
 case reminds one of the old ,homeric   
notions of the restless appeal of       
unburied comrades4  ,in the case of     
,mrs4 ,green 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41   
vol4 v4 p4 #dbj #dbi ,d71 we come across
 an interesting problem4 ,two women are 
drowned under very peculiar             
circumstances4 ,a friend has apparently 
a clairvoyant vision of the scene1 yet  
not at the moment when it occurred1 but 
many hours afterwards1 and about the    
time when another person1 deeply        
interested1 heard of the death4 ,it is  
therefore possible to suppose that the  
apparently clairvoyant scene was in     
reality impressed telepathically on the 
percipient by another living mind4 ,i   
think1 however1 that both the nature of 
the vision and certain analogies1 which 

will appear later in our argument1 point
 to a different view1 involving an      
agency both of the dead and of the      
living4 ,i conjecture that a current of 
influence may be started by a deceased  
person1 which1 however1 only becomes    
strong enough to be perceptible to its  
object when reinforced by some vivid    
current of emotion arising in living    
minds4 ,i do not say that this is yet   
provable2 yet the hint may be of value  
when the far-reaching interdependencies 
of telepathy between the two worlds come
 to be better understood4  ,two singular
 cases in this group remain1 where the  
departed spirit1 long after death1 seems
 preoccupied with the spot where his    
bones are laid4 ,the first of these     
cases 7,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4  
#bcj #gcc ,a7 approaches farce2 the     
second 7in which the skeleton of a man  
who had probably been murdered about    
forty years before was discovered by    
means of a dream2 see ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4 #ce71 stands     

alone among our narratives in the       
tragedy which follows on the            
communication4 ,mr4 ,podmore in an      
article in the same volume 7p4 #cjc7    
suggests other theories to account for  
this case without invoking the agency of
 the dead2 but to me the least          
impossible explanation is still the     
notion that the murdered man's dreams   
harked back after all those years to his
 remote unconsecrated grave4 ,i may     
refer further to another case 7in       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4     
#aee1 footnote7 where feelings of horror
 and depression were constantly         
experienced in a room over which a      
baby's body was afterwards found4 ,this 
case makes1 perhaps1 for another        
explanation--depending not so much on   
any continued influence of the departed 
spirit as on some persistent influence  
inhering in the bones                   
themselves--deposited under             
circumstances of terror or anguish1 and 
possibly in some way still radiating a  

malignant memory4 ,bizarre as this      
interpretation looks1 we shall find some
 confirmation of such a possibility in  
our chapter on ,possession4 ,yet another
 case belonging to the same group       
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4     
#dah7 supplies a variant on this view2  
suggesting1 as ,edward ,gurney has      
remarked1 the local imprintation of a   
tragic picture1 by whom and upon what we
 cannot tell4  ,i think it well to      
suggest even these wild conjectures2 so 
long as they are understood to be       
conjectures and nothing more4 ,i hold it
 probable that those communications1 of 
which telepathy from one spirit to      
another forms the most easily traceable 
variety1 are in reality infinitely      
varied and complex1 and show themselves 
from time to time in forms which must   
for long remain quite beyond our        
comprehension4  ,the next class of cases
 in this series well illustrates this   
unexpectedness4 ,it has only been as the
 result of a gradual accumulation of    

concordant cases that ,i have come to   
believe there is some reality in the    
bizarre supposition that the departed   
spirit is sometimes specially aware of  
the tune at which news of his death is  
about to reach some given friend4#adi   
,proof of such knowledge on his part is 
rendered harder by the alternative      
possibility that the friend may by      
clairvoyance become aware of a letter in
 his own proximity4 ,as was shown in    
,phantasms of the ,living1 there is some
 evidence for such clairvoyance even in 
cases where the letter seen is quite    
unimportant4  ,again1 there are cases   
where the percipient states that a cloud
 of unreasonable depression fell upon   
him about the time of his friend's death
 at a distance1 and continued until the 
actual news arrived2 when1 instead of   
becoming intensified1 it lifted         
suddenly4 ,in one or two such cases     
there was an actual presence or         
apparition1 which seemed to hang about  
until the news arrived1 and then        

disappeared4 ,or1 on the other hand1    
there is sometimes a happy vision of the
 departed preluding the news1 as though 
to prepare the percipient's mind for the
 shock 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4    
iii4 p4 #ij #gce ,a74 ,the suggested    
inference is that in such cases the     
spirit's attention is more or less      
continuously directed to the survivor   
until the news reaches him4 ,this does  
not1 of course1 explain how the spirit  
learns as to the arrival of the news2   
yet it makes that piece of knowledge    
seem a less isolated thing4  ,having    
thus referred to a number of cases where
 the apparition shows varying degrees of
 knowledge or memory1 ,i pass on to the 
somewhat commoner type1 where the       
apparition lacks the power or the       
impulse to communicate any message much 
more definite than that all-important   
one--of his own continued life and love4
 ,these cases1 nevertheless1 might be   
subdivided on many lines4 ,each         
apparition1 even though it be momentary1

 is a phenomenon complex in more ways   
than our minds can follow4 ,we must look
 for some broad line of demarcation1    
which may apply to a great many         
different incidents1 while continuing to
 some extent the series which we have   
already been descending--from knowledge 
and purpose on the deceased person's    
part down to vagueness and apparent     
automatism4  ,such a division--gradual1 
indeed1 but for that very reason the    
more instructive--exists between        
personal and local apparitions2 between 
manifestations plainly intended to      
impress the minds of certain definite   
survivors and manifestations in         
accustomed haunts1 some of which1       
indeed1 may be destined to impress      
survivors1 but which degenerate and     
disintegrate into sights and sounds too 
meaningless to prove either purpose or  
intelligence4  ,let us look1 then1 for  
these characteristics1 not expecting1 of
 course1 that our series will be        
logically simple2 for it must often     

happen that the personal and local      
impulses will be indistinguishable1 as  
when the desired percipient is          
inhabiting the familiar home4 ,but we   
may begin with some cases where the     
apparition has shown itself in some     
scene altogether strange to the deceased
 person4  ,we have had1 of course1 some 
cases of this type already4 ,such was   
the case of the apparition with the red 
scratch 7,appendix ,,vii4 ,b72 such too 
was the apparition in the ,countess     
,kapnist's carriage 7,appendix ,,vii4   
,e74 ,such cases1 indeed1 occur most    
frequently--and this fact is itself     
significant--among the higher and more  
developed forms of manifestation4 ,among
 the briefer1 less-developed apparitions
 with which we have now to deal1        
invasions by the phantasm of quite      
unknown territory are relatively few4 ,i
 will begin by referring to a curious   
case1 where the impression given is that
 of a spiritual presence which seeks and
 finds the percipient1 but is itself too

 confused for coherent communication    
7,mrs4 ,lightfoot's case1 ,phantasms of 
the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #dec #dbi ,b74  
,it will be seen that this narrative is 
thoroughly in accordance with previous  
indications of a state of posthumous    
bewilderment supervening before the     
spirit has adjusted its perceptions to  
the new environment4  ,in cases like    
,mrs4 ,lightfoot's1 where the           
percipient's surroundings are unknown to
 the deceased person1 and especially in 
cases where the intimation of a death   
reaches the percipient when at sea1     
there is plainly nothing except the     
percipient's own personality to guide   
the spirit in his search4 ,we have      
several narratives of this type4 ,in one
 of these--,archdeacon ,farler's1       
already referred to 7p4 #bbg71 the      
apparition appears twice1 the second    
appearance at least being subsequent to 
the death4 ,it is plain that if in such 
a case the second apparition conveys no 
fresh intelligence1 we cannot prove that

 it is more than a subjective           
recrudescence of the first4 ,yet analogy
 is in favour of its veridical          
character1 since we have cases where    
successive manifestations do bring fresh
 knowledge1 and seem to show a continued
 effort to communicate4#aej  ,then1     
again1 there are auditory cases where   
the phantasmal speech has occurred in   
places not known to the deceased person4
 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4  
#ij1 and vol4 v4 p4 #dee47  ,one        
specially impressive characteristic of  
apparitions 7as has been already        
remarked7 is their occasional           
collectivity--the fact that more        
percipients than one sometimes see or   
hear the phantasmal figure or voice     
simultaneously4 ,when one is considering
 the gradual decline in definiteness and
 apparent purpose from one group of     
apparitions to another1 it is natural to
 ask whether this characteristic--in my 
view so important--is found to accompany
 especially the higher1 more intelligent

 manifestations4  ,i cannot find that   
this is so4 ,on the contrary1 it is1 ,i 
think1 in cases of mere haunting that we
 oftenest find that the figure is seen  
by several persons at once1 or else 7a  
cognate phenomenon7 by several persons  
successively4 ,i know not how to explain
 this apparent tendency4 ,could we admit
 the underlying assumptions1 it would   
suit the view that the haunting spirits 
are earthbound1 and thus somehow nearer 
to matter than spirits more exalted4    
,yet instances of collectivity are      
scattered through all classes of        
apparitions2 and the irregular          
appearance of a characteristic which    
seems to us so fundamental affords      
another lesson how great may be the     
variety of inward mechanism in cases    
which to us might seem constructed on   
much the same type4  ,i pass on to a    
group of cases which are both personal  
and local2 although the personal element
 in most of them--the desire to manifest
 to the friend--may seem more important 

than the local element--the impulse to  
revisit some accustomed haunt4  ,in the 
case which ,i shall now cite the        
deceased person's image is seen         
simultaneously by several members of his
 own household1 in his own house4 ,note 
the analogy to a collective crystal     
vision4#aea  ,the account is taken from 
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#bac4 ,it is given by ,mr4 ,charles ,a4 
,w4 ,lett1 of the ,military and ,royal  
,naval ,club1 ,albemarle ,street1 ,w4   
,december #crd1 #ahhe4       ,on the    
#eth ,april #ahgc my wife's father1     
,captain ,towns1 died at his            
residence1 ,cranbrook1 ,rose ,bay1 near 
,sidney1 ,n4 ,s4 ,wales4 ,about six     
weeks after his death my wife had       
occasion1 one evening about nine        
o'clock1 to go to one of the bedrooms in
 the house4 ,she was      accompanied by
 a young lady1 ,miss ,berthon1 and as   
they entered the      room--the gas was 
burning all the time--they were amazed  
to see1      reflected as it were on the

 polished surface of the wardrobe1 the  
image of ,captain ,towns4 ,it was barely
 half figure1 the head1      shoulders1 
and part of the arms only showing--in   
fact1 it was like      an ordinary      
medallion portrait1 but life-size4 ,the 
face appeared      wan and pale1 as it  
did before his death1 and he wore a kind
 of      grey flannel jacket1 in which  
he had been accustomed to sleep4        
,surprised and half alarmed at what they
 saw1 their first idea was      that a  
portrait had been hung in the room1 and 
that what they saw      was its         
reflection2 but there was no picture of 
the kind4       ,whilst they were       
looking and wondering1 my wife's sister1
 ,miss      ,towns1 came into the room1 
and before either of the others had time
      to speak she exclaimed1 ,good     
gracious6 ,do you see papa8 ,one of     
the housemaids happened to be passing   
downstairs at the moment1 and      she  
was called in1 and asked if she saw     
anything1 and her reply      was1 ,oh1  

miss6 the master4 ,graham--,captain     
,towns' old body      servant--was then 
sent for1 and he also immediately       
exclaimed1 ,oh1      ,lord save us6     
,mrs4 ,lett1 it's the ,captain6 ,the    
butler was called1      and then ,mrs4  
,crane1 my wife's nurse1 and they both  
said what they      saw4 ,finally1 ,mrs4
 ,towns was sent for1 and1 seeing the   
apparition1      she advanced towards it
 with her arm extended as if to touch   
it1      and as she passed her hand over
 the panel of the wardrobe the          
figure gradually faded away1 and never  
again appeared1 though the      room was
 regularly occupied for a long time     
after4       ,these are the simple facts
 of the case1 and they admit of no      
doubt2      no kind of intimation was   
given to any of the witnesses2 the same 
question was put to each one as they    
came into the room1 and the      reply  
was given without hesitation by each4   
,it was by the merest      accident that
 ,i did not see the apparition4 ,i was  

in the house at      the time1 but did  
not hear when ,i was called4  ,c4 ,a4   
,w4 ,,lett4       ,we1 the undersigned1 
having read the above statement1 certify
 that      it is strictly accurate1 as  
we both were witnesses of the           
apparition4  ,,sara ,,lett4 ,,sibbie    
,,smyth 7nee ,,towns74  ,gurney         
writes3--       ,mrs4 ,lett assures me  
that neither she nor her sister ever    
experienced a hallucination of the      
senses on any other occasion4      ,she 
is positive that the recognition of the 
appearance on the part      of each of  
the later witnesses was independent1 and
 not due to      any suggestion from the
 persons already in the room4  ,there is
 another collective case which is       
noticeable from the fact that the       
departed spirit appears to influence two
 persons at a distance from each other  
in a concordant way1 so that one of them
 becomes conscious of the appearance to 
the other4#aeb ,compare with this the   
incident given at the end of ,appendix  

,,vii4 ,g1 when ,miss ,campbell has a   
vision of her friend seeing an          
apparition at a time when this is       
actually occurring4#aec  ,the case given
 in ,appendix ,,vii4 ,f--which comes    
from excellent informants--is one of    
those which correspond most nearly to   
what one would desire in a posthumous   
message4 ,i may refer also to ,general  
,campbell's case 7in ,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #dgf7 in which a  
long continued series of unaccountable  
noises and an apparition twice seen by a
 child in the house suggested to the    
narrator the agency of his dead wife4   
,the case1 which depends for its        
evidential force on a great mass of     
detail1 is too long for me to quote2 but
 it is worth study1 as is any case where
 there seems evidence of persistent     
effort to manifest1 meeting with one    
knows not what difficulty4 ,it may be   
that in such a story there is nothing   
but strange coincidence1 or it may be   
that from records of partially          

successful effort1 renewed often and in 
ambiguous ways1 we shall hereafter learn
 something of the nature of that curtain
 of obstruction which now seems so      
arbitrary in its sudden lifting1 its    
sudden fall4  ,i will conclude this     
group by referring the reader to three  
cases closely similar1 all well         
attested1 and all of them capable of    
explanation either on local or personal 
grounds4 ,in the first 7,phantasms of   
the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fai #gdd ,a7  
an apparition is seen by two persons in 
a house in ,edinburgh1 a few hours      
before the death of a lady who had lived
 there1 and whose body was to be brought
 back to it4 ,in the second             
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4 #eg
 #gdd ,b7 the dead librarian haunts his 
library1 but in the library are members 
of his old staff4 ,in the third         
7,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4  
#bab  #gdd71 the dead wife loiters round
 her husband's tomb1 but near it passes 
a gardener who had been in her employ4  

,in this last case the apparition was   
seen about seven and a half hours after 
the death4 ,this1 as ,gurney remarked1  
makes it still more difficult to regard 
the case as a telepathic impression     
transmitted at the moment of death1 and 
remaining latent in the mind of the     
percipient4 ,the incident suggests      
rather that ,bard1 the gardener1 had    
come upon ,mrs4 de ,frville's spirit1 so
 to say1 unawares4 ,one cannot imagine  
that she specially wished him to see    
her1 and to see her engaged in what     
seems so needless and undignified a     
retracing of currents of earthly        
thought4 ,rather this seems a           
rudimentary haunting--an incipient lapse
 into those aimless1 perhaps            
unconscious1 reappearances in familiar  
spots which may persist 7as it would    
seem7 for many years after death4  ,a   
somewhat similar case is that of        
,colonel ,crealock 7in ,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #dcb7 where a     
soldier who had been dead some hours was

 seen by his superior officer in camp at
 night rolling up and taking away his   
bed4  ,it is1 indeed1 mainly by dwelling
 on these intermediate cases1 between a 
message-bringing apparition and a       
purposeless haunt1 that we have most    
hope of understanding the typical haunt 
which1 while it has been in a sense the 
most popular of all our phenomena1 is   
yet to the careful inquirer one of the  
least satisfactory4 ,one main evidential
 difficulty generally lies in           
identifying the haunting figure1 in     
finding anything to connect the history 
of the house with the vague and often   
various sights and sounds which perplex 
or terrify its flesh and blood          
inhabitants4 ,we must1 at any rate1 rid 
ourselves of the notion that some great 
crime or catastrophe is always to be    
sought as the groundwork of a haunt of  
this kind4 ,to that negative conclusion 
our cases concordantly point us4#aed    
,the apparition is most often seen by a 
stranger1 several months after the      

death1 with no apparent reason for its  
appearance at that special time4 ,this  
last point is of interest in considering
 the question whether the hallucinatory 
picture could have been projected from  
any still incarnate mind4 ,in one       
case--the vision of the ,bishop of ,st4 
,brieuc 7given in ,proceedings          
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #dfj71 there was  
such a special reason--the ,bishop's    
body1 unknown to the percipient1 was at 
that moment being buried at the distance
 of a few miles4 ,mr4 ,podmore suggests 
7op4 cit41 vol4 vi4 p4 #cja7 that it was
 from the minds of the living mourners  
that the ,bishop's phantasm was         
generated4 ,that hypothesis may have its
 portion of truth2 the surrounding      
emotion may have been one of the factors
 which made the apparition possible4    
,but the assumption that it was the only
 admissible factor--that the departed   
,bishop's own possible agency must be   
set aside altogether--lands us1 ,i      
think1 in difficulties greater than     

those which we should thus escape4 ,the 
reader who tries to apply it to the     
apparitions quoted in my earlier groups 
will find himself in a labyrinth of     
complexity4 ,still more will this be the
 case in dealing with the far fuller and
 more explicit motor communications1 by 
automatic writing or speech1 which we   
shall have to discuss in the two next   
chapters4 ,unless the actual evidence be
 disallowed in a wholesale manner1 we   
shall be forced1 ,i think1 to admit the 
continued action of the departed as a   
main element in these apparitions4  ,i  
do not say as the only element4 ,i      
myself hold1 as already implied1 that   
the thought and emotion of living       
persons does largely intervene1 as      
aiding or conditioning the independent  
action of the departed4 ,i even believe 
that it is possible that1 say1 an       
intense fixation of my own mind on a    
departed spirit may aid that spirit to  
manifest at a special moment--and not   
even to me1 but to a percipient more    

sensitive than myself4 ,in the boundless
 ocean of mind innumerable currents and 
tides shift with the shifting emotion of
 each several soul4  ,but now we are    
confronted by another possible element  
in these vaguer classes of apparitions1 
harder to evaluate even than the        
possible action of incarnate minds4 ,i  
mean the possible results of past mental
 action1 which1 for aught we know1 may  
persist in some perceptible manner1     
without fresh reinforcement1 just as the
 results of past bodily action persist4 
,this question leads to the still wider 
question of retrocognition1 and of the  
relation of psychical phenomena to time 
generally--a problem whose discussion   
cannot be attempted here4#aee ,yet we   
must remember that such possibilities   
exist2 they may explain certain         
phenomena into which little of fresh    
intelligence seems to enter1 as1 for    
instance1 the alleged persistence1      
perhaps for years1 of meaningless sounds
 in a particular room or house4  ,and   

since we are coming now to cases into   
which this element of meaningless sound 
will enter largely1 it seems right to   
begin their discussion with a small     
group of cases where there is evidence  
for the definite agency of some dying or
 deceased person in connection with     
inarticulate sounds1 or ,i should rather
 say of the connection of some deceased 
person with the sounds2 since the best  
explanation may perhaps be that they are
 sounds of welcome--before or after     
actual death--corresponding to those    
apparitions of welcome of which we have 
already had specimens4 ,one of our cases
 7see ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4   
ii4 p4 #fci  #gdg7 is remarkable in that
 the auditory hallucination--a sound as 
of female voices gently singing--was    
heard by five persons1 by four of them1 
as it seems1 independently1 and in two  
places1 on different sides of the house4
 ,at the same time1 one person--the     
,eton master whose mother had just died1
 and who was therefore presumably in a  

frame of mind more prone to             
hallucination than the physician1       
matron1 friend1 or servants who actually
 did hear the singing--himself heard    
nothing at all4 ,in this case the       
physician felt no doubt that ,mrs4 ,l4  
was actually dead2 and in fact it was   
during the laying out of the body that  
the sounds occurred4  ,i have already   
discussed 7,chapter ,,vi47 the nature of
 these phantasmal sounds2--nor is it    
contrary to our analogies that the      
person most deeply concerned in the     
death should in this case fail to hear  
them4 ,but the point on which ,i would  
here lay stress is that phantasmal      
sounds--even non-articulate sounds--may 
be as clear a manifestation of          
personality as phantasmal figures4      
,among non-articulate noises music is1  
of course1 the most pleasing2 but       
sounds1 for instance1 which imitate the 
work of a carpenter's shop1 may be      
equally human and intelligent4 ,in some 
of the cases of this class we see       

apparent attempts of various kinds to   
simulate sounds such as men and         
women--or manufactured1 as opposed to   
natural1 objects--are accustomed to     
produce4 ,to claim this humanity1 to    
indicate this intelligence1 seems the   
only motive of sounds of this kind4#aef 
,these sounds1 in their rudimentary     
attempt at showing intelligence1 are    
about on a level with the exploits of   
the ,poltergeist1 where coals are thrown
 about1 water spilt1 and so forth4      
,poltergeist phenomena1 however1 seldom 
coincide with the ordinary phenomena of 
a haunt4 ,we have one remarkable case   
7,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #bhj-hd
 #hfh ,b7 where ,poltergeist phenomena  
coincide with a death1 and a few cases  
where they are supposed to follow on a  
death2 but1 as a rule1 where figures    
appear there are no movements2 and where
 there are movements no apparition is   
seen4 ,if alleged ,poltergeist phenomena
 are always fraudulent1 there would be  
nothing to be surprised at here4 ,if1 as

 ,i suspect1 they are sometimes genuine1
 their dissociation from visual         
hallucinations may sometimes afford us a
 hint of value4  ,but after             
,poltergeists have been set             
aside1--after a severe line has been    
drawn excluding all those cases 7in     
themselves singular enough7 where the   
main phenomena observed consist of      
non-articulate sounds1--there remains a 
great mass of evidence to               
haunting1--that is1 broadly speaking1 to
 the fact that there are many houses in 
which more than one person has          
independently seen phantasmal figures1  
which usually1 though not always1 bear  
at least some resemblance to each       
other4#aeg ,the facts thus baldly stated
 are beyond dispute4 ,their true        
interpretation is a very difficult      
matter4 ,mrs4 ,sidgwick gives four      
hypotheses1 which ,i must quote at      
length as the first serious attempt ever
 made 7so far as ,i know7 to collect and
 face the difficulties of this problem1 

so often1 but so loosely1 discussed     
through all historical times4 7,from    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 pp4   
#adf-h47  ,i will1 therefore1 proceed   
briefly to state and discuss the only   
four theories that have occurred to me4 
,the two which ,i will take first in    
order assume that the apparitions are   
due to the agency or presence of the    
spirits of deceased men4  ,there is     
first the popular view1 that the        
apparition is something belonging to the
 external world--that1 like ordinary    
matter1 it occupies and moves through   
space1 and would be in the room whether 
the percipient were there to see it or  
not4 ,this hypothesis involves us in    
many difficulties1 of which one serious 
one--that of accounting for the clothes 
of the ghost--has often been urged1 and 
never1 ,i think1 satisfactorily         
answered4 ,nevertheless1 ,i am bound to 
admit that there is some little evidence
 tending to suggest this theory4 ,for   
instance1 in the account1#aeh of which  

,i have given an abstract1 of the       
weeping lady who has appeared so        
frequently in a certain house1 the      
following passage occurs3--',they went  
after it 7the figure7 together into the 
drawing-room2 it then came out1 and went
 down the aforesaid passage 7leading to 
the kitchen71 but was the next minute   
seen by another ,miss ,m4 444 come up   
the outside steps from the kitchen4 ,on 
this particular day1 ,captain ,m4's     
married daughter happened to be at an   
upstairs window 444 and independently   
saw the figure continue her course      
across the lawn and into the orchard4'  
,a considerable amount of clear evidence
 to the appearance of ghosts to         
independent observers in successive     
points in space would certainly afford a
 strong argument for their having a     
definite relation to space2 but in      
estimating evidence of this kind it     
would be necessary to know how far the  
observer's attention had been drawn to  
the point in question4 ,if it had been a

 real woman whom the ,miss ,m4's were   
observing1 we should have inferred1 with
 perfect certainty1 from our knowledge  
that she could not be in two places at  
once1 that she had been successively1 in
 a certain order1 in the places where   
she was seen by the three observers4 ,if
 they had noted the moments at which    
they saw her1 and comparing notes       
afterwards1 found that according to     
these notes they had all seen her at the
 same time1 or in some other order to   
that inferred1 we should still feel     
absolute confidence in our inference1   
and should conclude that there must be  
something wrong about the watches or the
 notes4 ,from association of ideas1 it  
would be perfectly natural to make the  
same inference in the case of a ghost   
which looks exactly like a woman4 ,but  
in the case of the ghost the inference  
would not be legitimate1 because1 unless
 the particular theory of ghosts which  
we are discussing be true1 there is no  
reason1 so far as we know1 why it should

 not appear in two or more places at    
once4 ,hence1 in the case of the ghost1 
a well-founded assurance that the       
appearances were successive would       
require a careful observation of the    
times1 which1 so far as ,i know1 has    
never been made4 ,on the whole1         
therefore1 ,i must dismiss the popular  
theory as not having1 in my opinion1    
even a prim facie ground for serious    
consideration4  ,the theory that ,i will
 next examine seems to me decidedly more
 plausible1 from its analogy to the     
conclusion to which ,i am brought by the
 examination of the evidence for        
phantasms of the living4 ,this theory is
 that the apparition has no real        
relation to the external world1 but is a
 hallucination caused in some way by    
some communication1 without the         
intervention of the senses1 between the 
disembodied spirit and the percipient1  
its form depending on the mind either of
 the spirit or of the percipient1 or of 
both4 ,in the case of haunted houses1   

however1 a difficulty meets us that we  
do not encounter1 or at least rarely    
encounter1 in applying a similar        
hypothesis to explain phantasms of the  
living1 or phantasms of the dead other  
than fixed local ghosts4 ,in these cases
 we have generally to suppose a simple  
rapport between mind and mind1 but in a 
haunted house we have a rapport         
complicated by its apparent dependence  
on locality4 ,it seems necessary to make
 the improbable assumption1 that the    
spirit is interested in an entirely     
special way in a particular house       
7though possibly this interest may be of
 a subconscious kind71 and that his     
interest in it puts him into connection 
with another mind1 occupied with it in  
the way that that of a living person    
actually there must consciously or      
unconsciously be1 while he does not get 
into similar communication with the     
same1 or with other persons elsewhere4  
,if1 notwithstanding these difficulties1
 it be true that haunting is due in any 

way to the agency of deceased persons1  
and conveys a definite idea of them to  
the percipients through the resemblance 
to them of the apparition1 then1 by     
patiently continuing our investigations1
 we may expect1 sooner or later1 to     
obtain a sufficient amount of evidence  
to connect clearly the commencement of  
hauntings with the death of particular  
persons1 and to establish clearly the   
likeness of the apparition to those     
persons4 ,the fact that almost everybody
 is now photographed ought to be of     
material assistance in obtaining        
evidence of this latter kind4  ,my third
 theory dispenses with the agency of    
disembodied spirits1 but involves us in 
other and perhaps equally great         
improbabilities4 ,it is that the first  
appearance is a purely subjective       
hallucination1 and that the subsequent  
similar appearances1 both to the        
original percipient and to others1 are  
the result of the first appearance2     
unconscious expectancy causing them in  

the case of the original percipient1 and
 some sort of telepathic communication  
from the original percipient in the case
 of others4 ,in fact1 it assumes that a 
tendency to a particular hallucination  
is in a way infectious4 ,if this theory 
be true1 ,i should expect to find that  
the apparently independent appearances  
after the first depended on the         
percipient's having had some sort of    
intercourse with some one who had seen  
the ghost before1 and that any decided  
discontinuity of occupancy would stop   
the haunting4 ,i should also expect to  
find1 as we do in one of the cases ,i   
have quoted1 that sometimes the supposed
 ghost would follow the family from one 
abode to another1 appearing to haunt    
them rather than any particular house4  
,the fourth theory that ,i shall mention
 is one which ,i can hardly expect to   
appear plausible1 and which1 therefore1 
,i only introduce because ,i think that 
it corresponds best to a certain part of
 the evidence2--and1 as ,i have already 

said1 considering the altogether        
tentative way in which we are inevitably
 dealing with this obscure subject1 it  
is as well to express definitely every  
hypothesis which an impartial           
consideration of the facts suggests4 ,it
 is that there is something in the      
actual building itself--some subtle     
physical influence--which produces in   
the brain that effect which1 in its     
turn1 becomes the cause of a            
hallucination4 ,it is certainly         
difficult on this hypothesis alone to   
suppose that the hallucinations of      
different people would be similar1 but  
we might account for this by a          
combination of this hypothesis and the  
last4 ,the idea is suggested by the     
case1 of which ,i have given an         
abstract1 where the haunting continued  
through more than one occupancy1 but    
changed its character2 and if there be  
any truth in the theory1 ,i should      
expect in time to obtain a good deal    
more evidence of this kind1 combined    

with evidence that the same persons do  
not as a rule encounter ghosts          
elsewhere4 ,i should also expect        
evidence to be forthcoming supporting   
the popular idea that repairs and       
alterations of the building sometimes   
cause the haunting to cease4#aei  ,these
 hypotheses--none of which1 as ,mrs4    
,sidgwick expressly states 7op4 cit41 p4
 #ade71 seemed to herself               
satisfactory--did nevertheless1 ,i      
think1 comprise all the deductions which
 could reasonably be made from the      
evidence as it at that time stood4 ,a   
few modifications1 which the experience 
of subsequent years has led me to       
introduce1 can hardly be said to afford 
further explanation1 although they state
 the difficulties in what now seems to  
me a more hopeful way4  ,in the first   
place then--as already explained in     
,chapter ,,vi4--,i in some sense fuse   
into one ,mrs4 ,sidgwick's two first    
hypotheses by my own hypothesis of      
actual presence1 actual spatial changes 

induced in the metetherial1 but not in  
the material world4 ,i hold that when   
the phantasm is discerned by more than  
one person at once 7and on some other1  
but not all other occasions7 it is      
actually effecting a change in that     
portion of space where it is perceived1 
although not1 as a rule1 in the matter  
which occupies that place4 ,it is1      
therefore1 not optically nor            
acoustically perceived2 perhaps no rays 
of light are reflected nor waves of air 
set in motion2 but an unknown form of   
supernormal perception1 not necessarily 
acting through the sensory end-organs1  
comes into play4 ,in the next place1 ,i 
am inclined to lay stress on the        
parallel between these narratives of    
haunting and those phantasms of the     
living which ,i have already classed as 
psychorrhagic4 ,in each case1 as it     
seems to me1 there is an involuntary    
detachment of some element of the       
spirit1 probably with no knowledge      
thereof at the main centre of           

consciousness4 ,those haunts by the     
living1 as they may be called1 where1   
for instance1 a man is seen phantasmally
 standing before his own fireplace1 seem
 to me to be repeated1 perhaps more     
readily1 after the spirit is freed from 
the flesh4  ,again1 ,i think that the   
curious question as to the influence of 
certain houses in generating apparitions
 may be included under the broader      
heading of ,retrocognition4 ,that is to 
say1 we are not here dealing with a     
special condition of certain houses1 but
 with a branch of the wide problem as to
 the relation of supernormal phenomena  
to time4 ,manifestations which occur in 
haunted houses depend1 let us say1 on   
something which has taken place a long  
time ago4 ,in what way do they depend on
 that past event8 ,are they a sequel1 or
 only a residue8 ,is there fresh        
operation going on1 or only fresh       
perception of something already         
accomplished8 ,or can we in such a case 
draw any real distinction between a     

continued action and a continued        
perception of a past action8 ,the       
closest parallel1 as it seems to me1    
although not at first sight an obvious  
one1 lies between these phenomena of    
haunting1 these persistent sights and   
sounds1 and certain phenomena of        
crystal-vision and of automatic script1 
which also seem to depend somehow upon  
long-past events1--to be their sequel or
 their residue4 ,one specimen case ,i   
give in ,appendix 7,,vii4 ,g71 where the
 connection of the haunting apparition  
with a certain person long deceased may 
be maintained with more than usual      
plausibility4 ,from that level the      
traceable connections get weaker and    
weaker1 until we come to phantasmal     
scenes where there is no longer any even
 apparent claim to the contemporary     
agency of human spirits4 ,such a vision1
 for instance1 as that of a line of     
spectral deer crossing a ford1 may      
indeed1 if seen in the same place by    
several independent observers1 be held  

to be something more than a mere        
subjective fancy2 but what in reality   
such a picture signifies is a question  
which brings us at once to theories of  
the permanence or simultaneity of all   
phenomena in a timeless ,universal      
,soul4  ,such conceptions1 however      
difficult1 are among the highest to     
which our mind can reach4 ,could we     
approach them more nearly1 they might   
deeply influence our view1 even of our  
own remote individual destiny4 ,so1     
perhaps1 shall it some day be2 at       
present we may be well satisfied if we  
can push our knowledge of that destiny  
one step further than of old1 even just 
behind that veil which has so long hung 
impenetrably before the eyes of men4    
,here1 then1 is a natural place of pause
 in our inquiry4  ,the discussion of the
 ethical aspect of these questions ,i   
have postponed to my concluding chapter4
 ,but one point already stands out from 
the evidence--at once so important and  
so manifest that it seems well to call  

attention to it at once--as a solvent   
more potent than any ,lucretius could   
apply to human superstition and human   
fears4  ,in this long string of         
narratives1 complex and bizarre though  
their details may be1 we yet observe    
that the character of the appearance    
varies in a definite manner with their  
distinctness and individuality4         
,haunting phantoms1 incoherent and      
unintelligent1 may seem restless and    
unhappy4 ,but as they rise into         
definiteness1 intelligence1             
individuality1 the phantoms rise also   
into love and joy4 ,i cannot recall one 
single case of a proved posthumous      
combination of intelligence with        
wickedness4 ,such evil as our evidence  
will show us--we have as yet hardly come
 across it in this book--is scarcely    
more than monkeyish mischief1 childish  
folly4 ,in dealing with automatic       
script1 for instance1 we shall have to  
wonder whence come the occasional vulgar
 jokes or silly mystifications4 ,we     

shall discuss whether they are a kind of
 dream of the automatist's own1 or      
whether they indicate the existence of  
unembodied intelligences on the level of
 the dog or the ape4 ,but1 on the other 
hand1 all that world-old conception of  
,evil ,spirits1 of malevolent ,powers1  
which has been the basis of so much of  
actual devil-worship and of so much more
 of vague supernatural fear2--all this  
insensibly melts from the mind as we    
study the evidence before us4      ,hunc
 igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque      
necessest     ,non radii solis1 neque   
lucida tela diei     ,discutiant sed1   
natur species ratioque4  ,here surely is
 a fact of no little meaning4 ,our      
narratives have been collected from men 
and women of many types1 holding all    
varieties of ordinary opinion4 ,yet the 
upshot of all these narratives is to    
emphasise a point which profoundly      
differentiates the scientific from the  
superstitious view of spiritual         
phenomena4 ,the terror which shaped     

primitive theologies still tinges for   
the populace every hint of intercourse  
with disembodied souls4 ,the            
transmutation of savage fear into       
scientific curiosity is of the essence  
of civilisation4 ,towards that          
transmutation each separate fragment of 
our evidence1 with undesigned           
concordance1 indisputably tends4 ,in    
that faintly opening world of spirit ,i 
can find nothing worse than living men2 
,i seem to discern not an               
intensification but a disintegration of 
selfishness1 malevolence1 pride4 ,and is
 not this a natural result of any cosmic
 moral evolution8 ,if the selfish man   
7as ,marcus ,antoninus has it7 is a kind
 of boil or imposthume upon the         
universe1 must not his egoistic impulses
 suffer in that wider world a sure1 even
 if a painful1 decay2 finding no support
 or sustenance among those permanent    
forces which maintain the stream of     
things8  ,i have thus indicated one     
point of primary importance on which the

 undesignedly coincident testimony of   
hundreds of first-hand narratives       
supports a conclusion1 not yet popularly
 accepted1 but in harmony with the      
evolutionary conceptions which rule our 
modern thought4 ,nor does this point    
stand alone4 ,i can find1 indeed1 no    
guarantee of absolute and idle bliss2 no
 triumph in any exclusive salvation4    
,but the student of these narratives    
will1 ,i think1 discover throughout them
 uncontradicted indications of the      
persistence of ,love1 the growth of     
,joy1 the willing submission to ,law4   
,these indications1 no doubt1 may seem  
weak and scattered la comparison with   
the wholesale1 thorough-going assertions
 of philosophical or religious creeds4  
,their advantage is that they occur     
incidentally in the course of our       
independent and cumulative demonstration
 of the profoundest cosmical thesis     
which we can at present conceive as     
susceptible of any kind of scientific   
proof4 ,cosmical questions1 indeed1     

there may be which are in themselves of 
deeper import than our own survival of  
bodily death4 ,the nature of the ,first 
,cause2 the blind or the providential   
ordering of the sum of things2--these   
are problems vaster than any which      
affect only the destinies of men4 ,but  
to whatever moral certainty we may      
attain on those mightiest questions1 we 
can devise no way whatever of bringing  
them to scientific test4 ,they deal with
 infinity2 and our modes of             
investigation have grasp only on finite 
things4  ,but the question of man's     
survival of death stands in a position  
uniquely intermediate between matters   
capable and matters incapable of proof4 
,it is in itself a definite problem1    
admitting of conceivable proof which1   
even if not technically rigorous1 might 
amply satisfy the scientific mind4 ,and 
at the same time the conception which it
 involves is in itself a kind of avenue 
and inlet into infinity4 ,could a proof 
of our survival be obtained1 it would   

carry us deeper into the true nature of 
the universe than we should be carried  
by an even perfect knowledge of the     
material scheme of things4 ,it would    
carry us deeper both by achievement and 
by promise4 ,the discovery that there   
was a life in man independent of blood  
and brain would be a cardinal1 a        
dominating fact in all science and in   
all philosophy4 ,and the prospect thus  
opened to human knowledge1 in this or in
 other worlds1 would be limitless       
indeed4     ,,chapter ,,viii  ,,motor   
,,automatism      ,greek3 ,mketi        
monon sumpnein t periechonti aeri1 all' 
hd kai sumphronoin     t periechonti    
panta noer4      --,,marcus ,,aurelius4 
,at this point1 one may broadly say1 we 
reach the end of the phenomena whose    
existence is vaguely familiar to popular
 talk4 ,and here1 too1 ,i might fairly  
claim1 the evidence for my primary      
thesis1--namely1 that the analysis of   
man's personality reveals him as a      
spirit1 surviving death1--has attained  

an amplitude which would justify the    
reader in accepting that view as the    
provisional hypothesis which comes      
nearest to a comprehensive co-ordination
 of the actual facts4 ,what we have     
already recounted seems1 indeed1        
impossible to explain except by         
supposing that our inner vision has     
widened or deepened its purview so far  
as to attain some glimpses of a         
spiritual world in which the            
individualities of our departed friends 
still actually subsist4  ,the reader1   
however1 who has followed me thus far   
must be well aware that a large class of
 phenomena1 of high importance1 is still
 awaiting discussion4 ,motor            
automatisms1--though less familiar to   
the general public than the phantasms   
which ,i have classed as sensory        
automatisms1--are in fact even commoner1
 and even more significant4  ,motor     
automatisms1 as ,i define them1 are     
phenomena of very wide range4 ,we have  
encountered them already many times in  

this book4 ,we met them in the first    
place in a highly developed form in     
connection with multiplex personality in
 ,chapter ,,ii4 ,numerous instances were
 there given of motor effects1 initiated
 by secondary selves without the        
knowledge of the primary selves1 or     
sometimes in spite of their actual      
resistance4 ,all motor action of a      
secondary self is an automatism in this 
sense1 in relation to the primary self4 
,and of course we might by analogy      
extend the use of the word still        
further1 and might call not only        
post-epileptic acts1 but also maniacal  
acts1 automatic2 since they are         
performed without the initiation of the 
presumedly sane primary personality4    
,those degenerative phenomena1 indeed1  
are not to be discussed in this chapter4
 ,yet it will be well to pause here long
 enough to make it clear to the reader  
just what motor automatisms ,i am about 
to discuss as evolutive phenomena1 and  
as therefore falling within the scope of

 this treatise2--and what kind of       
relation they bear to the dissolutive   
motor phenomena which occupy so much    
larger a place in popular knowledge4    
,in order to meet this last question1 ,i
 must here give more distinct           
formulation to a thesis which has       
already suggested itself more than once 
in dealing with special groups of our   
phenomena4  ,it may be expected that    
supernormal vital phenomena will        
manifest themselves as far as possible  
through the same channels as abnormal or
 morbid vital phenomena1 when the same  
centres or the same synergies are       
involved4  ,to illustrate the meaning of
 this theorem1 ,i may refer to a remark 
long ago made by ,edmund ,gurney and    
myself in dealing with ,phantasms of the
 ,living1 or veridical hallucinations1  
generated 7as we maintained71 not by a  
morbid state of the percipient's brain1 
but by a telepathic impact from an agent
 at a distance4 ,we observed that if a  
hallucination--a subjective image--is to

 be excited by this distant energy1 it  
will probably be most readily excited in
 somewhat the same manner as the morbid 
hallucination which follows on a        
cerebral injury4 ,we urged that this is 
likely to be the case--we showed ground 
for supposing that it is the case--both 
as regards the mode of evolution of the 
phantasm in the percipient's brain1 and 
the mode in which it seems to present   
itself to his senses4  ,and here ,i     
should wish to give a much wider        
generality to this principle1 and to    
argue that if there be within us a      
secondary self aiming at manifestation  
by physiological means1 it seems        
probable that its readiest path of      
externalisation--its readiest outlet of 
visible action--may often lie along some
 track which has already been shown to  
be a line of low resistance by the      
disintegrating processes of disease4    
,or1 varying the metaphor1 we may       
anticipate that the partition of the    
primary and the secondary self will lie 

along some plane of cleavage which the  
morbid dissociations of our psychical   
synergies have already shown themselves 
disposed to follow4 ,if epilepsy1       
madness1 etc41 tend to split up our     
faculties in certain ways1 automatism is
 likely to split them up in ways        
somewhat resembling these4  ,but in what
 way then1 it will be asked1 do you     
distinguish the supernormal from the    
merely abnormal8 ,why assume that in    
these aberrant states there is anything 
besides hysteria1 besides epilepsy1     
besides insanity8  ,the answer to this  
question has virtually been given in    
previous chapters of this book4 ,the    
reader is already accustomed to the     
point of view which regards all         
psychical as well as all physiological  
activities as necessarily either        
developmental or degenerative1 tending  
to evolution or to dissolution4 ,and    
now1 whilst altogether waiving any      
teleological speculation1 ,i will ask   
him hypothetically to suppose that an   

evolutionary nisus1 something which we  
may represent as an effort towards      
self-development1 self-adaptation1      
self-renewal1 is discernible especially 
on the psychical side of at any rate the
 higher forms of life4 ,our question1   
,supernormal or abnormal8--may then be  
phrased1 ,evolutive or dissolutive8 ,and
 in studying each psychical phenomenon  
in turn we shall have to inquire whether
 it indicates a mere degeneration of    
powers already acquired1 or1 on the     
other hand1 the promise and potency1 if 
not the actual possession1 of powers as 
yet unrecognised or unknown4  ,thus1 for
 instance1 ,telepathy is surely a step  
in evolution4#afj ,to learn the thoughts
 of other minds without the mediation of
 the special senses1 manifestly         
indicates the possibility of a vast     
extension of psychical powers4 ,and any 
knowledge which we can amass as to the  
conditions under which telepathic action
 takes place will form a valuable       
starting-point for an inquiry as to the 

evolutive or dissolutive character of   
unfamiliar psychical states4#afa  ,for  
example1 we may learn from our knowledge
 of telepathy that the superficial      
aspect of certain stages of psychical   
evolution1 like the superficial aspect  
of certain stages of physiological      
evolution1 may resemble mere inhibition1
 or mere perturbation4 ,but the         
inhibition may involve latent           
dynamogeny1 and the perturbation may    
mask evolution4 ,the hypnotised subject 
may pass through a lethargic stage      
before he wakes into a state in which he
 has gained community of sensation with 
the operator2 somewhat as the silkworm  
7to use the oldest and the most         
suggestive of all illustrations7 passes 
through the apparent torpor of the      
cocoon-stage before evolving into the   
moth4 ,again1 the automatist's hand 7as 
we shall presently see7 is apt to pass  
through a stage of inco-ordinated       
movements1 which might almost be taken  
for choreic1 before it acquires the     

power of ready and intelligent writing4 
,similarly the development1 for         
instance1 of a tooth may be preceded by 
a stage of indefinite aching1 which     
might be ascribed to the formation of an
 abscess1 did not the new tooth         
ultimately show itself4 ,and still more 
striking cases of a perturbation which  
masks evolution might be drawn from the 
history of the human organism as it     
develops into its own maturity1 or      
prepares for the appearance of the fresh
 human organism which is to succeed it4 
,analogy1 therefore1 both physiological 
and psychical1 warns us not to conclude 
that any given psychosis is merely      
degenerative until we have examined its 
results closely enough to satisfy       
ourselves whether they tend to bring    
about any enlargement of human powers1  
to open any new inlet to the reception  
of objective truth4 ,if such there prove
 to be1 then1 with whatever morbid      
activities the psychosis may have been  
intertwined1 it contains indications of 

an evolutionary nisus as well4  ,these  
remarks1 ,i hope1 may have sufficiently 
cleared the ground to admit of our      
starting afresh on the consideration of 
such motor automatisms as are at any    
rate not morbid in their effect on the  
organism1 and which ,i now have to show 
to be evolutive in character4 ,i        
maintain that we have no valid ground   
for assuming that the movements which   
are not due to our conscious will must  
be less important1 and less significant1
 than those that are4 ,we observe1 of   
course1 that in the organic region the  
movements which are not due to conscious
 will are really the most important of  
all1 though the voluntary movements by  
which a man seeks food and protects     
himself against enemies are also of     
great practical importance--he must     
first live and multiply if he is to     
learn and know4 ,but we must guard      
against confusing importance for        
immediate practical life with importance
 for science--on which even practical   

life ultimately depends4 ,as soon as the
 task of living and multiplying is no   
longer all-engrossing1 we begin to      
change our relative estimate of values1 
and to find that it is not the broad and
 obvious phenomena1 but the residual and
 elusive phenomena1 which are oftenest  
likely to introduce us to new avenues of
 knowledge4 ,i wish to persuade my      
readers that this is quite as truly the 
case in psychology as in physics4  ,as a
 first step in our analysis1 we may     
point out certain main characters which 
unite in a true class all the           
automatisms which we are here           
considering--greatly though these may   
differ among themselves in external     
form4  ,in the first place1 then1 our   
automatisms are independent phenomena2  
they are what the physician calls       
idiognomonic4 ,that is to say1 they are 
not merely symptomatic of some other    
affection1 or incidental to some        
profounder change4 ,the mere fact1 for  
instance1 that a man writes messages    

which he does not consciously originate 
will not1 when taken alone1 prove       
anything beyond this fact itself as to  
the writer's condition4 ,he may be      
perfectly sane1 in normal health1 and   
with nothing unusual observable about   
him4 ,this characteristic--provable by  
actual observation and                  
experiment--distinguishes our           
automatisms from various seemingly      
kindred phenomena4 ,thus we may have to 
include in our class the occasional     
automatic utterance of words or         
sentences4 ,but the continuous          
exhausting vociferation of acute mania  
does not fall within our province2 for  
those shouts are merely symptomatic2    
nor1 again1 does the cri hydrocphalique 
7or spontaneous meaningless noise which 
sometimes accompanies water on the      
brain72 for that1 too1 is no independent
 phenomenon1 but the direct consequence 
of a definite lesion4 ,furthermore1 we  
shall have to include in our class      
certain simple movements of the hands1  

co-ordinated into the act of writing4   
,but here1 also1 our definition will    
lead us to exclude choreic movements1   
which are merely symptomatic of nervous 
malnutrition2 or which we may1 if we    
choose1 call idiopathic1 as constituting
 an independent malady4 ,but our        
automatisms are not idiopathic but      
idiognomonic2 they may indeed be        
associated with or facilitated by       
certain states of the organism1 but they
 are neither a symptom of any other     
malady1 nor are they a malady in        
themselves4  ,agreeing1 then1 that our  
peculiar class consists of automatisms  
which are idiognomonic1--whose existence
 does not necessarily imply the         
existence of some profounder affection  
already known as producing them1--we    
have still to look for some more        
positive bond of connection between     
them1 some quality common to all of     
them1 and which makes them worth our    
prolonged investigation4  ,this we shall
 find in the fact that they are all of  

them message-bearing or nunciative      
automatisms4 ,i do not1 of course1 mean 
that they all of them bring messages    
from sources external to the            
automatist's own mind4 ,in some cases   
they probably do this2 but as a rule the
 so-called messages seem more probably  
to originate within the automatist's own
 personality4 ,why1 then1 it may be     
asked1 do ,i call them messages8 ,we do 
not usually speak of a man as sending a 
message to himself4 ,the answer to this 
question involves1 as we shall presently
 see1 the profoundest conception of     
these automatisms to which we can as yet
 attain4 ,they present themselves to us 
as messages communicated from one       
stratum to another stratum of the same  
personality4 ,originating in some deeper
 zone of a man's being1 they float up   
into superficial consciousness1 as      
deeds1 visions1 words1 ready-made and   
full-blown1 without any accompanying    
perception of the elaborative process   
which has made them what they are4  ,can

 we then 7we may next ask7 in any way   
predict the possible range of these     
motor automatisms8 ,have we any limit   
assignable a priori1 outside which it   
would be useless to look for any        
externalisation of an impulse emanating 
from sub-conscious strata of our being8 
,the answer to this must be that no such
 limit can be with any confidence       
suggested4 ,we have not yet learnt with 
any distinctness even how far the wave  
from a consciously-perceived stimulus   
will spread1 or what changes its motion 
will assume4 ,still less can we predict 
the limitations which the resistance of 
the organism will impose on the         
radiation of a stimulus originated      
within itself4 ,we are learning to      
consider the human organism as a        
practically infinite complex of         
interacting vibrations2 and each year   
adds many new facts to our knowledge of 
the various transformations which these 
vibrations may undergo1 and of the      
unexpected artifices by which we may    

learn to cognise some stimulus which is 
not directly felt4  ,a few concrete     
instances will make my meaning plainer4 
,and my first example shall be taken    
from those experiments in               
muscle-reading--less correctly termed   
mind-reading--with which the readers of 
the ,proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r4 are   
already familiar4 ,let us suppose that  
,i am to hide a pin1 and that some      
accomplished muscle-reader is to take my
 hand and find the pin by noting my     
muscular indications4#afb ,i first hide 
the pin in the hearth-rug2 then ,i      
change my mind and hide it in the       
bookshelf4 ,i fix my mind on the        
bookshelf1 but resolve to make no       
guiding movement4 ,the muscle-reader    
takes my hand1 leads me first to the    
rug1 then to the bookshelf1 and finds   
the pin4 ,now1 what has happened in this
 case8 ,what movements have ,i made8    
,firstly1 ,i have made no voluntary     
movement2 and secondly1 ,i have made no 
conscious involuntary movement4 ,but1   

thirdly1 ,i have made an unconscious    
involuntary movement which directly     
depended on conscious ideation4 ,i      
strongly thought of the bookshelf1 and  
when the bookshelf was reached in our   
vague career about the room ,i made a   
movement--say rather a tremor           
occurred--in my hand1 which1 although   
beyond both my knowledge and my control1
 was enough to supply to the            
muscle-reader's delicate sensibility all
 the indication required4 ,all this is  
now admitted1 and1 in a sense1          
understood2 we formulate it by saying   
that my conscious ideation contained a  
motor element2 and that this motor      
element1 though inhibited from any      
conscious manifestation1 did yet        
inevitably externalise itself in a      
peripheral tremor4  ,but1 fourthly1     
something more than this has clearly    
taken place4 ,before the muscle-reader  
stopped at the bookshelf he stopped at  
the rug4 ,i was no longer consciously   
thinking of the rug2 but the idea of the

 pin in the rug must still have been    
reverberating1 so to say1 in my         
sub-conscious region2 and this          
unconscious memory1 this unnoted        
reverberation1 revealed itself in a     
peripheral tremor nearly as distinct as 
that which 7when the bookshelf was      
reached7 corresponded to the strain of  
conscious thought4  ,this tremor1 then1 
was in a certain sense a message-bearing
 automatism4 ,it was the externalisation
 of an idea which1 once conscious1 had  
become unconscious1 though in the       
slightest conceivable degree--namely1 by
 a mere slight escape from the field of 
direct attention4  ,having1 then1       
considered an instance where the        
automatic message passes only between   
two closely-adjacent strata of          
consciousness1 externalising an impulse 
derived from an idea which has only     
recently sunk out of consciousness and  
which could easily be summoned back     
again2--let us find our next            
illustration in a case where the line of

 demarcation between the strata of      
consciousness through which the         
automatic message pierces is distinct   
and impassable by any effort of will4   
,let us take a case of post-hypnotic    
suggestion2--say1 for instance1 an      
experiment of ,edmund ,gurney's 7see    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4     
#cai74 ,the subject had been trained to 
write with planchette1 after he had been
 awakened1 the statements which had been
 made to him when in the hypnotic       
trance4 ,he wrote the desired words1 or 
something like them1 but while he wrote 
them his waking self was entirely       
unaware of what his hand was writing4   
,thus1 having been told in the trance1  
,it has begun snowing again1 he wrote1  
after waking1 ,it begun snowing1 while  
he read aloud1 with waking intelligence1
 from a book of stories1 and was quite  
unconscious of what his hand 7placed on 
a planchette behind a screen7 was at the
 same time writing4  ,here we have an   
automatic message of traceable origin2 a

 message implanted in the hypnotic      
stratum of the subject's self1 and      
cropping up--like a fault--in the waking
 stratum1--externalised in automatic    
movements which the waking self could   
neither predict nor guide4  ,yet once   
more4 ,in the discussion which will     
follow we shall have various instances  
of the transformation 7as ,i shall      
regard it7 of psychical shock into      
definite muscular energy of apparently a
 quite alien kind4 ,such transformations
 of so-called psychical into physical   
force--of will into motion--do of course
 perpetually occur within us4  ,for     
example1 ,i take a child to a circus2 he
 sits by me holding my hand2 there is a 
discharge of musketry and his grip      
tightens4 ,now in this case we should   
call the child's tightened grip         
automatic4 ,but suppose that1 instead of
 merely holding my hand1 he is trying   
with all his might to squeeze the       
dynamometer1 and that the sudden        
excitation enables him to squeeze it    

harder--are we then to describe that    
extra squeeze as automatic8 or as       
voluntary8  ,however phrased1 it is the 
fact 7as amply established by ,m4 ,fr   
and others#afc7 that excitations of     
almost any kind--whether sudden and     
startling or agreeable and prolonged--do
 tend to increase the subject's         
dynamometrical power4 ,in the first     
place1 and this is in itself an         
important fact1 the average of          
squeezing-power is found to be greater  
among educated students than among      
robust labouring men1 thus showing that 
it is not so much developed muscle as   
active brain which renders possible a   
sudden concentration of muscular force4 
,but more than this2 ,m4 ,fr finds that 
with himself and his friends the mere   
listening to an interesting lecture1 or 
the mere stress of thought in solitude1 
or still more the act of writing or of  
speech1 produces a decided increase of  
strength in the grip1 especially of the 
right hand4 ,the same effect of         

dynamogeny is produced with hypnotic    
subjects1 by musical sounds1 by coloured
 light1 especially red light1 and even  
by a hallucinatory suggestion of red    
light4 ,all our sensations1 says ,m4 ,fr
 in conclusion1 are accompanied by a    
development of potential energy1 which  
passes into a kinetic state1 and        
externalises itself in motor            
manifestations which even so rough a    
method as dynamometry is able to observe
 and record4  ,i would beg the reader to
 keep these words in mind4 ,we shall    
presently find that a method apparently 
even rougher than dynamographic tracings
 may be able to interpret1 with far     
greater delicacy1 the automatic tremors 
which are coursing to and fro within us4
 ,if once we can get a spy into the     
citadel of our own being1 his rudest    
signalling will tell us more than our   
subtlest inferences from outside of what
 is being planned and done within4  ,and
 now having to deal with what ,i define 
as messages conveyed by one stratum in  

man to another stratum1 ,i must first   
consider in what general ways human     
messages can be conveyed4 ,writing and  
speech have become predominant in the   
intercourse of civilised men1 and it is 
to writing and speech that we look with 
most interest among the communications  
of the subliminal self4 ,but it does not
 follow that the subliminal self will   
always have such complex methods at its 
command4 ,we have seen already that it  
often finds it hard to manage the       
delicate co-ordinations of muscular     
movement required for writing1--that the
 attempt at automatic script ends in a  
thump and a scrawl4  ,the subliminal    
self like the telegraphist begins its   
effort with full knowledge1 indeed1 of  
the alphabet1 but with only weak and    
rude command over our muscular          
adjustments4 ,it is therefore a priori  
likely that its easiest mode of         
communication will be through a         
repetition of simple movements1 so      
arranged as to correspond to letters of 

the alphabet4  ,and here1 ,i think1 we  
have attained to a conception of the    
mysterious and much-derided phenomenon  
of table-tilting which enables us to    
correlate it with known phenomena1 and  
to start at least from an intelligible  
basis1 and on a definite line of        
inquiry4  ,a few words are needed to    
explain what are the verifiable         
phenomena1 and the less verifiable      
hypotheses1 connoted by such words as   
table-turning1 spirit-rapping1 and the  
like4  ,if one or more persons of a     
special type--at present definable only 
by the question-begging and barbarous   
term mediumistic--remain quietly for    
some time with hands in contact with    
some easily movable object1 and desiring
 its movement1 that object will         
sometimes begin to move4 ,if1 further1  
they desire it to indicate letters of   
the alphabet by its movements1--as by   
tilting once for a1 twice for b1 etc41  
it will often do so1 and answers        
unexpected by any one present will be   

obtained4  ,thus far1 whatever our      
interpretation1 we are in the region of 
easily reproducible facts1 which many of
 my readers may confirm for themselves  
if they please4  ,but beyond the simple 
movements--or table-turning--and the    
intelligible responses--or              
table-tilting--both of which are at     
least prim facie physically explicable  
by the sitters' unconscious pressure1   
without postulating any unknown physical
 force at all1--it is alleged by many   
persons that further physical phenomena 
occur2 namely1 that the table moves in a
 direction1 or with a violence1 which no
 unconscious pressure can explain2 and  
also that percussive sounds or raps     
occur1 which no unconscious action1 or  
indeed no agency known to us1 could     
produce4 ,these raps communicate        
messages like the tilts1 and it is to   
them that the name of spirit-rapping is 
properly given4 ,but spiritualists      
generally draw little distinction       
between these four phenomena--mere      

table-turning1 responsive table-tilting1
 movements of inexplicable vehemence1   
and responsive raps--attributing all    
alike to the agency of departed spirits 
of men and women1 or at any rate to     
disembodied intelligences of some kind  
or other4  ,i am not at present         
discussing the physical phenomena of    
,spiritualism1 and ,i shall therefore   
leave on one side all the alleged       
movements and noises of this kind for   
which unconscious pressure will not     
account4 ,i do not prejudge the question
 as to their real occurrence2 but       
assuming that such disturbances of the  
physical order do occur1 there is at    
least no prim facie need to refer them  
to disembodied spirits4 ,if a table     
moves when no one is touching it2 this  
is not obviously more likely to have    
been effected by my deceased grandfather
 than by myself4 ,we cannot tell how ,i 
could move it2 but then we cannot tell  
how he could move it either4 ,the       
question must be argued on its merits in

 each case2 and our present argument is 
not therefore vitiated by our           
postponement of this further problem4   
,m4 ,richet#afd was1 ,i believe1 the    
first writer1 outside the               
,spiritualistic group1 who so much as   
showed any practical knowledge of this  
phenomenon1 still less endeavoured to   
explain it4 ,faraday's well-known       
explanation of table-turning as the     
result of the summation of many         
unconscious movements--obviously true as
 it is for some of the simplest cases of
 table-movement--does not touch this far
 more difficult question of the         
origination of these intelligent        
messages1 conveyed by distinct and      
repeated movements of some object       
admitting of ready displacement4 ,the   
ordinary explanation--,i am speaking1 of
 course1 of cases where fraud is not in 
question--is that the sitter            
unconsciously sets going and stops the  
movements so as to shape the word in    
accordance with his expectation4 ,now   

that he unconsciously sets going and    
stops the movements is part of my own   
present contention1 but that the word is
 thereby shaped in accordance with his  
expectation is often far indeed from    
being the case4 ,to those indeed who are
 familiar with automatic written        
messages1 this question as to the       
unexpectedness of the tilted messages   
will present itself in a new light4 ,if 
the written messages originate in a     
source beyond the automatist's          
supraliminal self1 so too may the tilted
 messages2--even though we admit that   
the tilts are caused by his hand's      
pressure of the table just as directly  
as the script by his hand's manipulation
 of the pen4  ,one piece of evidence    
showing that written messages are not   
always the mere echo of expectation is a
 case#afe where anagrams were           
automatically written1 which their      
writer was not at once able to decipher4
 ,following this hint1 ,i have          
occasionally succeeded in getting       

anagrams tilted out for myself by       
movements of a small table which ,i     
alone touched4  ,this is a kind of      
experiment which might with advantage be
 oftener repeated2 for the extreme      
incoherence and silliness of the        
responses thus obtained does not prevent
 the process itself from being in a high
 degree instructive4 ,here1 again 7as in
 automatic writing71 a man may hold     
colloquy with his own dream--may note in
 actual juxtaposition two separate      
strata of his own intelligence4  ,i     
shall not at present pursue the         
discussion of these tilted responses    
beyond this their very lowest and most  
rudimentary stage4 ,they almost         
immediately suggest another problem1 for
 which our discussion is hardly ripe1   
the participation1 namely1 of several   
minds in the production of the same     
automatic message4 ,there is something  
of this difficulty even in the          
explanation of messages given when the  
hands of two persons are touching a     

planchette2 but when the instrument of  
response is large1 and the method of    
response simple1 as with table-tilting1 
we find this question of the influence  
of more minds than one imperatively     
recurring4  ,our immediate object1      
however1 is rather to correlate the     
different attainable modes of automatic 
response in some intelligible scheme    
than to pursue any one of them through  
all its phases4 ,we regarded the        
table-tilting process as in one sense   
the simplest1 the least differentiated  
form of motor response4 ,it is a kind of
 gesture merely1 though a gesture       
implying knowledge of the alphabet4 ,let
 us see in what directions the movement 
of response becomes more                
specialised1--as gesture parts into     
pictorial art and articulate speech4 ,we
 find1 in fact1 that a just similar     
divergence of impulses takes place in   
automatic response4 ,on the one hand the
 motor impulse specialises itself into  
drawing2 on the other hand it           

specialises itself into speech4 ,of     
automatic drawing ,i have already said  
something 7,chapter ,,iii474 ,automatic 
speech will receive detailed treatment  
in ,chapter ,,ix4 ,at present ,i shall  
only briefly indicate the position of   
each form of movement among cognate     
automatisms4  ,some of my readers may   
have seen these so-called               
spirit-drawings1--designs1 sometimes in 
colour1 whose author asserts that he    
drew them without any plan1 or even     
knowledge of what his hand was going to 
do4 ,this assertion may be quite true1  
and the person making it may be         
perfectly sane4#aff ,the drawings so    
made will be found curiously accordant  
with what the view which ,i am          
explaining would lead us to expect4 ,for
 they exhibit a fusion of arabesque with
 ideography2 that is to say1 they partly
 resemble the forms of ornamentation    
into which the artistic hand strays     
when1 as it were1 dreaming on the paper 
without definite plan2 and partly they  

afford a parallel to the early attempts 
at symbolic self-expression of savages  
who have not yet learnt an alphabet4    
,like savage writing1 they pass by      
insensible transitions from direct      
pictorial symbolism to an abbreviated   
ideography1 mingled in its turn with    
writing of a fantastic or of an ordinary
 kind4  ,and here1 before we enter on   
the study of automatic writing1 ,i must 
refer to two great historic cases of    
automatism1 which may serve as a kind of
 prologue to what is to follow4 ,one    
case1 that of ,socrates1 is a case of   
monitory inhibition2 the other1 that of 
,jeanne d',arc1 of monitory impulse4    
,the ,founder of ,science himself--the  
permanent type of sanity1 shrewdness1   
physical robustness1 and moral          
balance--was guided in all the affairs  
of life by a monitory ,voice1--by the   
,dmon of ,socrates4 ,this is a case     
which can never lose its interest1 a    
case which has been vouched for by the  
most practical1 and discussed by the    

loftiest intellect of ,greece1--both of 
them intimate friends of the illustrious
 subject2--a case1 therefore1 which one 
who endeavours to throw new light on    
hallucination and automatism is bound1  
even at this distance of time1 to       
endeavour to explain4#afg ,and this is  
the more needful1 since a treatise was  
actually written1 a generation ago1 as a
 specimen of the application of the     
science of psychology to the science of 
history1 arguing from the records of the
 ,greek3 daimnion in ,xenophon and      
,plato that ,socrates was in fact       
insane4#afh  ,i believe that it is now  
possible to give a truer explanation2 to
 place these old records in             
juxtaposition with more instructive     
parallels2 and to show that the messages
 which ,socrates received were only     
advanced examples of a process which1 if
 supernormal1 is not abnormal1 and which
 characterises that form of intelligence
 which we describe as genius4  ,the     
story of ,socrates ,i take as a signal  

example of wise automatism2 of the      
possibility that the messages which are 
conveyed to the supraliminal mind from  
subliminal strata of the                
personality1--whether as sounds1 as     
sights1 or as movements1--may sometimes 
come from far beneath the realm of dream
 and confusion1--from some self whose   
monitions convey to us a wisdom         
profounder than we know4  ,similarly in 
the case of ,joan of ,arc1 ,i believe   
that only now1 with the comprehension   
which we are gradually gaining of the   
possibility of an impulse from the      
mind's deeper strata which is so far    
from madness that it is wiser than our  
sanity itself1--only now1 ,i repeat1 can
 we understand aright that familiar     
story4  ,joan's condemnation was based  
on her own admissions2 and the ,latin   
procs-verbal still exists1 and was      
published from the ,,ms4 by ,m4         
,quicherat1 #ahda-i1 for the ,french    
,historical ,society4#afi ,joan1 like   
,socrates1 was condemned mainly on the  

ground1 or at least on the pretext of   
her monitory voices3 and her ,apology   
remarkably resembles his1 in its        
resolute insistence on the truth of the 
very phenomena which were being used to 
destroy her4 ,her answers are clear and 
self-consistent1 and seem to have been  
little1 if at all1 distorted by the     
recorder4 ,few pieces of history so     
remote as this can be so accurately     
known4  ,fortunately for our purpose1   
her inquisitors asked her many questions
 as to her voices and visions2 and her  
answers enable us to give a pretty full 
analysis of the phenomena which concern 
us4  ,i4 ,the voices do not begin with  
the summons to fight for ,france4 ,joan 
heard them first at thirteen years of   
age1--as with ,socrates also the voice  
began in childhood4 ,the first command  
consisted of nothing more surprising    
than that she was to be a good girl1 and
 go often to church4 ,after this the    
voice--as in the case of                
,socrates--intervened frequently1 and on

 trivial occasions4  ,,ii4 ,the voice   
was accompanied at first by a light1 and
 sometimes afterwards by figures of     
saints1 who appeared to speak1 and whom 
,joan appears to have both seen and felt
 as dearly as though they had been      
living persons4 ,but here there is some 
obscurity2 and ,michelet thinks that on 
one occasion the ,maid was tricked by   
the courtiers for political ends4 ,for  
she asserted 7apparently without        
contradiction7 that several persons1    
including the ,archbishop of ,rheims1 as
 well as herself1 had seen an angel     
bringing to the ,king a material        
crown4#agj  ,,iii4 ,the voices came     
mainly when she was awake1 but also     
sometimes roused her from sleep2 a      
phenomenon often observed in our cases  
of veridical hallucination4 ,ipsa       
dormiebat1 et vox excitabat eam4        
7,quicherat1 i41 p4 #fb47  ,,iv4 ,the   
voice was not always fully intelligible 
7especially if she was half awake72--in 
this respect again resembling some of   

our recorded cases1 both visual and     
auditory1 where1 on the view taken in   
,phantasms of the ,living1 the          
externalisation has been incomplete4    
,vox dixit aliqua1 sed non omnia        
intellexit4 7,quicherat1 i41 p4 #fb47   
,v4 ,the predictions of the voice1 so   
far as stated1 were mainly fulfilled2   
viz41 that the siege of ,orleans would  
be raised2 that ,charles ,,vii4 would be
 crowned at ,rheims2 that she herself   
would be wounded2 but the prediction    
that there would be a great victory over
 the ,english within seven years was not
 fulfilled in any exact way1 although   
the ,english continued to lose ground4  
,in short1 about so much was fulfilled  
as an ardent self-devoted mind might    
have anticipated2 much indeed that might
 have seemed irrational to ordinary     
observers1 but nothing which actually   
needed a definite prophetic power4      
,here1 again1 we are reminded of the    
general character of the monitions of   
,socrates4 ,and yet in ,joan's case1    

more probably than in the case of       
,socrates1 there may have been one      
singular exception to this general rule4
 ,she knew by monition that there was a 
sword retro altare--somewhere behind the
 altar--in the ,church of ,st4          
,catherine of ,fierbois4 ,scivit ipsum  
ibi esse per voces3--she sent for it1   
nothing doubting1 and it was found and  
given to her4 ,this was a unique        
incident in her career4 ,her judges     
asked whether she had not once found a  
cup1 and a missing priest1 by help of   
similar monitions1 but this she denied2 
and it is remarkable that no serious    
attempt was made either to show that she
 had claimed this clairvoyant power     
habitually1 or1 on the other hand1 to   
invalidate the one instance of it which 
she did in effect claim4 ,it would be   
absurd to cite the alleged discovery of 
the sword as in itself affording a proof
 of clairvoyance1 any more than         
,socrates' alleged intimation of the    
approaching herd of swine4#aga ,but when

 we are considering monitions given in  
more recent times it will be well to    
remember that it is in this direction   
that some supernormal extension of      
knowledge seems possibly traceable4     
,the cases of ,socrates and of ,joan of 
,arc1 on which ,i have just dwelt1 might
 with almost equal fitness have been    
introduced at certain other points of my
 discussion4 ,at first sight1 at any    
rate1 they appear rather like sensory   
than like motor automatisms1--like      
hallucinations of hearing rather than   
like the motor impulses which we are now
 about to study4 ,each case1 however1   
approaches motor automatism in a special
 way4  ,in the case of ,socrates the    
sign seems to have been not so much a   
definite voice as a sense of inhibition4
 ,in the case of ,joan of ,arc the      
voices were definite enough1 but they   
were accompanied--as such voices        
sometimes are1 but sometimes are        
not--with an overmastering impulse to   
act in obedience to them4 ,these are1 ,i

 may say1 palmary cases of inhibition   
and of impulse3 and inhibition and      
impulse are at the very root of motor   
phenomena4  ,they show moreover the     
furthest extent of the claim that can be
 made for the agency of the subliminal  
self1 apart from any external           
influence1--apart from telepathy from   
the living1 or possession by the        
departed4 ,each of those other          
hypotheses will claim its own group of  
cases2 but we must not invoke them until
 the resources of subliminal wisdom are 
manifestly overtaxed4  ,these two famous
 cases1 then1 have launched us on our   
subject in the stress of a twofold      
difficulty in logical arrangement4 ,we  
cannot always answer these primary      
questions1 ,is the subliminal impulse   
sensory or motor8 is it originated in   
the automatist's own mind1 or in some   
mind external to him8  ,in the first    
place1 we must reflect that1 if the     
subliminal self really possesses that   
profound power over the organism with   

which ,i have credited it1 we may expect
 that its messages will sometimes       
express themselves in the form of deep  
organic modifications--of changes in the
 vaso-motor1 the circulatory1 the       
respiratory systems4 ,such phenomena are
 likely to be less noted or remembered  
as coincidental1 from their very        
indefiniteness1 as compared1 for        
instance1 with a phantasmal appearance2 
but we have1 nevertheless1 records of   
various telepathic cases of deep        
coenesthetic disturbance1 of a profound 
malaise which must1 one would think1    
have involved some unusual condition of 
the viscera4#agb  ,in cases1 too1 where 
the telepathic impression has ultimately
 assumed a definite sensory form1 some  
organic or emotional phenomena have been
 noted1 being perhaps the first effects 
of the telepathic impact1 whether from  
the living or from the dead4#agc  ,and  
here ,i may mention an experience of    
,lady de ,vesci's1 who described to me  
in conversation a feeling of malaise1   

defining itself into the urgent need of 
definite action--namely1 the despatch of
 a telegram to a friend who was in fact 
then dying at the other side of the     
world4#agd ,such an impulse had one only
 parallel in her experience1 which also 
was telepathic in a similar way4        
,similar sensory disturbances are       
sometimes reported in connection with an
 important form of motor                
automatism1--that of dowsing or         
discovering water by means of the       
movement of a rod held in the hands of  
the automatist1--already treated of in  
,appendix ,v4 ,a4  ,a small group of    
cases may naturally be mentioned here4  
,from two different points of view they 
stand for the most part at the entrance 
of our subject4 ,i speak of motor       
inhibitions1 prompted at first by       
subliminal memory1 or by subliminal     
hypersthesia1 but merging into          
telsthesia or telepathy4                
,inhibitions--sudden arrests or         
incapacities of action--7more or less of

 the ,socratic type7--form a simple1    
almost rudimentary1 type of motor       
automatisms4 ,and an inhibition--a      
sudden check on action of this          
kind--will be a natural way in which a  
strong but obscure impression will work 
itself out4 ,such an impression1 for    
instance1 is that of alarm1 suggested by
 some vague sound or odour which is only
 subliminally perceived4 ,and thus in   
this series of motor automatisms1 just  
as in our series of dreams1 or in our   
series of sensory automatisms1 we find  
ourselves beginning with cases where the
 subliminal self merely shows some      
slight extension of memory or of sensory
 perception1--and thence pass insensibly
 to cases where no cryptomnesia will    
explain the facts known in the past1 and
 no hypersthesia will explain the facts 
discerned in the present4  ,we may most 
of us have observed that if we perform  
any small action to which there are     
objections1 which we have once known but
 which have altogether passed from our  

minds1 we are apt to perform it in a    
hesitating1 inefficient way4  ,similarly
 there are cases where some sudden      
muscular impulse or inhibition has      
probably depended on a subliminal       
perception or interpretation of a sound 
which had not reached the supraliminal  
attention4 ,for instance1 two friends   
walking together along a street in a    
storm just evade by sudden movements a  
falling mass of masonry4 ,each thinks   
that he has received some monition of   
the fall2 each asserting that he heard  
no noise whatever to warn him4 ,here is 
an instance where subliminal perception 
may have been slightly quicker and more 
delicate than supraliminal1 and may have
 warned them just in time4  ,in the case
 which ,i now quote 7from ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 p4 #daf7 there may  
have been some subliminal hypersthesia  
of hearing which dimly warned ,mr4      
,wyman of the approach of the extra     
train4#age  ,mr4 ,wm4 ,h4 ,wyman writes 
to the ,editor of the ,arena as         

follows3--   ,,dunkirk1 ,n4 ,y41 ,june  
#bfth1 #ahia4       ,some years ago my  
brother was employed and had charge as  
conductor      and engineer of a working
 train on the ,lake ,shore and ,michigan
      ,southern ,railway1 running       
between ,buffalo and ,erie1 which passes
      through this city 7,dunkirk1 ,n4  
,y474 ,i often went with him to the     
,grave ,bank1 where he had his          
headquarters1 and returned on his       
train with him4 ,on one occasion ,i was 
with him1 and after the train      of   
cars was loaded1 we went together to the
 telegraph office to see      if there  
were any orders1 and to find out if the 
trains were on      time1 as he had to  
keep out of the way of all regular      
trains4 ,after      looking over the    
train reports and finding them all on   
time1 we      started for ,buffalo4 ,as 
we approached near ,westfield ,station1 
running about #ab miles per hour1 and   
when within about one mile of      a    
long curve in the line1 my brother all  

of a sudden shut off the      steam1 and
 quickly stepping over to the fireman's 
side of the      engine1 he looked out  
of the cab window1 and then to the rear 
of      his train to see if there was   
anything the matter with either4 ,not   
discovering anything wrong1 he stopped  
and put on steam1 but almost            
immediately again shut it off and gave  
the signal for breaks and      stopped4 
,after inspecting the engine and train  
and finding nothing      wrong1 he      
seemed very much excited1 and for a     
short time he acted      as if he did   
not know where he was or what to do4 ,i 
asked what was      the matter4 ,he     
replied that he did not know1 when1     
after looking at      his watch and     
orders1 he said that he felt that there 
was some      trouble on the line of the
 road4 ,i suggested that he had better  
run      his train to the station and   
find out4 ,he then ordered his flagman  
with his flag to go ahead around the    
curve1 which was just ahead of      us1 

and he would follow with the train4 ,the
 flagman started and had      just time 
to flag an extra express train1 with the
 ,general      ,superintendent and      
others on board1 coming full #dj forty  
miles      per hour4 ,the               
,superintendent inquired what he was    
doing there1 and      if he did not     
receive orders to keep out of the way of
 the extra4      ,my brother told him   
that he had not received orders and did 
not      know of any extra train coming2
 that we had both examined the train    
reports before leaving the station4 ,the
 train then backed to the      station1 
where it was found that no orders had   
been given4 ,the      train despatcher  
was at once discharged from the road1   
and from      that time to this both my 
brother and myself are unable to account
      for his stopping the train as he  
did4 ,i consider it quite a             
mystery1 and cannot give or find any    
intelligent reason for it4 ,can      you
 suggest any8       ,the above is true  

and correct in every particular4  ,in   
other cases again some subliminal sense 
of smell may be conjectured4#agf        
,tactile sensibility1 too1 must be      
carefully allowed for4 ,the sense of    
varying resistance in the air may reach 
in some seeing persons1 as well as in   
the blind1 a high degree of             
acuteness4#agg  ,but there are cases of 
sudden motor inhibition where no warning
 can well have been received from       
hypersthetic sensation1 where we come1  
as it seems1 to telsthesia or to spirit 
guardianship4  7,from ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 p4 #dei47           
,four years ago1 ,i made arrangements   
with my nephew1 ,john ,w4      ,parsons1
 to go to my office after supper to     
investigate a case4 ,we      walked     
along together1 both fully determined to
 go up into the      office1 but just as
 ,i stepped upon the door sill of the   
drug store1      in which my office was 
situated1 some invisible influence      
stopped      me instantly4 ,i was much  

surprised1 felt like ,i was almost      
dazed1      the influence was so strong1
 almost like a blow1 ,i felt like ,i    
could not make another step4 ,i said to 
my nephew1 ,john1 ,i do not      feel   
like going into the office now2 you go  
and read ,flint and      ,aitken on the 
subject4 ,he went1 lighted the lamp1    
took off his      hat1 and just as he   
was reaching for a book the report of a 
large      pistol was heard4 ,the ball  
entered the window near where he was    
standing1 passed near to and over his   
head1 struck the wall and      fell to  
the floor4 ,had ,i been standing where  
he was1 ,i would have      been killed1 
as ,i am much taller than he4 ,the      
pistol was fired by a      man who had  
an old grudge against me1 and had       
secreted himself in a      vacant house 
near by to assassinate me4       ,this  
impression was unlike any that ,i ever  
had before4 ,all my      former         
impressions were slow in their          
development1 grew stronger      and     

stronger1 until the maximum was reached4
 ,i did not feel that ,i      was in any
 danger1 and could not understand what  
the strong      impression meant4 ,the  
fellow was drunk1 had been drinking for 
two      weeks4 ,if my system had been  
in a different condition--,i had just   
eaten supper--,i think ,i would have    
received along with the      impression 
some knowledge of the character of the  
danger1 and would      have prevented my
 nephew from going into the office4     
,i am fully satisfied that the invisible
 and unknown intelligence      did the  
best that could have been done1 under   
the circumstances1 to      save us from 
harm4  ,d4 ,j4 ,,parsons1 ,m4,d41 ,sweet
 ,springs1 ,mo4       7,the above       
account was received in a letter from   
,dr4 ,d4 ,j4 ,parsons1      dated       
,december #aeth1 #ahia47                
,statement of ,dr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,,parsons4   
,about four years ago my uncle1 ,dr4 ,d4
 ,j4 ,parsons1 and ,i were going      to
 supper1 when a man halted us and       

expressed a desire for medical          
advice4 ,my uncle requested him to call 
the next morning1 and as we      walked 
along he said the case was a bad one and
 that we would come      back after     
supper and go to the office and examine 
the authorities      on the subject4    
,after supper we returned1 walked along 
together on      our way to the office1 
but just as we reached the door of the  
drug      store he very unexpectedly1 to
 me1 stopped suddenly1 which caused     
me to stop too2 we stood there together 
a few seconds1 and he      remarked to  
me that he did not feel like going into 
the office      then1 or words to that  
effect1 and told me to go and examine   
,flint      and ,aitken4 ,i went1 lit   
the lamp1 and just as ,i was getting a  
book1      a pistol was fired into the  
office1 the ball passing close to my    
head1 struck the east wall1 then the    
north1 and fell to the floor4           
,this #eth day of ,july1 #ahia4  ,,john 
,w4 ,,parsons ,ladonia1 ,texas4  ,in the

 next group of cases1 we reach a class  
of massive motor impulses which are     
almost entirely free from any sensory   
admixture4  ,take for instance the case 
of ,mr4 ,garrison1 who left a religious 
meeting in the evening1 and walked      
eighteen miles under the strong impulse 
to see his mother1 and found her dead4  
,the account is given in the ,journal   
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #abe  #hbe4    
,in another case1 that of ,major ,kobb  
7given in ,phantasms of the ,living1    
vol4 i4 p4 #bhh71 the percipient was    
prompted to visit a distant cemetery1   
without any conscious reason1 and there 
found his father1 who had1 in fact1 for 
certain unexpected reasons1 sent to his 
son1 ,major ,kobb1 a request            
7accidentally not received7 to meet him 
at that place and hour4  ,in a third    
case1 ,mr4 ,skirving 7see ,phantasms of 
the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #bhe #hbe ,a7   
was irresistibly compelled to leave his 
work and go home--why1 he knew not--at  
the moment when his wife was in fact    

calling for him in the distress of a    
serious accident4 ,see also a case given
 in ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 
p4 #cgg1 where a bricklayer has a sudden
 impulse to run home1 and arrives just  
in time to save the life of his little  
boy1 who had set himself on fire4  ,this
 special sensibility to the motor       
element in an impulse recalls to us the 
special susceptibilities to different   
forms of hallucination or suggestion    
shown by different hypnotic subjects4   
,some can be made to see1 some to hear1 
some to act out the conception proposed 
to them4 ,dr4 ,brillon#agh has even     
shown that certain subjects who seem at 
first quite refractory to hypnotisation 
are nevertheless at once obedient1 even 
in the waking state1 to a motor         
suggestion4 ,this was the case both with
 a very strong man1 with weak men and   
women1 and with at least one subject    
actually suffering from locomotor ataxy4
 ,thus the loss of supraliminal motor   
control over certain muscular           

combinations may actually lead to motor 
suggestibility as regards those         
combinations2 just as the loss of       
supraliminal sensation in some ansthetic
 patch may lead to a special subliminal 
sensitiveness in the very directions    
where the superficial sensibility has   
sunk away4 ,on the other hand1 a        
specially well-developed motor control  
may predispose in a similar way2--as for
 instance1 the subject who can sing     
already is more easily made to sing by  
suggestion4 ,we must1 then1 await       
further observations before we can      
pretend to say beforehand with which    
automatist the messages will take a     
sensory1 and with which a motor form4   
,still less can we explain the special  
predisposition of each experimenter to  
one or more of the common kinds of motor
 automatism--as automatic speech1       
automatic writing1 table movements1     
raps1 and so forth4 ,these forms of     
messages may themselves be variously    
combined2 and the contents of a message 

of any one of these kinds may be purely 
dream-like and fantastic1 or may be     
veridical in various ways4  ,let us     
enumerate the modes of subliminal motor 
message as nearly as we can in order of 
their increasing specialisation4  #a4   
,we may place first the massive motor   
impulses 7like ,mr4 ,garrison's7 which  
mark a kind of transition between       
coenesthetic affections and motor       
impulses proper4 ,there was here no     
impulse to special movement of any limb2
 but an impulse to reach a certain place
 by ordinary methods4  #b4 ,next1       
perhaps1 in order of specialisation come
 the simple subliminal muscular impulses
 which give rise to table-tilting and   
similar phenomena4  #c4 ,musical        
execution1 subliminally initiated1 might
 theoretically be placed next2 although 
definite evidence of this is hard to    
obtain1 since the threshold of          
consciousness with musical performers is
 notoriously apt to be shifting and     
indefinite4 7,when in doubt1 play with  

your fingers1 and not with your head47  
#d4 ,next we may place automatic drawing
 and painting4 ,this curious group of   
messages has but seldom a telepathic    
content1 and1 as was suggested in       
,chapter ,,iii41 is more akin to genius 
and similar non-telepathic forms of     
subliminal faculty4#agi  #e4 ,next comes
 automatic writing1 on which much       
remains to be said in this chapter4  #f4
 ,automatic speech1 which would not seem
 to be per se a more developed form of  
motor message than automatic script1 is 
often accompanied by profound changes of
 memory or of personality which raise   
the question of inspiration or          
possession2--for the two words1 however 
different their theological import1 mean
 much the same thing from the standpoint
 of experimental psychology4  #g4 ,i    
must conclude my list with a class of   
motor phenomena which ,i shall here     
merely record in passing1 without       
attempting any explanation4 ,i allude to
 raps1 and to those telekinetic         

movements of objects whose real         
existence is still matter of            
controversy4  ,comparing this list of   
motor automatisms with the sensory      
automatisms enumerated in ,chapter      
,,vi41 we shall find a certain general  
tendency running through each alike4    
,the sensory automatisms began with     
vague unspecialised sensations4 ,they   
then passed through a phase of          
definition1 of specialisation on the    
lines of the known senses4 ,and finally 
they reached a stage beyond these       
habitual forms of specialisation3 beyond
 them1 as of wider reach1 and including 
in an apparently unanalysable act of    
perception a completer truth than any of
 our specialised forms of perception    
could by itself convey4 ,with motor     
messages1 too1 we begin with something  
of similar vagueness4 ,they1 too1       
develop from modifications of the       
percipient's general organic condition1 
or coenesthesia2 and the first dim      
telepathic impulse apparently hesitates 

between several channels of expression4 
,they then pass through various         
definitely specialised forms2 and       
finally1 as we shall see when automatic 
script is considered1 they1 too1 merge  
into an unanalysable act of cognition in
 which the motor element of the message 
has disappeared4 ,but these motor       
messages point also in another even more
 perplexing direction4 ,they lead1 as ,i
 have said above1 towards the old idea  
of possession2--using the word simply as
 an expression for some form of         
temporary manifestation of some         
veritably distinct and alien personality
 through the physical organism of some  
man or woman1 as is well exemplified in 
many cases of automatic writing4 ,in    
,europe and ,america the phenomenon of  
automatic writing first came into notice
 as an element in so-called modern      
spiritualism about the middle of the    
nineteenth century2 but the writings of 
,w4 ,stainton ,moses--about             
#ahgj-hj--were perhaps the first        

continuous series of such messages which
 could be regarded as worthy of serious 
attention4 ,mr4 ,moses--a man whose     
statements could not be lightly set     
aside--claimed for them that they were  
the direct utterances of departed       
persons1 some of them lately dead1 some 
dead long ago4 ,however they were really
 to be explained1 they strongly         
impressed ,edmund ,gurney and myself and
 added to our desire to work at the     
subject in as many ways as we could4    
,it was plain that these writings could 
not be judged aright without a wide     
analysis of similar scripts1--without an
 experimental inquiry into what the     
human mind1 in states of somnambulism or
 the like1 could furnish of written     
messages1 apart from the main stream of 
consciousness4 ,by his experiments on   
writing obtained in different stages of 
hypnotic trance1 ,gurney acted as the   
pioneer of a long series of researches  
which1 independently set on foot by     
,professor ,pierre ,janet in ,france1   

have become of high psychological1 and  
even medical1 importance4 ,what is here 
of prime interest is the indubitable    
fact that fresh personalities can be    
artificially and temporarily created1   
which will write down matter quite alien
 from the first personality's character1
 and even matter which the first        
personality never knew4 ,that matter may
 consist merely of reminiscences of     
previous periods when the second        
personality has been in control4 ,but1  
nevertheless1 if these writings are     
shown to the primary personality1 he    
will absolutely repudiate their         
authorship--alleging not only that he   
has no recollection of writing them1 but
 also that they contain allusions to    
facts which he never knew4 ,some of     
these messages1 indeed1 although their  
source is so perfectly well             
defined--although we know the very      
moment when the secondary personality   
which wrote them was called into        
existence--do certainly look more alien 

from the automatist in his normal state 
than many of the messages which claim to
 come from spirits of lofty type4 ,it is
 noticeable1 moreover1 that these       
manufactured personalities sometimes    
cling obstinately to their fictitious   
names1 and refuse to admit that they are
 in reality only aspects or portions of 
the automatist himself4 ,this must be   
remembered when the persistent claim to 
some spiritual identity--say            
,napoleon--is urged as an argument for  
attributing a series of messages to that
 special person4  ,what has now been    
said may suffice as regards the         
varieties of mechanism--the different   
forms of motor automatism--which the    
messages employ4 ,i shall pass on to    
consider the contents of the messages1  
and shall endeavour to classify them    
according to their apparent sources4    
,a4 ,in the first place1 the message may
 come from the percipient's own mind2   
its contents being supplied from the    
resources of his ordinary memory1 or of 

his more extensive subliminal memory2   
while the dramatisation of the          
message--its assumption of some other   
mind as its source--will resemble the   
dramatisations of dream or of hypnotic  
trance4  ,of course the absence of facts
 unknown to the writer is not in itself 
a proof that the message does not come  
from some other mind4 ,we cannot be sure
 that other minds1 if they can          
communicate1 will always be at the pains
 to fill their messages with evidential 
facts4 ,but1 equally of course1 a       
message devoid of such facts must not1  
on the strength of its mere assertions1 
be claimed as the product of any but the
 writer's own mind4  ,b4 ,next above the
 motor messages whose content the       
automatist's own mental resources might 
supply1 we may place the messages whose 
content seems to be derived             
telepathically from the mind of some    
other person still living on earth2 that
 person being either conscious or       
unconscious of transmitting the         

suggestion4  ,c4 ,next comes the        
possibility that the message may emanate
 from some unembodied intelligence of   
unknown type--other1 at any rate1 than  
the intelligence of the alleged agent4  
,under this heading come the views which
 ascribe the messages on the one hand to
 elementaries1 or even devils1 and on   
the other hand to guides or guardians of
 superhuman goodness and wisdom4  ,d4   
,finally we have the possibility that   
the message may be derived1 in a more or
 less direct manner1 from the mind of   
the agent--the departed friend--from    
whom the communication does actually    
claim to come4  ,my main effort has     
naturally been thus far directed to the 
proof that there are messages which do  
not fall into the lowest class1 ,a--in  
which class most psychologists would    
still place them all4 ,and ,i           
myself--while reserving a certain small 
portion of the messages for my other    
classes--do not only admit but assert   
that the great majority of such         

communications represent the subliminal 
workings of the automatist's mind alone4
 ,it does not1 however1 follow that such
 messages have for us no interest or    
novelty4 ,on the contrary1 they form an 
instructive1 an indispensable transition
 from psychological introspection of the
 old-fashioned kind to the bolder       
methods on whose validity ,i am anxious 
to insist4 ,the mind's subliminal       
action1 as thus revealed1 differs from  
the supraliminal in ways which no one   
anticipated1 and which no one can       
explain4 ,there seem to be subliminal   
tendencies setting steadily in certain  
obscure directions1 and bearing as      
little relation to the individual       
characteristics of the person to the    
deeps of whose being we have somehow    
penetrated as profound ocean-currents   
bear to waves and winds on the surface  
of the sea4#ahj  ,another point also1 of
 fundamental importance1 connected with 
the powers of the subliminal self1 will 
be better deferred until a later        

chapter4 ,i have said that a message    
containing only facts normally known to 
the automatist must not1 on the strength
 of its mere assertions1 be regarded as 
proceeding from any mind but his own4   
,this seems evident2 but the converse   
proposition is not equally indisputable4
 ,we must not take for granted that a   
message which does contain facts not    
normally known to the automatist must   
therefore come from some mind other than
 his own4 ,if the subliminal self can   
acquire supernormal knowledge at all1 it
 may obtain such knowledge by means     
other than telepathic impressions from  
other minds4 ,it may assimilate its     
supernormal nutriment also by a directer
 process--it may devour it not only     
cooked but raw4 ,parallel with the      
possibilities of reception of such      
knowledge from the influence of other   
embodied or disembodied minds lies the  
possibility of its own clairvoyant      
perception1 or active absorption of some
 kind1 of facts lying indefinitely      

beyond its supraliminal purview4  ,now1 
as ,i have said1 the great majority of  
the nunciative or message-bearing motor 
automatisms originate in the            
automatist's own mind1 and do not       
involve the exercise of telepathy or    
telsthesia1 or any other supernormal    
faculty2 but they illustrate in various 
ways the coexistence of the subliminal  
with the supraliminal self1 its wider   
memory1 and its independent             
intelligence4  ,i need not here multiply
 instances of the simpler and commoner  
forms of this type1 and ,i will merely  
quote in illustration one short case    
recounted by ,mr4 ,h4 ,arthur ,smith    
7author of ,the ,principles of ,equity1 
and a member of the ,council of the     
,society for ,psychical ,research7 who  
has had the patience to analyse many    
communications through ,planchette4     
7,from ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4 
p4 #bcc47aha ,mr4 ,smith and his nephew 
placed their hands on the ,planchette1  
and a purely fantastic name was given as

 that of the communicating agency4      
,q4 ,where did you live8 ,a4 ,wem4 ,this
 name was quite unknown to      any of  
us4 ,i am sure it was to myself1 and as 
sure of the word of      the others as  
of that of any one ,i know4       ,q4   
,is it decided who is to be ,archbishop 
of ,canterbury8 ,a4 ,yes4       ,q4     
,who8 ,a4 ,durham4 ,as none of us       
remembered his name1 we asked4          
,what is his name8 ,a4 ,lightfoot4 ,of  
course1 how far the main      statement 
is correct1 ,i don't know4 ,the         
curiosity at the time      rested in the
 fact that the name was given which none
 of us could      recall1 but was found1
 to be right4  ,now1 this is just one of
 the cases which a less wary observer   
might have brought forward as evidence  
of spirit agency4 ,an identity1 it would
 be said1 manifested itself1 and gave an
 address which none present had ever    
heard4 ,but ,i venture to say that there
 cannot be any real proof that an       
educated person has never heard of ,wem4

 ,a permanent recorded fact1 like the   
name of a town which is to be found 7for
 instance7 in ,bradshaw's ,guide1 may at
 any moment have been presented to ,mr4 
,smith's eye1 and have found a lodgment 
in his subliminal memory4  ,similarly in
 the answers ,durham and ,lightfoot we  
are reminded of cases where in a dream  
we ask a question with vivid curiosity1 
and are astonished at the reply2 which  
nevertheless proceeds from ourselves as 
undoubtedly as does the inquiry4 ,the   
prediction in this case was wrong4      
,what we have been shown is an          
independent activity of the subliminal  
self holding colloquies with the        
supraliminal1 and nothing more4 ,yet we 
shall find1 if we go on accumulating    
instances of the same general type1 that
 traces of telsthesia and telepathy     
begin insensibly to show themselves2 not
 at first with a distinctness or a      
persistence sufficient for actual proof1
 but just in the same gradual way in    
which indications of supernormal faculty

 stole in amid the disintegration of    
split personalities2 or in which        
indications of some clairvoyant outlook 
stole in amid the incoherence of dream4 
,many of these faint indications1       
valueless1 as ,i have said1 for purely  
evidential purposes1 are nevertheless of
 much theoretical interest1 as showing  
how near is the subliminal self to that 
region of supernormal knowledge which   
for the supraliminal is so definitely   
closed4#ahb  ,mr4 ,schiller's case 7see 
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4    
#baf-bbd7 #hcb ,a is a good example of  
these obscure transitions between normal
 and supernormal1 and introduces us to  
several phenomena which we shall        
afterwards find recurring again and     
again in independent quarters4          
,dramatisation of fictitious            
personalities1 for instance1 which forms
 so marked a feature in ,professor      
,flournoy's celebrated case 7to be      
discussed later71 begins in this series 
of experiments1 conducted throughout    

with a purely scientific aim1 and with  
no sort of belief in the imaginary      
,irktomar and the rest4 ,it seems as    
though this objectivation of types were 
part of a romance which some inscrutable
 but childish humorist was bent on      
making up4 ,the cryptomnesia shown in   
this case through the reproduction of   
scraps of old ,french with which the    
automatist had no conscious             
acquaintance1 reached a point at which  
7as again in ,professor ,flournoy's     
case7 one is almost driven to suspect   
that it was aided by some slight        
clairvoyance on the part of the         
subliminal self4  ,indeed as the cases  
become increasingly complex1 one wonders
 to what extent this strange manufacture
 of inward romances can be carried4     
,there is1 ,i may say1 a great deal more
 of it in the world than is commonly    
suspected4 ,i have myself received so   
many cases of these dramatised          
utterances--as though a number of       
different spirits were writing in turn  

through some automatist's hand--that ,i 
have come to recognise the operation of 
some law of dreams1 so to call it1 as   
yet but obscurely understood4 ,the      
alleged personalities are for the most  
part not only unidentified1 but         
purposely unidentifiable2 they give     
themselves romantic or ludicrous names1 
and they are produced and disappear as  
lightly as puppets on a mimic stage4    
,the main curiosity of such cases lies  
in their very persistence and           
complexity2 it would be a waste of space
 to quote any of the longer ones in such
 a way as to do them justice4 ,and1     
fortunately1 there is no need for me to 
give any of my own cases2 since a       
specially good case has been specially  
well observed and reported in a book    
with which many of my readers are       
probably already acquainted1--,professor
 ,flournoy's ,des ,indes  la plante     
,mars3 ,etude sur un cas de             
,somnambulisme avec ,glossolalie 7,paris
 and ,geneva1 #aijj74 ,i shall here make

 some comments on that striking record1 
which all students of these subjects    
ought to study in detail4  ,it happens1 
no doubt1 to any group which pursues for
 many years a somewhat unfamiliar line  
of inquiry1 that those of their points  
which are first assailed get gradually  
admitted1 so that as they become        
interested in new points they may       
scarcely observe what change has taken  
place in the reception of the old4 ,the 
reader of early volumes of the          
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r4 will often       
observe this kind of progress of        
opinion4 ,and now ,professor ,flournoy's
 book indicates in a remarkable way how 
things have moved in the psychology of  
the last twenty years4 ,the book--a     
model of fairness throughout--is indeed1
 for the most part1 critically          
destructive in its treatment of the     
quasi-supernormal phenomena with which  
it deals4 ,but what a mass of           
conceptions a competent psychologist now
 takes for granted in this realm1 which 

the official science of twenty years ago
 would scarcely stomach our hinting at6 
,one important point may be noticed at  
once as decisively corroborating a      
contention of my own made long ago1 and 
at a time when it probably seemed       
fantastic to many readers4 ,arguing for 
the potential continuity of subliminal  
mentation 7as against those who urged   
that there were only occasional flashes 
of submerged thought1 like scattered    
dreams71 ,i said that it would soon be  
found needful to press this notion of a 
continuous subliminal self to the       
utmost1 if we were not prepared to admit
 a continuous spiritual guidance or     
possession4 ,now1 in fact1 with         
,professor ,flournoy's subject the whole
 discussion turns on this very point4   
,there is unquestionably a continuous   
and complex series of thoughts and      
feelings going on beneath the threshold 
of consciousness of ,mlle4 ,hlne ,smith4
 ,is this submerged mentation due in any
 degree or in any manner to the         

operation of spirits other than ,mlle4  
,smith's own8 ,that is the broad        
question2 but it is complicated here by 
a subsidiary question3 whether1 namely1 
any previous incarnations of ,mlle4     
,smith's--other phases of her own       
spiritual history1 now involving complex
 relationship with the past--have any   
part in the crowd of personalities which
 seem struggling to express themselves  
through her quite healthy organism4     
,mlle4 ,smith1 ,i should at once say1 is
 not1#ahc and never has been1 a paid    
medium4 ,at the date of ,m4 ,flournoy's 
book1 she occupied a leading post on the
 staff of a large maison de commerce at 
,geneva1 and gave sances to her friends 
simply because she enjoyed the exercise 
of her mediumistic faculties1 and was   
herself interested in their explanation4
  ,her organism1 ,i repeat1 is regarded1
 both by herself and by others1 as a    
quite healthy one4 ,mlle4 ,smith1 says  
,professor ,flournoy1 declares          
distinctly that she is perfectly sound  

in body and mind--in no way lacking in  
equilibrium--and indignantly repudiates 
the idea that there is any hurtful      
anomaly or the slightest danger in      
mediumship as she practises it4  ,it is 
far from being demonstrated1 he         
continues1 that mediumship is a         
pathological phenomenon4 ,it is         
abnormal1 no doubt1 in the sense of     
being rare1 exceptional2 but rarity is  
not morbidity4 ,the few years during    
which these phenomena have been         
seriously and scientifically studied    
have not been enough to allow us to     
pronounce on their true nature4 ,it is  
interesting to note that in the         
countries where these studies have been 
pushed the furthest1 in ,england and    
,america1 the dominant view among the   
savants who have gone deepest into the  
matter is not at all unfavourable to    
mediumship2 and that1 far from regarding
 it as a special case of hysteria1 they 
see in it a faculty superior1           
advantageous1 healthy1 of which hysteria

 is a form of degenerescence1 a         
pathological parody1 a morbid           
caricature4  ,the phenomena which this  
sensitive presents 7,hlne ,smith is     
,professor ,flournoy's pseudonym for    
her7 cover a range which looks at first 
very wide1 although a clearer analysis  
shows that these varieties are more     
apparent than real1 and that            
self-suggestion will perhaps account for
 all of them4  ,there is1 to begin with1
 every kind of automatic irruption of   
subliminal into supraliminal life4 ,as  
,professor ,flournoy says 7p4 #de73     
,phenomena of hypermnesia1 divinations1 
mysterious findings of lost objects1    
happy inspirations1 exact presentiments1
 just intuitions1 teleological          
7purposive or helpful7 automatisms1 in  
short1 of every kind2 she possesses in a
 high degree this small change of       
genius--which constitutes a more than   
sufficient compensation for the         
inconvenience resulting from those      
distractions and moments of absence of  

mind which accompany her visions2 and   
which1 moreover1 generally pass         
unobserved4  ,at sances--where the      
deeper change has no                    
inconveniences--,hlne undergoes a sort  
of self-hypnotisation which produces    
various lethargic and somnambulistic    
states4 ,and when she is alone and safe 
from interruption she has spontaneous   
visions1 during which there may be some 
approach to ecstasy4 ,at the sances she 
experiences positive hallucinations1 and
 also negative hallucinations1 or       
systematised ansthesi1 so that1 for     
instance1 she will cease to see some    
person present1 especially one who is to
 be the recipient of messages in the    
course of the sance4 ,it seems as though
 a dream-like incoherence presided over 
this preliminary work of disaggregation1
 in which the normal perceptions are    
arbitrarily split up or absorbed by the 
subconscious personality--eager for     
materials with which to compose the     
hallucinations which it is preparing4   

,then1 when the sance begins1 the main  
actor is ,hlne's guide ,lopold 7a       
pseudonym for ,cagliostro7 who speaks   
and writes through her1 and is1 in fact1
 either her leading spirit-control or   
7much more probably7 her most developed 
form of secondary personality4          
,leopold1 says ,professor ,flournoy 7p4 
#acd71 certainly manifests a very       
honourable and amiable side of ,mlle4   
,smith's character1 and in taking him as
 her 'guide' she has followed           
inspirations which are doubtless among  
the highest in her nature4  ,the high   
moral quality of these automatic        
communications1 on which ,professor     
,flournoy thus insists1 is a phenomenon 
worth consideration4  ,i do not mean    
that it is specially strange in the case
 of ,mlle4 ,smith4 ,but the almost      
universally high moral tone of genuinely
 automatic utterances has not1 ,i think1
 been sufficiently noticed or adequately
 explained4  ,in evidential             
messages--where there is real reason to 

believe that an identified spirit is    
communicating--there is a marked and    
independent consensus on such matters as
 these spirits profess themselves able  
to discuss4  ,and again in              
non-evidential messages--in             
communications which probably proceed   
from the automatist's subliminal        
self--,i hold that there is a remarkable
 and undesigned concordance in high     
moral tone1 and also in avoidance of    
certain prevalent tenets1 which many of 
the automatists do supraliminally hold  
as true4 ,but ,i also insist that these 
subliminal messages1 even when not      
incoherent1 are generally dream-like1   
and often involve tenets which 7though  
never in my experience base or immoral7 
are unsupported by evidence1 and are    
probably to be referred to mere         
self-suggestion4  ,prominent among such 
tenets is one which forms a large part  
of ,mlle4 ,smith's communications2      
namely1 the doctrine of reincarnation1  
or of successive lives spent by each    

soul upon this planet4  ,the simple fact
 that such was probably the opinion both
 of ,plato and of ,virgil shows that    
there is nothing here which is alien to 
the best reason or to the highest       
instincts of men4 ,nor1 indeed1 is it   
easy to realise any theory of the direct
 creation of spirits at such different  
stages of advancement as those which    
enter upon the earth in the guise of    
mortal man4 ,there must1 one feels1 be  
some kind of continuity--some form of   
spiritual ,past4 ,yet for reincarnation 
there is at present no valid evidence2  
and it must be my duty to show how its  
assertion in any given instance--,mlle4 
,smith's included--constitutes in itself
 a strong argument in favour of         
self-suggestion rather than extraneous  
inspiration as the source of the        
messages in which it appears4  ,whenever
 civilised men have received what they  
have regarded as a revelation 7which has
 generally been somewhat fragmentary in 
its first delivery7 they have naturally 

endeavoured to complete and systematise 
it as well as they could4 ,in so doing  
they have mostly aimed at three objects3
 7#a7 to understand as much as possible 
of the secrets of the universe2 7#b7 to 
justify as far as possible ,heaven's    
dealings with men2 and 7#c7 to          
appropriate as far as possible the      
favour or benefit which the revelation  
may show as possibly accruing to        
believers4 ,for all these purposes the  
doctrine of reincarnation has proved    
useful in many countries and times4 ,but
 in no case could it seem more          
appropriate than in this last revelation
 7so to term it7 through automatic      
messages and the like4 ,and as a matter 
of history1 a certain vigorous preacher 
of the new faith1 known under the name  
of ,allan ,kardec1 took up              
reincarnationist tenets1 enforced them  
7as there is reason to believe7 by      
strong suggestion upon the minds of     
various automatic writers1 and set them 
forth in dogmatic works which have had  

much influence1 especially among ,latin 
nations1 from their clarity1 symmetry1  
and intrinsic reasonableness4 ,yet the  
data thus collected were absolutely     
insufficient1 and the ,livre des        
,esprits must simply rank as the        
premature formulation of a new          
religion--the premature systematisation 
of a nascent science4  ,i follow        
,professor ,flournoy in believing that  
the teaching of that work must have     
directly or indirectly influenced the   
mind of ,mlle4 ,smith1 and is therefore 
responsible for her claim to these      
incarnations previous to that which she 
now undergoes or enjoys4  ,on the       
general scheme here followed1 each      
incarnation1 if the last has been used  
aright1 ought to represent some advance 
in the scale of being4 ,if one          
earth-life has been misused1 the next   
earth-life ought to afford opportunity  
for expiation--or for further practice  
in the special virtue which has been    
imperfectly acquired4 ,thus ,mlle4      

,smith's present life in a humble       
position may be thought to atone for her
 overmuch pride in her last             
incarnation--as ,marie ,antoinette4     
,but the mention of ,marie ,antoinette  
suggests the risk which this theory     
fosters--of assuming that one is the    
issue of a distinguished line of        
spiritual progenitors2 insomuch that1   
with whatever temporary sets-back1 one  
is sure in the end to find oneself in a 
leading position4  ,pythagoras1 indeed1 
was content with the secondary hero     
,euphorbus as his bygone self4 ,but in  
our days ,dr4 ,anna ,kingsford and ,mr4 
,edward ,maitland must needs have been  
the ,virgin ,mary and ,st4 ,john the    
,divine4 ,and ,victor ,hugo1 who was    
naturally well to the front in these    
self-multiplications1 took possession of
 most of the leading personages of      
antiquity whom he could manage to string
 together in chronological sequence4 ,it
 is obvious that any number of re-born  
souls can play at this game2 but where  

no one adduces any evidence it seems    
hardly worth while to go on4 ,even      
,pythagoras does not appear to have     
adduced any evidence beyond his ipse    
dixit for his assertion that the alleged
 shield of ,euphorbus had in reality    
been borne by that mythical hero4       
,meantime the question as to            
reincarnation has actually been put to a
 very few spirits who have given some   
real evidence of their identity4 ,so far
 as ,i know1 no one of these has claimed
 to know anything personally of such an 
incident2 although all have united in   
saying that their knowledge was too     
limited to allow them to generalise on  
the matter4  ,hlne's controls and       
previous incarnations--to return to our 
subject--do perhaps suffer from the     
general fault of aiming too high4 ,she  
has to her credit a control from the    
planet ,mars2 one pre-incarnation as an 
,indian ,princess2 and a second 7as ,i  
have said7 as ,marie ,antoinette4  ,in  
each case there are certain impressive  

features in the impersonation2 but in   
each case also careful analysis         
negatives the idea that we can be       
dealing with a personality really       
revived from a former epoch1 or from a  
distant planet2--and leaves us inclined 
to explain everything by cryptomnesia   
7as ,professor ,flournoy calls submerged
 memory71 and that subliminal           
inventiveness of which we already know  
so much4  ,the ,martian control was     
naturally the most striking at first    
sight4 ,its reality was supported by a  
,martian language1 written in a ,martian
 alphabet1 spoken with fluency1 and     
sufficiently interpreted into ,french to
 show that such part of it1 at any rate1
 as could be committed to writing was   
actually a grammatical and coherent form
 of speech4  ,and here ,i reach an      
appropriate point at which to remark    
that this book of ,professor ,flournoy's
 is not the first account which has been
 published of ,mlle4 ,hlne4 ,professor  
,lematre1 of ,geneva1 printed two papers

 about her in the ,annales des ,sciences
 ,psychiques3 first1 a long article in  
the number for ,march-,april1           
#ahig--then a reply to ,m4 ,lefbure in  
the number for ,may-,june1 #ahig4 ,in   
these papers he distinctly claims       
supernormal powers for ,mlle4 ,hlne1    
implying a belief in her genuine        
possession by spirits1 and even in her  
previous incarnations1 and in the       
extra-terrene or ostensibly ,martian    
language4 ,i read these papers at the   
time1 but put them aside as             
inconclusive1 mainly because that very  
language1 on which ,m4 ,lematre seemed  
most to rely1 appeared to me so         
obviously factitious as to throw doubt  
on all the evidence presented by an     
observer who could believe that denizens
 of another planet talked to each other 
in a language corresponding in every    
particular with simple ,french idioms1  
and including such words as quisa for   
quel1 quis for quelle1 vtche for voir1  
vche for vu2--the fantastic locutions of

 the nursery4 ,m4 ,lematre remarks1 as a
 proof of the consistency and reality of
 the extra-terrene tongue1 ,l'un des    
premiers mots que nous ayons eus1       
mtiche1 signifiant monsieur1 se retrouve
 plus tard avec le sens de homme4 ,that 
is to say1 having transmogrified        
monsieur into mtiche1 ,hlne further     
transmutes les messieurs into ce        
mtich2--in nave imitation of ordinary   
,french usage4 ,and this tongue is      
supposed to have sprung up independently
 of all the influences which have shaped
 terrene grammar in general or the      
,french idiom in particular6 ,and even  
after ,professor ,flournoy's analysis of
 this absurdity ,i see newspapers       
speaking of this ,martian language as an
 impressive phenomenon6 ,they seem      
willing to believe that the evolution of
 another planet1 if it has culminated in
 conscious life at all1 can have        
culminated in a conscious life into     
which we could all of us enter affably1 
with a suitable ,ollendorff's           

phrase-book under our arms2--eni ce     
mtich on qud1--ici les hommes           
7messieurs7 sont bons1--here the men are
 good2--and the rest of it4  ,to the    
student of automatisms1 of course1 all  
this irresistibly suggests the          
automatist's own subliminal handiwork4  
,it is a case of glossolaly1 or speaking
 with tongues2 and we have no modern    
case--no case later than the            
half-mythical ,miracles of the          
,cevennes--where such utterance has     
proved to be other than gibberish4 ,i   
have had various automatic hieroglyphics
 shown to me1 with the suggestion that  
they may be cursive ,japanese1 or       
perhaps an old dialect of ,northern     
,china2 but ,i confess that ,i have     
grown tired of showing these fragments  
to the irresponsive expert1 who suggests
 that they may also be vague            
reminiscences of the scrolls in an      
,oriental tea-tray4  ,it seems indeed to
 be a most difficult thing to get       
telepathically into any brain even      

fragments of a language which it has not
 learnt4 ,a few simple ,italian1 and    
even ,hawaiian1 words occur in ,mrs4    
,piper's utterances1 coming apparently  
from departed spirits 7,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4 #ccg and #chd 
#ifj ,a and  #ifa71 but these1 with some
 ,kaffir and ,chinese words given       
through ,miss ,browne 7,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4 #abd-abg #hga   
,a71 form1 ,i think1 almost the only    
instances which ,i know4 ,and1 speaking 
generally1 whatever is elaborate1       
finished1 pretentious1 is likely to be  
of subliminal facture2 while only things
 scrappy1 perplexed1 and tentative1 have
 floated to us veritably from afar4  ,i 
need not here go into the details of the
 ,hindow preincarnation or of the more  
modern and accessible characterisation  
of ,marie ,antoinette1 but will pass on 
to certain minor1 but interesting       
phenomena1 which ,professor ,flournoy   
calls teleological automatisms4 ,these  
are small acts of                       

helpfulness--beneficent synergies1 as we
 might term them1 in contrast with the  
injurious synergies1 or combined groups 
of hurtful actions1 with which hysteria 
has made us familiar4#ahd  ,one day1    
says ,professor ,flournoy 7p4 #ce71     
,miss ,smith1 when desiring to lift down
 a large and heavy object which lay on a
 high shelf1 was prevented from doing so
 because her raised arm remained for    
some seconds as though petrified in the 
air and incapable of movement4 ,she took
 this as a warning1 and gave up the     
attempt4 ,at a subsequent sance ,leopold
 stated that it was he who had thus     
fixed ,hlne's arm to prevent her from   
grasping this object1 which was much too
 heavy for her and would have caused her
 some accident4  ,another time1 a       
shopman1 who had been looking in vain   
for a certain pattern1 asked ,hlne if by
 chance she knew what had become of it4 
,hlne answered mechanically and without 
reflection--',yes1 it has been sent to  
,mr4 ,j4' 7a client of the house74 ,at  

the same time she saw before her the    
number #ah in large black figures a few 
feet from the ground1 and added         
instinctively1 ',it was sent eighteen   
days ago4' ,this was in the highest     
degree improbable1 but was found to be  
absolutely correct4 ,leopold had no     
recollection of this1 and does not seem 
to have been the author of this         
cryptomnesic automatism4  ,a similar    
phenomenon has also been noted 7p4 #hg7 
when warning is conveyed by an actual   
phantasmal figure4 ,mlle4 ,smith has    
seen an apparition of ,leopold1 barring 
a particular road1 under circumstances  
which make it probable that ,mlle4      
,smith would on that day have had cause 
to regret taking that route4  ,this case
 of ,professor ,flournoy's1 then--this  
classical case1 as it may already be    
fairly termed--may serve here as our    
culminant example of the free scope and 
dominant activity of the unassisted     
subliminal self4 ,the telepathic element
 in this case1 if it exists1 is         

relatively small2 what we are watching  
in ,mlle4 ,hlne ,smith resembles1 as ,i 
have said1 a kind of exaggeration of the
 submerged constructive faculty1--a     
hypertrophy of genius--without the      
innate originality of mind which made   
even the dreams of ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson a 
source of pleasure to thousands of      
readers4  ,in reference to the main     
purpose of this work1 such cases as     
these1 however curious1 can be only     
introductory to automatisms of deeper   
moment4 ,in our attempt to trace an     
evolutive series of phenomena indicating
 ever higher human faculty1 the smallest
 telepathic incident1--the most trivial 
proof1 if proof it be1 of communication 
received without sensory intermediation 
from either an incarnate or a discarnate
 mind outweighs in importance the most  
complex ramifications and burgeonings of
 the automatist's own submerged         
intelligence4  ,i pass on1 then1 to     
evidence which points1 through motor    
automatisms1 to supernormal faculty2 and

 ,i shall begin by referring the reader 
to certain experiments 7due to          
,professor ,richet7 in the simplest of  
all forms of motor automatism1 viz41    
table-tilting1 with results which only  
telepathy can explain4 7,see ,appendix  
,,viii4 ,a47  ,trivial though they seem1
 such experiments may with a little care
 be made absolutely conclusive4 ,had    
,professor ,richet's friends1 for       
example1 been willing to prolong this   
series1 we might have had a standing    
demonstration of telepathy1 reproducible
 at will4#ahe  ,and now ,i pass on to   
some experiments with ,planchette1 in   
which an element of telepathy was shown4
 ,the following account from ,mrs4      
,alfred ,moberly1 ,tynwald1 ,hythe1     
,kent1 is corroborated1 with some       
additional examples1 by two other ladies
 present at the time4  7,from           
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4 p4     
#bce47   ,may #ith1 #ahhd4       ,the   
operators were placed out of sight of   
the rest of the company1      who       

selected--in silence--a photograph1 one 
of an albumful1 and      fixed their    
attention on it4 ,we--the               
operators--were requested to      keep  
our minds a blank as far as possible and
 follow the first      involuntary      
motion of the ,planchette4 ,in three out
 of five cases it      wrote the name or
 initial or some word descriptive of the
 selected      portrait4 ,we also       
obtained the signatures to letters      
selected in      the same manner4 ,we   
both knew perfectly well that we were   
writing--not the spirits1 as the rest of
 the company persist to      this day in
 believing--but had only the slightest  
idea what the      words might prove to 
be4       ,we have tried it since1 and  
generally with some curious result4 ,a  
crucial test was offered by two         
gentlemen in the form of a question     
to which we couldn't possibly guess the 
answer4 ,where's ,toosey8      ,the     
answer came1 ,in ,vauxhall ,road4       
,toosey1 they explained1 was      a pet 

terrier who had disappeared2 suspicion  
attaching to a plumber      living in   
the road mentioned1 who had been working
 at the house and      whose departure  
coincided with ,toosey's4  ,of course1  
in the case of the inquiry after the    
lost dog1 we may suppose that the answer
 given came from the questioner's own   
mind4 ,mrs4 ,moberly and her friends    
seem to have been quite aware of this2  
and were little likely to fall into the 
not uncommon error of asking            
,planchette1 for instance1 what horse   
will win the ,derby1 and staking1       
perhaps1 some pecuniary consideration on
 the extremely illusory reply4#ahf  ,and
 now we come to the palmary case of the 
late ,rev4 ,p4 ,h4 ,newnham1 ,vicar of  
,maker1 ,devonport1 who was personally  
known to ,edmund ,gurney and myself1 and
 was a man in all ways worthy of high   
respect4 ,the long series of            
communications between ,mr4 ,newnham and
 his wife1 which date back to #ahga1 and
 whose contemporaneous written record is

 preserved in the archives of the       
,s4,p4,r41 must1 ,i think1 always retain
 their primacy as early and trustworthy 
examples of a telepathic transference   
where the percipient's automatic script 
answers questions penned by the agent in
 such a position that the percipient    
could not in any normal manner discern  
what those questions were4 ,no part of  
our evidence seems to me more worthy of 
study than this4#ahg  ,it must be       
distinctly understood that ,mrs4        
,newnham did not see or hear the        
questions which ,mr4 ,newnham wrote     
down4#ahh ,the fact1 therefore1 that her
 answers bore any relation to the       
questions shows that the sense of the   
questions was telepathically conveyed to
 her4 ,this is the leading and important
 fact4 ,the substance of the replies    
written is also interesting1 and ,mr4   
,newnham has some good comments thereon4
 ,but even had the replies contained no 
facts which ,mrs4 ,newnham could not    
have known1 this would not detract from 

the main value of the evidence1 which   
consists in the fact that ,mrs4         
,newnham's hand wrote replies clearly   
and repeatedly answering questions which
 she neither heard nor saw4  ,in this   
case we have the advantage of seeing    
before us the entire series of questions
 and answers1 and thus of satisfying    
ourselves that the misses 7which in that
 case are very few7 are marked as well  
as the hits1 and consequently that the  
coincidences between question and answer
 are at any rate not the result of      
chance4 ,in several other cases which ,i
 have known1 where the good faith of the
 informants has been equally above      
question1 the possibility of an         
explanation by chance alone has been a  
more important element in the problem4  
,all our evidence has tended to show    
that the telepathic power itself is a   
variable thing2 that it shows itself in 
flashes1 for the most part              
spontaneously1 and seldom persists      
through a series of deliberate          

experiments4 ,and if an automatist      
possessing power of this uncertain kind 
has exercised it at irregular moments   
and with no scientific aim2--and has    
kept1 moreover1 no steady record of     
success and failure2--then it becomes   
difficult to say that even some         
brilliant coincidences afford cogent    
proof of telepathic action4#ahi  ,i pass
 on to a small group of cases which form
 a curious transition from these        
communications inter vivos to           
communications which ,i shall class as  
coming from the dead4 ,these are cases  
where the message professes to come from
 a deceased person1 but shows internal  
evidence of having come1 telepathically1
 from the mind of some one present1 or1 
indeed1 from some living person at a    
distance4 7,see the case given in       
,appendix ,,viii4 ,b47  ,but this1      
although a real risk1 is by no means the
 only risk of deception which such      
messages involve4 ,the communication may
 conceivably come from some unembodied  

spirit indeed1 but not from the spirit  
who is claimed as its author4  ,the     
reader who wishes to acquaint himself   
with this new range of problems cannot  
do better than study the record of the  
varied experiences of automatic writing 
which have been intermingled with ,miss 
,a4's crystal-visions1 etc4#aij  ,there 
is no case that ,i have watched longer  
than ,miss ,a4's2--none where ,i have   
more absolute assurance of the          
scrupulous probity of the principal     
sensitive herself and of the group who  
share the experiments2--but none also   
which leaves me more often baffled as to
 the unseen source of the information   
given4 ,there is a knowledge both of the
 past and of the future1 which seems    
capriciously limited1 and is mingled    
with mistakes1 yet on the other hand is 
of a nature which it is difficult to    
refer to any individual human mind1     
incarnate or discarnate4 ,we meet here  
some of the first indications of a      
possibility that discarnate spirits     

communicating with us have occasional   
access to certain sources of knowledge  
which even to themselves are inscrutably
 remote and obscure4  ,the written      
diagnoses and prognoses given by the    
so-called ,semirus1 often without ,miss 
,a4's even seeing the patient or hearing
 the nature of his malady1 have become  
more and more remarkable4 ,miss ,a4 and 
her friends do not wish these private   
matters to be printed1 and ,i cannot    
therefore insist upon the phenomena     
here4 ,yet in view of the amount of     
telsthesia which ,miss ,a4's various    
automatisms reveal1 it should first be  
noted that human organisms seem         
especially pervious to such vue         
distance4 ,semirus1 ,gelalius1 etc41 are
 obvious pseudonyms2 and neither        
,semirus' prescriptions nor ,gelalius'  
cosmogony contain enough of indication  
to enable us to grasp their origin4#aia 
,from the communications of these remote
 personages ,i go on to certain messages
 avowedly coming from persons more      

recently departed1 and into which       
something more of definite personality  
seems to enter4 ,one element of this    
kind is handwriting2 there are many     
cases where resemblance of handwriting  
is one of the evidential points alleged4
 ,now proof of identity from resemblance
 of handwriting may conceivably be very 
strong4 ,but in estimating it we must   
bear two points in mind4 ,the first is  
that 7like the resemblances of so-called
 spirit-photographs to deceased friends7
 it is often very loosely asserted4 ,one
 needs1 if not an expert's opinion1 at  
least a careful personal scrutiny of the
 three scripts--the automatist's        
voluntary and his automatic script1 and 
the deceased person's script--before one
 can feel sure that the resemblance is  
in more than some general scrawliness4  
,this refers to the cases where the     
automatist has provably never seen the  
deceased person's handwriting4 ,where he
 has seen that handwriting1 we have to  
remember 7in the second place7 that a   

hypnotised subject can frequently       
imitate any known handwriting far more  
closely than in his waking state2 and   
that consequently we are bound to credit
 the subliminal self with a mimetic     
faculty which may come out in these     
messages without any supraliminal       
guidance whatever on the automatist's   
part4 ,in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
v4 pp4 #edi-fe #hfd ,a1 is an account of
 a series of experiments by ,professor  
,rossi-,pagnoni at ,pesaro1 into which  
the question of handwriting enters4 ,the
 account illustrates automatic utterance
 as well as other forms of motor        
automatism1 and possibly also           
telekinetic phenomena4 ,the critical    
discussion of the evidence by ,mr4 ,h4  
,babington ,smith1 to whom we are       
indebted for the account1 shows with    
what complex considerations we have to  
deal in the questions now before us4  ,i
 now cite a few cases where the point of
 central interest is the announcement of
 a death unknown to the sitters4#aib    

,in ,appendix ,,viii4 ,c is given a case
 which we received from ,dr4 ,libeault1 
of ,nancy1 and which was first published
 in ,phantasms of the ,living 7vol4 i4  
p4 #bic71 where it was regarded as an   
example of a spontaneous telepathic     
impulse proceeding directly from a dying
 person4 ,i now regard it as more       
probably due to the action of the spirit
 after bodily death4  ,i shall next give
 a rsum of a case of curious complexity 
received from ,m4 ,aksakof2--an         
automatic message written by a ,mdlle4  
,stramm1 informing her of the death of a
 ,m4 ,duvanel4 ,the principal incidents 
may here be disentangled as follows3--  
,duvanel dies by his own hand on        
,january #aeth1 #ahhg1 in a ,swiss      
village1 where he lives alone1 having no
 relations except a brother      living 
at a distance1 whom ,mdlle4 ,stramm had 
never seen 7as the      principal       
witness1 ,m4 ,kaigorodoff1 informs us in
 a letter of ,may      #ahij74          
,mdlle4 ,stramm's father does not hear  

of ,duvanel's death till two      days  
later1 and sends her the news in a      
letter dated ,january #ahth1      #ahhg4
       ,five hours after ,duvanel's     
death an automatic message announcing it
      is written at the house of ,m4    
,kaigorodoff1 at ,wilna in ,russia1 by  
,mdlle4 ,stramm1 who had certainly at   
that time received no news of      the  
event4       ,from what mind are we to  
suppose that this information came8     
7#a7 ,we may first attempt to account   
for ,mdlle4 ,stramm's message on        
the theory of latency4 ,we may suppose  
that the telepathic message      came   
from the dying man1 but did not rise    
into consciousness until      an        
opportunity was afforded by ,mdlle4     
,stramm's sitting down to      write    
automatically4       ,but to this       
interpretation there is an objection of 
a very curious      kind4 ,the message  
written by ,mdlle4 ,stramm was not      
precisely      accurate4 ,instead of    
ascribing ,duvanel's death to suicide1  

it      ascribed it to a stoppage of    
blood1 un engorgement de sang4          
,and when ,m4 ,stramm1 three days after 
the death1 wrote to his      daughter in
 ,russia to tell her of it1 he also used
 the same      expression1 un           
engorgement de sang1 thus disguising the
 actual      truth in order to spare the
 feelings of his daughter1 who had      
formerly refused to marry ,duvanel1 and 
who 7as her father feared7      might   
receive a painful shock if she learnt   
the tragic nature of      his end4      
,there was1 therefore1 a singular       
coincidence between the      automatic  
and the normally-written message as to  
the death2--a      coincidence which    
looks as though the same mind had been  
at work      in each instance4 ,but that
 mind cannot have been ,m4 ,stramm's    
ordinary mind1 as he was not            
supraliminally aware of ,duvanel's      
death at the time when the first message
 was written4 ,it may1      however1 be 
supposed that his subliminal self had   

received the      information of the    
death telepathically1 had transmitted it
 in a      deliberately modified form to
 his daughter1 while it remained        
latent in himself1 and had afterwards   
influenced his supraliminal      self to
 modify the information in the same way 
when writing to her4       7#b7 ,but we 
must also consider the explanation of   
the coincidence      given by the       
intelligence which controlled the       
automatic writing4      ,that           
intelligence asserted itself to be a    
brother of ,mdlle4      ,stramm's1 who  
died some years before4 ,and this ,louis
 further      asserted that he had      
himself influenced ,m4 ,stramm to make  
use of      the same euphemistic phrase1
 with the object of avoiding a shock to 
,mdlle4 ,stramm2 for which purpose it   
was needful that the two      messages  
should agree in ascribing the death to  
the same form of      sudden illness4   
,now if this be true1 and the message   
did indeed come from the      deceased  

,louis1 we have an indication of        
continued existence1 and      continued 
knowledge of earthly affairs1 on the    
part of a person      long dead4        
,but if we consider that the case1 as   
presented to us1 contains no      proof 
of ,louis' identity1 so that ,louis may 
be merely one of      those arbitrary   
names which the automatist's subliminal 
intelligence seems so prone to assume2  
then we must suppose that      ,duvanel 
was actually operative on two occasions 
after death1 first      inspiring in    
,mdlle4 ,stramm the automatic message1  
and then      modifying in ,m4 ,stramm  
the message which the father might      
otherwise      have sent4  ,i next quote
 a case in ,appendix ,,viii4 ,d which   
illustrates the continued terrene       
knowledge on the part of the dead of    
which other instances were given in the 
last chapter4  ,and lastly1 ,i give in  
,appendix ,,viii4 ,e a case which in one
 respect stands alone4 ,it narrates the 
success of a direct experiment1--a      

test-message planned before death1 and  
communicated after death1 by a man who  
held that the hope of an assurance of   
continued existence was worth at least a
 resolute effort1 whatever its result   
might be4 ,his tests1 indeed1 were two1 
and both were successful4 ,one was the  
revealing of the place where1 before    
death1 he hid a piece of brick marked   
and broken for special recognition1 and 
the other was the communication of the  
contents of a short letter which he     
wrote and sealed before death4 ,we may  
say that the information was certainly  
not possessed supraliminally by any     
living person4 ,there are two other     
cases 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 
pp4 #cec-cee1 and op4 cit4 vol viii4 pp4
 #bch-bdb #hgf ,a and ,b7 where         
information given through automatists   
may hypothetically be explicable by     
telepathy from the living1 although1    
indeed1 in my own view1 it probably     
emanated from the deceased as alleged4  
,in one of these cases the place where a

 missing will had been hidden was       
revealed to the automatist1 but it is   
not clear whether the will was actually 
discovered or not before the automatic  
writing was obtained 7although the      
automatist was unaware of its           
discovery71 and in any case1 apparently1
 its whereabouts was known to some      
living person who had hidden it1 and may
 not have been known to the deceased    
before death4  ,in the other case the   
whereabouts of a missing note of hand   
was revealed to the automatists1 and    
even if this could be regarded as       
absolutely unknown supraliminally to any
 living person1 it is not by any means  
certain that the fact was known before  
death to the deceased person from whom  
the message purported to come4  ,these  
cases1 therefore1 are not such strong   
evidence for personal identity as the   
one to which ,i have referred above1 and
 which ,i have given1 as recording what 
purports to be the successful           
accomplishment of an experiment which   

every one may make2--which every one    
ought to make2--for1 small as may be the
 chances of success1 a few score of     
distinct successes would establish a    
presumption of man's survival which the 
common sense of mankind would refuse to 
explain away4  ,here1 then1 let us pause
 and consider to what point the evidence
 contained in this chapter has gradually
 led us4 ,we shall perceive that the    
motor phenomena have confirmed1 and have
 also greatly extended1 the results to  
which the cognate sensory phenomena had 
already pointed4 ,we have already noted1
 in each of the two states of sleep and 
of waking1 the variously expanding      
capacities of the subliminal self4 ,we  
have watched a hypersthetic             
intensification of ordinary             
faculty1--leading up to telsthesia1 and 
to telepathy1 from the living and from  
the departed4 ,along with these powers1 
which1 on the hypothesis of the soul's  
independent existence1 are at least     
within our range of analogical          

conception1 we have noted also a        
precognitive capacity of a type which no
 fact as yet known to science will help 
us to explain4  ,proceeding to the study
 of motor automatisms1 we have found a  
third group of cases which independently
 confirm in each of these lines in turn 
the results of our analysis of sensory  
automatisms both in sleep and in waking4
 ,evidence thus convergent will already 
need no ordinary boldness of negative   
assumption if it is to be set aside4    
,but motor automatisms have taught us   
much more than this4 ,at once more      
energetic and more persistent than the  
sensory1 they oblige us to face certain 
problems which the lightness and        
fugitiveness of sensory impressions     
allowed us in some measure to evade4    
,thus when we discussed the mechanism   
7so to call it7 of visual and auditory  
phantasms1 two competing conceptions    
presented themselves for our            
choice1--the conception of telepathic   
impact1 and the conception of psychical 

invasion4 ,either 7we said7 there was an
 influence exerted by the agent on the  
percipient's mind1 which so stimulated  
the sensory tracts of his brain that he 
externalised that impression as a       
quasi-percept1 or else the agent in some
 way modified an actual portion of space
 where 7say7 an apparition was          
discerned1 perhaps by several           
percipients at once4  ,phrased in this  
manner1 the telepathic impact seemed the
 less startling1 the less extreme       
hypothesis of the two1--mainly1 perhaps1
 because the picture which it called up 
was left so vague and obscure4 ,but now 
instead of a fleeting hallucination we  
have to deal with a strong and lasting  
impulse--such1 for instance1 as the     
girl's impulse to write1 in ,dr4        
,libeault's case 7,appendix ,,viii4     
,c73--an impulse which seems to come    
from the depths of the being1 and which 
7like a post-hypnotic suggestion7 may   
override even strong disinclination1 and
 keep the automatist uncomfortable until

 it has worked itself out4 ,we may still
 call this a telepathic impact1 if we   
will1 but we shall find it hard to      
distinguish that term from a psychical  
invasion4 ,this strong1 yet apparently  
alien1 motor innervation corresponds in 
fact as closely as possible to our idea 
of an invasion--an invasion no longer of
 the room only in which the percipient  
is sitting1 but of his own body and his 
own powers4 ,it is an invasion which1 if
 sufficiently prolonged1 would become a 
possession2 and it both unites and      
intensifies those two earlier           
conjectures2--of telepathic impact on   
the percipient's mind1 and of           
phantasmogenetic presence in the        
percipient's surroundings4 ,what seemed 
at first a mere impact is tending to    
become a persistent control2 what seemed
 an incursion merely into the           
percipient's environment has become an  
incursion into his organism itself4  ,as
 has been usual in this inquiry1 this   
slight forward step from vagueness to   

comparative clearness of conception     
introduces us at once to a whole series 
of novel problems4 ,yet1 as we have also
 learnt to expect1 some of our earlier  
phenomena may have to be called in with 
advantage to illustrate phenomena more  
advanced4  ,in cases of split           
personality1 to begin with1 we have seen
 just the same phenomena occurring where
 certainly no personality was concerned 
save the percipient's own4 ,we have seen
 a section of the subliminal self       
partially or temporarily dominating the 
organism2 perhaps controlling           
permanently one arm alone2#aic or       
perhaps controlling intermittently the  
whole nervous system2--and all this with
 varying degrees of displacement of the 
primary personality4  ,similarly with   
post-hypnotic suggestion4 ,we have seen 
the subliminal self ordered to write    
7say7 ,it has left off raining--and     
thereupon writing the words without the 
conscious will of the automatist--and   
again with varying degrees of           

displacement of the waking self4 ,the   
step hence to such a case as ,mrs4      
,newnham's is thus not a very long one4 
,mrs4 ,newnham's subliminal self1       
exercising supernormal faculty1 and by  
some effort of its own1 acquires certain
 facts from ,mr4 ,newnham's mind1 and   
uses her hand to write them down        
automatically4 ,the great problem here  
introduced is how the subliminal self   
acquires the facts1 rather than how it  
succeeds in writing them down when it   
has once acquired them4  ,but as we go  
further we can no longer limit the      
problem in this way1--to the activities 
of the automatist's subliminal self4 ,we
 cannot always assume that some portion 
of the automatist's personality gets at 
the supernormal knowledge by some effort
 of its own4 ,our evidence1 as we know1 
has pointed decisively to telepathic    
impacts or influences from without4     
,what1 then1 is the mechanism here8 ,are
 we still to suppose that the           
automatist's subliminal self executes   

the movements--obeying somehow the      
bidding of the impulse from without8 or 
does the external agent1 who sends the  
telepathic message1 himself execute the 
movements also1 directly using the      
automatist's arm8 ,and if telekinetic   
movements accompany the message 7a      
subject thus far deferred1 but of prime 
importance71 are we to suppose that     
these also are effected by the          
percipient's subliminal self1 under the 
guidance of some external spirit1       
incarnate or discarnate8 or are they    
effected directly by that external      
spirit8  ,we cannot really say which of 
these two is the easier hypothesis4     
,from one point of view it may seem     
simpler to keep as long as we can to    
that acknowledged vera causa1 the       
automatist's subliminal self2 and to    
collect such observations as may        
indicate any power on its part of       
producing physical effects outside the  
organism4 ,such scattered observations  
occur at every stage1 and even ,mrs4    

,newnham 7,i may briefly observe in     
passing7 thought that her pencil1 when  
writing down the messages telepathically
 derived from her husband1 was moved by 
something other than the ordinary       
muscular action of the fingers which    
held it4 ,on the other hand1 there seems
 something very forced in attributing to
 an external spirit's agency impulses   
and impressions which seem intimately   
the automatist's own1 and at the same   
time refusing to ascribe to that        
external agency phenomena which take    
place outside the automatist's organism1
 and which present themselves to him as 
objective facts1 as much outside his own
 being as the fall of the apple to the  
ground4  ,reflecting on such points--and
 once admitting this kind of interaction
 between the automatist's own spirit and
 an external spirit1 incarnate or       
discarnate--we find the possible        
combinations presenting themselves in   
perplexing variety2--a variety both of  
agencies on the part of the invading    

spirit1 and of effects on the part of   
the invaded spirit and organism4  ,what 
is that which invades8 and what is that 
which is displaced or superseded by this
 invasion8 ,in what ways may two spirits
 co-operate in the possession and       
control of the same organism8  ,these   
last words--control and                 
possession--remind us of the great mass 
of vague tradition and belief to the    
effect that spirits of the departed may 
exercise such possession or control over
 the living4 ,to those ancient and vague
 beliefs it will be our task in the next
 chapter to give a form as exact and    
stable as we can4 ,and observe with how 
entirely novel a preparation of mind we 
now enter on that task4 ,the examination
 of possession is no longer to us1 as to
 the ordinary civilised inquirer1 a     
merely antiquarian or anthropological   
research into forms of superstition     
lying wholly apart from any valid or    
systematic thought4 ,on the contrary1 it
 is an inquiry directly growing out of  

previous evidence2 directly needed for  
the full comprehension of known facts as
 well as for the discovery of facts     
unknown4 ,we need1 7so to say71 to      
analyse the spectrum of helium1 as      
detected in the sun1 in order to check  
and correct our spectrum of helium as   
detected in the ,bath waters4 ,we are   
obliged to seek for certain definite    
phenomena in the spiritual world in     
order to explain certain definite       
phenomena of the world of matter4       
,,chapter ,,ix  ,,trance1 ,,possession1 
,,and ,,ecstasy      ,vicit iter durum  
pietas4      --,,virgil4   ,possession1 
to define it for the moment in the      
narrowest way1 is a more developed form 
of ,motor ,automatism4 ,the difference  
broadly is1 that in ,possession the     
automatist's own personality does for   
the time altogether disappear1 while    
there is a more or less complete        
substitution of personality2 writing or 
speech being given by a spirit through  
the entranced organism4 ,the change     

which has come over this branch of      
evidence since the present work was     
first projected1 in #ahhh1 is most      
significant4 ,there existed indeed1 at  
that date1 a good deal of evidence which
 pointed in this direction1#aid but for 
various reasons most of that evidence   
was still possibly explicable in other  
ways4 ,even the phenomena of ,mr4 ,w4   
,s4 ,moses left it possible to argue    
that the main controls under which he   
wrote or spoke when entranced were      
self-suggestions of his own mind1 or    
phases of his own deeper personality4 ,i
 had not then had the opportunity1 which
 the kindness of his executors after his
 death afforded to me1 of studying the  
whole series of his original note-books1
 and forming at first-hand my present   
conviction that spiritual agency was an 
actual and important element in that    
long sequence of communications4 ,on the
 whole1 ,i did not then anticipate that 
the theory of possession could be       
presented as more than a plausible      

speculation1 or as a supplement to other
 lines of proof of man's survival of    
death4  ,the position of things1 as the 
reader of the ,s4,p4,r4 ,proceedings    
knows1 has since that time undergone a  
complete change4 ,the trance-phenomena  
of ,mrs4 ,piper--so long and so         
carefully watched by ,dr4 ,hodgson and  
others--formed1 ,i think1 by far the    
most remarkable mass of psychical       
evidence till then adduced in any       
quarter4 ,and more recently other series
 of trance-phenomena with other         
mediums--though still incomplete--have  
added materially to the evidence        
obtained through ,mrs4 ,piper4 ,the     
result broadly is that these phenomena  
of possession are now the most amply    
attested1 as well as intrinsically the  
most advanced1 in our whole repertory4  
,nor1 again1 is the mere increment of   
direct evidence1 important though that  
is1 the sole factor in the changed      
situation4 ,not only has direct evidence
 grown1 but indirect evidence1 so to    

say1 has moved to meet it4 ,the notion  
of personality--of the control of       
organism by spirit--has gradually been  
so modified that ,possession1 which     
passed till the other day as a mere     
survival of savage thought1 is now seen 
to be the consummation1 the furthest    
development of many lines of experiment1
 observation1 reflection1 which the     
preceding chapters have opened to our   
view4  ,let us then at once consider    
what the notion of possession does      
actually claim4 ,it will be better to   
face that claim in its full extent at   
once1 as it will be seen that the       
evidence1 while rising through various  
stages1 does in the end insist on all   
that the ancient term implies4 ,the     
leading modern cases1 of which ,stainton
 ,moses and ,mrs4 ,piper may be taken as
 types1 are closely analogous1          
presenting many undesigned coincidences1
 some of which come out only on close   
examination4  ,the claim1 then1 is that 
the automatist1 in the first place1     

falls into a trance1 during which his   
spirit partially quits his body3 enters 
at any rate into a state in which the   
spiritual world is more or less open to 
its perception2 and in which also--and  
this is the novelty--it so far ceases to
 occupy the organism as to leave room   
for an invading spirit to use it in     
somewhat the same fashion as its owner  
is accustomed to use it4  ,the brain    
being thus left temporarily and         
partially uncontrolled1 a disembodied   
spirit sometimes1 but not always1       
succeeds in occupying it2 and occupies  
it with varying degrees of control4 ,in 
some cases 7,mrs4 ,piper7 two or more   
spirits may simultaneously control      
different portions of the same organism4
  ,the controlling spirit proves his    
identity mainly by reproducing1 in      
speech or writing1 facts which belong to
 his memory and not to the automatist's 
memory4 ,he may also give evidence of   
supernormal perception of other kinds4  
,his manifestations may differ very     

considerably from the automatist's      
normal personality4 ,yet in one sense it
 is a process of selection rather than  
of addition2 the spirit selects what    
parts of the brain-machinery he will    
use1 but he cannot get out of that      
machinery more than it is constructed to
 perform4 ,the spirit can indeed produce
 facts and names unknown to the         
automatist2 but they must be1 as a rule1
 such facts and names as the automatist 
could easily have repeated1 had they    
been known to him3--not1 for instance1  
mathematical formul or ,chinese         
sentences1 if the automatist is ignorant
 of mathematics or of ,chinese4  ,after 
a time the control gives way1 and the   
automatist's spirit returns4 ,the       
automatist1 awaking1 may or may not     
remember his experiences in the         
spiritual world during the trance4 ,in  
some cases 7,swedenborg7 there is this  
memory of the spiritual world1 but no   
possession of the organism by an        
external spirit4 ,in others 7,cahagnet's

 subject7 there is utterance during the 
trance as to what is being discerned by 
the automatist1 yet no memory thereof on
 waking4 ,in others 7,mrs4 ,piper7 there
 is neither utterance as a rule1 or at  
least no prolonged utterance1 by the    
automatist's own spirit1 nor subsequent 
memory2 but there is writing or         
utterance during the trance by          
controlling spirits4  ,now this seems a 
strange doctrine to have reached after  
so much disputation4 ,for it simply     
brings us back to the creeds of the     
,stone ,age4 ,we have come round again  
to the primitive practices of the shaman
 and the medicine-man2--to a doctrine of
 spiritual intercourse which was once   
oecumenical1 but has now taken refuge in
 ,african swamps and ,siberian tundras  
and the snow-clad wastes of the ,red    
,indian and the ,esquimaux4 ,if1 as is  
sometimes advised1 we judge of the worth
 of ideas by tracing their origins1 no  
conception could start from a lower     
level of humanity4 ,it might be put out 

of court at once as unworthy of         
civilised men4  ,fortunately1 however1  
our previous discussions have supplied  
us with a somewhat more searching       
criterion4 ,instead of asking in what   
age a doctrine originated--with the     
implied assumption that the more recent 
it is1 the better--we can now ask how   
far it is in accord or in discord with a
 great mass of actual recent evidence   
which comes into contact1 in one way or 
another1 with nearly every belief as to 
an unseen world which has been held at  
least by western men4 ,submitted to this
 test1 the theory of possession gives a 
remarkable result4 ,it cannot be said to
 be inconsistent with any of our proved 
facts4 ,we know absolutely nothing which
 negatives its possibility4  ,nay1 more 
than this4 ,the theory of possession    
actually supplies us with a powerful    
method of co-ordinating and explaining  
many earlier groups of phenomena1 if    
only we will consent to explain them in 
a way which at first sight seemed       

extreme in its assumptions--seemed      
unduly prodigal of the marvellous4 ,yet 
as to that difficulty we have learnt by 
this time that no explanation of        
psychical phenomena is really simple1   
and that our best clue is to get hold of
 some group which seems to admit of one 
interpretation only1 and then to use    
that group as a point de repre from     
which to attack more complex problems4  
,now ,i think that the ,moses-,piper    
group of trance-phenomena cannot be     
intelligently explained on any theory   
except that of possession4 ,and ,i      
therefore think it important to consider
 in what way earlier phenomena have led 
up to possession1 and in what way the   
facts of possession1 in their turn1     
affect our view of these earlier        
phenomena4  ,if we analyse our          
observations of possession1 we find two 
main factors--the central operation1    
which is the control by a spirit of the 
sensitive's organism2 and the           
indispensable prerequisite1 which is the

 partial and temporary desertion of that
 organism by the percipient's own       
spirit4  ,let us consider first how far 
this withdrawal of the living man's     
spirit from his organism has been       
rendered conceivable by evidence already
 obtained4  ,first of all1 the splits1  
and substitutions of phases of          
personality with which our second       
chapter made us familiar have great     
significance for possession also4  ,we  
have there seen some secondary          
personality1 beginning with slight and  
isolated sensory and motor              
manifestations1 yet going on gradually  
to complete predominance1--complete     
control of all supraliminal             
manifestation4  ,the mere collection and
 description of such phenomena has up   
till now savoured of a certain boldness4
 ,the idea of tracing the possible      
mechanism involved in these transitions 
has scarcely arisen4  ,yet it is        
manifest that there must be a complex   
set of laws concerned with such         

alternating use of                      
brain-centres2--developments1 one may   
suppose1 of those unknown physical laws 
underlying ordinary memory1 of which no 
one has formed as yet even a first rough
 conception4  ,an ordinary case of      
ecmnesia may present problems as        
insoluble in their way as those offered 
by spirit-possession itself4 ,there may 
be in ecmnesia periods of life          
absolutely and permanently extruded from
 memory2 and there may be also periods  
which are only temporarily thus         
extruded4 ,thus on ,wednesday and       
,thursday ,i may be unaware of what ,i  
learnt and did on ,monday and ,tuesday2 
and then on ,friday ,i may recover      
,monday's and ,tuesday's knowledge1 as  
well as retaining ,wednesday's and      
,thursday's1 so that my brain-cells have
 taken on1 so to say1 two separate lines
 of education since ,sunday--that which 
began on ,monday1 and that which began  
on ,wednesday4 ,these intercurrent      
educations may have been naturally      

discordant1 and may be fused in all     
kinds of ways in the ultimate synthesis4
  ,these processes are completely       
obscure2 and all that can be said is    
that their mechanism probably belongs to
 the same unknown series of operations  
which ultimately lead to that completest
 break in the history of the brain-cells
 which consists in their intercalary    
occupation by an external spirit4       
,passing on to genius1 which ,i         
discussed in my third chapter1 it is    
noticeable that there also there is a   
certain degree of temporary substitution
 of one control for another over        
important brain-centres4 ,we must here  
regard the subliminal self as an entity 
partially distinct from the             
supraliminal1 and its occupation of     
these brain-centres habitually devoted  
to supraliminal work is a kind of       
possession1 which illustrates in yet    
another way the rapid metastasis of     
psychical product 7so to term it7 of    
which these highest centres are capable4

 ,the highest genius would thus be the  
completest self-possession1--the        
occupation and dominance of the whole   
organism by those profoundest elements  
of the self which act from the fullest  
knowledge1 and in the wisest way4  ,the 
next main subject which fell under our  
description was sleep4 ,and this        
state--the normal state which most      
resembles trance--has long ago suggested
 the question which first hints at the  
possibility of ecstasy1 namely1 ,what   
becomes of the soul during sleep8 ,i    
think that our evidence has shown that  
sometimes during apparent ordinary sleep
 the spirit may travel away from the    
body1 and may bring back a memory1 more 
or less confused1 of what it has seen in
 this clairvoyant excursion4 ,this may  
indeed happen for brief flashes during  
waking moments also4 ,but ordinary sleep
 seems to help the process2 and deeper  
states of sleep--spontaneous or         
induced--seem still further to          
facilitate it4 ,in the coma preceding   

death1 or during that suspended         
animation which is sometimes taken for  
death1 this travelling faculty has      
seemed to reach its highest point4  ,i  
have spoken of deeper states of sleep1  
spontaneous or induced1 and here the    
reader will naturally recall much that  
has been said of ordinary somnambulism1 
much that has been said of hypnotic     
trance4 ,hypnotic trance has created for
 us1 with perfect facility1 situations  
externally indistinguishable from what  
,i shall presently claim as true        
possession4 ,a quasi-personality1       
arbitrarily created1 may occupy the     
organism1 responding to speech or sign  
in some characteristic fashion1 although
 without producing any fresh verifiable 
facts as evidence to the alleged        
identity4 ,nay1 sometimes1 as in a few  
of the ,pesaro experiments 7see         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 pp4     
#efc-efe71 there may be indications that
 something of a new personality is      
there4 ,and on the other hand1 the      

sensitive's own spirit often claims to  
have been absent elsewhere1--much in the
 fashion in which it sometimes imagines 
itself to have been absent during       
ordinary sleep1 but with greater        
persistence and lucidity4  ,our inquiry 
into the nature of what is thus alleged 
to be seen in sleep and cognate states  
has proved instructive4 ,sometimes known
 earthly scenes appear to be            
revisited--with only such alteration as 
may have taken place since the sleeper  
last visited them in waking hours4 ,but 
sometimes also there is an admixture of 
an apparently symbolical element4 ,the  
earthly scene includes some element of  
human action1 which is presented in a   
selected or abbreviated fashion1 as     
though some mind had been concerned to  
bring out a special significance from   
the complex story4 ,sometimes this      
element becomes quite dominant2         
phantasmal figures are seen2 or there   
may be a prolonged symbolical           
representation of an entry into the     

spiritual world4  ,cases like these do  
of course apparently support that       
primitive doctrine of the spirit's      
actual wandering in space4 ,on the other
 hand1 this notion has become unwelcome 
to modern thought1 which is less        
unwilling to believe in some telepathic 
intercourse between mind and mind in    
which space is not involved4 ,for my own
 part1 ,i have already explained that ,i
 think that the evidence to an at least 
apparent movement of some kind in space 
must outweigh any mere speculative      
presumption against it4 ,and ,i hold    
that these new experiences of possession
 fall on this controversy with decisive 
force4 ,it is so strongly claimed1 in   
every instance of possession1 that the  
sensitive's own spirit must in some     
sense vacate the organism1 in order to  
allow another spirit to enter1--and the 
evidence for the reality of possession  
is at the same time so strong1--that ,i 
think that we must argue back from this 
spatial change as a relatively certain  

fact1 and must place a corresponding    
interpretation on earlier phenomena4    
,such an interpretation1 if once        
admitted1 does certainly meet the       
phenomena in the way most accordant with
 the subjective impressions of the      
various percipients4  ,as we have       
already repeatedly found1 it is the bold
 evolutionary hypothesis which best     
fixes and colligates the scattered      
facts4 ,we encounter in these studies   
phenomena of degeneration and phenomena 
of evolution4 ,the degenerative         
phenomena are explicable singly and in  
detail as declensions in divergent      
directions from an existing level4 ,the 
evolutive phenomena point1 on the other 
hand1 to new generalisations2--to powers
 previously unrecognised towards which  
our evidence converges along constantly 
multiplying lines4  ,this matter of     
psychical excursion from the organism   
ultimately involves the extremest claim 
to novel faculty which has ever been    
advanced for men4 ,for it involves1 as  

we shall see1 the claim to ecstasy3--to 
a wandering vision which is not confined
 to this earth or this material world   
alone1 but introduces the seer into the 
spiritual world and among communities   
higher than any which this planet knows4
 ,the discussion of this transportation1
 however1 will be better deferred until 
after the evidence for possession has   
been laid before the reader at some     
length4  ,continuing1 then1 for the     
present our analysis of the idea of     
possession1 we come now to its specific 
feature1--the occupation by a spiritual 
agency of the entranced and partially   
vacated organism4 ,here it is that our  
previous studies will do most to clear  
our conceptions4 ,instead of at once    
leaping to the question of what spirits 
in their essence are1--of what they can 
do and cannot do1--of the antecedent    
possibility of their re-entry into      
matter1 and the like1--we must begin by 
simply carrying the idea of telepathy to
 its furthest point4 ,we must imagine   

telepathy becoming as central and as    
intense as possible2--and we shall find 
that of two diverging types of          
telepathic intercourse which will thus  
present themselves1 the one will        
gradually correspond to possession1 and 
the other to ecstasy4  ,but here let us 
pause1 and consider what is the truest  
conception which we are by this time    
able to form of telepathy4 ,the word has
 been a convenient one2 the central     
notion--of communication beyond this    
range of sense--can at any rate thus be 
expressed in simple terms4 ,but         
nevertheless there has been nothing to  
assure us that our real comprehension of
 telepathic processes has got much      
deeper than that verbal definition4 ,our
 conception of telepathy1 indeed1 to say
 nothing of telsthesia1 has needed to be
 broadened with each fresh stage of our 
evidence4 ,that evidence at first       
revealed to us certain transmissions of 
thoughts and images which suggested the 
passage of actual etherial vibrations   

from brain to brain4 ,nor indeed can any
 one say at any point of our evidence   
that etherial vibrations are            
demonstrably not concerned in the       
phenomena4 ,we cannot tell how far from 
the material world 7to use a crude      
phrase7 some etherial agency may        
possibly extend4 ,but telepathic        
phenomena are in fact soon seen to      
overpass any development which          
imaginative analogy can give to the     
conception of etherial radiation from   
one material point to another4  ,for    
from the mere transmission of isolated  
ideas or pictures there is1 as my       
readers know1 a continuous progression  
to impressions and apparitions far more 
persistent and complex4 ,we encounter an
 influence which suggests no mere impact
 of etherial waves1 but an intelligent  
and responsive presence1 resembling     
nothing so much as the ordinary human   
intercourse of persons in bodily        
nearness4 ,such visions or auditions1   
inward or externalised1 are indeed      

sometimes felt to involve an even closer
 contact of spirits than the common     
intercourse of earth allows4 ,one could 
hardly assign etherial undulations as   
their cause without assigning that same 
mechanism to all our emotions felt      
towards each other1 or even to our      
control over our own organisms4  ,nay1  
more4 ,there is--as ,i have striven to  
show--a further progression from these  
telepathic intercommunications between  
living men to intercommunications       
between living men and discarnate       
spirits4 ,and this new thesis1--in every
 way of vital importance1--while        
practically solving one problem on which
 ,i have already dwelt1 opens also a    
possibility of the determination of     
another problem1 nowise accessible until
 now4 ,in the first place1 we may now   
rest assured that telepathic            
communication is not necessarily        
propagated by vibrations proceeding from
 an ordinary material brain4 ,for the   
discarnate spirit at any rate has no    

such brain from which to start them4    
,so much1 in the first place1 for the   
agent's end of the communication4  ,and 
in the second place1 we now discern a   
possibility of getting at the           
percipient's end2 of determining whether
 the telepathic impact is received by   
the brain or by the spirit of the living
 man1 or by both inseparably1 or        
sometimes by one and sometimes by the   
other4  ,on this problem1 ,i say1 the   
phenomena of automatic script1 of       
trance-utterance1 of spirit-possession1 
throw more of light than we could have  
ventured to hope4  ,stated broadly1 our 
trance-phenomena show us to begin with  
that several currents of communication  
can pass at once from discarnate spirits
 to a living man2--and can pass in very 
varying ways4 ,for clearness' sake ,i   
will put aside for the present all cases
 where the telepathic impact takes an   
externalised or sensory form1 and will  
speak only of intellectual impressions  
and motor automatisms4  ,now these may  

pass through all grades of apparent     
centrality4 ,if a man1 awake and in     
other respects fully self-controlled1   
feels his hand impelled to scrawl words 
on a piece of paper1 without            
consciousness of motor effort of his    
own1 the impulse does not seem to him a 
central one1 although some part of his  
brain is presumably involved4 ,on the   
other hand1 a much less conspicuous     
invasion of his personality may feel    
much more central2--as1 for instance1 a 
premonition of evil1--an inward         
heaviness which he can scarcely define4 
,and so the motor automatism goes on    
until it reaches the point of           
possession2--that is to say1 until the  
man's own consciousness is absolutely in
 abeyance1 and every part of his body is
 utilised by the invading spirit or     
spirits4 ,what happens in such          
conditions to the man's ruling          
principle--to his own spirit--we must   
consider presently4 ,but so far as his  
organism is concerned1 the invasion     

seems complete3 and it indicates a power
 which is indeed telepathic in a true   
sense2--yet not quite in the sense which
 we originally attached to the word4 ,we
 first thought of telepathy as of a     
communication between two minds1 whereas
 what we have here looks more like a    
communication between a mind and a      
body1--an external mind1 in place of the
 mind which is accustomed to rule that  
particular body4  ,there is in such a   
case no apparent communication between  
the discarnate mind and the mind of the 
automatist4 ,rather there is a kind of  
contact between the discarnate mind and 
the brain of the automatist1 in so far  
that the discarnate mind1 pursuing its  
own ends1 is helped up to a certain     
point by the accumulated capacities of  
the automatist's brain2--and similarly  
is hindered by its incapacities4  ,yet  
here the most characteristic element of 
telepathy1 ,i repeat1 seems to have     
dropped out altogether4 ,there is no    
perceptible communion between the mind  

of the entranced person and any other   
mind whatever4 ,he is possessed1 but is 
kept in unconsciousness1 and never      
regains memory of what his lips have    
uttered during his trance4  ,but let us 
see whether we have thus grasped all the
 trance-phenomena2--whether something   
else may not be going on1 which is more 
truly1 more centrally telepathic4  ,to  
go back to the earliest stage of        
telepathic experience1 we can see well  
enough that the experimental process    
might quite possibly involve two        
different factors4 ,the percipient's    
mind must somehow receive the telepathic
 impression2--and to this reception we  
can assign no definite physical         
correlative2--and also the percipient's 
motor or sensory centres must receive an
 excitation2--which excitation may be   
communicated1 for aught we know1 either 
by his own mind in the ordinary way1 or 
by the agent's mind in some direct      
way1--which ,i may call telergic1 thus  
giving a more precise sense to a word   

which ,i long ago suggested as a kind of
 correlative to telepathic4 ,that is to 
say1 there may even in these apparently 
simple cases be first a transmission    
from agent to percipient in the         
spiritual world1 and then an action on  
the percipient's physical brain1 of the 
same type as spirit-possession4 ,this   
action on the physical brain may be due 
either to the percipient's own spirit1  
or subliminal self1 or else directly to 
the agent's spirit4 ,for ,i must repeat 
that the phenomena of possession seem to
 indicate that the extraneous spirit    
acts on a man's organism in very much   
the same way as the man's own spirit    
habitually acts on it4 ,one must thus   
practically regard the body as an       
instrument upon which a spirit          
plays2--an ancient metaphor which now   
seems actually our nearest approximation
 to truth4  ,proceeding to the case of  
telepathic or veridical apparitions1 we 
see the same hints of a double nature in
 the process2--traces of two elements   

mingling in various degrees4 ,at the    
spiritual end there may be what we have 
called clairvoyant visions1--pictures   
manifestly symbolical1 and not located  
by the observer in ordinary             
three-dimensional space4 ,these seem    
analogous to the views of the spiritual 
world which the sensitive enjoys during 
entrancement4 ,then comes that larger   
class of veridical apparitions where the
 figure seems to be externalised from   
the percipient's mind1 some stimulus    
having actually been applied1--whether  
by agent's or percipient's spirit1--to  
the appropriate brain-centre4 ,these    
cases of sensory automatism resemble    
those experimental transferences of     
pictures of cards1 etc4 ,and beyond     
these again1 on the physical or rather  
the ultra-physical side1 come those     
collective apparitions which in my view 
involve some unknown kind of            
modification of a certain portion of    
space not occupied by any organism1--as 
opposed to a modification of centres in 

one special brain4 ,here comes in1 as ,i
 hold1 the gradual transition from      
subjective to objective1 as the portion 
of space in question is modified in a   
manner to affect a larger and larger    
number of percipient minds4  ,now when  
we proceed from these apparitions of the
 living to apparitions of the departed1 
we find very much the same types        
persisting still4 ,we find symbolical   
visions of departed persons1 and of     
scenes among which they seem to dwell4  
,we find externalised apparitions or    
phantasms of departed                   
persons1--indicating that some point in 
the percipient's brain has been         
stimulated by his own or by some other  
spirit4 ,and finally1 as has already    
been said1 we find that in certain cases
 of possession these two kinds of       
influence are simultaneously carried to 
an extreme4 ,the percipient automatist  
of earlier stages becomes no longer a   
percipient but an automatist pure and   
simple1--so far as his body is          

concerned1--for his whole brain--not one
 point alone--seems now to be stimulated
 and controlled by an extraneous spirit1
 and he is not himself aware of what his
 body writes or utters4 ,and meantime   
his spirit1 partially set free from the 
body1 may be purely percipient2--may be 
enjoying that other spiritual form of   
communication more completely than in   
any type of vision which our description
 had hitherto reached4  ,this point     
attained1 another analogy1 already      
mentioned1 will be at once recalled4    
,there is another class of phenomena1   
besides telepathy1 of which this        
definition of possession at once reminds
 us4 ,we have dealt much with secondary 
personalities1--with severances and     
alternations affecting a man's own      
spirit1 in varying relation with his    
organism4 ,flida ,x4's developed        
secondary personality1 for instance     
7,appendix ,,ii4 ,c71 might be defined  
as another fragment--or another         
synthesis--of ,flida's spirit acting    

upon her organism in much the same way  
as the original fragment--or the primary
 synthesis--of her spirit was wont to   
act upon it4  ,plainly1 this analogy is 
close enough to be likely to lead to    
practical confusion4 ,on what grounds   
can we base our distinctions8 ,what     
justifies us in saying that ,flida ,x4's
 organism was controlled only by another
 modification of her own personality1   
but that ,mrs4 ,piper's is controlled by
 ,george ,pelham 7see page #ccj et      
seq478 ,may there not be any amount of  
self-suggestion1 colouring with the     
fictitious hue of all kinds of          
identities what is in reality no more   
than an allotropic form of the entranced
 person himself8 ,is even the possession
 by the new personality of some         
fragments of fresh knowledge any proof  
of spirit-control8 ,may not that        
knowledge be gained clairvoyantly or    
telepathically1 with no intervention of 
any spirit other than of living men8    
,yes1 indeed1 we must reply1 there is   

here a danger of confusion1 there is a  
lack of any well-defined dividing line4 
,while we must decide on general rules1 
we must also keep our minds open to     
possible exceptions4  ,on the negative  
side1 indeed1 general rules will carry  
us a good way4 ,we must not allow       
ourselves to ascribe to spirit-control  
cases where no new knowledge is shown in
 the trance state4 ,and this rule has at
 once an important consequence1--a      
consequence which profoundly modifies   
the antique idea of possession4 ,i know 
of no evidence1--reaching in any way our
 habitual standard1--either for angelic1
 for diabolical1 or for hostile         
possession4  ,and here comes the        
question3 ,what attitude are we to      
assume to savage cases of possession8   
,are we to accept as genuine the        
possession of the ,esquimaux1 the       
,chinaman1--nay1 of the ,hebrew of old  
days8  ,chinese possession is a good    
example1 as described in ,dr4 ,nevius'  
book 7on ,demon ,possession and ,allied 

,themes1 an account of which by         
,professor ,newbold is given in         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 p4   
#fjb #iab ,a74 ,i agree with ,professor 
,newbold in holding that no proof has   
been shown that there is more in the    
,chinese cases than that hysterical     
duplication of personality with which we
 are so familiar in ,france and         
elsewhere4  ,a devil is not a creature  
whose existence is independently known  
to science2 and from the accounts the   
behaviour of the invading devils seems  
due to mere self-suggestion4 ,with      
uncivilised races1 even more than among 
our own friends1 we are bound to insist 
on the rule that there must be some     
supernormal knowledge shown before we   
may assume an external influence4 ,it   
may of course be replied that the       
character shown by the devils was       
fiendish and actually hostile to the    
possessed person4 ,can we suppose that  
the tormentor was actually a fraction of
 the tormented8  ,i reply that such a   

supposition1 so far from being absurd1  
is supported by well-known phenomena    
both in insanity and in mere hysteria4  
,especially in the ,middle ,ages1--amid 
powerful self-suggestions of evil and   
terror1--did these quasi-possessions    
reach an intensity and violence which   
the calm and sceptical atmosphere of the
 modern hospital checks and discredits4 
,the devils with terrifying names which 
possessed ,soeur ,anglique of           
,loudun#aie would at the ,salptrire     
under ,charcot in our days have figured 
merely as stages of clounisme and       
attitudes passionelles4  ,and even now  
these splits of personality seem        
occasionally to destroy all sympathy    
between the normal individual and a     
divergent fraction4 ,no great sympathy  
was felt by ,lonie ,,ii4 for ,lonie     
,i4#aif ,and ,dr4 ,morton ,prince's     
case#aig shows us the deepest and ablest
 of the personalities of his ,miss      
,beauchamp positively spiteful in its   
relation to her main identity4  ,bizarre

 though a house thus divided against    
itself may seem1 the moral dissidence is
 merely an exaggeration of the moral    
discontinuity observable in the typical 
case of ,mrs4 ,newnham4#aih ,there the  
secondary intelligence was merely       
tricky1 not malevolent4 ,but its        
trickiness was wholly alien from ,mrs4  
,newnham's character1--was something1   
indeed1 which she would have            
energetically repudiated4  ,it seems1   
therefore1--and the analogy of dreams   
points in this direction also1--that our
 moral nature is as easily split up as  
our intellectual nature1 and that we    
cannot be any more certain that the     
minor current of personality which is   
diverted into some new channel will     
retain moral than that it will retain   
intellectual coherence4  ,to return once
 more to the ,chinese devil-possessions4
 ,dr4 ,nevius asserts1 though without   
adducing definite proof1 that the       
possessing devils sometimes showed      
supernormal knowledge4 ,this is a better

 argument for their separate existence  
than their fiendish temper is2 but it is
 not in itself enough4 ,the knowledge   
does not seem to have been specially    
appropriate to the supposed informing   
spirit4 ,it seems as though it may have 
depended upon heightened memory1 with   
possibly some slight telepathic or      
telsthetic perception4 ,heightened      
memory is thoroughly characteristic of  
some hysterical phases2 and even the    
possible traces of telepathy 7although  
far the most important feature of the   
phenomena1 if they really occurred7 are1
 as we have seen1 not unknown in trance 
states 7like ,lonie's7 where there is no
 indication of an invading spirit4      
,temporary control of the organism by a 
widely divergent fragment of the        
personality1 self-suggested in some     
dream-like manner into hostility to the 
main mass of the personality1 and       
perhaps better able than that normal    
personality to reach and manipulate     
certain stored impressions1--or even    

certain supernormal influences1--such   
will be the formula to which we shall   
reduce the invading ,chinese devil1 as  
described by ,dr4 ,nevius1--and probably
 the great majority of supposed         
devil-possessions of similar type4  ,the
 great majority1 no doubt1 but perhaps  
not all4 ,it would indeed be matter for 
surprise if such trance-phenomena as    
those of ,mrs4 ,piper and other modern  
cases had appeared in the world without 
previous parallel4 ,much more probable  
is it that similar phenomena have       
occurred sporadically from the earliest 
times1--although men have not had enough
 of training to analyse them4  ,and1 in 
fact1 among the endless descriptions of 
trance-phenomena with which travellers  
furnish us1 there are many which include
 points so concordant with our recent   
observations that we cannot but attach  
some weight to coincidences so wholly   
undesigned4#aii ,but although this may  
be admitted1 ,i still maintain that the 
only invaders of the organism who have  

as yet made good their title have been  
human1 and have been friendly2 and with 
this clearance should1 ,i think1 vanish 
the somewhat grim associations which    
have gathered around the word           
possession4  ,assuming1 then1 as ,i     
think we at present may assume1 that we 
have to deal only with spirits who have 
been men like ourselves1 and who are    
still animated by much the same motives 
as those which influence us1 we may     
briefly consider1 on similar analogical 
grounds1 what range of spirits are      
likely to be able to affect us1 and what
 difficulties they are likely to find in
 doing so4 ,of course1 actual experience
 alone can decide this2 but nevertheless
 our expectations may be usefully       
modified if we reflect beforehand how   
far such changes of personality as we   
already know can suggest to us the      
limits of these profounder              
substitutions4  ,what1 to begin with1 do
 we find to be the case as to addition  
of faculty in alternating states8 ,how  

far do such changes bring with them     
unfamiliar powers8  ,reference to the   
recorded cases will show us that        
existing faculty may be greatly         
quickened and exalted4 ,there may be an 
increase both in actual perception and  
in power of remembering or reproducing  
what has once been perceived4 ,there may
 be increased control over muscular     
action1--as shown1 for instance1 in     
improved billiard-playing1--in the      
secondary state4 ,but there is little   
evidence of the acquisition--telepathy  
apart--of any actual mass of fresh      
knowledge1--such as a new language1 or a
 stage of mathematical knowledge        
unreached before4 ,we shall not         
therefore be justified by analogy in    
expecting that an external spirit       
controlling an organism will be able    
easily to modify it in such a way as to 
produce speech in a language previously 
unknown4 ,the brain is used as something
 between a typewriter and a calculating 
machine4 ,german words1 for instance1   

are not mere combinations of letters1   
but specific formul2 they can only      
seldom and with great difficulty be got 
out of a machine which has not been     
previously fashioned for their          
production4  ,consider1 again1 the      
analogies as to memory4 ,in the case of 
alternations of personality1 memory     
fails and changes in what seems a quite 
capricious way4 ,the gaps which then    
occur recall 7as ,i have said7 the      
ecmnesia or blank unrecollected spaces  
which follow upon accidents to the head1
 or upon crises of fever1 when all      
memories that belong to a particular    
person or to a particular period of life
 are clean wiped out1 other memories    
remaining intact4 ,compare1 again1 the  
memory of waking life which we retain in
 dream4 ,this too is absolutely         
capricious2--,i may forget my own name  
in a dream1 and yet remember perfectly  
the kind of chairs in my dining-room4   
,or ,i may remember the chairs1 but     
locate them in some one else's house4   

,no one can predict the kind of         
confusion which may occur4  ,we have    
also the parallel of somnambulic        
utterance4 ,in talking with a           
somnambulist1 be the somnambulism       
natural or induced1 we find it hard to  
get into continuous colloquy on our own 
subjects4 ,to begin with1 he probably   
will not speak continuously for long    
together4 ,he drops back into a state in
 which he cannot express himself at all4
 ,and when he does talk1 he is apt to   
talk only on his own subjects2--to      
follow out his own train of             
ideas1--interrupted rather than         
influenced by what we say to him4 ,the  
difference of state between waking and  
sleep is in many ways hard to bridge    
over4  ,we have thus three parallelisms 
which may guide and limit our           
expectations4 ,from the parallelism of  
possession with split personalities we  
may infer that a possessing spirit is   
not likely to be able to inspire into   
the recipient brain ideas or words of   

very unfamiliar type4 ,from the         
parallelism of possession with dream we 
may infer that the memory of the        
possessing spirit may be subject to     
strange omissions and confusions4 ,from 
the parallelism with somnambulism we may
 infer that colloquy between a human    
observer and the possessing spirit is   
not likely to be full or free1 but      
rather to be hampered by difference of  
state1 and abbreviated by the difficulty
 of maintaining psychical contact for   
long together4  ,these remarks will1 ,i 
hope1 prepare the reader to consider the
 problems of possession with the same   
open-mindedness which has been needed   
for the study of previous problems      
attacked in the present work4  ,but     
before we can proceed to the actual     
evidence there is another aspect of     
possession which must be explained4 ,a  
group of phenomena are involved which   
have in various ways done much to       
confuse and even to retard our main     
inquiry1 but which1 when properly placed

 and understood1 are seen to form an    
inevitable part of any scheme which     
strives to discover the influence of    
unseen agencies in the world we know4   
,in our discussion of all telepathic and
 other supernormal influence ,i have    
thus far regarded it mainly from the    
psychological and not from the physical 
side4 ,i have spoken as though the field
 of supernormal action has been always  
the metetherial world4 ,yet true as this
 dictum may be in its deepest sense1 it 
cannot represent the whole truth for    
beings such as we are1 in a world like  
the present4 ,for us every psychological
 fact has 7so far as we know7 a physical
 side2 and metetherial events1 to be    
perceptible to us1 must somehow affect  
the world of matter4  ,in sensory and   
motor automatisms1 then1 we see effects1
 supernormally initiated1 upon the world
 of matter4  ,imprimis1 of course1 and  
in ordinary life our own spirits 7their 
existence once granted7 affect our own  
bodies and are our standing examples of 

spirit affecting matter4 ,next1 if a man
 receives a telepathic impact from      
another incarnate spirit which causes   
him to see a phantasmal figure1 that    
man's brain has1 we may suppose1 been   
directly affected by his own spirit     
rather than by the spirit of the distant
 friend4 ,but it may not always be true 
even in the case of sensory automatisms 
that the distant spirit has made a      
suggestion merely to the percipient's   
spirit which the percipient's own spirit
 carries out2 and in motor automatisms1 
as they develop into possession1 there  
are indications1 as ,i have already     
pointed out1 that the influence of the  
agent's spirit is telergic rather than  
telepathic1 and that we have extraneous 
spirits influencing the human brain or  
organism4 ,that is to say1 they are     
producing movements in matter2--even    
though that matter be organised matter  
and those movements molecular4  ,so soon
 as this fact is grasped1--and it has   
not always been grasped by those who    

have striven to establish a fundamental 
difference between spiritual influence  
on our spirits and spiritual influence  
on the material world1--we shall        
naturally be prompted to inquire whether
 inorganic matter as well as organic    
ever shows the agency of extraneous     
spirits upon it4 ,the reply which first 
suggests itself is1 of course1 in the   
negative4 ,we are constantly dealing    
with inorganic matter1 and no hypothesis
 of spiritual influence exerted on such 
matter is needed to explain our         
experiments4 ,but this is a rough       
general statement1 hardly likely to     
cover phenomena so rare and fugitive as 
many of those with which in this inquiry
 we deal4 ,let us begin1 so to say1 at  
the other end2 not with the broad       
experience of life1 but with the        
delicate and exceptional cases of       
possession of which we have lately been 
speaking4  ,suppose that a discarnate   
spirit1 in temporary possession of a    
living organism1 is impelling it to     

motor automatisms4 ,can we say a priori 
what the limits of such automatic       
movements of that organism are likely to
 be1 in the same way as we can say what 
the limits of any of its voluntary      
movements are likely to be8 ,may not    
this extraneous spirit get more motor   
power out of the organism than the      
waking man himself can get out of it8   
,it would not surprise us1 for example1 
if the movements in trance showed       
increased concentration2 if a           
dynamometer 7for instance7 was more     
forcibly squeezed by the spirit acting  
through the man than by the man himself4
 ,is there any other way in which one   
would imagine that a spirit possessing  
me could use my vital force more        
skilfully than ,i could use it myself8  
,i do not know how my will moves my arm2
 but ,i know by experience that my will 
generally moves only my arm and what my 
arm can touch2--whatever objects are    
actually in contact with the            
protoplasmic skeleton which represents  

the life of my organism4 ,yet ,i can    
sometimes move objects not in actual    
contact1 as by melting them with the    
heat or 7in the dry air of ,colorado7   
kindling them with the electricity1     
which my fingers emit4 ,i see no very   
definite limit to this power4 ,i do not 
know all the forms of energy which my   
fingers might1 under suitable training1 
emit4  ,and now suppose that a          
possessing spirit can use my organism   
more skilfully than ,i can4 ,may he not 
manage to emit from that organism some  
energy which can visibly move ponderable
 objects not actually in contact with my
 flesh8 ,that would be a phenomenon of  
possession not very unlike its other    
phenomena2--and it would be telekinesis4
  ,by that word 7due to ,m4 ,aksakoff7  
it is convenient to describe what have  
been called the physical phenomena of   
spiritualism1 as to whose existence as a
 reality1 and not as a system of        
fraudulent pretences1 fierce controversy
 has raged for half a century1 and is   

still raging4  ,the interest excited in 
the ordinary public by these phenomena  
has1 as is well known1 fostered much    
fraud1 to expose and guard against which
 has been one of the main tasks of the  
,s4,p4,r4#bjj  ,indeed1 the persistent  
simulation of telekinesis has1 naturally
 enough1 inspired persistent doubt as to
 its genuine occurrence even in cases   
where simulation has been carefully     
guarded against1 or is antecedently     
improbable4 ,and thus while believing   
absolutely in the occurrence of         
telekinetic phenomena1 ,i yet hold that 
it would be premature to press them upon
 my readers' belief1 or to introduce    
them as an integral part of my general  
expository scheme4 ,from one point of   
view1 their detailed establishment1 as  
against the theory of fraud1 demands an 
expert knowledge of conjuring and other 
arts which ,i cannot claim to possess4  
,from another point of view1 their right
 comprehension must depend upon a       
knowledge of the relations between      

matter and ether such as is now only    
dimly adumbrated by the most recent     
discoveries2--for instance1 discoveries 
as to previously unsuspected forms of   
radiation4  ,in a long ,appendix1 viz41 
,scheme of ,vital                       
,faculty#bja--originally written with   
reference to the manifestations through 
,mr4 ,stainton ,moses--,i have tried to 
prepare the way for future inquiries2 to
 indicate in what directions a better   
equipped exploration may hereafter reap 
rich reward4 ,even that tentative       
sketch1 perhaps1 may have been too      
ambitious for my powers in the present  
state not only of my own1 but of human  
knowledge2 and in this chapter ,i shall 
allude to telekinetic phenomena only    
where unavoidable1--owing to their      
inmixture into phenomena more directly  
psychological1--and in the tone of the  
historian rather than of the scientific 
critic4         99       99       99    
99       99#bjb  ,the way has now been  
so far cleared for our cases of         

,possession that at least the principal 
phenomena claimed have been 7,i hope7   
made intelligible1 and shown to be      
concordant with other phenomena already 
described and attested4 ,it will be     
best1 however1 to consider first some of
 the more rudimentary cases before going
 on to our own special instances of     
possession1--those of ,mr4 ,stainton    
,moses or ,mrs4 ,piper4  ,we have       
already seen that there is no great gulf
 between the sudden incursions1 the     
rapid messages of the dead1 with which  
we are already familiar1 and incursions 
so intimate1 messages so prolonged1 as  
to lay claim to a name more descriptive 
than that of motor automatisms4  ,and   
similarly no line of absolute separation
 can be drawn between the brief         
psychical excursions previously         
described1 and those more prolonged     
excursions of the spirit which ,i would 
group under the name of ecstasy4  ,in   
the earlier part of this book ,i have   
naturally dwelt rather on the evidence  

for supernormal acquisition of knowledge
 than on the methods of such            
acquisition1 and my present discussion  
must needs be restricted to a certain   
extent in the same way4 ,we must1       
however1 attempt some provisional scheme
 of classification1 though recognising  
that the difficulties of interpretation 
which ,i pointed out in ,chapter ,,iv41 
when endeavouring to distinguish between
 telepathy and telsthesia1 meet us again
 in dealing with possession and ecstasy4
 ,we may not1 that is1 be able to say1  
as regards a particular manifestation1  
whether it is an instance of incipient  
possession1 or incipient ecstasy1 or    
even whether the organism is being      
controlled directly by some extraneous  
spirit or by its own incarnate spirit4  
,it is from the extreme cases that we   
form our categories4 ,but now that we   
have reached some conception of what is 
involved in ecstasy and possession1 we  
can interpret some earlier cases in this
 new light4 ,such experiences1 for      

instance1 as those of ,mr4 ,mamtchitch  
7,appendix ,,vii4 ,a7 and ,miss ,conley 
7,appendix ,,vii4 ,d71 suggest a close  
kinship to the more developed cases of  
,mr4 ,moses and ,mrs4 ,piper4  ,in other
 cases it may be clear that no control  
of any discarnate spirit is involved1   
but there seems to be something like    
incipient possession by the subliminal  
self or incarnate spirit4 ,from this    
point of view the first case given in   
,appendix ,,ix4 ,b is of undoubted      
psychological interest4 ,if it is not a 
case of thought-transference from ,miss 
,c4 to ,mrs4 ,luther 7possibly between  
their subliminal selves during sleep71  
we must assume that a very remarkable   
recrudescence of latent memory occurred 
to the latter independently1 at the same
 time that a similar though less        
remarkable revival of memory occurred to
 the former4 ,but ,i introduce the case 
here simply as suggestive of the        
momentary domination of the subliminal  
over the supraliminal self4  ,in        

,professor ,thoulet's case#bjc we find a
 fuller control by the subliminal self1 
with a manifestation of knowledge       
suggesting some spiritual excursion2 in 
,mr4 ,goodall's case there seems to be a
 telepathic conversation between his    
subliminal self controlling his         
utterance and some perhaps discarnate   
spirit2 and finally1 in ,mr4 ,wilkie's  
case1 there is the definite             
superposition1 as it were1 of a         
discarnate spirit's message upon the    
automatist in such a way that we are led
 to wonder whether it was the mind or   
the brain of the automatist that        
received the message4 ,the first step   
apparently is the abeyance of the       
supraliminal self and the dominance of  
the subliminal self1 which may lead in  
rare cases to a form of trance 7or of   
what we have hitherto called secondary  
personality7 where the whole body of the
 automatist is controlled by his own    
subliminal self1 or incarnate spirit1   
but where there is no indication of any 

relation with discarnate spirits4 ,the  
next form of trance is where the        
incarnate spirit1 whether or not        
maintaining control of the whole body1  
makes excursions into or holds          
telepathic intercourse with the         
spiritual world4 ,and1 lastly1 there is 
the trance of possession by another1 a  
discarnate spirit4 ,we cannot1 of       
course1 always distinguish between these
 three main types of trance--which1 as  
we shall see later1 themselves admit of 
different degrees and varieties4  ,the  
most striking case known to me of the   
first form of trance--possession by the 
subliminal self--is that of the ,rev4   
,c4 ,b4 ,sanders1#bjd whose             
trance-personality has always called    
itself by the name of ,x  ,y  ,z4 ,the  
life of the normal ,mr4 ,sanders has    
apparently been passed in the           
environment of a special form of        
,presbyterian doctrine1 and there seems 
to have been a fear on the part of ,mr4 
,sanders himself lest the trance        

manifestations of which he was the      
subject should conflict with the        
theological position which he held as a 
minister2 and indeed for several years  
of his early suffering he was inclined  
to regard his peculiar case of          
affliction as the result of ,satanic    
agency4 ,on the part of some of his     
friends also there seems to be a special
 desire to show that ,x  ,y  ,z was not 
heterodox4 ,under these circumstances it
 is perhaps not surprising that we find 
so much reticence in ,x  ,y  ,z         
concerning his own relations to the     
normal ,mr4 ,sanders1 whom he calls his 
casket4 ,what little explanation is     
offered seems to be in singular harmony 
with one of the main tenets advanced in 
this book1 since the claim made by ,x   
,y  ,z is obviously that he represents  
the incarnate spirit of ,mr4 ,sanders   
exercising the higher faculties which   
naturally pertain to it1 but which can  
be manifested to the full only when it  
is freed from its fleshly barriers4     

,this frequently occurs1 he says1 in    
dying persons1 who describe scenes in   
the spiritual world1 and in his own     
experience when his casket is similarly 
affected1 and the bodily obstructions to
 spiritual vision are removed4  ,in this
 case1 then1 the subliminal self seems  
to take complete control of the         
organism1 exercising its own powers of  
telepathy and telsthesia1 but showing no
 evidence of direct communication with  
discarnate spirits4 ,we must now pass on
 to the most notable recent case where  
such communication has been             
claimed1--that of ,swedenborg1--to whose
 exceptional trance-history and attempt 
to give some scientific system to his   
experiences of ecstasy ,i referred in   
,chapter ,i4  ,the evidential matter    
which ,swedenborg has left behind him is
 singularly scanty in comparison with   
his pretensions to a communion of many  
years with so many spirits of the       
departed4 ,but ,i think that the        
half-dozen evidential cases scattered   

through his memoirs are stamped with the
 impress of truth1--and ,i think1 also1 
that without some true experience of the
 spiritual world ,swedenborg could not  
have entered into that atmosphere of    
truth in which even his worst errors are
 held in solution4 ,swedenborg's        
writings on the world of spirits fall in
 the main into two classes1--albeit     
classes not easily divided4 ,there are  
experiential writings and there are     
dogmatic writings4 ,the first of these  
classes contains accounts of what he saw
 and felt in that world1 and of such    
inferences with regard to its laws as   
his actual experience suggested4 ,now1  
speaking broadly1 all this mass of      
matter1 covering some hundreds of       
propositions1 is in substantial accord  
with what has been given through the    
most trustworthy sensitives since       
,swedenborg's time4 ,it is indeed usual 
to suppose that they have all been      
influenced by ,swedenborg2 and although 
,i feel sure that this was not so in any

 direct manner in the case of the       
sensitives best known to myself1 it is  
probable that ,swedenborg's alleged     
experiences have affected modern thought
 more deeply than most modern thinkers  
know4  ,on the other hand1 the second or
 purely dogmatic class of ,swedenborg's 
writings1--the records of instruction   
alleged to have been given to him by    
spirits on the inner meaning of the     
,scriptures1 etc41--these have more and 
more appeared to be mere arbitrary      
fancies2--mere projections and          
repercussions of his own preconceived   
ideas4  ,on the whole1 then1--with some 
stretching1 yet no contravention1 of    
conclusions independently reached1--,i  
may say that ,swedenborg's story1--one  
of the strangest lives yet lived by     
mortal men1--is corroborative rather    
than destructive of the slowly rising   
fabric of knowledge of which he was the 
uniquely gifted1 but uniquely dangerous1
 precursor4  ,it seemed desirable here  
to refer thus briefly to the doctrinal  

teachings of ,swedenborg1 but ,i shall  
deal later with the general question how
 much or how little of the statements of
 sensitives about the spiritual         
world--whether based on their own       
visions or on the allegations of their  
controlling spirits--are worthy of      
credence4 ,in the case of ,swedenborg   
there was at least some evidence1 of the
 kind to which we can here appeal1 of   
his actual communication with discarnate
 spirits2#bje but in most other cases of
 alleged ecstasy there is little or     
nothing to show that the supposed       
revelations are not purely subjective4  
7,see1 e4g41 the revelations of         
,alphonse ,cahagnet's sensitives1       
described in his ,arcanes de la vie     
future dvoiles47#bjf ,at most1 these    
visions must be regarded as a kind of   
symbolical representation of the unseen 
world4#bjg  ,among ,cahagnet's subjects1
 however1 there was one young woman1    
,adle ,maginot1 who not only saw        
heavenly visions of the usual           

post-,swedenborgian kind1 but also      
obtained evidential communications--not 
unlike those of ,mrs4 ,piper--purporting
 to come from discarnate spirits4       
,fortunately these were recorded with   
unusual care and thoroughness by        
,cahagnet1 and the case thus becomes one
 of considerable importance for our     
inquiries4 ,a general account of        
,cahagnet's work has recently been given
 in the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r4 7vol4    
xiv4 p4 #ej7 by ,mr4 ,podmore1 who1     
though finding it almost impossible to  
doubt that ,adle's success was due to   
some kind of supernormal faculty1 thinks
 it might be accounted for by telepathy 
from living persons4 ,it appears that in
 all her trances ,adle--like ,mr4       
,sanders--was controlled by her own     
subliminal self--that is to say1 her    
supraliminal self became dormant1 under 
magnetism by ,cahagnet1 while her       
subliminal self in trance-utterance     
manifested a knowledge which was1 as ,i 
incline to think from its analogies with

 more developed cases1 obtained from the
 spiritual world4 ,that this knowledge  
should be mixed with much that was      
erroneous or unverifiable is not        
surprising4  ,it is also interesting to 
note the occurrence in this case of     
circumstances which in their general    
character have become so habitual in    
trances of mediumistic type that they   
are not only found in genuine subjects1 
but are continually being simulated by  
the fraudulent4 ,i refer to the         
so-called taking on of the death        
conditions of a communicating spirit1   
who1 as ,adle stated1 died of           
suffocation4 ,adle chokes as this man   
choked1 and coughed as he did4444 ,i was
 obliged to release her by passes2 she  
suffered terribly4  ,i need scarcely say
 that this suggests incipient           
possession4 ,there were occasional      
analogous instances in the early trances
 of ,mrs4 ,piper1 when ,phinuit was the 
controlling influence 7see ,proceedings 
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #ih1 ,professor

 ,barrett ,wendell's account2 and vol4  
xiii4 p4 #chd74 ,other points of        
similarity between the accounts of the  
entranced ,adle and the utterances of   
,phinuit will be apparent to the student
 of the records4  ,the next case to be  
considered1 and so far one of the most  
important1 is that of ,d4 ,d4 ,home4    
,the study of such records as are       
available of ,home's psychical phenomena
 leaves me with the conviction          
that1--apart altogether from the        
telekinetic phenomena with which they   
were associated1--his trance-utterances 
belong to the same natural order as     
those1 for instance1 of ,mr4 ,moses and 
,mrs4 ,piper4 ,there are1 however1      
important differences between these     
cases1--differences which should be of  
special instruction to us in            
endeavouring to comprehend the          
possession that completely excludes the 
subliminal self1 and to appreciate the  
difficulty of obtaining this complete   
possession4  ,thus in ,home's case the  

subliminal self seems1 throughout the   
longest series of sances of which we    
have a record1 to have been the spirit  
chiefly controlling him during the      
trance and acting as intermediary for   
other spirits1 who occasionally1        
however1 took complete possession4  ,in 
,mrs4 ,piper's case1 as we shall see1   
the subliminal self is very little in   
direct evidence2 its manifestations form
 a fleeting interlude between her waking
 state and her possession by a          
discarnate spirit4 ,in ,mr4 ,moses'     
case1 the subliminal self was rarely in 
direct evidence at all when he was      
entranced2 but we infer from these other
 cases that it was probably dominant at 
some stage of his trance1 even if at    
other times it was excluded or became   
completely dormant4  ,and if1 in ,home's
 case1 as there seems reason to suppose1
 the subliminal self may have           
participated with discarnate spirits in 
the production of telekinetic phenomena1
 as well as in the communication of     

tests of personal identity1 it is not   
improbable that the subliminal self of  
,mr4 ,moses may also have been actively 
concerned in both these classes of      
phenomena4  ,but1 although ,i attribute 
much value to what evidence exists in   
the case of ,home1 it cannot but be     
deplored that the inestimable chance for
 experiment and record which this case  
afforded was almost entirely thrown away
 by the scientific world4 ,unfortunately
 the record is especially inadequate in 
reference to ,home's trances and the    
evidence for the personal identity of   
the communicating spirits4 ,his name is 
known to the world chiefly in connection
 with the telekinetic phenomena which   
are said to have occurred in his        
presence1 and the best accounts of which
 we owe to ,sir ,william ,crookes4 ,it  
is not my intention1 as ,i have already 
explained1 to deal with these1 but it   
must be understood that they form an    
integral part of the manifestations in  
this case1 as in the case of ,stainton  

,moses4 ,for detailed accounts of them  
the reader should consult the history of
 ,home's life and experiences4#bjh  ,to 
the history of ,william ,stainton ,moses
 ,i now turn4 ,here the evidence for the
 telekinetic phenomena is comparatively 
slight1 since they occurred almost      
exclusively in the presence of a small  
group of intimate personal friends1 and 
were never scrutinised and examined by  
outside witnesses as were ,home's       
manifestations4 ,on the other hand1 we  
have detailed records of ,mr4 ,moses'   
whole series of experiences1 while in   
the case of ,home1 as ,i have said1 the 
record is very imperfect4 ,as to the    
telekinetic phenomena1 ,mr4 ,moses      
himself regarded them as a mere means to
 an end1 in accordance with the view    
urged on him by his controls1--that they
 were intended as proofs of the power   
and authority of these latter1 while the
 real message lay in the religious      
teaching imparted to him4  ,it was on   
,may #ith1 #ahgd1 that ,edmund ,gurney  

and ,i met ,stainton ,moses for the     
first time1 through the kindness of     
,mrs4 ,cowper-,temple 7afterwards ,lady 
,mount-,temple71 who knew that we had   
become interested in psychical problems1
 and wished to introduce us to a man of 
honour who had recently experienced     
phenomena1 due wholly to some gift of   
his own1 which had profoundly changed   
his conception of life4  ,here was a man
 of ,university education1 of manifest  
sanity and probity1 who vouched to us   
for a series of phenomena1--occurring to
 himself1 and with no doubtful or venal 
aid1--which seemed at least to prove1 in
 confusedly intermingled form1 three    
main theses unknown to ,science4 ,these 
were 7#a7 the existence in the human    
spirit of hidden powers of insight and  
of communication2 7#b7 the personal     
survival and near presence of the       
departed2 and 7#c7 interference1 due to 
unknown agencies1 with the ponderable   
world4 ,he spoke frankly and fully2 he  
showed his note-books2 he referred us to

 his friends2 he inspired a belief which
 was at once sufficient1 and which is   
still sufficient1 to prompt to action4  
,the experiences which ,stainton ,moses 
had undergone had changed his views1 but
 not his character4 ,he was already set 
in the mould of the hard-working1       
conscientious1 dogmatic clergyman1 with 
a strong desire to do good1 and a strong
 belief in preaching as the best way to 
do it4 ,for himself the essential part  
of what ,i have called his message lay  
in the actual words automatically       
uttered or written1--not in the         
accompanying phenomena which really gave
 their uniqueness and importance to the 
automatic processes4 ,in a book called  
,spirit ,teachings he collected what he 
regarded as the real fruits of those    
years of mysterious listening in the    
vestibule of a world unknown4  ,my      
original impressions as regards ,mr4    
,moses were strengthened by the         
opportunity which ,i had of examining   
his unpublished ,,mss4 after his death  

on ,september #eth1 #ahib4 ,these       
consist of thirty-one                   
note-books--twenty-four of automatic    
script1 four of records of physical     
phenomena1 and three of retrospect and  
summary4 ,in addition to these1 the     
material available for a knowledge of   
,mr4 ,moses' experiences consists of his
 own printed works1 and the written and 
printed statements of witnesses to his  
phenomena4  ,of this available material 
a detailed account will be found in     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4    
#bde-ceb1 and vol4 xi4 pp4 #bd-aac1     
together with a brief record of ,mr4    
,moses' life4  ,with the even tenor of  
this straightforward and reputable life 
was inwoven a chain of mysteries which1 
as ,i think1 in what way soever they be 
explained1 make it one of the most      
extraordinary which our century has     
seen4 ,for its true history lies in that
 series of physical manifestations which
 began in #ahgb and lasted for some     
eight years1 and that series of         

automatic writings and trance-utterances
 which began in #ahgc1 received a record
 for some ten years1 and did not1 as is 
believed1 cease altogether until the    
earthly end was near4  ,these two series
 were intimately connected2 the physical
 phenomena being avowedly designed to   
give authority to the speeches and      
writings which professed to emanate from
 the same source4 ,there is no ground   
for separating the two groups1 except   
the obvious one that the automatic      
phenomena are less difficult of credence
 than the physical2 but1 for reasons    
already stated1 it has seemed to me     
desirable to exclude the latter from    
detailed treatment in this work4 ,they  
included the apparent production of such
 phenomena as intelligent raps1         
movements of objects untouched1         
levitation1 disappearance and           
reappearance of objects1 passage of     
matter through matter1 direct writing1  
sounds supernormally made on            
instruments1 direct sounds1 scents1     

lights1 objects materialised1 hands     
materialised 7touched or seen74 ,mr4    
,moses was sometimes1 but not always1   
entranced while these physical phenomena
 were occurring4 ,sometimes he was      
entranced and the trance-utterance      
purported to be that of a discarnate    
spirit4 ,at other times1 especially when
 alone1 he wrote automatically1         
retaining his own ordinary consciousness
 meanwhile1 and carrying on lengthy     
discussions with the spirit influence   
controlling his hand and answering his  
questions1 etc4 ,as a general rule the  
same alleged spirits both manifested    
themselves by raps1 etc41 at ,mr4       
,moses' sittings with his friends1 and  
also wrote through his hand when he was 
alone4 ,in this1 as in other respects1  
,mr4 ,moses' two series of              
writings--when alone and in             
company--were concordant1 and1 so to    
say1 complementary2--explanations being 
given by the writing of what had        
happened at the sances4 ,when direct    

writing was given at the sances the     
handwriting of each alleged spirit was  
the same as that which the same spirit  
was in the habit of employing in the    
automatic script4 ,the claim to         
individuality was thus in all cases     
decisively made4  ,now the personages   
thus claiming to appear may be divided  
roughly into three classes3--           
,a4--,first and most important are a    
group of persons recently deceased1 and 
sometimes manifesting themselves at the 
sances before their decease was known   
through any ordinary channel to any of  
the persons present4 ,these spirits in  
many instances give tests of identity1  
mentioning facts connected with their   
earth-lives which are afterwards found  
to be correct4  ,b4--,next comes a group
 of personages belonging to generations 
more remote1 and generally of some      
distinction in their day4 ,grocyn1 the  
friend of ,erasmus1 may be taken as a   
type of these4 ,many of these also      
contribute facts as a proof of identity1

 which facts are sometimes more correct 
than the conscious or admitted knowledge
 of any of the sitters could supply4 ,in
 such cases1 however1 the difficulty of 
proving identity is increased by the    
fact that most of the correct statements
 are readily accessible in print1 and   
may conceivably have either been read   
and forgotten by ,mr4 ,moses1 or have   
become known to him by some kind of     
clairvoyance4  ,c4--,a third group      
consists of spirits who give such names 
as ,rector1 ,doctor1 ,theophilus1 and1  
above all1 ,imperator4 ,these from time 
to time reveal the names which they     
assert to have been theirs in           
earth-life4 ,these concealed names are  
for the most part both more illustrious1
 and more remote1 than the names in     
,class ,b1--and were withheld by ,mr4   
,moses himself1 who justly felt that the
 assumption of great names is likely to 
diminish rather than to increase the    
weight of the communication4  ,i now    
pass on to consider briefly the nature  

of the evidence that the alleged spirits
 were what they purported to be1 as     
described1 in the first place1 in ,mr4  
,moses' books of automatic writing4 ,the
 contents of these books consist partly 
of messages tending to prove the        
identity of communicating spirits2      
partly of discussions or explanations of
 the physical phenomena2 and partly of  
religious and moral disquisitions4      
,these automatic messages were almost   
wholly written by ,mr4 ,moses' own hand1
 while he was in a normal waking state4 
,the exceptions are of two kinds4 7#a7  
,there is one long passage1 alleged by  
,mr4 ,moses to have been written by     
himself while in a state of trance4 7#b7
 ,there are1 here and there1 a few words
 alleged to be in direct                
writing2--written1 that is to say1 by   
invisible hands1 but in ,mr4 ,moses'    
presence2 as several times described in 
the notes of sances where other persons 
were present4  ,putting these           
exceptional instances aside1 we find    

that the writings generally take the    
form of a dialogue1 ,mr4 ,moses         
proposing a question in his ordinary    
thick1 black handwriting4 ,an answer is 
then generally1 though not always1      
given2 written also by ,mr4 ,moses1 and 
with the same pen1 but in some one of   
various scripts which differ more or    
less widely from his own4 ,mr4 ,moses'  
own description of the process1 as given
 in the preface to ,spirit ,teachings1  
may be studied with advantage4  ,a      
prolonged study of the ,,ms4 books has  
revealed nothing inconsistent with this 
description4 ,i have myself1 of course1 
searched them carefully for any sign of 
confusion or alteration1 but without    
finding any2 and ,i have shown parts of 
them to various friends1 who have seen  
no points of suspicion4 ,it seems plain1
 moreover1 that the various entries were
 made at or about the dates to which    
they are ascribed4 ,they contain        
constant references to the sances which 
went on concurrently1 and whose dates   

are independently known2 and in the     
later books1 records of some of these   
sances are interspersed in their due    
places amongst other matter4 ,the ,,mss4
 contain also a number of allusions to  
other contemporaneous facts1 many of    
which are independently known to myself4
  ,i think1 moreover1 that no one who   
had studied these entries throughout    
would doubt the originally private and  
intimate character of many of them4 ,the
 tone of the spirits towards ,mr4 ,moses
 himself is habitually courteous and    
respectful4 ,but occasionally they have 
some criticism which pierces to the     
quick1 and which goes far to explain to 
me ,mr4 ,moses' unwillingness to have   
the books fully inspected during his    
lifetime4 ,he did1 no doubt1 contemplate
 their being at least read by friends   
after his death2 and there are          
indications that there may have been a  
still more private book1 now doubtless  
destroyed1 to which messages of an      
intimate character were sometimes       

consigned4  ,indeed1 the questions at   
issue1 as to these messages1 refer not  
so much to their genuineness as to their
 authenticity1 in the proper sense of   
those words4 ,that they were written    
down in good faith by ,mr4 ,moses as    
proceeding from the personages whose    
names are signed to them1 there can be  
little doubt4 ,but as to whether they   
did really proceed from those personages
 or no there may in many cases be very  
great doubt2--a doubt which ,i1 at      
least1 shall be quite unable to remove4 
,by the very conditions of the          
communication they cannot show          
commanding intellect1 or teach entirely 
new truths1 since their manifestations  
are ex hypothesi limited by the         
capacity--not by the previous knowledge1
 but by the previous capacity--of the   
medium4 ,and if they give facts not     
consciously known to the medium--facts  
however elaborate--it may1 of course1 be
 suggested that these facts have been   
subliminally acquired by the medium     

through some unconscious passage of the 
eye over a printed page1 or else that   
they are clairvoyantly learnt1 without  
the agency of any but the medium's own  
mind1 though acting in a supernormal    
fashion4  ,the case of ,hlne ,smith has 
shown us how far-reaching may be the    
faculties of hypersthesia and           
hypermnesia in the subliminal self2 but 
in view of the then general ignorance of
 the scientific world on this subject1  
it is not surprising that both ,mr4     
,moses and his friends absolutely       
rejected this explanation of his        
phenomena1 and that the evidence        
appeared to them more conclusive than it
 possibly can to us4 ,whether or not the
 alleged spirits were concerned1--as may
 sometimes1 of course1 have been the    
case1--we can hardly avoid thinking that
 the subliminal self of the medium      
played at least a considerable part in  
the communications4  ,in two cases the  
announcement of a death was made to ,mr4
 ,moses1 when the news was apparently   

not known to him by any normal means4   
,one of these is the case of ,president 
,garfield 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
xi4 p4 #ajj74 ,the other 7see my article
 in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4
 #if et seq47 is in some ways the most  
remarkable of all1 from the series of   
chances which have been needful in order
 to establish its veracity4 ,specially  
noticeable in this case is the          
resemblance of the handwriting of the   
script to that of the alleged control1 a
 lady whose writing was almost certainly
 unknown to ,mr4 ,moses4 ,both to the   
lady's son and to myself the resemblance
 appeared incontestable1 and our opinion
 was confirmed by ,dr4 ,hodgson1 who was
 an expert in such matters4  ,and now we
 must briefly go through the points     
which make such messages as were        
received by ,mr4 ,moses prim facie      
evidential1 which indicate1 that is to  
say1 that they actually do come in some 
way from their alleged source4 ,a brief 
recapitulation of the main stages of    

evidential quality in messages given by 
automatic writing or by                 
trance-utterances is all that will be   
needed here4  7#a7 ,evidentially lowest 
comes the class of messages which is by 
far the most common2 messages1 namely1  
in which1 although some special identity
 may be claimed1 all the facts given    
have been consciously known to the      
automatist4 ,here we may well suppose   
that his own personality alone is       
concerned1 and that the messages have a 
subliminal1 but not an external source4 
7#b7 ,next above these come messages    
containing facts likely to be known to  
the alleged spirit1 and not consciously 
known to the automatist2 but which facts
 may nevertheless have some time been   
noted by the automatist1 even           
unwittingly1 and may have thus obtained 
lodgment in his subliminal memory4  7#c7
 ,next come facts which can be          
proved1--with such varying degrees of   
certainty as such negative proof        
allows1--never to have been in any way  

known to the automatist2 but which      
nevertheless are easily to be found in  
books2 so that they may have been learnt
 clairvoyantly by the automatist        
himself1 or learnt and communicated to  
him by some mind other than that of the 
alleged spirit4  7#d7 ,next come facts  
which can be proved1 with similar       
varying degrees of certainty according  
to the circumstances1 never to have been
 known to the automatist1 or recorded in
 print2 but which were known to the     
alleged spirit and can be verified by   
the memories of living persons4  7#e7   
,above this again would come that class 
of experimental messages1 or posthumous 
letters1 of which we have as yet very   
few good examples1 where the departed   
person has before death arranged some   
special test--some fact or sentence     
known only to himself1 which he is to   
transmit after death1 if possible1 as a 
token of his return4  7#f7 ,thus much   
for the various kinds of verbal         
messages1 which can be kept and analysed

 at leisure4 ,we must now turn to       
evidence of a different and not         
precisely comparable kind4 ,in point of 
fact it is not these inferences from    
written matter which have commonly been 
most efficacious in compelling the      
survivor's belief in the reality of the 
friend's return4 ,whether logically or  
no1 it is not so much the written       
message that he trusts1 but some phantom
 of face and voice that he knew so well4
 ,it is this familiar convincing        
presence1--,greek3 eikto de theskelon   
aut1--on which the percipient has always
 insisted1 since ,achilles strove in    
vain to embrace ,patroclus' shade4  ,how
 far such a phantasm is in fact a proof 
of any real action on the part of the   
spirit thus recognised is a problem     
which has been dealt with already in    
,chapter ,,vii4 ,the upshot of our      
evidence to my mind is that although the
 apparition of a departed person cannot 
per se rank as evidence of his presence1
 yet this is not a shape which purely   

hallucinatory phantasms seem often to   
assume2 and if there be any             
corroborative evidence1 as1 for         
instance1 writing which claims to come  
from the same person1 the chance that he
 is really operative is considerable4   
,in ,mr4 ,moses' case almost all the    
figures which he saw brought with them  
some corroboration by writing1          
trance-utterance1 gesture-messages 7as  
where a figure makes signs of assent or 
dissent71 or raps4  7#g7 ,and this      
brings us to a class largely represented
 in ,mr4 ,moses' series1 where writings 
professing to come from a certain spirit
 are supported by physical phenomena of 
which that spirit claims also to be the 
author4 ,whether such a line of proof   
can ever be made logically complete or  
no1 one can imagine many cases where it 
would be practically convincing to      
almost all minds4 ,materialisations of  
hands1 or direct writing in the script  
of the departed1 have much of actual    
cogency2 and these methods1 with others 

like them1 are employed by ,mr4 ,moses' 
controls in their efforts to establish  
their own identities4 ,physical         
phenomena in themselves1 however1 carry 
no proof of an intelligence outside that
 of the sensitive himself1 and1 as ,i   
have said1 may in many cases be a mere  
extension of his own ordinary muscular  
powers1 and not due to any external     
agency at all4  ,if we confine ourselves
 to the verbal messages1 we find that   
the cases most fully represented in the 
records of ,mr4 ,moses are limited to   
the first three classes mentioned above1
 and those which come under the fourth  
class--verifiable facts of which there  
is no printed record and which it is    
practically certain that the medium     
could never have known--are             
comparatively few4 ,this may partly be  
accounted for by the small number of    
sitters with ,mr4 ,moses and the fact   
that they were his personal friends4    
,the records of ,mrs4 ,piper1 on the    
other hand1 to which we now turn1 are   

especially rich in incidents that fall  
under the fourth heading1 and the       
evidential value of the verbal messages 
in this case is1 therefore1 much greater
 than in the case of ,mr4 ,moses4       
,whereas for ,mr4 ,moses the identity of
 many of his communicators rested       
largely upon their being guaranteed by  
,imperator and his group of helpers1--in
 the case of ,mrs4 ,piper the spirits of
 some recently-departed friends who have
 given much evidence of their identity  
appear to maintain the independent      
reality and guiding control over ,mrs4  
,piper of these same                    
intelligences--,imperator1 ,rector1     
,doctor1 and others--that ,mr4 ,moses   
claimed as ruling in his own experience4
  ,the case of ,mrs4 ,piper differs in  
two important respects from that of ,w4 
,stainton ,moses or ,d4 ,d4 ,home4 ,in  
the first place no telekinetic phenomena
 have occurred in connection with her   
trance-manifestations2 and in the second
 place her supraliminal self shows no   

traces of any supernormal faculty       
whatsoever4 ,she presents an instance of
 automatism of the extreme type where   
the possession is not merely local or   
partial1 but affects1 so to say1 the    
whole psychical area1--where the        
supraliminal self is for a time         
completely displaced1 and the whole     
personality appears to suffer           
intermittent change4 ,in other words1   
she passes into a trance1 during which  
her organs of speech or writing are     
controlled by other personalities than  
the normal waking one4 ,occasionally1   
either just before or just after the    
trance1 the subliminal self appears to  
take some control of the organism for a 
brief interval2 but with this exception 
the personalities that speak or write   
during her trance claim to be discarnate
 spirits4  ,mrs4 ,piper's trances may be
 divided into three stages3 7#a7 ,where 
the dominant controlling personality was
 known as ,dr4 ,phinuit and used the    
vocal organs almost exclusively1        

communicating by trance-utterance1      
#ahhd-ia4  7#b7 ,where the              
communications were made chiefly by     
automatic writing in the trance under   
the supervision more particularly of the
 control known as ,george ,pelham1 or   
,g4 ,p41 although ,dr4 ,phinuit usually 
communicated also by speech during this 
period1 #ahib-if4  7#c7 ,where          
supervision is alleged to be exercised  
by ,imperator1 ,doctor1 ,rector1 and    
others already mentioned in connection  
with the experiences of ,mr4 ,moses1 and
 where the communications have been     
mainly by writing1 but occasionally also
 by speech4 ,this last stage1 which     
began early in #ahig1 still continues1  
and the final outcome remains to be     
seen4  ,i proceed now to indicate in    
further detail the nature of the        
evidence and the character of the       
manifestations themselves1 and begin by 
quoting from ,dr4 ,hodgson 7,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4 #cfg-fh7 a   
brief statement of some of the          

historical facts of the case4           
,mrs4 ,piper has been giving sittings   
for a period extending over             
thirteen now1 #aija1 seventeen years4   
,very early in her trance      history  
she came under the attention of         
,professor ,james1 who sent      many   
persons to her as strangers1 in most    
cases making the      appointments      
himself1 and in no case giving their    
names4 ,she came      to some extent    
under my own supervision in #ahhg1 and  
,i also sent      many persons to her1  
in many cases accompanying them and     
recording      the statements made at   
their sittings1 and taking all the care 
that      ,i could to prevent ,mrs4     
,piper's obtaining any knowledge        
beforehand      of who the sitters were 
to be4 ,in #ahhi-ij ,mrs4 ,piper gave a 
series      of sittings in ,england     
under the supervision of ,dr4 ,walter   
,leaf and      ,mr4 ,myers and          
,professor ,lodge1 where also the most  
careful      precautions possible were  

taken to ensure that the sitters went as
      strangers to ,mrs4 ,piper4        
,further sittings were supervised by    
myself      in #ahij-ia after ,mrs4     
,piper's return to ,america4 ,many      
persons who      had sittings in the    
course of these earlier investigations  
were      convinced that they were      
actually receiving communications from  
their deceased friends through ,mrs4    
,piper's trance1 but although      the  
special investigators were satisfied1   
from their study of the                 
trance-phenomena themselves and a       
careful analysis of the detailed        
records of the sittings1 that some      
supernormal power was involved1         
there was no definite agreement as to   
their precise significance4      ,and to
 myself it seemed that any hypothesis   
that was offered      presented         
formidable difficulties in the way of   
its acceptance4 ,in      the course of  
these earlier investigations the        
communications were      given almost   

entirely through the speech-utterance of
 the      trance-personality known as   
,phinuit1 and even the best of them were
      apt to include much matter that   
was irrelevant and unlike the           
alleged communicators1 while there were 
many indications that      ,phinuit     
himself was far from being the kind of  
person in whom we      should be        
disposed to place implicit credence4    
,during the years #ahib-if inclusive1 ,i
 exercised a yet closer      supervision
 of ,mrs4 ,piper's trances than ,i had  
done in previous      years1 continuing 
to take all the precautions that ,i     
could as      regards the introduction  
of persons as strangers4 ,this period   
was      marked by a notable evolution  
in the quality of the trance results1   
beginning early in #ahib4 ,the character
 of the manifestations      changed with
 the development of automatic writing in
 the trance1      and with what was     
alleged to be the continual rendering of
 active      assistance by the          

communicator whom ,i have called ,g4 ,p4
 ,george      ,pelham4 ,as a result of  
this it appeared that communicators were
      able to express their thoughts    
directly through the writing by ,mrs4   
,piper's hand1 instead of conveying them
 more dimly and partially      through  
,phinuit as intermediary2 and the advice
 and guidance which      they1          
apparently1 received from ,g4 ,p4       
enabled them to avoid much of      the  
confusion and irrelevancy so            
characteristic of the earlier           
manifestations4  ,i do not propose here 
to discuss the hypothesis of fraud in   
this case1 since it has been fully      
discussed by ,dr4 ,hodgson1 ,professor  
,william ,james1 ,professor ,newbold of 
,pennsylvania ,university1 ,dr4 ,walter 
,leaf1 and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4#bji ,i  
merely quote1 as a summary of the       
argument1 a few words of ,professor     
,james1 from ,the ,psychological        
,review1 ,july1 #ahih1 pp4 #dba-bb3--   
,dr4 ,hodgson considers that the        

hypothesis of fraud cannot be           
seriously maintained4 ,i agree with him 
absolutely4 ,the medium has      been   
under observation1 much of the time     
under close observation1      as to most
 of the conditions of her life1 by a    
large number of      persons1 eager1    
many of them1 to pounce upon any        
suspicious      circumstance for nearly 
fifteen years4 ,during that time1 not   
only      has there not been one single 
suspicious circumstance remarked1 but   
not one suggestion has ever been made   
from any quarter which might      tend  
positively to explain how the medium1   
living the apparent life      she leads1
 could possibly collect information     
about so many sitters      by natural   
means4 ,the scientist who is confident  
of fraud here1      must remember that  
in science as much as in common life a  
hypothesis must receive some positive   
specification and      determination    
before it can be profitably discussed1  
and a fraud      which is no assigned   

kind of fraud1 but simply fraud at      
large1      fraud in abstracto1 can     
hardly be regarded as a specially       
scientific explanation of concrete      
facts4  ,unfortunately we have no       
contemporary records of what occurred   
during ,mrs4 ,piper's earliest trances2 
nor practically any information as to   
the first manifestations of the ,phinuit
 personality4 ,it seems clear at least  
that the name ,phinuit was the result of
 suggestion at these earliest trances   
7see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 
pp4 #df-eh71 and many may think it most 
probable that the ,phinuit control was  
nothing more than a secondary           
personality of ,mrs4 ,piper4 ,but1      
according to the statements 7for which  
there is of course no evidence7 made by 
,imperator1 ,phinuit was an earth-bound 
or inferior spirit1 who had become      
confused and bewildered in his first    
attempts at communication1 and had1 as  
we say1 lost his consciousness of       
personal identity4 ,that such an        

occurrence is not uncommon in this life 
is plain from the cases to which ,i have
 drawn attention in ,chapter ,,ii4 of   
this book1 and we cannot prove it to be 
impossible that profound memory         
disturbances should be produced in an   
inexperienced discarnate spirit when    
first attempting to communicate with us 
through a material organism4 ,be that as
 it may1 the ,phinuit personality has   
not manifested either directly or       
indirectly since ,january #ahig1 when   
,imperator claimed the supervision of   
,mrs4 ,piper's trances4  ,there were    
various cases of alleged direct control 
by spirits other than ,phinuit during   
the first stage of ,mrs4 ,piper's trance
 history4 ,but such cases were not      
usual1 and on the whole1 although there 
seemed to be abundant proof of some     
supernormal faculty which demanded at   
least the hypothesis of                 
thought-transference from living persons
 both near and distant1 and suggested   
occasionally some power of telsthesia or

 perhaps even of premonition1 yet the   
main question with which we are now     
concerned1--whether ,mrs4 ,piper's      
organism was controlled1 directly or    
indirectly1 by discarnate spirits who   
could give satisfactory evidence of     
their identity1--remained undecided4    
,more important1 as regards this        
question of personal identity1 is the   
series of sittings which formed the     
second stage of ,mrs4 ,piper's trance   
history1 in the years #ahib-if1 7of     
which a detailed account is given in    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4  
#bhd-ehb1 and vol4 xiv4 pp4 #f-di71     
where the chief communicator or         
intermediary was ,g4 ,p4 ,this ,g4 ,p41 
whose name 7although1 of course1 well   
known to many persons7 has been altered 
for publication into ,george ,pelham1   
was a young man of great ability1 mainly
 occupied in literary pursuits4         
,although born an ,american citizen1 he 
was a member of a noble ,english family4
 ,i never met him1 but ,i have the good 

fortune to include a number of his      
friends among my own1 and with several  
of these ,i have been privileged to hold
 intimate conversation on the nature of 
the communications which they received4 
,i have thus heard of many significant  
utterances of ,g4 ,p4's1 which are held 
too private for print2 and ,i have      
myself been present at sittings where   
,g4 ,p4 manifested4 ,for the full       
discussion of the evidence tending to   
prove the identity of ,g4 ,p41 ,i refer 
my readers to the original report in the
 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r4 ,i quote here a 
general summary1 given by ,dr4 ,hodgson 
several years later1 of the whole series
 of his manifestations4 7,from          
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4  
#cbh-ccj47       ,on the first          
appearance of the communicating ,g4 ,p4 
to ,mr4 ,hart in      ,march #ahib1 he  
gave not only his own name and that of  
the sitter1      but also the names of  
several of their most intimate common   
friends1 and referred specifically to   

the most important private      matters 
connected with them4 ,at the same       
sitting reference was made      to other
 incidents unknown to the sitters1 such 
as the account of      ,mrs4 ,pelham's  
taking the studs from the body of ,g4   
,p4 and giving      them to ,mr4 ,pelham
 to be sent to ,mr4 ,hart1 and the      
reproduction of      a notable          
remembrance of a conversation which ,g4 
,p4 living had with      ,katharine1 the
 daughter of his most intimate friends1 
the ,howards4      ,these were primary  
examples of two kinds of knowledge      
concerning      matters unknown to the  
sitters1 of which various other         
instances      were afterwards given2   
knowledge of events connected with ,g4  
,p4      which had occurred since his   
death1 and knowledge of special         
memories pertaining to the ,g4 ,p4      
personality before death4 ,a week       
later1 at the sitting of ,mr4 ,vance1 he
 made an appropriate inquiry      after 
the sitter's son1 and in reply to       

inquiries rightly specified      that   
the sitter's son had been at college    
with him1 and further      correctly    
gave a correct description of the       
sitter's summer home as      the place  
of a special visit4 ,this1 again1 was   
paralleled by many      later instances 
where appropriate inquiries were made   
and      remembrances recalled          
concerning other personal friends of ,g4
 ,p4      ,nearly two weeks later came  
his most intimate friends1 the ,howards1
      and to these1 using the voice     
directly1 he showed such a fulness of   
private remembrance and specific        
knowledge and characteristic            
intellectual and emotional quality      
pertaining to ,g4 ,p4 that1 though      
they had previously taken no interest in
 any branch of psychical      research1 
they were unable to resist the          
conviction that they were      actually 
conversing with their old friend ,g4 ,p4
 ,and this conviction      was          
strengthened by their later experiences4

 ,not least important1      at that     
time1 was his anxiety about the disposal
 of a certain book      and about       
certain specified letters which concern 
matters too      private for            
publication4 ,he was particularly       
desirous of convincing      his father1 
who lived in ,washington1 that it was   
indeed ,g4 ,p4 who      was             
communicating1 and he soon afterwards   
stated that his father      had taken   
his photograph to be copied1 as was the 
case1 though ,mr4      ,pelham had not  
informed even his wife of this fact4    
,later on he      reproduced a series of
 incidents1 unknown to the sitters1 in  
which      ,mrs4 ,howard had been       
engaged in her own home4 ,later still1  
at a      sitting with his father and   
mother in ,new ,york1 a further intimate
      knowledge was shown of private    
family circumstances1 and at the        
following sitting1 at which his father  
and mother were not present1      he    
gave the details of certain private     

actions which they had done      in the 
interim4 ,at their sitting1 and at      
various sittings of the      ,howards1  
appropriate comments were made          
concerning different      articles      
presented which had belonged to ,g4 ,p4 
living1 or had been      familiar to    
him2 he inquired after other personal   
articles which      were not presented  
at the sittings1 and showed intimate and
      detailed recollections of         
incidents in connection with them4 ,in  
points connected with the recognition of
 articles with their      related       
associations of a personal sort1 the ,g4
 ,p4 communicating1      so far as ,i   
know1 has never failed4 ,nor has he     
failed in the      recognition of       
personal friends4 ,i may say generally  
that out of a      large number of      
sitters who went as strangers to ,mrs4  
,piper1 the      communicating ,g4 ,p4  
has picked out the friends of ,g4 ,p4   
living1      precisely as the ,g4 ,p4   
living might have been expected to do   

thirty cases of recognition out of at   
least one hundred and fifty      persons
 who have had sittings with ,mrs4 ,piper
 since the first      appearance of ,g4 
,p41 and no case of false recognition1  
and has      exhibited memories in      
connection with these and other friends 
which      are such as would naturally  
be associated as part of the ,g4 ,p4    
personality1 which certainly do not     
suggest in themselves that they         
originate otherwise1 and which are      
accompanied by the emotional            
relations which were connected with such
 friends in the mind of ,g4      ,p4    
living4 ,at one of his early            
communications ,g4 ,p4 expressly        
undertook the task of rendering all the 
assistance in his power      towards    
establishing the continued existence of 
himself and other      communicators1 in
 pursuance of a promise of which he     
himself      reminded me1 made some two 
years or more before his death1 that if 
he died before me and found himself     

still existing1 he would      devote    
himself to prove the fact2 and in the   
persistence of his      endeavour to    
overcome the difficulties in            
communicating as far as      possible1  
in his constant readiness to act as     
amanuensis at the      sittings1 in the 
effect which he has produced by his     
counsels1--to      myself as            
investigator1 and to numerous other     
sitters and      communicators1--he has1
 in so far as ,i can form a judgment in 
a      problem so complex and still     
presenting so much obscurity1           
displayed all the keenness and          
pertinacity which were eminently        
characteristic of ,g4 ,p4 living4       
,finally the manifestations of this ,g4 
,p4 communicating have not      been of 
a fitful and spasmodic nature1 they have
 exhibited the      marks of a          
continuous living and persistent        
personality1      manifesting itself    
through a course of years1 and showing  
the same      characteristics of an     

independent intelligence whether friends
 of      ,g4 ,p4 were present at the    
sittings or not4 ,i learned of various  
cases where in my absence active        
assistance was rendered by ,g4 ,p4      
to sitters who had never previously     
heard of him1 and from time to      time
 he would make brief pertinent reference
 to matters with which      ,g4 ,p4     
living was acquainted1 though ,i was    
not1 and sometimes in      ways which   
indicated that he could to some extent  
see what was      happening in our world
 to persons in whose welfare ,g4 ,p4    
living      would have been specially   
interested4  ,the sitter called ,mr4    
,hart1 to whom ,g4 ,p4 first manifested1
 died at ,naples three years afterwards1
 and communicated1 with the help of ,g4 
,p41 on the second day after his death4 
,an account of his communications is    
given in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
xiii4 pp4 #cec-eg4  ,there are numerous 
instances in the reports in the         
,proceedings 7see vol4 vi4 pp4 #fdg-ej2 

vol4 viii4 pp4 #ae-bf2 vol4 xiii41      
passim2 and vol4 xvi4 pp4 #aca-c71 of   
the giving of information unknown to the
 sitters and afterwards verified4 ,a    
striking illustration of this occurred  
in the case of the lady called ,elisa   
,mannors1 whose near relatives and      
friends concerned in the communications 
were known to myself4 ,on the morning   
after the death of her uncle1 called ,f4
 in the report1 she described an        
incident in connection with the         
appearance of herself to her uncle on   
his death-bed4 ,i quote ,dr4 ,hodgson's 
account of this 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 xiii4 p4 #cgh1 footnote74         
,the notice of his ,f4's death was in a 
,boston morning paper1 and ,i           
happened to see it on my way to the     
sitting4 ,the first writing of      the 
sitting came from ,madame ,elisa1       
without my expecting it4 ,she      wrote
 clearly and strongly1 explaining that  
,f4 was there with her1      but unable 
to speak directly1 that she wished to   

give me an account      of how she had  
helped ,f4 to reach her4 ,she said that 
she had been      present at his        
death-bed1 and had spoken to him1 and   
she repeated      what she had said1 an 
unusual form of expression1 and         
indicated      that he had heard and    
recognised her4 ,this was confirmed in  
detail      in the only way possible at 
that time1 by a very intimate friend of 
,madame ,elisa and myself1 and also of  
the nearest surviving relative      of  
,f4 ,i showed my friend the account of  
the sitting1 and to this      friend1 a 
day or two later1 the relative1 who was 
present at the      death-bed1 stated   
spontaneously that ,f4 when dying said  
that he saw      ,madame ,elisa who was 
speaking to him1 and he repeated what   
she was      saying4 ,the expression so 
repeated1 which the relative quoted to  
my      friend1 was that which ,i had   
received from ,madame ,elisa through    
,mrs4 ,piper's trance1 when the         
death-bed incident was of course        

entirely unknown to me4  ,rare are the  
,peak in ,darien cases 7see page #bcc71 
but cases like this are rarer still4    
,with regard to the last of the three   
periods of ,mrs4 ,piper's               
trance-history1 the only detailed       
published accounts are contained in     
,professor ,hyslop's report of his      
sittings in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 xvi4#baj ,but neither his records nor  
the manuscript records which ,i have    
seen contain any proof of the personal  
identity of the alleged spirits called  
,imperator1 ,doctor1 ,rector1 etc41 or  
any proof of the identity of these      
intelligences with those claimed by ,mr4
 ,moses4 7,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 xiii4 pp4 #djh-i47 ,whether any    
such proof will be forthcoming in the   
future remains to be seen1--or indeed1  
whether proof or disproof for us at     
present is even possible4  ,we must now 
try to form some more definite          
idea--based not on preconceived theories
 but on our actual observation of       

trances--of the processes of possession4
  ,let us try to realise what kind of   
feat it is which we are expecting the   
disembodied spirit to achieve4 ,such    
language1 ,i know1 again suggests the   
medicine-man's wigwam rather than the   
study of the white philosopher4 ,yet can
 we feel sure that the process in our   
own minds which has 7as we think7       
refined and spiritualised man's early   
conceptions of an unseen world has been 
based upon any observed facts8  ,in     
dealing with matters which lie outside  
human experience1 our only clue is some 
attempt at continuity with what we      
already know4 ,we cannot1 for instance1 
form independently a reliable conception
 of life in an unseen world4 ,that      
conception has never yet been fairly    
faced from the standpoint of our modern 
ideas of continuity1 conservation1      
evolution4 ,the main notions that have  
been framed of such survival have been  
framed first by savages and then by a   
priori philosophers4  ,the savage made  

his own picture first4 ,and he at any   
rate dimly felt after a principle of    
continuity2 although he applied it in   
the crudest fashion4 ,yet the happy     
hunting-ground and the faithful dog were
 conceptions not more arbitrary and     
unscientific than that eternal and      
unimaginable worship in vacuo which more
 accredited teachers have proclaimed4   
,and1 passing on to modern philosophic  
conceptions1 one may say that where the 
savage assumed too little difference    
between the material and the spiritual  
world the philosopher has assumed too   
much4 ,he has regarded the gulf as too  
unbridgeable2 he has taken for granted  
too clean a sweep of earthly modes of   
thought4 ,trying to shake off time1     
space1 and definite form1 he has        
attempted to transport himself too      
magically to what may be in reality an  
immensely distant goal4  ,what1 then1 is
 to be our conception of identity       
prolonged beyond the tomb8 ,in          
earth-life the actual body1 in itself   

but a subordinate element in our thought
 of our friend1 did yet by its physical 
continuity override as a symbol of      
identity all lapses of memory1 all      
changes of the character within4 ,yet it
 was memory and character1--the stored  
impressions upon which he reacted1 and  
his specific mode of reaction1--which   
made our veritable friend4 ,how much of 
memory1 how much of character1 must he  
preserve for our recognition8  ,do we   
ask that either he or we should remember
 always1 or should remember all8 ,do we 
ask that his memory should be expanded  
into omniscience and his character      
elevated into divinity8 ,and1 whatever  
heights he may attain1 do we demand that
 he should reveal to us8 ,are the       
limitations of our material world no    
barrier to him8  ,it is safest to fall  
back for the present upon the few points
 which these communications do seem to  
indicate4 ,the spirit1 then1 is holding 
converse with a living man1 located in a
 certain place at a certain moment1 and 

animated by certain thoughts and        
emotions4 ,the spirit 7to which ,i must 
give a neuter pronoun for greater       
clearness7 in some cases can find and   
follow the man as it pleases4 ,it is    
therefore in some way cognizant of      
space1 although not conditioned by      
space4 ,its mastery of space may perhaps
 bear somewhat the same relation to our 
eyesight as our eyesight bears to the   
gropings of the blind4 ,similarly1 the  
spirit appears to be partly cognizant of
 our time1 although not wholly          
conditioned thereby4 ,it is apt to see  
as present both certain things which    
appear to us as past and certain things 
which appear to us as future4  ,once    
more1 the spirit is at least partly     
conscious of the thought and emotions of
 its earthly friend1 so far as directed 
towards itself2 and this not only when  
the friend is in the presence of the    
sensitive1 but also 7as ,g4 ,p4 has     
repeatedly shown7 when the friend is at 
home and living his ordinary life4      

,lastly1 it seems as though the spirit  
had some occasional glimpses of material
 fact upon the earth 7as the contents of
 drawers and the like71 not manifestly  
proceeding through any living mind4 ,i  
do not1 however1 recall any clear       
evidence of a spirit's perception of    
material facts which provably have never
 been known to any incarnate mind       
whatever4  ,accepting this1 then1 for   
argument's sake1 as the normal condition
 of a spirit in reference to human      
things1 what process must it attempt if 
it wishes to communicate with living    
men8 ,that it will wish to communicate  
seems probable enough1 if it retains not
 only memory of the loves of earth1 but 
actual fresh consciousness of loving    
emotion directed towards it after death4
  ,seeking then for some open avenue1 it
 discerns something which corresponds   
7in ,g4 ,p4's phrase7 to a light--a     
glimmer of translucency in the confused 
darkness of our material world4 ,this   
light indicates a sensitive--a human    

organism so constituted that a spirit   
can temporarily inform or control it1   
not necessarily interrupting the stream 
of the sensitive's ordinary             
consciousness2 perhaps using a hand     
only1 or perhaps1 as in ,mrs4 ,piper's  
case1 using voice as well as hand1 and  
occupying all the sensitive's channels  
of self-manifestation4 ,the difficulties
 which must be inherent in such an act  
of control are thus described by ,dr4   
,hodgson3--  ,if1 indeed1 each one of us
 is a 'spirit' that survives the death  
of the fleshly organism1 there are      
certain suppositions that ,i think we   
may not unreasonably make concerning the
 ability of the discarnate 'spirit' to  
communicate with those yet incarnate4   
,even under the best of conditions for  
communication--which ,i am supposing for
 the nonce to be possible--it may well  
be that the aptitude for communicating  
clearly may be as rare as the gifts that
 make a great artist1 or a great        
mathematician1 or a great philosopher4  

,again1 it may well be that1 owing to   
the change connected with death itself1 
the 'spirit' may at first be much       
confused1 and such confusion may last   
for a long time2 and even after the     
'spirit' has become accustomed to its   
new environment1 it is not an           
unreasonable supposition that if it came
 into some such relation to another     
living human organism as it once        
maintained with its own former organism1
 it would find itself confused by that  
relation4 ,the state might be like that 
of awaking from a prolonged period of   
unconsciousness into strange            
surroundings4 ,if my own ordinary body  
could be preserved in its present state1
 and ,i could absent myself from it for 
days or months or years1 and continue my
 existence under another set of         
conditions altogether1 and if ,i could  
then return to my own body1 it might    
well be that ,i should be very confused 
and incoherent at first in my           
manifestations by means of it4 ,how much

 more would this be the case were ,i to 
return to another human body4 ,i might  
be troubled with various forms of       
aphasia and agraphia1 might be          
particularly liable to failures of      
inhibition1 might find the conditions   
oppressive and exhausting1 and my state 
of mind would probably be of an         
automatic and dreamlike character4 ,now1
 the communicators through ,mrs4        
,piper's trance exhibit precisely the   
kind of confusion and incoherence which 
it seems to me we have some reason a    
priori to expect if they are actually   
what they claim to be4  ,at the outset  
of this chapter ,i compared the         
phenomena of possession with those of   
alternating personalities1 of dreams1   
and of somnambulism4 ,now it seems      
probable that the thesis of multiplex   
personality--namely1 that no known      
current of man's consciousness exhausts 
his whole consciousness1 and no known   
self-manifestation expresses man's whole
 potential being--may hold good both for

 embodied and for unembodied men1 and   
this would lead us to expect that the   
manifestations of the departed1--through
 the sensory automatisms dealt with in  
,chapter ,,vii41 and the motor          
automatisms considered in ,chapter      
,,viii41 up to the completer form of    
possession illustrated in the present   
chapter1--would resemble those fugitive 
and unstable communications between     
widely different strata of personality  
of which embodied minds offer us        
examples4 ,g4 ,p4 himself appears to be 
well aware of the dreamlike character of
 the communications1 which1 indeed1 his 
own style often exemplifies4 ,thus he   
wrote on ,february #aeth1 #ahid3--      
,remember we share and always shall have
 our friends in the dream-life1 i4e4    
your life so to speak1 which will       
attract us for ever and ever1 and so    
long as we have any friends sleeping in 
the material world2 you to us are more  
like as we understand sleep1 you look   
shut up as one in prison1 and in order  

for us to get into communication with   
you1 we have to enter into your sphere1 
as one like yourself1 asleep4 ,this is  
just why we make mistakes1 as you call  
them1 or get confused and muddled4  ,yet
 even this very difficulty and          
fragmentariness of communication ought  
in the end to be for us full of an      
instruction of its own4 ,we are here    
actually witnessing the central mystery 
of human life1 unrolling itself under   
novel conditions1 and open to closer    
observation than ever before4 ,we are   
seeing a mind use a brain4 ,the human   
brain is in its last analysis an        
arrangement of matter expressly adapted 
to being acted upon by a spirit2 but so 
long as the accustomed spirit acts upon 
it the working is generally too smooth  
to allow us a glimpse of the mechanism4 
,now1 however1 we can watch an          
unaccustomed spirit1 new to the         
instrument1 installing itself and       
feeling its way4 ,the lessons thus      
learnt are likely to be more penetrating

 than any which mere morbid             
interruptions of the accustomed spirit's
 work can teach us4 ,in aphasia1 for    
instance1 we can watch with instruction 
special difficulties of utterance1      
supervening on special injuries to the  
brain4 ,but in possession we perceive   
the controlling spirit actually engaged 
in overcoming somewhat similar          
difficulties--writing or uttering the   
wrong word1 and then getting hold of the
 right one--and sometimes even finding  
power to explain to us something of the 
minute verbal mechanism 7so to term it7 
through whose blocking or dislocation   
the mistake has arisen4  ,and we may    
hope1 indeed1 that as our investigations
 proceed1 and as we on this side of the 
fateful gulf1 and the discarnate spirits
 on the other1 learn more of the        
conditions necessary for perfect control
 of the brain and nervous system of     
intermediaries1--the communications will
 grow fuller and more coherent1 and     
reach a higher level of unitary         

consciousness4  ,among the cases of     
trance discussed in this chapter1 we    
have found intimately interwoven with   
the phenomena of possession many        
instances of its correlative1--ecstasy4 
,mrs4 ,piper's fragmentary utterances   
and visions during her passage from     
trance to waking life1--utterances and  
visions that fade away and leave no     
remembrance in her waking self2         
,stainton ,moses' occasional visions1   
his journeys in the spirit world which  
he recorded on returning to his ordinary
 consciousness2 ,home's entrancement and
 converse with the various controls     
whose messages he gave2--all these      
suggest actual excursions of the        
incarnate spirit from its organism4 ,the
 theoretical importance of these        
spiritual excursions is1 of course1 very
 great4 ,it is1 indeed1 so great that   
most men will hesitate to accept a      
thesis which carries us straight into   
the inmost sanctuary of mysticism2 which
 preaches a precursory entrance into the

 most holy place1 as by divine          
transportation4  ,yet ,i think that this
 belief1 although extreme1 is not1 at   
the point to which our evidence has     
carried us1 in any real way improbable4 
,to put the matter briefly1 if a spirit 
from outside can enter the organism1 the
 spirit from inside can go out1 can     
change its centre of perception and     
action1 in a way less complete and      
irrevocable than the change of death4   
,ecstasy would thus be simply the       
complementary or correlative aspect of  
spirit-control4 ,such a change need not 
be a spatial change1 any more than there
 need be any spatial change for the     
spirit which invades the deserted       
organism4 ,nay1 further3 if the         
incarnate spirit can in this manner     
change its centre of perception in      
response 7so to say7 to a discarnate    
spirit's invasion of the organism1 there
 is no obvious reason why it should not 
do so on other occasions as well4 ,we   
are already familiar with travelling    

clairvoyance1 a spirit's change of      
centre of perception among the scenes of
 the material world4 ,may there not be  
an extension of travelling clairvoyance 
to the spiritual world8 a spontaneous   
transfer of the centre of perception    
into that region from whence discarnate 
spirits seem now to be able1 on their   
side1 to communicate with growing       
freedom8  ,the conception of ecstasy--at
 once in its most literal and in its    
most lofty sense--has thus developed    
itself1 almost insensibly1 from several 
concurrent lines of actual modern       
evidence4 ,it must still1 of course1 be 
long before we can at all adequately    
separate1--,i can hardly say the        
objective from the subjective element in
 the experience1 for we have got beyond 
the region where the meaning of those   
words is clear1--but the element in the 
experience which is recognised and      
responded to by spirits other than the  
ecstatic's1 from the element which      
belongs to his own spirit alone4  ,in   

the meantime1 however1 the fact that    
this kind of communion of ecstasy has   
been1 in preliminary fashion1 rendered  
probable is of the highest importance   
for our whole inquiry4 ,we thus come    
directly into relation with the highest 
form which the various religions known  
to men have assumed in the past4  ,it is
 hardly a paradox to say that the       
evidence for ecstasy is stronger than   
the evidence for any other religious    
belief4 ,of all the subjective          
experiences of religion1 ecstasy is that
 which has been most urgently1 perhaps  
to the psychologist most convincingly1  
asserted2 and it is not confined to any 
one religion4 ,from a psychological     
point of view1 one main indication of   
the importance of a subjective          
phenomenon found in religious experience
 will be the fact that it is common to  
all religions4 ,i doubt whether there is
 any phenomenon1 except ecstasy1 of     
which this can be said4 ,from the       
medicine-man of the lowest savages up to

 ,st4 ,john1 ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,paul1   
with ,buddha1 ,mahomet and ,swedenborg  
on the way1 we find records which1      
though morally and intellectually much  
differing1 are in psychological essence 
the same4  ,at all stages alike we find 
that the spirit is conceived as quitting
 the body2 or1 if not quitting it1 at   
least as greatly expanding its range of 
perception in some state resembling     
trance4 ,observe1 moreover1 that on this
 view all genuine recorded forms of     
ecstasy are akin1 and all of them       
represent a real fact4  ,to our embodied
 souls the matter round us seems real   
and self-existent2 to souls emancipated 
it is but the sign of the degree which  
we have reached1 and thus the highest   
task of science must be to link and     
co-ordinate the symbols appropriate to  
our terrene state with the symbols      
appropriate to the state immediately    
above us4 ,nay1 one might push this     
truth to paradox1 and maintain that of  
all earth's inspired spirits it has been

 the least divinised1 the least lovable1
 who has opened the surest path for men4
 ,religions have risen and die again2   
philosophy1 poetry1 heroism1 answer only
 indirectly the prime need of men4      
,plotinus1 the eagle soaring above the  
tomb of ,plato1 is lost to sight in the 
heavens4 ,conquering and to conquer1 the
 ,maid rides on through other worlds    
than ours4 ,virgil himself1 light among 
the vanished ages1 star that gildest yet
 this earthly shore1 sustains our       
spirit1 as ,i have said1 but indirectly1
 by filling still our fountain of purest
 intellectual joy4 ,but the prosaic     
,swede1--his stiff mind prickly with    
dogma1--the opaque cell-walls of his    
intelligence flooded cloudily by the    
irradiant day1--this man as by the very 
limitations of his faculty1 by the      
practical humility of a spirit trained  
to acquire but not to generate          
truth1--has awkwardly laid the          
corner-stone1 grotesquely sketched the  
elevation of a temple which our remotest

 posterity will be upbuilding and       
adorning still4 ,for he dimly felt that 
man's true passage and intuition from   
state to state depends not upon         
individual ecstasy1 but upon            
comprehensive law2 while yet all law is 
in fact but symbol2 adaptation of truth 
timeless and infinite to intelligences  
of lower or higher range4  ,beyond us   
still is mystery2 but it is mystery lit 
and mellowed with an infinite hope4 ,we 
ride in darkness at the haven's mouth2  
but sometimes through rifted clouds we  
see the desires and needs of many       
generations floating and melting upwards
 into a distant glow1 up through the    
light of the seas by the moon's         
long-silvering ray4  ,the high          
possibilities that lie before us should 
be grasped once for all1 in order that  
the dignity of the quest may help to    
carry the inquirer through many         
disappointments1 deceptions1 delays4    
,but he must remember that this inquiry 
must be extended over many generations2 

nor must he allow himself to be         
persuaded that there are byways to      
mastery4 ,i will not say that there     
cannot possibly be any such thing as    
occult wisdom1 or dominion over the     
secrets of nature ascetically or        
magically acquired4 ,but ,i will say    
that every claim of this kind which my  
colleagues or ,i have been able to      
examine has proved deserving of complete
 mistrust2 and that we have no          
confidence here any more than elsewhere 
in any methods except the open1 candid1 
straightforward methods which the spirit
 of modern science demands4  ,all omens 
point towards the steady continuance of 
just such labour as has already taught  
us all we know4 ,perhaps1 indeed1 in    
this complex of interpenetrating spirits
 our own effort is no individual1 no    
transitory thing4 ,that which lies at   
the root of each of us lies at the root 
of the ,cosmos too4 ,our struggle is the
 struggle of the ,universe itself2 and  
the very ,godhead finds fulfilment      

through our upward-striving souls4      
,,chapter ,x  ,,epilogue  ,greek3       
,edokei tis moi gyn proselthousa kale   
kai eueids1 leuka imatia echousa1       
kalesei me kai eipein1 ,h ,skrates1     
hmati ken tretat ,phthin erivlon        
ikoio4--,platnos ,kritn4   ,the task    
which ,i proposed to myself at the      
beginning of this work is now1 after a  
fashion1 accomplished4 ,following the   
successive steps of my programme1 ,i    
have presented1--not indeed all the     
evidence which ,i possess1 and which ,i 
would willingly present1--but enough at 
least to illustrate a continuous        
exposition1 and as much as can be       
compressed into two volumes1 with any   
hope that these volumes will be read at 
all4#baa ,i have indicated also the     
principal inferences which that evidence
 immediately suggests4 ,such wider      
generalisations as ,i may now add must  
needs be dangerously speculative2 they  
must run the risk of alienating still   
further from this research many of the  

scientific minds which ,i am most       
anxious to influence4  ,this risk1      
nevertheless1 ,i feel bound to face4    
,for two reasons1--or1 ,i should perhaps
 say1 for one main reason seen under two
 aspects1--,i cannot leave this obscure 
and unfamiliar mass of observation and  
experiment without some words of wider  
generalisation1 some epilogue which may 
place these new discoveries in clearer  
relation to the existing schemes of     
civilised thought and belief4  ,in the  
first place1 ,i feel that some such     
attempt at synthesis is needful for the 
practical purpose of enlisting help in  
our long inquiry4 ,as has been hinted   
more than once1 the real drag upon its  
progress has been not opposition but    
indifference4 ,or if indifference be too
 strong a word1 at any rate the interest
 evoked has not been such as to inspire 
to steady independent work anything like
 the number of coadjutors who would have
 responded to a new departure in one of 
the sciences which all men have learnt  

to respect4 ,the inquiry falls between  
the two stools of religion and science2 
it cannot claim support either from the 
religious world or from the ,royal      
,society4 ,yet even apart from the      
instinct of pure scientific curiosity   
7which surely has seldom seen such a    
field opening before it71 the mighty    
issues depending on these phenomena     
ought1 ,i think1 to constitute in       
themselves a strong1 an exceptional     
appeal4 ,i desire in this book to       
emphasise that appeal2--not only to     
produce conviction1 but also to attract 
co-operation4 ,and actual converse with 
many persons has led me to believe that 
in order to attract such help1 even from
 scientific men1 some general view of   
the moral upshot of all the phenomena is
 needed2--speculative and uncertain     
though such a general view must be4     
,again1--and here the practical reason  
already given expands into a wider      
scope1--it would be unfair to the       
evidence itself were ,i to close this   

work without touching more directly than
 hitherto on some of the deepest faiths 
of men4 ,the influence of the evidence  
set forth in this book should not be    
limited to the conclusions1 however     
weighty1 which that evidence may be     
thought to establish4 ,rather these     
discoveries should prompt1 as nothing   
else could have prompted1 towards the   
ultimate achievement of that programme  
of scientific dominance which the       
,instauratio ,magna proclaimed for      
mankind4 ,bacon foresaw the gradual     
victory of observation and              
experiment--the triumph of actual       
analysed fact--in every department of   
human study2--in every department save  
one4 ,the realm of ,divine things he    
left to ,authority and ,faith4 ,i here  
urge that that great exemption need be  
no longer made4 ,i claim that there now 
exists an incipient method of getting at
 this ,divine knowledge also1 with the  
same certainty1 the same calm assurance1
 with which we make our steady progress 

in the knowledge of terrene things4 ,the
 authority of creeds and ,churches will 
thus be replaced by the authority of    
observation and experiment4 ,the impulse
 of faith will resolve itself into a    
reasoned and resolute imagination1 bent 
upon raising even higher than now the   
highest ideals of man4  ,most readers of
 the preceding pages will have been     
prepared for the point of view thus     
frankly avowed4 ,yet to few readers can 
that point of view at first present     
itself otherwise than as alien and      
repellent4 ,philosophy and orthodoxy    
will alike resent it as presumptuous2   
nor will science readily accept the     
unauthorised transfer to herself of     
regions of which she has long been wont 
either to deny the existence1 or at any 
rate to disclaim the rule4              
,nevertheless1 ,i think that it will    
appear on reflection that some such     
change of standpoint as this was        
urgently needed1--nay1 was ultimately   
inevitable4  ,i need not here describe  

at length the deep disquiet of our time4
 ,never1 perhaps1 did man's spiritual   
satisfaction bear a smaller proportion  
to his needs4 ,the old-world sustenance1
 however earnestly administered1 is too 
unsubstantial for the modern cravings4  
,and thus through our civilised         
societies two conflicting currents run4 
,on the one hand health1 intelligence1  
morality1--all such boons as the steady 
progress of planetary evolution can win 
for man1--are being achieved in         
increasing measure4 ,on the other hand  
this very sanity1 this very prosperity1 
do but bring out in stronger relief the 
underlying ,welt-,schmers1 the decline  
of any real belief in the dignity1 the  
meaning1 the endlessness of life4       
,there are many1 of course1 who readily 
accept this limitation of view2 who are 
willing to let earthly activities and   
pleasures gradually dissipate and       
obscure the larger hope4 ,but others    
cannot thus be easily satisfied4 ,they  
rather resemble children who are growing

 too old for their games2--whose        
amusement sinks into an indifference and
 discontent for which the fitting remedy
 is an initiation into the serious work 
of men4  ,a similar crisis has passed   
over ,europe once before4 ,there came a 
time when the joyful navet1 the         
unquestioning impulse of the early world
 had passed away2 when the worship of   
,greeks no more was beauty1 nor the     
religion of ,romans ,rome4 ,alexandrian 
decadence1 ,byzantine despair1 found    
utterance in many an epigram which might
 have been written to-day4 ,then came a 
great uprush or incursion from the      
spiritual world1 and with new races and 
new ideals ,europe regained its youth4  
,the unique effect of that great        
,christian impulse begins1 perhaps1 to  
wear away4 ,but more grace may yet be   
attainable from the region whence that  
grace came4 ,our age's restlessness1 as 
,i believe1 is the restlessness not of  
senility but of adolescence2 it         
resembles the approach of puberty rather

 than the approach of death4  ,what the 
age needs is not an abandonment of      
effort1 but an increase2 the time is    
ripe for a study of unseen things as    
strenuous and sincere as that which     
,science has made familiar for the      
problems of earth4 ,for now the         
scientific instinct1--so newly developed
 in mankind1--seems likely to spread    
until it becomes as dominant as was in  
time past the religious2 and if there be
 even the narrowest chink through which 
man can look forth from his planetary   
cage1 our descendants will not leave    
that chink neglected or unwidened4 ,the 
scheme of knowledge which can commend   
itself to such seekers must be a scheme 
which1 while it transcends our present  
knowledge1 steadily continues it2--a    
scheme not catastrophic1 but            
evolutionary2 not promulgated and closed
 in a moment1 but gradually unfolding   
itself to progressive inquiry4  ,must   
there not also be a continuous change1  
an unending advance in the human ideal  

itself8 so that ,faith must shift her   
standpoint from the brief ,past to the  
endless ,future1 not so much caring to  
supply the lacun of tradition as to     
intensify the conviction that there is  
still a higher life to work for1 a      
holiness which may be some day reached  
by grace and effort as yet unknown4  ,it
 may be that for some generations to    
come the truest faith will lie in the   
patient attempt to unravel from confused
 phenomena some trace of the supernal   
world2--to find thus at last the        
substance of things hoped for1 the      
evidence of things not seen4 ,i confess1
 indeed1 that ,i have often felt as     
though this present age were even unduly
 favoured2--as though no future         
revelation and calm could equal the joy 
of this great struggle from doubt into  
certainty2--from the materialism or     
agnosticism which accompany the first   
advance of ,science into the deeper     
scientific conviction that there is a   
deathless soul in man4 ,i can imagine no

 other crisis of such deep delight4 ,but
 after all this is but like the starving
 child's inability to imagine anything  
sweeter than his first bite at the      
crust4 ,give him but that1 and he can   
hardly care for the moment whether he is
 fated to be ,prime ,minister or        
ploughboy4  ,equally transitory1 equally
 dependent on our special place in the  
story of man's upward effort1 is another
 shade of feeling which many men have   
known4 ,they have felt that uncertainty 
gave scope to faith and courage in a way
 which scientific assurance could never 
do4 ,there has been a stern delight in  
the choice of virtue1--even though      
virtue might bring no reward4 ,this joy1
 like the joy of ,columbus sailing      
westward from ,hierro1 can hardly recur 
in precisely the same form4 ,but neither
 7to descend to a humbler comparison7   
can we grown men again give ourselves up
 to learning in the same spirit of pure 
faith1 without prefigurement of result1 
as when we learnt the alphabet at our   

mother's knees4 ,have we therefore      
relaxed since then our intellectual     
effort8 ,have we felt that there was no 
longer need to struggle against idleness
 when once we knew that knowledge       
brought a sure reward8  ,endless are the
 varieties of lofty joy4 ,in the age of 
,thales1 ,greece knew the delight of the
 first dim notion of cosmic unity and   
law4 ,in the age of ,christ1 ,europe    
felt the first high authentic message   
from a world beyond our own4 ,in our own
 age we reach the perception that such  
messages may become continuous and      
progressive2--that between seen and     
unseen there is a channel and fairway   
which future generations may learn to   
widen and to clarify4 ,our own age may  
seem the best to us2 so will their      
mightier ages seem to them4      ',talia
 saecla' suis dixerunt 'currite' fusis  
,concordes stabili ,fatorum numine      
,parcae4  ,spiritual evolution3--that1  
then1 is our destiny1 in this and other 
worlds2--an evolution gradual with many 

gradations1 and rising to no assignable 
close4 ,and the passion for ,life is no 
selfish weakness1 it is a factor in the 
universal energy4 ,it should keep its   
strength unbroken even when our         
weariness longs to fold the hands in    
endless slumber2 it should outlast and  
annihilate the pangs that conquer trust4
 ,if to the ,greeks it seemed a ,greek3 
lipotaxa--a desertion of one's post in  
battle--to quit by suicide the life of  
earth1 how much more craven were the    
desire to desert the ,cosmos1--the      
despair1 not of this planet only1 but of
 the ,sum of ,things6  ,nay1 in the     
infinite ,universe man may now feel1 for
 the first time1 at home4 ,the worst    
fear is over2 the true security is won4 
,the worst fear was the fear of         
spiritual extinction or spiritual       
solitude2 the true security is in the   
telepathic law4  ,let me draw out my    
meaning at somewhat greater length4  ,as
 we have dwelt successively on various  
aspects of telepathy1 we have gradually 

felt the conception enlarge and deepen  
under our study4 ,it began as a         
quasi-mechanical transference of ideas  
and images from one to another brain4   
,presently we found it assuming a more  
varied and potent form1 as though it    
were the veritable ingruence or invasion
 of a distant mind4 ,again1 its action  
was traced across a gulf greater than   
any space of earth or ocean1 and it     
bridged the interval between spirits    
incarnate and discarnate1 between the   
visible and the invisible world4 ,there 
seemed no limit to the distance of its  
operation1 or to the intimacy of its    
appeal4      ,greek3 hen thhrsin hen    
brotohisin hen theohis han4  ,this      
,love1 then1 which 7as ,sophocles has   
it7 rules beasts and men and gods with  
equal sway1 is no matter of carnal      
impulse or of emotional caprice4 ,rather
 it is now possible to define ,love 7as 
we have already defined ,genius7 in     
terms which convey for us some new      
meaning in connection with phenomena    

described in this work4 ,genius1 as has 
been already said1 is a kind of exalted 
but undeveloped clairvoyance4 ,the      
subliminal uprush which inspires the    
poet or the musician presents to him a  
deep1 but vague perception of that world
 unseen1 through which the seer or the  
sensitive projects a narrower but an    
exacter gaze4 ,somewhat similarly1 ,love
 is a kind of exalted but unspecialised 
telepathy2--the simplest and most       
universal expression of that mutual     
gravitation or kinship of spirits which 
is the foundation of the telepathic law4
  ,this is the answer to the ancient    
fear2 the fear lest man's fellowships be
 the outward and his solitude the inward
 thing2 the fear lest all close linking 
with our fellows be the mere product of 
the struggle for existence1--of the     
tribal need of strength and             
cohesion2--the fear that if love and    
virtue thus arose1 love and virtue may  
thus likewise perish4 ,it is an answer  
to the dread that separate centres of   

conscious life must be always strangers1
 and often foes2 their leagues and      
fellowships interested and illusory2    
their love the truce of a moment amid   
infinite inevitable war4  ,such fears1  
,i say1 vanish when we learn that it is 
the soul in man which links him with    
other souls2 the body which dissevers   
even while it seems to unite2 so that no
 man liveth to himself nor dieth to     
himself1 but in a sense which goes      
deeper than metaphor1 ,we are every one 
members one of another4 ,like atoms1    
like suns1 like galaxies1 our spirits   
are systems of forces which vibrate     
continually to each other's attractive  
power4  ,all this as yet is dimly       
adumbrated2 it is a first hint of a     
scheme of thought which it may well take
 centuries to develop4 ,but can we      
suppose that1 when once this conception 
of the bond between all souls has taken 
root1 men will turn back from it to the 
old exclusiveness1 the old controversy8 
,will they not see that this            

world-widening knowledge is both old and
 new1 that die ,geisterwelt ist nicht   
verschlossen8 that always have such     
revelations been given1 but develop now 
into a mightier meaning1--with the      
growth of wisdom in those who send them1
 and in us who receive8  ,surely we have
 here a conception1 at once wider and   
exacter than ever before1 of that       
religious education of the world on     
which theologians have been fain to     
dwell4 ,we need assume no supernatural  
interference no plan of redemption4 ,we 
need suppose only that the same process 
which we observe to-day has been        
operating for ages between this world   
and the next4  ,let us suppose that     
whilst incarnate men have risen from    
savagery into intelligence1 discarnate  
men have made on their part a like      
advance4 ,let us suppose that they have 
become more eager and more able to use1 
for communication with earth1 the       
standing laws of relation between the   
spiritual and the material ,universe4   

,at first1 on such a hypothesis1 certain
 automatic phenomena will occur1 but    
will not be purposely modified by spirit
 power4 ,already and always there must  
have been points of contact where unseen
 things impinged upon the seen4 ,always 
there would be clairvoyant wanderings1  
where the spirit of shaman or of        
medicine-man discerned things distant   
upon earth by the spirit's excursive    
power4 ,always there would be           
apparitions at death1--conscious or     
unconscious effects of the shock which  
separated soul from body2 and always    
hauntings1--where the spirit1 already   
discarnate1 revisited1 as in a dream    
perceptible by others1 the scenes which 
once he knew4  ,from this groundwork of 
phenomena developed 7to take civilised  
,europe alone7 the oracular religion    
first1 the ,christian later4 ,the golden
 gifts of ,croesus to ,delphi attested  
the clairvoyance of the ,pythia as      
strongly1 perhaps1 as can be expected of
 any tradition which comes to us from   

the morning of history4  ,and           
furthermore1 do we not better understand
 at once the uniqueness and the reality 
of the ,christian revelation itself1    
when we regard it as a culmination      
rather than an exception1--as destined  
not to destroy the cosmic law1 but to   
fulfil it8 ,then first in human history 
came from the unseen a message such as  
the whole heart desired2--a message     
adequate in its response to fundamental 
emotional needs not in that age only1   
but in all ages that should follow4     
,intellectually adequate for all coming 
ages that revelation could not          
be2--given the laws of mind1 incarnate  
alike and discarnate1--the evolution1 on
 either side of the gulf of death1 of   
knowledge and power4  ,no one at the    
date of that revelation suspected that  
uniformity1 that continuity of the      
,universe which long experience has now 
made for us almost axiomatic4 ,no one   
foresaw the day when the demand for     
miracle would be merged in the demand   

for higher law4  ,this newer scientific 
temper is not confined1 as ,i believe1  
to the denizens of this earth alone4    
,the spiritual world meets it1 as ,i    
think our evidence has shown1 with eager
 and strenuous response4 ,but that      
response is made1 and must be made1     
along the lines of our normal evolution4
 ,it must rest upon the education1 the  
disentanglement1 of that within us      
mortals which exists in the ,invisible1 
a partaker of the undying world4 ,and on
 our side and on theirs alike1 the      
process must be steady and continuous4  
,we have no longer to deal with some    
isolated series of events in the        
past1--interpretable this way or that1  
but in no way renewable1--but rather    
with a world-wide and actual condition  
of things1 recognisable every year in   
greater clearness1 and changing in      
directions which we can better and      
better foresee4 ,this new aspect of     
things needs something of new           
generalisation1 of new forecast1--it    

points to a provisional synthesis of    
religious belief which may fitly        
conclude the present work4              
,,provisional ,,sketch ,,of ,a          
,,religious ,,synthesis      ,greek3    
holbios hostis idn ekeina koilan        
eisin upd chdna oiden men bion keinos   
teleutdn1     oiden de dibodoton drchdn4
      --,,pindar4  ,i see ground for    
hoping that we are within sight of a    
religious synthesis1 which1 although as 
yet provisional and rudimentary1 may in 
the end meet more adequately than any   
previous synthesis the reasonable needs 
of men4 ,such a synthesis cannot1 ,i    
think1 be reached by a mere predominance
 of any one existing creed1 nor by any  
eclectic or syncretic process4 ,its     
prerequisite is the actual acquisition  
of new knowledge whether by discovery or
 by revelation--knowledge discerned from
 without the veil or from within--yet so
 realised that the main forms of        
religious thought1 by harmonious        
expansion and development1 shall find   

place severally as elements in a more   
comprehensive whole4 ,and enough of such
 knowledge has1 ,i think1 been now      
attained to make it desirable to submit 
to my readers the religious results     
which seem likely to follow4  ,with such
 a purpose1 our conception of religion  
should be both profound and             
comprehensive4 ,i will use here the     
definition already adopted of religion  
as the sane and normal response of the  
human spirit to all that we know of     
cosmic law2 that is1 to the known       
phenomena of the universe1 regarded as  
an intelligible whole4 ,for on the one  
hand ,i cannot confine the term to any  
single definite view or tradition of    
things unseen4 ,on the other hand1 ,i am
 not content to define religion as      
morality tinged with emotion1 lest      
morality per se should seem to hang in  
air1 so that we should be merely gilding
 the tortoise which supports the earth4 
,yet my definition needs some further   
guarding if it is to correspond with our

 habitual use of language4 ,most men's  
subjective response to their environment
 falls below the level of true religious
 thought4 ,it is scattered into         
cravings1 or embittered by resentment1  
or distorted by superstitious fear4 ,but
 of such men ,i do not speak2 rather of 
men in whom the great pageant has       
inspired at least some vague            
out-reaching toward the ,source of ,all2
 men for whom knowledge has ripened into
 meditation1 and has prompted high      
desire4 ,i would have ,science first    
sublimed into ,philosophy1 and then     
kindled by ,religion into a burning     
flame4 ,for1 from my point of view1 man 
cannot be too religious4 ,i desire that 
the environing1 the interpenetrating    
universe1--its energy1 its life1 its    
love1--should illume in us1 in our low  
degree1 that which we ascribe to the    
,world-,soul1 saying1 ,god is ,love1    
,god is ,light4 ,the ,world-,soul's     
infinite energy of omniscient           
benevolence should become in us an      

enthusiasm of adoring co-operation1--an 
eager obedience to whatsoever with our  
best pains we can discern as the justly 
ruling principle--,greek3 to            
hgemonikon--without us and within4  ,yet
 if we form so high an ideal of         
religion1--raising it so far above any  
blind obedience or self-seeking fear    
that its submission is wholly willing1  
and its demand is for spiritual response
 alone1--we are bound to ask ourselves  
whether it is right and reasonable to be
 religious1 to regard with this full    
devotion a universe apparently imperfect
 and irresponsive1 and a ,ruling        
,principle which so many men have       
doubted or ignored4  ,the pessimist     
holds the view that sentient existence  
has been a deplorable blunder in the    
scheme of things4 ,the egotist at least 
acts upon the view that the universe has
 no moral coherence1 and that each for  
himself is the only indisputable law4 ,i
 am sanguine enough to think that the   
answer to the pessimist and the egotist 

has by our new knowledge been made      
complete4 ,there remains1 indeed1 a     
difficulty of subtler type1 but         
instinctive in generous souls4 ,the     
world1 such an one may say1 is a mixed  
place1 and ,i am plainly bound to do my 
best to improve it4 ,but am ,i bound to 
feel--can any bribe of personal         
happiness justify me in                 
feeling--religious enthusiasm for a     
universe in which even one being may    
have been summoned into a sentiency     
destined to inescapable pain8  ,the     
answer to this ethical scruple must be a
 matter largely of faith4 ,if indeed we 
knew that this earthly life was all1 or 
7far worse7 that it was followed for any
 one soul by endless pain1 we could not 
without some moral jugglery ascribe     
perfection of both power and goodness to
 a personal or impersonal ,first ,cause 
of such a doom4 ,but if we believe that 
endless life exists for all1 with       
infinite possibilities of human redress 
and of divine justification1 then it    

seems right to assume that the universe 
is either already 7in some inscrutable  
fashion7 wholly good1 or is at least in 
course of becoming so2 since it may be  
becoming so in part through the very    
ardour of our own faith and hope4  ,i do
 but mention these initial difficulties2
 ,i shall not dwell on them here4 ,i    
speak to men who have determined1       
whether at the bidding of instinct or of
 reason1 that it is well to be          
religious2 well to approach in          
self-devoted reverence an infinite      
,power and ,love4 ,our desire is simply 
to find the least unworthy way of       
thinking of matters which inevitably    
transcend and baffle our finite thought4
  ,and here1 for the broad purpose of   
our present survey1 we may divide the   
best religious emotion of the world in  
triple fashion2 tracing three main      
streams of thought1--streams which on   
the whole run parallel1 and which all   
rise1 as ,i believe1 from some source in
 the reality of things4  ,first1 then1  

,i place that obscure consensus of      
independent thinkers in many ages and   
countries which1 to avoid any disputable
 title1 ,i will here call simply the    
,religion of the ,ancient ,sage4 ,under 
that title 7though ,lao ,tz7u is hardly 
more than a name7 it has been set forth 
to us in brief summary by the great sage
 and poet of our own time2 and such     
words as ,natural ,religion1 ,pantheism1
 ,platonism1 ,mysticism1 do but express 
or intensify varying aspects of its main
 underlying conception4 ,that conception
 is the coexistence and interpenetration
 of a real or spiritual with this       
material or phenomenal world2 a belief  
driven home to many minds by experiences
 both more weighty and more concordant  
than the percipients themselves have    
always known4 ,more weighty1 ,i say1 for
 they have implied the veritable        
nascency and operation of a last and    
largest sense2 a faculty for            
apprehending1 not ,god1 indeed 7for what
 finite faculty can apprehend the       

,infinite871 but at least some dim and  
scattered tokens and prefigurements of a
 true world of ,life and ,love4 ,more   
concordant also2 and this for a reason  
which till recently would have seemed a 
paradox4 ,for the mutual corroboration  
of these signs and messages lies not    
only in their fundamental agreement up  
to a certain point1 but in their        
inevitable divergence beyond it2--as    
they pass from things felt into things  
imagined2 from actual experience into   
dogmatic creed4  ,the ,religion of the  
,ancient ,sage is of unknown antiquity4 
,of unknown antiquity also are various  
,oriental types of religion1 culminating
 in historical times in the ,religion of
 ,buddha4 ,for ,buddhism all            
interpenetrating universes make the     
steps upon man's upward way2 until      
deliverance from illusion leaves the    
spirit merged ineffably in the          
impersonal ,all4 ,but the teaching of   
,buddha has lost touch with reality2 it 
rests on no basis of observed or of     

reproducible fact4  ,on a basis of      
observed facts1 on the other hand1      
,christianity1 the youngest of the great
 types of religion1 does assuredly rest4
 ,assuredly those facts1 so far as      
tradition has made them known to us1 do 
tend to prove the superhuman character  
of its ,founder1 and ,his triumph over  
death2 and thus the existence and       
influence of a spiritual world1 where   
men's true citizenship lies4 ,these     
ideas1 by common consent1 lay at the    
origin of the ,faith4 ,since those first
 days1 however1 ,christianity has been  
elaborated into codes of ethic and      
ritual adapted to ,western              
civilisation2--has gained 7some think7  
as a rule of life what it has lost as a 
simplicity of spirit4  ,from the        
unfettered standpoint of the ,ancient   
,sage the deep concordance of these and 
other schemes of religious thought may  
well outweigh their formal oppositions4 
,and yet ,i repeat that it is not from  
any mere welding of these schemes       

together1 nor from any choice of the    
best points in existing syntheses1 that 
the new synthesis for which ,i hope must
 be born4 ,it must be born from         
new-dawning knowledge2 and in that new  
knowledge ,i believe that each great    
form of religious thought will find its 
indispensable--,i may almost say its    
predicted--development4 ,our race from  
its very infancy has stumbled along a   
guarded way2 and now the first lessons  
of its early childhood reveal the root  
in reality of much that it has          
instinctively believed4  ,what ,i think 
,i know1 therefore1 ,i am bound to tell2
 ,i must give the religious upshot of   
observation and experiment in such brief
 announcement as an audience like       
this#bab has a right to hear1 even      
before our discoveries can be laid in   
full before the courts of science for   
definite approval4  ,the religious      
upshot1 ,i repeat3--for ,i cannot here  
reproduce the mass of evidence which has
 been published in full elsewhere4 ,its 

general character is by this time widely
 known4 ,observation1 experiment1       
inference1 have led many inquirers1 of  
whom ,i am one1 to a belief in direct or
 telepathic intercommunication1 not only
 between the minds of men still on      
earth1 but between minds or spirits     
still on earth and spirits departed4    
,such a discovery opens the door also to
 revelation4 ,by discovery and by       
revelation--by observation from without 
the veil1 and by utterance from         
within--certain theses have been        
provisionally established with regard to
 such departed souls as we have been    
able to encounter4 ,first and chiefly1  
,i at least see ground to believe that  
their state is one of endless evolution 
in wisdom and in love4 ,their loves of  
earth persist2 and most of all those    
highest loves which seek their outlet in
 adoration and worship4 ,we do not find1
 indeed1 that support is given by souls 
in bliss to any special scheme of       
terrene theology4 ,thereon they know    

less than we mortal men have often      
fancied that we knew4 ,yet from their   
step of vantage-ground in the ,universe1
 at least1 they see that it is good4 ,i 
do not mean that they know either of an 
end or of an explanation of evil4 ,yet  
evil to them seems less a terrible than 
a slavish thing4 ,it is embodied in no  
mighty ,potentate2 rather it forms an   
isolating madness from which higher     
spirits strive to free the distorted    
soul4 ,there needs no chastisement of   
fire2 self-knowledge is man's punishment
 and his reward2 self-knowledge1 and the
 nearness or the aloofness of companion 
souls4 ,for in that world love is       
actually self-preservation2 the         
,communion of ,saints not only adorns   
but constitutes the ,life ,everlasting4 
,nay1 from the law of telepathy it      
follows that that communion is valid for
 us here and now4 ,even now the love of 
souls departed makes answer to our      
invocations4 ,even now our loving       
memory--love is itself a                

prayer--supports and strengthens those  
delivered spirits upon their upward way4
 ,no wonder2 since we are to them but as
 fellow-travellers shrouded in a mist2  
neither death1 nor life1 nor height1 nor
 depth1 nor any other creature1 can bar 
us from the hearth-fire of the universe1
 or hide for more than a moment the     
inconceivable oneness of souls4  ,and is
 not this a fresh instalment1 or a      
precursory adumbration1 of that ,truth  
into which the ,paraclete should lead8  
,has any world-scheme yet been suggested
 so profoundly corroborative of the very
 core of the ,christian revelation8     
,jesus ,christ brought life and         
immortality to light4 ,by ,his          
appearance after bodily death ,he proved
 the deathlessness of the spirit4 ,by   
,his character and ,his teaching ,he    
testified to the ,fatherhood of ,god4   
,so far1 then1 as ,his unique message   
admitted of evidential support1 it is   
here supported4 ,so far as ,he promised 
things unprovable1 that promise is here 

renewed4  ,i venture now on a bold      
saying2 for ,i predict that1 in         
consequence of the new evidence1 all    
reasonable men1 a century hence1 will   
believe the ,resurrection of ,christ1   
whereas1 in default of the new evidence1
 no reasonable men1 a century hence1    
would have believed it4 ,the ground of  
this forecast is plain enough4 ,our     
ever-growing recognition of the         
continuity1 the uniformity of cosmic law
 has gradually made of the alleged      
uniqueness of any incident its almost   
inevitable refutation4 ,ever more       
clearly must our age of science realise 
that any relation between a material and
 a spiritual world cannot be an ethical 
or emotional relation alone2 that it    
must needs be a great structural fact of
 the ,universe1 involving laws at least 
as persistent1 as identical from age to 
age1 as our known laws of ,energy or of 
,motion4 ,and especially as to that     
central claim1 of the soul's life       
manifested after the body's death1 it is

 plain that this can less and less be   
supported by remote tradition alone2    
that it must more and more be tested by 
modern experience and inquiry4 ,suppose1
 for instance1 that we collect many such
 histories1 recorded on first-hand      
evidence in our critical age2 and       
suppose that all these narratives break 
down on analysis2 that they can all be  
traced to hallucination1 misdescription1
 and other persistent sources of        
error2--can we then expect reasonable   
men to believe that this marvellous     
phenomenon1 always vanishing into       
nothingness when closely scrutinised in 
a modern ,english scene1 must yet compel
 adoring credence when alleged to have  
occurred in an ,oriental country1 and in
 a remote and superstitious age8 ,had   
the results 7in short7 of psychical     
research been purely negative1 would not
 ,christian evidence--,i do not say     
,christian emotion1 but ,christian      
evidence--have received an overwhelming 
blow8  ,as a matter of fact1--or1 if you

 prefer the phrase1 in my own personal  
opinion1--our research has led us to    
results of a quite different type4 ,they
 have not been negative only1 but       
largely positive4 ,we have shown that   
amid much deception and self-deception1 
fraud and illusion1 veritable           
manifestations do reach us from beyond  
the grave4 ,the central claim of        
,christianity is thus confirmed1 as     
never before4 ,if our own friends1 men  
like ourselves1 can sometimes return to 
tell us of love and hope1 a mightier    
,spirit may well have used the eternal  
laws with a more commanding power4      
,there is nothing to hinder the reverent
 faith that1 though we be all the       
,children of the ,most ,highest1 ,he    
came nearer than we1 by some space by us
 immeasurable1 to ,that which is        
infinitely far4 ,there is nothing to    
hinder the devout conviction that ,he of
 ,his own act took upon ,him the form of
 a servant1 and was made flesh for our  
salvation1 foreseeing the earthly       

travail and the eternal crown4 ,surely  
before this descent into generation1    
says ,plotinus1#bac we existed in the   
intelligible world2 being other men than
 now we are1 and some of us ,gods2 clear
 souls1 and minds unmixed with all      
existence2 parts of the ,intelligible1  
nor severed thence2 nor are we severed  
even now4  ,it is not thus to less of   
reverence that man is summoned1 but to  
more4 ,let him keep hold of early       
sanctities2 but let him remember also   
that once again a great sheet has been  
let down out of heaven2 and lo6 neither 
,buddha nor ,plato is found common or   
unclean4  ,nay1 as to our own soul's    
future1 when that first shock of death  
is past1 it is in ,buddhism that we find
 the more inspiring1 the truer view4    
,that ,western conception of an instant 
and unchangeable bliss or woe--a bliss  
or woe determined largely by a man's    
beliefs1 in this earthly ignorance1 on  
matters which the angels desire to look 
into--is the bequest of a               

pre-,copernican era of speculative      
thought4 ,in its ,mahomedan travesty1 we
 see the same scheme with outlines      
coarsened into grotesqueness2--we see it
 degrade the cosmic march and profluence
 into a manner of children's play4      
,meantime the immemorial musings of     
unnumbered men have dreamt of a         
consummation so far removed that he who 
gazed has scarcely known whether it were
 ,nothingness or ,deity4 ,with          
profoundest fantasy1 the ,east has      
pondered on the vastness of the world   
that now is1 of the worlds that are to  
be4 ,what rest or pasture for the mind  
in the seven days of ,creation1 the four
 rivers of ,paradise1 the stars made    
also8 ,the farther ,east has reached    
blindly forth towards astronomical      
epochs1 sidereal spaces1 galactic       
congregations of inconceivable ,being4  
,pressed by the incumbency of ancestral 
gods 7as the ,chinese legend tells us71 
it has created by one sweep of the      
imagination a thousand ,universes1 to be

 the ,buddha's realm4  ,the sacred tale 
of ,buddha1 developed from its earlier  
simplicity by the shaping stress of many
 generations1 opens to us the whole     
range and majesty of human fate4 ,the   
destined ,buddha has desired to be a    
,buddha through an almost unimaginable  
series of worlds4 ,no soul need ever be 
without that hope4 ,the spirit-worlds   
are even now announcing the advent of   
future ,buddhas1 in epochs too remote   
for the computation of men4 ,no         
obstacles without us can arrest our way4
 ,the rocks that were thrown at ,buddha 
were changed into flowers4 ,not our own 
worst misdoings need beget despair4     
,buddha1 too1 had often been to hell for
 his sins4 ,the vast complexity of the  
,sum of ,things need not appal us4      
,beneath the bottomless whirlpool of    
existences1 behind the illusion of ,form
 and ,name1 we1 too1 like ,buddha1 may  
discover and reveal the perfection of   
the ,eternal ,law4 ,us1 too1 like       
,buddha1 the cosmic welcome may await2  

as when ,earth itself and the laws of   
all worlds trembled with joy as ,buddha 
attained the ,supreme ,intelligence1 and
 entered into the ,endless ,calm4  ,i   
believe that some of those who once were
 near to us are already mounting swiftly
 upon this heavenly way4 ,and when from 
that cloud encompassing of unforgetful  
souls some voice is heard1--as long     
ago1--there needs no heroism1 no        
sanctity1 to inspire the apostle's      
,greek3 epithumia eis to analuoai1 the  
desire to lift our anchor1 and to sail  
out beyond the bar4 ,what fitter summons
 for man than the wish to live in the   
memory of the highest soul that he has  
known1 now risen higher2--to lift into  
an immortal security the yearning       
passion of his love8 ,as the soul       
hasteneth1 says ,plotinus1#bad to the   
things that are above1 she will ever    
forget the more2 unless all her life on 
earth leave a memory of things done     
well4 ,for even here may man do well1 if
 he stand clear of the cares of earth4  

,and he must stand clear of their       
memories too2 so that one may rightly   
speak of a noble soul as forgetting     
those things that are behind4 ,and the  
shade of ,hrakls1 indeed1 may talk of   
his own valour to the shades1 but the   
true ,hrakls in the true world will deem
 all that of little worth2 being        
transported into a more sacred place1   
and strenuously engaging1 even above his
 strength1 in those battles in which the
 wise engage4 ,can we men now on earth  
claim more of sustainment than lies in  
the incipient communion with those      
enfranchised souls8 ,what day of hope1  
of exaltation1 has dawned like this1    
since the message of ,pentecost8  ,yet a
 durable religious synthesis should do  
more than satisfy man's immediate       
aspiration4 ,it should be in itself     
progressive and evolutionary2 it should 
bear a promise of ever deeper holiness1 
to answer to the long ages of           
heightening wisdom during which our race
 may be destined to inhabit the earth4  

,this condition has never yet been met4 
,no scheme1 indeed1 could meet it which 
was not based upon recurrent and        
developing facts4 ,to such facts we now 
appeal4 ,we look1 not backward to fading
 tradition1 but onward to dawning       
experience4 ,we hope that the           
intercourse1 now at last consciously    
begun--although as through the mouth of 
babes and sucklings1 and in confused and
 stammering speech--between discarnate  
and incarnate souls1 may through long   
effort clarify into a director          
communion1 so that they shall teach us  
all they will4  ,science1 then1 need be 
no longer fettered by the limitations of
 this planetary standpoint2 nor ethics  
by the narrow experience of a single    
life4 ,evolution will no longer appear  
as a truncated process1 an ever-arrested
 movement upon an unknown goal4 ,rather 
we may gain a glimpse of an ultimate    
incandescence where science and religion
 fuse in one2 a cosmic evolution of     
,energy into ,life1 and of ,life into   

,love1 which is ,joy4 ,love1 which is   
,joy at once and ,wisdom2--we can do no 
more than ring the changes on terms like
 these1 whether we imagine the          
transfigurement and apotheosis of       
conquering souls1 or the lower1 but     
still sacred1 destiny which may be some 
day possible for souls still tarrying   
here4 ,we picture the perfected soul as 
the ,buddha1 the ,saviour1 the aurai    
simplicis ignem1 dwelling on one or     
other aspect of that trinal conception  
of ,wisdom1 ,love1 and ,joy4 ,for souls 
not yet perfected but still held on     
earth ,i have foretold a growth in      
holiness4 ,by this ,i mean no unreal    
opposition or forced divorcement of     
sacred and secular1 of flesh and spirit4
 ,rather ,i define holiness as the joy  
too high as yet for our enjoyment2 the  
wisdom just beyond our learning2 the    
rapture of love which we still strive to
 attain4 ,inevitably1 as our link with  
other spirits strengthens1 as the life  
of the organism pours more fully through

 the individual cell1 we shall feel love
 more ardent1 wider wisdom1 higher joy2 
perceiving that this organic unity of   
,soul1 which forms the inward aspect of 
the telepathic law1 is in itself the    
,order of the ,cosmos1 the ,summation of
 ,things4 ,and such devotion may find   
its flower in no vain self-martyrdom1 no
 cloistered resignation1 but rather in  
such pervading ecstasy as already the   
elect have known2 the ,vision which     
dissolves for a moment the corporeal    
prison-house2 the flight of the ,one to 
the ,one4  ,so let the soul that is not 
unworthy of that vision contemplate the 
,great ,soul2 freed from deceit and     
every witchery1 and collected into calm4
 ,calmed be the body for her in that    
hour1 and the tumult of the flesh2 ay1  
all that is about her1 calm2 calm be the
 earth1 the sea1 the air1 and let       
,heaven itself be still4 ,then let her  
feel how into that silent heaven the    
,great ,soul floweth in4444 ,and so may 
man's soul be sure of ,vision1 when     

suddenly she is filled with light2 for  
this light is from ,him and is ,he2 and 
then surely shall one know ,his presence
 when1 like a god of old time1 ,he      
entered into the house of one that      
calleth ,him1 and maketh it full of     
light4 ,and how1 concludes ,plotinus1   
may this thing be for us8 ,let all else 
go4#bae  ,these heights1 ,i confess1 are
 above the stature of my spirit4 ,yet   
for each of us is a fit ingress into the
 ,unseen2 and for some lesser man the   
memory of one vanished soul may be      
beatific as of old for ,plotinus the    
flooding immensity of ,heaven4 ,and     
albeit no historical religion can       
persist as a logical halting-place upon 
the endless mounting way--that way which
 leads unbroken from the first germ of  
love in the heart to an inconceivable   
union with the ,divine--yet many a creed
 in turn may well be close inwrought and
 inwoven with our eternal hope4 ,what   
wonder1 if in the soul's long battle1   
some ,captain of our ,salvation shall   

sometimes seem to tower unrivalled and  
alone8--,greek3 oios gar erueto ,ilion  
,hektr4 ,and yet in no single act or    
passion can that salvation stand2 far   
hence1 beyond ,orion and ,andromeda1 the
 cosmic process works and shall work for
 ever through unbegotten souls4 ,and    
even as it was not in truth the great   
ghost of ,hector only1 but the whole    
nascent race of ,rome1 which bore from  
the ,trojan altar the hallowing fire1 so
 is it not one ,saviour only1 but the   
whole nascent race of man--nay1 all the 
immeasurable progeny and population of  
the heavens--which issues continually   
from behind the veil of ,being1 and     
forth from the ,sanctuary of the        
,universe carries the ever-burning      
flame3 ,a eternumque adytis effert      
penetralibus ignem4     ,,appendices    
,,to  ,,chapter ,,ii   ,,ii4 ,a4 ,it is 
well known that a great variety of      
slight causes--hunger1 fatigue1 slight  
poisoning by impure air1 a small degree 
of fever1 etc4--are sometimes enough to 

produce a transient perturbation of     
personality of the most violent kind4 ,i
 give as an instance the following      
account of a feverish experience1 sent  
to me by the late ,robert ,louis        
,stevenson1 from ,samoa1 in #ahib 7and  
published in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41    
vol4 ix4 p4 #i74 ,in ,stevenson's paper 
on his own dreams1 alluded to in        
,chapter ,,iii1 we have one of the most 
striking examples known to me of that   
helpful and productive subliminal uprush
 which ,i have characterised as the     
mechanism of genius4 ,it is therefore1  
interesting to observe how1 under morbid
 conditions1 this temperament of        
genius--this ready permeability of the  
psychical diaphragm--transforms what    
might in others be a mere vague and     
massive discomfort into a vivid though  
incoherent message from the subliminal  
storm and fire4 ,the result is a kind of
 supraliminal duality1 the perception at
 the same time of two personalities--the
 one rational and moral1 the other      

belonging to the stratum of dreams and  
nightmare4   ,,vailima ,,plantation1    
,,upoho1 ,,samoan ,,islands1 ,july      
#adth1 #ahib4       ,,dear ,,mr4        
,,myers1--,i am tempted to communicate  
to you some      experiences of mine    
which seem to me 7ignorant as ,i am7 of 
a high      psychological interest4     
,i had infamous bad health when ,i was a
 child and suffered much from      night
 fears2 but from the age of about       
thirteen until ,i was past      thirty  
,i did not know what it was to have a   
high fever or to wander      in my mind4
 ,so that these experiences1 when they  
were renewed1 came      upon me with    
entire freshness2 and either ,i am a    
peculiar subject1      or ,i was thus   
enabled to observe them with unusual    
closeness4       ,experience ,a4 ,during
 an illness at ,nice ,i lay awake a     
whole night      in extreme pain4 ,from 
the beginning of the evening one part of
 my      mind became possessed of a     
notion so grotesque and shapeless that  

it may best be described as a form of   
words4 ,i thought the pain      was1 or 
was connected with1 a wisp or coil of   
some sort2 ,i knew      not of what it  
consisted nor yet where it was1 and     
cared not2 only      ,i thought1 if the 
two ends were brought together1 the pain
 would      cease4 ,now all the time1   
with another part of my mind1 which ,i  
venture to think was myself1 ,i was     
fully alive to the absurdity      of    
this idea1 knew it to be a mark of      
impaired sanity1 and was      engaged   
with my other self in a perpetual       
conflict4 ,myself had      nothing more 
at heart than to keep from my wife1 who 
was nursing      me1 any hint of this   
ridiculous hallucination2 the other was 
bound that she should be told of it and 
ordered to effect the cure4      ,i     
believe it must have been well on in the
 morning before the fever      7or the  
other fellow7 triumphed1 and ,i called  
my wife to my      bedside1 seized her  
savagely by the wrist1 and looking on   

her with      a face of fury1 cried3    
,why do you not put the two ends        
together      and put me out of pain8   
,experience ,b4 ,the other day in       
,sydney ,i was seized on a ,saturday    
with a high fever4 ,early in the        
afternoon ,i began to repeat            
mechanically the sound usually written  
mhn1 caught myself in the      act1     
instantly stopped it1 and explained to  
my mother1 who was in      the room1 my 
reasons for so doing4 ,that is the      
beginning of the      mind to wander1 ,i
 said1 and has to be resisted at the    
outset4 ,i      fell asleep and woke1   
and for the rest of the night repeated  
to      myself mentally a nonsense word 
which ,i could not recall next          
morning4 ,i had been reading the day    
before the life of ,swift1 and      all 
night long one part of my mind 7the     
other fellow7 kept      informing me    
that ,i was not repeating the word      
myself1 but was only      reading in a  
book that ,swift had so repeated it in  

his last      sickness4 ,the temptation 
to communicate this nonsense was again  
strongly felt by myself1 but was on this
 occasion triumphantly      resisted1   
and my watcher heard from me all night  
nothing of ,dean      ,swift or the     
word1 nothing but what was rational and 
to the point4      ,so much for the two 
consciousnesses when ,i can disentangle 
them2      but there is a part of my    
thoughts that ,i have more difficulty in
      attributing4 ,one part of my mind 
continually bid me remark the           
transrational felicity of the word1     
examined all the syllables1      showed 
me that not one was in itself           
significant1 and yet the whole          
expressed to a nicety the voluminous    
distress of one in a high      fever and
 his annoyance at and recoil from the   
attentions of his      nurses4 ,it was  
probably the same part 7and for a guess 
the other      fellow7 who bid me       
compare it with the nonsense words of   
,lewis      ,carroll as the invention of

 a lunatic with those of a sane man4    
,but      surely it was myself 7and     
myself in a perfectly clear-headed      
state7 that kept me trying all night to 
get the word by heart1 on      the      
ground that it would afterwards be      
useful in literature if ,i      wanted  
to deal with mad folk4 ,it must have    
been myself1 ,i say1      because the   
other fellow believed 7or pretended to  
believe7 he      was reading the passage
 in a book where it could always be     
found      again when wanted4           
,experience ,c4 ,the next night the     
other fellow had an explanation         
ready for my sufferings1 of which ,i can
 only say that it had      something to 
do with the navy1 that it was sheer     
undiluted      nonsense1 had neither end
 nor beginning1 and was insusceptible of
      being expressed in words4 ,myself 
knew this2 yet ,i gave way1 and      my 
watcher was favoured with some          
references to the navy4 ,nor only       
that2 the other fellow was annoyed--or  

,i was annoyed--on two      inconsistent
 accounts3 first1 because he had failed 
to make his      meaning comprehensible2
 and second1 because the nurse displayed
 no      interest4 ,the other fellow    
would have liked to explain further2    
but myself was much hurt at having been 
got into this false      position1 and  
would be led no further4       ,in cases
 ,a and ,c the illusion was amorphous4  
,i knew it to be so1      and yet       
succumbed to the temptation of trying to
 communicate it4 ,in      case ,b the   
idea was coherent1 and ,i managed to    
hold my peace4 ,both                    
consciousnesses1 in other words1 were   
less affected in case ,b1 and      both 
more affected in cases ,a and ,c4 ,it is
 perhaps not always so3      the        
illusion might be coherent1 even        
practical1 and the rational             
authority of the mind quite in abeyance4
 ,would not that be lunacy8       ,in   
case ,a ,i had an absolute knowledge    
that ,i was out of my mind1      and    

that there was no meaning in my words2  
these were the very      facts that ,i  
was anxious to conceal2 and yet when ,i 
succumbed to      the temptation of     
speaking my face was convulsed with     
anger1 and ,i      wrung my watcher's   
wrist with cruelty4 ,here is action1    
unnatural      and uncharacteristic     
action1 flowing from an idea in which ,i
 had no      belief1 and which ,i had   
been concealing for hours as a plain    
mark      of aberration4 ,is it not so  
with lunatics8       ,i have called the 
one person myself1 and the other the    
other      fellow4 ,it was myself who   
spoke and acted2 the other fellow seemed
      to have no control of the body or 
the tongue2 he could only act           
through myself1 on whom he brought to   
bear a heavy strain1 resisted      in   
one case1 triumphant in the two others4 
,yet ,i am tempted to      think that ,i
 know the other fellow2 ,i am tempted to
 think he is the      dreamer described 
in my ,chapter on ,dreams to which you  

refer4 ,here      at least is a dream   
belonging to the same period1 but this  
time a      pure dream1 an illusion1 ,i 
mean1 that disappeared with the return  
of the sense of sight1 not one that     
persevered during waking      moments1  
and while ,i was able to speak and take 
my medicine4 ,it      occurred the day  
after case ,b and before case ,c4       
,case ,d4 ,in the afternoon there sprang
 up a storm of wind with      monstrous 
clouds of dust2 my room looked on a     
steep hill of trees      whose boughs   
were all blowing in the same direction2 
the world      seemed to pass by my     
windows like a mill-race4 ,by this      
turmoil and      movement ,i was        
confused1 but not distressed1 and       
surprised not to      be distressed2 for
 even in good health a high wind has    
often a      painful influence on my    
nerves4 ,in the midst of this ,i dozed  
off      asleep4 ,i had just been       
reading ,scott's ,life of ,dryden1 and  
been      struck with the fact that     

,dryden had translated some of the      
,latin      hymns1 and had wondered that
 ,i had never remarked them in his      
works4 ,as soon as ,i was asleep ,i     
dreamed a reason why the sound of       
the wind and the sight of the flying    
dust had not distressed me4      ,there 
was no wind1 it seemed1 no dust2 it was 
only ,dryden singing      his translated
 hymns in one direction1 and all those  
who had      blamed and attacked him    
after the ,revolution singing them in   
another4 ,this point of the two         
directions is very singular and         
insane4 ,in part it meant that ,dryden  
was continuously flying past      yet   
never passing my window in the direction
 of the wind and dust1      and all his 
detractors similarly flying past yet not
 passing      towards the other side4   
,but it applied1 besides this1 both to  
the      words and to the music in a    
manner wholly insusceptible of          
expression4       ,that was a dream2 and
 yet how exactly it reproduces the      

method of      my other fellow while ,i 
was awake4 ,here is an explanation for a
      state of mind or body sought1 and 
found1 in a tissue of rabid1            
complicated1 and inexpressible          
folly4--,yours very sincerely4  ,,robert
 ,,louis ,,stevenson4    ,,ii4 ,b4 ,a   
good example of the application of true 
scientific method to problems which     
doctors of the old school did not think 
worth their science is ,dr4 ,janet's    
treatment of a singular problem which   
the mistakes of brutal ignorance turned 
in old times into a veritable scourge of
 our race4 ,i speak of demoniacal       
possession1 in which affliction ,dr4    
,janet has shown himself a better than  
ecclesiastical exorcist4  ,i give here a
 typical case of pseudo-possession from 
,nvroses et ,ides fixes 7vol4 i4 pp4    
#cgg-chi73 ,achille1 as ,professor      
,janet calls him1 was a timid and rather
 morbid young man1 but he was married to
 a good wife1 and nothing went specially
 wrong with him until his return from a 

business journey in #ahij4 ,he then     
became sombre and taciturn--sometimes   
even seemed unable to speak--then took  
to his bed and lay murmuring            
incomprehensible words1 and at last said
 farewell to his wife and children1 and 
stretched himself out motionless for a  
couple of days1 while his family waited 
for his last breath4  ,suddenly one     
morning1 after two days of apparent     
death1 ,achille sat up in bed with his  
eyes wide open1 and burst into a        
terrible laugh4 ,it was a convulsive    
laugh which shook all his limbs2 an     
exaggerated laugh which twisted his     
mouth2 a lugubrious1 satanic laugh which
 went on for more than two hours4  ,from
 this moment everything was changed4    
,achille leapt from his bed and refused 
all attentions4 ,to every question he   
answered1 ',there's nothing to be done6 
let's have some champagne2 it's the end 
of the world6' ,then he uttered piercing
 cries1 ',they are burning me--they are 
cutting me to pieces6'  ,after an       

agitated sleep1 ,achille woke up with   
the conviction that he was possessed    
with a devil4 ,and in fact his mouth now
 uttered blasphemies1 his limbs were    
contorted1 and he repeatedly made       
unsuccessful efforts at suicide4        
,ultimately he was taken to the         
,salptrire1 and placed under ,professor 
,janet1 who recognised at once the      
classic signs of possession4 ,the poor  
man kept protesting against the odious  
outrages on religion1 which he          
attributed to a devil inside him1 moving
 his tongue against his will4 ,achille  
could say1 like a celebrated victim of  
possession1 ,pre ,surin1 ',it is as     
though ,i had two souls2 one of which   
has been dispossessed of its body and   
the use of its organs1 and is frantic at
 the sight of the other soul which has  
crept in4'  ,it was by no means easy to 
get either at ,achille or at his        
possessing devil4 ,attempts to hypnotise
 him failed1 and any remonstrance was   
met with insult4 ,but the wily          

psychologist was accustomed to such     
difficulties1 and had resort to a plan  
too insidious for a common devil to     
suspect4 ,he gently moved the hand of   
,achille in such a way as to suggest the
 act of writing1 and having thus        
succeeded in starting automatic script1 
he got the devil thus to answer         
questions quietly put while the raving  
was going on as usual4 ,i will not      
believe in your power1 said ,professor  
,janet to the malignant intruder1 unless
 you give me a proof4 ,what proof8      
,raise the poor man's left arm without  
his knowing it4 ,this was done--to the  
astonishment of poor ,achille--and a    
series of suggestions followed1 all of  
which the demon triumphantly and        
unsuspectingly carried out1 to show his 
power4 ,then came the suggestion to     
which ,professor ,janet had been leading
 up4 ,it was like getting the djinn into
 the bottle4 ,you cannot put ,achille   
soundly to sleep in that arm-chair6     
,yes1 ,i can6 ,no sooner said than done1

 and no sooner done than ,achille was   
delivered from his tormentor--from his  
own tormenting self4  ,for there in that
 hypnotic sleep he was gently led on to 
tell all his story2 and such stories1   
when told to a skilled and kindly       
auditor1 are apt to come to an end in   
the very act of being told4  ,achille   
had been living in a day-dream2 it was a
 day-dream which had swollen to these   
nightmare proportions1 and had1 as it   
were1 ousted his rational being2 and in 
the deeper self-knowledge which the     
somnambulic state brings with it the    
dream and the interpretation thereof    
became present to his bewildered mind4  
,the fact was that on that fateful      
journey when ,achille's troubles began  
he had committed an act of              
unfaithfulness to his wife4 ,a gloomy   
anxiety to conceal this action prompted 
him to an increasing taciturnity1 and   
morbid fancies as to his health grew on 
him until at last his day-dream led him 
to imagine himself as actually dead4    

,his two days' lethargy was but an      
episode1 a chapter in the long dream4   
,what then was the natural next stage of
 the dream's development8 ,he dreamt    
that1 now that he was dead indeed1 the  
devil rose from the abyss and came to   
take him4 ,the poor man1 as in his      
somnambulic state he retraced the series
 of his dreams1 remembered the precise  
instant when this lamentable event took 
place4 ,it was about #aa ,a4,m43 a dog  
barked in the court at the moment1      
incommoded1 no doubt1 by the smell of   
brimstone2 flames filled the room2      
numbers of little fiends scourged the   
unhappy man1 or drove nails into his    
eyes1 and through the wounds in his body
 ,satan entered in to take possession of
 head and heart4  ,from this point the  
pseudo-possession may be said to have   
begun4 ,the fixed idea developed itself 
into sensory and motor                  
automatisms--visions of devils1         
uncontrollable utterances1 automatic    
script--ascribed by the automatist to   

the possessing devil within4  ,and now  
came the moment when the veracity1 the  
utility1 of this new type of            
psychological analysis was to be        
submitted to yet another test4 ,from the
 point of view of the ordinary physician
 ,achille's condition was almost        
hopeless4 ,physical treatment had       
failed1 and death from exhaustion and   
misery seemed near at hand4 ,nor could  
any appeal have been effective which did
 not go to the hidden root of the evil1 
which did not lighten the load of morbid
 remorse from which the whole series of 
troubles had developed4 ,fortunately for
 ,achille1 he was in the hands of an    
unsurpassed minister to minds thus      
diseased4 ,professor ,janet adopted his 
usual tactics--what he terms the        
dissociation and the gradual            
substitution of ideas4 ,the incidents of
 the miserable memory were modified1    
were explained away1 were slowly        
dissolved from the brooding brain1 and  
the hallucinatory image of the offended 

wife was presented to the sufferer at   
what novelists call the psychological   
moment1 with pardon in her eyes4 ,such  
stuff as dreams are made of6--but even  
by such means was ,achille restored to  
physical and moral health2 he leads now 
the life of normal man2 he no longer    
walketh in a vain shadow1 and           
disquieteth himself in vain4   ,,ii4 ,c4
 ,i give here the case of ,dr4 ,azam's  
often quoted patient1 ,flida ,x4#baf ,in
 this case the somnambulic life finally 
became the normal life2 as the second   
state1 which appeared at first only in  
short1 dreamlike accesses1 gradually    
replaced the first state1 which finally 
recurred but for a few hours at long    
intervals4 ,but the point on which ,i   
wish to dwell is this3 that ,flida's    
second state was altogether superior to 
the first--physically superior1 since   
the nervous pains which had troubled her
 from childhood disappeared3 and        
mentally superior1 inasmuch as her      
morose1 self-centred disposition was    

exchanged for a cheerful activity which 
enabled her to attend to her children   
and her shop much more effectively than 
when she was in the tat bte1 as she     
called what was once the only           
personality that she knew4 ,in this     
case1 then1 which at the time ,dr4 ,azam
 wrote--#ahhg--was of nearly thirty     
years' standing1 the spontaneous        
readjustment of nervous activities--the 
second state1 no memory of which        
remained in the first state--resulted in
 an improvement profounder than could   
have been anticipated from any moral or 
medical treatment that we know4 ,the    
case shows us how often the word normal 
means nothing more than what happens to 
exist4 ,for ,flida's normal state was in
 fact her morbid state3 and the new     
condition1 which seemed at first a mere 
hysterical abnormality1 brought her at  
last to a life of bodily and mental     
sanity which made her fully the equal of
 average women of her class4  ,a very   
complete account of the case1           

reproducing in full almost the whole of 
,dr4 ,azam's report1 is given in ,dr4   
,a4 ,binet's ,altrations de la          
,personnalit 7pp4 #f-bj71 and ,i briefly
 summarise this here3--       ,flida was
 born at ,bordeaux1 in #ahdc1 of healthy
 parents4 ,towards      the age of      
thirteen years she began to exhibit     
symptoms of      hysteria4 ,when about  
fourteen and a half she used suddenly to
 feel      a pain in her forehead1 and  
then to fall into a profound sleep for  
some ten minutes1 after which she woke  
spontaneously in her      secondary     
condition4 ,this lasted an hour or two2 
then the sleep      came on again1 and  
she awoke in her normal state4 ,the     
change at      first occurred every five
 or six days4 ,as the hysterical        
symptoms      increased1 ,dr4 ,azam was 
called in to attend her in #aheh4       
,his report of that time states that in 
the primary state she      appears very 
intelligent and fairly well educated2 of
 a melancholy      disposition1 talking 

little1 very industrious2 constantly    
thinking      of her maladies and       
suffering acute pains in various parts  
of the      body1 especially the        
head--the clou hystrique being very     
marked2      all her actions1 ideas1 and
 words perfectly rational4 ,almost every
      day what she calls her crise comes
 on spontaneously--often while      she 
is sitting at her needlework--preceded  
by a brief interval of      the profound
 sleep1 from which no external stimulus 
can rouse her4      ,on waking into the 
secondary state1 she appears like an    
entirely      different person1 smiling 
and gay2 she continues her work         
cheerfully or walks about briskly1 no   
longer feeling all the pains      she   
has just before been complaining of4    
,she looks after her      ordinary      
domestic duties1 goes out1 walks about  
the town1 and pays      calls2 behaves  
in every way like an ordinary healthy   
girl4       ,in this condition she      
remembers perfectly all that has        

happened on      previous occasions when
 she was in the same state1 and also all
 the      events of her normal life2    
whereas during her normal life she      
forgets absolutely the occurrences of   
the secondary state4 ,she      declares 
constantly that whatever state she is in
 at the moment is      the normal       
one--her raison--while the other one is 
always her      crise4       ,the change
 of character in the secondary state is 
strongly marked2      she becomes gay   
and vivacious--almost noisy2 instead of 
being      indifferent to everything1   
her sensibilities--both imaginative and 
emotional--become excessive4 ,all her   
faculties appear more      developed and
 more complete4 ,the condition1 in fact1
 is much      superior to her ordinary  
one1 as shown by the disappearance of   
her      physical pains1 and especially 
by the state of her memory4       ,she  
married early1 and her crises became    
more frequent1 though      there were   
occasionally long intervals when they   

never came at all4      ,but the        
secondary state1 which in #aheh and     
#ahei only occupied about      a tenth  
part of her life1 gradually encroached  
more and more on the      primary state1
 till the latter began to appear only at
 intervals      and for a brief space of
 time4       ,in #ahge ,dr4 ,azam1      
having for long lost sight of her1 found
 her a      mother of a family1 keeping 
a shop4 ,now and then1 but more and more
      rarely1 occurred what she called  
her crises--really relapses into        
her primary condition4 ,these were      
excessively inconvenient1 since      she
 forgot in them all the events of what  
was now her ordinary      life1 all the 
arrangements of her business1 etc42 for 
instance1 in      going to a funeral1   
she had a crise1 and consequently found 
it      impossible to remember who the  
deceased person was4 ,she had a great   
dread of these occurrences1 though1 by  
long practice1 she had      become very 
skilful at concealing them from every   

one but her      husband2 and the       
transition periods in passing from one  
state to      another1 during which she 
was completely unconscious1 were now so 
short as to escape general notice4 ,a   
peculiar feeling of pressure      in the
 head warned her that the crise was     
coming1 and she would      then1 for    
fear of making mistakes in her business1
 hastily write      down whatever facts 
she most needed to keep in mind4        
,while the primary state lasted1 she    
relapsed into the extreme               
melancholy and depression that          
characterised her early life1 these     
being1 in fact1 now aggravated by her   
troublesome amnesia4 ,she also      lost
 her affection for her husband and      
children1 and suffered from      many   
hysterical pains and other symptoms     
which were much less acute      in the  
secondary state4 ,by #ahhg1 however1 the
 primary state only      occurred every 
month or two1 lasting only for a few    
hours at a      time4     ,,appendices  

,,to  ,,chapter ,,iv   ,,iv4 ,a4 ,from  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4   
#chi2 related by ,mr4 ,herbert ,j4      
,lewis1 #ai ,park ,place1 ,cardiff4     
,in ,september #ahhj1 ,i lost the       
landing order of a large steamer        
containing a cargo of iron ore1 which   
had arrived in the port of              
,cardiff4 ,she had to commence          
discharging at six o'clock the next     
morning4 ,i received the landing order  
at four o'clock in the      afternoon1  
and when ,i arrived at the office at six
 ,i found that ,i      had lost it4     
,during all the evening ,i was doing my 
utmost to find      the officials of the
 ,custom ,house to get a permit1 as the 
loss was      of the greatest           
importance1 preventing the ship from    
discharging4 ,i      came home in a     
great degree of trouble about the       
matter1 as ,i      feared that ,i should
 lose my situation in consequence4      
,that night ,i dreamed that ,i saw the  
lost landing order lying in a      crack

 in the wall under a desk in the ,long  
,room of the ,custom      ,house4       
,at five the next morning ,i went down  
to the ,custom ,house and got      the  
keeper to get up and open it4 ,i went to
 the spot of which ,i had      dreamed1 
and found the paper in the very place4  
,the ship was not      ready to         
discharge at her proper time1 and ,i    
went on board at seven      and         
delivered the landing order1 saving her 
from all delay4  ,,herbert ,j4 ,,lewis4 
,i can certify to the truth of the above
 statement4  ,,thomas ,,lewis  7,herbert
 ,lewis's father71  ,h4 ,,wallis4       
,july #adth1 #ahhd4  ,mr4 ,e4 ,j4       
,newell1 of the ,george and ,abbotsford 
,hotel1 ,melrose1 adds the following    
corroborative note3--   ,august #adth1  
#ahhd4       ,i made some inquiries     
about ,mr4 ,herbert ,lewis's dream      
before ,i left      ,cardiff4 ,he had   
been searching throughout the room in   
which the      order was found4 ,his    
theory as to how the order got in the   

place in      which it was found1 is    
that it was probably put there by some  
one      7perhaps with malicious        
intent71 as he does not see how it could
      have fallen so4       ,the fact   
that ,mr4 ,h4 ,lewis is exceedingly     
short-sighted adds to the               
probability of the thing which you      
suggest1 that the dream was      simply 
an unconscious act of memory in sleep4  
,on the other hand he      does not     
believe it was there when he searched4  
,e4 ,j4 ,,newell4  ,can there have been 
a momentary unnoticed spasm of the      
ciliary muscle1 with the result of      
extending the range of vision8 ,it may  
suffice here to quote--that my          
suggestion may not seem too fantastic--a
 few lines from a personal observation  
of a somnambule by ,dr4 ,dufay4#bag  ,it
 is eight o'clock3 several workwomen are
 busy around a table1 on which a lamp is
 placed4 ,mdlle4 ,r4 ,l4 directs and    
shares in the work1 chatting cheerfully 
meantime4 ,suddenly a noise is heard2 it

 is her head which has fallen sharply on
 the edge of the table4 ,this is the    
beginning of the access4 ,she picks     
herself up in a few seconds1 pulls off  
her spectacles with disgust1 and        
continues the work which she had        
begun2--having no further need of the   
concave glasses which a pronounced      
myopia renders needful to her in        
ordinary life2--and even placing herself
 so that her work is less exposed to the
 light of the lamp4 ,similarly1 and yet 
differently1 ,miss ,goodrich-,freer has 
had an experience where the title of a  
book quite unknown to her1 which she had
 vainly endeavoured to read where it lay
 at some distance from her1 presented   
itself in the crystal4 ,in such a case  
we can hardly suppose any such spasmodic
 alteration in ocular conditions as may 
perhaps occur in trance4   ,,iv4 ,b4    
,this case was recorded by ,professor   
,w4 ,romaine ,newbold of the ,university
 of ,pennsylvania1 in a paper entitled  
,subconscious ,reasoning1 in the        

,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 pp4   
#aa-bj4       ,i give the following     
extracts3--       ,for these cases ,i am
 indebted to another friend and         
colleague1      ,dr4 ,herman ,v4        
,hilprecht1 ,professor of ,assyrian in  
the ,university of      ,pennsylvania4  
,both occurred in his own experience1   
and ,i write the      account of the    
first from notes made by me upon his    
narrative4       ,during the winter1    
#ahhb-ahhc1 he was working with         
,professor      ,friedrich ,delitzsch1  
and was preparing to publish1 as his    
dissertation1 a text1 transliteration1  
and translation of a stone      of      
,nebuchadnezzar ,i4 with notes4 ,he     
accepted at that time the               
explanation given by ,professor         
,delitzsch of the name                  
,nebuchadnezzar--,nab-kudrru-usur1 ,nebo
 protect my mason's      pad1 or mortar 
board1 i4e41 my work as a builder4 ,one 
night1      after working late1 he went 
to bed about two o'clock in the         

morning4 ,after a somewhat restless     
sleep1 he awoke with his mind      full 
of the thought that the name should be  
translated ,nebo      protect my        
boundary4 ,he had a dim consciousness of
 having been      working at his table  
in a dream1 but could never recall the  
details      of the process by which he 
arrived at this conclusion4 ,reflecting 
upon it when awake1 however1 he at once 
saw that kudrru1      boundary1 could be
 derived from the verb kadru1 to        
enclose4      ,shortly afterwards he    
published this translation in his       
dissertation1 and it has since been     
universally adopted4       ,i quote this
 experience1 in itself of a familiar    
type1 on account      of its interest   
when viewed in connection with the more 
curious      dream next to be related4  
,i was told of the latter shortly after 
it      happened1 and here translate an 
account written in ,german by           
,professor ,hilprecht1 ,august #hth1    
#ahic1 before the more complete         

confirmation was received4       ,one   
,saturday evening1 about the middle of  
,march1 #ahic1 ,i had been      wearying
 myself1 as ,i had done so often in the 
weeks preceding1 in      the vain       
attempt to decipher two small fragments 
of agate which      were supposed to    
belong to the finger-rings of some      
,babylonian4 ,the      labour was much  
increased by the fact that the fragments
 presented      remnants only of        
characters and lines1 that dozens of    
similar small      fragments had been   
found in the ruins of the temple of ,bel
 at      ,nippur with which nothing     
could be done1 that in this case        
furthermore ,i had never had the        
originals before me1 but only a         
hasty sketch made by one of the members 
of the expedition sent by      the      
,university of ,pennsylvania to         
,babylonia4 ,i could not say more       
than that the fragments1 taking into    
consideration the place in      which   
they were found and the peculiar        

characteristics of the      cuneiform   
characters preserved upon them1 sprang  
from the ,cassite      period of        
,babylonian history 7circa #agjj-aadj   
,b4,c472 moreover1 as      the first    
character of the third line of the first
 fragment seemed      to be ,,ku1 ,i    
ascribed this fragment1 with an         
interrogation point1 to      ,king      
,kurigalzu1 while ,i placed the other   
fragment1 as      unclassifiable1 with  
other ,cassite fragments upon a page of 
my book      where ,i published the     
unclassifiable fragments4 ,the proofs   
already      lay before me1 but ,i was  
far from satisfied4 ,the whole problem  
passed yet again through my mind that   
,march evening before ,i placed      my 
mark of approval under the last         
correction in the book4 ,even      then 
,i had come to no conclusion4 ,about    
midnight1 weary and      exhausted1 ,i  
went to bed and was soon in deep sleep4 
,then ,i dreamed      the following     
remarkable dream4 ,a tall1 thin priest  

of the old      pre-,christian ,nippur1 
about forty years of age and clad in a  
simple      abba1 led me to the treasure
 chamber of the temple1 on its          
south-east side4 ,he went with me into a
 small1 low-ceiled room      without    
windows1 in which there was a large     
wooden chest1 while      scraps of agate
 and lapis-lazuli lay scattered on the  
floor4 ,here      he addressed me as    
follows3 ',the two fragments which you  
have      published separately upon     
pages #bb and #bf1 belong together1 are 
not      finger-rings1 and their history
 is as follows4 ,king ,kurigalzu        
7circa #acjj ,b4,c47 once sent to the   
temple of ,bel1 among other             
articles of agate and lapis lazuli1 an  
inscribed votive cylinder of      agate4
 ,then we priests suddenly received the 
command to make for      the statue of  
the god ,ninib a pair of earrings of    
agate4 ,we were in      great dismay1   
since there was no agate as raw material
 at hand4 ,in      order to execute the 

command there was nothing for us to do  
but cut      the votive cylinder into   
three parts1 thus making three rings1   
each      of which contained a portion  
of the original inscription4 ,the first 
two rings served as earrings for the    
statue of the god2 the two              
fragments which have given you so much  
trouble are portions of      them4 ,if  
you will put the two together you will  
have confirmation      of my words4 ,but
 the third ring you have not yet found  
in the      course of your excavations1 
and you never will find it4' ,with this1
      the priest disappeared4 ,i awoke  
at once and immediately told my         
wife the dream that ,i might not forget 
it4 ,next morning--,sunday--,i          
examined the fragments once more in the 
light of these disclosures1      and to 
my astonishment found all the details of
 the dream precisely      verified in so
 far as the means of verification were  
in my hands4      ,the original         
inscription on the votive cylinder read3

 ',to the god      ,ninib1 son of ,bel1 
his lord1 has ,kurigalzu1 pontifex of   
,bel1      presented this4'       ,the  
problem was thus at last solved4 ,i     
stated in the preface that      ,i had  
unfortunately discovered too late that  
the two fragments      belonged         
together1 made the corresponding changes
 in the ,table of      ,contents1 pp4   
#ej and #eb1 and1 it being not possible 
to transpose      the fragments1 as the 
plates were already made1 ,i put in each
 plate      a brief reference to the    
other4 7,cf4 ,hilprecht1 ',the          
,babylonian      ,expedition of the     
,university of ,pennsylvania1' ,series  
,a1 ,cuneiform      ,texts1 ,vol4 ,i41  
,part ,i1 ',old ,babylonian             
,inscriptions1 chiefly from             
,nippur4'7  ,h4 ,v4 ,,hilprecht4  ,upon 
the priest's statement that the         
fragments were those of a votive        
cylinder1 ,professor ,hilprecht makes   
the following comment3--  ,there are not
 many of these votive cylinders4 ,i had 

seen1 all told1 up to that evening1 not 
more than two4 ,they very much resemble 
the so-called seal cylinders1 but       
usually have no pictorial               
representations upon them1 and the      
inscription is not reversed1 not being  
intended for use in sealing1 but is     
written as it is read4  ,the following  
transliteration of the inscription1 in  
the ,sumerian language1 will serve to   
give those of us who are unlearned in   
cuneiform languages an idea of the      
material which suggested the dream4 ,the
 straight vertical lines represent the  
cuts by which the stone-cutter divided  
the original cylinder into three        
sections4 ,the bracketed words are      
entirely lost1 and have been supplied by
 analogy from the many similar          
inscriptions4      ,line #a4    ,dingir 
,n    inib du    7mu7      ,to the god  
,ninib1 child         #b4    dingir     
,en-        7lil7     of the god ,bel   
#c4    luga        l-a-ni     7ir7      
his lord         #d4    ,ku-r        7i-

 galzu7           ,kurigalzu         #e4
    pa-         7tesi dingir ,enlil7    
pontifex of the god ,bel         #f4    
7in- na-    ba7                  has    
presented it4  ,i translate also the    
following statement which ,mrs4         
,hilprecht kindly made at my request4   
,i was awakened from sleep by a sigh1   
immediately thereafter heard a spring   
from the bed1 and at the same moment saw
 ,professor ,hilprecht hurrying into his
 study4 ,thence came the cry1 ',it is   
so1 it is so4' ,grasping the situation1 
,i followed him and satisfied myself in 
the midnight hour as to the outcome of  
his most interesting dream4#bah  ,j4 ,c4
 ,,hilprecht4    ,at the time ,professor
 ,hilprecht told me of this curious     
dream1 which was a few weeks after its  
occurrence1 there remained a serious    
difficulty which he was not able to     
explain4 ,according to the memoranda in 
our possession1 the fragments were of   
different colours1 and therefore could  
have scarcely belonged to the same      

object4 ,the original fragments were in 
,constantinople1 and it was with no     
little interest that ,i awaited         
,professor ,hilprecht's return from the 
trip which he made thither in the summer
 of #ahic4 ,i translate again his own   
account of what he then ascertained4    
,november #ajth1 #ahie4       ,in       
,august #ahic1 ,i was sent by the       
,committee on the ,babylonian           
,expedition to ,constantinople1 to      
catalogue and study the objects      got
 from ,nippur and preserved there in the
 ,imperial ,museum4 ,it was      to me a
 matter of the greatest interest to see 
for myself the      objects which1      
according to my dream1 belonged         
together1 in order      to satisfy      
myself that they had both originally    
been parts of the      same votive      
cylinder4 ,halil ,bey1 the director of  
the museum1 to      whom ,i told my     
dream1 and of whom ,i asked permission  
to see the      objects1 was so         
interested in the matter1 that he at    

once opened      all the cases of the   
,babylonian section1 and requested me to
      search4 ,father ,scheil1 an       
,assyriologist from ,paris1 who had     
examined and arranged the articles      
excavated by us before me1 had      not 
recognised the fact that these fragments
 belonged together1 and                 
consequently ,i found one fragment in   
one case1 and the other in a      case  
far away from it4 ,as soon as ,i found  
the fragments and put      them         
together1 the truth of the dream was    
demonstrated ad      oculos--they had1  
in fact1 once belonged to one and the   
same      votive cylinder4 ,as it had   
been originally of finely veined agate1 
the stone-cutter's saw had accidentally 
divided the object in such      a way   
that the whitish vein of the stone      
appeared only upon the one      fragment
 and the larger grey surface upon the   
other4 ,thus ,i was      able to explain
 ,dr4 ,peters's discordant description  
of the two      fragments4  ,professor  

,hilprecht is unable to say what        
language the old priest used in         
addressing him4 ,he is quite certain    
that it was not ,assyrian1 and thinks it
 was either ,english or ,german4  ,there
 are two especial points of interest in 
this case1 the character of the         
information conveyed1 and the dramatic  
form in which it was put4 ,the          
apparently novel points of information  
given were3--      #a4 ,that the        
fragments belonged together4     #b4    
,that they were fragments of a votive   
cylinder4     #c4 ,that the cylinder was
 presented by ,king ,kurigalzu4     #d4 
,that it was dedicated to ,ninib4       
#e4 ,that it had been made into a pair  
of earrings4  #f4 ,that the treasure    
chamber was located upon the south-east 
side of the temple4  ,a careful analysis
 reveals the fact that not one of these 
items was beyond the reach of the       
processes of associative reasoning which
 ,professor ,hilprecht daily employs4   
,among the possible associative         

consequents of the writing upon the one 
fragment1 some of the associative       
consequents of the writing on the other 
were sub-consciously involved2 the      
attraction of these identical elements  
brings the separate pieces into mental  
juxtaposition1 precisely as the pieces  
of a dissected map find one another in  
thought4 ,in waking life the            
dissimilarity of colour inhibited any   
tendency on the part of the associative 
processes to bring them together1 but in
 sleep this difference of colour seems  
to have been forgotten--there being no  
mention made of it--and the assimilation
 took place4 ,the second point is more  
curious1 but is not inexplicable4 ,for  
as soon as the fragments were brought   
into juxtaposition mentally1 enough of  
the inscription became legible to       
suggest the original character of the   
object4 ,this is true also of the third 
and fourth points4 ,the source of the   
fifth is not so clear4 ,upon examining  
the originals1 ,professor ,hilprecht    

felt convinced from the size of the hole
 still to be seen through the fragments 
that they could not have been used as   
finger-rings1 and that they had been    
used as earrings1 but the written       
description which he had before him at  
the time of his dream did not bring     
these points to view4 ,still1 such      
earrings are by no means uncommon       
objects4 ,such a supposition might well 
have occurred to ,professor ,hilprecht  
in his waking state and1 in view of the 
lack of positive confirmation1 it would 
be rash to ascribe it to any supernormal
 power4 ,the last point is most         
interesting4 ,when he told me this      
story1 ,professor ,hilprecht remembered 
that he had heard from ,dr4 ,john ,p4   
,peters1 before he had the dream1 of the
 discovery of a room in which were      
remnants of a wooden box1 while the     
floor was strewn with fragments of agate
 and lapis-lazuli4 ,the walls1 of       
course1 and ceiling have long since     
perished4 ,the location1 however1 of the

 room he did not know1 and suggested ,i 
should write to ,dr4 ,peters and find   
out whether it was correctly given in   
his dream1 and whether ,dr4 ,peters had 
told him of it4 ,dr4 ,peters replied    
that the location given was correct1    
but1 he adds1 he told ,professor        
,hilprecht all these facts as long ago  
as #ahia1 and thinks he provided him    
with a drawing of the room's relation to
 the temple4 ,of this ,professor        
,hilprecht has no recollection4 ,he     
thinks it probable that ,dr4 ,peters    
told him orally of the location of the  
room1 but feels sure that if any such   
plan was given him it would now be found
 among his papers4 ,this is a point of  
no importance1 however4 ,we certainly   
cannot regard the location as           
ascertained by supernormal means4       
,,iv4 ,c4 ,from ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 xi4 p4 #eje4  ,from ,mr4 ,alfred   
,cooper1 of #i ,henrietta ,street1      
,cavendish ,square1 ,w4  ,this account  
was orally confirmed by him to ,mr4 ,e4 

,gurney1 ,june #fth1 #ahhh4 ,it is      
written by ,mr4 ,cooper1 but attested   
also by the ,duchess of ,hamilton4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,a fortnight before the death of the    
late ,earl of ,l----1 in #ahhb1 ,i      
called upon the ,duke of ,hamilton1 in  
,hill ,street1 to see him               
professionally4 ,after ,i had finished  
seeing him we went into the             
drawing-room1 where the ,duchess was1   
and the ,duke said to me1 ,oh1 ,cooper2 
how is the ,earl8  ,the ,duchess said1  
,what ,earl8 and on my answering1 ,lord 
,l----1 she replied1 ,that is very odd4 
,i have had a most extraordinary vision4
 ,i went to bed1 but after being in bed 
a short time1 ,i was not exactly asleep1
 but thought ,i saw a scene as if from a
 play before me4 ,the actors in it were 
,lord ,l----1 in a chair1 as if in a    
fit1 with a man standing over him with a
 red beard4 ,he was by the side of a    
bath1 over which bath a red lamp was    
distinctly shown4  ,i then said1 ,i am  

attending ,lord ,l---- at present2 there
 is very little the matter with him2 he 
is not going to die2 he will be all     
right very soon4  ,well1 he got better  
for a week and was nearly well1 but at  
the end of six or seven days after this 
,i was called to see him suddenly4 ,he  
had inflammation of both lungs4  ,i     
called in ,sir ,william ,jenner1 but in 
six days he was a dead man4 ,there were 
two male nurses attending on him2 one   
had been taken ill4 ,but when ,i saw the
 other the dream of the ,duchess was    
exactly represented4 ,he was standing   
near a bath over the ,earl and1 strange 
to say1 his beard was red4 ,there was   
the bath with the red lamp over it4 ,it 
is rather rare to find a bath with a red
 lamp over it1 and this brought the     
story to my mind4  ,the vision seen by  
the ,duchess was told two weeks before  
the death of ,lord ,l----4 ,it is a most
 remarkable thing4  ,this account1      
written in #ahhh1 has been revised by   
the late ,duke of ,manchester1 father of

 the ,duchess of ,hamilton1 who heard   
the vision from his daughter on the     
morning after she had seen it4          
7,signed7     ,,mary ,,hamilton4        
,,alfred ,,cooper4       ,her ,grace had
 been reading and had just blown out the
 candle4 ,her      ,grace has had many  
dreams which have come true years after4
  ,,alfred ,,cooper4  ,the ,duchess only
 knew ,lord ,l---- by sight1 and had not
 heard that he was ill4 ,she knew she   
was not asleep1 for she opened her eyes 
to get rid of the vision and1 shutting  
them1 saw the same thing again4  ,an    
independent and concordant account has  
been given to me 7,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,m47      
orally by a gentleman to whom the       
,duchess related the dream on the       
morning after its occurrence4   ,,iv4   
,d4 ,from ,phantasms of the ,living1    
vol4 i4 p4 #chc4 ,the following account1
 which first appeared in a letter in the
 ,religio-,philosophical ,journal1 is   
from ,dr4 ,bruce1 of ,micanopy1 ,fla41  
,u4,s4,a4 ,the case might be called     

collective1 but for the fact that one of
 the dreams1 though vivid and alarming1 
was probably not so distinctive as was  
afterwards imagined1 and1 moreover1 was 
possibly dreamt on the night preceding  
that on which the tragic event took     
place4   ,february #agth1 #ahhd4        
,on ,thursday1 the #bgth of ,december   
last1 ,i returned from ,gainesville     
7twelve miles from here7 to my orange   
grove1 near ,micanopy4 ,i have      only
 a small plank house of three rooms at  
my grove1 where ,i spend      most of my
 time when the grove is being           
cultivated4 ,there was no      one in   
the house but myself at the time1 and   
being somewhat      fatigued with my    
ride1 ,i retired to my bed very early1  
probably #f      o'clock2 and1 as ,i am 
frequently in the habit of doing1 ,i lit
 my      lamp on a stand by the bed for 
the purpose of reading4 ,after          
reading a short time1 ,i began to feel a
 little drowsy1 put out the      light1 
and soon fell asleep4 ,quite early in   

the night ,i was      awakened4 ,i could
 not have been asleep very long1 ,i am  
sure4 ,i felt      as if ,i had been    
aroused intentionally1 and at first     
thought some      one was breaking into 
the house4 ,i looked from where ,i lay  
into the      other two rooms 7the doors
 of both being open71 and at once       
recognised where ,i was1 and that there 
was no ground for the      burglar      
theory2 there being nothing in the house
 to make it worth a      burglar's time 
to come after4       ,i then turned on  
my side to go to sleep again1 and       
immediately felt      a consciousness of
 a presence in the room1 and1 singular  
to state1      it was not the           
consciousness of a live person1 but of a
 spiritual      presence4 ,this may     
provoke a smile1 but ,i can only tell   
you the      facts as they occurred to  
me4 ,i do not know how to better        
describe      my sensations than by     
simply stating that ,i felt a           
consciousness of      a spiritual       

presence4 ,this may have been a part of 
the dream1 for ,i      felt as if ,i    
were dozing off again to sleep2 but it  
was unlike any      dream ,i ever had4  
,i felt also at the same time a strong  
feeling of      superstitious dread1 as 
if something strange and fearful were   
about      to happen4 ,i was soon asleep
 again1 or unconscious1 at any rate1 to 
my surroundings4 ,then ,i saw two men   
engaged in a slight scuffle3      one   
fell fatally wounded--the other         
immediately disappeared4 ,i did      not
 see the gash in the wounded man's      
throat1 but knew that his      throat   
was cut4 ,i did not recognise him1      
either1 as my      brother-in-law4 ,i   
saw him lying with his hands under him1 
his head      turned slightly to the    
left1 his feet close together4 ,i could1
 from      the position in which ,i     
stood1 see but a small portion of his   
face2      his coat1 collar1 hair1 or   
something partly obscured it4 ,i looked 
at him the second time a little closer  

to see it ,i could make out      who it 
was4 ,i was aware it was some one ,i    
knew1 but still could not      recognise
 him4 ,i turned1 and then saw my wife   
sitting not far from      him4 ,she told
 me she could not leave until he was    
attended to4 7,i      had got a letter a
 few days previously from my wife1      
telling me she      would leave in a day
 or two1 and was expecting every day a  
letter      or telegram telling me when 
to meet her at the dept47 ,my attention 
was struck by the surroundings of the   
dead man4 ,he appeared to be      lying 
on an elevated platform of some kind1   
surrounded by chairs1      benches1 and 
desks1 reminding me somewhat of a       
schoolroom4 ,outside      of the room in
 which he was lying was a crowd of      
people1 mostly      females1 some of    
whom ,i thought ,i knew4 ,here my dream 
terminated4 ,i      awoke again about   
midnight2 got up and went to the door to
 see if      there were any prospect of 
rain2 returned to my bed again1 and lay 

there until nearly daylight before      
falling asleep again4 ,i thought      of
 my dream1 and was strongly impressed by
 it4 ,all strange1      superstitious   
feelings had passed off4       ,it was  
not until a week or ten days after this 
that ,i got a letter      from my wife1 
giving me an account of her brother's   
death4 ,her      letter1 which was      
written the day after his death1 was    
mis-sent4      ,the account she gave me 
of his death tallies most remarkably    
with      my dream4 ,her brother was    
with a wedding party at the dept at     
,markham station1 ,fauquier ,co41 ,va4  
,he went into a store near by to        
see a young man who kept a bar-room near
 the dept1 and with whom      he had    
some words4 ,he turned and left the man1
 and walked out of      the store4 ,the 
bar-room keeper followed him out1 and   
without      further words deliberately 
cut his throat4 ,it was a most brutal   
and      unprovoked murder4 ,my         
brother-in-law had on his overcoat1 with

 the      collar turned up4 ,the knife  
went through the collar and clear to    
the bone4 ,he was carried into the store
 and laid on the counter1      near a   
desk and show case4 ,he swooned from    
loss of blood soon after      being cut4
 ,the cutting occurred early ,thursday  
night1 ,december      #bgth4 ,he did not
 die1 however1 until almost daylight1   
,saturday      morning4       ,i have   
not had a complete account of my        
sister-in-law's dream4 ,she      was    
visiting a young lady1 a cousin1 in     
,kentucky4 ,they slept      together    
,friday night1 ,i think1 the night of   
her brother's death4      ,she dreamed  
of seeing a man with his throat cut1 and
 awoke very      much alarmed4 ,she     
awoke her cousin1 and they got up and   
lighted the      lamp and sat up until  
daylight4 ,that day she received a      
telegram      announcing her brother's  
death4       ,i cannot give you any     
certain explanation of these dreams4 ,i 
do not      believe that they are due to

 ordinary causes1 but to causes of      
which science does not at present take  
cognisance4  ,,walter ,,bruce4  ,in     
reply to inquiries1 ,dr4 ,bruce says3-- 
,july #ith1 #ahhd4       ,i have never  
had another dream similar to the one    
related in the      letter4 ,i have at  
times had dreams that were vivid1 or    
from some      cause impressed          
themselves upon my mind for a time1 such
 as any one      would be likely to     
have4 ,i cannot call to mind1 though1   
any of      special importance1 or with 
any bearing upon the dream in question4 
,i did not mention the dream to any one 
before receiving the letter             
confirming it4 ,i live in rather a      
retired place in the country1 and       
if ,i saw any one during that time to   
whom ,i would care to relate      the   
dream1 it did not occur to me to do so4 
,you ask me how my wife knew of the     
circumstances of her brother's          
death4 ,she was visiting her relatives  
in ,va4 at the time1 and was            

present when her brother died4  ,the    
following account is from ,dr4 ,bruce's 
sister-in-law1 ,mrs4 ,stubbing3--       
,march #bhth1 #ahhe4       ,whilst in   
,kentucky on a visit in the year #ahhc1 
,i had a dream1 in      which ,i saw two
 persons--one with his throat cut4 ,i   
could not tell      who it was1 though  
,i knew it was somebody that ,i knew1   
and as soon      as ,i heard of my      
brother's death1 ,i said at once that ,i
 knew it was      he that ,i had seen   
murdered in my dream2 and though ,i did 
not hear      how my brother died1 ,i   
told my cousin1 whom ,i was staying     
with1      that ,i knew he had been     
murdered4 ,this dream took place on     
,thursday      or ,friday night1 ,i do  
not remember which4 ,i saw the exact    
spot      where he was murdered1 and    
just as it happened4  ,,annie ,s4       
,,stubbing4       ,the ,thursday and    
,friday night mentioned in this account 
are      ,december #bfth and #bgth #bgth
 and #bhth1 #ahhc4 ,it was upon the     

,thursday night my dream occurred4      
,,walter ,,bruce4  ,in reply to         
questions1 ,mrs4 ,stubbing says3--      
,yes1 ,i saw one man cut the other4 ,the
 wound was told to me to be      just   
like what ,i had seen in my dream4 ,i   
received a telegram      announcing the 
death of my brother on ,saturday        
morning4 ,no1 ,i never      had any such
 dream as that before4  ,,iv4 ,e4 ,i    
quote the following case from ,phantasms
 of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #dbe4 ,the  
account was written by ,mrs4 ,t---- in  
#ahhc4       ,on ,november #ahth1 #ahfc1
 ,i was living near ,adelaide1 and not  
long      recovered from a severe       
illness at the birth of an infant1 who  
was      then five months old4 ,my      
husband had also suffered from          
neuralgia1      and had gone to stay    
with friends at the seaside for the     
benefit of      bathing4 ,one night     
during his absence the child woke me    
about      midnight2 having hushed him  
off to sleep1 ,i said1 ,now1 sir1 ,i    

hope      you will let me rest6 ,i lay  
down1 and instantly became conscious    
of two figures standing at the door of  
my room4 ,one1 ,m4 ,n4 7these      are  
not the real initials71 whom ,i         
recognised at once1 was that of      a  
former lover1 whose misconduct and      
neglect had compelled me to             
renounce him4 ,of this ,i am sure1 that 
if ever ,i saw him in my life1      it  
was then4 ,i was not in the least       
frightened2 but said to myself1      as 
it were1 ,you never used to wear that   
kind of waistcoat4 ,the      door close 
to which he stood was in a deep recess  
close to the      fireplace1 for there  
was no grate2 we burnt logs only4 ,in   
that      recess stood a man in a tweed 
suit4 ,i saw the whole figure           
distinctly1 but not the face1 and for   
this reason3 on the edge of      the    
mantelshelf always stood a morocco      
leather medicine chest1      which      
concealed the face from me4 7,on this   
being stated to our      friends1 the   

,singletons1 they asked to go into the  
room and judge      for themselves4     
,they expressed themselves satisfied    
that would be      the case to any one  
on the bed where ,i was47 ,i had an     
impression      that this other was a   
cousin of ,m4 ,n4's1 who had been the   
means of      leading him astray while  
in the ,north of ,england4 ,i never saw 
him      in my life2 he died in ,india4 
,m4 ,n4 was in deep mourning2 he had a  
look of unutterable sorrow      upon his
 face1 and was deadly pale4 ,he never   
opened his lips1 but ,i      read his   
heart as if it were an open book1 and it
 said1 ,my father      is dead1 and ,i  
have come into his property4 ,i         
answered1 ,how much      you have grown 
like your father6 ,then in a moment1    
without      appearing to walk1 he stood
 at the foot of the child's cot1 and ,i 
saw distinctly the blueness of his eyes 
as he gazed on my boy1      and then    
raised them to ,heaven as if in prayer4 
,all vanished4 ,i looked round and      

remarked a trivial circumstance1        
viz41 that the brass handles of my chest
 of drawers had been rubbed      very   
bright4 ,not till then was ,i conscious 
of having seen a spirit1      but a     
feeling of awe 7not fear7 came over me1 
and ,i prayed to be      kept from harm1
 although there was no reason to dread  
it4 ,i slept      tranquilly1 and in the
 morning ,i went across to the parsonage
 and      told the clergyman's wife what
 ,i had seen4 ,she1 of course1 thought  
it was merely a dream4 ,but no--if it   
were a dream should ,i not have         
seen him as ,i had known him1 a young   
man of twenty-two1 without      beard or
 whiskers8 ,but there was all the       
difference that sixteen      years would
 make in a man's aspect4       ,on      
,saturday my husband returned1 and my   
brother having ridden out      to see us
 on ,sunday afternoon1 ,i told them both
 my vision as we sat      together on   
the verandah4 ,they treated it so       
lightly that ,i      determined to write

 it down in my diary and see if the news
 were      verified4 ,and from that     
diary ,i am now quoting4 ,also ,i       
mentioned it      to at least twelve or 
fourteen other people1 and bid them     
await the      result4       ,and surely
 enough1 at the end of several weeks1 my
 sister-in-law      wrote that ,m4 ,n4's
 father died at ,c---- ,common on       
,november #ahth1      #ahfc1 which      
exactly tallied with the date of the    
vision4 ,he left      #de1jjj to be     
divided between his son and daughter1   
but the son has      never been found4  
,many people in ,adelaide heard the     
story before the confirmation      came1
 and ,i wrote and told ,m4 ,n4's mother4
 ,she was much distressed      about it1
 fearing he was unhappy4 ,she is now    
dead4 ,my husband was      profoundly   
struck when he saw my diary             
corresponding exactly to      the news  
in the letter ,i had that moment        
received in his presence4  ,gurney adds 
the following note3--       ,mr4 ,t4 has

 confirmed to us the accuracy of this   
narrative1 and ,mrs4      ,t4 has shown 
to one of us a memorandum of the        
appearance of two      figures1 under   
date ,november #ahth1 in her diary of   
the year #ahfc1      and a newspaper    
obituary confirms this as the date of   
the death4 ,we      learn from a        
gentleman who is a near relative of ,m4 
,n4's1 that ,m4      ,n41 though long   
lost sight of1 was afterwards heard of1 
and      outlived his father4  ,i should
 not now take it for granted 7as we did 
at the time when ,phantasms of the      
,living was compiled7 that the agent    
here can apparently only have been the  
dying man4 ,i think it possible1 in the 
light of our now somewhat fuller        
knowledge1 that ,m4 ,n4's spirit was    
aware of his father's death1--even      
though possibly ,m4 ,n4's supraliminal  
self may not have heard of it2--so that 
the invading presence in this case may  
have been the discarded lover           
himself1--dreaming on his own account at

 a distance from ,mrs4 ,t4 ,the second  
figure ,i regard as having been an      
object in ,m4 ,n4's dream2--symbolical  
of his own alienation from ,mrs4 ,t4    
,all this sounds fanciful2 but ,i may   
remark here 7as often elsewhere71 that  
,i think that we gain little by         
attempting to enforce our own ideas of  
simplicity upon narratives of this      
bizarre type4   ,,iv4 ,f4 ,from         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4     
#cda4  ,communicated by ,frulein        
,schneller1 sister-in-law of the        
percipient1 and known to ,f4 ,w4 ,h4    
,m41 ,january #ahij4   ,,dober ,,und    
,,pause1 ,,schlesien1 ,december #abth1  
#ahhi4       ,about a year ago there    
died in a neighbouring village a brewer 
called ,wnscher1 with whom ,i stood in  
friendly relations4 ,his death          
ensued after a short illness1 and as ,i 
seldom had an opportunity of            
visiting him1 ,i knew nothing of his    
illness nor of his death4 ,on      the  
day of his death ,i went to bed at nine 

o'clock1 tired with the      labours    
which my calling as a farmer demands of 
me4 ,here ,i must      observe that my  
diet is of a frugal kind2 beer and wine 
are rare      things in my house1 and   
water1 as usual1 had been my drink that 
night4 ,being of a very healthy         
constitution1 ,i fell asleep as soon    
as ,i lay down4 ,in my dream ,i heard   
the deceased call out with a      loud  
voice1 ,boy1 make haste and give me my  
boots4 ,this awoke me1      and ,i      
noticed that1 for the sake of our child1
 my wife had left the      light        
burning4 ,i pondered with pleasure over 
my dream1 thinking in      my mind how  
,wnscher1 who was a good-natured1       
humorous man1 would      laugh when ,i  
told him of this dream4 ,still thinking 
on it1 ,i hear      ,wnscher's voice    
scolding outside1 just under my window4 
,i sit up      in my bed at once and    
listen1 but cannot understand his words4
 ,what      can the brewer want8 ,i     
thought1 and ,i know for certain that ,i

 was      much vexed with him1 that he  
should make a disturbance in the        
night1 as ,i felt convinced that his    
affairs might surely have      waited   
till the morrow4 ,suddenly he comes into
 the room from behind      the linen    
press1 steps with long strides past the 
bed of my wife      and the child's bed2
 wildly gesticulating with his arms all 
the      time1 as his habit was1 he     
called out1 ,what do you say to this1   
,herr ,oberamtmann8 ,this afternoon at  
five o'clock ,i have died4              
,startled by this information1 ,i       
exclaim1 ,oh1 that is not true6 ,he     
replied3 ,truly1 as ,i tell you2 and1   
what do you think8 ,they want      to   
bury me already on ,tuesday afternoon at
 two o'clock1      accentuating his     
assertions all the while by his         
gesticulations4      ,during this long  
speech of my visitor ,i examined myself 
as to      whether ,i was really awake  
and not dreaming4       ,i asked myself3
 ,is this a hallucination8 ,is my mind  

in full      possession of its          
faculties8 ,yes1 there is the light1    
there the      jug1 this is the mirror1 
and this the brewer2 and ,i came to the 
conclusion3 ,i am awake4 ,then the      
thought occurred to me1 ,what will      
my wife think if she awakes and sees the
 brewer in our bedroom8 ,in      this   
fear of her waking up ,i turn round to  
my wife1 and to my great      relief ,i 
see from her face1 which is turned      
towards me1 that she is      still      
asleep2 but she looks very pale4 ,i say 
to the brewer1 ,herr      ,wnscher1 we  
will speak softly1 so that my wife may  
not wake up1 it      would be very      
disagreeable to her to find you here4   
,to which      ,wnscher answered in a   
lower and calmer tone3 ,don't be afraid1
 ,i      will do no harm to your wife4  
,things do happen indeed for which we   
find no explanation--,i thought to      
myself1 and said to ,wnscher3 ,if       
this be true1 that you have died1 ,i am 
sincerely sorry for it2 ,i      will    

look after your children4 ,wnscher      
stepped towards me1      stretched out  
his arms and moved his lips as though he
 would      embrace me2 therefore ,i    
said in a threatening tone1 and looking 
steadfastly at him with a frowning brow3
 ,don't come so near1 it is             
disagreeable to me1 and lifted my right 
arm to ward him off1 but      before my 
arm reached him the apparition had      
vanished4 ,my first      look was to my 
wife to see if she were still asleep4   
,she was4 ,i got      up and looked at  
my watch1 it was seven minutes past     
twelve4 ,my      wife woke up and asked 
me3 ,to whom did you speak so loud just 
now8 ,have you understood anything8 ,i  
said4 ,no1 she answered1      and went  
to sleep again4       ,i impart this    
experience to the ,society for          
,psychical ,research1 in      the belief
 that it may serve as a new proof for   
the real existence      of telepathy4 ,i
 must further remark that the brewer had
 died that      afternoon at five       

o'clock1 and was buried on the following
 ,tuesday      at two4--,with great     
respect1  ,,karl ,,dignowtty 7,landed   
,proprietor74  ,the usual time for      
burial in ,germany1 adds ,frulein       
,schneller1 is three days after death4  
,this time may be prolonged1 however1 on
 application4 ,there are no special     
hours fixed4  ,in conversation ,frulein 
,s4 described her brother-in-law as a   
man of strong practical sense and of    
extremely active habits4  ,we have      
received the ,sterbeurkunde from the    
,standesbeamte ,siegismund1 ,kreis      
,sagan1 certifying that ,karl ,wnscher  
died ,saturday1 ,september #aeth1 #ahhh1
 at #d4cj ,p4,m41 and was buried        
,tuesday1 ,september #ahth1 #ahhh1 at #b
 ,p4,m4         99       99       99    
99       99  ,herr ,dignowity writes    
again1 ,january #ahth1 #ahij3--         
,frau ,wnscher told me that the time of 
the burial was settled in      the      
death-room immediately after ,wnscher's 
death1 because      relations at a      

distance had to be summoned by telegram4
 ,wnscher      had suffered from        
inflammation of the lungs1 which ended  
in spasm      of the heart4 ,during his 
illness his thoughts had been much      
occupied with me1 and he often wondered 
what ,i should say if ,i knew      how  
ill he was4  ,finally1 ,frau ,dignowity 
7born ,schneller7 writes from ,pause1   
,january #ahth1 #ahij3--       ,i       
confirm that my husband told me on the  
morning of ,september #afth1      #ahhh1
 that the brewer ,wnscher had given him 
intimation of his      death4           
,,appendices  ,,to  ,,chapter ,v        
,v4,a4#bai ,the principal inorganic     
objects alleged to have elicited novel  
sensations are running water1 metals1   
crystals and magnets2--including under  
this last heading the magnetism of the  
earth1 as claimed to be felt differently
 by sleepers according as they lie in   
the north-south or in the east-west     
positions4  7#a7 ,the faculty of finding
 running water has the interest of being

 the first subliminal faculty which has 
been so habitually utilised for public  
ends as to form for its possessors a    
recognised and lucrative occupation4    
,an exhaustive and impartial survey of  
the existing evidence for the faculty of
 dowsing is given in ,professor ,w4 ,f4 
,barrett's two articles ,on the         
so-called ,divining ,rod in the         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiii4 pp4  
#b-bhb1 and vol4 xv4 pp4 #acj-chc4      
,from this it seems clear that this     
power of discovery is genuine1 and is   
not dependent on the dowser's conscious 
knowledge or observation4 ,it forms a   
subliminal uprush2 but whether it is    
akin to genius1 as being a subconscious 
manipulation of facts accessible through
 normal sensory channels1 or to         
hetersthesia 7as resting on a specific  
sensibility to the proximity of running 
water71 is a question which will be     
variously decided in each special case4 
,the dowser1 ,i should add1 is not      
hypnotised before he finds the water4   

,but 7as ,professor ,barrett has shown7 
he is often thrown1 presumably by       
self-suggestion1 into a state much      
resembling light hypnotic trance4 ,the  
perceptivity 7we may say7 of central    
organs1 in an unfamiliar direction1 is  
stimulated by concentrated attention1   
involving a certain disturbance or      
abeyance of perceptivity in other       
directions4  7#b7 ,i next take the case 
of metallsthesia1--that alleged reaction
 to special metals which has often been 
asserted both in hypnotic and in        
hysterical cases4 ,as a definite        
instance ,i will take the statement made
 by certain physicians attending ,louis 
,viv1#bbj that while they supported him 
during a hysterical attack a gold ring  
on the finger of one of them touched him
 for some time and left a red mark1 as  
of a burn1 of whose origin the patient  
knew nothing4 ,it is further            
alleged--and this is a quite separate   
point1 although often confused with the 
first--that gold is distinguished by    

some subjects under conditions where no 
degree of sensitiveness to weight or    
temperature could have shown them that  
gold was near4  ,now1 as to the first   
point1 e4g4 the ,louis ,viv incident1 ,i
 can readily believe that the touch of  
gold1 unknown to the subject's          
supraliminal consciousness1 may produce 
a redness1 subsequent pain1 etc4 ,all   
that is needed for this is a capricious 
self-suggestion1 like any other         
hysterical idea4 ,this self-suggestion  
might remain completely unknown to the  
waking self1 which might be puzzled as  
to the cause of the redness and pain4   
,the second claim1 however1 involves    
much more than this4 ,if gold is        
recognised through a covering1 for      
instance1 or heated to the same point as
 other metals1 so that no sensation of  
weight or temperature can help          
observation1 this might possibly be by  
virtue of some sensibility more         
resembling the attraction of low        
organisms to specific substances whose  

chemical action on them we cannot       
determine1 or to particular rays in the 
spectrum4 ,i am not convinced that this 
has yet been proved2 but ,i should not  
regard it as a priori impossible4       
,medicamentous substances have also been
 claimed by many different hypnotists as
 exerting from a little distance1 or    
when in sealed tubes1 specific          
influences on patients4 ,the phenomenon 
is of the same nature as the alleged    
specific influences of metals1--all     
being very possibly explicable as the   
mere freak of self-suggestion4  7#c7    
,considering in the next place the      
alleged sensibility of certain persons  
to crystals and magnets1--known to be   
absolutely inert in relation to ordinary
 men1--we should note the alleged       
connection between the perception of    
magnets and that of running water4      
,some experiments intended to test the  
reality of the magnetic sense1 and      
especially of the so-called magnetic    
light--luminous appearances described by

 ,baron ,reichenbach as being seen by   
his sensitives in the neighbourhood of  
magnets--were carried out by a          
,committee of the ,s4,p4,r41 in #ahhc4  
,after careful and repeated trials with 
forty-five subjects of both sexes and of
 ages between sixteen and sixty1 only   
three of these professed to see luminous
 appearances4  ,the value of these      
experiments as evidence of a magnetic   
sense of course depends primarily on    
whether the subjects had any means1     
direct or indirect1 of knowing when the 
current was made or broken4 ,the        
precautions taken to avoid this and the 
other conditions of the experiments are 
described in detail in the report of    
them in the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 i4 pp4 #bcj-cg4 ,see also a further    
note by the ,chairman of the ,committee1
 ,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett1 vol4 ii4  
pp4 #ef-fj4  7#d7 ,and next as to the   
hetersthesi alleged to be evoked by dead
 organic substances1 or by living       
organisms4 ,we may begin by observing   

that some of our senses1 at any rate1   
form the subjective expression of       
certain chemical reactions4 ,but many   
kinds of chemical reactions go on in us 
besides those which1 for example1 form  
the basis of our sense of taste4 ,and   
some persons are much more affected than
 others by certain special reactions1   
which from a purely chemical point of   
view may or may not be precisely the    
same for all4 ,some persons have a      
specific sensibility to certain foods1  
or to certain drugs2--the presence of   
which their stomach detects1 and to     
which it responds with extraordinary    
delicacy4 ,now1 if it were an important 
object to discover the presence of a    
certain drug1 such a sensibility would  
be regarded as a precious gift1 and the 
discovery might be quite as valuable    
when made by the stomach as it would    
have been if made by the nose4 ,these   
are nascent hetersthesi1 which1 however1
 are not fostered either by natural     
selection or by human care4  ,of similar

 type are the specific sensibilities to 
the presence of certain plants or       
animals1--familiar in certain cases of  
rose-asthma1 horse-asthma1 and          
discomfort felt if a cat is in the room4
 ,these feelings have many causes4 ,at  
one end there is ordinary mechanical    
irritation by solid particles4 ,at the  
other end of the scale there is1 of     
course1 mere self-suggestion4 ,but      
between the two there seems to be a kind
 of sensibility which is not purely     
self-suggestive1 and not exactly        
olfactory1 but resembles rather the     
instincts by which insects or other     
animals discern each other's            
neighbourhood4  7#e7 ,it is perhaps     
through some such power of              
discrimination that effects are produced
 on sensitive subjects by mesmerised    
objects1--assuming1 of course1 that     
sufficient care has been taken to avoid 
their discovering by ordinary means that
 the objects have been specially        
manipulated in any way4 ,see some       

experiments recorded in the ,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 pp4 #bfj-bfb1 and a 
description of ,esdaile's experiments   
with mesmerised water in vol4 iii4 p4   
#dji2 also cases in the ,zoist1 e4g4    
vol4 v4 p4 #abi1 and vol4 v4 p4 #ii4    
7#f7 ,and now ,i pass on to medical     
clairvoyance1 or the power of diagnosing
 the present or past state of a living  
organism either from actual contact or  
even in the absence of the invalid1 and 
from contact with some object which he  
has himself touched4  ,the early        
mesmerists1 e4g4 ,puysgur1 ,pttin1      
,despine1 and ,teste1 all had the utmost
 faith in the faculty of their subjects 
to see their own disease and prescribe  
the right remedy4 ,the same attitude of 
mind can be traced all through the      
,zoist4 ,fahnestock was perhaps the     
first to point out the ambiguity of this
 alleged introvision4 ,it is well known 
to me1 he says1 that when a resolution  
is taken1 a belief cherished1 or a      
determination formed by persons while in

 the somnambulic state1 that1 when they 
awake1 although they may know nothing   
about it or relative to it1 they always 
do what has been so resolved or         
determined upon at the time appointed or
 specified 7,statuvolism1 p4 #bjc71 and 
he quotes experiments to prove his      
point4 ,with the knowledge we now       
possess of the extraordinary power of   
self-suggestion in producing all kinds  
of bodily symptoms1 it is obvious that  
these cases cannot be adduced as        
evidence of anything more4 ,a typical   
instance of one of these early          
observations is to be found in the      
,zoist1 vol4 x4 p4 #cdg4 ,see also      
,puysgur1 ,recherches sur l',homme dans 
le ,somnambulisme 7,paris1 #ahaa71 pp4  
#adj et seq4 and #bad et seq42 ,pttin1  
,electricit ,animale 7,paris1 #ahjh72   
,despine1 ,observations de ,mdecine     
,pratique 7#ahch7--;,estelle nous a     
indiqu tous les soirs1 dans sa crise1 ce
 qu'il y avait  faire pour le lendemain1
 tant pour le rgime alimentaire que pour

 les moyens mdicamentaires 7p4 #ch74    
,v4 ,b4 ,some of the most striking cases
 of moral reforms produced by hypnotic  
suggestion are those recorded by ,dr4   
,auguste ,voisin4 ,for instance3--      
,in the summer of #ahhd1 there was at   
the ,salptrire a young woman      of a  
deplorable type4#bba ,jeanne ,sch----   
was a criminal lunatic1      filthy in  
habits1 violent in demeanour1 and with a
 lifelong      history1 of impurity and 
theft4 ,m4 ,voisin1 who was one of the  
physicians on the staff1 undertook to   
hypnotise her on ,may #cast1 at      a  
time when she could only be kept quiet  
by the strait jacket and      bonnet    
d'irrigation1 or perpetual cold douche  
to the head4 ,she      would            
not--indeed1 she could not--look        
steadily at the operator1      but raved
 and spat at him4 ,m4 ,voisin kept his  
face close to hers1      and followed   
her eyes wherever she moved them4 ,in   
about ten minutes      a stertorous     
sleep ensued1 and in five minutes more  

she passed into      a sleep-waking     
state1 and began to talk incoherently4  
,the process      was repeated on many  
days1 and gradually she became sane when
 in      the trance1 though she still   
raved when awake4 ,gradually1 too1 she  
became able to obey in waking hours     
commands impressed on her in      the   
trance--first trivial orders 7to sweep  
the room and so forth71      then orders
 involving a marked change of behaviour4
 ,nay more2 in      the hypnotic state  
she voluntarily expressed repentance for
 her      past life1 made a confession  
which involved more evil than the       
police were cognisant of 7though it     
agreed with facts otherwise      known71
 and finally of her own impulse made    
good resolves for the      future4 ,two 
years later1 ,m4 ,voisin wrote to me    
7,july #cast1 #ahhf7      that she was  
then a nurse in a ,paris hospital1 and  
that her conduct      was               
irreproachable4 ,it appeared1 then1 that
 this poor woman1 whose      history    

since the age of thirteen had been one  
of reckless folly      and vice1 had    
become capable of the steady1           
self-controlled work of      a nurse at 
a hospital1 the reformed character      
having first      manifested itself in  
the hypnotic state1 partly in obedience 
to      suggestion1 and partly as the   
natural result of the                   
tranquillisation of morbid passions4    
,m4 ,dufour1 the medical head of another
 asylum1#bbb has adopted      hypnotic  
suggestion as a regular element in his  
treatment4 ,ds       prsent1 he says1   
notre opinion est faite3 sans crainte de
 nous      tromper1 nous affirmons que  
l'hypnotisme peut rendre service dans   
le traitement des maladies mentales4 ,as
 was to be expected1 he      finds that 
only a small proportion of lunatics are 
hypnotisable2      but the effect       
produced on these1 whether by           
entrancement or      suggestion1 is     
uniformly good4 ,his best subject is a  
depraved young      man1 who after many 

convictions for crimes 7including       
attempted      murder7 has become a     
violent lunatic4 ,t41 says ,dr4 ,dufour1
 a t      un assez mauvais sujet4 ,nous 
n'avons plus  parler au prsent1         
tellement ses sentiments moraux ont t   
amliors par      l'hypnotisme4 ,this    
change and amelioration of character    
7over and      above the simple recovery
 of sanity7 has been a marked feature in
      some of ,dr4 ,voisin's cases as   
well4  ,see also a case given by ,dr4   
,voisin in the ,revue de l',hypnotisme1 
vol4 iii41 #ahhi1 p4 #acj4   ,v4 ,c4    
,the subject of these experiments in    
telepathic hypnotisation was ,professor 
,pierre ,janet's well-known subject1    
,madame ,b4 ,the experiments were       
carried out with her at ,havre1 by      
,professer ,janet and ,dr4 ,gibert1 a   
leading physician there1 and described  
in the ,bulletins de la ,socit de       
,psychologie ,physiologique1 ,tome ,i41 
p4 #bd1 and in the ,revue               
,philosophique1 ,august #ahhf4  ,i give 

the following extract from my own notes 
of experiments1 ,april #bjth to #bdth1  
#ahhf1 taken at the time in conjunction 
with ,dr4 ,a4 ,t4 ,myers1 and forming   
the bulk of a paper presented to the    
,socit de ,psychologie ,physiologique on
 ,may #bdth 7also published in          
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4    
#aca-cg47       ,in the evening 7#bbnd7 
we all dined at ,m4 ,gibert's1 and in   
the      evening ,m4 ,gibert made       
another attempt to put her to sleep at a
      distance from his house in the    
,rue ,sry--she being at the ,pavillon1  
,rue de la ,ferme--and to bring her to  
his house by an effort of      will4 ,at
 #h4ee he retired to his study1 and     
,,mm4 ,ochorowicz1      ,marillier1     
,janet1 and ,a4 ,t4 ,myers went to the  
,pavilion1 and waited      outside in   
the street1 out of sight of the house4  
,at #i4bb ,dr4 ,myers      observed     
,madame ,b4 coming half-way out of the  
garden-gate1 and      again retreating4 
,those who saw her more closely observed

 that she      was plainly in the       
somnambulic state1 and was wandering    
about and      muttering4 ,at #i4be she 
came out 7with eyes persistently closed1
 so      far as could be seen71 walked  
quickly past ,,mm4 ,janet and           
,marillier1      without noticing them1 
and made for ,m4 ,gibert's house1 though
 not      by the usual or shortest      
route4 7,it appeared afterwards that the
      bonne had seen her go into the    
salon at #h4de1 and issue thence        
asleep at #i4ae2 had not looked in      
between those times4#bbc7 ,she          
avoided lamp-posts1 vehicles1 etc41 but 
crossed and recrossed the      street   
repeatedly4 ,no one went in front of her
 or spoke to her4      ,after eight or  
ten minutes she grew much more uncertain
 in gait1      and paused as though she 
would fall4 ,dr4 ,myers noted the moment
 in      the ,rue ,faure2 it was #i4ce4 
,at about #i4dj she grew bolder1 and at 
#i4de reached the street in front of ,m4
 ,gibert's house4 ,there she      met   

him1 but did not notice him1 and walked 
into his house1 where      she rushed   
hurriedly from room to room on the      
ground-floor4 ,m4      ,gibert had to   
take her hand before she recognised him4
 ,she then      grew calm4       ,m4    
,gibert said that from #h4ee to #i4bj he
 thought intently about      her1 from  
#i4bj to #i4ce he thought more feebly2  
at #i4ce he gave the      experiment up1
 and began to play billiards2 but in a  
few minutes      began to will her      
again4 ,it appeared that his visit to   
the      billiard-room had coincided    
with her hesitation and stumbling in    
the street4 ,but this coincidence may of
 course have been      accidental4444   
,out of a series of twenty-five similar 
experiments nineteen were successful4   
,the experiments were made at different 
times in the day and at varying         
intervals1 in order to avoid the effects
 of expectancy in the subject4          
,,appendices  ,,to  ,,chapter ,,vi      
,,vi4 ,a4 ,this case is taken from      

,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#id1 having been contributed by ,colonel
 ,bigge1 of #b ,morpeth ,terrace1       
,s4,w41 who took the account out of a   
sealed envelope1 in ,gurney's presence1 
for the first time since it was written 
on the day of the occurrence4       ,an 
account of a circumstance which occurred
 to me when quartered at                
,templemore1 ,co4 ,tipperary1 on #bjth  
,february #ahdg4       ,this afternoon1 
about #c o'clock ,p4,m41 ,i was walking 
from my      quarters towards the       
mess-room to put some letters into the  
letter-box1 when ,i distinctly saw      
,lieut4-,colonel ,reed1 #gjth           
,regiment1 walking from the corner of   
the range of buildings      occupied by 
the officers towards the mess-room door2
 and ,i saw him      go into the        
passage4 ,he was dressed in a brown     
shooting-jacket1      with grey summer  
regulation tweed trousers1 and had a    
fishing-rod      and a landing-net in   
his hand4 ,although at the time ,i saw  

him he      was about #ae or #bj yards  
from me1 and although anxious to speak  
to      him at the moment1 ,i did not do
 so1 but followed him into the          
passage and turned into the ante-room on
 the left-hand side1 where      ,i      
expected to find him4 ,on opening the   
door1 to my great surprise1      he was 
not there2 the only person in the room  
was ,quartermaster      ,nolan1 #gjth   
,regiment1 and ,i immediately asked him 
if he had seen      the colonel1 and he 
replied he had not2 upon which ,i said1 
,i      suppose he has gone upstairs1   
and ,i immediately left the room4       
,thinking he might have gone upstairs to
 one of the officers' rooms1      ,i    
listened at the bottom of the stairs and
 then went up to the      first         
landing-place2 but not hearing anything 
,i went downstairs      again and tried 
to open the bedroom door1 which is      
opposite to the      ante-room1 thinking
 he might have gone there2 but ,i found 
the door      locked1 as it usually is  

in the middle of the day4 ,i was very   
much      surprised at not finding the  
colonel1 and ,i walked into the         
barrack-yard and joined ,lieutenant     
,caulfield1 #ffth ,regiment1 who        
was walking there2 and ,i told the story
 to him1 and particularly      described
 the dress in which ,i had seen the     
colonel4 ,we walked up      and down the
 barrack-yard talking about it for about
 ten minutes1      when1 to my great    
surprise1 never having kept my eye from 
the door      leading to the mess-room  
7there is only one outlet from it71 ,i  
saw      the colonel walk into the      
barracks through the gate--which is in  
the opposite direction--accompanied by  
,ensign ,willington1 #gjth              
,regiment1 in precisely the same dress  
in which ,i had seen him1 and      with 
a fishing-rod and a landing-net in his  
hand4 ,lieutenant      ,caulfield and ,i
 immediately walked to them1 and we were
 joined by      ,lieut4-,colonel        
,goldie1 #ffth ,regiment1 and ,captain  

,hartford1 and ,i      asked ,colonel   
,reed if he had not gone into the       
mess-room about ten      minutes before4
 ,he replied that he certainly had not1 
for that he      had been out fishing   
for more than two hours at some ponds   
about a      mile from the barracks1 and
 that he had not been near the mess-room
      at all since the morning4         
,at the time ,i saw ,colonel ,reed going
 into the mess-room ,i was not          
aware that he had gone out fishing--a   
very unusual thing to do at      this   
time of the year2 neither had ,i seen   
him before in the dress ,i      have    
described during that day4 ,i had seen  
him in uniform in the      morning at   
parade1 but not afterwards at all until 
#c      o'clock--having been engaged in 
my room writing letters1 and upon       
other business4 ,my eyesight being very 
good1 and the colonel's      figure and 
general appearance somewhat remarkable1 
it is morally      impossible that ,i   
could have mistaken any other person in 

the world      for him4 ,that ,i did see
 him ,i shall continue to believe until 
the      last day of my existence4      
,,william ,,matthew ,,bigge1 ,major1    
#gjth ,regiment4       ,on ,july #agth1 
#ahhe1 after ,colonel ,bigge had        
described the      occurrence but before
 the account was taken from the envelope
 and      read1 he dictated the         
following remarks to ,gurney3--         
,when ,colonel ,r4 got off the car about
 a couple of hours afterwards1          
,colonel ,goldie and other officers said
 to me1 ,why1 that's the very      dress
 you described4 ,they had not known     
where he was or how he was      engaged4
 ,the month1 ,february1 was a most      
unlikely one to be fishing      in4     
,colonel ,reed was much alarmed when    
told what ,i had seen4       ,the       
quartermaster1 sitting at the window1   
would have been bound to      see a real
 figure2 he denied having seen anything4
       ,i have never had the slightest  
hallucination of the senses on any      

other occasion4       ,it will be seen  
that these recent remarks exhibit two   
slips of      memory4 ,it is quite      
unimportant whether ,colonel ,reed was  
seen      walking in at the gate or     
getting off a car4 ,but in making the   
interval between the vision and the     
return two hours instead of ten         
minutes1 the later account unduly       
diminishes the force of the case4       
,if there is any justification at all   
for the provisional hypothesis      that
 the sense of impending arrival is a    
condition favourable for      the       
emission of a telepathic influence1 it  
is of importance that1      at the time 
when the phantasmal form was seen1      
,colonel ,reed was not      busy with   
his fishing1 but was rapidly approaching
 his destination2      for thus the     
incident1 at any rate1 gets the benefit 
of analogy      with other cases4       
,,vi4 ,b4 ,from the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 vi4 p4 #abi4 ,the case is recorded 
by the ,misses ,h4 ,m4 and ,l4 ,bourne4 

,additional evidence of the             
hallucinatory character of the figure   
seen is afforded by the details having  
been more clearly discernible than those
 of a real figure at the same distance  
would have been1 and also by the second 
appearance1 where the percipient had the
 impression of being transported to a   
different scene4  ,miss ,l4 ,bourne     
writes3--       ,on ,february #eth1     
#ahhg1 my father1 sister1 and ,i went   
out hunting4      ,about the middle of  
the day my sister and ,i decided to     
return home      with the coachman1     
while my father went on4 ,somebody came 
and spoke      to us1 and delayed us for
 a few moments4 ,as we were turning to  
go      home1 we distinctly saw my      
father1 waving his hat to us and signing
      us to follow him4 ,he was on the  
side of a small hill1 and there was     
a dip between him and us4 ,my sister1   
the coachman1 and myself all            
recognised my father1 and also the      
horse4 ,the horse looked so dirty       

and shaken that the coachman remarked he
 thought there had been a      nasty    
accident4 ,as my father waved his hat ,i
 clearly saw the      ,lincoln and      
,bennett mark inside1 though from the   
distance we were      apart it ought to 
have been utterly impossible for me to  
have seen      it4 ,at the time ,i      
mentioned seeing the mark in the hat1   
though the      strangeness of seeing it
 did not strike me till afterwards4     
,fearing an accident1 we hurried down   
the hill4 ,from the nature of      the  
ground we had to lose sight of my       
father1 but it took us very      few    
seconds to reach the place where we had 
seen him4 ,when we got      there1 there
 was no sign of him anywhere1 nor could 
we see anyone      in sight at all4 ,we 
rode about for some time looking for    
him1 but      could not see or hear     
anything of him4 ,we all reached home   
within a      quarter of an hour of each
 other4 ,my father then told us he had  
never been in the field1 nor near the   

field1 in which we thought we      saw  
him1 the whole of that day4 ,he had     
never waved to us1 and had      met with
 no accident4       ,my father was      
riding the only white horse that was out
 that day4  ,,louisa ,,bourne4 ,h4 ,m4  
,bourne4  ,the second signature was     
added later1 with the words3 ,this was  
written by my sister and me together4   
,miss ,h4 ,m4 ,bourne enclosed the above
 in the following letter to ,mrs4 ,dent1
 to whom we are indebted for the case3--
   ,,weston ,,subedge1 ,,broadway1      
,,worcestershire1 ,may #bast1 #ahia4    
,,my ,,dear ,,mrs4 ,,dent1--,louisa has 
asked me send you the enclosed          
account of the impression she1 the      
coachman1 and ,i had of seeing      papa
 on ,paddy in the hunting-field4 ,it was
 on the #eth ,february #ahhg      it    
happened1 and in ,march the same year1  
when ,i was out walking      alone1 ,i  
thought ,i saw papa and ,paddy stop at a
 little plantation      of his close to1
 and look at the wall1 which had fallen 

in in one      part4 ,he then appeared  
to ride a few yards towards me1 but     
afterwards turned round and went back   
past the plantation and out      of     
sight4 ,when ,i went in ,i asked him if 
he had not seen me1 and why      he     
turned back1 when it transpired he had  
not been past that      plantation all  
day1 but had ridden home another way4   
,he said it      must have been some one
 else on a white horse1 and asked where 
,i      was when ,i saw him1 and then1  
not before1 it dawned on me that it     
was utterly impossible to see either    
plantation or wall from where      ,i   
was4 ,since then ,i have often been     
along the same road1 and stood1      and
 looked1 and wondered how it was ,i so  
distinctly saw the broken      wall and 
papa on the white horse2 a turn in the  
road makes my      having really done so
 quite impossible4 ,i am sorry ,i cannot
 give      you the exact date of this3  
,i know it was in ,march #ahhg1 but     
cannot      remember the day1 except    

that it was not on the #eth4 ,the other 
experience is1 ,i always think1 far more
 interesting1 as having      been seen  
by three1 and also from the fact that   
,paddy was the only      white or grey  
horse in the hunting-field that day2 so 
that      unbelievers could not say it  
was some one else on a white horse      
that we had mistaken4444  ,,nina ,m4    
,,bourne4  ,mrs4 ,sidgwick writes3--    
,february #beth1 #ahib4       ,i saw    
,miss ,h4 ,bourne and her father this   
afternoon4 ,miss ,bourne      told me   
the stories of her seeing her father1   
first with her      sister1 and later by
 herself1 and signed the account which  
she and      her sister had1 she says1  
made out together about it4 ,the groom  
who      saw the figure at the same time
 has since been dismissed1 and          
cannot be asked for his evidence4 ,canon
 ,bourne remembers hearing of      the  
matter the day it happened4 ,the groom  
rode up to the ladies as      they were 
looking1 and said3 ,the ,canon is       

beckoning1 ,miss1 and ,i      think you 
had better go to him2 his horse looks as
 if he had had a      fall 7that is1    
muddy74 ,the figure was beckoning to    
them with their      father's usual 7and
 peculiar7 gesture4 ,he is a heavy man1 
and his      white horse1 adapted to    
carry weight1 was quite unlike any other
      horse in the neighbourhood4 ,every
 one agrees as to the      impossibility
 of mistaking the horse4 ,the horses of 
the      neighbourhood were well known  
to the neighbourhood in general and     
to the ,miss ,bournes in particular1 as 
they were at that time      constantly  
out with the hounds4 ,the incident seems
 quite      unaccountable4   ,,vi4 ,c4  
,from ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4
 p4 #bad4 ,we received the first account
 of this case--the percipient's         
evidence--through the kindness of ,mrs4 
,martin1 of ,ham ,court1                
,upton-on-,severn1 ,worcester4          
,,antony1 ,,torpoint1 ,december #adth1  
#ahhb4       ,helen ,alexander 7maid to 

,lady ,waldegrave7 was lying here very  
ill      with typhoid fever1 and was    
attended by me4 ,i was standing at the  
table by her bedside1 pouring out her   
medicine1 at about #d o'clock      in   
the morning of the #dth ,october #ahhj4 
,i heard the call-bell ring      7this  
had been heard twice before during the  
night in that same      week71 and was  
attracted by the door of the room       
opening1 and by      seeing a person    
entering the room whom ,i instantly felt
 to be the      mother of the sick      
woman4 ,she had a brass candlestick in  
her hand1      a red shawl over her     
shoulders1 and a flannel petticoat on   
which      had a hole in the front4 ,i  
looked at her as much as to say1 ,i am  
glad you have come1 but the woman looked
 at me sternly1 as much as      to say1 
,why wasn't ,i sent for before8 ,i gave 
the medicine to      ,helen ,alexander1 
and then turned round to speak to the   
vision1 but      no one was there4 ,she 
had gone4 ,she was a short1 dark person1

 and      very stout4 ,at about #f      
o'clock that morning ,helen ,alexander  
died4      ,two days after her parents  
and a sister came to ,antony1 and       
arrived      between #a and #b o'clock  
in the morning2 ,i and another maid let 
them      in1 and it gave me a great    
turn when ,i saw the living likeness of 
the vision ,i had seen two nights       
before4 ,i told the sister about        
the vision1 and she said that the       
description of the dress exactly        
answered to her mother's1 and that they 
had brass candlesticks at      home     
exactly like the one described4 ,there  
was not the slightest      resemblance  
between the mother and daughter4        
,,frances ,,reddell4  ,this at first    
sight might be taken for a mere delusion
 of an excitable or over-tired servant1 
modified and exaggerated by the         
subsequent sight of the real mother4 ,if
 such a case is to have evidential      
force1 we must ascertain beyond doubt   
that the description of the experience  

was given in detail before any knowledge
 of the reality can have affected the   
percipient's memory or imagination4     
,this necessary corroboration has been  
kindly supplied by ,mrs4 ,pole-,carew1  
of ,antony1 ,torpoint1 ,devonport4      
,december #cast1 #ahhc4       ,in       
,october1 #ahhj1 ,lord and ,lady        
,waldegrave came with their ,scotch     
maid1 ,helen ,alexander1 to stay with   
us4 ,the account then describes      how
 ,helen was discovered to have caught   
typhoid fever4 ,she did not      seem to
 be very ill in spite of it1 and as     
there seemed no fear of      danger1 and
 ,lord and ,lady ,waldegrave had to go a
 long journey the      following day    
7,thursday71 they decided to leave her1 
as they were      advised to do1 under  
their friend's care4       ,the illness 
ran its usual course1 and she seemed to 
be going on      perfectly well till the
 ,sunday week following1 when the doctor
 told      me that the fever had left   
her1 but the state of weakness which had

      supervened was such as to make him
 extremely anxious4 ,i immediately      
engaged a regular nurse1 greatly against
 the wish of ,reddell1 my      maid1 who
 had been her chief nurse all through   
the illness1 and who      was quite     
devoted to her4 ,however1 as the nurse  
could not      conveniently come till   
the following day1 ,i allowed ,reddell  
to sit      up with ,helen again that   
night1 to give her the medicine and     
food1      which were to be taken       
constantly4       ,at about #d4cj that  
night1 or rather ,monday morning1       
,reddell looked      at her watch1      
poured out the medicine1 and was bending
 over the bed      to give it to ,helen1
 when the call-bell in the passage rang4
 ,she      said to herself1 ,there's    
that tiresome bell with the wire caught 
again4 7,it seems it did occasionally   
ring of itself in this      manner47 ,at
 that moment1 however1 she heard the    
door open and1      looking round1 saw a
 very stout old woman walk in4 ,she was 

dressed      in a night-gown and red    
flannel petticoat1 and carried an       
old-fashioned brass candlestick in her  
hand4 ,the petticoat had a      hole    
rubbed in it4 ,she walked into the room1
 and appeared to be      going towards  
the dressing-table to put her candle    
down4 ,she was a      perfect stranger  
to ,reddell1 who1 however1 merely       
thought1 ,this is      her mother come  
to see after her1 and she felt quite    
glad it was      so1 accepting the idea 
without reasoning upon it1 as one would 
in a      dream4 ,she thought the mother
 looked annoyed1 possibly at not        
having been sent for before4 ,she then  
gave ,helen the medicine1 and           
turning round1 found that the apparition
 had disappeared1 and that      the door
 was shut4 ,a great change1 meanwhile1  
had taken place in      ,helen1 and     
,reddell fetched me1 who sent off for   
the doctor1 and      meanwhile applied  
hot poultices1 etc41 but ,helen died a  
little      before the doctor came4 ,she

 was quite conscious up to about half an
      hour before she died1 when she    
seemed to be going to sleep4            
,during the early days of her illness1  
,helen had written to a      sister1    
mentioning her being unwell1 but making 
nothing of it1 and      as she never    
mentioned any one but this sister1 it   
was supposed by      the household1 to  
whom she was a perfect stranger1 that   
she had no      other relation alive4   
,reddell was always offering to write   
for her1      but she always declined1  
saying there was no need1 she would     
write      herself in a day or two4 ,no 
one at home1 therefore1 knew anything   
of her being so ill1 and it is1         
therefore1 remarkable1 that her         
mother1 a far from nervous person1      
should have said that evening      going
 up to bed1 ,i am sure ,helen is very   
ill4       ,reddell told me and my      
daughter of the apparition1 about an    
hour      after ,helen's death1         
prefacing with1 ,i am not superstitious1

 or      nervous1 and ,i wasn't the     
least frightened1 but her mother came   
last night1 and she then told the story1
 giving a careful      description of   
the figure she had seen4 ,the relations 
were asked to      come to the funeral1 
and the father1 mother1 and sister came1
 and      in the mother ,reddell        
recognised the apparition1 as ,i did    
also1 for      ,reddell's description   
had been most accurate1 even to the     
expression1 which she had ascribed to   
annoyance1 but which was due      to    
deafness4 ,it was judged best not to    
speak about it to the      mother1 but  
,reddell told the sister1 who said the  
description of      the figure          
corresponded exactly with the probable  
appearance of her      mother if roused 
in the night2 that they had exactly such
 a      candlestick at home1 and that   
there was a hole in her mother's        
petticoat produced by the way she always
 wore it4 ,it seems curious      that   
neither ,helen nor her mother appeared  

to be aware of the      visit4 ,neither 
of them1 at any rate1 ever spoke of     
having seen the      other1 nor even of 
having dreamt of having done so4  ,f4   
,a4 ,,pole-,,carew4       ,frances      
,reddell states that she has never had  
any hallucination1      or any odd      
experience of any kind1 except on this  
one occasion4 ,the      ,hon4 ,mrs4     
,lyttelton1 formerly of ,selwyn         
,college1 ,cambridge1 who      knows    
her1 tells us that she appears to be a  
most matter-of-fact      person1 and was
 apparently most impressed by the fact  
that she saw      a hole in the mother's
 flannel petticoat1 made by the busk of 
her      stays1 reproduced in the       
apparition4  ,now what ,i imagine to    
have happened here is this4 ,the mother1
 anxious about her daughter1 paid her a 
psychical visit during the sleep of     
both4 ,in so doing she actually modified
 a certain portion of space1 not        
materially nor optically1 but in such a 
manner that persons perceptive in a     

certain fashion would discern in that   
part of space an image approximately    
corresponding to the conception of her  
own aspect latent in the invading       
mother's mind4 ,a person thus           
susceptible happened to be in the room1 
and thus1 as a bystander1 witnessed a   
psychical invasion whose memory the     
invader apparently did not retain1 while
 the invaded person--the due            
percipient--may or may not have         
perceived it in a dream1 but died and   
left no sign of having done so4   ,,vi4 
,d4 ,from the ,report on the ,census of 
,hallucinations1 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 x4 p4 #ccb4 ,the account is given 
by ,mrs4 ,mc,alpine4   ,,garscadden1    
,,beardsden1 ,,glasgow1 ,april #bjth1   
#ahib4       ,i remember in the ,june of
 #ahhi1 ,i drove to ,castleblaney1 a    
little      town in the county          
,monaghan1 to meet my sister1 who was   
coming by      train from ,longford4 ,i 
expected her at three o'clock1 but as   
she      did not come with that train1  

,i got the horse put up1 and went for   
a walk in the demesne4 ,the day was very
 warm and bright1 and ,i      wandered  
on under the shade of the trees to the  
side of a lake1      which is in the    
demesne4 ,being at length tired1 ,i sat 
down to rest      upon a rock1 at the   
edge of the water4 ,my attention was    
quite taken      up with the extreme    
beauty of the scene before me4 ,there   
was not a      sound or movement1 except
 the soft ripple of the water on the    
sand      at my feet4 ,presently ,i felt
 a cold chill creep through me1 and a   
curious stiffness of my limbs1 as if ,i 
could not move1 though      wishing to  
do so4 ,i felt frightened1 yet chained  
to the spot1 and      as if impelled to 
stare at the water straight in front of 
me4      ,gradually a black cloud seemed
 to rise1 and in the midst of it ,i     
saw a tall man1 in a suit of tweed1 jump
 into the water and sink4       ,in a   
moment the darkness was gone1 and ,i    
again became sensible of      the heat  

and sunshine1 but ,i was awed and felt  
eerie--it was then      about four      
o'clock or so--,i cannot remember either
 the exact time      or date4 ,on my    
sister's arrival ,i told her of the     
occurrence2 she      was surprised1 but 
inclined to laugh at it4 ,when we got   
home ,i told      my brother2 he treated
 the subject much in the same manner4   
,however1 about a week afterwards1 ,mr4 
,espie1 a bank clerk 7unknown      to   
me71 committed suicide by drowning in   
that very spot4 ,he left a      letter  
for his wife1 indicating that he had for
 some time      contemplated his death4 
,my sister's memory of the event is the 
only      evidence ,i can give4 ,i did  
not see the account of the inquest at   
the time1 and did not mention my strange
 experience to any one1      saving my  
sister and brother4  ,f4 ,c4 ,,mcalpine4
  ,mrs4 ,mc,alpine's sister writes3--   
,,roxboro'1 ,february #aeth1 #ahib4     
,i remember perfectly you meeting me in 
,castleblaney1 on my way home      from 

,longford1 and telling me of the strange
 thing which happened      in the       
demesne4 ,you know you were always      
hearing or seeing      something and ,i 
paid little attention2 but ,i remember  
it      distinctly--your troubled       
expression more than the story4 ,you    
said      a tall gentleman1 dressed in  
tweed1 walked past you1 and went into   
a little inlet or creek4 ,i think1 but  
am not sure1 that you said he      had a
 beard4 ,you were troubled about it1 or 
looked so2 and ,i talked      of other  
things4 ,you told me while we were      
driving home4 ,i think1      but ,i am  
not sure1 that it was about the #beth or
 #bgth of ,june #ahhi      that ,i left 
,longford4 ,i am sure of that being the 
day1 but cannot      remember the date4 
,it was in ,june1 and on the #crd of    
,july1 #ahhi1      a ,mr4 ,espie1 a bank
 clerk1 drowned himself in the lake in  
the      demesne in ',blaney4 ,i have no
 doubt that the day ,i came home you    
saw ,mr4 ,espie's fetch4  ,the following

 account is taken from a local paper1   
the ,northern ,standard1 ,saturday1     
,july #fth1 #ahhi3--       ,sad ,case of
 ,suicide4--,the town of ,castleblaney  
was put into a      fearful state of    
excitement when it became known on      
,wednesday last      that ,mr4 ,espy had
 committed suicide by drowning himself  
in the lake      in the demesne4        
,latterly1 he was noticed to be rather  
dull and low      in spirits1 but no    
serious notice was taken of his conduct1
 nor had      any one the most remote   
idea that he contemplated suicide4 ,on  
,wednesday morning he seemed in his     
usual health1 and1 as was      customary
 with him1 walked down to get his       
newspaper on the arrival      of the    
#i4de train from ,dublin4 ,he met ,mr4  
,fox 7in whose office he      has been  
for years7 at the station1 and having   
procured his paper      walked up to the
 office1 wrote a note in which he stated
 what he      was going to do1 and      
indicating where his body would be      

found4 ,this      seemed to concern him 
a good deal1 for he seemed very anxious 
that      his body should be recovered  
without any delay4 ,he had              
fishing-tackle in his pocket1 and having
 tied one end of a      pike-line to a  
tree1 and the other end round one of his
 legs1 he      threw himself into about 
three feet deep of water1 where he was  
found shortly afterwards quite dead1 and
 before the note that he      had left  
in the office had been opened4  ,it     
would be possible1 no doubt1 to explain 
this appearance as simply               
precognitive--as a picture from the     
future impressed in some unknown way    
upon the percipient's inner vision4     
,there are certain cases which strongly 
suggest this extreme hypothesis4 ,but it
 seems here simpler to assume that the  
unhappy man was already imagining his   
plunge into the lake when ,mrs4         
,mc,alpine visited the shore1 and that  
his intense thought effected a          
self-projection1 conscious or           

unconscious1 of some element of his     
being4   ,,vi4 ,e4 ,from ,phantasms of  
the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bci4 ,mrs4    
,elgee1 of #ah ,woburn ,road1 ,bedford1 
gave the following account3--   ,march  
#ast1 #ahhe4       ,in the month of     
,november #ahfd1 being detained in      
,cairo1 on my way      out to ,india1   
the following curious circumstance      
occurred to me3--       ,owing to an    
unusual influx of travellers1 ,i1 with  
the young lady      under my charge     
7whom we will call ,d47 and some other  
passengers of      the outward-bound    
mail to ,india1 had to take up our abode
 in a      somewhat unfrequented hotel4 
,the room shared by ,miss ,d4 and myself
      was large1 lofty1 and gloomy2 the 
furniture of the scantiest1             
consisting of two small beds1 placed    
nearly in the middle of the      room   
and not touching the walls at all1 two  
or three rush-bottomed      chairs1 a   
very small washing stand1 and a large   
old-fashioned sofa      of the settee   

sort1 which was placed against one half 
of the large      folding doors which   
gave entrance to the room4 ,this settee 
was far      too heavy to be removed1   
unless by two or three people4 ,the     
other      half of the door was used for
 entrance1 and faced the two beds4      
,feeling rather desolate and strange1   
and ,miss ,d4 being a nervous           
person1 ,i locked the door1 and1 taking 
out the key1 put it under my            
pillow2 but on ,miss ,d4 remarking that 
there might be a duplicate      which   
could open the door from outside1 ,i put
 a chair against the      door1 with my 
travelling bag on it1 so arranged that1 
on any      pressure outside1 one or    
both must fall on the bare floor1 and   
make      noise enough to rouse me4 ,we 
then proceeded to retire to bed1 the    
one ,i had chosen being near the only   
window in the room1 which      opened   
with two glazed doors1 almost to the    
floor4 ,these doors1 on      account of 
the heat1 ,i left open1 first assuring  

myself that no      communication from  
the outside could be obtained4 ,the     
window led on      to a small balcony1  
which was isolated1 and was three       
stories above      the ground4       ,i 
suddenly woke from a sound sleep with   
the impression that      somebody had   
called me1 and1 sitting up in bed1 to my
 unbounded      astonishment1 by the    
clear light of early dawn coming in     
through      the large window before    
mentioned1 ,i beheld the figure of an   
old      and very valued friend whom ,i 
knew to be in ,england4 ,he appeared as 
if most eager to speak to me1 and ,i    
addressed him with1 ,good      gracious6
 how did you come here8 ,so clear was   
the figure1 that ,i      noted every    
detail of his dress1 even to three onyx 
shirt-studs      which he always wore4  
,he seemed to come a step nearer to me1 
when      he suddenly pointed across the
 room1 and on my looking round1 ,i saw  
,miss ,d4 sitting up in her bed1 gazing 
at the figure with every      expression

 of terror4 ,on looking back1 my friend 
seemed to shake      his head1 and      
retreated step by step1 slowly1 till he 
seemed to      sink through that portion
 of the door where the settee stood4 ,i 
never knew what happened to me after    
this2 but my next remembrance      is of
 bright sunshine pouring through the    
window4 ,gradually the      remembrance 
of what had happened came back to me1   
and the question      arose in my mind1 
had ,i been dreaming1 or had ,i seen a  
visitant      from another world8--the  
bodily presence of my friend being      
utterly      impossible4 ,remembering   
that ,miss ,d4 had seemed aware of the  
figure      as well as myself1 ,i       
determined to allow the test of my dream
 or      vision to be whatever she said 
to me upon the subject1 ,i intending    
to say nothing to her unless she spoke  
to me4 ,as she seemed still      asleep1
 ,i got out of bed1 examined the door   
carefully1 and found      the chair and 
my bag untouched1 and the key under my  

pillow2 the      settee had not been    
touched nor had that portion of the door
      against which it was placed any   
appearance of being opened for          
years4       ,presently1 on ,miss ,d4   
waking up1 she looked about the room1   
and1      noticing the chair and bag1   
made some remark as to their not having 
been much use4 ,i said1 ,what do you    
mean8 and then she said1 ,why1      that
 man who was in the room this morning   
must have got in      somehow4 ,she then
 proceeded to describe to me exactly    
what ,i      myself had seen4 ,without  
giving any satisfactory answer as to    
what      ,i had seen1 ,i made her      
rather angry by affecting to treat the  
matter as a fancy on her part1 and      
showed her the key still under      my  
pillow1 and the chair and bag untouched4
 ,i then asked her1 if      she was so  
sure that she had seen somebody in the  
room1 did not she      know who it was8 
,no1 said she1 ,i have never seen him   
before1 nor      any one like him4 ,i   

said1 ,have you ever seen a photograph  
of      him8 ,she said1 ,no4 ,this lady 
never was told what ,i saw1 and yet     
described exactly to a third person what
 we both had seen4       ,of course1 ,i 
was under the impression my friend was  
dead4 ,such1      however1 was not the  
case2 and ,i met him some four years    
later1      when1 without telling him   
anything of my experience in ,cairo1 ,i 
asked him1 in a joking way1 could he    
remember what he was doing on      a    
certain night in ,november #ahfd4 ,well1
 he said1 you require me      to have a 
good memory2 but after a little         
reflection he replied1      ,why1 that  
was the time ,i was so harassed with    
trying to decide for      or against the
 appointment which was offered me1 and  
,i so much      wished you could have   
been with me to talk the matter over4 ,i
 sat      over the fire quite late1     
trying to think what you would have     
advised me to do4 ,a little             
cross-questioning and comparing of      

dates brought out the curious fact that1
 allowing for the      difference of    
time between ,england and ,cairo1 his   
meditations over      the fire and my   
experience were simultaneous4 ,having   
told him the      circumstances above   
narrated1 ,i asked him had he been aware
 of any      peculiar or unusual        
sensation4 ,he said none1 only that he  
had      wanted to see me very much4    
,e4 ,h4 ,,elgee4  ,in answer to         
inquiries1 ,mrs4 ,elgee says3--       ,i
 fear it is quite impossible to get any 
information from ,miss ,d4      ,she    
married soon after we reached ,india1   
and ,i never met her since1      nor do 
,i know where she is1 if alive4 ,i quite
 understand the value      of her       
corroboration2 and at the time she told 
the whole      circumstance to a        
fellow-traveller1 who repeated it to me1
 and her      story and mine agreed in  
every particular1 save that to her the  
visitant was a complete stranger2 and   
her tale was quite unbiassed      by    

mine1 as ,i always treated hers as a    
fancy1 and never      acknowledged ,i   
had been aware of anything unusual      
having taken      place in our room at  
,cairo4 ,i never have seen1 or fancied  
,i saw1      any one before or since4   
,my visitant1 also1 is dead1 or he      
would1 ,i know1 have added his          
testimony1 small as it was1 to mine4 ,he
 was a very calm1 quiet1      clever1   
scientific man1 not given to vain       
fancies on any subject1      and        
certainly was not aware of any desire of
 appearing to me4  ,the publication of  
,phantasms of the ,living led           
fortunately to our obtaining the        
testimony of the second percipient1 now 
,mrs4 ,ramsay1 of ,clevelands1 ,bassett1
 ,southampton1 whose account follows3-- 
,july #ahia4       ,i have been asked by
 a leading member of the ,psychical     
,society to      write down what ,i can 
remember of a strange experience that   
occurred no less than twenty-seven years
 ago4 ,i now do so as simply      as ,i 

can1 and to the best of my recollection4
       ,in ,october #ahfd1 ,i was       
travelling to ,india1 going to rejoin my
      parents1 from whom ,i had been    
separated twelve years1 a kind          
friend--a ,mrs4 ,e4--having undertaken  
to chaperon me as far as      ,calcutta4
 ,she was going out to join her husband1
 ,major ,e41 of the      #bcrd ,royal   
,welsh ,fusiliers4 ,we started by a ,p4 
,o steamer--the      ,ceylon--from      
,southampton1 and travelled by the      
overland route1      via ,alexandria and
 ,cairo1 to ,suez4       ,we landed at  
,alexandria1 and went by rail across the
 desert to      ,cairo4 ,there all      
passengers had to sleep the night before
      proceeding on to ,suez4           
,shepherd's ,hotel was the best hotel   
then1      and there was consequently a 
great rush to try and get rooms in it2  
but ,mrs4 ,e4 and ,i1 finding we could  
get no corner1 decided1 with      two or
 three other passengers1 to get         
accommodation in the ,htel de           

l',europe4 ,we felt somewhat nervous at 
the swarthy visages of the      ,arabs  
all round us1 and for this reason       
selected our quarters on      the very  
highest storey1 thinking we should be   
more out of reach of      robbers and   
thieves than if we were on the ground   
floor4 ,this is an      important point 
to remember1 as no one could have       
effected an      entrance into our room 
from outside4 ,it was a bright moonlight
      night when we went to bed1 and ,i 
can recollect as if it were             
yesterday this fact1 that the shadow of 
a pepul tree was      reflected on the  
wall opposite our beds--the leaves of   
the tree      were trembling and        
shaking1 as the leaves of a pepul always
 do1      making the shadows dance about
 the wall4       ,before we finally     
retired to rest we made the grandest    
arrangements      for personal security6
 ,the window looking out on to the      
street      below was much too high up  
to be at all unsafe4 ,so we left that   

open 7,i think7 but we closed our door  
very firmly indeed6 ,it was a      large
 folding door1 and opened inwards4 ,we  
locked it carefully1      leaving the   
key in the lock2 pushed an arm-chair    
against the middle      of the door2    
and1 to crown all1 we balanced a        
hand-bag on one of      the arms1 with a
 bunch of keys in the lock thereof6 so  
that if any      intruder should venture
 to open that door1 we should know of it
      at any rate66 7,but no one did    
venture1 and we found everything in     
the morning exactly as we had left it47 
,i remember that ,mrs4 ,e4 was      very
 careful about tucking her mosquito     
curtains all round1 but ,i      disliked
 the feeling of suffocation they gave1  
and put mine up2 not      realising1 of 
course1 in my inexperience1 what the    
consequences      would be for myself2  
for these small plagues of ,egypt 767   
soon      descended upon me1 nearly     
eating me up1 and absolutely prevented  
sleep4 ,this is another important fact  

to remember1 for had ,i slept      ,i   
might have dreamed1 but1 as it happened1
 ,i was wide awake4 ,i was      looking 
at the shadows of the tree shaking on   
the wall when      gradually they seemed
 to merge into a form1 which form took  
the      shape of a man1 not of an      
,arab1 but of an ,english gentleman4    
,then      this form glided into the    
room1 advancing towards my chaperon1    
stretching out his hands as if in       
blessing1 turned round1 looked at       
me1 sadly and sorrowfully 7so ,i        
thought71 and then vanished again       
into the shadows as it came4 ,i do not  
remember feeling terrified1      only   
awed--the face was so kind and human1   
only the moonlight made      it look    
very white4 ,i did not wake ,mrs4 ,e41  
as she appeared to me      to be asleep4
 ,i felt sure ,i had seen a vision1 and 
something that      had to do with her4 
,the next morning1 while we were        
dressing1 she remarked how odd ,i       
looked1 and quite apart from the        

mosquito bites1 ,i know ,i did4 ,we     
had a good laugh over my comical        
appearance1 for ,i had not scrupled     
to scratch the bites1 until my forehead 
and face resembled a plum      bun6 ,i  
believe ,i then told her it was not     
strange that ,i should      look odd1   
for ,i had seen a ghost4 ,she started   
violently1 and      asked me to tell her
 what ,i saw4 ,i described it as best ,i
 could1      and she said she had seen  
it too1 and that she knew it to be      
the form and face of a valued friend4   
,she was much disturbed about           
it--as1 indeed1 so was ,i1 for ,i had   
never indulged in      hallucinations   
and was not given to seeing visions4    
,we proceeded next day to join our ship 
at ,suez1 and when on board1      it was
 a great relief to us to be able to tell
 it to a kind      fellow-passenger4 ,he
 was an absolute sceptic in all matters 
relating to the invisible world1 but he 
was obliged to admit that      it was   
the most extraordinary thing he had ever

 heard4444 ,i should      like to add   
that ,i have never1 before or since1 had
 any kind of      vision4       ,our    
experience at ,cairo had this sequel1   
that ,mrs4 ,e4's      spirit-friend     
happened to be1 at that very time1 in   
great      perplexity of mind--most     
anxious about some very important event 
in      his life4 ,he was sitting in his
 room one night in the month of         
,october #ahfd1 and a most intense      
yearning came over him for her          
advice and assistance--so great was it1 
that he felt as if an      invisible    
power had drawn him into some           
spirit-state1 in which he      could and
 did see her4#bbd  ,for a somewhat      
similar case1 that of the apparition of 
,general ,frmont 7too lengthy to quote  
here71 ,i may refer the reader to the   
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #ed4 ,the
 crisis there is the removal of long and
 wearing anxiety2 the self-projection   
into the home-scene which now at last   
the ,general felt assured of being able 

to reach alive4   ,,vi4 ,f4 ,from       
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 pp4  
#ajd-aji4 ,the following case was       
especially remarkable in that there were
 two percipients4 ,the narrative was    
copied by ,gurney from a ,,ms4 book of  
,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,b4's1 to which he         
transferred it from an almanac diary1   
since lost4       ,on a certain ,sunday 
evening in ,november #ahha1 having been 
reading      of the great power which   
the human will is capable of exercising1
 ,i      determined with the whole force
 of my being1 that ,i would be          
present in spirit in the front bed-room 
on the second floor of a      house     
situated at #bb ,hogarth ,road1         
,kensington1 in which room slept        
two ladies of my acquaintance1 viz41    
,miss ,l4 ,s4 ,v4 and ,miss ,e4 ,c4     
,v41 aged respectively #be and #aa      
years4 ,i was living at this time at    
#bc ,kildare ,gardens1 a distance of    
about three miles from ,hogarth         
,road1 and ,i had not mentioned in any  

way my intention of trying      this    
experiment to either of the above       
ladies1 for the simple      reason that 
it was only on retiring to rest upon    
this ,sunday night      that ,i made up 
my mind to do so4 ,the time at which ,i 
determined ,i      would be there was #a
 o'clock in the morning1 and ,i also had
 a      strong intention of making my   
presence perceptible4       ,on the     
following ,thursday ,i went to see the  
ladies in question1 and      in the     
course of conversation 7without any     
allusion to the subject      on my part7
 the elder one told me1 that on the     
previous ,sunday      night she had been
 much terrified by perceiving me        
standing by her      bedside1 and that  
she screamed when the apparition        
advanced towards      her1 and awoke her
 little sister1 who saw me also4        
,i asked her if she was awake at the    
time1 and she replied most              
decidedly in the affirmative1 and upon  
my inquiring the time of the            

occurrence1 she replied1 about #a       
o'clock in the morning4       ,this     
lady1 at my request1 wrote down a       
statement of the event and      signed  
it4       ,this was the first occasion  
upon which ,i tried an experiment of    
this kind1 and its complete success     
startled me very much4       ,besides   
exercising my power of volition very    
strongly1 ,i put forth      an effort   
which ,i cannot find words to describe4 
,i was conscious of      a mysterious   
influence of some sort permeating in my 
body1 and had      a distinct impression
 that ,i was exercising some force with 
which ,i      had been hitherto         
unacquainted1 but which ,i can now at   
certain      times set in motion at     
will4  ,s4 ,h4 ,b4  ,of the original    
entry in the almanac diary1 ,mr4 ,b4    
says3 ,i recollect having made it within
 a week or so of the occurrence of the  
experiment1 and whilst it was perfectly 
fresh in my memory4         99       99 
99       99       99  ,miss ,verity's   

account is as follows3--   ,january     
#ahth1 #ahhc4       ,on a certain       
,sunday evening1 about twelve months    
since1 at our      house in ,hogarth    
,road1 ,kensington1 ,i distinctly saw   
,mr4 ,b4 in my      room1 about #a      
o'clock4 ,i was perfectly awake and was 
much      terrified4 ,i awoke my sister 
by screaming1 and she saw the           
apparition herself4 ,three days after1  
when ,i saw ,mr4 ,b41 ,i told him       
what had happened1 but it was some time 
before ,i could recover from      the   
shock ,i had received2 and the          
remembrance is too vivid to be      ever
 erased from my memory4  ,l4 ,s4        
,,verity4  ,in answer to inquiries1     
,miss ,verity adds3 ,i had never had any
 hallucination of the senses of any sort
 whatever4         99       99       99 
99       99  ,miss ,e4 ,c4 ,verity      
says3--       ,i remember the occurrence
 of the event described by my sister in 
the annexed paragraph1 and her          
description is quite correct4 ,i saw    

the apparition which she saw1 at the    
same time and under the same            
circumstances4  ,e4 ,c4 ,,verity4  ,miss
 ,a4 ,s4 ,verity says3--       ,i       
remember quite clearly the evening my   
eldest sister awoke me by      calling  
to me from an adjoining room2 and upon  
my going to her      bedside1 where she 
slept with my youngest sister1 they both
 told me      they had seen ,s4 ,h4 ,b4 
standing in the room4 ,the time was     
about #a      o'clock4 ,s4 ,h4 ,b4 was  
in evening dress1 they told me4  ,a4 ,s4
 ,,verity4  ,mr4 ,b4 does not remember  
how he was dressed on the night of the  
occurrence4  ,miss ,e4 ,c4 ,verity was  
asleep when her sister caught sight of  
the figure1 and was awoke by her        
sister's exclaiming1 ,there is ,s4 ,the 
name had therefore met her ear before   
she herself saw the figure2 and the     
hallucination on her part might thus be 
attributed to suggestion4 ,but it is    
against this view that she has never had
 any other hallucination1 and cannot    

therefore be considered as predisposed  
to such experiences4 ,the sisters are   
both equally certain that the figure was
 in evening dress1 and that it stood in 
one particular spot in the room4 ,the   
gas was burning low1 and the phantasmal 
figure was seen with far more clearness 
than a real figure would have been4     
,the witnesses 7says ,gurney7 have been 
very carefully cross-examined by the    
present writer4 ,there is not the       
slightest doubt that their mention of   
the occurrence to ,s4 ,h4 ,b4 was       
spontaneous4 ,they had not at first     
intended to mention it2 but when they   
saw him1 their sense of its oddness     
overcame their resolution4 ,miss ,verity
 is a perfectly sober-minded and        
sensible witness1 with no love of       
marvels1 and with a considerable dread  
and dislike of this particular form of  
marvel4  ,i omit here for want of space 
the next case1 in which ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,b4
 attempted to appear in ,miss ,verity's 
house at two different hours on the same

 evening1 and was seen there1 at both   
the times fixed1 by a married sister who
 was visiting in the house4  ,gurney    
requested ,mr4 ,b4 to send him a note on
 the night that he intended to make his 
next experiment of the kind1 and        
received the following note by the first
 post on ,monday1 ,march #bdth1 #ahhd4  
,march #bbnd1 #ahhd4       ,,dear ,,mr4 
,,gurney1--,i am going to try the       
experiment to-night of      making my   
presence perceptible at #dd ,norland    
,square1 at #ab ,p4,m4 ,i      will let 
you know the result in a few            
days4--,yours very sincerely1  ,s4 ,h4  
,b4  ,the next letter was received in   
the course of the following week3--     
,april #crd1 #ahhd4       ,,dear ,,mr4  
,,gurney1--,i have a strange statement  
to show you1      respecting my         
experiment1 which was tried at your     
suggestion1 and      under the test     
conditions which you imposed4           
,having quite forgotten which night it  
was on which ,i attempted the           

projection1 ,i cannot say whether the   
result is a brilliant success1      or  
only a slight one1 until ,i see the     
letter which ,i posted you on      the  
evening of the experiment4       ,having
 sent you that letter1 ,i did not deem  
it necessary to make a      note in my  
diary1 and consequently have let the    
exact date slip my      memory4         
,if the dates correspond1 the success is
 complete in every detail1      and ,i  
have an account signed and witnessed to 
show you4       ,i saw the lady 7who was
 the subject7 for the first time last   
night1      since the experiment1 and   
she made a voluntary statement to me1   
which ,i wrote down at her dictation1   
and to which she has attached      her  
signature4 ,the date and time of the    
apparition are specified in      this   
statement1 and it will be for you to    
decide whether they are      identical  
with those given in my letter to you4 ,i
 have completely      forgotten1 but yet
 ,i fancy that they are the same4  ,s4  

,h4 ,b4  ,this is the statement3--   #dd
 ,,norland ,,square1 ,w4       ,on      
,saturday night1 ,march #bbnd1 #ahhd1 at
 about midnight1 ,i had a      distinct 
impression that ,mr4 ,s4 ,h4 ,b4 was    
present in my room1 and ,i              
distinctly saw him whilst ,i was quite  
widely awake4 ,he came towards      me1 
and stroked my hair4 ,i voluntarily gave
 him this information1      when he     
called to see me on ,wednesday1 ,april  
#bnd1 telling him the      time and the 
circumstances of the apparition1 without
 any      suggestion on his part4 ,the  
appearance in my room was most vivid1   
and quite unmistakable4  ,l4 ,s4        
,,verity4  ,miss ,a4 ,s4 ,verity        
corroborates as follows3--       ,i     
remember my sister telling me that she  
had seen ,s4 ,h4 ,b41 and      that he  
had touched her hair1 before he came to 
see us on ,april      #bnd4  ,a4 ,s4 ,v4
  ,mr4 ,b4's own account is as          
follows3--       ,on ,saturday1 ,march  
#bbnd1 ,i determined to make my presence

      perceptible to ,miss ,v41 at #dd  
,norland ,square1 ,notting ,hill1 at #ab
      midnight1 and as ,i had previously
 arranged with ,mr4 ,gurney that ,i     
should post him a letter on the evening 
on which ,i tried my next               
experiment 7stating the time and other  
particulars71 ,i sent a note      to    
acquaint him with the above facts4      
,about ten days afterwards ,i called    
upon ,miss ,v41 and she      voluntarily
 told me1 that on ,march #bbnd1 at #ab  
o'clock midnight1      she had seen me  
so vividly in her room 7whilst widely   
awake7 that      her nerves had been    
much shaken1 and she had been obliged to
 send      for a doctor in the morning4 
,s4 ,h4 ,b4  ,unfortunately ,mr4 ,b4's  
intention to produce the impression of  
touching the percipient's hair is not   
included in his written account4 ,on    
,august #bast1 #ahhe1 he wrote to       
,gurney1 ,i remember that ,i had this   
intention2 and ,gurney remembered that1 
very soon after the occurrence1 he      

mentioned this as one of the points     
which made the success complete in every
 detail2 and that he recommended him in 
any future trial to endeavour instead to
 produce the impression of some spoken  
phrase4  ,on this case1 ,gurney         
observes3--       ,it will be observed  
that in all these instances the         
conditions were      the same--the agent
 concentrating his thoughts on the      
object in      view before going to     
sleep4 ,mr4 ,b4 has never succeeded in  
producing      a similar effect when he 
has been awake4 ,and this restriction as
 to      time has made it difficult to  
devise a plan by which the phenomenon   
could be tested by independent          
observers1 one of whom might arrange    
to be in the company of the agent at a  
given time1 and the other in      that  
of the percipient4 ,nor is it easy to   
press for repetitions of      the       
experiment1 which is not an agreeable   
one to the percipient1      and is      
followed by a considerable amount of    

nervous prostration4      ,moreover1 if 
trials were frequently made with the    
same percipient1      the value of      
success would diminish2 for any latent  
expectation on      the percipient's    
part might be argued to be itself       
productive of      the delusion1 and the
 coincidence with the agent's resolve   
might be      explained as accidental4  
,we have1 of course1 requested ,mr4 ,b4 
to      try to produce the effect on    
ourselves2 but though he has more than  
once made the attempt1 it has not       
succeeded4     ,,appendices  ,,to       
,,chapter ,,vii   ,,vii4 ,a4 ,the       
account of this case1 given by ,mr4 ,e4 
,mamtchitch1 is taken from the ,report  
on the ,census of ,hallucinations in the
 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 pp4    
#chg-ia4   ,,st4 ,,petersburg1 ,april   
#bith1 #ahia4       ,comme il s'agira   
des apparitions de ,palladia1 je dois   
dire      auparavant quelques mots sur  
sa personne4 ,elle tait la fille d'un   
riche propritaire russe1 mort un mois   

avant sa naissance4 ,sa mre1      dans  
son dsespoir1 voua son enfant futur au  
couvent4 ,de l son      nom1 usit parmi 
les religieuses4 ,deux ans aprs1 sa mre 
mourut1      et l'orpheline1 jusqu' l'ge
 de #ad ans1 fut leve dans un couvent   
de ,moscou par sa tante1 qui en tait la 
suprieure4       ,en #ahgj1 tant encore 
tudiant  l'universit de ,moscou1 je fis 
la      connaissance du frre de         
,palladia1 tudiant comme moi1 et il fut 
souvent question entre nous de rendre   
la socit la nonne malgr      soi2 mais  
ce plan ne fut ralis qu'en #ahgb4       
,j'tais venu en t       ,moscou1 pour   
voir l'exposition1 et j'y rencontrai par
 hasard le      frre de ,palladia4      
,j'appris qu'il tait en train de        
l'envoyer en      ,crime pour cause de  
sant1 et je le secondai de mon mieux4   
,c'est      alors que je vis ,palladia  
pour la premire fois2 elle avait #ad    
ans2      quoique haute de taille1 elle 
tait fort chtive et dj      poitrinaire4
 ,a la prire de son frre1 j'accompagnai 

,palladia et sa      soeur1 ,mme4 ,p4   
,s41 en ,crime1 o elles restrent pour   
passer      l'hiver et moi1 deux        
semaines aprs1 je revins  ,kieff4       
,en t #ahgc je rencontrai par hasard    
,palladia et sa soeur       ,odessa1 o  
elles taient venues pour consulter les  
mdecins1      quoique ,palladia avait   
l'air de se porter assez bien4 ,le #bg  
,aot1      pendant que je faisais la    
lecture aux deux dames1 ,palladia mourut
      subitement d'un anvrisme1  l'ge de
 #ae ans4       ,deux ans aprs la mort  
de ,palladia1 en #ahge1 me trouvant     
,kieff1      il m'arriva1 par une soire 
du mois de ,dcembre1 d'assister pour la 
premire fois  une sance spiritique2     
j'entendis des coups dans la      table2
 cela ne m'tonna nullement1 car j'tait  
sr que c'tait une      plaisanterie4 ,de
 retour chez moi1 je voulus voir si les 
mmes coups      se produiraient chez    
moi2 je me mis dans la mme pose1 les    
mains      sur la table4 ,bientt des    
coups se firent entendre4 ,imitant le   

procd dont j'avais t le tmoin1 je       
commenai  rciter      l'alphabet2 le nom
 de ,palladia me fut indiqu4 ,je fus    
tonn1      presque effray2 ne pouvant me
 tranquilliser1 je me mis de nouveau    
la table1 et je demandai  ,palladia1    
qu'avait-elle  me dire8 ,la      rponse 
fut3 ,replacer l'ange1 il tombe4 ,je ne 
compris pas de      suite de quoi il    
s'agissait4 ,le fait est qu'elle est    
enterre       ,kieff1 et j'avais entendu
 dire qu'on voulait mettre un monument  
sur      sa tombe1 mais je n'y avais    
jamais t1 et je ne savais pas de quel   
genre tait le monument4 ,aprs cette     
rponse1 je ne me couchai      plus1 et  
ds que le jour parut je me rendis au    
cimetire4 ,non sans      peine1 avec    
l'aide du gardien1 je dcouvris enfin la 
tombe enfouie      sous la neige4 ,je   
m'arrtai stupfi3 la statue en marbre de 
l'ange      avec une croix tait tout    
fait de ct4       ,depuis ce moment1 il 
me fut prouv  l'vidence qu'il y a un    
autre      monde avec lequel1 je ne sais

 comment1 nous pouvons entrer en        
rapport1 et dont les habitants peuvent  
nous donner de telles      preuves de   
leur existence qu'elles dsarment le     
scepticisme le plus      tenace4        
,en ,octobre1 #ahgf1 je me trouvais     
,kieff1 et j'tais en train de           
m'installer dans un nouveau logement    
7rue ,prorsnaya7 avec mon      camarade 
de service au ,ministre de la ,justice1 
,m4 ,potolof4 ,on      venait de        
m'apporter un pianino4 ,il fut plac dans
 la salle1 et je      me mis  jouer2 il 
tait  peu prs #h h4 du soir2 la salle o 
je      jouais tait claire par une lampe
 pendue au mur4 ,a ct se      trouvait  
mon cabinet de travail1 clair aussi par 
une lampe4 ,je me      rappelle trs bien
 que j'tais de fort bonne humeur4 ,mon  
camarade1      ,m4 ,potolof1 tait occup 
sa table1  l'autre bout du logis4       
,toutes les portes taient ouvertes1 et  
de sa place il pouvait voir      trs    
bien le cabinet et la salle o je        
jouais4#bbe ,jetant un      regard vers 

la porte de mon cabinet de travail1 je  
vis tout  coup      ,palladia4 ,elle se 
tenait au milieu de la porte1 un peu de 
ct1      avec le visage tourn vers moi4 
,elle me regardait tranquillement4      
,elle avait la mme robe fonce qu'elle   
portait lorsqu'elle mourut      en ma   
prsence4 ,sa main droite pendait        
librement4 ,je voyais      distinctement
 ses paules et sa taille1 mais ne me    
rappelle pas du      bas de son habit1  
et avais-je vu les pieds8--peut-tre1    
parce que      tout le temps je lui     
regardais dans les yeux4 ,en la voyant1 
j'avais      tout  fait oubli que je    
voyais devant moi non une personne      
vivante1 mais morte1 tellement je la    
voyais distinctement2 elle      tait    
claire de deux cts2 et d'autant plus    
j'ai la vue trs      bonne4 ,ma premire 
sensation fut un frisson dans le dos4   
,je fus      comme ptrifi et ma         
respiration fut suspendue2 mais ce      
n'tait pas      un effet caus par le    
frayeur ou l'excitation1--c'tait quelque

      chose d'autre4 ,je puis comparer  
cela  la sensation que j'prouve         
quand je regarde en bas d'une grande    
hauteur2 je sens alors une      terrible
 anxit et en mme temps je ne puis me    
retenir de      regarder1 quelque chose 
m'attire invinciblement4 ,combien de    
temps      ,palladia resta devant moi1  
je ne saurais le dire1 mais je me       
rappelle qu'elle fit un mouvement       
droite et disparut derrire la      porte
 du cabinet du travail4 ,je me prcipitai
 vers elle1 mais dans      la porte je  
m'arrtai1 car alors seulement je me     
rappelai qu'elle      tait dj morte1 et 
je craignai d'entrer1 tant sr de la     
revoir4      ,dans ce moment mon        
camarade vint  moi et me demanda        
qu'est-ce que      j'avais8 ,je lui dis 
ce qui venait de se passer2 alors nous  
entrmes      au cabinet o nous ne       
trouvmes personne4 ,mon camarade1 ayant 
entendu la brusque interruption de mon  
jeu1 avait lev la tte et1      tant que 
je me rappelle1 disait avoir vu aussi   

quelqu'un passer      devant la porte de
 mon cabinet2 mais1 voyant mon          
excitation1 il me      dit1 pour me     
tranquilliser1 que probablement c'tait  
,nikita1 mon      domestique1 qui tait  
venu arranger la lampe4 ,nous allmes    
immdiatement dans sa chambre1 il n'y    
tait pas2 il tait en bas1      dans la  
cuisine1 o il prparait le samovar4 ,voil
 comment je vis      ,palladia pour la  
premire fois1 trois ans aprs sa mort4   
,aprs la premire apparition de          
,palladia1 en ,octobre1 #ahgf1 et       
jusqu' prsent1 je la vois souvent4 ,il  
arrive que je la vois trois      fois   
par semaine1 ou deux fois le mme jour1  
ou bien un mois se      passe sans la   
voir4 ,en rsum1 voil les traits         
principaux de ces      apparitions4     
7#a7 ,palladia apparait toujours d'une  
faon inattendue1 me prenant      comme  
par surprise1 juste au moment quand j'y 
pense le moins4       7#b7 ,quand je    
veux la voir moi-mme1 j'ai beau y penser
 ou le      vouloir--elle n'apparait    

pas4       7#c7 ,a de rares exceptions1 
son apparition n'a aucun rapport avec le
      courant de ma vie1 comme prsage ou
 avertissement de      quelqu'vnement   
insolite4       7#d7 ,jamais je ne la   
vois en songe4       7#e7 ,je la vois   
galement quand je suis seul1 ou en      
grande      compagnie4       7#f7 ,elle 
m'apparait toujours avec la mme         
expression sereine des      yeux2       
quelque fois avec un faible sourire4    
,elle ne m'a jamais      parl1          
l'exception de deux fois1 que je vais   
raconter plus loin4       7#g7 ,je la   
vois toujours dans la robe fonce qu'elle
 portait      lorsqu'elle mourut sous   
mes yeux4 ,je vois distinctement son    
visage1      sa tte1 les paules et les  
bras1 mais je ne vois pas ses pieds1 ou 
plutt je n'ai pas le temps de les       
examiner4       7#h7 ,chaque fois1 en   
voyant ,palladia inopinment1 je perds la
      parole1 je sens du froid dans le  
dos1 je plis1 je m'crie      faiblement1
 et ma respiration s'arrte 7c'est ce que

 me disent ceux      qui par hasard     
m'ont observ pendant ce moment74        
7#i7 ,l'apparition de ,palladia se      
prolonge une1 deux1 trois minutes1      
puis graduellement elle s'efface et se  
dissout dans l'espace4       ,a prsent  
je vais dcrire trois cas d'apparitions  
de ,palladia dont      je me souviens   
bien4       7#a7 ,en #ahgi1  la fin de  
,novembre1  ,kieff1 j'tais assis  mon   
bureau  crire un acte d'accusation2 il  
tait #h-a_/d du soir1 la      montre    
tait devant moi sur la table4 ,je me    
htais de finir mon      travail1 car  #i
 h4 je devais me rendre  une soire4     
,tout  coup1      en face de moi1 assise
 sur un fauteuil1 je vis ,palladia2 elle
 avait      le coude du bras droit sur  
la table et la tte appuye sur la main4  
,m'tant remis de mon saisissement1 je   
regardai la montre et je      suivis le 
mouvement de l'aiguille  seconde1 puis  
je relevai les      yeux sur ,palladia2 
je vis qu'elle n'avait pas chang de pose
 et son      coude se dessinait         

clairement sur la table4 ,ses yeux me   
regardaient      avec joie et srnit2    
alors pour la premire fois je me dcidai 
de      lui parler3 ,que sentez-vous    
prsent8 lui demandai-je4 ,son           
visage resta impassible1 ses lvres1 tant
 que je me rappelle1      restrent      
immobiles1 mais j'entendis distinctement
 sa voix      prononcer le mot ,quitude4
 ,je comprends1 lui rpondis-je1 et      
effectivement1 en ce moment1 je         
comprenais toute la signification       
qu'elle avait mise dans ce mot4 ,encore 
une fois1 pour tre sr que      je ne    
rvai pas1 je regardai de nouveau la     
montre et je suivis les      mouvements 
de l'aiguille  seconde2 je voyais       
clairement comme elle      se mouvait4  
,ayant rapport mon regard sur ,palladia1
 je remarquai      qu'elle commenait dj 
s'effacer et disparatre4 ,si je m'tais  
avis de noter immdiatement la           
signification du mot ,quitude1 ma       
mmoire aurait retenu tout ce qu'il y    
avait de nouveau et      d'trange4 ,mais

  peine avais-je quitt la table pour    
monter en      haut1 chez mon camarade  
,apouktine1 avec lequel nous devions    
aller      ensemble1 que je ne pus lui  
dire autre chose que ce que je viens    
d'crire4       7#b7 ,en #ahhe1 je       
demeurais chez mes parents1  une        
campagne du      gouvernement de        
,poltava4 ,une dame de notre            
connaissance tait venue      passer chez
 nous quelques jours avec ses deux      
demoiselles4 ,quelque      temps aprs   
leur arrive1 m'tant rveill  l'aube du   
jour1 je vis      ,palladia 7je dormais 
dans une aile spare o j'tais tout seul74
      ,elle se tenait devant moi1  cinq 
pas  peu prs1 et me regardait      avec 
un sourire joyeux4 ,s'tant approche de  
moi1 elle me dit deux      mots3 ,j'ai  
t1 j'ai vu1 et tout en souriant         
disparut4 ,que      voulaient dire ces  
mots1 je ne pus le comprendre4 ,dans ma 
chambre      dormait avec moi mon       
setter4 ,ds que j'aperus ,palladia1 le  
chien      hrissa le poil et avec       

glapissement sauta sur mon lit2 se      
pressant      vers moi1 il regardait    
dans la direction o je voyais ,palladia4
 ,le      chien n'aboyait pas1 tandis   
que1 ordinairement1 il ne laissait      
personne entrer dans la chambre sans    
aboyer et grogner4 ,et toutes      les  
fois1 quand mon chien voyait ,palladia1 
il se pressait auprs de      moi1 comme 
cherchant un refuge4 ,quand ,palladia   
disparut et je vins      dans la maison1
 je ne dis rien  personne de cette      
incident4 ,le      soir de mme jour1 la 
fille ane de la dame qui se trouvait    
chez      nous me raconta qu'une chose  
trange lui tait arrive ce matin3        
,m'tant rveille de grand matin1 me      
dit-elle1 j'ai senti comme      si      
quelqu'un se tenait au chevet de mon    
lit1 et j'entendis      distinctement   
une voix me disant3 ',ne me crains pas1 
je suis bonne      et aimante4' ,je     
tournai la tte1 mais je ne vis rien2 ma 
mre et ma      soeur dormaient          
tranquillement2 cela m'a fort tonne1 car

 jamais      rien de pareil ne m'est    
arriv4 ,sur quoi je rpondis que bien des
      choses inexplicables nous         
arrivent2 mais je ne lui dit rien de ce 
que j'avais vu le matin4 ,seulement un  
an plus tard1 quand j'tais      dj son  
fianc1 je lui fis part de l'apparition  
et des paroles de      ,palladia le mme 
jour4 ,n'tait-ce pas elle qui tait venue
 la voir      aussi8 ,je dois ajouter   
que j'avais vu alors cette demoiselle   
pour      la premire fois et que je ne  
pensais pas du tout que j'allais        
l'pouser4       7#c7 ,en ,octobre1      
#ahij1 je me trouvais avec ma femme et  
mon fils1 g      de deux ans1 chez mes  
anciens amis1 les ,strijewsky1  leur    
campagne du gouvernement de ,woronje4   
,un jour1 vers les #g h4 du      soir1  
rentrant de la chasse1 je passai dans   
l'aile que nous      habitons pour      
changer de toilette2 j'tais assis dans  
une chambre      claire par une grande  
lampe4 ,la porte s'ouvrit et mon fils   
,olg      accourut2 il se tenait auprs  

de mon fauteuil1 quand ,palladia        
apparut tout  coup devant moi4 ,jetant  
sur lui un coup d'oeil1 je              
remarquai qu'il ne dtachait pas les yeux
 de ,palladia2 se tournant      vers moi
 et montrant ,palladia du doigt1 il     
pronona3 ,la tante4 ,je      le pris sur
 les genoux et jetai un regard sur      
,palladia1 mais elle      n'tait plus4  
,le visage d',olg tait tout  fait       
tranquil et      joyeux2 il commenait   
seulement  parler1 ce qui explique la   
dnomination qu'il donna  ,palladia4     
,,eug,,ne ,,mamtchitch4  ,mrs4          
,mamtchitch writes3--   #e ,mai1 #ahia4 
,je me rappelle trs bien que le #aj     
,juillet #ahhe1 lorsque nous      tions 
en visite chez les parents de ,m4 ,e4   
,mamtchitch1 je m'tais      rveille     
l'aube du jour1 car il avait t convenu  
entre moi et      ma soeur que nous     
irions faire une promenade matinale4    
,m'tant      souleve sur le lit1 je vis 
que maman et ma soeur dormaient1 et     
en ce moment je sentis comme si         

quelqu'un se tenait  mon chevet4        
,m'tant tourne  demi--car je craignais  
de bien regarder--je ne      vis        
personne2 m'tant recouche1 j'entendis   
immdiatement1 derrire      et au dessus 
de ma tte1 une voix de femme me disant  
doucement1      mais distinctement3 ,ne 
me crains pas1 je suis bonne et aimante1
      et encore toute une phrase que    
j'oubliai  l'instant mme4               
,immdiatement aprs je m'habillai et     
j'allai me promener4 ,c'est      trange 
que ces paroles ne m'effrayrent pas du  
tout4 ,de retour1 je      n'en dis rien 
ni  ma mre1 ni  ma soeur1 car elles     
n'aimaient      pas de telles choses et 
n'y croyaient pas2 mais le soir du mme  
jour1 comme la conversation tourna sur  
le spiritisme1 je racontai       ,m4 ,m4
 ce qui venait de m'arriver le matin2 il
 ne me rpondit rien      de particulier4
       ,je n'ai jamais eu aucune        
hallucination1 ni avant1 ni aprs cet    
incident1  l'exception d'un cas tout    
rcent1 quand je me suis vue             

moi-mme1 de quoi je parlerai une autre  
fois4  ,,sophie ,,mamtchitch4  ,mr4     
,potolof writes to ,mr4 ,aksakoff1      
through whom the case was sent3--       
,,rue ,,schpalernaya1 #bf4 ,s4          
,p,,tersbourg1 le #aj ,mai1 #ahia4      
,,monsieur1--,en rponse  votre lettre du
 #h ,mai et les questions que      vous 
me posez relativement  l'incident avec  
,m4 ,e4 ,mamtchitch1      lorsque dans  
les annes #ahgf-gg nous habitions       
ensemble ,kieff1 rue      ,proresnaya1  
maison ,barsky1 je puis vous communiquer
 ce qui suit4      ,effectivement1 je   
fus alors tmoin comme ,m4 ,m41 pendant  
qu'il      jouait un soir du piano      
quelque air mlancolique1 s'interrompait 
brusquement 7comme si aprs avoir        
fortement attaqu le clavier1 ses        
mains s'taient subitement affaisses71 et
 lorsque je vins lui      demander ce   
qui lui tait arriv1 il me rpondit qu'il 
venait de      voir apparatre le fantme 
de ,palladia1 se tenant derrire la      
draperie de la porte de la chambre      

contigue  celle o se trouvait      le   
piano4 ,je dois ajouter que notre       
appartement commun formait une          
enfilade de trois chambres1 sans compter
 celle de l'entre1 qui      occupait le 
milieu2 je travaillais dans ma chambre1 
qui tait       droite de celle de       
l'entre1 et je pouvais voir toute       
l'enfilade      bien claire4 ,ce qui me 
regarde personnellement1 je ne vis en ce
      moment aucune figure humaine      
passer par les chambres de ,m4 ,m41 mais
      je ne nie pas que pour le         
tranquilliser j'essayai d'expliquer cet 
incident par l'entre de notre domestique
 ,nikita2 il se peut aussi      que1 ne 
l'ayant pas trouv dans nos appartements1
 nous allmes le      chercher en bas1   
dans la cuisine4 ,voil tout ce que je   
puis vous      dire relativement  cet   
incident4  ,w4 ,,potolof4  ,note by ,mr4
 ,aksakoff3--   ,s4 ,p,,tersbourg1 ,le  
#afbh ,mai1 #ahia4       ,traduit des   
manuscrits russes de ,m4 et ,madame     
,mamtchitch1 et de ,m4      ,potolof4   

,la premire partie du manuscrit de ,m4  
,mamtchitch1 jusqu'      la premire     
apparition de ,palladia1 est abrg4      
,j'avais rencontr ,m4 ,mamtchitch       
plusieurs fois1 mais je n'avais         
aucune ide de ces apparitions constantes
 de ,palladia4 ,m4      ,mamtchitch a vu
 aussi d'autres figures que celle de    
,palladia1 mais      je n'ai pas eu le  
temps d'en faire un mmorandum           
circonstantiel4  ,a4 ,,aksakoff4        
,,vii4 ,b4 ,the account1 which ,i quote 
from ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4
 #ag1 was sent in #ahhg to the ,american
 ,society for ,psychical ,research by   
,mr4 ,f4 ,g41 of ,boston4 ,professor    
,royce and ,dr4 ,hodgson vouch for the  
high character and good position of the 
informants2 and it will be seen that1   
besides the percipient himself1 his     
father and brother are first-hand       
witnesses as regards the most important 
point1--the effect produced by a certain
 symbolic item in the phantom's aspect4 
,mr4 ,g4 writes3--   ,january #aath1    

#ahhh4       ,,sir1--,replying to the   
recently published request of your      
,society      for actual occurrences of 
psychical phenomena1 ,i respectfully    
submit the following remarkable         
occurrence to the consideration of      
your distinguished ,society1 with the   
assurance that the event made      a    
more powerful impression on my mind than
 the combined incidents      of my whole
 life4 ,i have never mentioned it       
outside of my family      and a few     
intimate friends1 knowing well that few 
would believe it1      or else ascribe  
it to some disordered state of my mind  
at the time2      but ,i well know ,i   
never was in better health or possessed 
a clearer      head and mind than at the
 time it occurred4       ,in #ahfg my   
only sister1 a young lady of eighteen   
years1 died      suddenly of cholera in 
,st4 ,louis1 ,mo4 ,my attachment for her
 was      very strong1 and the blow a   
severe one to me4 ,a year or so after   
her death the writer became a commercial

 traveller1 and it was in      #ahgf1   
while on one of my ,western trips1 that 
the event occurred4       ,i had drummed
 the city of ,st4 ,joseph1 ,mo41 and had
 gone to my      room at the ,pacific   
,house to send in my orders1 which were 
unusually large ones1 so that ,i was in 
a very happy frame of mind      indeed4 
,my thoughts1 of course1 were about     
these orders1 knowing      how pleased  
my house would be at my success4 ,i had 
not been      thinking of my late       
sister1 or in any manner reflecting on  
the      past4 ,the hour was high noon1 
and the sun was shining cheerfully      
into my room4 ,while busily smoking a   
cigar and writing out my      orders1 ,i
 suddenly became conscious that some one
 was sitting on my      left1 with one  
arm resting on the table4 ,quick as a   
flash ,i turned      and distinctly saw 
the form of my dead sister1 and for a   
brief      second or so looked her      
squarely in the face2 and so sure was ,i
      that it was she1 that ,i sprang   

forward in delight1 calling her by      
name1 and1 as ,i did so1 the apparition 
instantly vanished4      ,naturally ,i  
was startled and dumbfounded1 almost    
doubting my      senses2 but the cigar  
in my mouth1 and pen in hand1 with the  
ink      still moist on my letter1 ,i   
satisfied myself ,i had not been        
dreaming and was wide awake4 ,i was near
 enough to touch her1 had it      been a
 physical possibility1 and noted her    
features1 expression1      and details  
of dress1 etc4 ,she appeared as if      
alive4 ,her eyes      looked kindly and 
perfectly natural into mine4 ,her skin  
was so      life-like that ,i could see 
the glow or moisture on its surface1    
and1 on the whole1 there was no change  
in her appearance1 otherwise      than  
when alive4       ,now comes the most   
remarkable confirmation of my statement1
 which      cannot be doubted by those  
who know what ,i state actually         
occurred4      ,this visitation1 or     
whatever you may call it1 so impressed  

me that      ,i took the next train     
home1 and in the presence of my parents 
and      others ,i related what had     
occurred4 ,my father1 a man of rare good
      sense and very practical1 was     
inclined to ridicule me1 as he saw      
how earnestly ,i believed what ,i       
stated2 but he1 too1 was amazed         
when later on ,i told them of a bright  
red line or scratch on the              
right-hand side of my sister's face1    
which ,i distinctly had seen4      ,when
 ,i mentioned this my mother rose       
trembling to her feet and      nearly   
fainted away1 and as soon as she        
sufficiently recovered her              
self-possession1 with tears streaming   
down her face1 she exclaimed      that  
,i had indeed seen my sister1 as no     
living mortal but herself      was aware
 of that scratch1 which she had         
accidentally made while      doing some 
little act of kindness after my sister's
 death4 ,she said      she well         
remembered how pained she was to think  

she should have1      unintentionally1  
marred the features of her dead         
daughter1 and      that1 unknown to all1
 how she had carefully obliterated all  
traces      of the slight scratch with  
the aid of powder1 etc41 and that she   
had never mentioned it to a human being 
from that day to this4 ,in      proof1  
neither my father nor any of our family 
had detected it1 and      positively    
were unaware of the incident1 yet ,i saw
 the scratch as      bright as if just  
made4 ,so strangely impressed was my    
mother1 that      even after she had    
retired to rest she got up and dressed1 
came to      me and told me she knew at 
least that ,i had seen my sister4 ,a few
      weeks later my mother died1 happy 
in her belief she would rejoin      her 
favourite daughter in a better world4   
,in a further letter ,mr4 ,f4 ,g4       
adds3--       ,there was nothing of a   
spiritual or ghostly nature in either   
the      form or dress of my sister1 she
 appearing perfectly natural1 and       

dressed in clothing that she usually    
wore in life1 and which was             
familiar to me4 ,from her position at   
the table1 ,i could only see      her   
from the waist up1 and her appearance   
and everything she wore      is         
indelibly photographed in my mind4 ,i   
even had time to notice the      collar 
and little breastpin she wore1 as well  
as the comb in her      hair1 after the 
style then worn by young ladies4 ,the   
dress had no      particular association
 for me or my mother1 no more so than   
others      she was in the habit of     
wearing2 but to-day1 while ,i have      
forgotten all her other dresses1 pins1  
and combs1 ,i could go to      her trunk
 7which we have just as she left it7 and
 pick out the very      dress and       
ornaments she wore when she appeared to 
me1 so well do ,i      remember it4     
,you are correct in understanding that  
,i returned home earlier than      ,i   
had intended1 as it had such an effect  
on me that ,i could hardly      think of

 any other matter2 in fact1 ,i abandoned
 a trip that ,i had      barely         
commenced1 and1 ordinarily1 would have  
remained on the road      a month       
longer4  ,mr4 ,f4 ,g4 again writes to   
,dr4 ,hodgson1 ,january #bcrd1 #ahhh3-- 
,as per your request1 ,i enclose a      
letter from my father which is          
indorsed by my brother1 confirming the  
statement ,i made to them of      the   
apparition ,i had seen4 ,i will add that
 my father is one of the      oldest and
 most respected citizens of ,st4 ,louis1
 ,mo41 a retired      merchant1 whose   
winter residence is at----1 ,ills41 a   
few miles out      by rail4 ,he is now  
seventy years of age1 but a remarkably  
well-preserved gentleman in body and    
mind1 and a very learned man      as    
well4 ,as ,i informed you1 he is slow to
 believe things that      reason cannot 
explain4 ,my brother1 who indorses the  
statement1 has      resided in ,boston  
for twelve years1 doing business on---- 
,street1      as per letter-head above1 

and the last man in the world to take   
stock in statements without good proof4 
,the others who were present            
7including my mother7 are now dead1 or  
were then so young as to now      have  
but a dim remembrance of the matter4    
,you will note that my father refers to 
the scratch1 and it was      this that  
puzzled all1 even himself1 and which we 
have never been      able to account    
for1 further than that in some          
mysterious way ,i had      actually seen
 my sister nine years after death1 and  
had      particularly noticed and       
described to my parents and family this 
bright red scratch1 and which1 beyond   
all doubt in our minds1 was      unknown
 to a soul save my mother1 who had      
accidentally caused it4       ,when ,i  
made my statement1 all1 of course1      
listened and were      interested2 but  
the matter would probably have passed   
with comments      that it was a freak  
of memory had not ,i asked about the    
scratch1      and the instant ,i        

mentioned it my mother was aroused as if
 she had      received an electric      
shock1 as she had kept it secret from   
all1 and      she alone was able to     
explain it4 ,my mother was a sincere    
,christian lady1 who was for twenty-five
 years superintendent of a      large   
infant class in her church1 the         
,southern ,methodist1 and a             
directress in many charitable           
institutions1 and was highly            
educated4 ,no lady at the time stood    
higher in the city of ,st4      ,louis1 
and she was1 besides1 a woman of rare   
good sense4       ,i mention these      
points to give you an insight into the  
character      and standing of those    
whose testimony1 in such a case1 is     
necessary4  7,signed7      ,f4 ,g4      
,from ,mr4 ,h4 ,g43--   -----1 ,,ills41 
,january #bjth1 #ahhh4       ,,dear     
,f41--,yours of #afth inst4 is received4
 ,in reply to your      questions       
relating to your having seen our ,annie1
 while at ,st4      ,joseph1 ,mo41 ,i   

will state that ,i well remember the    
statement you      made to family on    
your return home4 ,i remember your      
stating how she      looked in ordinary 
home dress1 and particularly about the  
scratch      7or red spot7 on her face1 
which you could not account for1 but    
which was fully explained by your       
mother4 ,the spot was made while        
adjusting something about her head while
 in the casket1 and covered      with   
powder4 ,all who heard you relate the   
phenomenal sight thought      it was    
true4 ,you well know how sceptical ,i am
 about things which      reason cannot  
explain4  7,signed7      ,h4 ,g4        
7father74       ,i was present at the   
time and indorse the above4  7,signed7  
,k4 ,g4 7brother74  ,the apparent       
redness of the scratch on the face of   
the apparition goes naturally enough    
with the look of life in the face4 ,the 
phantom did not appear as a corpse1 but 
as a blooming girl1 and the scratch     
showed as it would have shown if made   

during life4  ,dr4 ,hodgson visited ,mr4
 ,f4 ,g4 later1 and sent us the         
following notes of his interview3--     
,,st4 ,,louis1 ,,mo41 ,april #afth1     
#ahij4       ,in conversation with ,mr4 
,f4 ,g41 now forty-three years of age1  
he      says that there was a very      
special sympathy between his mother1    
sister1 and himself4       ,when he saw 
the apparition he was seated at a small 
table1 about      two feet in diameter1 
and had his left elbow on the table4    
,the      scratch which he saw was on   
the right side of his sister's nose1    
about three fourths of an inch long1 and
 was a somewhat ragged      mark4 ,his  
home at the time of the incident was in 
,st4 ,louis4 ,his      mother died      
within two weeks after the incident4    
,his sister's face      was hardly a    
foot away from his own4 ,the sun was    
shining upon it      through the open   
window4 ,the figure disappeared like an 
instantaneous evaporation4       ,mr4   
,g4 has had another experience1 but of a

 somewhat different      character4     
,last fall the impression persisted for 
some time of a      lady friend of his1 
and he could not rid himself for some   
time of      thoughts of her4 ,he found 
afterwards that she died at the time of 
the curious persistence of his          
impression4       ,mr4 ,g4 appears to be
 a first-class witness4  ,r4 ,,hodgson4 
,i have ranked this case prim facie as a
 perception by the spirit of her        
mother's approaching death4 ,that       
coincidence is too marked to be         
explained away3 the son is brought home 
in time to see his mother once more by  
perhaps the only means which would have 
succeeded2 and the mother herself is    
sustained by the knowledge that her     
daughter loves and awaits her4 ,mr4     
,podmore#bbf has suggested1 on the other
 hand1 that the daughter's figure was a 
mere projection from the mother's mind3 
a conception which has scarcely any     
analogy to support it2 for the one      
ancient case of ,wesermann's projection 

of a female figure to a distance        
7,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #bag7  
remains1 ,i think1 the sole instance    
where an agent has generated a          
hallucinatory figure or group of figures
 which did not1 at any rate1 include his
 own4 ,i mean that he may spontaneously 
project a picture of himself as he is or
 dreams himself to be situated1 perhaps 
with other figures round him1 but not1  
so far as our evidence goes1 the single 
figure of some one other than himself4  
,whilst not assuming that this rule can 
have no exceptions1 ,i see no reason for
 supposing that it has been transgressed
 in the present case4 ,nay1 ,i think    
that the very fact that the figure was  
not that of the corpse with the dull    
mark on which the mother's regretful    
thoughts might dwell1 but was that of   
the girl in health and happiness1 with  
the symbolic red mark worn simply as a  
test of identity1 goes far to show that 
it was not the mother's mind from whence
 that image came4 ,as to the spirit's   

own knowledge of the fate of the body   
after death1 there are other cases which
 show1 ,i think1 that this specific form
 of post-mortem perception is not       
unusual4   ,,vii4 ,c4 ,from ,proceedings
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 pp4 #chj-hb4  ,from 
,miss ,l4 ,dodson3--   ,september #adth1
 #ahia4       ,on ,june #eth1 #ahhg1 a  
,sunday evening1#bbg between eleven and 
twelve      at night1 being awake1 my   
name was called three times4 ,i answered
      twice1 thinking it was my uncle1  
,come in1 ,uncle ,george1 ,i am         
awake1 but the third time ,i recognised 
the voice as that of my      mother1 who
 had been dead sixteen years4 ,i said1  
,mamma6 ,she then      came round a     
screen near my bedside with two children
 in her arms1      and placed them in my
 arms and put the bedclothes over them  
and      said1 ,lucy1 promise me to take
 care of them1 for their mother is      
just dead4 ,i said1 ,yes1 mamma4 ,she   
repeated1 ,promise me to      take care 
of them4 ,i replied1 ,yes1 ,i promise   

you2 and ,i added1      ,oh1 mamma1 stay
 and speak to me1 ,i am so wretched4    
,she replied1      ,not yet1 my child1  
then she seemed to go round the screen  
again1      and ,i remained1 feeling the
 children to be still in my arms1 and   
fell asleep4 ,when ,i awoke there was   
nothing4 ,tuesday morning1 ,june        
#gth1 ,i received the news of my        
sister-in-law's death4 ,she had given   
birth to a child three weeks before1    
which ,i did not know till      after   
her death4       ,i was in bed1 but not 
asleep1 and the room was lighted by a   
gaslight in the street outside4 ,i was  
out of health1 and in anxiety      about
 family troubles4 ,my age was forty-two4
 ,i was quite alone4 ,i      mentioned  
the circumstance to my uncle the next   
morning4 ,he thought      ,i was        
sickening for brain fever4 ,i have had  
other experiences1      but only to the 
extent of having felt a hand laid on my 
head1 and      sometimes on my hands1 at
 times of great trouble4  ,,lucy        

,,dodson4  ,mr4 ,c4 ,h4 ,cope1 who sent 
the case1 wrote in answer to our        
questions3--   ,,brussels1 ,october     
#agth1 #ahia4       ,i have received    
replies from ,miss ,dodson to your      
inquiries4       7#a7 ,yes ,i was       
perfectly awake at the time4       7#b7 
,was she in anxiety about her           
sister-in-law8 ,none whatever2 ,i       
did not know a second baby had been     
born2 in fact1 had not the      remotest
 idea of my sister-in-law's illness4    
7#c7 ,did she think at the time that the
 words about the children's      mother 
having just died referred to her        
sister-in-law8 ,had she two             
children8 ,no1 ,i was at a total loss to
 imagine whose children      they were4 
7#d7 ,i was living in ,albany ,street1  
,regent's ,park1 at the time4 ,my       
sister-in-law1 as ,i heard afterwards1  
was confined at ,st4 ,andr      7near   
,bruges71 and removed to ,bruges three  
days prior to her death4                
7,n4,b4--,she had two children including

 the new-born baby47       7#e7 ,my late
 uncle only saw business connections1   
and having no      relations or personal
 friends in ,london1 save myself1 would 
not      have been likely to mention the
 occurrence to any one4  ,mr4 ,cope also
 sent us a copy of the printed          
announcement of the death1 which ,miss  
,dodson had received4 ,it was dated1    
,bruges1 ,june #gth1 #ahhg1 and gave the
 date of death as ,june #eth4 ,he quotes
 from ,miss ,dodson's letter to him1    
enclosing it1 as follows3 ,my friend1   
,mrs4 ,grange1 tells me she saw my      
sister-in-law a couple of hours prior to
 her death1 which took place about nine 
o'clock on the evening of ,june #eth1   
and it was between eleven and twelve    
o'clock the same night my mother brought
 me the two little children4  ,professor
 ,sidgwick writes3--   ,november #bcrd1 
#ahib4       ,i have just had an        
interesting conversation with ,miss     
,dodson and      her friend1 ,mrs4      
,grange4       ,miss ,dodson told me    

that she was not thinking of her brother
 or his      wife at this time1 as her  
mind was absorbed by certain other      
matters4 ,but the brother was an object 
of special concern to her1      as her  
mother on her deathbed1 in #ahga1 had   
specially charged      her--and she had 
promised--to take care of the other     
children1      especially this brother1 
who was then five years old4 ,he had    
married in ,april1 #ahhe1 and she had   
not seen him since1 though she      had 
heard of the birth of his first child1 a
 little girl1 in      ,january1 #ahhf2  
and she had never seen his wife nor     
heard of the      birth of the second   
child4       ,she is as sure as she can 
be that she was awake at the time of the
      experience4 ,she knew the time by 
a clock in the room and also a          
clock outside4 ,she heard this latter   
strike twelve afterwards1 and      the  
apparition must have occurred after     
eleven1 because lights were      out in 
front of the public-house4 ,the children

 seemed to be with      her a long time2
 indeed1 they seemed to be still with   
her when the      clock struck twelve4  
,the room was usually light enough to   
see      things in--e4g4 to get a glass 
of water1 etc4--owing to the lamp       
in the street1 but the distinctness with
 which the vision was seen      is not  
explicable by the real light4 ,the      
children were of ages      corresponding
 to those of her sister-in-law's        
children1 i4e4 they      seemed to be a 
little girl and a baby newly born2 the  
sex was not      distinguished4 ,she was
 not at all alarmed4       ,she heard   
from ,mrs4 ,grange by letter1 and       
afterwards orally from      her brother1
 that her sister-in-law died between    
eight and nine the      same night4     
,she never had any experience of the    
kind1 or any hallucination at      all  
before3 but since she has occasionally  
felt a hand on her      head in trouble4
       ,mrs4 ,grange told me that she   
was with the sister-in-law about an     

hour and a half before her death4 ,she  
left her about seven o'clock1           
without any particular alarm about her2 
though she was suffering      from      
inflammation after childbirth1 and ,mrs4
 ,grange did not quite      like her    
look2 still her state was not considered
 alarming by those      who were        
attending on her4 ,then about #h4cj news
 came to ,mrs4 ,grange      in her own  
house that something had happened at the
      sister-in-law's4 ,as it was only  
in the next street1 ,mrs4 ,grange put   
on her bonnet and went round to the     
house1 and found she was dead4      ,she
 then wrote and told ,miss ,dodson4     
,,vii4 ,d4 ,from ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 viii4 pp4 #bjj-bje4bbh  ,the first
 report of the case appeared in ,the    
,herald 7,dubuque1 ,iowa71 ,february    
#aath1 #ahia1 as follows3--       ,it   
will be remembered that on ,february    
#bnd1 ,michael ,conley1 a      farmer   
living near ,ionia1 ,chickasaw ,county1 
was found dead in an      outhouse at   

the ,jefferson house4 ,he was carried to
 ,coroner      ,hoffmann's morgue1      
where1 after the inquest1 his body was  
prepared      for shipment to his late  
home4 ,the old clothes which he wore    
were      covered with filth from the   
place where he was found1 and they were 
thrown outside the morgue on the ground4
       ,his son came from ,ionia1 and   
took the corpse home4 ,when he reached  
there1 and one of the daughters was told
 that her father was dead1      she fell
 into a swoon1 in which she remained for
 several hours4      ,when at last she  
was brought from the swoon1 she said1   
,where are      father's old clothes8   
,he has just appeared to me dressed in a
 white      shirt1 black clothes1 and   
felt mis-reported for satin             
slippers1 and told me that after leaving
 home he sewed a large roll      of     
bills inside his grey shirt with a piece
 of my red dress1 and      the money is 
still there4 ,in a short time she fell  
into another      swoon1 and when out of

 it demanded that somebody go to        
,dubuque and      get the clothes4 ,she 
was deathly sick1 and is so yet4        
,the entire family considered it only a 
hallucination1 but the      physician   
advised them to get the clothes1 as it  
might set her mind      at rest4 ,the   
son telephoned ,coroner ,hoffmann1      
asking if the clothes      were still in
 his possession4 ,he looked and found   
them in the      backyard1 although he  
had supposed they were thrown in the    
vault1      as he had intended4 ,he     
answered that he still had them1 and on 
being told that the son would come to   
get them1 they were wrapped      in a   
bundle4       ,the young man arrived    
last ,monday afternoon1 and told        
,coroner      ,hoffmann what his sister 
had said4 ,mr4 ,hoffmann admitted that  
the      lady had described the         
identical burial garb in which her      
father      was clad1 even to the       
slippers1 although she never saw him    
after      death1 and none of the family

 had seen more than his face through    
the coffin lid4 ,curiosity being fully  
aroused1 they took the grey      shirt  
from the bundle1 and within the bosom   
found a large roll of      bills sewed  
with a piece of red cloth4 ,the young   
man said his      sister had a red dress
 exactly like it4 ,the stitches were    
large and      irregular1 and looked to 
be those of a man4 ,the son wrapped up  
the      garments and took them home    
with him yesterday morning1 filled with 
wonder at the supernatural revelation   
made to his sister1 who is at           
present lingering between life and      
death4  ,dr4 ,hodgson communicated with 
the proprietors of ,the ,herald1 and    
both they and their reporter who had    
written the account stated that it was  
strictly accurate4 ,the coroner1 ,mr4   
,hoffmann1 wrote to ,dr4 ,hodgson on    
,march #ahth1 #ahia1 as follows3--      
,in regard to the statements in the     
,dubuque ,herald1 about ,february       
#aith1 about the ,conley matter is more 

than true by my      investigation4 ,i  
laughed and did not believe in the      
matter when ,i      first heard of it1  
until ,i satisfied myself by            
investigating and      seeing what ,i   
did4  ,m4 ,m4 ,,hoffmann1 ,county       
,coroner4  ,further evidence was        
obtained through ,mr4 ,amos ,crum1      
pastor of a church at ,dubuque4 ,the    
following statement was made by ,mr4    
,brown1 whom ,mr4 ,crum described as an 
intelligent and reliable farmer1        
residing about one mile from the        
,conleys4   ,,ionia1 ,july #bjth1 #ahia4
       ,elizabeth ,conley1 the subject  
of so much comment in the various       
papers1 was born in ,chickasaw township1
 ,chickasaw ,county1 ,iowa1 in          
,march1 #ahfc4 ,her mother died the same
 year4 ,is of ,irish parentage2         
brought up1 and is1 a ,roman ,catholic2 
has been keeping house for      her     
father for ten years4       ,on the #ast
 day of ,february1 #ahia1 her father    
went to ,dubuque1 ,iowa1      for       

medical treatment1 and died on the #crd 
of the same month very      suddenly4   
,his son was notified by telegraph the  
same day1 and he      and ,i started the
 next morning after the remains1 which  
we found in      charge of ,coroner     
,hoffmann4       ,he had #i dollars #ge 
cents1 which he had taken from his      
pocket-book4      ,i think it was about 
two days after our return she had the   
dream or      vision4 ,she claimed her  
father had appeared to her1 and told her
      there was a sum of money in an    
inside pocket of his undershirt4 ,her   
brother started for ,dubuque a few days 
afterwards1 and found the      clothes  
as we had left them1 and in the pocket  
referred to found #cj      dollars in   
currency4 ,these are the facts of the   
matter as near as ,i      can give them4
  ,,george ,,brown4  ,mr4 ,crum wrote   
later3--   ,,dubuque1 ,,iowa1 ,august   
#aeth1 #ahia4       ,,dear ,,mr4        
,,hodgson1--,i send you in another cover
 a detailed account      of interview   

with the ,conleys4 ,i could not get the 
doctor4       ,i have had a long talk   
with ,mr4 ,hoffmann about the ,conley   
incident1      and think you have all   
the facts--and they are facts4          
,the girl ,lizzie ,conley swooned4 ,she 
saw her dead father2 she heard      from
 him of the money left in his old shirt2
 she returned to bodily                 
consciousness2 she described her        
father's burial dress1 robe1      shirt1
 and slippers exactly1 though she had   
never seen them4 ,she      described the
 pocket in the shirt that had been left 
for days in      the shed at the        
undertaker's4 ,it was a ragged-edged    
piece of red      cloth clumsily sewn1  
and in this pocket was found a roll of  
bill--#ce dollars in amount--as taken   
out by ,mr4 ,hoffmann in      presence  
of ,pat ,conley1 son of the deceased1   
and brother of the      ,lizzie ,conley 
whose remarkable dream or vision is the 
subject of      inquiry4  ,,amos ,,crum1
 ,past4 ,univ4 ,ch4  444,i herewith     

transcribe my questions addressed to    
,miss ,elizabeth      ,conley1 and her  
replies to the same concerning her      
alleged dream or      vision4444        
,on ,july #agth1 about noon1 ,i called  
at the ,conley home near ,ionia1        
,chickasaw ,county1 ,iowa1 and inquired 
for ,elizabeth ,conley4 ,she was        
present1 and engaged in her domestic    
labours4 ,when ,i stated the      object
 of my call1 she seemed quite reluctant 
for a moment to      engage in          
conversation4 ,then she directed a lad  
who was present to      leave the room4 
,she said she would converse with me    
upon the matter      pertaining to her  
father4       ,q4 ,what is your age8 ,a4
 ,twenty-eight4       ,q4 ,what is the  
state of your health8 ,a4 ,not good     
since my father's      death4       ,q4 
,what was the state of your health      
previous to his death8 ,a4 ,it      was 
good4 ,i was a healthy girl4       ,q4  
,did you have dreams1 visions1 or swoons
 previous to your      father's death8  

,a4 ,why1 ,i had dreams4 ,everybody has 
dreams4       ,q4 ,have you ever made   
discoveries or received other           
information      during your dreams or  
visions previous to your father's death8
 ,a4      ,no4       ,q4 ,had there been
 anything unusual in your dreams or     
visions      previous to your father's  
death8 ,a4 ,no1 not that ,i know of4    
,q4 ,was your father in the habit of    
carrying considerable sums of      money
 about his person8 ,a4 ,not that ,i knew
 of4       ,q4 ,did you know before his 
death of the pocket in the breast of    
the shirt worn by him to ,dubuque8 ,a4  
,no4       ,q4 ,did you wash or prepare 
that shirt for him to wear on his trip  
to ,dubuque8 ,a4 ,no4 ,it was a heavy   
woollen undershirt1 and the      pocket 
was stitched inside of the breast of it4
       ,q4 ,will you recite the         
circumstances connected with the        
recovery of      money from clothing    
worn by your father at the time of his  
death8      ,a4 7after some hesitation7 

,when they told me that father was dead 
,i      felt very sick and bad2 ,i did  
not know anything4 ,then father came    
to me4 ,he had on a white shirt and     
black clothes and slippers4 ,when       
,i came to1 ,i told ,pat her brother ,i 
had seen father4 ,i asked him           
7,pat7 if he had brought back father's  
old clothes4 ,he said1 ,no1      and    
asked me why ,i wanted them4 ,i told him
 father said to me he had      sewed a  
roll of bills inside of his grey shirt1 
in a pocket made of      a piece of my  
old red dress4 ,i went to sleep1 and    
father came to me      again4 ,when ,i  
awoke ,i told ,pat he must go and get   
the clothes4       ,q4 ,while in these  
swoons did you hear the ordinary        
conversations or      noises in the     
house about you8 ,a4 ,no4       ,q4 ,did
 you see your father's body after it was
 placed in its      coffin8 ,a4 ,no2 ,i 
did not see him after he left the house 
to go to      ,dubuque4       ,q4 ,have 
you an education8 ,a4 ,no4       ,q4    

,can you read and write8 ,a4 ,oh yes1 ,i
 can read and write2 but      ,i've not 
been to school much4       ,q4 ,are you 
willing to write out what you have told 
me of this      strange affair8 ,a4     
,why1 ,i've told you all ,i know about  
it4       ,she was averse to writing or 
to signing a written statement4 ,during 
the conversation she was quite          
emotional1 and manifested much          
effort to suppress her feelings4 ,she is
 a little more than medium      size1 of
 ,irish parentage1 of ,catholic faith1  
and shows by her      conversation that 
her education is limited4       ,her    
brother1 ,pat ,conley1 corroborates all 
that she has recited4 ,he      is a     
sincere and substantial man1 and has no 
theory upon which to      account for   
the strange facts that have come to his 
knowledge4 ,in      his presence        
,coroner ,hoffmann1 in ,dubuque1 found  
the shirt with its      pocket of red   
cloth stitched on the inside with long1 
straggling1      and awkward stitches1  

just as a dim-sighted old man or an     
awkward      boy might sew it there4    
,the pocket was about #g seven inches   
deep1      and in the pocket of that    
dirty old shirt that had lain in        
,hoffmann's back room was a roll of     
bills amounting to #ce dollars4         
,when the shirt was found with the      
pocket1 as described by his      sister 
after her swoon1 and the money as told  
her by the old man      after his death1
 ,pat ,conley seemed dazed and overcome 
by the      mystery4 ,hoffmann says the 
girl1 after her swoon1 described        
exactly the burial suit1 shirt1 coat or 
robe1 and satin slippers      in which  
the body was prepared for burial4 ,she  
even described      minutely the        
slippers1 which were of a new pattern   
that had not      been in the market    
here1 and which the girl could never    
have seen a      sample of2 and she had 
not seen1 and never saw1 the body of her
      father after it was placed in the 
coffin1 and if she had seen it      she 

could not have seen his feet in the nice
 black satin slippers      which she    
described4444  ,,amos ,,crum1 ,pastor   
,univ4 ,church4  ,if we may accept the  
details of this narrative1 which seems  
to have been carefully and promptly     
investigated1 we find that the phantasm 
communicates two sets of facts3 one of  
them known only to strangers 7the dress 
in which he was buried71 and one of them
 known only to himself 7the existence of
 the inside pocket and the money        
therein74 ,in discussing from what mind 
these images originate it is1 of course1
 important to note whether any living   
minds1 known or unknown to the          
percipient1 were aware of the facts thus
 conveyed4  ,there are few cases where  
the communication between the percipient
 and the deceased seems to have been    
more direct than here4 ,the hard1       
prosaic reality of the details of the   
message need not1 of course1 surprise   
us4 ,on the contrary1 the father's      
sudden death in the midst of earthly    

business would at once retain his       
attention on money matters and          
facilitate his impressing them on the   
daughter's mind4 ,one wishes that more  
could be learned of the daughter's      
condition when receiving the message4   
,it seems to have resembled trance      
rather than dream4#bbi  ,one other case 
in this group ,i must quote at length4  
,it illustrates the fact that the cases 
of deepest interest are often the       
hardest for the inquirer to get hold of4
  ,from the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 x4 pp4 #che-hf4  ,the account of the   
percipient1 ,baron ,b4 von ,driesen1 was
 written in ,november1 #ahij1 and has   
been translated from the ,russian by    
,mr4 ,m4 ,petrovo-,solovovo1 who sent us
 the case4       ,baron von ,driesen    
begins by saying that he has never      
believed and      does not believe in   
the supernatural1 and that he is more   
inclined      to attribute the          
apparition he saw to his excited fancy  
than to      anything else4 ,after these

 preliminary remarks he proceeds as     
follows3--       ,i must tell you that  
my father-in-law1 ,m4 ,n4 ,j4           
,ponomareff1 died in      the country4  
,this did not happen at once1 but after 
a long and      painful illness1 whose  
sharp phases had obliged my wife and    
myself      to join him long before his 
death4 ,i had not been on good terms    
with ,m4 ,ponomareff4 ,different        
circumstances1 which are out of place   
in this narrative1 had estranged us from
 each other1 and these      relations   
did not change until his death4 ,he died
 very quietly1      after having given  
his blessing to all his family1         
including      myself4 ,a liturgy for   
the rest of his soul was to be          
celebrated on      the ninth day4 ,i    
remember very well how ,i went to bed   
between one      and two o'clock on the 
eve of that day1 and how ,i read the    
,gospel      before falling asleep4 ,my 
wife was sleeping in the same room4 ,it 
was perfectly quiet4 ,i had just put out

 the candle when footsteps      were    
heard in the adjacent room--a sound of  
slippers shuffling1 ,i      might       
say--which ceased before the door of our
 bedroom4 ,i called      out1 ,who is   
there8 ,no answer4 ,i struck one match1 
then another1      and when after the   
stifling smell of the sulphur the fire  
had      lighted up the room1 ,i saw ,m4
 ,ponomareff standing before the closed 
door4 ,yes1 it was he1 in his blue      
dressing-gown1 lined with      squirrel 
furs and only half-buttoned1 so that ,i 
could see his white      waistcoat and  
his black trousers4 ,it was he          
undoubtedly4 ,i was not      frightened4
 ,they say that1 as a rule1 one is not  
frightened when      seeing a ghost1 as 
ghosts possess the quality of paralysing
 fear4       ,what do you want8 ,i asked
 my father-in-law4 ,m4 ,ponomareff made 
two steps forward1 stopped before my    
bed1 and said1 ,basil                   
,feodorovitch1 ,i have acted wrongly    
towards you4 ,forgive me6 ,without      

this ,i do not feel at rest there4 ,he  
was pointing to the ceiling      with   
his left hand1 whilst holding out his   
right to me4 ,i seized      this hand1  
which was long and cold1 shook it1 and  
answered1      ,nicholas ,ivanovitch1   
,god is my witness that ,i have never   
had      anything against you4          
,the ghost of my father-in-law bowed or 
bent down1 moved away1      and went    
through the opposite door into the      
billiard-room1 where he                 
disappeared4 ,i looked after him for a  
moment1 crossed myself1 put      out the
 candle1 and fell asleep with the sense 
of joy which a man      who has done his
 duty must feel4 ,the morning came4 ,my 
wife's      brothers1 as well as our    
neighbours and the peasants1 assembled1 
and the liturgy was celebrated by our   
confessor1 the ,rev4 ,father            
,basil4 ,but when all was over1 the same
 ,father ,basil led me aside1      and  
said to me mysteriously1 ,basil         
,feodorovitch1 ,i have got              

something to say to you in private4 ,my 
wife having come near us at      this   
moment1 the clergyman repeated his wish4
 ,i answered1 ,father      ,basil1 ,i   
have no secrets from my wife2 please    
tell us what you      wished to tell me 
alone4       ,then ,father ,basil1 who  
is living till now in the ,koi parish of
 the      district of ,kashin ,gov4 of  
,tver1 said to me in a rather solemn    
voice1 ,this night at three o'clock     
,nicholas ,ivanovitch      ,ponomareff  
appeared to me and begged of me to      
reconcile him to      you4  7,signed7   
,,baron ,,basil ,,driesen4  ,mr4        
,solovovo adds3--       ,the ,baroness  
von ,driesen is now dead1 so that her   
evidence cannot      be obtained4444    
,i also saw ,baron ,basil von ,driesen  
himself1 and spoke with him      about  
,m4 ,ponomareff's ghost4 ,he stated to  
me that if he were going      to die    
to-morrow1 he should still be ready to  
swear to the fact of      his having    
seen the apparition1 or something to    

this effect4 ,i      asked him to obtain
 for me the clergyman's account1 to whom
 ,i had      already written before     
seeing ,baron von ,driesen 7though not  
knowing      him71 but without receiving
 an answer--which is but natural1 after 
all4 ,baron von ,driesen kindly promised
 to procure for me the      account in  
question1 as it was then his intention  
to visit      different estates in      
,central ,russia1 including the one that
 had      belonged to ,m4 ,ponomareff4  
,baron ,nicholas von ,driesen--,baron   
,basil's son--called on me a few        
days ago4 ,he stated1 with regard to the
 case in question1 that it      was     
necessary to see the clergyman in order 
to induce him to write      an account  
of what had happened to him4  ,baron ,n4
 von ,driesen afterwards sent a note to 
,mr4 ,solovovo1 stating that his        
grandfather 7,m4 ,ponomareff7 died on   
,november #bast1 #ahfj2 and the         
testimony of the priest was obtained    
later4 ,mr4 ,solovovo1 who had already  

ascertained independently that the ,rev4
 ,basil ,bajenoff had been a priest at  
,koi in the year #ahfa1 and was there   
still1 writes3--         99       99    
99       99       99  ,the following is 
the translation of the ,rev4 ,basil     
,bajenoff's statement3--   ,,koi1 ,july 
#bcrd ,august #dth1 #ahia4       ,to the
 account ,i heard from ,baron ,b4 ,f4   
,driesen in the presence of      his    
wife's brothers1 ,,mm4 ,n4 ,n41 ,a4 ,n41
 and ,i4 ,n4 ,ponomareff1 as to      how
 ,m4 ,nicholas ,i4 ,ponomareff appeared 
to him in the night of      ,november   
#bi-cjth1 #ahfj1 having died nine days  
before1 and begged of      the ,baron to
 be reconciled to him1 ,i may add that  
to me also did he      appear at the    
same time and with the same request1    
which fact1      before hearing the     
,baron's narrative1 ,i communicated to  
all those      present at the liturgy   
for the rest of the soul of the late ,m4
 ,n4      ,i4 ,ponomareff4  7,signed7   
,,basil ,,bajenoff1 ,priest of ,trinity 

,church1 at ,koi1 ,district of ,kashin1 
,government of ,tver4   ,,vii4 ,e4 ,the 
following is quoted from the ,report on 
the ,census of ,hallucinations in       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #bhd4
  ,from ,countess ,eugnie ,kapnist3--   
,june #bdth1 #ahia4       ,a ,talta1 en 
,fvrier1 #ahhi1 nous fmes la            
connaissance de ,m4 ,p4 et      de sa   
femme1 passant la soire chez des amis   
communs qui avaient      tenu  nous     
runir4 ,a cette poque1 ,m4 ,p4 souffrait
 dj d'une      phthisie assez avance2 il
 venait de perdre1  ,ptersbourg1 son    
frre1 atteint de la mme maladie4 ,on    
pria ma soeur de faire un      peu de   
musique1 et elle choisit au hasard le   
,prlude de      ,mendelssohn4 ,a mon    
tonnement je vis ,m4 ,p4 que nous ne    
connaissions      que de ce soir1 aller1
 trs motionn1 prendre place auprs du    
piano1 et suivre avec une espce d'anxit 
le jeu de ma soeur4      ,lorsqu'elle   
eut fini1 il dit que pour quelques      
instants elle venait      de faire      

ressusciter son frre1 excutant          
absolument de la mme      manire ce     
morceau1 qu'il jouait frquemment4       
,depuis1 en voyant ma      soeur1 il    
aimait particulirement  causer avec     
elle4 ,je puis      certifier ainsi     
qu'elle une conversation que nous emes  
une      soire1 au mois de ,mars4 ,nous 
parlions de la mort1 chose frquente     
,talta1 toujours peuple de              
malades3--,savez-vous1 disait-il  ma    
soeur1 il me semble toujours que mon    
esprit est trs proche du      vtre2 j'ai
 la certitude de vous avoir dj connue2  
nous avons dans      la ralit une preuve
 que ce n'est pas en ce monde--ce sera  
que je      vous aurais vue durant      
quelqu'autre vie prcdente 7il tait un   
peu spirite74 ,ainsi donc1 si je meurs  
avant vous1 ce qui est bien             
probable1 vu ma maladie1 je reviendrai  
vers vous1 si cela m'est      possible1 
et je vous apparatrai de faon  ne pas   
vous effrayer      dsagrablement4 ,ma   
soeur lui rpondit1 prenant la chose trs 

au      srieux1 qu'elle lui rendrait la 
pareille si elle mourait la             
premire1 et j'tais tmoin de cette       
promesse mutuelle4       ,nanmoins nous 
fmes  peine connaissance de maison2 nous
 nous      rencontrions parfois chez des
 amis communs1 et nous le voyions       
souvent se promener sur le quai dans un 
paletot couleur noisette      qui       
excitait notre hilarit et qui nous resta
 dans la mmoire je ne      sais plus    
pourquoi4 ,au mois de ,mai1 nous        
partions de ,talta1 et      depuis nous 
emes tant d'impressions diverses1 nous  
vmes tant de      monde1 que jusqu'     
l'hiver suivant nous oublimes           
compltement ,m4      ,p4 et sa femme1   
qui reprsentaient pour nous des         
connaissances      comme on en a par    
centaines dans la vie4       ,nous tions
  ,ptersbourg4 ,le #aa ,mars1 c'tait un 
lundi de ,carme      en #ahij1 nous     
allmes au thtre voir une reprsentation  
de la      troupe des ,meiningner4 ,je  
crois qu'on donnait ,le ,marchand de    

,venise4 ,mlle4 ,b4 tait avec nous1     
venue de ,tsarsko  cette      occasion4 
,la pice termine1 nous n'emes que le    
temps de rentrer       la maison changer
 de toilette1 aprs quoi nous            
accompagnmes ,mlle4      ,b4  la gare4  
,elle partait avec le dernier train1 qui
 quitte pour      ,tsarsko ,slo  #a     
heure de la nuit4 ,nous l'installmes en 
wagon1 et      ne l'y laissmes qu'aprs  
la seconde cloche de dpart4       ,notre
 domestique allait bien en avant de     
nous1 afin de retrouver      notre      
voiture1 de manire que1 gagnant le      
perron1 nous la trouvmes      avance qui
 nous attendait4 ,ma soeur s'assit la   
premire2 moi je      la fis attendre1   
descendant plus doucement les marches de
      l'escalier2 le domestique tenait  
la portire du landau ouverte4 ,je       
montai  demi1 sur le marchepied1 et     
soudain je m'arrtai dans      cette     
pose1 tellement surprise que je ne      
compris plus ce qui      m'arrivait4 ,il
 faisait sombre dans la voiture1 et     

pourtant en face      de ma soeur1 la   
regardant1 je vis dans un petit jour    
gris qu'on      et dit factice1         
s'claircissant vers le point qui        
attachait le      plus mes yeux1 une    
figure  la silhouette mousse1 diaphane1 
plutt qu'indcise4 ,cette vision dura un 
instant1 pendant lequel1      pourtant1 
mes yeux prirent connaissance des       
moindres dtails de ce      visage1 qui  
me sembla connu3 des traits assez       
pointus1 une raie un      peu de ct1 un 
nez prononc1 un menton trs maigre  barbe
 rare et      d'un blond fonc4 ,ce qui  
me frappe1 lorsque j'y pense  prsent1   
c'est d'avoir vu les diffrentes         
couleurs1 malgr que la lueur            
gristre1 qui clairait  peine l'inconnu1 
et t insuffisante      pour les         
distinguer dans un cas normal4 ,il tait 
sans chapeau1 et      en mme temps dans 
un paletot comme on en porte au sud--de 
couleur      plutt claire--noisette4    
,toute sa personne avait un cachet de   
grande fatigue et de maigreur4       ,le

 domestique1 trs tonn de ne pas me voir 
monter1 arrte ainsi      sur le         
marchepied1 crut que j'avais march dans 
ma robe et m'aida       m'asseoir1      
pendant que je demandais  ma soeur1 en  
prenant place       ct d'elle1 si c'tait
 bien notre voiture8 ,a tel point       
j'avais      perdu la tte1 ayant senti  
un vrai engourdissement de cerveau en   
voyant cet tranger install en face      
d'elle1 je ne m'tais pas      rendu     
compte que1 dans le cas d'une prsence   
relle d'un semblable      vis--vis1 ni  
ma soeur1 ni le valet de pied ne        
resteraient si      calmement           
l'envisager4 ,lorsque je fus assise1 je 
ne vis plus      rien1 et je demandais  
ma soeur3--,n'as-tu rien vu en face de  
toi8 ,rien du tout1 et quelle ide as-tu 
eue de demander1 en      entrant dans la
 voiture1 si c'tait bien la ntre8       
rpondit-elle      en riant4 ,alors1 je  
lui racontais tout ce qui prcde1        
dcrivant      minutieusement ma vision4 
,quelle figure connue1 disait-elle1 et  

paletot noisette1 cette raie de ct1 o   
donc l'avons nous vue8      ,pourtant   
nul ne ressemble ici  ta description2 et
 nous nous      creusions la tte sans   
rien trouver4 ,rentres  la maison1 nous 
racontmes ce fait  notre mre2 ma        
description la fit aussi      souvenir  
vaguement d'un visage analogue4 ,le     
lendemain soir 7#ab      ,mars7 un jeune
 homme de notre connaissance1 ,m4 ,m4   
,s41 vint nous      voir4 ,je lui rptais
 aussi l'incident qui nous tait arriv4  
,nous      en parlmes beaucoup1 mais    
inutilement2 je ne pouvais toujours pas 
appliquer le nom voulu  la personnalit  
de ma vision1 tout en me      souvenant 
fort bien avoir vu un visage tout pareil
 parmi mes      nombreuses              
connaissances2 mais o et  quelle poque8 
,je ne me      souvenais de rien1 avec  
ma mauvaise mmoire qui me fait souvent  
dfaut1  ce sujet4 ,quelques jours plus  
tard1 nous tions chez la      grandmre  
de ,m4 ,m4 ,s43--,savez-vous1 nous      
dit-elle1 quelle triste      nouvelle je

 viens de recevoir de ,talta8 ,m4 ,p4   
vient de mourir1 mais      on ne me     
donne pas de dtails4 ,ma soeur et moi1  
nous nous      regardmes4 ,a ce nom1 la 
figure pointue et le paletot noisette   
retrouvrent leur possesseur4 ,ma soeur  
reconnut en mme temps que      moi1 grce
  ma description prcise4 ,lorsque ,m4   
,m4 ,s4 entra1 je le      priai de      
chercher dans les vieux journaux la date
 exacte de cette      mort4 ,le dcs tait
 marqu au #ad du mois de ,mars1 donc1   
deux jours      aprs la vision que      
j'avais eue4 ,j'crivis  ,talta pour     
avoir des      renseignements4 ,on me   
rpondit qu'il gardait le lit depuis le  
#bd      ,novembre et qu'il avait t     
depuis dans un tat de faiblesse         
extrme1 mais le sommeil ne l'avait point
 quitt2 il dormait si      longtemps et 
si profondment1 mme durant les dernires 
nuits de      son existence1 que cela   
faisait esprer une amlioration4 ,nous   
nous      tonnions de ce que j'aie vu   
,m4 ,p41 malgr sa promesse de se        

montrer  ma soeur4 ,mais je dois ajouter
 ici qu'avant le fait      dcrit        
ci-dessus1 j'avais t voyante un certain 
nombre de fois1      mais cette vision  
est bien celle que j'ai distingue le    
plus      nettement1 avec des dtails    
minutieux1 et avec les teintes diverses 
du visage humain1 et mme du vtement4    
,,comtesse ,,eug,,nie ,,kapnist4        
,,comtesse ,,ina ,,kapnist4  ,the second
 signature is that of the sister who was
 present at the time4  ,mr4 ,michael    
,petrovo-,solovovo1 who sent us the     
case1 writes3--       ,i have much      
pleasure in certifying that the fact of 
,countess      ,kapnist's vision was    
mentioned1 among others1 to myself      
before the      news of ,mr4 ,p4's death
 came to ,petersburg4 ,i well remember  
seeing      an announcement of his      
demise in the papers4   ,,vii4 ,f4 ,from
 ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4  
#ebb1 footnote4 ,the account was written
 down1 a few months after the           
occurrence1 from the dictation of the   

percipient--,sister ,bertha1 ,superior  
of the ,house of ,mercy at ,bovey       
,tracy1 ,newton ,abbot--who read it     
through on ,december #bith1 #ahhe1      
pronounced it correct1 and signed it4   
,on the night of the #ajth of ,november1
 #ahfa 7,i do not know the exact        
hour71 ,i was up in my bed watching1    
because there was a person not          
quite well in the next room4 ,i heard a 
voice1 which ,i recognised at      once 
as familiar to me1 and at first thought 
of my sister4 ,it said1      in the     
brightest and most cheerful tone1 ,i am 
here with you4 ,i      answered1 looking
 and seeing nothing1 ,who are you8 ,the 
voice      said1 ,you mustn't know yet4 
,i heard nothing more1 and saw          
nothing1 and am certain that the door   
was not opened or shut4 ,i was      not 
in the least frightened1 and felt       
convinced that it was ,lucy's      ,miss
 ,lucy ,gambier ,parry's voice4 ,i have 
never doubted it from      that moment4 
,i had not heard of her being worse2 the

 last account      had been good1 and ,i
 was expecting to hear that she was at  
,torquay4      ,in the course of the    
next day 7the #aath71 mother told me    
that she      had died on the morning of
 the #ajth1 rather more than twelve     
hours      before ,i heard her voice4   
,the narrator informs us that she has   
never in her life experienced any other 
hallucination of the senses4 ,mrs4      
,gambier ,parry1 of ,highnam ,court1    
,gloucester1 step-mother and cousin of  
the ,lucy of the narrative1 writes3--   
,sister ,bertha 7her name is ,bertha    
,foertsch7 had been living for      many
 years as ,german governess to ,lucy    
,anna ,gambier ,parry1 and was      her 
dearest friend4 ,she came to us at once 
on hearing of ,lucy's      death1 and   
told me of the mysterious occurrence of 
the night      before4   ,,vii4 ,g4 ,the
 following case is in some respects one 
of the most remarkable and best         
authenticated instances of haunting on  
record1 although1 as will be seen1 the  

evidence for the identity of the        
apparition is inconclusive4 ,the case   
was fully described in a paper entitled 
,record of a ,haunted ,house1 by ,miss  
,r4 ,c4 ,morton1 in ,proceedings        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 pp4 #caa-ccb4     
,besides the account of the principal   
percipient1 ,miss ,r4 ,c4 ,morton1 the  
paper contains independent first-hand   
statements from six other witnesses1--a 
friend1 ,miss ,campbell1 a sister and   
brother of ,miss ,morton's who lived in 
the house1 a married sister who visited 
there1 and two former servants2 also    
plans of the whole house4 ,for the full 
details ,i must refer the reader to the 
original paper2 ,i have space here only 
for abbreviated extracts from ,miss     
,morton's account4  ,an account of the  
case first came into my hands in        
,december1 #ahhd1 and this with ,miss   
,morton's letters to her friend1 ,miss  
,campbell1 are the earliest written     
records4 ,on ,may #ast1 #ahhf1 ,i called
 upon ,captain ,morton at the haunted   

house1 and afterwards visited him at    
intervals1 and took notes of what he    
told me4 ,i also saw ,miss ,morton and  
,miss ,e4 ,morton1 and the two former   
servants whose accounts are given in    
,miss ,morton's paper4 ,the phenomena as
 seen or heard by all the witnesses were
 very uniform in character1 even in the 
numerous instances where there had been 
no previous communication between the   
percipients4 ,miss ,morton is a lady of 
scientific training1 and was at the time
 her account was written 7in ,april1    
#ahib7 preparing to be a physician4 ,the
 name ,morton is substituted for the    
real family name4 ,with that exception  
the names and initials are the true     
ones4  ,after describing the house and  
garden1 ,miss ,morton proceeds3--       
,it was built about the year #ahfj2 the 
first occupant was ,mr4 ,s41 an         
,anglo-,indian1 who lived in it for     
about sixteen years4 ,during this       
time1 in the month of ,august1 year     
uncertain1 he lost his wife1 to         

whom he was passionately attached1 and  
to drown his grief took to              
drinking4 ,about two years later1 ,mr4  
,s4 married again4 ,his second          
wife1 a ,miss ,i4 ,h41 was in hopes of  
curing him of his intemperate           
habits1 but instead she also took to    
drinking1 and their married      life   
was embittered by constant quarrels1    
frequently resulting in      violent    
scenes4 ,the chief subjects of dispute  
were the management      of the children
 7two girls1 and either one or two boys1
 all quite      young7 of the first     
,mrs4 ,s41 and the possession of her    
jewellery1      to preserve which for   
her children1 ,mr4 ,s4 had some of the  
boards      in the small front          
sitting-room taken up by a local        
carpenter and      the jewels inserted  
in the receptacle so formed4 ,finally1 a
 few      months before ,mr4 ,s4's      
death1 on ,july #adth1 #ahgf1 his wife  
separated from him and went to live in  
,clifton4 ,she was not present      at  

the time of his death1 nor1 as far as is
 known1 was she ever at      the house  
afterwards4 ,she died on ,september     
#bcrd1 #ahgh4       ,after ,mr4 ,s4's   
death the house was bought by ,mr4 ,l41 
an elderly      gentleman1 who died     
rather suddenly within six months of    
going into      it4 ,the house then     
remained empty for some years--probably 
four4       ,during this time there is  
no direct evidence of haunting1 but when
      inquiry was made later on much    
hearsay evidence was brought            
forward4 ,in ,april #ahhb1 the house was
 let by the representatives of      the 
late ,mr4 ,l4 to ,captain ,morton1 and  
it is during his tenancy      7not yet  
terminated7 that the appearances        
recorded have taken      place4         
,the family consists of ,captain ,m4    
himself2 his wife1 who is a great       
invalid2 neither of whom saw anything2 a
 married daughter1 ,mrs4 ,k41      then 
about twenty-six1 who was only a visitor
 from time to time1      sometimes with1

 but more often without1 her husband2   
four unmarried      daughters1 myself1  
then aged nineteen1 who was the chief   
percipient      and now give the chief  
account of the apparition2 ,e4 ,morton1 
then      aged eighteen2 ,l4 and ,m4    
,morton1 then fifteen and thirteen2 two 
sons1 one of sixteen1 who was absent    
during the greater part of the      time
 when the apparition was seen2 the      
other1 then six years old4       ,my    
father took the house in ,march #ahhb1  
none of us having then      heard of    
anything unusual about the house4 ,we   
moved in towards the      end of ,april1
 and it was not until the following     
,june that ,i first      saw the        
apparition4       ,i had gone up to my  
room1 but was not yet in bed1 when ,i   
heard some      one at the door1 and    
went to it1 thinking it might be my     
mother4 ,on      opening the door1 ,i   
saw no one2 but on going a few steps    
along the      passage1 ,i saw the      
figure of a tall lady1 dressed in black1

      standing at the head of the       
stairs4 ,after a few moments she        
descended the stairs1 and ,i followed   
for a short distance1 feeling           
curious what it could be4 ,i had only a 
small piece of candle1 and      it      
suddenly burnt itself out2 and being    
unable to see more1 ,i went      back to
 my room4       ,the figure was that of 
a tall lady1 dressed in black of a soft 
woollen material1 judging from the      
slight sound in moving4 ,the face       
was hidden in a handkerchief held in the
 right hand4 ,this is all ,i            
noticed then2 but on further occasions1 
when ,i was able to observe      her    
more closely1 ,i saw the upper part of  
the left side of the      forehead1 and 
a little of the hair above4 ,her left   
hand was nearly      hidden by her      
sleeve and a fold of her dress4 ,as she 
held it down a      portion of a widow's
 cuff was visible on both wrists1 so    
that the      whole impression was that 
of a lady in widow's weeds4 ,there was  

no      cap on the head but a general   
effect of blackness suggests a          
bonnet1 with a long veil or a hood4     
,during the next two years--from #ahhb  
to #ahhd--;,i saw the figure      about 
half-a-dozen times2 at first at long    
intervals1 and      afterwards at       
shorter1 but ,i only mentioned these    
appearances to      one friend1 who did 
not speak of them to any one4 ,during   
this      period1 as far as we know1    
there were only three appearances to any
      one else4       #a4 ,in the summer
 of #ahhb to my sister1 ,mrs4 ,k41 when 
the figure was      thought to be that  
of a ,sister of ,mercy who had called at
 the      house1 and no further         
curiosity was aroused4 ,she was coming  
down      the stairs rather late for    
dinner at #f4cj1 it being then quite    
light1 when she saw the figure cross the
 hall in front of her1 and      pass    
into the drawing-room4 ,she then asked  
the rest of us1 already      seated at  
dinner1 ,who was that ,sister of ,mercy 

whom ,i have just      seen going into  
the drawing-room8 ,she was told there   
was no such      person1 and a servant  
was sent to look2 but the drawing-room  
was      empty1 and she was sure no one 
had come in4 ,mrs4 ,k4 persisted that   
she had seen a tall figure in black1    
with some white about it2 but           
nothing further was thought of the      
matter4       #b4 ,in the autumn of     
#ahhc it was seen by the housemaid about
 #aj      ,p4,m41 she declaring that    
some one had got into the house1 her    
description agreeing fairly with what ,i
 had seen2 but as on      searching no  
one was found1 her story received no    
credit4       #c4 ,on or about ,december
 #ahth1 #ahhc1 it was seen in the       
drawing-room      by my brother and     
another little boy4 ,they were playing  
outside on      the terrace when they   
saw the figure in the drawing-room close
 to      the window1 and ran in to see  
who it could be that was crying so      
bitterly4 ,they found no one in the     

drawing-room1 and the      parlour-maid 
told them that no one had come into the 
house4       ,after the first time1 ,i  
followed the figure several times       
downstairs into the drawing-room1 where 
she remained a variable      time1      
generally standing to the right hand    
side of the bow window4      ,from the  
drawing-room she went along the passage 
towards the garden      door1 where she 
always disappeared4       ,the first    
time ,i spoke to her was on ,january    
#bith1 #ahhd4 ,i opened      the        
drawing-room door softly and went in1   
standing just by it4 ,she      came in  
past me and walked to the sofa and stood
 still there1 so ,i      went up to her 
and asked her if ,i could help her4 ,she
 moved1 and ,i      thought she was     
going to speak1 but she only gave a     
slight gasp and      moved towards the  
door4 ,just by the door ,i spoke to her 
again1 but      she seemed as if she    
were quite unable to speak4 ,she walked 
into      the hall1 then by the side    

door she seemed to disappear as before4 
7,quoted from a letter written on       
,january #cast47 ,in ,may and ,june1    
#ahhd1 ,i tried some experiments1       
fastening strings with marine glue      
across the stairs at different heights  
from the ground--of which ,i      give a
 more detailed account later on4        
,i also attempted to touch her1 but she 
always eluded me4 ,it was not      that 
there was nothing there to touch1 but   
that she always seemed      to be beyond
 me1 and if followed into a corner1     
simply      disappeared4       ,during  
these two years the only noises ,i heard
 were those of      slight pushes       
against my bedroom door1 accompanied by 
footsteps2      and if ,i looked out on 
hearing these sounds1 ,i invariably saw 
the      figure4 ,her footstep is very  
light1 you can hardly hear it1 except   
on the linoleum1 and then only like a   
person walking softly with      thin    
boots on4 7,letter on ,january #cast1   
#ahhd47 ,the appearances      during the

 next two months--,july and ,august1    
#ahhd--;became much more      frequent2 
indeed they were then at their maximum1 
from which time      they seem gradually
 to have decreased1 until now they seem 
to have      ceased4       ,of these two
 months ,i have a short record in a set 
of journal      letters written at the  
time to a friend4 ,on ,july #bast ,i    
find the      following account4 ,i went
 into the drawing-room1 where my father 
and sisters were sitting about nine in  
the evening1 and sat down on      a     
couch close to the bow window4 ,a few   
minutes after1 as ,i sat      reading1  
,i saw the figure come in at the open   
door1 cross the room      and take up a 
position close behind the couch where ,i
 was4 ,i was      astonished that no one
 else in the room saw her1 as she was so
 very      distinct to me4 ,my youngest 
brother1 who had before seen her1 was   
not in the room4 ,she stood behind the  
couch for about half-an-hour1      and  
then as usual walked to the door4 ,i    

went after her1 on the      excuse of   
getting a book1 and saw her pass along  
the hall1 until      she came to the    
garden door1 where she disappeared4 ,i  
spoke to her      as she passed the foot
 of the stairs1 but she did not answer1 
although as before she stopped and      
seemed as though about to      speak4   
,on ,july #cast1 some time after ,i had 
gone up to bed1 my      second sister   
,e41 who had remained downstairs talking
 in another      sister's room1 came to 
me saying that some one had passed her  
on      the stairs4 ,i tried then to    
persuade her that it was one of the     
servants1 but next morning found it     
could not have been so1 as none      of 
them had been out of their rooms at that
 hour1 and ,e4's more      detailed     
description tallied with what ,i had    
already seen4       ,on the night of    
,august #ast1 ,i again saw the figure4  
,i heard the      footsteps outside on  
the landing about #b ,a4,m4 ,i got up at
 once1 and      went outside4 ,she was  

then at the end of the landing at the   
top of      the stairs1 with her side   
view towards me4 ,she stood there some  
minutes1 then went downstairs1 stopping 
again when she reached the      hall    
below4 ,i opened the drawing-room door  
and she went in1 walked      across the 
room to the couch in the bow window1    
stayed there a      little1 then came   
out of the room1 went along the passage1
 and      disappeared by the garden     
door4 ,i spoke to her again1 but she did
      not answer4       ,on the night of
 ,august #bnd the footsteps were heard  
by my three      sisters and by the     
cook1 all of whom slept on the top      
landing--also      by my married sister1
 ,mrs4 ,k41 who was sleeping on the     
floor below4      ,they all said the    
next morning that they had heard them   
very      plainly pass and repass their 
doors4 ,the cook was a middle-aged and  
very sensible person2 on my asking her  
the following morning if any      of the
 servants had been out of their rooms   

the night before1 after      coming up  
to bed1 she told me that she had heard  
these footsteps      before1 and that   
she had seen the figure on the stairs   
one night      when going down to the   
kitchen to fetch hot water after the    
servants had come up to bed4 ,she       
described it as a lady in widow's       
dress1 tall and slight1 with her face   
hidden in a handkerchief held      in   
her right hand4 ,unfortunately we have  
since lost sight of this      servant2  
she left us about a year afterwards on  
her mother's death1      and we cannot  
now trace her4 ,she also saw the figure 
outside the      kitchen windows on the 
terrace-walk1 she herself being in the  
kitchen2 it was then about eleven in the
 morning1 but having no      note of the
 occurrence1 ,i cannot now remember     
whether this      appearance was        
subsequent to the one above mentioned4  
,these footsteps are very               
characteristic1 and are not at all like 
those of any of the people in the house2

 they are soft and rather      slow1    
though decided and even4 ,my sisters    
would not go out on the      landing    
after hearing them pass1 nor would the  
servants1 but each      time when ,i    
have gone out after hearing them1 ,i    
have seen the      figure there4        
,on ,august #eth ,i told my father about
 her and what we had seen and           
heard4 ,he was much astonished1 not     
having seen or heard anything           
himself at that time--neither then had  
my mother1 but she is      slightly     
deaf1 and is an invalid4 ,he made       
inquiries of the landlord      7who then
 lived close by7 as to whether he knew  
of anything unusual      about the      
house1 as he had himself lived in it for
 a short time1      but he replied that 
he had only been there for three months1
 and      had never seen anything       
unusual4444       ,on the evening of    
,august #aath we were sitting in the    
drawing-room      with the gas lit but  
the shutters not shut1 the light outside

      getting dusk1 my brothers and a   
friend having just given up tennis1     
finding it too dark2 my eldest sister1  
,mrs4 ,k41 and myself both saw      the 
figure on the balcony outside1 looking  
in at the window4 ,she      stood there 
some minutes1 then walked to the end and
 back again1      after which she seemed
 to disappear4 ,she soon after came into
 the      drawing-room1 when ,i saw her1
 but my sister did not4 ,the same       
evening my sister ,e4 saw her on the    
stairs as she came out of a      room on
 the upper landing4       ,the following
 evening1 ,august #abth1 while coming up
 the garden1 ,i      walked towards the 
orchard1 when ,i saw the figure cross   
the      orchard1 go along the carriage 
drive in front of the house1 and in     
at the open side door1 across the hall  
and into the drawing-room1 ,i           
following4 ,she crossed the drawing-room
 and took up her usual      position    
behind the couch in the bow window4 ,my 
father came in soon      after1 and ,i  

told him she was there4 ,he could not   
see the figure1      but went up to     
where ,i showed him she was4 ,she then  
went swiftly      round behind him1     
across the room1 out of the door1 and   
along the      hall1 disappearing as    
usual near the garden door1 we both     
following      her4 ,we looked out into 
the garden1 having first to unlock the  
garden door1 which my father had locked 
as he came through1 but saw      nothing
 of her4       ,on ,august #abth1 about 
#h ,p4,m41 and still quite light1 my    
sister ,e4      was singing in the back 
drawing-room4 ,i heard her stop         
abruptly1      come out into the hall1  
and call me4 ,she said she had seen the 
figure in the drawing-room close behind 
her as she sat at the      piano4 ,i    
went back into the room with her and saw
 the figure in the      bow window in   
her usual place4 ,i spoke to her several
 times1 but      had no answer4 ,she    
stood there for about ten minutes or a  
quarter      of an hour2 then went      

across the room to the door1 and along  
the      passage1 disappearing in the   
same place by the garden door4       ,my
 sister ,m4 then came in from the       
garden1 saying she had seen her         
coming up the kitchen steps outside4 ,we
 all three then went out      into the  
garden1 when ,mrs4 ,k4 called out from a
 window on the first      storey that   
she had just seen her pass across the   
lawn in front and      along the        
carriage drive towards the orchard4     
,this evening1 then1      altogether    
four people saw her4 ,my father was then
 away1 and my      youngest brother was 
out4       ,on the morning of ,august   
#adth the parlour-maid saw her in the   
dining-room1 about #h4cj ,a4,m41 having 
gone into the room to open the          
shutters4 ,the room is very sunny1 and  
even with all the shutters      closed  
it is quite light1 the shutters not     
fitting well1 and      letting sunlight 
through the cracks4 ,she had opened one 
shutter1      when1 on turning round1   

she saw the figure cross the room4 ,we  
were      all on the look-out for her   
that evening1 but saw nothing2 in fact1 
whenever we had made arrangements to    
watch1 and were especially              
expecting her1 we never saw anything4   
,this servant1 who afterwards           
married1 was interviewed by ,mr ,myers  
at her own house4444       ,on ,august  
#aith we all went to the seaside1 and   
were away a month1      leaving three   
servants in the house4       ,when we   
came back they said that they had heard 
footsteps and      noises frequently1   
but as the stair-carpets were up part of
 the      time and the house was empty1 
many of these noises were doubtless     
due to natural causes1 though by them   
attributed to the figure4       ,the    
cook also spoke of seeing the figure in 
the garden1 standing by      a stone    
vase on the lawn behind the house4      
,during the rest of that year and the   
following1 #ahhe1 the      apparition   
was frequently seen through each year1  

especially during      ,july1 ,august1  
and ,september4 ,in these months the    
three deaths took      place1           
viz43--,mr4 ,s41 on ,july #adth1 #ahgf2 
the first ,mrs4 ,s4 in      ,august1 and
 the second ,mrs4 ,s4 on ,september     
#bcrd4       ,the apparitions were of   
exactly the same type1 seen in the same 
places and by the same people1 at       
varying intervals4       ,the footsteps 
continued1 and were heard by several    
visitors and new      servants who had  
taken the places of those who had left1 
as well as      by myself1 four sisters 
and brother2 in all by about twenty     
people1      many of them not having    
previously heard of the apparitions or  
sounds4       ,other sounds were also   
heard in addition which seemed gradually
 to      increase in intensity4 ,they   
consisted of walking up and down on the 
second-floor landing1 of bumps against  
the doors of the bedrooms1      and of  
the handles of the doors turning4444    
,during this year1 at ,mr4 ,myers's     

suggestion1 ,i kept a photographic      
camera constantly ready to try to       
photograph the figure1 but on the       
few occasions ,i was able to do so1 ,i  
got no result2 at night1      usually   
only by candle-light1 a long exposure   
would be necessary      for so dark a   
figure1 and this ,i could not obtain4 ,i
 also tried to      communicate with the
 figure1 constantly speaking to it and  
asking      it to make signs1 if not    
able to speak1 but with no result4 ,i   
also      tried especially to touch her1
 but did not succeed4 ,on cornering     
her1 as ,i did once or twice1 she       
disappeared4       ,some time in the    
summer of this year 7#ahhf71 ,mrs4      
,twining1 our      regular charwoman1   
saw the figure1 while waiting in the    
hall at the      door leading to the    
kitchen stairs1 for her payment4 ,until 
it      suddenly vanished from her      
sight1 as no real figure could have     
done1 she thought it was a lady visitor 
who had mistaken her way4      ,mr4     

,myers interviewed her on ,december     
#bith1 #ahhi1 and has her      separate 
account4       ,on one night in ,july   
#ahhf 7my father and ,i being away from 
home71      my mother and her maid heard
 a loud noise in an unoccupied room     
over their heads4 ,they went up1 but    
seeing nothing and the noise            
ceasing1 they went back to my mother's  
room on the first storey4      ,they    
then heard loud noises from the         
morning-room on the ground      floor4  
,they then went half-way downstairs1    
when they saw a bright      light in the
 hall beneath4 ,being alarmed1 they went
 up to my sister      ,e41 who then came
 down1 and they all three examined the  
doors1      windows1 etc41 and found    
them all fastened as usual4 ,my mother  
and      her maid then went to bed4 ,my 
sister ,e4 went up to her room on the   
second storey1 but as she passed the    
room where my two sisters ,l4      and  
,m4 were sleeping1 they opened their    
door to say that they had      heard    

noises1 and also seen what they         
described as the flame of a      candle1
 without candle or hand visible1 cross  
the room diagonally      from corner to 
door4 ,two of the maids opened the doors
 of their two      bedrooms1 and said   
that they had also heard noises2 they   
all five      stood at their doors with 
their lighted candles for some little   
time4 ,they all heard steps walking up  
and down the landing between      them2 
as they passed they felt a sensation    
which they described as      a cold     
wind1 though their candles were not     
blown about4 ,they      saw nothing4    
,the steps then descended the stairs1   
re-ascended1      again descended1 and  
did not return4       ,in the course of 
the following autumn we heard traditions
 of      earlier haunting1 though1      
unfortunately1 in no case were we able  
to      get a first-hand account4444    
,we also now heard from a carpenter who 
had done jobs in the house      in ,mrs4
 ,s4's time1 that ,mrs4 ,s4 had wished  

to possess herself of      the first    
,mrs4 ,s4's jewels4 ,her husband had    
called him in to make a      receptacle 
under the boards in the morning-room on 
the      ground-floor1 in which         
receptacle he placed the jewels1 and    
then      had it nailed down and the    
carpet replaced4 ,the carpenter showed  
us      the place4 ,my father made him  
take up the boards2 the receptacle      
was there1 but empty4444       ,during  
the next two years1 #ahhg to #ahhi1 the 
figure was very seldom      seen1 though
 footsteps were heard2 the louder noises
 had gradually      ceased4 ,from #ahhi 
to the present1 #ahib1 so far as ,i     
know1 the      figure has not been seen 
at all2 the lighter footsteps lasted a  
little longer1 but even they have now   
ceased4 ,the figure became      much    
less substantial on its later           
appearances4 ,up to about #ahhf it      
was so solid and life-like that it was  
often mistaken for a real      person4  
,it gradually became less distinct4 ,at 

all times it      intercepted the light2
 we have not been able to ascertain if  
it      cast a shadow4      ,proofs of  
,immateriality4       #a4 ,i have       
several times fastened fine strings     
across the stairs at      various       
heights before going to bed1 but after  
all others have gone      up to their   
rooms4 ,these were fastened in the      
following way3 ,i made      small       
pellets of marine glue1 into which ,i   
inserted the ends of the      cord1 then
 stuck one pellet lightly against the   
wall and the other      to the banister1
 the string being thus stretched across 
the stairs4      ,they were knocked down
 by a very slight touch1 and yet would  
not be      felt by any one passing up  
or down the stairs1 and by candle-light 
could not be seen from below4 ,they were
 put at various heights from      the   
ground from six inches to the height of 
the banisters1 about      three feet4 ,i
 have twice at least seen the figure    
pass through the      cords1 leaving    

them intact4       #b4 ,the sudden and  
complete disappearance of the figure1   
while still      in full view4       #c4
 ,the impossibility of touching the     
figure4 ,i have repeatedly      followed
 it into a corner1 when it disappeared1 
and have tried to      suddenly pounce  
upon it1 but have never succeeded in    
touching it or      getting my hand up  
to it1 the figure eluding my touch4     
#d4 ,it has appeared in a room with the 
doors shut4       ,on the other hand1   
the figure was not called up by a desire
 to see      it1 for on every occasion  
when we had made special arrangements to
      watch for it1 we never saw it4 ,on
 several occasions we have sat up       
at night hoping to see it1 but in       
vain1--my father1 with my               
brother-in-law1 myself with a friend    
three or four times1 an aunt      and   
myself twice1 and my sisters with       
friends more than once2 but      on none
 of these occasions was anything seen4  
,nor have the      appearances been seen

 after we have been talking or thinking 
much      of the figure4       ,the     
figure has been connected with the      
second ,mrs4 ,s42 the grounds      for  
which are3--       #a4 ,the complete    
history of the house is known1 and if we
 are to      connect the figure with any
 of the previous occupants1 she is the  
only person who in any way resembled the
 figure4       #b4 ,the widow's garb    
excludes the first ,mrs4 ,s4       #c4  
,although none of us had ever seen the  
second ,mrs4 ,s41 several      people   
who had known her identified her from   
our description4 ,on      being shown a 
photo-album containing a number of      
portraits1 ,i      picked out one of her
 sister as being most like that of the  
figure1      and was afterwards told    
that the sisters were much alike4       
#d4 ,her step-daughter and others told  
us that she especially used      the    
front drawing-room in which she         
continually appeared1 and that      her 
habitual seat was on a couch placed in  

similar position to      ours4       #e4
 ,the figure is undoubtedly connected   
with the house1 none of the             
percipients having seen it anywhere     
else1 nor had any other                 
hallucination4       ,in writing the    
above account1 my memory of the         
occurrences has been      largely       
assisted by reference to a set of       
journal letters written      to ,miss   
,campbell at the time1 and by notes of  
interviews held by      ,mr4 ,myers with
 my father and various members of our   
family4  ,r4 ,c4 ,,morton4  ,of the     
accounts given by the other witnesses1  
,i quote only part of ,miss ,campbell's 
statement1 as follows3--   #gg          
,,chesterton ,,road1 ,,north            
,,kensington1 ,w41 ,march #cast1 #ahib4 
444,on the night on which ,miss ,morton 
first spoke to the figure1 as           
stated in her account1 ,i myself saw her
 telepathically4 ,i was in my      room 
7,i was then residing in the ,north of  
,england1 quite one      hundred miles  

away from ,miss ,morton's home71        
preparing for bed1      between twelve  
and half-past1 when ,i seemed suddenly  
to be standing      close by the door of
 the housemaid's cupboard1 so facing the
 short      flight of stairs leading to 
the top landing4 ,coming down these     
stairs1 ,i saw the figure1 exactly as   
described1 and about two steps          
behind ,miss ,morton herself1 with a    
dressing-gown thrown loosely      round 
her1 and carrying a candle in her hand4 
,a loud noise in the      room overhead 
recalled me to my surroundings1 and     
although ,i tried      for some time ,i 
could not resume the impression4 ,the   
black dress1      dark head-gear1       
widow's cuffs and handkerchief were     
plainly      visible1 though the details
 of them were not given me by ,miss     
,morton till afterwards1 when ,i asked  
her whether she had not seen      the   
apparition on that night4  7,signed7    
,,catherine ,m4 ,,campbell4  ,to this   
account ,miss ,morton adds3--           

,miss ,campbell was the friend to whom  
,i first spoke of the      apparition4  
,she suggested to me that when next ,i  
saw her ,i should      speak2 but of    
course she had no idea when this would  
be4 ,she wrote      an account to me the
 next day of what she had seen1 and     
asked me if      ,i had not seen the    
figure that night2 but naturally did not
 know      that ,i had done so1 until   
she received my reply4 ,miss ,campbell  
asks me to say that this is the only    
vision she has had1 veridical      or   
otherwise4     ,,appendices  ,,to       
,,chapter ,,viii   ,,viii4 ,a4 ,some    
early experiments in                    
thought-transference through            
table-tilting were published by         
,professor ,richet in the ,revue        
,philosophique for ,december #ahhd4 ,a  
critical discussion of these by ,gurney 
appeared in the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 ii4 pp4 #bci-fd1 and a briefer     
report in ,phantasms of the ,living1    
vol4 i4 pp4 #gb-ha4 ,i quote from the   

latter a description of the method      
used3--       ,the place of a planchette
 was taken by a table1 and ,m4 ,richet  
prefaces his account by a succinct      
statement of the orthodox view      as  
to table-turning4 ,rejecting altogether 
the three theories      which attribute 
the phenomena to wholesale fraud1 to    
spirits1 and      to an unknown force1  
he regards the gyrations and            
oscillations of      sance-tables as due
 wholly to the unconscious muscular     
contractions of the sitters4 ,it thus   
occurred to him to employ a      table  
as an indicator of the movements that   
might be produced by      mental        
suggestion4 ,the plan of the experiments
 was as follows4      ,three persons    
7,c1 ,d1 and ,e7 took their seats in a  
semi-circle1 at a      little table on  
which their hands rested4 ,one of these 
three was      always a medium--a term  
used by ,m4 ,richet to denote a person  
liable to exhibit intelligent movements 
in which consciousness and      will    

apparently take no part4 ,attached to   
the table was a simple      electrical  
apparatus1 the effect of which was to   
ring a bell      whenever the current   
was broken by the tilting of the table4 
,behind      the backs of the sitters at
 the table was another table1 on which  
was a large alphabet1 completely        
screened from the view of ,c1 ,d1       
and ,e1 even had they turned round and  
endeavoured to see it4 ,in      front of
 this alphabet sat ,a1 whose duty was to
 follow the letters      slowly and     
steadily with a pen1 returning at once  
to the beginning      as soon as he     
arrived at the end4 ,at ,a's side sat   
,b1 with a      note-book2 his duty was 
to write down the letter at which ,a's  
pen      happened to be pointing        
whenever the bell rang4 ,this happened  
whenever one of the sitters at the table
 made the simple movement      necessary
 to tilt it4 ,under these conditions1 ,a
 and ,b are      apparently mere        
automata4 ,c1 ,d1 and ,e are little     

more1 being      unconscious of tilting 
the table1 which appears to them to tilt
      itself2 but even if they tilted it
 consciously1 and with a      conscious 
desire to dictate words1 they have no   
means of      ascertaining at what      
letter ,a's pen is pointing at any      
particular      moment2 and they might  
tilt for ever without producing more    
than      an endless series of          
incoherent letters4 ,things being       
arranged      thus1 a sixth operator1   
,f1 stationed himself apart both from   
the      tilting table and from the     
alphabet1 and concentrated his thought  
on some word of his own choosing1 which 
he had not communicated to      the     
others4 ,the three sitters at the first 
table engaged in      conversation1     
sang1 or told stories2 but at intervals 
the table      tilted1 the bell rang1   
and ,b wrote down the letter which ,a's 
pen      was opposite to at that moment4
 ,now1 to the astonishment of all       
concerned1 these letters1 when arranged 

in a series1 turned out to      produce 
a more or less close approximation to   
the word of which ,f      was thinking4 
,,viii4 ,b4 ,the correspondent1 ,mr4 ,g4
 ,e4 ,long1 was known to ,dr4 ,hodgson4 
,from ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4  
p4 #fe4   ,,jersey ,,city1 ,n4 ,j41     
,october #bbnd1 #ahhh4  444,i think ,i  
wrote you once that about two years ago 
,i had received      what was said to be
 a most convincing test of              
spirit-return1      convincing to all   
except myself4 ,a young lady1 a         
,spiritualist and      medium1 though   
not a professional1 nor one that ever   
received one      cent in pay1 by means 
of a lettered board and toy chair1 she  
holding one leg of the chair and ,i     
another1 while a third leg of      the  
chair served as a pointer1 gave the     
following by means of the      chair3-- 
,first the chair spelt out my name and  
showed a disposition to get      in my  
lap2 then it spelled out ,,cary1 and    
when ,i asked for the      name of the  

spirit it spelt out ,george 7my name71  
you ought to      know me as ,i am ,jim4
 ,but ,i didn't1 and said so4 ,then1    
without my      looking at the board1 it
 spelt out ,long ,island1 ,jim ,rowe1   
and      ,don't you remember ,i used to 
carry you when you were a little        
fellow1 or words to that effect4 ,i had 
to acknowledge the truth of      it and 
also to say that as he was an ignorant  
man he possibly      intended ,cary for 
carry4 ,i must own ,i was puzzled for   
the moment4      ,to make sure of his   
power ,i asked that he count the pickets
 in the      fence outside of the house 
and ,i would go out and confirm his     
statement4 ,somehow he couldn't agree to
 this1 and even the medium              
objected4 ,as a last resort ,i asked how
 long he had been in the      spirit    
land and the answer came1 between       
thirteen and fourteen      years4       
,now to the sequel4 ,first it occurred  
to me a day or two after1 that          
while all the incidents given were      

correct1 the name should have      been 
given as ,,roe instead of ,,rowe4       
,second1 ,i was upon ,long ,island      
this summer1 and the matter coming to my
 mind ,i inquired how long      ,jim    
,roe had been dead1 and was informed he 
died last winter2 so      when ,i       
received this test so convincing to the 
believers the man      was not dead4    
,yours truly1  ,,geo4 ,e4 ,,long4  ,on  
,october #bfth1 #ahhh1 ,mr4 ,long       
adds3--       ,i do not think that the  
medium was fraudulent4 ,her family      
consists      of ,mr4 ,s4 and three     
daughters1 she being the youngest4 ,i   
have found      all to be hypnotic      
subjects1 with the exception of the     
eldest      daughter4 ,they are all     
believers in ,spiritualism1 the youngest
      having been the medium4 ,they do  
not sit now1 as it is claimed that      
the sittings1 while rich in             
spiritualistic satisfaction1 were       
productive of a state of poor health in 
the medium4       ,as ,i myself have    

obtained information supposed to have   
been      impossible for me to have     
reached1 ,i cannot say for certainty    
that      she had not obtained          
information about ,jim1 but ,i don't    
believe she      had4 ,as the name ,rowe
 was being spelled ,i sat with my eyes  
turned      from the board and had in   
mind the name ,scudder1 and mentally    
followed the taps of the chair to ,s ,c 
,u ,d--when the medium said1      ,the  
name ,rowe is given1 etc4 ,this would   
seem to leave out any      involuntary  
muscular action4 ,why ,rowe should have 
been given      instead of ,roe is still
 another phase4 ,i wonder whether1 if   
any      question of the ,roe family had
 arisen1 ,i would have had in mind the  
name of ,rowe8 ,if so1 then she produced
 that which ,i had long while           
before been conscious of1 but was at the
 time unconscious of1 and      had it   
coupled with an error in spelling that  
,i might have been      guilty of had ,i
 myself been called upon at that moment 

to spell it4      ,had she been         
fraudulent the probability is she would 
have spelt it      correctly4       ,it 
seems to me that the basis of           
,spiritualism rests mainly upon         
this phenomenon which men and women in a
 supernormal condition      produce1    
without understanding it1 and credit it 
to spiritual      agencies4       ,a    
general corroboration of ,mr4 ,long's   
memory of the incident is      added    
from a lady present at the time1 who    
does not now recall the      details4   
,,viii4 ,c4 ,the following case1        
received from ,dr4 ,libeault1 is quoted 
from ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 
p4 #bic3--   ,,nancy1 ,september #dth1  
#ahhe4       ,i hasten to write to you  
as to that case of thought-transference 
of      which ,i spoke to you when you  
were present at my hypnotic sances      
at ,nancy4 ,the incident occurred in a  
,french family from ,new      ,orleans1 
who had come to stay for some time at   
,nancy for business      reasons4 ,i had

 become acquainted with this family from
 the fact      that ,m4 ,g41 its head1  
had brought to me his niece1 ,mlle4 ,b41
 to be      treated by hypnotism4 ,she  
suffered from slight anmia and from a   
nervous cough1 contracted at ,coblentz1 
in a ,high ,school where she      was a 
teacher4 ,i easily induced somnambulism1
 and she was cured in      two sittings4
 ,the production of this hypnotic state 
suggested to      the ,g4 family 7,mrs4 
,g4 was a spirit medium7 and to ,mlle4  
,b4 herself      that she might easily  
become a medium4 ,she set herself to the
      evocation of spirits 7in which she
 firmly believed7 by the aid of      her
 pen1 and at the end of two months she  
had become a remarkable      writing    
medium4 ,i have myself seen her rapidly 
writing page after      page of what she
 called messages1--all in well-chosen   
language      and with no               
erasures1--while at the same time she   
maintained      conversation with the   
people near her4 ,an odd thing was that 

she      had no knowledge whatever of   
what she was writing4 ,it must be a     
spirit1 she would say1 which guides my  
hand2 it is certainly not      ,i4      
,one day1--it was1 ,i think1 ,february  
#gth1 #ahfh1 about #h ,a4,m41 when      
just about to seat herself at table for 
breakfast1 she felt a kind      of need1
 an impulse which prompted her to       
write2--it was what she      called a   
trance1--and she rushed off at once to  
her large      note-book1 where she     
wrote in pencil1 with feverish haste1   
certain      undecipherable words4 ,she 
wrote the same words again and again on 
the pages which followed1 and at last1  
as her agitation diminished1      it was
 possible to read that a person called  
,margurite was thus      announcing her 
death4 ,the family at once assumed that 
a young lady      of that name1 a friend
 of ,mlle4 ,b4's and her companion and  
colleague in the ,coblentz ,high        
,school1 must have just expired4 ,they  
all came immediately to me1 ,mlle4 ,b4  

among them1 and we decided to           
verify the announcement of death that   
very day4 ,mlle4 ,b4 wrote to a         
young ,english lady who was also a      
teacher in that same school4 ,she       
gave some other reason for              
writing2--taking care not to reveal the 
true motive of the letter4 ,by return of
 post we received an answer      in     
,english1 of which they copied for me   
the essential part4 ,i found      this  
answer in a portfolio hardly a fortnight
 ago1 and have mislaid      it again4   
,it expressed the surprise of the       
,english lady at the      receipt of    
,mlle4 ,b4's unexpected and apparently  
motiveless letter4      ,but at the same
 time the ,english correspondent made   
haste to      announce to ,mlle4 ,b4    
that their common friend1 ,margurite1   
had died      on ,february #gth1 at     
about #h ,a4,m4 ,moreover1 the letter   
contained a      little square piece of 
printed paper2--the announcement of     
death      sent round to friends4       

,i need not say that ,i examined the    
envelope1 and that the letter           
appeared to me to have veritably come   
from ,coblentz4 ,yet ,i have      since 
felt a certain regret4 ,in the interests
 of science ,i ought to      have asked 
the ,g4 family to allow me to go with   
them to the      telegraph office to    
inquire whether they had received a     
telegram      early on ,february #gth4  
,science should feel no shame2 truth    
does not      dread exposure4 ,my proof 
of the fact is ultimately a moral one3  
the      honour of the ,g4              
family1--which has always appeared to me
 to be      absolutely above suspicion4 
,a4 ,a4 ,,li,,beault4  ,upon these last 
sentences ,gurney remarks that1 apart   
from the improbability that the whole   
family would join in a conspiracy to    
deceive their friend1 the nature of the 
answer received from ,coblentz shows    
that the writer of it cannot have been  
aware that any telegraphic announcement 
had been sent4 ,and it is in itself     

unlikely that the authorities of the    
school would have felt it necessary     
instantly to communicate the news to    
,mdlle4 ,b4   ,,viii4 ,d4 ,from         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 pp4    
#cdi-ec4 ,the narrative is a translation
 from an article in ,psychische         
,studien1 ,december #ahhi1 pp4 #egb-gg1 
by the ,editor1 the ,hon4 ,alexander    
,aksakoff4       ,the case belongs not  
to the category of facts which are known
 only      to the deceased1 but to the  
category of those which could only be   
imparted by the deceased1 for it relates
 to a political secret      concerning a
 living person1 which was revealed by an
 intimate      friend of that living    
person for the purpose of saving him4 ,i
      shall set forth this case in all  
possible detail1 because ,i             
consider it a most convincing one in    
support of the ,spiritualistic          
hypothesis4 ,i will even express myself 
still more strongly4 ,i      consider   
that it affords as absolute a proof of  

identity as it is      possible for     
evidence of this kind to present4       
,my readers are already acquainted with 
my sister-in-law1 ,mrs4 ,a4      von    
,wiesler1 from the part she took in the 
family sances held with      me in the  
years #ahhj-ahhc1 after the decease of  
my wife4 ,she has an      only daughter1
 ,sophie1 who at the time of those      
sances was      completing her studies4 
,she had taken no part1 either at our   
sances or at any others1 and she had not
 read anything about      ,spiritualism4
 ,her mother also had not joined in any 
sances except      our own4 ,one evening
 in ,october #ahhd1 during the visit of 
a distant      relative1 the            
conversation turned upon ,spiritualism1 
and in order      to please him a trial 
with the table was arranged4 ,this      
sance1      however1 gave no            
satisfactory result4 ,it only showed    
that the two      ladies were able to   
get something4 ,on ,tuesday evening1    
,january #ast1      #ahhe1 ,mrs4 von    

,wiesler being alone with her daughter1 
in order to      divert her mind from   
some matters which made her anxious1    
proposed      to hold a little sance4   
,an alphabet was written out on a sheet 
of      paper1 a saucer with a black    
line as pointer served as a             
planchette1 and1 behold1 the name       
,andreas was indicated4 ,this was       
quite natural1 for ,andreas was the name
 of ,sophie's father1 the      deceased 
husband of ,mrs4 von ,wiesler4 ,the     
communication presented      nothing    
remarkable1 but it was nevertheless     
resolved to continue      the sances    
once a week1 on every ,tuesday4 ,for    
three weeks the      character of the   
communications remained unchanged4 ,the 
name      ,andreas was continually      
repeated4       ,but on the fourth      
,tuesday--,january #bbnd--in place of   
the customary      name1 ,andreas1 the  
name ,schura was spelt out1 to the great
      astonishment of both sitters4     
,then1 by quick and precise movements   

of the pointer1 these words were        
added3--       ,it is given to thee to  
save ,nikolaus4       ,what does this   
mean8 asked the astonished ladies4      
,he is compromised as ,michael was1 and 
will like him go to ruin4 ,a      band  
of good-for-nothing fellows are leading 
him astray4       ,what can be done to  
counteract it8       ,thou must go to   
the ,technological ,institute before    
three o'clock1      let ,nikolaus be    
called out1 and make an appointment with
 him at his      house4       ,this     
being all addressed to the young lady1  
,sophie1 she replied      that it would 
be difficult for her to carry out these 
directions on      account of the slight
 acquaintanceship which existed between 
her      and ,nikolaus's family4        
,absurd ideas of propriety6 was         
,schura's indignant reply4       ,but in
 what way shall ,i be able to influence 
him8 asked ,sophie4       ,thou wilt    
speak to him in my name4       ,then    
your convictions no longer remain the   

same8       ,revolting error6 was the   
reply4       ,i must now explain the    
meaning of this mysterious              
communication4      ,schura is the      
,russian pet name for ,alexandrine4     
,nikolaus and      ,michael were her    
cousins4 ,michael1 quite a young man1   
had      unfortunately allowed himself  
to become entangled by the              
revolutionary ideas of our ,anarchists  
or ,socialists4 ,he was      arrested1  
tried1 and condemned to imprisonment at 
a distance from      ,st4 ,petersburg1  
where he lost his life in an attempt to 
escape4      ,schura loved him dearly1  
and fully sympathised with his political
      convictions1 making no secret of  
it4 ,after his death1 which             
occurred in ,september #ahhd1 she was   
discouraged in her      revolutionary   
aspirations1 and ended her life by      
poison1 at the age      of seventeen1 on
 the #aeth of ,january #ahhe1 just one  
week before the      sance above        
described4 ,nikolaus1 ,michael's        

brother1 was then a      student at the 
,technological ,institute4       ,mrs4  
von ,wiesler and her daughter were aware
 of these      circumstances1 for they  
had long been acquainted with ,schura's 
parents1 and with those of her cousins1 
who belong to the best      society of  
,st4 ,petersburg4 ,it will be obvious   
that ,i cannot publish      the names of
 these families4 ,i have also changed   
those of the young      people4 ,the    
acquaintanceship was1 however1 far from 
being ultimate4      ,they saw each     
other occasionally1 but nothing more4   
,later ,i will      give further        
details4 ,we will now continue our      
narrative4       ,naturally1 neither    
,mrs4 von ,wiesler nor her daughter knew
 anything      as to the views or secret
 conduct of ,nikolaus4 ,the             
communication      was just as          
unexpected as it was important4 ,it     
involved a great      responsibility4   
,sophie's position was a very difficult 
one4 ,the      literal carrying out of  

,schura's demands was1 for a young lady1
      simply impossible1 merely from    
considerations of social propriety4     
,what right could she have1 on the      
ground of simple      acquaintanceship1 
to interfere in family affairs of so    
delicate a      character8 ,besides1 it 
might not be true2 or1 quite simply and 
most      probably1 ,nikolaus might deny
 it4 ,what position would she then find 
herself in8 ,mrs4 von ,wiesler knew only
 too well1 from the sances      she had 
taken part in with me1 how little       
dependence can be placed      on        
,spiritualistic communications4 ,she    
counselled her daughter1 in      the    
first place1 to convince herself of     
,schura's identity4 ,this      advice   
was followed without any hesitation as  
one way out of the      difficulty4     
,on the following ,tuesday ,schura      
manifested at once1 and ,sophie         
asked for a proof of her identity1 to   
which ,schura forthwith      replied3-- 
,invite ,nikolaus1 arrange a sance1 and 

,i will come4       ,it will be seen    
from this reply that ,schura1 who during
 her life      had learnt to despise the
 conventionalities of society1 as is the
      custom among the ,socialists1     
remained true to her character1 and     
again demanded what was an              
impossibility4 ,nikolaus had never been 
in ,mrs4 von ,wiesler's house4 ,sophie  
then asked for another proof of      her
 identity1 without ,nikolaus being      
brought in at all1 and      requested   
that it might be a convincing one4      
,i will appear to thee1 was the reply4  
,how8       ,thou wilt see4       ,a few
 days later ,sophie was returning home  
from a soire2 it was      nearly #d     
,a4,m4 ,she was just retiring1 and was  
at the door between      her bedroom and
 the dining-room1 there being no lights 
in the      latter1 when she saw on the 
wall of the dining-room1 in sight of    
the door at which she stood1 a luminous 
round spot1 with1 as it      were1      
shoulders4 ,this lasted for two or three

 seconds1 and      disappeared1         
ascending towards the ceiling4 ,sophie  
immediately      assured herself that it
 was not the reflection of any light    
coming      from the street4       ,at  
the sance on the following ,tuesday1 an 
explanation of this      appearance     
being asked for1 ,schura replied3--     
,it was the outline of a head with      
shoulders4 ,i cannot appear more        
distinctly4 ,i am still weak4           
,many other details1 which ,i have      
passed over1 tended to convince         
,sophie of the reality of ,schura's     
identity1 yet she could not      bring  
herself to carry out that which ,schura 
desired her to do4      ,she therefore  
proposed as a suitable compromise that  
she should      acquaint ,nikolaus's    
parents with what had occurred4         
,this proposal aroused ,schura's        
strongest displeasure1 expressed      by
 violent movements of the saucer1 and by
 the sentence3--       ,that will lead  
to nothing2--after which disparaging    

epithets      followed1 impossible to   
repeat here1 especially applicable to   
persons of weak and irresolute          
character1 with whom the energetic      
and decisive ,schura had no             
patience--epithets which are not found  
in dictionaries1 but which were         
expressions used by ,schura in her      
lifetime1 and characteristic of her4    
,this was confirmed in the      sequel4 
,nevertheless ,sophie continued to      
hesitate1 and at each successive        
sance ,schura insisted more and more    
imperatively that ,sophie      must act 
at once4 ,this is very important to     
notice1 as we shall see      later4     
,this want of resolution on the part of 
,sophie was ascribed      by ,schura to 
the influence of ,mrs4 von ,wiesler4    
,from the      beginning ,schura had    
seemed to bear a grudge against ,mrs4   
von      ,wiesler4 ,from the first sance
 she addressed ,sophie only4 ,she never 
permitted ,mrs4 von ,wiesler to ask a   
question4 ,whenever she      attempted  

to do so1 she met with a--,be silent--be
 silent6 ,whereas      in addressing    
,sophie she overwhelmed her with the    
tenderest      expressions4       ,how  
great was the astonishment and          
consternation of the ladies1      when  
at the sance on the #bfth of ,february  
the first words were3--       ,it is too
 late4 ,thou wilt repent it bitterly4   
,the pangs of remorse      will follow  
thee4 ,expect his arrest6       ,these  
were ,schura's last words4 ,from this   
time she was silent4 ,a      sance was  
attempted on the following ,tuesday1 but
 there was no      result4 ,the sances  
of ,mrs4 von ,wiesler and her daughter  
were from      that time entirely given 
up4       ,while these sances were being
 held1 ,mrs4 von ,wiesler naturally     
kept me informed of what transpired1 and
 consulted with me as to      what was  
to be done in view of the extraordinary 
character of      ,schura's requests4   
,some time after they had ceased1 ,mrs4 
von      ,wiesler1 to satisfy her own   

conscience and to comfort her daughter1 
resolved to communicate the whole       
episode to the parents of               
,nikolaus4 ,they paid no attention to   
it4 ,nothing was elicited that      any 
fault could be found with4 ,the family  
were quite satisfied in      regard to  
,nikolaus's conduct4 ,but it is         
important to bear in mind      the fact 
that these ,spiritualistic              
communications were made known      to  
the parents before the final issue4     
,when during the remainder of      the  
year everything went on happily1 ,sophie
 became fully convinced      that all   
the communications were only lies1 and  
formed a resolution      that she would 
never again occupy herself with         
,spiritualistic      sances4            
,another year passed without any special
 event4 ,but on the #ith of      ,march1
 #ahhg1 the secret police suddenly      
searched ,nikolaus's rooms4      ,he was
 arrested in his own house1 and within  
twenty-four hours was      exiled from  

,st4 ,petersburg4 ,it came out later    
that his crime was      taking part in  
anarchical assemblies--assemblies which 
were held in      the months of ,january
 and ,february #ahhe1 exactly           
corresponding with      the time when   
,schura was insisting that steps should 
then be      taken to dissuade ,nikolaus
 from taking part in such meetings4     
,only      now were the communications  
of ,schura estimated at their true      
value4 ,the notes which ,mrs4 von       
,wiesler had made were read again       
and again by the families both of       
,schura and of ,nikolaus4      ,schura's
 identity in all those manifestations   
was recognised as      incontestably    
demonstrated1 in the first place1 by the
 main fact in      relation to          
,nikolaus1 by other intimate            
particulars1 and also by      the       
totality of the features which          
characterised her personality4          
,this mournful occurrence fell like a   
fresh thunderclap on      ,nikolaus's   

family1 and they had only to thank ,god 
that the errors      of the young man   
were not followed by more fatal results4
       ,in order to estimate this       
incident aright1 it is of great         
importance to establish the relations   
which existed between the two      young
 ladies4 ,i have requested ,madame and  
,mdlle4 von ,wiesler to      give me on 
this1 as on the previous points1 a      
written memorandum in      full detail2 
and from that memorandum ,i extract what
 follows      somewhat abridged here3-- 
,in ,december #ahhj ,madame von ,wiesler
 and her daughter paid a      ,christmas
 visit to ,schura's grandfather1        
,senator ,n41 where ,sophie      saw    
,schura for the first time4 ,sophie was 
then about thirteen      years old1 and 
,schura even younger4 ,sophie was       
astonished to see      ,schura's        
writing-table covered with books and had
 a talk with      her about favourite   
authors4 ,the two girls often saw each  
other at      a distance in the         

recreation-room of their school during  
the      winter1 but ,schura was soon   
transferred to another school4 ,they    
met once at a country-house without     
exchanging a word1 and saw each         
other once across a theatre4 ,sophie1 in
 fact1 had had one childish      talk   
with ,schura2 ,madame von ,wiesler had  
never had any real talk      with her4  
,hence it is clear that the relations of
 these ladies      with ,schura were of 
the most distant kind1 and that they    
could      not know anything of her     
political secrets4   ,,viii4 ,e4 ,from  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 pp4  
#bdh-ea4bcj  ,the following letters were
 received from the principal witness1   
,mrs4 ,finney3--   ,,rockland1 ,,mass41 
,april #aith1 #ahia4       ,,mr4        
,,hodgson1--,,dear ,,sir1--,some weeks  
ago ,i received from you a few          
lines asking me to give you an account  
of the communication      received from 
,cousin ,benja in spirit-life1 some     
twenty-five years      ago4       ,for  

weeks and months before my brother left 
the form we conversed      freely on the
 subject of spirit communion and such   
matters1 and one      morning he        
requested me to bring him a small piece 
of brick1 also      pen and ink2 he then
 made two marks on one side1 and one on 
the      other with the ink1 then       
breaking the brick in two1 gave me one  
piece1 telling me at the time to take   
care of it1 and some day he      would  
hide the other piece away where no one  
but himself would      know1 and after  
leaving the form1 if possible1 would    
return in some      way and tell me     
where it was4 ,i could then compare them
 together1      and it would be a test  
that he could return and communicate1   
and      my mind could not have any     
influence over it1 as ,i did not know   
where he put it4       ,after he left   
the form our anxiety was very great to  
hear and      learn all we could of     
communicating with spirits1 and for     
months we      got nothing satisfactory4

       ,we then commenced sitting at the
 table at home 7mother and myself71     
which we did for some little time2 at   
last it commenced tipping1      and by  
calling the alphabet spelled out where  
we could find the      piece of brick   
that he put away1--that was the way we  
got the test4      ,to us that was truth
 that spirits can and do communicate    
with us1      and nothing but the       
influence and power of ,benja could tell
 us that      test4--,truly yours1      
,,mrs4 ,,wm4 ,a4 ,,finney4  ,,rockland1 
,may #crd1 #ahia4       ,,mr4 ,r4       
,,hodgson1--,,dear ,,sir1--,yours of    
,april #bast received1 and ,i      will 
add a few more lines as to statement of 
brother ,benja's      communication4    
,by calling the alphabet we spelled     
out3--       ,you will find that piece  
of brick in the cabinet under the       
tomahawk4--,,benja4       ,i went to    
that room and took the key1 unlocked the
 cabinet1 which      had not been       
touched by any one after he locked it   

and put away the      key4 ,there ,i    
found that piece of brick just as it had
 spelled out1      and it corresponded  
with the piece ,i had retained1 fitting 
on      exactly where he broke it off   
the piece ,i had4 ,it was wrapped in a  
bit of paper and tucked into a shell1   
and placed in the bottom of      the    
cabinet exactly under the tomahawk1 as  
was spelled out by the      alphabet4   
,this is truth1 and no power but        
,benja's could tell that4       ,mother 
is not living2 ,i am the only one of the
 family that is      living4--,yours    
respectfully1  ,,mrs4 ,,wm4 ,a4         
,,finney4  ,,rockland1 ,may #aath1      
#ahia4       ,,mr4 ,r4                  
,,hodgson1--,,dear ,,sir1--,yours of    
#fth received4 ,i will continue      to 
say1 in answer to your questions1 that  
the piece of brick was      entirely    
concealed in the shell1 so that it could
 not be seen from      outside of       
cabinet4 ,it was wrapped in a piece of  
paper stuck      together with mucilage 

and tucked into the end of the shell1   
then a      piece of paper gummed over  
that1 so that nothing was visible from  
the shell4 ,the shell was on the lower  
shelf of the cabinet1 and      only the 
top of the shell was visible outside the
 cabinet4       ,one more little        
incident ,i will mention1 for to me it  
is as      valuable as the other4 ,he   
wrote me a letter 7about the time he    
gave      me the piece of brick7 and    
sealed it1 saying at the time it was not
      to be answered1 but the contents  
of the letter to be told4 ,i got        
that in the same way ,i did the other1  
by calling the alphabet and      the    
table tipping4 ,it was these words3--   
,julia6 do right and be happy4--,,benja4
       ,that was correct4 ,just the     
contents of my letter4 ,i have no       
particular objection as to giving my    
name1 for ,i have stated      nothing   
but the truth4       ,at my home in     
,kingston ,i have that little shell with
 the piece of      brick1 and if you    

would like them ,i will send them to    
you4 ,will      place the brick into the
 shell as it was when ,i found it4 ,of  
course1 the paper that was around it    
then is worn out years ago4      ,the   
cabinet is disposed of4  ,,julia ,a4    
,,finney4  ,mrs4 ,finney further        
writes3--   ,,rockland1 ,june #bfth1    
#ahia4       ,i send you by express a   
box containing the letter and shell with
      the piece of brick4 ,i have placed
 one piece in the shell just as it      
was when ,i found it1 so you can see how
 nicely it was concealed in      the    
shell4 ,the papers that were around it  
then are worn out4 ,you      can retain 
them if you like1 as ,i do not care for 
them now4       ,to me it is a positive 
truth that he did communicate to us1 and
 our      minds could have nothing to do
 with it4  ,j4 ,a4 ,,finney4            
,,rockland1 ,july #aith1 #ahia4  444,the
 shell was placed on the same shelf with
 the tomahawk1 and no      other shells 
on that shelf4 ,it was placed with the  

open side down1      and the tomahawk   
stood directly over it4 ,i cannot say   
why he did      not tell us to look     
inside of the shell4 ,we started to look
 as soon      as he told us4 ,it was in 
the cabinet under the tomahawk4 ,we did 
not      wait for any more to be said4  
,i am not intimately acquainted with    
many public people4 ,as to my           
integrity1 will refer you to ,rev4 ,c4  
,y4 de ,normandie1 of ,kingston4  ,j4   
,a4 ,,finney4  ,dr4 ,hodgson writes3--  
,the shell is a large ,triton1 about ten
 inches long4 ,the piece of      brick  
was wrapped in folds of soft paper and  
tucked deeply into the      recess4     
,another piece of paper was then gummed 
around the sides of      the shell in   
the interior1 so as absolutely to       
prevent the piece of      brick from    
falling out4 ,when ,i received the shell
 from ,mrs4 ,finney      and looked into
 the interior and shook the shell       
violently1 there      was nothing to    
indicate that the shell contained       

anything but the      piece of gummed   
paper4       ,the piece of brick in the 
shell weighs one and a half ounces1 and 
the piece of brick retained by ,mrs4    
,finney weighs about two and a          
quarter ounces4 ,the shell with the     
piece of brick and paper      wrapping  
weighs about eleven and a half ounces4  
,mrs4 ,finney also forwarded me the     
letter written by her brother4      ,the
 shell and the pieces of brick and the  
letter are now all in my                
possession4  ,r4 ,,hodgson4       ,we   
have a letter 7in original7 from the    
,rev4 ,c4 ,y4 de ,normandie1 of         
,kingston1 ,canada1 to ,mrs4 ,finney4 ,i
 expressed then1 he says1      speaking 
of a former note to ,dr4 ,hodgson1 which
 accidentally went      astray1 that to 
the best knowledge ,i had of you and to 
my firm      belief your word could be  
implicitly relied on4 ,i felt confident 
that you would state a matter as you    
understood it1 as you regarded      it1 
without reference to the consequences2  

and that you would not      be any more 
likely to be misled and deceived about a
 matter of that      kind than others   
similarly situated4     ,,appendices    
,,to  ,,chapter ,,ix  ,,scheme ,,of     
,,vital ,,faculty4   ,,ix4 ,a4 ,the     
following scheme#bca is not put forth as
 expressing deliberate convictions1     
supported by adequate evidence4 ,its    
speculative character has1 in fact1     
excluded it from my text1 yet ,i hope   
that it may not be without its use4 ,for
 many men the difficulty of belief is   
not so much in defect of trustworthy    
evidence as in the unintelligibility1   
the incoherence of the phenomena        
described1 which prevents them from     
being retained in the mind or           
assimilated with previous knowledge4  ,i
 have felt myself the full force of this
 objection1 and ,i believe that some    
effort to meet it has become absolutely 
needful4 ,undoubtedly a record of facts 
without theories is the first essential4
 ,but the facts individually are like   

stones that fall down from              
,jupiter1--isolated marvels1 each of    
which seems incredible until we have    
made shift to colligate them all4  ,let 
us begin1 then1 by taking the most      
generalised view possible of all these  
phenomena4 ,they appear1 at any rate1 to
 depend upon the presence of living     
human beings2 and they are therefore in 
some sense phenomena of life4 ,if1 then1
 they are phenomena of life1 they must  
be in some way derived from1 or must    
bear some analogy to1 the vital         
phenomena1 the faculties and functions  
with which we are familiar in the       
experience of every day4 ,yet to say    
this brings us little nearer to our aim4
 ,spirits may have ruled ,mr4 ,moses'   
mind and body just as truly as our own  
conscious will rules our mind and       
body4#bcb ,but the results which they   
produced were so different from any     
results which we can produce that it is 
hard to know where to begin the         
comparison4 ,is there not some middle   

term1 some intermediate series1 with    
which both these extreme series may have
 points of resemblance8  ,it is here    
that we ought to feel the advantage of  
previous discussions on man's own       
supernormal faculties1--on the powers of
 the ,self below the threshold of       
ordinary consciousness4 ,we have traced 
these powers in detail2 we have noted   
the extension of the normal spectrum of 
consciousness beyond both red and violet
 ends1 in response to subliminal        
control4 ,perhaps the profounder        
conception of the ,self thus gained may 
help us to bridge over that gulf between
 the performances of the ordinary man   
and those of the so-called medium which 
heretofore has involved so difficult a  
leap4 ,we may find that the spirit's    
power over the organism which it        
controls or possesses1--while possibly  
going much further than any subliminal  
power in the organism itself1 as known  
to us1--may yet advance along similar   
lines1 and receive explanation from     

hypnotic or telepathic phenomena4 ,i    
will endeavour1 then1 to set side by    
side1 in tabular form1 the main heads of
 vital process or faculty as exercised  
7#a7 under normal or supraliminal       
control2 7#b7 under subliminal and      
telepathic control2 7#c7 under what is  
claimed as disembodied or spiritual     
control4  ,in arranging this scheme my  
first object is to bring all such       
phenomena as we actually have before us 
into intelligible connection2           
introducing by the way a few of the     
explanations given to ,mr4 ,moses by his
 guides4 ,those explanations1 however1  
are for the most part slight and vague1 
and our experimental knowledge of the   
phenomena is1 of course1 merely nascent 
and fragmentary4 ,my scheme1 therefore1 
cannot aim at complete logical          
arrangement4 ,it must involve both      
repetitions and lacun2 nor can it be    
such as the physiologist would care to  
sanction4 ,but it will1 at least1 be a  
first attempt at a connected schedule or

 rational index of phenomena apparently 
so disparate that the very possibility  
of their interdependence b even now     
constantly denied4   ,,synopsis ,,of    
,,vital ,,faculty  ,i4  ,,first         
,,series3--,,phenomena ,,supraliminally 
,,controlled1 ,,or ,,occurring ,,in     
,,ordinary ,,life4       #a4            
,supraliminal or empirical              
consciousness2 aware only of the        
material world through sensory          
impressions4       #b4 ,physical        
nutrition1 including respiration4       
7a7 ,physiological and pathological     
processes and products4       #c4       
,physical expenditure2 action on        
material and etherial      environment4 
7a7 ,mechanical work done at the expense
 of food assimilated4       7b7         
,production of heat1 odour1 sound1      
chemical changes1 as the      result of 
protoplasmic metabolism4       7c7      
,production of etherial disturbances2 as
 emission of light and      generation  
of electrical energy4       #d4 ,action 

on the incarnation of life on the       
planet4       7a7 ,reproduction1 as     
physiological division4       #e4       
,mental nutrition2 sensory receptivity4 
7a7 ,ordinary sense-perception4         
7b7 ,memory4       #f4 ,mental          
expenditure2 response to stimuli4       
7a7 ,intra-cerebral response2 ideation4 
7b7 ,emotion2 will2 voluntary           
innervation4       #g4 ,modifications of
 supraliminal personality4       7a7    
,birth2 as physiological individuation4 
7b7 ,sleep2 with dreams1 as oscillations
 of the conscious      threshold4       
7c7 ,metamorphoses2 as of insects and   
amphibians2 and      polymorphism1 as of
 hydrozoa2 multiplex personality4       
7d7 ,death2 as physiological            
dissolution4   ,,ii4  ,,second          
,,series3--,,phenomena ,,subliminally   
,,controlled4       #a4 ,subliminal     
consciousness2 obscurely aware of the   
transcendental      world1 through      
telepathic and telsthetic impressions4  
#b4 ,physical nutrition modified by     

subliminal control4       7a7           
,suggestion1 self-suggestion1           
psycho-therapeutics4       7b7          
,stigmatisation4       #c4 ,physical    
expenditure modified by subliminal      
control4       7a7 ,mechanical work     
modified by psychical integration or    
disintegration2 hysteria4       7b7     
,production of heat1 and other specific 
effects upon matter1      subliminally  
modified4       7c7 ,emission of light1 
and generation of electrical energy     
modified4       #d4 ,action on the      
incarnation of life on the planet4      
7a7 ,prenatal suggestion through        
intermediate organism of parent4        
#e4 ,mental nutrition 7sensory and      
supersensory receptivity7               
subliminally controlled4       7a7      
,hypersthesia2 ansthesia2 analgesia4    
7b7 ,hypermnesia1 manifested in dreams  
or automatisms4       7c7 ,telepathy2   
veridical hallucinations2 sensory       
automatism4       7d7 ,telsthesia or    
clairvoyance2 perception of distant     

scenes2      retrocognition2            
precognition4       #f4 ,mental         
expenditure2 response to stimuli        
modified by subliminal      control4    
7a7 ,subliminal ideation2 the           
inspirations of genius4       7b7 ,motor
 automatism2 concurrent consciousness2  
hyperboulia4       7c7 ,extradition of  
will-power beyond the organism2 telergy2
      self-projection4       #g4        
,modifications of subliminal            
personality4       7a7 ,birth2 as       
spiritual individuation4       7b7      
,sleep and trance2 self-suggested or    
telepathically suggested2      with     
clairvoyant visions4       7c7 ,ecstasy4
       7d7 ,death2 as irrevocable       
self-projection of the spirit4   ,,iii4 
,,third ,,series3--,,phenomena ,,claimed
 ,,as ,,spiritually ,,controlled4       
#a4 ,subliminal consciousness1          
discerning and influenced by            
disembodied spirits in a spiritual      
world1 who co-operate in      producing 
objective phenomena4       #b4 ,physical

 nutrition modified by spirit-control4  
7a7 ,spirit-suggestion2                 
psycho-therapeutics4       7b7          
,stigmatisation4       7c7 ,novel and   
purposive metastasis of secretion4      
#c4 ,physical expenditure modified by   
spirit-control4       7a7 ,mechanical   
efficiency increased and fulcrum        
displaced4       7b7 ,control over      
individual material molecules2 resulting
 in      abrogation of ordinary thermal 
laws1 and in aggregation and            
disaggregation of matter4       7c7     
,control over etherial manifestations2  
with possible effects      in the       
domains of light1 electricity1          
gravitation1 and cohesion4       #d4    
,action on the incarnation of life on   
the planet4       7a7 ,pre-conceptual   
suggestion or self-suggestion4       7b7
 ,ectoplasy or ,materialisation2        
temporary extradition or                
concentration of vital energy4       #e4
 ,mental nutrition modified by          
spirit-control4       7a7 ,ordinary     

sensory perception spiritually          
controlled4       7b7 ,memory           
controlled2 retrocognition spiritually  
given4       7c7 ,sensory automatism    
spiritually controlled2 phantasms of the
      dead1 etc4       7d7 ,telsthesia  
developed into perception of spiritual  
environment2 precognition4       #f4    
,response to stimuli spiritually        
controlled4       7a7 ,ideation inspired
 by spirits4       7b7 ,motor automatism
 spiritually controlled2 possession4    
7c7 ,extension of will-power into the   
spiritual world2 prayer4       #g4      
,modifications of personality from      
spiritual standpoint4       7a7 ,birth2 
as descent into generation4       7b7   
,sleep and trance induced1 and visions  
inspired1 by spirits4       7c7         
,precursory emergence into completer    
personality2 ecstasy with               
perception of spiritual world4       7d7
 ,death2 as birth into completer        
personality4       7e7 ,vital faculty   
fully exercised in spiritual world4     

,,ix4 ,b4 7#a7 ,the following case is   
quoted from the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 v4 p4 #bec4 ,professor ,luther         
writes3--   ,,hartford1 ,,conn41 ,march 
#bnd1 #ahib4  444,miss ,c4 is often in  
my study and consults my books freely1  
so      that her dream was not          
remarkable4 ,the dream of ,mrs4 ,l4 7my 
wife7      was also ordinary in         
character4 ,the coincidence in time of  
the      dreams may have been merely a  
coincidence4 ,but that after these      
occurrences ,mrs4 ,l4 should suddenly1  
without the least      premeditation and
 without hesitation1 take the right book
 and open      it at the right page with
 the certainty of a somnambulist1 seems 
to      me strange4444       ,these     
events took place yesterday1 last night1
 and this morning4  ,f4 ,s4 ,,luther    
7,prof4 ,math41 ,trinity ,college74     
,mrs4 ,l4 and ,miss ,c4 live at the same
 hotel and meet daily4 ,miss ,c4 is     
engaged in writing an essay upon        
,emerson1 and expresses to ,mrs4 ,l4 her

 wish to obtain some particulars as to  
,emerson's private life4 ,mrs4 ,l4      
regrets that she has no book treating of
 the subject4 ,during the night         
following this conversation ,mrs4 ,l4   
dreams of handing ,miss ,c4 a book      
containing an article such as is        
desired1 and ,miss ,c4 dreams of telling
 ,mrs4 ,l4 that she had procured just   
the information which she had been      
looking for4 ,each lady relates to the  
other her dream when they meet at       
breakfast the next morning4 ,mrs4 ,l4   
returns to her room1 and1 while         
certainly not consciously thinking of   
,emerson1 suddenly finds in her mind the
 thought1 ,there is the book which ,miss
 ,c4 needs4 ,she goes directly to a     
bookcase1 takes down vol4 xvii4 of the  
,century ,magazine1 and opens           
immediately at the article1 ,the ,homes 
and ,haunts of ,emerson4 ,mrs4 ,l4 had  
undoubtedly read this article in #ahgi1 
but she had never studied ,emerson or   
his works1 nor had she made any special 

effort to assist ,miss ,c4 in her       
search1 though feeling a friend's       
interest in the proposed essay4         
,after receiving the book and hearing   
how it was selected1 ,miss ,c4          
relates her dream more fully1 it        
appearing that she had seemed to      be
 standing in front of ,mrs4 ,l4's       
shelves with a large1 illustrated       
book in her hands1 and that in the book 
was something about      ,emerson4      
,still later it is found that ,miss ,c4 
had actually noticed the      article in
 question while actually in the position
 reproduced in      her dream4 ,this1   
however1 had happened about a month     
previous to      the events just        
narrated1 and before she had thought of 
looking up      authorities as to       
,emerson1 so that she had entirely      
forgotten the      occurrence and the   
article4 ,neither did she1 at that time1
 call      ,mrs4 ,l4's attention to the 
article1 or mention ,emerson4           
,according to the best information      

attainable1 ,miss ,c4 was not           
thinking of her essay at the time when  
,mrs4 ,l4 felt the sudden      impulse  
to take down a certain book4 ,and       
perhaps it should be added      that the
 volume is one of a complete set of the 
,century variously      disposed upon   
,mrs4 ,l4's shelves4       ,this account
 is signed by ,professor ,luther1 ,mrs4 
,l41 and ,miss ,c4  ,of special interest
 are a few cases where the actual       
mechanism of some brief communication   
from the spiritual world seems to       
suggest and lead up to the mechanism    
which we shall afterwards describe      
either as ecstasy or as possession4     
7#b7 ,i give here a case which suggests 
such knowledge as may be learnt in      
ecstasy2--as though a message had been  
communicated to a sleeper during some   
brief excursion into the spiritual      
world1--which message was remembered for
 a few moments1 in symbolic form1 and   
then rapidly forgotten1 as the sleeper  
returned fully into the normal waking   

state4 ,what is to be noted is that the 
personality of sleep1 to which ,i       
attribute the spiritual excursion1 seems
 at first to have been controlling the  
awakened organism4 ,in other words1     
,professor ,thoulet was partially       
entranced or possessed by his own spirit
 or subliminal self4  ,i quote from     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4    
#ejc-e1 a translation of the original   
account of the case in the ,annales des 
,sciences ,psychiques                   
7,september-,october1 #ahia74           
,professor ,thoulet writes to ,professor
 ,richet as follows3--   ,april #agth1  
#ahia4  444,during the summer of #ahfg1 
,i was officially the assistant1 but    
in reality the friend1 in spite of      
difference in age1 of ,m4 ,f41 a        
former officer in the navy1 who had gone
 into business4 ,we were      trying to 
set on foot again the exploitation of an
 old sulphur mine      at ,rivanazzaro1 
near ,voghera1 in ,piedmont1 which had  
been long      abandoned on account of a

 falling in4       ,we occupied the same
 rooms1 and our relations were those of 
father      and son1 or of elder and    
younger brother4444       ,i knew that  
,madame ,f41 who lived at ,toulon1 and  
with whom ,i was      slightly          
acquainted1 would soon be confined4 ,i  
cannot say ,i was      indifferent about
 this fact1 for it concerned ,m4 ,f42   
but it      certainly caused me no      
profound emotion2 it was a second child1
 all      was going well1 and ,m4 ,f4   
was not anxious4 ,i myself was well and 
calm4 ,it is true that a few days       
before1 in ,burgundy1 my mother had     
fallen out of a carriage2 but the fall  
had no bad consequences1 and      the   
letter which informed me of it also told
 me there was no harm      done4        
,m4 ,f4 and ,i slept in adjoining rooms1
 and as it was hot we left the      door
 between them open4 ,one morning ,i     
sprang suddenly out of bed1      crossed
 my room1 entered that of ,m4 ,f41 and  
awakened him by crying      out1 ,you   

have just got a little girl2 the        
telegram says 444 ,upon      this ,i    
began to read the telegram4 ,m4 ,f4 sat 
up and listened2 but      all at once ,i
 understood that ,i had been asleep1 and
 that      consequently my telegram was 
only a dream1 not to be believed2 and   
then1 at the same time1 this telegram1  
which was somehow in my hand      and of
 which ,i had read about three lines    
aloud1 word for word1      seemed to    
withdraw from my eyes as if some one    
were carrying it off      open2 the     
words disappeared1 though their image   
still remained2      those which ,i had 
pronounced remained in my memory1 while 
the      rest of the telegram was only a
 form4       ,i stammered something2 ,m4
 ,f4 got up and led me into the         
dining-room1 and made me write down the 
words ,i had pronounced2      when ,i   
came to the lines which1 though they had
 disappeared from my      memory1 still 
remained pictured in my eye1 ,i replaced
 them by dots1      making a sort of    

drawing of them4 ,remark that the       
telegram was not      written in common 
terms2 there were about six lines of it1
 and ,i      had read more than two of  
them4 ,then1 becoming aware of our      
rather      incorrect costume1 ,m4 ,f4  
and ,i began to laugh1 and went back to 
our      beds4       ,two or three days 
after ,i left for ,tore2 ,i tried in    
vain to      remember the rest of the   
telegram2 ,i went on to ,turin1 and     
eight or      ten days after my dream ,i
 received the following telegram from   
,m4      ,f41 ,come directly1 you were  
right4       ,i returned to ,rivanazzaro
 and ,m4 ,f4 showed me a telegram which 
he      had received the evening before2
 ,i recognised it as the one ,i had     
seen in my dream2 the beginning was     
exactly what ,i had written1 and        
the end1 which was exactly like my      
drawing1 enabled me to read      again  
the words which ,i saw again4 ,please   
remark that the      confinement had    
taken place the evening before1 and     

therefore the      fact was not that ,i1
 being in ,italy1 had seen a telegram   
which      already existed in           
,france--this ,i might with some        
difficulty have      understood--but    
that ,i had seen it ten days before it  
existed or      could have existed2     
since the event it announced had not yet
 taken      place4 ,i have turned this  
phenomenon over in my memory and        
reasoned      about it many times1      
trying to explain it1 to connect it with
      something1 with a previous        
conversation1 with some mental tension1 
with an analogy1 a wish1--and all in    
vain4 ,m4 ,f4 is dead1 and the          
paper ,i wrote has disappeared4 ,if ,i  
were called before a court of           
justice about it1 ,i could not furnish  
the shadow of a material      proof1 and
 again the two personalities which exist
 in me1 the      animal and the savant1 
have disputed on this subject so often  
that sometimes ,i doubt it myself4      
,however1 the animal1 obstinate      as 

an animal usually is1 repeats           
incessantly that ,i have seen1 and      
,i have read1 and it is useless for me  
to tell myself that if any      one else
 told me such a story ,i should not     
believe it4 ,i am obliged      to admit 
that it happened4  ,j4 ,,thoulet1       
,professor at the ,facult des ,sciences 
at ,nancy4  ,professor ,richet adds3--  
,m4 ,thoulet has lately confirmed all   
the details contained in his            
letter4 ,he has no longer any written   
trace of this old story1 but      the   
recollection of it is perfectly clear4  
,he assured me that he      had seen and
 read the telegram like a real          
object4444  7#c7 ,and now ,i quote a    
case where a kind of conversation is    
indicated between the sleeper and some  
communicating spirit2--recalling the    
scraps of conversation sometimes        
overheard 7as it were7 between ,mrs4    
,piper and some control when she is in  
the act of awaking from trance4 ,these  
moments between two worlds are often1 as

 will be seen1 of high significance4 ,in
 the case here cited we seem to see ,mr4
 ,goodall at first misapprehending a    
message1 and himself automatically      
uttering the misapprehension1 and then  
receiving the needed correction from his
 invisible interlocutor4  ,from         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 pp4     
#dec-e4 ,the following narrative was    
communicated by ,mr4 ,edward ,a4        
,goodall1 of the ,royal ,society of     
,painters in ,water ,colours1 ,london3--
   ,may #ahhh4       ,at ,midsummer1    
#ahfi1 ,i left ,london for ,naples4 ,the
 heat being      excessive1 people were 
leaving for ,ischia1 and ,i thought it  
best to      go there myself4           
,crossing by steamer1 ,i slept one night
 at ,casamicciola1 on the      coast1   
and walked next morning into the town of
 ,ischia4       ,liking the hotel there 
better than my quarters of the previous 
night1 ,i fetched my small amount of    
luggage by help of a man1 who           
returned with me on foot beside an      

animal which ,i rode--one of the        
fine1 sure-footed1 big donkeys of the   
country4 ,arrived at the      hotel1 and
 while sitting perfectly still in my    
saddle talking to      the landlady1 the
 donkey went down upon his knees as if  
he had been      shot or struck by      
lightning1 throwing me over his head    
upon the      lava pavement4 ,in        
endeavouring to save myself my right    
hand was      badly injured4 ,it soon   
became much swollen and very painful4 ,a
      ,neapolitan doctor on the spot    
said no bones were broken1 but          
perfect rest would be needful1 with my  
arm in a sling4 ,sketching1      of     
course1 was impossible1 and with neither
 books1 newspapers1 nor      letters ,i 
felt my inactivity keenly4       ,it    
must have been on my third or fourth    
night1 and about the middle      of it1 
when ,i awoke1 as it seemed at the sound
 of my own voice1      saying1 ,i know  
,i have lost my dearest little ,may4    
,another voice1      which ,i in no way 

recognised1 answered1 ,no1 not ,may1 but
 your      youngest boy4       ,the     
distinctness and solemnity of the voice 
made such a distressing      impression 
upon me that ,i slept no more4 ,i got up
 at daybreak1 and      went out1        
noticing for the first time             
telegraph-poles and wires4              
,without delay ,i communicated with the 
postmaster at ,naples1 and by      next 
boat received two letters from home4 ,i 
opened them according      to dates     
outside4 ,the first told me that my     
youngest boy was taken      suddenly    
ill2 the second1 that he was dead4      
,neither on his account nor on that of  
any of my family had ,i any      cause  
for uneasiness4 ,all were quite well on 
my taking leave of      them so lately4 
,my impression ever since has been that 
the time of      the death coincided as 
nearly as we could judge with the time  
of my      accident4#bcc       ,in      
writing to ,mrs4 ,goodall1 ,i called the
 incident of the voice a      dream1 as 

less likely perhaps to disturb her than 
the details which      ,i gave on       
reaching home1 and which ,i have now    
repeated4       ,my letters happen to   
have been preserved4       ,i have never
 had any hallucination of any kind1 nor 
am ,i in the      habit of talking in my
 sleep4 ,i do remember once waking with 
some      words of mere nonsense upon my
 lips1 but the experience of the        
voice speaking to me was absolutely     
unique4  ,,edward ,a4 ,,goodall4        
,extracts from letters to ,mrs4 ,e4 ,a4 
,goodall from ,ischia3--   ,wednesday1  
,august #aath1 #ahfi4       ,the postman
 brought me two letters containing sad  
news indeed4 ,poor      little ,percy4  
,i dreamt some nights since the poor    
little fellow was      taken from us4444
  ,august #adth4       ,i did not tell  
you1 dear1 the particulars of my dream  
about poor      little ,percy4       ,i 
had been for several days very fidgety  
and wretched at getting no      letters 
from home1 and had gone to bed in worse 

spirits than usual1      and in my dream
 ,i fancied ,i said3 ,i have lost my    
dearest little      ,may4 ,a strange    
voice seemed to say3 ,no1 not ,may but  
your      youngest boy1 not mentioning  
his name4444  ,mr4 ,goodall gave me     
verbally a concordant account of the    
affair1 and several members of his      
family1 who were present at our         
interview1 recollected the strong       
impression made on him and them at the  
time4  7#d7 ,the next case is precisely 
a miniature case of possession4  ,from  
the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 pp4  
#bgh-bhj4  ,the following account       
7writes ,dr4 ,hodgson7 was sent to me by
 ,mr4 ,john ,e4 ,wilkie at the          
suggestion of one of our ,american      
members who is well known to me1 and who
 speaks in the highest terms of ,mr4    
,wilkie as a witness3--   ,,washington1 
,d4 ,c41 ,april #aath1 #ahih4       ,in 
,october #ahie1 while living in ,london1
 ,england1 ,i was attacked by           
bronchitis in rather a severe form1 and 

on the advice of my      physician1 ,dr4
 ,oscar ,c4 ,de ,wolf1 went to his      
residence in #f      ,grenville ,place1 
,cromwell ,road1 where ,i could be under
 his      immediate care4 ,for two days 
,i was confined to my bed1 and about    
five o'clock in the afternoon of the    
third day1 feeling somewhat      better1
 ,i partially dressed myself1 slipped on
 a heavy bath robe1      and went down  
to the sitting-room on the main floor1  
where my      friend1 the doctor1       
usually spent a part of the afternoon in
      reading4 ,a steamer chair was     
placed before the fire by one of the    
servants1 and ,i was made comfortable   
with pillows4 ,the doctor was           
present1 and sat immediately behind me  
reading4 ,i dropped off into      a     
light doze1 and slept for perhaps thirty
 minutes4 ,suddenly ,i      became      
conscious of the fact that ,i was about 
to awaken2 ,i was in a      condition   
where ,i was neither awake nor asleep4  
,i realised fully      that ,i had been 

asleep1 and ,i was equally conscious of 
the fact      that ,i was not wide      
awake4 ,while in this peculiar mental   
condition      ,i suddenly said to      
myself3 ,wait a minute4 ,here is a      
message for      the doctor4 ,at the    
moment ,i fancied that ,i had upon my   
lap a pad      of paper1 and ,i thought 
,i wrote upon this pad with a pencil the
      following words3--       ,,dear   
,,doctor1--,do you remember ,katy       
,mc,guire1 who used to live with        
you in ,chester8 ,she died in #ahgb4    
,she hopes you are having a good        
time in ,london4       ,instantly       
thereafter ,i found myself wide awake1  
felt no surprise at      not finding the
 pad of paper on my knees1 bcause ,i    
then realised      that that was but the
 hallucination of a dream1 but impressed
 with      that feature of my thought   
which related to the message1 ,i partly 
turned my head1 and1 speaking over my   
shoulder to the doctor1 said3           
,doctor1 ,i have a message for you4     

,the doctor looked up from the ,british 
,medical ,journal which he      was     
reading1 and said3 ,what's that8        
,i have a message for you1 ,i repeated4 
,it is this3 ',dear ,doctor3      ,do   
you remember ,katy ,mc,guire1 who used  
to live with you in ,chester8      ,she 
died in #ahgb4 ,she hopes you are having
 a good time in ,london4'       ,the    
doctor looked at me with amazement      
written all over his face1      and     
said3 ,why1---- what the devil do you   
mean8       ,i don't know anything about
 it except that just before ,i woke up  
,i      was impelled to receive this    
message which ,i have just delivered to 
you4       ,did you ever hear of ,katy  
,mc,guire8 asked the doctor4            
,never in my life4       ,well1 said the
 doctor1 that's one of the most         
remarkable things      ,i ever heard of4
 ,my father for a great many years lived
 at ,chester1      ,mass4 ,there was a  
neighbouring family named ,mc,guire1 and
 ,katy      ,mc,guire1 a daughter of    

this neighbour1 frequently came over to 
our      house1 as the younger people in
 a country village will visit their     
neighbours1 and used to assist my mother
 in the lighter duties      about the   
house4 ,i was absent from ,chester from 
about #ahfi to about      #ahgc4 ,i had 
known ,katy1 however1 as a daughter of  
our neighbour and      knew that she    
used to visit the house4 ,she died some 
time during      the absence ,i speak   
of1 but as to the exact date of her     
death ,i am      not informed4          
,that closed the incident1 and although 
the doctor told me that he      would   
write to his old home to ascertain the  
exact date of ,katy's      death1 ,i    
have never heard from him further in the
 matter4 ,i      questioned him at the  
time as to whether he had recently      
thought of      ,katy ,mc,guire1 and he 
told me that her name had not occurred  
to him      for twenty years1 and that  
he might never have recalled it had it  
not been for the rather curious incident

 which had occurred4 ,in my      own    
mind ,i could only explain the          
occurrence as a rather unusual          
coincidence4 ,i was personally aware of 
the fact that the doctor's      old home
 had been ,chester1 ,mass41 and had     
frequently talked with      him of his  
earlier experiences in life when he     
began practice in      that city1 but   
never at any time during these          
conversations had the      name of this 
neighbour's daughter been mentioned1 nor
 had the name      of the neighbour been
 mentioned1 our conversation relating   
entirely      to the immediate members  
of the family1 particularly the doctor's
      father1 who was a noted           
practitioner in that district4  ,,john  
,e4 ,,wilkie4  ,dr4 ,de ,wolf1 in reply 
to ,dr4 ,hodgson's first inquiry1       
wrote3--   #f ,,grenville ,,place1      
,,cromwell ,,road1 ,s4,w41 ,april #bith1
 #ahih4       ,,dear ,,sir1--,in reply  
to your letter of the #bgth inst41 ,i   
regret that      ,i cannot recall with  

any definite recollection the incident  
to      which ,mr4 ,wilkie refers4      
,i do remember that he told me one      
morning he had had a remarkable         
dream--or conference with some one who  
knew me when a young      lad4--,very   
truly yours1  ,,oscar ,c4 ,,de ,,wolf4  
,dr4 ,hodgson then sent ,mr4 ,wilkie's  
account to ,dr4 ,de ,wolf1 with further 
inquiries1 to which ,dr4 ,de ,wolf      
replied as follows3--   #f ,,grenville  
,,place1 ,,cromwell ,,road1 ,s4,w41 ,may
 #dth1 #ahih4       ,,dear ,,sir1--,mr4 
,wilkie's statement is correct except as
 to      unimportant detail4 ,my father 
practised his profession of medicine1   
in ,chester1 ,mass41 for sixty          
years--dying in #ahij4 ,i was born in   
,chester and lived there until #aheg1   
when ,i was in ,paris studying          
medicine for four years4 ,in #ahfa ,i   
returned to ,america and                
immediately entered the army as surgeon 
and served until the close      of the  
war in #ahfe4 ,in #ahff ,i located in   

,northampton1 ,mass41 where      ,i     
practised my profession until #ahgc1    
when ,i removed to ,chicago4            
,chester is a hill town in ,western     
,mass41 and ,northampton is             
seventeen miles distant4 ,while in      
,northampton ,i was often at my         
father's house--probably every week--and
 during some of the years      from     
#ahff to #ahgc ,i knew ,katy ,mc,guire  
as a servant assisting my      mother4  
,she was an obliging and pleasant girl  
and always glad to see me4      ,she had
 no family in ,chester 7as ,mr4 ,wilkie 
says7 and ,i do not know      where she 
came from4 ,neither do ,i know where or 
when she died--but      ,i know she is  
dead4 ,there is nothing left of my      
family in ,chester4      ,the old       
homestead still remains with me1 and ,i 
visit it every year4       ,the strange 
feature 7to me7 of this incident is the 
fact that ,i had      not thought of    
this girl for many years1 and ,mr4      
,wilkie was never      within #ejj miles

 of ,chester4       ,we had been warm   
friends since soon after my location in 
,chicago1      where he was connected   
with a department of the ,chicago       
,tribune4      ,i came to ,london in    
#ahib and ,mr4 ,wilkie followed the next
 year as      the manager of ,low's     
,american ,exchange1 #c ,northumberland 
,avenue4      ,his family did not join  
him until #ahie1 which explains his     
being in      my house when ill4        
,mr4 ,wilkie is a very straightforward  
man and not given to illusions      of  
any kind4 ,he is now the chief of the   
,secret ,service ,department      of the
 ,u4,s4 ,government1 ,washington1 ,d4   
,c4       ,neither of us were believers 
in spiritual manifestations of this     
character1 and this event so impressed  
us that we did not like to      talk    
about it1 and it has been very seldom   
referred to when we      met4--,very    
truly yours1  ,,oscar ,c4 ,,de ,,wolf4  
,,index   ,a41 ,miss1 automatic writing1
 and crystal visions of1 #bgf note1     

#bhi-bij4  ,abnormal and supernormal    
vital phenomena1 #bee-beg4  ,accidents1 
apparitions at time of1 #ajf-ajg1 #bjh4 
,achille1 case of1 #cei-cfa4  ,across   
the ,plains1 cited1 #ig4                
,after-images--   ,ghosts described as1 
#bae4   ,veridical1 #bae4  ,agassiz1    
dream intelligence exercised by1 case   
of1 #ajc4  ,ages of ,faith1 cited1 #bgg 
note4  ,agoraphobia1 #cd2   cured by    
hypnotism1 #acf4  ,aid1 ,mr4 ,hamilton1 
cited1 #cbj note4  ,aksakof1 ,hon4      
,alexander1 case reported by1 #bia-bib1 
#dje2   cited1 #cac2   quoted1 #dcc-dcg4
  ,alcohol in relation to hypnotism1    
#abc1 #ace4  ,alexander1 ,helen1 case   
of1 #chh-cij4  ,alma1 case of1 #baa4    
,alternating ,personalities--           
,addition of faculty in1 #caj4   ,memory
 in1 #aca1 #caj-caa4   ,possession      
compared with1 #cjh-cji1 #ccf4   ,x41   
,flida1 case of1 #cfa-cfc4  ,alterations
 de la ,personalit1 cited1 #cfb4        
,ambidexterity1 relation of1 to         
subliminal mentation1 #fh4  ,american   

,journal of ,psychology1 cited1 #cc and 
note1 #fd note1    #agj note1 #bfe note1
 #bgj note4  ,american ,society for     
,psychical ,research1 see under ,society
    for ,psychical ,research4  ,amnesia1
 case of1 #dg4  ,ampre1 case of1 #ff1   
#fh4  ,ansthesia--   ,hypnotic1         
#ach-ada4   ,hysterical1 unconsciousness
 of patient in1 #cf-cg2     injury not  
resulting from1 #cg-ci2     patches of1 
#cg1 #abd4   ,witches1 patches on1 #abd4
  ,anagrams automatically written1 #bfd4
  ,analgesia induced by hypnotism1      
#ach-ada4  ,anatomy of ,sleep1 cited1   
#daf note4  ,anglique1 ,soeur1 #cjh4    
,animals--   ,apparition possibly seen  
by1 #def1 #deg note4   ,hypnotisability 
and suggestibility of1 #abc-abd4        
,proximity of1 sensibility to1 #chj4    
,shock1 effects of1 on1 #abc4           
,telepathy between1 #ahh note4  ,annales
 des ,sciences ,psychiques1 cited1 #bhd1
 #ddf4  ,annales ,mdico-,psychologiques1
 cited1 #dg note#a1 #di note#a1    #cgi 
note1 #cha note1 #chb note4  ,anne      

,psychologique1 ,l'1 cited1 #hc and     
note4  ,apparitions1 see                
,hallucinations4  ,apparitions and      
,thought-transference1 cited1 #ahe      
note#b4  ,arago1 quoted1 #ga4  ,arcanes 
de la vie future dvoiles1 cited1 #cag4  
,archives de ,mdecine1 cited1 #ih       
note#c4  ,archives de ,nevrologie1      
cited1 #di note#a4  ,arithmetical       
calculations done under hypnotism1 #aeb4
  ---- prodigies1 #fd-fg4  ,art1        
symbolism of1 #gi-hj4  ,attention1      
hypnotic influence on1 #aec4            
,audition--   ,coloured1 #agj note4     
,defects of1 removed by hypnotism1 #adc4
   ,hypersthesia of1 #bgj4              
,shell-hearing1 #bja4  ,automatic       
writing1 see under ,motor ,automatism4  
,automatism--   ,definition of1 #afh4   
,motor1 see ,motor ,automatism4         
,sensory1 see ,sensory ,automatism4     
,automatisme ,psychologique1 ,l'1 cited1
 #dh1 #adf note1 #cjh note#b2   quoted1 
#he-hf4  ,ayre1 ,captain1 case of1      
cited1 #bbh note4  ,azam1 ,dr41 case of 

patient of1 quoted1 #cfa-cfc4   ,b41    
,madame1 telepathic hypnotisation of1   
#chb-chc4  --1 ,s4 ,h41 apparition of1  
#baj-baa1 #cif-cii4  ,babylonian        
inscriptions deciphered in dream1       
#cff-cfi4  ,bacchus1 ,mrs41 case of1    
#bcd4  ,backman1 ,dr41 case of patient  
of1 #baa4  ,bacon1 ,francis1 cited1     
#ahd1 #cda4  ,baillarger1 cited1 #if4   
,bajenoff1 ,rev4 ,basil1 case attested  
by1 #dag4  ,barnes1 ,mary1 case of1 #di 
note#c4  ,barrett1 ,prof4 ,w4 ,f41      
cited1 #cbj note1 #cgh1 #chj2           
,s4,p4,r4 promoted by1 #i note#a4       
,barrows1 ,dr4 ,ira1 cited1 #bie4       
,beauchamp1 ,sally1 case of1 #di1 #cjh4 
,beaumis1 ,prof41 cited1 #adg note4     
,beecher1 ,sir ,arthur1 case of1 cited1 
#bdd note4  ,brillon1 ,dr4 ,edgar1      
cited1 #acc note1 #ace note#a1 #aci     
note1    #aec1 #aee note1 #bgb4         
,berjon1 ,dr41 cited1 #di note#a1 #cgi  
note4  ,bernheim1 ,professor1 hypnotic  
cures by1 #aag2   work of1 #aba-abb2    
cited1 #acc note1 #acd note1 #ace       

note#b1 #aee note1 #aei1 #afj1 #aff4    
,bertha1 ,sister 7,bertha ,foertsch71   
apparition seen by1 #bbh1 #dbj4         
,bertrand1 ,dr41 work of1 #aai4  ----1  
,rev4 ,l4 ,j41 trance of1 #djj4         
,bibliothque ,diabolique1 cited1 #bgg   
note1 #cjh note#a4  ,bidder1 ,mr41 case 
of1 #ff1 #fh4  ,bigge1 ,wm4 ,matthew1   
case of1 #chd-che4  ,biggs1 ,dr41 cited1
 #adf note1 #aea and note4  ,binet1     
,professor1 cited1 #fd note1 #hc1 #cfb4 
,binns1 ,dr41 cited1 #daf note4  ,blake1
 ,william1 work of1 #eh4  ,blindness1   
tactile hypersthesia with1 #bga4        
,blyth1 ,mr41 case of1 #fh4  ,boeteau1  
,m41 case of patient of1 #dg4  ,bouff1  
cited1 #acc note4  ,bourdon1 ,dr41      
cited1 #acc note1 #acd note1 #acg       
note#a4  ,bourne1 ,ansel1 case of1      
#de-df4  ----1 ,canon1 apparition of1   
#aie1 #aig4  ----1 the ,misses1         
apparition seen by1 #chf-chg4  ,bourru1 
,dr41 cited1 #di note#a1 #adf note4     
,boyle1 ,mr41 case of1 cited1 #ajg note4
  ,braid1 work of1 #abj and note#b-aba2 

squint of1 #abe-abf4  ,brain--          
,possession1 functions in1 #aij1 #bja4  
,recovery of1 from injury1 #ha-hb4      
,spirit's action on1 #cje4   ,telepathic
 communications in relation to1         
#cjd-cje4  ,brain1 cited1 #di note#c1   
#ih note#a1 #aec note#b4  ,bramwell1    
,dr4 ,j4 ,milne1 cited1 #di note#c1 #abj
 note#b1    #abc1 #abd note1 #abf note1 
#abi note1 #ace note#b1     #acg1 #aeb1 
#aec1 #aed2   quoted1 #da4  ,breuer1    
,dr41 cited1 #dj-da and note4  ,british 
,medical ,journal1 cited1 #acg note#c1  
#aci note4  ,brown1 ,george1 evidence   
given by1 #dac4  ,browne1 ,miss1 #bhe4  
,bruce1 ,dr41 case of1 #ajg-ajh1 #bcg2  
quoted1 #cga-cgc4  ,buddhism1 #cdi1     
#ceb-cec4  ,bulletins de la ,socit de   
,psychologie ,physiologique1 cited1     
#chb4  ,burot1 ,dr41 cited1 #di note#a1 
#adf note4  ,buxton1 case of1 #ff1 #fg4 
,c41 ,miss1 dream of1 #cae1 #dde-ddf4   
,cdmon's poem1 cited1 #ajd note4        
,cahagnet1 ,alphonse1 cases of subjects 
of1 #bii1 #cag-cah2   cited1 #bjd4      

,calculating boys1 #fd-fg4              
,calculations under hypnotism1 #aeb4    
,campbell1 ,general1 case of1 cited1    
#bdc4  ----1 ,miss ,catherine ,m41      
apparition seen by1 #bdc1 #dbi4         
,camuset1 ,dr41 cited1 #di note#a4      
,cataplexy produced by shock1 #abc4     
,cevennes1 miracles of the1 #bhe4       
,chabaneix1 ,paul1 cited1 #ga and note4 
,chaddock1 ,dr4 ,c4 ,g41 cited1 #ih     
note#d4  ,character1 hypnotic influence 
on1 #acc-ace and notes1 #aee1 #cha-chb4 
,charcot1 ,prof4--   ,cited1 #eb note1  
#ajc and note#c1 #acb note4   ,hypnotic 
school of1 #aba4   ,stages in hypnotism1
 theory as to1 #acj4  ,charms1 potency  
of1 #afd4  ,childhood1 #ib4  ,children--
   ,education and training of1 value of 
hypnotism in1 #acc and    note--#acd and
 note4   ,phantasms of1 #def1 #deg note4
   ,terrors of1 #cc-cd4  ,chinese       
devil-possession1 #cjg-cji4             
,chloroform1 influence of1 on           
suggestibility1 #abb-abc4  ,christian   
,science1 #abh1 #afe4  ,christianity1   

#c-d1 #cdb1 #cdf1 #cdi-ceb4             
,clairvoyance--   ,automatic messages   
due to1 #cbe4   ,definition of term1 #f 
note#a2     inadequacy of term1 #aje4   
,dying1 of the1 #bcc4   ,genius a kind  
of1 #cdd4   ,joan of ,arc1 case of1     
#bfg4   ,medical1 #chj-cha4             
,telepathy1 relation to1 #ahg4          
,travelling--     ,cases of1 #bje-bjf1  
#djj4     ,dreams1 likeness to1 #bje4   
,ecstasy and extension of1 #ccg-cch4    
,hypnotic1 #afc4     ,nature of1        
#bjd-bje4     ,savages1 among1 #cde4    
,sleep1 during1 #cja4  ,claustrophobia  
cured by hypnotism1 #acf4  ,clelia case1
 cited1 #bgg note4  ,cobbe1 ,miss1 cases
 of1 cited1 #bcc4  ,colburn1 case of1   
#ff1 #fg4  ,coleridge1 ,hartley         
considered as a genius1 #fj4  ----1 ,s4 
,t4--inspiration of ,kubla ,khan1 #ajd4 
,colonial animals1 analogy from1 #cj4   
,comptes ,rendus de la ,socit de        
,biologie1 cited1 #adf note4            
,condillac1 cited1 #ga4  ,conley1       
,elizabeth1 vision seen by1 #cae1       

#dab-dae4  ,consciousness--   ,central1 
in relation to minor consciousness1 #cj4
   ,complexity and memory the test of1  
#bh-cj4   ,dogs1 of1 #bi4   ,double1 see
 ,secondary ,personality4   ,ethical and
 legal view of1 #bi4   ,mind1 relation  
to1 #bi4   ,spectrum of1 solar spectrum 
analogous to1 #ah-ai4   ,subliminal1    
#ad-af4   ,unreliability of1 #ad4       
,continuity--   ,doctrine of1 #cdf4     
,evidence1 in1 demand for1 #bac4        
,life1 of1 presumptive proof of1 #ahd4  
,subliminal mentation1 of1 #bhj4        
,contribution  l'tude de l'hypnotisme1  
cited1 #chb note4  ,coomes1 ,dr4 ,m4    
,f41 cited1 #adf note4  ,cooper1        
,alfred1 quoted1 #cgj4  ,cope1 ,c4 ,h41 
case collected by1 #daj-daa4  ,cosmic   
and ,planetary--   ,evolution1 #cdb1    
#ced4   ,phases of personality developed
 simultaneously1 #aad-aae1 #afe-aff4    
,cosmic ,law--   ,christianity the      
fulfilment of1 #cdf4   ,continuity of1  
#cea4  ,courier-,journal1 cited1 #adf   
note4  ,cox1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bbh

 note4  ,crawford and ,balcarres1 ,earl 
of1 cited1 #cbj note4  ,crealock1       
,colonel1 apparition seen by1 #bdd4     
,crimes committed under hypnotism1 no   
evidence for1 #cg1 #aed4  ,crookes1 ,sir
 ,w41 cited1 #bd1 #ahf1 #cai1 #cbj note2
   work of1 #g4  ,crowe1 ,mrs41 cited1  
#cag note#b4  ,crum1 ,amos1 evidence    
obtained by1 #dac-dae4  ,crystal        
,visions--   ,collective1 analogy of1   
with collective apparitions1 #bda4      
,distant knowledge acquired by1 #bja4   
,goodrich-,freer1 ,miss1 experience of1 
#cfe4   ,hypnotisation accompanying1    
#aha4   ,method and nature of1 #ahj1    
#ahb-ahc4   ,supraliminally             
unapprehended facts1 of1 #ajc4          
,symbolic character of1 #bjb4           
,telsthesia in1 #bja-bjb4   ,telepathic 
sensibility accompanying gift of1       
#aha-ahb1 #ahg4  ,crystals1 sensibility 
to1 #cgi4  ,cryptomnesia1 #bgi1 #bhd1   
#bhf4  ,cuvier1 cited1 #aei4   ,d41     
,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bbh note4  ,d4  
,d4 ,home2 ,his ,life and ,mission1     

cited1 #cai note1 #cbj note4  ,dase1    
case of1 #ff1 #fg1 #fh1 #ia4  ,de       
,frville1 ,mrs41 apparition of1         
#bdc-bdd4  ,de ,genio ,socratis1 cited1 
#bfg note#b4  ,de ,gourmont ,rmy1       
quoted1 #ga4  ,d',indy1 ,m4 ,vincent1   
cited1 #ga4  ,de ,jong1 cited1 #acd     
note1 #ace note#a4  ,de l',intelligence1
 cited1 #ih note#b4  ,de la ,suggestion 
et de ses ,applications  la pdagogie1   
cited1 #acc   note1 #acd note1 #aec     
note4  ,de ,musset1 quoted1 #ga4  ,de   
,normandie1 ,rev4 ,c4 ,y41 quoted1 #ddj4
  ,de ,puysgur1 ,marquis1 work of1 #aai 
and note2   cited1 #aeg note1 #cha4  ,de
 ,vesci1 ,lady1 case of1 #bfi4  ,de     
,wolf1 ,o4 ,c41 quoted1 #dea-deb4       
,dead1 the1 see ,discarnate ,spirits4   
,deafness removed by hypnotic           
suggestion1 #adc4  ,dean1 ,sidney1      
cited1 #bgf note4  ,death--             
,apparitions at or near time of1 #i1    
#aic1 #bbe-bbf2     causes conditioning1
 #bbe2     time relations in1 #bbd      
note#b1 #bbe2     three main types of1  

#bbj4   ,clairvoyance at time of1 #bcc4 
,conditions of1 taken on1 in mediumistic
 trance1 #cah4   ,dream of1 #bbh note4  
,premonitory vision of1 #cgj4           
,prevision of1 by discarnate spirits1   
#bcb4   ,transitional stage immediately 
following1 #bcj-bcb1 #bcg1 #bdj4  ,dee1 
,dr41 magic of1 #ahj4  ,delboeuf1 cited1
 #aci note#a1 #ada1 #aeb4  ,delirium    
tremens1 suggestibility developed during
 recovery from1 #abc4  ,delitzsch1      
,prof4 ,friedrich1 #cfe4  ,demoniacal   
possession1 #cjg-cji4  ,dent1 ,mrs41    
#chf4  ,des ,indes  la plante ,mars1    
cited1 #bfe note1 #bgi4  ,despine1 ,dr4 
,prosper1 #aej and note1 #aeg note1     
#cha4  ,dessoir1 ,herr ,max1 cited1     
#ahe4  ,devils1 possession by1 #cjg-cji4
  ,diamanti1 case of1 #fd note4         
,dickens1 ,charles1 cited1 #hb-hc4      
,dignowity1 ,karl1 dream and vision of1 
#cge-cgg4  ,discarnate spirits--        
,apparitions of--     ,animals1 possibly
 seen by1 #def1 #deg note4              
,automatic character of1 #bae1 #bba4    

,cases of1 #bbf-bbi1 #bca-bcf1 #cff1    
#cga-cgc1 #cge-cgf1 #djf-dji1           
#daj-daa1 #daf-dag1 #dbj-dbi4           
,collective1 #bda-bdc4     ,compacts1 in
 answer to1 #bce-bcf4     ,dying1 seen  
by the1 #bcc4     ,evidence for1 ,gurney
 quoted on1 #bbb4     ,evidence of      
presence1 not always to be considered   
as1 #cbf4     ,ghosts1 popular theories 
as to1 #bad-baf4     ,nature of1        
#cje-cjf4     ,news of death1 bringing1 
#bcd-bce2       coincident with1 #bci4  
,personal and local1 #bdj-bdc and       
note#b4     ,premonitory1 #djf-daa4     
,projected from incarnate minds1 #bcd1  
#bdd-bde1 #bdi1 #bej note4              
,repeated1 #bbg1 #bca1 #bdj-bda1        
#dja-djd4     ,results of past mental   
action as a factor in1 #bde4            
,retrocognition in relation to1 #bde1   
#bea4     ,spatial phenomena in relation
 to1 #bej4     ,twofold nature of1 #cjf4
     ,veridical after-images1 #bae-baf4 
,attitude of1 probable1 towards earthly 
things1 #bbi4   ,bewilderment of1       

immediately after death1 #bcg1 #bdj1    
#cce4   ,communications from1 #ahi1     
#bag2     difficulties of spirits in    
establishing1 #cce-ccg2     case of     
,swedenborg1 #cag2     types of1        
#bah-bai1 #bba4   ,corpse1 knowledge    
regarding1 indicated by1 #bcf-bch1      
#djf-dji4   ,death conditions of1       
reproduced in mediumistic trance1 #cah4 
,evolution amongst1 theory as to1 #cde1 
#cdf4   ,ghosts1 definitions of1        
#bad-bae4   ,identity1 conception of1   
#ccd4   ,knowledge of1 sources of1      
#bhi-bij4   ,material perception of1    
#bjc4   ,physical intervention of1      
question as to1 #bd4   ,spacial         
relations of1 #ccd4   ,state of1        
#beb-bec1 #cej-cea4   ,study of problems
 as to1 method of1 #bbi-bcj4            
,surviving friends1 thought for1        
indicated by1 #bci4   ,telekinesis by1  
#cab-cad4   ,telepathy from1 #af1 #ahg1 
#bch1 #cjd4   ,terrene affairs--        
,knowledge of present and future1       
evidence as to1 #bca-bcc1 #bib-bic1     

#ccd4     ,memory of1 evidence as to1   
#bcd-bce1 #dab-dae4   ,theology1        
knowledge of1 #cej4   ,time1 relation   
to1 #ccd4   ,welcome of friends into    
spirit world by1 #bcc4  ,dissociation of
 a ,personality1 cited1 #di note#b4     
,dissociation of ideas1 #cfa4           
,dissolution and evolution contrasted1  
#bed-beg4  ,divining rod1 #bfi1 #cgh4   
,distant knowledge1 avenues to1 #bja4   
,dodson1 ,miss ,l41 apparition seen by1 
#daj-daa4  ,dorez1 ,dr4 ,a41 cited1 #acg
 note#a4  ,dowsing1 #bfi1 #cgh4         
,drawing1 automatic1 #bgc and note4     
,dreams--   ,acuteness of senses in1    
#ig4   ,babylonian inscriptions         
deciphered in1 #cff-cfi4   ,death1 of1  
#bbh note4   ,hallucinations1 defined   
as1 #agc4   ,hypermnesic1 #ajb4         
,hypnotic memory of1 #cj4   ,inferences 
drawn in1 #ajb4   ,life of1 concurrent  
with waking life1 #aif4   ,lost objects1
 of1 #cfd4   ,memory in--               
,capricious nature of1 #caj-caa4        
,ecmnesic periods of1 #aja4             

,hypnotic memory1 relation to1 #ii-aja4 
,pain1 of1 after operations under       
chloroform1 #adj4     ,scope of1 as     
compared with that of waking memory1    
#ajb-ajd1 #aac4     ,supraliminally     
known but forgotten facts1 of1 #ajb4    
,supraliminally unapprehended facts1 of1
 #ajb-ajc4   ,nature of1 #dc-dd1 #ec4   
,permanent effect of certain1 #ig-ih4   
,precognitive1 #ajg-aab1 #cga-cgc4      
,questions asked and replied to in1     
#bgh4   ,reasoning intelligence of1     
#ajc-ajd1 #aac-aad1 #cfe-cff4           
,self-suggestion in1 #ih-ii4            
,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 of1 #gb-gc4        
,storie1 ,mrs41 case of1 see ,storie4   
,supernormal faculties exercised in1    
#ajd-aab1 #aad1 #cff-cge4               
,transitional1 #bca4   ,vision in1 #agb1
 #age-agf4   ,visualisation in1 #agi4   
,dreams of a ,spirit ,seer1 cited1 #cag 
note#a4  ,drewry1 ,dr41 cited1 #dh4     
,driesen1 ,baron ,basil1 apparition seen
 by1 #daf-dag4  ,drugs--   ,hypnotic    
cure of impulse to1 #ace4               

,suggestibility1 relation to1 #abb-abc4 
,du ,magnetisme ,animal1 cited1 #aai    
note4  ,du ,prel1 cited1 #dc note4      
,dual existence in cosmic and planetary 
worlds1 #aad-aae1 #afe-aff4  ,dufay1    
,dr41 cited1 #aeb2 quoted1 #cfe4        
,dufour1 ,m41 hypnotic treatment by1    
#chb and note4  ,dunraven1 ,lord1 cited1
 #cbj note4  ,durand1 cited1 #aci note1 
#aej note4  ,dyce1 ,dr41 case of patient
 of1 cited1 #de note4  ,dynamometrical  
power and brain energy1 #bfa4   ,e41    
,mlle4 ,a41 case of1 cited1 #adg note4  
,ecmnesia--   ,nature of1 #caj4         
,temporary and permanent1 #cjj-cja4     
,viv1 ,louis1 case of1 #di4  ,ecstasy-- 
,cases of1 #ccg4   ,definition of1 #cjc4
   ,evidence for1 #cch4   ,possession   
merging into1 #cad-cae4   ,revelations  
of1 probably subjective1 #cag4   ,sleep1
 relation with1 #aaf4  ,education and   
training1 value of hypnotism in1        
#acc-acd and notes1 #aec4  ,eeden1 ,van1
 cited1 #acc note1 #acd note1 #ace      
note#b1 #aci note4  ,egotistical view of

 life1 #cdh4  ,einige therapeutische    
,versuche mit dem ,hypnotismus bei      
,geisteskranken1    cited1 #ace note4   
,electricit ,animale1 cited1 #cha4      
,elgee1 ,mrs41 apparition seen by1      
#cib-cie4  ,elliotson1 ,dr41 cited1 #aei
 note2   mesmeric hospital of1 #aag-aah1
 #abj4  ,ellis1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1  
#bbh note4  ,encyclopdia ,britannica1   
cited1 #abe note4  ,end-organs--        
,evolution of1 #add4   ,knowledge       
acquired without aid of1 #afi-agj4      
,energy1 ghost defined as persistent    
personal1 #bad-bae4  ,enthusiasts1      
self-suggestion in relation to1 #db4    
,environment1 man's evolution a         
perception of1 #gd-gf4  ,epilepsy--     
,hypnotism applied to1 #df4             
,nerve-centres functioning in1 #eg4     
,post-epileptic states1 #de-df4         
,erfolge des therapeutischen            
,hypnotismus in der ,landpraxis1        
cited1 #ace note#b4  ,esdaile1 hypnotic 
hospital of1 at ,calcutta1 #eb1 #abj2   
cited1    #eb1 #aci note1 #aei-afj1     

#chj4  ,essay on the ,intellectual      
,powers of ,man1 quoted1 #aa4  tat      
,mental des ,hystriques1 ,l'1 quoted1   
#cf4  ,ether1 matter in relation to1    
#cac4  tude ,scientifique sur           
,somnambulisme1 cited1 #aej note4       
,eugenics1 study of1 #agi4  ,evens1     
,mr41 case of1 cited1 #bbh4  ,evil1 view
 of discarnate spirits as to1 #cej-cea4 
,evolution--   ,by-products of1         
so-called1 #ge-gf4   ,cosmic1 #ced4     
,dissolutive phenomena contrasted with  
that of1 #bed-beg4   ,environment1 a    
perception of1 #gd-gf4   ,path of1 #gf4 
,perturbation masking1 #beg4            
,spiritual1 #cdj-cdf4   ,subliminal     
faculties1 problem of origin of1 #ij-ia4
  ,experiences in ,spiritualism with    
,mr4 ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 cited1 #cbj note4   
,experimental ,study in ,hypnotism1 ,an1
 cited1 #ih note#d1 #adf note4          
,fahnestock1 ,dr41 cited1 #afc note2    
quoted1 #cha2   work of1 #aba4          
,fairman1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bbh   
note4  ,faith--   ,aims of1 #cdb-cdc4   

,impulse given to1 by spiritualistic    
knowledge1 #cda4   ,need for1 #cdh4     
,self-suggestion in relation to1        
#aff-afg4   ,uncertainty as an aid to1  
#cdc4  ,familiar ,lectures on           
,scientific ,subject1 quoted1 #fi4      
,fancher1 ,mollie1 case of1 #ea and     
note#a4  ,faraday1 cited1 #bfc4  ,farez1
 ,paul1 cited1 #acd note4  ,farler1     
,archdeacon1 case of1 #bbg2 cited1 #bdj4
  ,faure1 ,dr41 cited1 #ih and note#c4  
,fr1 ,dr41 cited1 #ih note#a1 #bfa and  
note4  ,fetichism1 cures in relation to1
 #afd-afe4  ,finney1 ,mrs4 ,w4 ,a41     
quoted1 #dch-ddj4  ,flournoy1 ,prof41   
cited1 #agj1 #bfe note#a2   case of     
patient of1 discussed1 #bgi-bhf4        
,foissac1 cited1 #aej note4  ,fontan1   
,prof41 cited1 #aej note4  ,forel1 ,dr4 
,auguste1 cited1 #ace note#b2   cases   
of1 cited1 #aec4  ,forum1 cited1 #baj   
note4  ,fraud in connection with        
spiritualism1 #cac1 #cbi4  ,frmont1     
,general1 apparition of1 #cie4  ,freud1 
,dr41 cited1 #dj-da and note4  ,fryer1  

,mr41 cited1 #aee note4  ,fuller1 case  
of1 #ff4   ,g41 ,mr4 ,f41 apparition    
seen by1 #djf-dji4  --1 ,h41 quoted1    
#djh4  --1 ,k41 quoted1 #djh4  ,galton1 
,mr41 cited1 #fe1 #if4  ,garrison1 ,mr41
 case of1 #bgb4  ,gauss1 case of1 #ff1  
#fh4  ,genius--   ,aberrant             
manifestation1 considered as1 #ef4      
,definition of1 #bj1 #ef1 #fj-fa4       
,growth1 analogy with1 #hb4             
,hallucinations resembling inspirations 
of1 #agh4   ,hypnotism and automatism in
 relation to1 #gb1 #hj-ha4   ,hysteria  
in relation to1 #da1 #ec4               
,inspirations of1 #fc-gc1 #hj1 #agc1    
#agi4   ,internal vision of1 #agc4      
,irregularities of1 #gf-gg4             
,lombroso's theories as to1 #ef1 #gd4   
,nature of1 #bj1 #fc-fd4   ,normal1 the 
best type of1 #eg1 #fa-fc4   ,origin of1
 #hi-ij4   ,potential in all men1 #fc4  
,scope of term1 #ef-eg4   ,sensitive's  
faculties1 relation to1 #hc-hd4   ,sleep
 and1 analogy between1 #ajd4            
,socrates1 case of1 #hc-cd1 #bff4       

,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 case of1 #cef4     
,subjective rather than objective       
effects the real test of1 #fj-fa4       
,subliminal perceptions1 the            
co-ordinated effect of1 #eh1 #fc-gc1    
#hj4   ,substitution of control in1     
#cja4   ,telepathy and telsthesia1      
relation to1 #hd-he4   ,visual images   
of1 #agi4  ,geometrical patterns and    
subliminal mentation1 #fi-gj4  ,germany1
 work on hypnotism in1 #abj4  ,ghosts1  
see ,discarnate ,spirits4  ,gibert1     
,dr41 experiments by1 #afj1 #ahe1       
#chb-chc4  ,gift of ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 ,the1
 cited1 #cai note1 #cbj note4  ,glanvil1
 ,richard1 cited1 #g note#a4  ,goerwitz1
 ,e4 ,f41 cited1 #cag note#a4  ,goethe1 
cited1 #ahd4  ,goodall1 ,edward ,a41    
case of1 #cae1 #ddh-ddi4  ,goodhart1 ,s4
 ,p41 cited1 #dg note#b4                
,goodrich-,freer1 ,miss1 cited1 #ahj    
note2   crystal-gazing experiments of1  
#ajc1 #cfe4  ,gottschalk1 ,mr41 case of1
 #bjf4  ,grande ,hysterie chez l',homme1
 ,la1 cited1 #di note#a1 #cgi note4     

,grant1 ,mr4 ,cameron1 case of1 cited1  
#bba note#a1 #bgc note4  ,green1 ,mrs41 
case of1 #bch4  ,griesinger1 cited1 #if4
  ,gurney1 ,edmund--   ,cases           
investigated by1 #ajh1 #cbj1 #cfi4      
,cited1 #e1 #i and note#a1 #ajg note1   
#aaa1 #aab1 #abe1 #acj-aca1    #acg1    
#adg note1 #aeb1 #afj-afa1 #agd1 #ahh1  
#ahi1 #aib1 #aih1 #bjf1    #bjg1 #bae1  
#bbe1 #bce1 #bch1 #bdb1 #bdc1 #bee1     
#bfj1 #bgd-bge1 #cif1 #dcc4   ,quoted1  
#bbb-bbd1 #cig1 #cih1 #cii1 #dcj4       
,guthrie1 ,malcolm1 cited1 #ahe note#a4 
,hall1 ,miss1 case of1 cited1 #bcg4     
----1 ,prof4 ,stanley1 cited1 #cc and   
note4  ,hallucinations--   ,accidents1  
at time of1 #ajf-ajg1 #bjh4   ,arrival  
cases1 #aid1 #chd-che4   ,auditory1     
#bde-bdf4   ,bystander the percipient   
of1 #chg-cij4   ,collective cases1 #ahg1
 #aid-aif1 #aih-aii1 #bjj1 #cjf4        
,crises other than death1 connected     
with1 #aic1 #bjh1 #cij-cia4   ,death1 at
 or near time of1 see                   
,death--,apparitions4   ,death-compacts 

prematurely fulfilled1 #bji4            
,discarnate spirits1 of1 see ,discarnate
 ,spirits--,apparitions4   ,experimental
 production of1 #bji-baa4   ,genius1    
resembling inspirations of1 #agh4       
,healthy subjects1 of1 #aib and note4   
,hypersthesi1 defined as1 #agc4         
,hypnotism in relation to1 #adh1 #agh4  
,living1 of the--     ,cases of1        
#cij-cii4     ,continuous series from1  
to those of the dead1 #i-aj4   ,morbid1 
#agi4   ,optical laws not followed in1  
case of1 #chf-chg4   ,premonitory dream1
 #ajf-aji1 #cga-cgc4   ,projection of   
figures by agent1 #dji4   ,promises1 in 
fulfilment of1 #dah-dbj4                
,psychorrhagic cases1 #aic-aih4         
,repetition of1 #aid-aie4   ,report of  
,census of1 cited1 #agd and note1 #aib1 
#aic1 #bbf1 #bcc2     quoted1 #cij-cia1 
#djj-dje1 #dah-dbj4   ,spirit excursion 
in relation to1 #agg-agh4   ,threefold  
classification of1 #bbj4   ,veridical-- 
,nature of1 #age-agg1 #baf-bag2         
two-fold nature of1 #cjf4     ,types of1

 apparently outside scope of telepathy1 
#ahh-ahi4   ,waking1 #bjf-bjg4          
,hamilton1 ,duchess of1 vision of1 #cgj4
  ,handwriting1 automatic1 see ,motor   
,automatism--,writing4  ,hanna1 ,rev4   
,thos4 ,c41 case of1 #dg-dh4  ,harriss1 
,miss1 case of1 cited1 #bbh note4       
,hart1 ,mr41 communication from1 after  
death1 #ccb4  ,hartmann1 ,dr4 ,von1     
cited1 #gj-ga4  ,haunting--   ,cases of1
 #bdd1 #dba-dbi4   ,earth-bound spirits1
 by1 #bda4   ,theories as to1 #bae-baf1 
#bdg-bea4   ,unconscious1 possibility   
of1 #bdd4   ,veridical after-images1    
#bae-baf4  ,hawkins1 ,mrs41 case of1    
cited1 #aie and note#a4  ,haydon1 genius
 of1 #fj4  ,hearing1 see ,audition4     
,hector1 ,mr41 case of1 #bcg4  ,herald1 
,the 7,dubuque1 ,iowa71 case reported   
in1 #dab4  ,hernaman1 ,mrs41 case of1   
cited1 #bbg note#b4  ,herschel1 ,sir    
,john1 quoted1 #fi4  ,hetersthesi--     
,hypnotism1 produced by1 #adb1 #add-ade4
   ,organic substances1 evoked by1 #cgh1
 #chj4  ,highest-level nerve-centres1   

function of1 #eg4  ,hill1 ,dr41 cited1  
#acg note#b4  ----1 ,rev4 ,r4 ,m41 case 
of1 #bbg4  ,hilprecht1 ,dr4 ,herman ,v41
 cases of1 #ajc1 #cfe-cfi4  ----1 ,j4   
,c41 quoted1 #cfg4  ,history of         
,rationalism1 cited1 #d4  ,hodgson1 ,dr4
 ,richard--   ,cases3 attested by1      
#dje-dji2     investigated by1 #dch-ddj1
 #ddi-dea4   ,cited1 #aha1 #big1 #cbd1  
#cbh4   ,quoted1 #cbg-cbh1 #ccb-ccc1    
#cce-ccf1 #dji4  ,hoffmann1 ,m4 ,m41    
case attested by1 #dba4  ,holiness1     
definition of1 #ced4  ,home4 ,d4 ,d4--  
,case of1 #bd1 #aeh1 #cah-cai1 #cbg1    
#ccg4   ,literature concerning1 #cai    
note--#cbj4  ----1 ,madame ,dunglas1    
cited1 #cai note1 #cbj note4  ,homer1   
cited1 #if and note4  ,horse-asthma1    
#chj4  ,hugo1 ,victor1 #bhc4            
,hydrozoon1 analogy from1 #cj4          
,hypersthesia--   ,auditory1 #bgj4      
,cases of1 #bgj1 #cbd4   ,hypnotism1    
produced by1 #adb-ade4   ,tactile1 #bga4
   ,telsthesia in relation to1 #bja1    
#bjb4  ,hypermnesia1 #cbd4  ,hypnagogic 

visions1 #if1 #ig4  ,hypnogenous zones1 
hypnotic trance induced by pressure on1 
#abd4  ,hypnopompic visions1 #if-ig4    
,hypnosis--   ,external stimuli1 place  
of1 in producing1 #abj1 #abb-abe4       
,highest level centres active in1       
#cg-ch1 #aea1 #aed4   ,middle level     
centres3 active in1 #adh-adi3     under 
control of higher centres if necessary1 
#aed4   ,mono-ideism a misleading term  
for1 #acg4   ,narcosis contrasted with1 
#abc4   ,nature of1 #aaf-aag4   ,normal 
state of organism the effect of1 #ci4   
,prolonged1 effects of1 #ic-id4         
,sleep1 relation to1 #abb4  ,hypnotism--
   ,agoraphobia cured by1 #acf4         
,ansthetic agent1 as1 #ach-ada4         
,analgesia induced by1 #ach-ada4        
,animals1 sensibility of1 to1 #abc-abd4 
,attention1 influence on1 #acg-adb1     
#aec4   ,charcot's school of1 #aba4     
,children susceptible to1 #acc-acd and  
notes4   ,claustrophobia cured by1 #acf4
   ,community of sensation between      
hypnotiser and subject1 #afb4           

,consciousness under1 #aca-acb and note4
   ,crimes not committed under1 #cg1    
#aed4   ,crystal-visions1 as a factor in
 seeing of1 #aha4   ,cures effected by1 
#abb2     classes of cases treated by1  
#acc note--#acd and note4   ,definition 
of term1 #ec-ed1 #aef4   ,delirium      
tremens1 suggestibility developed during
 recovery from1 #abc1 #ace4             
,development of1 #e4   ,distance no bar 
to1 #afj1 #ahe4   ,dreams remembered    
under1 #cj4   ,dynamogenic effects of-- 
,attention and character1 on1 #aea-aee4 
,imagination1 on1 #adg4     ,perceptive 
faculties1 on1 #adb-ade4     ,vaso-motor
 system1 on1 #ade-adf4   ,education1    
value in1 #acc-acd and notes1 #aec4     
,effluence theory1 #abg1 #aei1 #afj-afa4
   ,empirical development of sleep1     
considered as1 #bj4   ,epilepsy1 applied
 to1 #df4   ,faith cures in relation to1
 #aff-afg4   ,future of1 #afc4   ,genius
 and automatism in relation to1 #hj-ha4 
---- ---- sleep in relation to1 #gb4    
,hallucinations in relation to1 #adh1   

#agh4   ,hetersthesi produced by1 #adb1 
#add-ade4   ,hypersthesi produced by1   
#adb-ade4   ,hysterical hypnogenous     
zones1 trance induced by pressure on1   
#abd4   ,ides fixes1 cured by1 #cd1     
#ach4   ,inhibition by--     ,choice in 
exercise of faculty made possible by1   
#ada-adb4     ,education and training of
 children1 value in1 #acc and           
note--#acd and note4     ,memory1 as    
applied to1 #acg4     ,moral results of1
 #acc-acf4     ,pain1 effect on1        
#aci-ada4   ,intellectual work done     
under1 #aeb4   ,jealousy1 influence on1 
#acf-acg4   ,kleptomania cured by1      
#acd-ace4   ,maladies cured by aid of1  
#abj4   ,maniacs1 in cases of1 #abe4    
,memory in--     ,alternations in1 #aca4
     ,exactness of1 #aeb4               
,post-epileptic state of1 #df4          
,purgation of1 #acg4     ,relation to   
dream memory1 #ii-aja4     ,secondary   
restored1 #dg4     ,somnambulistic      
memory a part of1 #aef4     ,wider scope
 of1 than of waking memory1 #acj-aca4   

,monotonous stimulation1 by1 #abe-abf4  
,moral training and reform by1 #acc-ace 
and notes1 #aee1 #cha-chb4   ,morphia   
habit cured by1 #ace-acf and note#a4    
,music and1 #bfa4   ,mysophobia cured   
by1 #acf4   ,nancy school of1 #aeh4     
,narcotic drugs in relation to1         
#abb-abc4   ,operations performed under1
 #abj4   ,pain treated by1 #ach-ada4    
,passes1 procured by means of1 #aai-abj1
 #abf1 #aeh-aei4   ,phobies cured by1   
#acf4   ,pioneer work in study of1      
#aag-abb4   ,possession externally      
indistinguishable from1 #cja4           
,post-hypnotic suggestions1 three main  
types of1 #bai4   ,rapport in1 #afb4    
,red light in relation to1 #bfa4        
,salptrire school of1 #aba1 #abc1 #acb  
note1 #adg note1 #cjh1 #cha4            
,self-suggestion in--     ,braid's      
discovery of1 #abj4     ,fahnestock's   
results in1 #aba4     ,nature of1 #abi4 
,neuro-muscular changes produced by1    
#abh-abi4     ,schemes of1 #abg-abh1    
#afc-afe4     ,stimuli1 external1 merely

 signals for action of1 #abe4           
,subliminal self1 defined as appeal to1 
#abi4   ,sexual disorders cured by1     
#ace4   ,sleep in relation to1 #gb1     
#aba-abb1 #abc4   ,somatic signs of1    
#aba4   ,somnambulic state contrasted   
with1 #acg4   ,squint1 convergent1      
produced by1 #abj1 #abe-abf4   ,stages  
of--     ,charcot's three stages1 #acj2 
depth of1 #aca2     ,gurney's two       
stages1 #acj-aca4   ,stigmatisation due 
to self-suggestion1 #adf and notes4     
,subliminal operation in1 #abi-acj1     
#acb1 #adc1 #adg-adi4   ,suggestion in--
     ,braid's discovery1 #abj4          
,nature of1 #abf-abg4     ,mode of      
action unknown1 #aei4                   
,responsiveness to1 requisite1 #abb-abc4
   ,telsthesia in relation to1 #adi-aej4
   ,telepathic1 #aeh-afc1 #chb-chc4     
,telepathic v4 physical influence1      
#afj-afa4   ,travelling clairvoyance    
under1 #afc4   ,will-power1 effect on1  
#aec-aed4  ,hypnotism 7,dr4 ,bramwell71 
cited1 #abj note#b1 #abf note1 #abi     

note4  ,hypnotisme1 ,double ,conscience1
 etc41 cited1 #cfa note4  ,hypnotisme et
 l',orthopdie morale1 ,l'1 cited1 #acd  
note4  ,hypnotismus und seine ,anwendung
 in der praktischen ,medicin1 ,der1     
cited1 #ace note#b4  ,hyslop1 ,prof41   
cited1 #ccc and note4  ,hysteria--      
,ansthesia in--     ,accidents avoided  
in1 #cg1 #ch4     ,fanciful areas of1   
#cg1 #ch4     ,organic disease unnoticed
 in1 #ci4     ,patches of 7witch marks71
 #abd4     ,sensibilities1 separation   
of1 #eb4     ,unconscious1 #cf-ci4      
,aphasia in1 #eb4   ,genius in relation 
to1 #da1 #ec4   ,hypersthesia in1       
#eb-ec4   ,nature1 of #dj4              
,predisposition to1 causes of1 #dj-db4  
,types of1 #ce4   ,visual area reduced  
in1 #ch-ci4   ,witches1 of1 #e4   ,ides 
fixes--   ,disaggregation1 first symptom
 of1 #cc4   ,enthusiasts of1 #da-db4    
,hypnotic cure of1 #cd1 #ach4   ,nature 
of1 #cc-cd4  ,identity of discarnate    
spirits1 cases offering proofs of1      
#dcc-dci4  ,illusions hypnagogiques1    

#if1 #agi1 #ahb4  ,imagination1 effect  
of hypnotism on1 #adg4  ,improvisation1 
#ha1 #hb4  ,inaudi1 ,jacques1 case of1  
#fd note4  ,incidents in my ,life 7,d4  
,d4 ,home71 cited1 #cai note4           
,inhibition--   ,hypnotic1 see under    
,hypnotism4   ,socrates1 case of1 #bfh4 
,inorganic matter1 spiritual influence  
exerted on1 #cab-cad4  ,inquiry into    
,human ,faculty1 cited1 #if4  ,insane1  
drawings of the1 #bfe note#a4           
,inspiration the effect of subliminal   
uprush1 #ef1 #fe4  ,instauratio magna1  
cited1 #cda4  ,introduction of          
,mesmerism with sanction of ,government 
into the ,public ,hospitals of ,india1  
,the1 cited1 #aci note4   ,jackson1 ,dr4
 ,hughlings1 cited1 #eg4  ,james1 ,prof4
 ,w41 cited1 #df1 #dh note1 #fi         
note#c1 #bie note1 #cbg1 #cbh and note2 
quoted1 #bgf note1 #cbi4  ,janet1 ,dr4  
,jules1 cases of patients of1 #cf-cg2   
experiment by1 #acj4  ----1 ,dr4        
,pierre1 cases of patients of1 #cei-cfa1
 #chb2   cited1 #cf-cg1 #cd and note#a1 

#ch-ci1 #dh1 #aja    note#c1 #abc1 #adf 
note1 #adg note1 #bge1 #cjh note#b2     
quoted1 #cf1 #he-hf4  ,jealousy cured by
 hypnotism1 #acf-acg4  ,jeanne des      
,anges1 ,soeur1 cited1 #bgg note4       
,jesus ,christ1 resurrection and        
teachings of1 #cea4  ,joan of ,arc1 case
 of1 #bff-bfh4  ,johnson1 ,miss ,a41    
cited1 #agd note4  ----1 ,samuel1 #g    
note#a4  ,johnstone1 ,rev4 ,j4 ,c41     
quoted1 #aaj-aaa4  ,jones1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,j41
 case of1 cited1 #bbh note4  ,jowett1   
,prof41 cited1 #hf note4   ,kant1       
,immanuel1 cited1 #f1 #cag note#a4      
,kapnist1 ,countess ,eugnie1 apparition 
seen by1 #bdj1 #dah-dbj4  ,kardec1      
,allan1 cited1 #bhc4  ,keulemans1 ,mr41 
case of1 cited1 #aha1 #bbg note#b4      
,kingsford1 ,dr4 ,anna1 #bhc4           
,kleptomania cured by hypnotism1        
#acd-ace4  ,kobb1 ,major1 case of1 #bgb4
  ,krafft1 ,ebing1 ,dr4 ,r4 von1 case of
 patient of1 #ih-ii2   cited1 #adf note4
  ,kubla ,khan1 inspiration of1 #ajd4   
,l41 ,mr41 case of1 #ahf-ahg4  --1      

,mrs41 dream of1 #dde-ddf4  ,ladame1    
cited1 #acd note1 #ace note#b4  ,ladd1  
,prof41 cited1 #gj and note4            
,lamartine1 quoted1 #ga4  ,lang1        
,andrew1 cited1 #ahj note1 #bcb note#b1 
#bff note1 #bfg note#a4  ,language1     
inadequacy of1 in expressing needs of   
the psychical being1 #gg-gh4  ,lao ,tzu1
 religion of1 #cdi4  ,lateau1 ,louise1  
case of1 cited1 #adf note4  ,leaf1 ,dr4 
,walter1 cited1 #cbh and note4  ,lecky1 
,mr41 cited1 #d4  ,lefbure1 ,m41 cited1 
#bhd4  ,lematre1 ,prof41 cited1 #bhd4   
,lonie1 case of1 #cjh1 #cji4  ,lett1    
,charles ,a4 ,w41 case reported by1     
#bda-bdb4  ----1 ,sara1 apparition seen 
by1 #bdb4  ,lewis1 ,mr41 dream of1      
cited1 #ajf4  ----1 ,h4 ,j41 quoted1    
#cfd4  ,libeault1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,a4--        
,cases of patients of1 #bbj1 #bia1 #bid4
   ,cited1 #abc note1 #acj1 #acc note1  
#acd    note1 #ace note#b1 #adb note1   
#adc and note#a1 #aee note4   ,hypnotic 
school originated by1 #aba4   ,quoted1  
#dcb-dcc4  ,life--   ,continuity of1    

presumptive proof of1 #ahd4   ,dual     
existence in material and spiritual     
world1 #aad-aaf4   ,etherial world1 a   
product of1 #gf4   ,nature of1 human    
ignorance of1 #ahg-ahh4   ,passion for1 
a factor in universal energy1 #cdd4     
,planetary origin of1 an unproven       
theory1 #gd4  ,light--   ,magnetic1     
#cgi4   ,red1 dynamometrical power      
increased by1 #bfa4  ,lightfoot1 ,mrs41 
case of1 cited1 #bdj4  ,livre des       
,esprits1 cited1 #bhc4  ,lodge1 ,sir    
,oliver1 cited1 #ahe note#a1 #cbh and   
note4  ,lombroso1 ,prof41 cited1 #ef4   
,long1 ,geo4 ,e41 quoted1 #dca-dcb4     
,lourdes1 miracles of1 #abh1 #afd-afe4  
,love--   ,definition of1 #he1 #cdd-cde4
   ,earth-loves1 persistence of1 in     
spirit world1 #cej-cea4   ,planetary    
conception of1 #he-hf4   ,platonic      
conception of1 #he-hi4   ,underlying    
,power of the ,universe1 as1 #cdg-cdi4  
,lowest level nerve-centres1 function   
of1 #eg4  ,lucidit1 see ,clairvoyance   
and ,telsthesia4  ,luther1 ,prof41      

quoted1 #dde-ddf4  ----1 ,mrs4 case of1 
#cae4  ,lyttelton1 ,hon4 ,mrs41 #chi4   
,m41 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bdd note4  
--1 ,marie1 case of1 #dg4  --1 ,s41     
quoted1 #ga4  ,mabille1 ,dr41 cited1    
#adf note4  ,mabire1 ,m4 ,etienne1      
cited1 #ahe note#a4  ,mc,alpine1 ,mrs41 
apparition seen by1 #cij-cia4           
,m',kendrick1 ,prof41 cited1 #abe4      
,macmillan's ,magazine1 cited1 #adf     
note4  ,maginot1 ,adle1 case of1 #cah4  
,magnetic sense1 #cgi4  ,magnetism of   
the earth1 #cgh4  ,magnets1 sensibility 
to1 #cgi4  ,mahomedanism1 #ceb4         
,maitland1 ,edward1 #bhc4  ,making of   
,religion1 cited1 #ahj note4  ,maladies 
de la ,personnalit1 ,les1 quoted1       
#aa-ab4  ,mamtchitch1 ,eugne1 apparition
 seen by1 #cae1 #djj-dje4  ----1        
,sophie1 apparition seen by1 #djd-dje4  
,mangiamele1 case of1 #ff1 #fg4         
,maniacs1 hypnotisation of1 #abe4       
,manning1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #aab   
note4  ,mannors1 ,elisa1 automatic      
writings by1 #ccb-ccc4  ,marot1 ,dr41   

cited1 #acf note4  ,martian control of  
,hlne ,smith1 #bhd-bhe4  ,martin1 ,mrs41
 case contributed by1 #chg-chh4  ,mason1
 ,dr4 ,r4 ,osgood1 case of patient of1  
#ej-ea4  ,massive motor impulses1       
#bgb-bgc4  ,maury1 ,m4 ,alfred1 cited1  
#if4  ,mauvaise honte cured by          
hypnotism1 #acg4  ,medical clairvoyance1
 see under ,clairvoyance4               
,medico-,legal ,journal1 cited1 #dh4    
,mediumship--a healthy faculty1         
#bhj-bha2   communications possibly     
affected by character of medium1 #cbd4  
,melbourne ,argus1 cited1 #aaa4         
,mmoires pour servir  l',histoire et    
l',etablissement du    magnetism        
,animal1 cited1 #aai note4  ,memory--   
,alternating personalities1 in1 #aca1   
#caj-caa4   ,crystal-vision1 subliminal 
memory reproduced by1 #ajc4   ,dream--  
,capricious nature of1 #caj-caa4        
,relation to waking and hypnotic        
memories1 #ii-ajj4   ,ecmnesia1 see that
 title4   ,hypnotism1 in1 see under     
,hypnotism4   ,hysteria1 heightened in1 

#cji4   ,multiple personality1 in1 #ea4 
,possession1 memory of controlling      
spirit evident in1 #bih-bii4            
,post-epileptic1 #df1 #dg4   ,secondary 
personality1 of1 #df-dh4                
,somnambulistic1 #aef4   ,subliminal    
continuous1 #ae4   ,trance memory of    
spiritual world1 #bii4  ,mesmer1 work   
of1 #e1 #aag1 #aah1 #aai4  ,mesmerism-- 
,nervous effluence theory of1 #aai4     
,sensibility to objects treated by1     
#chj4  ,mesmerism in ,india1 cited1 #aci
 note4  ,mesnet1 ,dr41 case of1 cited1  
#de note4  ,metetherial environment1 #i 
and note#b1 #aff4  ,methectic1 #bag     
note#b4  ,mettalsthesia1 #cgh-cgi4      
,middle-level nerve centres--           
,function of1 #eg4   ,unchecked rule of1
 in post-epileptic states1 #de4  ,mill1 
,john ,stuart1 cited1 #gb4              
,mind-reading1 see ,muscle-reading4     
,mind1 cited1 #adc note#b4  ,mind-cure1 
,faith-cure1 and the ,miracles of       
,lourdes1 cited1 #afe note4  ,mitchell1 
,rev4 ,g4 ,w41 cited1 #caf note4        

,moberly1 ,mrs4 ,alfred1 planchette     
experiments by1 #bhg4  ,modern          
spiritualism2 a ,history and a          
criticism1 cited1 #cac note#a4          
,moncrieff1 ,major1 case of1 cited1 #bbg
 note#b4  ,mondeux1 case of1 #ff1 #fg4  
,mono-ideism1 #acg1 #adg4  ,moral       
nature1 splits in1 #cjh4  ,moral        
training and reform1 hypnotism in1      
#acc-ace4  ,morphia habit cured by      
hypnotism1 #ace-acf and note4  ,morton1 
,miss ,r4 ,c41 apparition seen by1      
#dba-dbi4  ,moses1 ,w4 ,stainton--      
,case of1 #bd1 #aeh1 #bgd1 #big1 #bih1  
#cjj1 #cad1 #cae1 #cai-cbg #ccg1        
#dda-dde4   ,spirit ,teachings by1 #cba1
 #cbc4  ,motor automatism--   ,anagrams 
automatically written1 #bfd4            
,definition of term1 #afh-afi4          
,dissolutive and evolutive1 #bed-bee4   
,dowsing1 #bfi4    ,drawing1 #bfd-bfe   
and note#a4   ,genius and hypnotism1    
relation to1 #hj-ha4   ,idiognomonic1   
#beh4   ,inhibitions1 #bfi-bgb4   ,modes
 of1 #bgc-bgd4   ,nunciative character  

of1 #beh-bfh4   ,possession1 see that   
title4   ,range of1 #bei4   ,scope of1  
#ba4   ,sensibility to motor impulses1  
#bgb-bgc4   ,sensory automatism3        
connected with1 #bfh2     compared with1
 #bgd4   ,speech1 #bgd4   ,spirit       
drawings1 #gh-gi4   ,spirit rapping1    
#bfb-bfd4   ,table-tilting1 #bfb-bfd1   
#djj-dja4   ,teleological1 #bhe-bhf4    
,writing 7hand-7--     ,cases of1       
#bia-bib1 #cfj4     ,moses1 ,w4 ,s41    
case of1 see ,moses4     ,spirit        
control1 considered as proof of1 #bij4  
,writing 7planchette-71 cases of1       
#bhg-bhi1 #dcc-dcg4   ,writing 7hand-   
and planchette-71--     ,contents of    
messages1 classification of1 #bge-bgf4  
,early investigations of1 #bgd-bge4     
,knowledge evidenced in1 sources of1    
#bia-bif4     ,literary style of1 #gh4  
,secondary personality1 by1 #bge4       
,sources of1 #bge-bgf4     ,subliminal  
centres regulating1 #eh-ei4             
,subliminal self1 messages from1        
#bgf-bgh4  ,mount-,temple1 ,lady1 #cbj4 

,multiple ,personality1 cases of1       
#di-ea2   memory in1 #ea4  ,multiple    
,personality1 cited1 #dg note#b4        
,murray's ,magazine1 cited1 #cie note4  
,muscle-reading1 #bei-bfj4  ,muscular   
resistance1 sense of1 in relation to    
subliminal mentation1 #fi4  ,music1     
symbolism of1 #gi4  ,musical execution1 
subliminally initiated1 #bgc4  ,musset1 
,de1 quoted1 #ga4  ,myers1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,t41
 cited1 #afe note1 #agd note1 #chb4     
----1 ,f4 ,w4 ,h41 #cbh2 cited1 #afe    
note4  ,mysophobia cured by hypnotism1  
#acf4  ,myth1 ,ritual and ,religion1    
cited1 #bcb note4   ,nagel1 cited1 #add 
note4  ,nancy ,school of ,hypnotism1    
#aba1 #aeh4  ,narcosis1 hypnosis        
contrasted with1 #abc4  ,narcotics1 see 
,drugs4  ,nasse1 cited1 #abj note#a4    
,natural and ,mesmeric ,clairvoyance1   
cited1 #aci note1 #afj note#a4          
,neilson1 cited1 #ace note#b4  ,nerve   
cells1 controlled by subliminal self1   
#cd4  ,nervous development1 modern1     
rapidity of1 #gc-gd4  ,nevius1 ,dr41    

cited1 #cjg1 #cji4  ,nevroses et ,ides  
,fixes1 cited1 #de note#a1 #aja note#c2 
case quoted from1 #cei-cfa4  ,newbold1  
,prof4 ,w4 ,romaine1 case recorded by1  
#cfe2   cited1 #cjg1 #cbh and note2     
quoted1 #ajc4  ,newell1 ,e4 ,j41 quoted1
 #cfd-cfe4  ,newnham1 ,mr41 case of1    
cited1 #aab note4  ----1 ,mrs41 case of1
 #bhg-bhh1 #bie-bif1 #cjh4  ----1 ,rev4 
,p4 ,h41 case of1 #bhg-ihi1 #bie-bif4   
,nineteenth ,century1 cited1 #cbj note4 
,nordau1 ,dr4 ,max1 cited1 #ef4         
,normal--   ,genius the best type of1   
#bj1 #eg1 #fa-fc4   ,misuse of word1    
#fa4  ,normandie1 ,rev4 ,c4 ,y41 de1    
quoted1 #ddj4  ,northern ,standard1     
quoted1 #cia4  ,notes of ,sances with   
,d4 ,d4 ,home1 cited1 #cbj note4        
,observations de ,mdecine ,pratique1    
cited1 #aej note1 #aeg note1 #cha4      
,occult ,wisdom1 #cci4  ,on the         
so-called ,divining ,rod1 cited1 #cgh4  
,pain--   ,dream memory of1 #adj4       
,hypnotic suppression of1 #ach-ada4     
,memory of1 #adj-ada4   ,psychological  

entity1 treated as1 #adj4   ,sense of1  
distinguished from temperature sense in 
hysteria1 #eb4   ,suggestion in         
removing1 #adj4  ,painting1 automatic1  
#bgc4  ,palladia1 apparitions of1       
#djj-dje4  ,parsons1 ,dr4 ,d4 ,j41 case 
of1 quoted1 #bga4  ----1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,w41  
quoted1 #bgb4  ,parry1 ,mrs4 ,gambier1  
quoted1 #dba4  ,peak in ,darien cases1  
#bcc4  ,pelham1 ,george1 control of1    
#bce4  ,penne1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1   
#bdd note4  ,percipient1 definition of  
term1 #i note#c4  ,perception--         
,distant1 #bja4   ,power of1 #adi-aej4  
,personality--   ,common-sense view of1 
#aa1 #ac4   ,co-ordination theory1      
#aa-ac1 #bf-bg1 #ca4   ,cosmic and      
planetary1 simultaneous development of1 
#aad-aae1 #afe-aff4   ,dissociation of1 
#aij-aia1 #aif-aig4   ,dual1 #cef-cei4  
,hypnotic stratum of1 #ce1 #cg4         
,knowledge1 new1 not evidenced in       
changes of1 #caj1 #caa4   ,multiplex1   
#baf4   ,psychological view of1 #aa-ab4 
,secondary1 see ,secondary personality4 

,supraliminal life regarded as          
privileged case of1 #afi4   ,upbuilding 
of1 notion of1 #cb4  ,perturbation      
masking evolution1 #ceg4  ,pesaro1      
experiments of1 #cja4  ,pessimistic     
views of life1 #cdh4  ,pttin1 cited1    
#aej note1 #cha4  ,petrovo-,solovovo1   
,mr4 ,m41 case collected by1 #daf-dag4  
,phdo1 cited1 #bac4  ,phantasmogenetic  
centres1 #agg1 #ahh1 #aif1 #aig4        
,phantasms--   ,discarnate spirits1 of1 
see ,discarnate ,spirits--,apparitions4 
,living1 of the1 #aic-aih1 #bje-bjg1    
#bji-baj4  ,phantasms of the ,dead from 
another point of view1 cited1 #dji note4
  ,phantasms of the ,living1 cited1 #e1 
#i1 #if1 #ajh1 #aab and note1 #aac      
note#a1 #afj note#a1 #agd1 #ahe and     
note#a1 #ahh1 #aie notes1 #aii     and  
note1 #bjj notes1 #bjf1 #bjg notes1     
#bjh1 #bji and notes1 #baj     note#a1  
#bag note#a1 #bbc and note#b1 #bbd and  
note1 #bbe1 #bbf1     #bbg and note#a1  
#bcc1 #bcd note#b1 #bcf and note1 #bcg1 
#bdj1 #bda1     #bdc1 #bgb1 #bia2       

quoted1 #ajf-ajg1 #bje-bjf1 #cgj-cgd1   
#chd-che1 #chg-chh1 #cib-cif1 #dbj1     
#dcj4  ,phme1 cited1 #ahe4  ,philosophy 
of ,mysticism1 cited1 #dc note4         
,philosophy of the ,unconscious1 cited1 
#ga4  ,pierce1 ,a4 ,h41 cited1 #ad note4
  ,piper1 ,mrs4--   ,case of1 #aeh1     
#ahi1 #bhe1 #big-cjj1 #cjg1 #cji1 #cad1 
#cae1 #cah1 #cai1 #cbf-ccc1 #ccg1 #ddh4 
,george ,pelham control of1 quoted1     
#ccf4  ,pitres1 ,dr41 #abd4             
,planchette1 see ,motor                 
,automatism--,writing4  ,plants1        
sensibility to presence of certain1     
#chj4  ,plato--   ,cited1 #acg1 #bac1   
#bag1 note#b1 #bhb4   ,love1 conception 
of1 #he1 #hf-hi4   ,pre-terrene         
training1 theory as to1 #ia4  ,plotinus1
 quoted1 #ceb-cee4  ,plutarch1 cited1   
#bfg note#b4  ,podmore1 ,frank1 cited1  
#i1 #ad note1 #agd    note1 #ahe note#b1
 #bch1 #bdd1 #cac note#a1 #cah1 #dji4   
,points de repre1 #aha1 #ahb4  ,pole1   
,w41 quoted1 #ff4  ,pole-,carew1 ,mrs41 
case attested by1 #chh-chi4             

,poltergeist phenomena1 #bdf4           
,possession--   ,analogies for1         
#cjj-cjb1 #cjg1 #caj-caa4   ,angelic1   
diabolical or hostile1 no evidence for1 
#cjg-caj4   ,brain function in1 #cje4   
,cases of1 #ddf-dea4   ,chinese1 #cjg1  
#cji4   ,definition of term1 #bgd1 #bih1
 #cjj4   ,demoniacal1 #cjg-caj1 #cei4   
,ecstasy1 merging into1 #cad-cae4       
,evidence for1 #big-bih4   ,home1 ,d4   
,d41 case of1 #cah-cai4   ,janet's      
treatment of1 #cfa4   ,memory in1       
#bih-bii4   ,moses case1 see ,moses4    
,motor automatism contrasted with1 #big4
   ,nature of1 #cjj-cjc1 #caa4   ,piper1
 ,mrs41 case of1 see ,piper4   ,place   
of1 in psychical phenomena1 #bii-cjj4   
,pseudo-1 #ea1 #cei-cfa4   ,simulation  
of1 in somnambulistic state1 #aeg-aeh4  
,spirit possession--     ,difficulties  
of controlling spirit in1 #cce-ccg4     
,home1 ,d4 ,d41 case of1 #cai4          
,piper1 ,mrs41 case of1 discussed1      
#ccj-ccc4   ,subliminal self1 as the    
domination of1 #cae-caf1 #cah1 #cbd1    

#cbe4   ,two or more spirits1 by1 #bih4 
,potolof1 ,w41 case attested by1 #dje4  
,prayer1 relation of1 to telepathy1     
#ahd4  ,precognition--   ,death1 of1    
#bcb1 #cgj4   ,dreams1 in1 #ajg-aab4    
,telepathy from discarnate spirits1     
defined as1 #ahg4  ,prince1 ,dr4        
,morton1 case of patient of1 #di and    
note#b1 #cjh4  ,principles of           
,psychology1 cited1 #dh note1 #fi       
note#c4  ,prolongeau1 case of1 #ff1 #fg4
  ,proust1 ,dr41 case of patient of1    
#df-dg4  ,proximity of plants and       
animals1 sensibility to1 #chj4          
,prudhomme1 ,m4 ,sully1 quoted1 #ga4    
,psychical invasion--   ,cases of1      
#aic-aih1 #ccg2     where agent has no  
memory of circumstance1 #bjh2     where 
agent and percipient retain memory of1  
#aii-bjj1 #bji2     where neither agent 
nor percipient retain memory of1        
#aih-aii4   ,dreams1 in1 #aje1 #aab4    
,dying1 by1 #aac4   ,ecstasy in relation
 to1 #cad4   ,evidence for1 #cjb1       
#ccg-cch4   ,living persons1 of1        

#aab-aac4   ,telepathy almost           
indistinguishable from1 #bid4           
,psychical ,research1 ,christian        
evidence supported by1 #ceb4            
,psychische ,studien1 cited1 #dcc4      
,psychological ,review1 ,the1 quoted1   
#cbi4  ,psychology1 advance in1 during  
last twenty years1 #bgi-bhj4            
,psychology of ,suggestion1 cited1 #dg  
note#b4  ,psychorrhagic diathesis1      
#aif-aig4  ,psycho-,thrapie1 cited1 #acc
 note1 #acd note1 #ace note#b1 #aci     
note4  ,psycho-therapeutics1 development
 of1 #e4  ,pythagoras1 #bhc4            
,quarterly ,journal of ,science1 cited1 
#cbj note4  ,quicherat1 ,m41 cited1     
#bff1 #bfg4   ,r41 ,mr4 ,van1 of ,utica1
 case of1 #ff1 #fg4  ,ramsay1 ,mrs41    
apparition seen by1 #cid-cie4           
,raphael's ,san ,sisto1 inspiration of1 
#agc4  ,rarey1 cited1 #abc4  ,rawson1   
,henry ,g41 cited1 #ahe note#a4  ,recent
 ,experiments in ,crystal ,vision1      
cited1 #ahj note4  ,recherches          
,physiologiques sur l',homme1 cited1    

#aai note4  ,recherches sur l',homme    
dans le ,somnambulisme1 cited1 #aeg     
note1 #cha4  ,record of a ,haunted      
,house1 cited1 #dba4  ,red ,light in    
hypnotism1 #bfa4  ,reddell1 ,frances1   
apparition seen by1 #chg-chh4  ,reed1   
,colonel1 case of1 cited1 #bjj4  ----1  
,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bbh note4       
,regis1 cited1 #ace note#a4             
,reichenbach1 ,baron1 #cgi4  ,reid1     
quoted1 #aa4  ,reincarnation1 doctrine  
of1 #bhb-bhe4  ,religio-,philosophical  
,journal1 cited1 #ea note#c1 #cgj-cga1  
#dcg note4  ,religion--   ,ancient      
,sage1 of1 #cdi-ej4   ,buddha1 of1 #cdi1
 #ceb-cec4   ,christianity1 #cdb1 #cdf1 
#cdi-cej4   ,definition of1 #he1 #hi1   
#cdg4   ,ideals of1 #cdg-cdh4           
,natural1 #cdi-cej4   ,old-world beliefs
 not adapted to modern needs1 #cdb4     
,oracular1 development of1 #cdf4        
,science1 complementary to1 #be1 #ced2  
scientific methods applied to truths of1
 #cda4   ,synthesis of1 provisional     
sketch for1 #cdg-cee4  ,renterghem1 ,dr4

 van1 hypnotic cures by1 #aag2   cited1 
#acc note1 #acd note1 #ace note#b1 #aci 
note4  ,report of the ,international    
,congress of ,experimental              
,psychology1 cited1 #agj note4  ,report 
on ,spiritualism of the ,committee of   
the ,london    ,dialectical ,society1   
cited1 #cai note4  ,researches in the   
,phenomena of ,spiritualism1 cited1 #cbj
 note4  ,retrocognition and             
,precognition1 cited1 #bde note4  ,rett1
 ,m41 cited1 #ga4  ,revelation1         
telepathy a means for continuous1 #cej4 
,rves1 ,les1 cited1 #ih1 #aja note#b4   
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 cited1 #df     
note1 #eb note1 #aja note#a1    #acc    
note1 #acd note1 #ace notes#a and #b1   
#acf note1 #acg    note#a1 #aci1 #adj   
note#a1 #adb note1 #adf note1 #adg note1
 #aec    note#a1 #aee note1 #agj note1  
#bgb note1 #chb4  ,revue de ,mdecine1   
cited1 #aja note#c4  ,revue             
,philosophique1 cited1 #fd note1 #aci   
note#a1 #adc note#b1    #aej note1 #aeb 
note#b1 #cjh note#b1 #chb1 #dcj4  ,revue

 ,scientifique1 quoted1 #cfe and note4  
,reynolds1 ,mary1 case of1 #dh-di4      
,ribot1 ,mr41 quoted1 #aa-ab1 #ga-gb4   
,richet1 ,prof41 work of1 #aba2         
table-tilting experiments of1 #dcj2     
cited1 #ahe note#a1 #bfc1 #bhg1 #ddf2   
quoted1 #ddh4  ,ringier1 ,georg1 cited1 
#acc note1 #ace note#b4  ,riverine      
,herald1 cited1 #aaa4  ,romances1       
inward1 #bgi4  ,rose-asthma1 #chj4      
,rossi-,pagnoni1 ,prof41 experiments by1
 #bij4  ,royce1 ,prof41 cited1 #fi and  
note#a2   case attested by1 #dje-djf4   
,rybalkin1 ,dr4 ,j41 cited1 #adf note4  
,safford1 ,prof41 case of1 #ff-fg4  ,s4 
,augustine1 cited1 #ahd4  ,s4 ,brieux1  
,bishop of1 vision of1 #bdd-bde4  ,s4   
,ilma1 case of1 cited1 #adf note4       
,saint-,saens1 cited1 #ga4  ,s4         
,theresa1 #e-f4  ,salptrire ,school of  
,hypnotism1 #aba1 #abc1 #acb note1 #adg 
note1 #cjh1 #cha4  ,sand1 ,george1      
method of work of1 #hb4  ,sanders1 ,rev4
 ,c4 ,b4 7,x  ,y  ,z71 case of1 #caf and
 note4  ,scheme of ,vital ,faculty1     

#cac-cad4  ,schiller1 ,mr41 case of1    
#bgh-bgi4  ,schmoll1 ,herr ,anton1      
cited1 #ahe note#a4  ,schneller1        
,frulein1 case communicated by1         
#cge-cgf4  ,schrenck-,notzing1 cited1   
#acc note1 #ahe note#a4  ,science--     
,methods of1 applied to psychology1     
#a-c4   ,religion1 complementary to1    
#be1 #ced4  ,scripture1 ,dr41 cited1 #fd
 note1 #fe2   quoted1 #fg4  ,searle1    
,mr41 case of1 #bjg4  ,secondary        
personality--   ,defective integration  
of psychical being1 cases due to1       
#de-dh4   ,diabolical possession a phase
 of1 #cjh4   ,emotionally selected1 #dd4
   ,fictitious1 #dh4   ,improvement on  
primary1 #dh-di1 #ea4   ,memory of1 lost
 to primary1 #df1 #dg2     recovered    
under hypnotism1 #df-dh4   ,motor       
automatisms by1 #bie4   ,possession1    
possible confusion with1 #cjg4          
,post-epileptic states1 #de-df4         
,primary superseded by1 #dh-di1 #ea4    
,somnambulic1 #de1 #aef-aeg4            
,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l41 case of1 #cef-cei4 

,x41 ,flida1 case of1 #cfa-cfc4         
,seeress of ,prevorst1 cited1 #cag      
note#b4  ,self-projection1 #baj-baa4    
,self-suggestion--   ,automatisms1 range
 of1 increased by1 #aeb4   ,charms as   
means to1 efficacy of1 #afd4   ,pain    
suppressed by1 #adj4   ,schemes of1     
#abg-abh4   ,stigmatisation due to1 #adf
 and notes4   ,subliminal self1 defined 
as appeal to1 #abi4   ,witchcraft       
explained as1 #e4  ,sensation et        
,mouvement1 cited1 #bfa note4  ,sense   
,organs--   ,perceptive power           
independent of1 #adi-aej4               
,specialised1 #afi-aga4   ,transposition
 of faculties of1 #adi-aej4             
,sensibility--   ,drugs1 to1 #abb-abc4  
,magnets1 to1 #cgi4    ,synsthesi of1   
#agj and notes1 #aga4   ,transition from
 undifferentiated1 to specialisation of 
sense1 #agj-aga4  ,sensitives1 spirit   
perception of1 #cce4  ,sensory          
automatism--   ,causes predisposing to1 
in healthy persons1 #agd-age4   ,genius 
and hypnotism1 relation to1 #hj-ha4     

,hallucinations1 see that title4        
,motor automatism3 connected with1 #bfh2
     compared with1 #bgd4   ,nature of1 
#bj-ba4   ,scope of term1 #afh4         
,telepathy the prerequisite for1 #ahc4  
,sewall1 ,frank1 cited1 #cag note#a4    
,shell-hearing1 #bja4  ,shock1 effects  
of1 on human beings and animals1 #abc4  
,sidgwick1 ,mrs41 experiments of1 #aca2 
case attested by1 #chg2   cited1 #afa1  
#afb note#b1 #agd note1 #ahe note#a1    
#bdf note2   quoted1 #aaa1 #bdg and     
note-#bej and note4  ,sidgwick1         
,professor1 case of1 cited1 #bgg note2  
case investigated by1 #daa2   cited1 #i 
note#a1 #ajh1 #afb note#b1 #agd note1   
#ahe note#a2   quoted1 #aaa4  ,sidis1   
,dr4 ,boris1 #dg and note#b4  ,skae1    
,dr4 ,david1 case of patient of1 #dh4   
,skirving1 ,mr41 case of1 #bgb4         
,sleep--   ,characteristics of1 #ic-id1 
#aac-aad4   ,clairvoyant excursions     
during1 #cja4   ,cosmic personality     
developed during1 #aad-aae4             
,definition of1 #bj4   ,ecstasy1        

connection with1 #aaf4   ,faculties of1 
analogy between those of ,genius and1   
#ajd4   ,hypersthesia of1 #ig4          
,hypnotism in relation to1 #gb1         
#aba-abb1 #aca4   ,imagination1 intense1
 during1 #ig4   ,psychical excursion    
during1 #cjb4   ,recuperative powers of1
 #id-ie1 #ig1 #aac4   ,rocking1 induced 
by1 #abf4   ,somnambulism1 relation to1 
#ie4   ,spiritual functions of          
subliminal self during1 #aef4           
,subliminal self directing1 #aaf4       
,submerged faculty1 indicating existence
 of1 #ec4   ,telepathy and telsthesia   
in1 #aje1 #aad1 #aaf4  ,smell1          
subliminal sense of1 #bga4  ,smith1 ,g4 
,m41 cited1 #bhg and note#a4  ----1 ,h4 
,babington1 cited1 #bia4  ----1 ,h4     
,arthur1 cases of1 #bgg and note--#bgh4 
----1 ,mlle4 ,hlne--   ,case of1        
discussed1 #bhj-bhf2 cited1 #cbd4       
,martian landscapes of1 #bfe note#a     
----1 ,j4 ,w41 cited1 #ahe note#a4      
,smyth1 ,sibbie 7ne ,towns71 apparition 
seen by1 #bdb4  ,snow1 ,herman1 cited1  

#dcg note4  ,socit de ,psychologie      
,physiologique1 paper presented to1     
cited1 #chb4  ,society for ,psychical   
,research--   ,address of ,secretary1   
#bic note4   ,american1 ,proceedings of1
 case from1 #bbf note1 cited1 #ea       
note#b1 #fi note#a1 #ajb note1 #bdc     
note#a1 #bdd note1     #bdf note1 #bie  
note1 #dje4   ,census of ,hallucinations
 undertaken by1 #agd and note2          
,report of1 see under ,hallucinations4  
,founding of1 #i note#a4   ,journal of--
     ,cases quoted from1 #che-chf1 #dde1
 #ddi-dea4     ,cited1 #ea note#c1 #ajb 
note1 #ajf note1 #ajg note1 #aab        
note1 #aac note#b #adj note#b1 #adf     
note1 #aea note1 #aeg    note1 #ahe     
note#b1 #ahh note1 #bjg note#b1 #bji and
 note#a1     #baj note#a1 #bcg1 #bch1   
#bda notes1 #bgb1 #bhe note1 #bhg       
note#a1 #bij    note1 #cbj note1 #cie1  
#dji1 #daf note4   ,object of1 #cac4    
,proceedings of1 cited1 #ce and note1   
#de note#c1 #di notes#b    and#c1 #ea   
note#a1 #fi note#b1 #ajc note1 #ajf     

note1 #aab    note1 #abj note#b1 #abd   
note1 #abf note1 #abh1 #aci note1 #ada  
note#b1 #adb note1 #adg note1 #adh and  
note1 #aeb note#a1 #aee    note1 #afj   
note#b1 #afb notes1 #afc note#a1 #afe   
note1 #agc    note1 #ahj note1 #aha1    
#ahe note#a1 #ahg1 #aib note1 #aic1 #aie
    note#b1 #bji note#b1 #baj note#a1   
#bae1 #bba notes#a and#b1    #bbf1 #bca1
 #bcb and note#a1 #bcc1 #bcd notes#a    
and#b1 #bcf and    note1 #bcg1 #bch1    
#bci and note1 #bda1 #bdc and note#b1   
#bdd1 #bde    note1 #bdg and note#a1    
#bei and note1 #bfj1 #bfc note1 #bff    
note#a1 #bga notes1 #bgg and note1 #bgh 
and note1 #bgi1 #bhe and    note1 #bhg  
note#b1 #bhh note#a1 #bhi notes1 #bij   
and note1 #bib1    #big1 #cja1 #cag     
note#c1 #cah1 #cbj note1 #cba1 #cbd1    
#cbh note1 #cbi1    #ccj1 #ccb1 #ccc and
 note1 #cef1 #cgh1 #chj1 #chb1 #djj1    
#dji note1 #dcj2    quoted1 #agg1 #bgj1 
#bga1 #bhg1 #cbg-cbh1 #ccj-ccc1         
#cfd-cff1 #cfi-cgj1    #cge-cgf1        
#cij-cia1 #dje1 #daj1 #dab1 #daf1       

#dah-dbj1 #dba1 #dcc-dcg1 #ddf-ddi4     
,test letters to be sent to1 suggestions
 regarding1 #bic note4  ,socrates--     
,dmon of1 #bfe-bfh4   ,science          
originated by1 #f4  ,solon1 quoted1 #aag
 note4  ,solovovo1 ,michael ,petrovo1   
quoted1 #dbj4  ,somnambulism--          
,analogy from1 for ghostly              
communications1 #bag-bah4               
,characteristics of state of1 #dd4      
,hypnosis in relation to1 #acg1 #aef4   
,intellectual work done in state of1    
#aef-aeg4   ,possession1 parallelism    
with1 #caa4   ,secondary personality    
starting from1 #dd1 #de4   ,sleep1      
relation to1 #ie4   ,spontaneous1 #aef4 
,supernormal powers evidenced in1 #aeg  
,space--   ,phantasmogenetic centre1    
modification of part into1 #aie1 #aig4  
,spirit attitude towards1 #agf4         
,spiritual phenomena in relation to1    
#bb4   ,telepathy1 relation to1 #bb4    
,speech1 phantasmal1 #bda4  ,speer1     
,dr41 cited1 #bd4  ,spirit--            
,conception of1 #ei4   ,existence of1   

postulated1 #bg1 #ia-ib4  ,spirit       
drawings1 #gh-gi4  ,spirit ,drawings1   
cited1 #gi note1 #bfe note#a4  ,spirit  
guardianship1 case of1 #bga-bgb4        
,spirit healing1 #afd4  ,spirit         
intervention1 telepathy explained by    
theory of1 #af-ag4  ,spirit possession1 
see ,possession4  ,spirit rapping1      
#bfb-bfd4  ,spirit ,teachings1 cited1   
#cba1 #cbc4  ,spiritual environment1    
#afe-aff4  ---- evolution1 #cdj-cdf4    
,spiritualism--   ,fraud in connection  
with1 #cac1 #cbi4   ,home1 ,d4 ,d41 case
 of1 see ,home4   ,methods of1 #h4      
,moses1 ,w4 ,s41 case of1 see ,moses4   
,physical phenomena of1 #cac-cad4       
,pioneer work in1 #d et seq4   ,piper1  
,mrs41 case of1 see ,piper4   ,support  
of1 by subliminal-self theory1 #af-ag4  
,stage-fright cured by hypnotism1 #aeb4 
,statuvolism1 or ,artificial            
,somnambulism1 cited1 #aba1 #afc note#a2
   quoted1 #cha4  ,stevenson1 ,r4 ,l4-- 
,dreams of1 #gb-gc1 #hb-hc1 #ig4   ,dual
 personality experiences of1 #cef-cei4  

,genius of1 #cef4  ,stigmatisation1 #adf
 and notes4  ,stone ,age1 #ajd1 #bii4   
,storie1 ,mrs41 case of1 #ajh-aab1      
#bbh-bbi1 #bce1 #bcg4  ,stramm1 ,mdlle41
 automatic message written by1 #bia-bib4
  ,stubbing1 ,mrs4 ,annie ,s41 quoted1  
#cgc4  ,studien ber ,hysterie1 cited1   
#da and note#a4  ,study of ,fears1      
cited1 #cc and note4  ,sturgis1 ,dr4    
,russell1 cited1 #cc note4              
,subconscient chez les ,artistes1 les   
,savantes et les    ,ecrivains1 ,les1   
cited1 #ga and note4  ,subliminal1      
definition of term1 #ae4  ,subliminal   
power--   ,functioning of1 referred to  
control centres1 #eg-fj4   ,potential1  
in every organism1 #fc4  ,subliminal    
self--   ,control of organism by1 #aea1 
#aeg4   ,cognisance of fragment of1 #ae4
   ,definition of term1 #ae4            
,dominance of1 over supraliminal self1  
#cae4   ,functions of1 #cg4             
,imaginative faculty of1 #adg-adi4      
,methods of communication with          
supraliminal self1 #bj-ba4   ,nerve     

cells controlled by1 #cd4   ,powers of1 
compared with supraliminal1 #bgg-bgh4   
,suggestion in relation to1 #abi4       
,surviving self1 related to1 #afh4      
,telepathy explained by theory of1 #af1 
#ag4  ,subliminal ,self or ,unconscious 
,cerebration1 cited1 #ad note4          
,substitution of ideas1 #cfa4           
,suggestion--   ,attention1 effect on1  
#aec4   ,character1 influence on1       
#aed-aee4   ,cures effected by1 #cd4    
,delirium tremens1 suggestibility       
developed during recovery from1 #abc1   
#ace4   ,dynamogenic effect of1 on      
attention and character1 #aea-aee4      
,post-hypnotic1 #bfj-bfa4               
,responsiveness to1 requisite1 #abb-abc4
   ,subliminal self1 defined as appeal  
to1 #abi4   ,will-power1 influence on1  
#aec-aed4  ,suggestion ,mentale1 ,la1   
cited1 #bfc note4                       
,suggestions-,therapie bei krankhaften  
,erscheinungen des                      
,geschlechissinnes1 ,die1 cited1 #acc   
note4  ,suicide--   ,greek view of1     

#cdd4   ,phantasms in connection with1  
#bjj4  ,supernormal1 definition of term1
 #f note#a4  ,survival--   ,continuity1 
theory as to1 #ccc-ccd4   ,evidence for1
 #i-aj2 nature of1 #bac4   ,scientific  
method not applied to problem of1 #c4   
,telepathy the security of1 #cdd4       
,tests of1 #bib-bic and note4           
,swedenborg1 ,emmanuel--   ,case of1    
#bii4   ,debt of posterity to1 #cci4    
,evidential cases of1 #caf4             
,experiential and dogmatic writings of1 
#cag4   ,psychical science originated   
by1 #f-g1 #i4   ,teachings of1          
corroborative of recent investigations1 
#cag4  ,symbolism1 subliminal tendency  
to1 #bjb-bjc4  ,synsthesia1 #agj and    
notes--#aga4  ,synthetic ,society1      
papers read before1 #cej note4          
,syringomyelitis1 ansthesia of1 #cg4    
,t41 case of1 #chb4  --1 ,mrs41 case of1
 #cgc-cge4 cited1 #bcd4  --1 ,mr4 and   
,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #aab-aac4        
,table-tilting1 #bfb-bfd1 #djj-dja1     
#dcj-dcc1 #dch4  ,tactile sensibility1  

hypersthesia of1 #bga4  ,taine1 ,m41    
cited1 #ih and note#b4  ,taunton1 ,mrs41
 case of1 #bjg and note#a4  ,teale      
,mrs41 case of1 cited1 #bbh4            
,telsthesia--   ,cases of1 #bhi-bij4    
,crystal gazing or shell hearing1 in1   
#bja4   ,definition of term1 #f note#a1 
#ij1 #aje4   ,dreams in1 #ajd-aab1 #aad1
 #cff-cge4   ,genius1 relation to1      
#hd-he4   ,hypersthesia in relation to1 
#bja1 #bjb4   ,hypotheses explaining1   
#af4   ,parsons1 ,dr4 ,d4 ,j41 case of1 
#bga-bgb4   ,psychical invasion in      
relation to1 #agg1 #aii-bje4            
,telepathy1 relation to1 #ahg4          
,telekinesis1 #cac-cad4 #cbf2   case of 
,w4 ,s4 ,moses1 #cbj-cbb4  ,telepathy-- 
,animals1 between1 #ahh note4   ,brain  
vibrations in1 theory of1 #cjd4         
,collective cases1 #ahg1 #aih-aii4      
,conception of1 #cjc-cjf4               
,crystal-vision1 gift of1 accompanied by
 sensibility to1 #aha-ahb4   ,definition
 of1 #ij1 #aje4   ,discarnate spirits1  
relation to1 #ahg1 #cej4   ,distance1   

from1 #afj1 #ahe4   ,evidence for1      
#ahc-ahi1 #aia4   ,evolutive nature of1 
#bef and notes4   ,experiments to prove1
 #ahe and notes-#ahf4   ,genius1        
relation to1 #hd-he4   ,ghostly         
communications in relation to1 #baf-bag4
   ,hypnosis induced by1 #afj1 #afb and 
note#b1 #chb-chc4   ,hypotheses         
explaining1 #af-ag4   ,inadequacy of    
term1 #aje4   ,language difficulties in1
 #bhe4   ,latency of impacts1 #bbc-bbd1 
#bbh1 #bia4   ,law1 fundamental1 of     
spiritual world1 as1 #ca4   ,newnham1   
,rev4 ,p4 ,h41 case of1 #bhg-bhi4       
,prayer in relation to1 #ahd4           
,precognitive1 #ahg1 #ahi4              
,prerequisite for supernormal phenomena1
 as the1 #ahc4   ,psychical invasion    
indistinguishable from1 in motor        
automatism1 #bid4   ,savages1 among1    
#bef note#a4   ,sleep1 relation to1     
#aaf4   ,spiritual excursion in relation
 to1 #agg4   ,split personality in      
relation to1 #aij-aia4   ,subliminal    
selves1 between1 during sleep1 #cae4    

,survival1 the security for1 #i1 #cdd4  
,table-tilting1 by1 #dcj-dcc1 #dch4     
,telsthesia in relation to1 #ahg4       
,three main types of communications in1 
#bai-bbj4   ,time relations in1 #ahg4   
,vibration theory of1 #ahf-ahg4         
,temperature sense distinguished from   
pain sense1 #eb4  ,tennyson1 cited1     
#ahd4  ,teste1 cited1 #cha4  ,thaw1 ,dr4
 ,a4 ,blair1 cited1 #ahe note#a4        
,theology1 reason for avoiding1 #aj4    
,thrapeutique ,suggestive1 cited1 #abc  
note1 #adb note1 #adc note#a4  ,thorpe1 
,mr4 ,courtenay1 #bjf4                  
,thought-transference1 see ,telepathy4  
,thoulet1 ,professor1 case of1 #cae1    
#ddf-ddh4  ,time--   ,spiritual         
phenomena1 in relation to1 #bb-bc1 #bea4
   ,subliminal mentation1 in relation   
to1 #fh-fi4   ,telepathy1 in relation   
to1 #ahg4  ,tissi1 ,dr41 cited1 #ih2    
case of patient of1 #aja4  ,trance 7see 
also ,home--,moses--,piper7--           
,messages1 generic similarity of1 in    
different individuals1 #bgf note4       

,three main types of1 #cae4             
,transposition of senses1 #adi4         
,tuckey1 ,lloyd1 cited1 #ace note4      
,twins1 telepathic communications       
between1 #ajh-aji4   ,unity1 central1 in
 multicellular organisms1 #cj-ca4  ,use 
of ,hypnotism in the ,first ,degree1    
cited1 #cc note4   ,v41 ,mrs41 vision   
of1 #bcb4  ,vaso-motor system1          
dynamogenic hypnotic effects on1        
#ade-adf4  ,vennum1 ,miss ,mary         
,lurancy1 case of1 #ea4  ,verity1 ,a4   
,s41 case attested by1 #cig1 #cih4      
----1 ,l4 ,s4 and ,e4 ,c41 apparition   
appearing to1 #cif-cii4  ,verrall1      
,mrs41 #aha4  ,virgil1 cited1 #if and   
note1 #bhb4  ,vision--   ,after-images1 
#aga1 #agi4   ,defects of1 removed by   
suggestion1 #adb-adc4   ,entoptic1 #aga4
   ,evolution of1 #afi-agc4             
,imagination images1 #agb-agc4          
,inward1 #aga-agd2     control of1 #agh2
     veridical1 #age-agg4               
,memory-images1 #agb1 #agi4             
,non-optical1 in dreams1 #afi-agj4      

,ocular1 a privileged case of general   
vision1 #agc1 #age4   ,subliminal       
mentation in relation to1 #fi and       
note-#gj4  ,vital faculty1 scheme of1   
#dda et seq4  ,viv1 ,louis1 case of1 #di
 and note#a1 #adf note1 #cgi4           
,vlavianos1 ,dr41 cited1 #acd note1 #ace
 note#b4  ,voisin1 ,dr4 ,auguste1 cited1
 #di note#a1 #aja and note1    #acc     
note1 #acd note1 #ace notes#a and #b1   
#acf note1 #aee note2   quoted1         
#cha-chb4  ,voltaire1 genius of1 #fj4   
,w41 ,miss1 case of1 cited1 #bcc4       
,wallace1 ,alfred ,russel1 cited1 #g and
 note1 #af4  ,warburton1 ,canon1 dream  
of1 #ajf-ajg1 #bjh4  ,water--           
,mesmerised1 experiments with1 #chj4    
,running1 finding of1 #cgh4  ,wendell1  
,prof4 ,barrett1 cited1 #cah4           
,wesermann1 experiments of1 #dji4       
,wesley1 ,john1 #g note#a4              
,wetterstrand1 ,otto1 cited1 #ic1 #ace  
note#b1 #acf note4  ,whately1           
,archbishop1 case of1 #ff-fg4           
,wheatcroft1 ,mrs41 case of1 cited1     

#bbh4  ,wilkie1 ,j4 ,e41 dream of1 #cae1
 #dej-dea4  ,wilkinson1 ,w4 ,m41 cited1 
#gi note1 #bfe note#a4  ,will power--   
,hypnotic influence on1 #aec-aed4       
,self-projection by means of1 #baj-baa1 
#cif-cii4  ,wilmot1 ,mrs41 case of1     
#agg4  ,wilson1 ,archdeacon1 case of1   
#bbh4  ----1 ,dr4 ,albert1 case of      
patient of1 #di note#c4  ,wingfield1    
,dr4 ,hugh1 quoted1 #abh4  ,winsor1     
,miss ,anna1 case of1 #ea and note#b1   
#bie note4  ,witchcraft1 #d-e4          
,witches1 ansthetic patches on1 #abd4   
,wittman1 #acj4  ,wordsworth1 cited1    
#ha1 #hd note1 #ib4  ,world-soul1 #cee  
note4  ,wyman1 ,w4 ,h41 case of1 quoted1
 #bgj4   ,x41 ,emile1 case of1 #df-dg4  
--1 ,flida1 case of1 #dd1 #dh1 #ej-ea1  
#cjg1 #cfa-cfc4  ,x  ,y  ,z1 case of1   
#caf and note4  ,x  ,y  ,z or ,the      
,sleeping ,preacher of ,north ,alabama1 
cited1 #caf note4   ,z41 ,alma1 case of1
 #ej-ea4  ,zeitschrift fr ,hypnotismus1 
passim1 cited1 #abj note#a4  ,zoist1    
the1 cited1 #abc note1 #aci note#a1     

#aei1    #afa1 #afb note1 #afc note#b1  
#agg note1 #chj1 #cha4  ,zones1         
ansthetic1 occurrence of1 in witchcraft1
 #abd4  ,zones analgsique in witches1   
#e4         99       99       99        
99       99  ,the following             
typographical errors were corrected by  
the etext transcriber3  and of          
communciation withand of communication  
with  ,his field of consciousness is so 
far ,his field of typo consciousness is 
so far  physiolgical                    
explanationsphysiological explanations  
choreic or fidgetty shiftings of motor  
impulsechoreic or fidgety shiftings of  
motor impulse  these types of subacent  
visionthese types of subjacent vision   
will sometimes express themseveswill    
sometimes express themselves            
,bibliotque ,diabolique,bibliothque     
,diabolique  omniscent                  
benevolenceomniscient benevolence       
childhood dissappearedchildhood         
disappeared  ot ,january and ,february  
#ahheof ,january and ,february #ahhe    

committed siucide by drowning himself in
 the lakecommitted suicide by drowning  
himself in the lake  temps aprs leur    
arrivetemps aprs leur arrive  soon as he
 told ns4soon as he told us4  not       
finding the pad of paper on my kneeenot 
finding the pad of paper on my knees    
,telepathy almost                       
intistinguishable,telepathy almost      
indistinguishable  ou il prparait le    
samovaro il prparait le samovar  cabinet
 ou nous ne trouvmes personnecabinet o  
nous ne trouvmes personne  spare ou     
j'tais tout seulspare o j'tais tout seul
         99       99       99       99  
99   ,,footnotes3  #a ,see glossary4  #b
 ,i have ventured to coin the word      
supernormal to be applied to phenomena  
which are beyond what usually           
happens--beyond1 that is1 in the sense  
of suggesting unknown psychical laws4   
,it is thus formed on the analogy of    
abnormal4 ,when we speak of an abnormal 
phenomenon we do not mean one which     
contravenes natural laws1 but one which 

exhibits them in an unusual or          
inexplicable form4 ,similarly by a      
supernormal phenomenon ,i mean1 not one 
which overrides natural laws1 for ,i    
believe no such phenomenon to exist1 but
 one which exhibits the action of laws  
higher1 in a psychical aspect1 than are 
discerned in action in everyday life4   
,by higher 7either in a psychical or    
physiological sense7 ,i mean apparently 
belonging to a more advanced stage of   
evolution4  #c ,other savants of        
eminence--the great name of ,alfred     
,russel ,wallace will occur to all--had 
also satisfied themselves of the reality
 of these strange phenomena2 but they   
had not tested or demonstrated that     
reality with equal care4 ,i am not able 
in this brief sketch to allude to       
distinguished men of earlier            
date--,richard ,glanvil1 ,john ,wesley1 
,samuel ,johnson1 etc41 who discerned   
the importance of phenomena which they  
had no adequate means of investigating4 
#d ,the ,society for ,psychical         

,research was founded in #ahhb1         
,professor ,w4 ,f4 ,barrett taking a    
leading part in its promotion4 ,henry   
,sidgwick was its first ,president1 and 
,edmund ,gurney was its first ,honorary 
,secretary--he and ,i being joint       
,honorary ,secretaries of its ,literary 
,committee1 whose business was the      
collection of evidence4  #e ,see1 for   
instance1 ,proceedings of the ,society  
for ,psychical ,research 7henceforth in 
this book referred to as the ,s4,p4,r471
 vol4 iv4 p4 #bef1 ,jan4 #ahhg4  #f     
,see1 however1 an article in            
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4    
#cag to #cbe1 entitled ,subliminal ,self
 or ,unconscious ,cerebration1 by ,mr4  
,a4 ,h4 ,pierce1 of ,harvard            
,university1 with a reply by ,mr4 ,f4   
,podmore4  #g ,the difficulty of        
conceiving any cellular focus1 either   
fixed or shifting1 has actually led some
 psychologists to demand a unifying     
principle which is not cellular1 and yet
 is not a soul4  #h ,stanley ,hall's    

,study of ,fears1 ,american ,journal of 
,psychology1 vol4 viii41 ,no4 #b1       
,january1 #ahig4 ,see also ,the ,use of 
,hypnotism in the ,first ,degree1 by    
,dr4 ,russell ,sturgis 7,boston1 #ahid74
  #i ,for instances of such cures see   
,drs4 ,raymond and ,janet's ,nvroses et 
,ides fixes4  #aj ,see vol4 vii4 p4     
#cji4  #aa ,see ,studien ber ,hysterie  
7,leipsic1 #ahie71 by ,drs4 ,breuer and 
,freud4 ,an account of two of these     
cases is given in the original edition4 
,vol4 i4 pp4 #ea-f4  #ab ,on this       
subject see ,du ,prel1 ,philosophy of   
,mysticism1 ,eng4 trans41 vol4 i41      
passim4  #ac ,an old case of ,dr4       
,dyce's 7see ,the ,zoist1 vol4 iv4 p4   
#aeh7 forms a simple example of this    
type4 ,dr4 ,mesnet's case 7,de          
l',automatisme de la ,mmoire1 etc4 ,par 
le ,dr4 ,ernest ,mesnet1 ,paris1 #ahgd1 
p4 #ah1 seq47 should also be referred to
 here4 ,in these instances the secondary
 state is manifestly a degeneration of  
the primary state1 even when certain    

traces of supernormal faculty are       
discernible in the narrowed psychical   
field4  #ad ,see ,the ,zoist1 vol4 iv4  
pp4 #agb-gi1 for a case showing the     
inevitable accomplishment of a          
post-epileptic crime in such a way as to
 bring out its analogy with the         
inevitable working out of a             
post-hypnotic suggestion4  #ae ,see     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4   
#bba-beh #bbe ,a4  #af ,see ,revue de   
l',hypnotisme1 ,march #ahij1 p4 #bfg    
#bbf ,a4  #ag ,see the ,annales         
,mdico-,psychologiques for ,january     
#ahib #bbf ,b4  #ah ,for full details of
 this1 see ,dr4 ,boris ,sidis's work1   
,the ,psychology of ,suggestion3 a      
,research into the ,subconscious ,nature
 of ,man and ,society 7,new ,york1      
#ahih71 and ,multiple ,personality by   
,drs4 ,boris ,sidis and ,s4 ,p4         
,goodhart4 ,london1 #aije4  #ai ,zoist  
vol4 iv4 p4 #ahe #bbi ,a4  #bj ,see     
,professor ,w4 ,james's ,principles of  
,psychology1 vol4 ,i4 pp4 #cha-hd #bcb  

,a4  #ba ,for ,dr4 ,camuset's account   
see ,annales ,mdico-,psychologiques1    
#ahhb1 p4 #ge2 for ,dr4 ,voisin's1      
,archives de ,neurologie1 ,september    
#ahhe4 ,the observations at ,rochefort  
have been carefully recorded by ,dr4    
,berjon1 ,la ,grande ,hystrie chez      
l',homme1 ,paris1 #ahhf1 and by ,drs4   
,bourru and ,burot in a treatise1 ,de la
 suggestion mentale1 c4 7,bibl4         
scientifique contemporaine71 ,paris1    
#ahhg #bcc ,a4  #bb ,see ,proceedings   
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xv4 pp4 #dff-dhc #bcd ,a
 and the more complete account given in 
,dr4 ,morton ,prince's ,dissociation of 
a ,personality4 ,new ,york and ,london1 
#aijf4  #bc ,besides the cases mentioned
 above see a remarkable recent case     
recorded by ,dr4 ,bramwell in ,brain1   
,summer ,number1 #aijj1 on the authority
 of ,dr4 ,albert ,wilson1 of            
,leytonstone4 ,dr4 ,wilson has given a  
detailed account of his patient1 ,mary  
,barnes1 in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 xviii4 pp4 #ceb-daf1 where a full      

discussion of the case will also be     
found4 ,mary ,barnes developed sixteen  
different personalities with distinct   
memories and different characteristics4 
#bd ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xiv4   
#cif-cih #bcf ,a4  #be ,proceedings of  
,american ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 p4 #eeb    
#bcg ,a4  #bf ,for a detailed record of 
this case see the                       
,religio-,philosophical ,journal for    
#ahgi4 ,an abridgment is given in #bch  
,a4 ,see also ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
x4 p4 #ii4  #bg ,revue de l',hypnotisme1
 ,july #ahhi4  #bh ,professor ,scripture
 in the ,american ,journal of           
,psychology1 vol4 iv41 ,no4 #a1 ,april  
#ahia2 ,professor ,binet in the ,revue  
,philosophique1 #ahie4 ,professor       
,binet's article deals largely with     
,jacques ,inaudi1 the most recent       
prodigy1 who appears to differ from the 
rest in that his gift is auditile rather
 than visual4 ,his gift was first       
observed in childhood4 ,his general     
intelligence is below the average4      

,another recent prodigy1 ,diamanti1     
seems1 on the other hand1 to be in other
 ways quick-witted4  #bi ,scripture1 op4
 cit41 p4 #ed4  #cj ,proceedings of     
,american ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 ,no4 #d1 p4
 #cfj4  #ca ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 viii4 p4 #ccg  #caa4  #cb ,on this
 point see ,professor ,james's          
,principles of ,psychology1 vol4 ii4 p4 
#hd1 note4 ,goethe's well-known         
phantasmal flower was clearly no mere   
representation of retinal structure4 ,a 
near analogy to these patterns lies in  
the so-called spirit-drawings1 or       
automatic arabesques1 discussed         
elsewhere in this chapter4  #cc ,see    
,professor ,ladd's paper on this subject
 in ,mind1 ,april #ahib4  #cd ,le       
,subconscient chez les ,artistes1 les   
,savantes1 et les ,ecrivains1 par le    
,dr4 ,paul ,chabaneix1 ,paris1 #ahig4   
#ce ,instances of this form of          
automatism are described in a book      
called ,spirit ,drawings3 a ,personal   
,narrative1 by ,w4 ,m4 ,wilkinson1 some 

account of which is given in ,appendix  
#haa ,a 7,vol4 ,,ii47 of the unabridged 
edition4  #cf ,l',anne ,psychologique1  
i4 #ahid1 p4 #abd1 ,f4 de ,curel1 par   
,a4 ,binet  #ccj4  #cg ,in ,wordsworth's
 ,prelude we find introspective passages
 of extreme psychological interest as   
being deliberate attempts to tell the   
truth about exactly those emotions and  
intuitions which differentiate the poet 
from common men4  #ch ,in the passage   
which follows some use has been made of 
,jowett's translation4 ,it is noticeable
 that this utterance1 unsurpassed among 
the utterances of antiquity1 has been   
placed by ,plato in the mouth of a      
woman--the prophetess ,diotima--with the
 express intention1 as ,i think1 of     
generalising it1 and of raising it above
 the region of sexual passion4 ,there is
 nothing else in antiquity resembling   
the position thus ascribed to ,diotima  
in reference to ,socrates1--the woman   
being represented as capable of raising 
the highest and of illumining the wisest

 soul4  #ci ,iliad1 xxii4 #aii2 neid1   
xii4 #ijh4  #dj ,see ,dr4 ,fr in ,brain 
for ,january #ahhg4  #da ,de            
l',intelligence1 vol4 i4 p4 #aai4  #db  
,archives de ,mdecine1 vol4 i4 #ahgf1 p4
 #eed4  #dc ,an ,experimental ,study in 
,hypnotism1 by ,dr4 ,r4 von             
,krafft-,ebing1 translated by ,dr4 ,c4  
,g4 ,chaddock1 p4 #ia4  #dd ,revue de   
l',hypnotisme1 ,june #ahia1 p4 #cjb4    
#de ,les ,rves1 p4 #ace4 ,this          
remarkable patient afforded examples of 
many forms of communication of memory   
between different states of personality4
 ,see pp4 #aib-bjj for a conspectus of  
these complex recollections4  #df ,revue
 de ,mdecine1 ,february #ahib4 ,a full  
account and discussion of the same case 
is contained in ,dr4 ,p4 ,janet's       
,nvroses et ,ides fixes1 vol4 i4 pp4    
#aaf et seq4 #dac4  #dg ,see also       
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #adb    
7,october #ahhi71 and ,proceedings of   
the ,american ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 ,no4   
#d1 p4 #cfc #dae ,a and ,b4  #dh        

,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #ejg4
  #di ,cdmon's poem was traditionally   
said to have come to him in like        
fashion4  #ej ,the reader will find many
 similar cases in the ,journal and      
,proceedings of the ,s4,p4,r4 ,several  
are quoted in ,appendices to ,section   
#dba in the unabridged edition4  #ea    
,the case of ,mr4 ,boyle1 investigated  
by ,edmund ,gurney and printed in       
,s4,p4,r4 ,journal1 vol4 iii4 pp4 #bfe1 
#bff #dbc1 is interesting in this       
connection4 ,in this case the vision1   
which recurred twice1 was of a simple   
kind1 and might be interpreted as an    
impression transferred from the mind of 
one waking to the mind of one asleep4   
,again1 the single dream which a man has
 noted down in all his life stands      
evidentially in almost as good a        
position as a single waking             
hallucination4 ,for cases of this kind  
see ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4    
#bfg #dbd2 ibid4 vol4 v4 p4 #fa #dbd ,a2
 ibid4 vol4 v4 p4 #beb #dbd ,c2 and     

,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4   
#ddc #dbd ,b4  #eb ,phantasms of the    
,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #aje #dbh ,a4  #ec 
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#aed #dbh ,d4  ,the cases of ,mrs4      
,manning 7,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 
p4 #ajj #dbh ,b7 and ,mr4 ,newnham      
7,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4  
#bbe #dbh ,c7 are somewhat similar4 ,see
 also ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4  
p4 #ddd #dbh ,e and ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 
vol viii4 p4 #abh #dbh ,f4  #ed         
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4   
#cfe2 ibid41 p4 #dec #dbi ,a and ,b4    
#ee ,see1 for example1 ,journal         
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #abc #dbi ,f4  
#ef ,long ago ,solon had said1          
apparently of mesmeric cure--           
,greek3 ,ton de kakais nousoisi kykmenon
 argaleais te         aphamenos cheiroin
 aipha tiths hygi4   #eg ,recherches    
,physiologiques sur l',homme 7,paris1   
#ahaa72 ,mmoires pour servir            
l',histoire et  l',establissement du    
,magntisme ,animal2 ,du ,magntisme      

,animal considr dans ses ,rapports avec 
diverses branches de la ,physique       
,gnrale2 etc4  #eh ,see ,nasse's        
,zeitschrift fr ,hypnoitsmus1 passim4   
#ei ,this later work of ,braid's has    
been generally overlooked1 and his      
theories were stated again as new       
discoveries by recent observers who     
ignored what he had already             
accomplished4 ,see ,dr4 ,bramwell's     
paper on ,james ,braid1 his ,work and   
,writings1 in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41   
vol4 xii4 pp4 #abg-aff4 ,this contains a
 complete list of ,braid's writings1 and
 references to his work by other        
writers4 ,see also the references to    
,braid's work and theories in ,dr4      
,bramwell's ,hypnotism4  #fj ,see also  
the ,zoist 7,vol4 viii4 pp4 #aef1       
#big-bii7 for cases of mesmerisation of 
animals4 ,in his ,thrapeutique          
,suggestive1 #ahia 7pp4 #bdf-fh71 ,dr4  
,libeault gives an account of his       
experiments with infants #eac ,b and ,c4
  #fa ,see ,dr4 ,bramwell's discussion  

of the subject4 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 xii4 p4 #bac7 #eac ,a4  #fb ,this 
view unfortunately dominates ,professor 
,m',kendrick's article on ,hypnotism in 
the ,encyclopdia ,britannica4  #fc ,see 
,dr4 ,bramwell's discussion of the      
inadequacy of this explanation in his   
article ,what is ,hypnotism8 in         
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 p4    
#bbd1 also in his book on ,hypnotism pp4
 #ccg-h4  #fd ,see ,dr4 ,bramwell's     
,hypnotism1 p4 #bgd4  #fe ,i am inclined
 to think that this is always the case4 
,for a long time the lethargic state was
 supposed at the ,salptrire to preclude 
all knowledge of what was going on2 and 
,i have heard ,charcot speak before a   
deeply-entranced subject as if there    
were no danger of her gathering hints as
 to what he expected her to do4 ,i      
believe that his patients did           
subliminally receive such hints1 and    
work them out in their own hypnotic     
behaviour4 ,on the other hand1 ,i have  
heard the late ,dr4 ,auguste ,voisin1   

one of the most persistent and          
successful of hypnotisers1 make         
suggestion after suggestion to a subject
 apparently almost comatose1--which     
suggestions1 nevertheless1 she obeyed as
 soon as she awoke4  #ff ,according to  
,dr4 ,edgar ,brillon1 who was the first 
systematically to apply the hypnotic    
method to the education of children 7see
 his paper1 ,de la ,suggestion envisage 
au point de vue pdagogique in the ,revue
 de l',hypnotisme1 vol4 i4 7#ahhg71 p4  
#hd71 the percentage of those who can be
 hypnotised is more than #hj1 and he    
asserts that suggestibility varies      
directly as the intellectual development
 of the subject4 ,he classes under four 
heads the affections which can be       
successfully treated by hypnotic        
suggestion4 7,see the ,revue de         
l',hypnotisme1 ,july #ahie47  7#a7      
,psychical derangements caused by acute 
diseases2 in particular1 insomnia1      
restlessness1 nocturnal delirium1       
incontrollable vomiting1 incontinence of

 urine and of fces4  7#b7 ,functional   
affections connected with nervous       
disease3 chorea1 tics1 convulsions1     
ansthesi1 contractures and hysterical   
paresis1 hysterical hiccough1           
blepharospasm4  7#c7 ,psychical         
derangements1 such as habit of biting   
nails1 precocious impulsive tendencies1 
nocturnal terrors1 speaking in sleep1   
kleptomania1 nervousness1 shyness4  7#d7
 ,chorea1 hysteria1 epilepsy1 or mental 
derangements considered as resulting    
from the combination of several nervous 
diseases4  ,scattered about in the      
,revue de l',hypnotisme the reader will 
find numerous illustrative cases4       
,specially characteristic are those     
recorded in the number for ,july #ahic1 
p4 #aa1 and ,april #ahie1 p4 #cjf4  ,for
 reports of hypnotic cure of            
onychophagy1 see ,brillon1 the articles 
already quoted2 ,bourdon1 ,revue de     
l',hypnotisme1 ,november #ahie1 p4 #acd2
 ,bouff1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1       
,september #ahih1 p4 #gf4  ,for reports 

of hypnotic cure of even graver habits1 
see ,van ,renterghem and ,van ,eeden1   
,psycho-,thrapie1 p4 #bej2 ,bernheim1   
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,december      
#ahia1 a case in which the habit had    
become quite automatic and irresistible1
 and where every other method of        
treatment had failed2 also ,de la       
,suggestion2 ,schrenck-,notzing1 ,die   
,suggestions-,therapie bei krankhaften  
,erscheinungen des ,geschlechtssinnes2  
,brillon1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,july
 #ahic1 pp4 #ab1 #ad1 #ae2 ,bourdon1    
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,november      
#ahie1 pp4 #acf1 #aci1 #adj2 ,auguste   
,voisin1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1       
,november #ahhg1 p4 #aea4  ,for cures of
 enuresis nocturna1 see ,libeault1      
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,september     
#ahhf1 p4 #ga2 ,brillon1 ,revue de      
l',hypnotisme1 ,june #ahid1 p4 #cei2    
,van ,renterghem and ,van ,eeden1       
,psycho-thrapie2 ,paul ,farez1 ,revue de
 l',hypnotisme1 ,august #ahii1 p4 #ec4  
,this author recommends the method of   

suggestion in normal sleep4  ,libeault1 
in the ,revue de l',hypnotisme for      
,january #ahhi1 gives twenty-two cases  
in which hypnotic suggestion was used in
 the moral education of children from   
the age of fourteen months upwards1 with
 the aim of curing1 e4g4 the habit of   
lying1 excessive developments of        
emotions1 such as fear and anger1 and   
precocious or depraved appetites2 and of
 improving the normal faculties of      
attention and memory4 ,he reports ten   
cures1 eight improvements1 and four     
failures4  ,for other cases of moral    
education1 see ,brillon1 ,de la         
suggestion et de ses applications  la   
pdagogie 7#ahhg72 ,l',hypnotisme et     
l',orthopdie morale 7#ahih72 ,revue de  
l',hypnotisme1 ,december #ahhg1 pp4     
#afi-ahj1 and ,december #ahig1 p4 #afb2 
,bernheim1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1     
,november #ahhf1 p4 #abi2 ,ladame1 the  
same1 ,june and ,july #ahhg2 ,voisin1   
the same1 ,november #ahhh2 ,de ,jong1   
the same1 ,september #ahia2 ,bourdon1   

the same1 ,august #ahif2 ,van           
,renterghem and ,van ,eeden1            
,psycho-thrapie1 p4 #bae4 ,nervous      
troubles in adults have often been cured
 by the same means4 ,thus1 in the ,revue
 de l',hypnotisme1 ,september #ahii1 p4 
#gc1 ,dr4 ,vlavianos records a case of  
tic convulsif cured by hypnotic         
suggestion4 ,wetterstrand has used the  
same method with success 7loc4 cit41 p4 
#gf74 ,see also ,janet1 ,nvroses et     
,ides ,fixes1 vol4 ii41 part ii41       
chapter iii41 ,les4 ,tics4  #fg ,see    
,brillon1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1      
,september #ahij1 p4 #ge1 and ,february 
#ahif1 p4 #bcg2 ,regis1 the same1 ,may  
#ahif2 ,de ,jong1 the same1 ,september  
#ahia1 p4 #hb2 and ,auguste ,voisin1 the
 same1 ,november #ahhh1 p4 #acj4  #fh   
,see ,otto ,wetterstrand1 ,der          
,hypnotismus und seine ,anwendung in der
 praktischen ,medicin2 ,georg ,ringier1 
,erfolge des therapeutischen            
,hypnotismus in der ,landpraxis2 ,van   
,renterghem and ,van ,eeden1            

,psycho-thrapie2 ,auguste ,forel1       
,einige therapeutische ,versuche mit dem
 ,hypnotismus bei ,geisteskranken2      
,lloyd ,tuckey1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1
 ,january #ahig1 p4 #bjg2 ,ladame1      
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,november      
#ahhg1 p4 #aca1 and ,december #ahhg1 p4 
#afe2 ,a4 ,voisin1 ,revue de            
l',hypnotisme1 vol4 ii4 7#ahhh71 p4 #fi1
 and vol4 iii4 7#ahhi71 p4 #cec2        
,vlavianos1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1    
,june #ahii1 p4 #cfa2 ,neilson1 ,revue  
de l',hypnotisme1 vol4 vi4 7#ahib71 p4  
#ag4 ,brillon1 ,le traitement           
psychologique de ,l',alcoolisme4 ,paris 
#aijf4 ,see also the works of ,libeault1
 ,bernheim1 and ,milne ,bramwell4  #fi  
,there are many instances of the cure of
 morphinomania4 ,see especially the case
 recorded by ,dr4 ,marot in the ,revue  
de l',hypnotisme1 ,february #ahic1 on   
account of the psychological interest of
 the patient's own remarks4             
,wetterstrand1 out of fourteen cases1   
records eleven cures of morphinomania4  

,in a paper in the ,revue de            
l',hypnotisme1 ,november #ahij1 he      
discusses the benefit of prolonged      
hypnosis--causing the patient to sleep  
for a week or more at a time--which he  
tried in one case4 ,see also ,voisin1   
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,december      
#ahhf1 p4 #afc4  #gj ,see ,dr4 ,a4      
,dorez1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,may   
#ahii1 p4 #cde2 and ,dr4 ,bourdon1 the  
same1 ,november #ahic1 p4 #ada #eeg ,a4 
#ga ,dr4 ,hill1 ,british ,medical       
,journal1 ,july #dth1 #ahia4  #gb ,in   
some articles in the ,revue             
,philosophique1 published in #ahhf and  
#ahhg1 ,delboeuf describes some         
experiments which suggest that in many  
of the remarkable hypnotic cures        
recorded in the ,zoist 7as well as in   
modern cases7 the removal of pain was   
probably an important element in the    
cure2 see e4g4 cures of inflammation    
7,zoist1 vol4 x4 p4 #cdg72 of neuralgia 
and chronic rheumatism 7vol4 ix4 pp4    
#gf-gi72 of abdominal pains 7vol4 ix4 p4

 #aee72 of tic douloureux 7vol4 viii4 p4
 #ahf72 of severe headaches 7vol4 x4 p4 
#cfi72 of eczema impetiginodes 7vol4 x4 
p4 #if74  ,the general subject of       
hypnotic analgesia is strikingly        
illustrated by ,esdaile's well-known    
work in the ,indian hospitals2 see his  
books1 ,mesmerism in ,india 7,london1   
#ahdf72 ,the ,introduction of ,mesmerism
 with ,sanction of ,government into the 
,public ,hospitals of ,india 7#bnd edit4
 ,london1 #ahef72 ,natural and ,mesmeric
 ,clairvoyance 7,london1 #aheb72 and    
constant references to him in the       
,zoist4  ,for later cases see ,british  
,medical ,journal1 ,april #eth1 #ahij1  
p4 #hja2 the same1 ,february #bhth1     
#ahia1 pp4 #dfj-dfh4  ,see also ,van    
,renterghem and ,van ,eeden's           
,psycho-thrapie1 pp4 #bfb-bhj4  ,see    
also the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
xii4 p4 #ba1 and the ,revue de          
l',hypnotisme1 ,november #ahia1 p4 #acb2
 the same1 #ahie1 p4 #cjj2 and for the  
discussion of a very interesting recent 

case of the cure of sycosis menti1 see  
,brillon1 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1      
,january #ahif1 p4 #aie2 ,delboeuf1     
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,february      
#ahif1 p4 #bbe2 ,durand 7de ,gros71     
,revue de l',hypnotisme1 #ahif1 p4 #cg4 
,it was also quoted in the ,british     
,medical ,journal for ,november #afth1  
#ahie4  #gc ,see the ,revue de          
l',hypnotisme1 ,august #ahhg4  #gd ,see 
the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4 #bji
 #ece ,a4  #ge ,see the ,revue          
,philosophique1 #ahhf4  #gf ,see the    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 p4    
#aic #ece ,b4  #gg ,for cases bearing on
 this subject see ,dr4 ,libeault's      
,thrapeutique ,suggestive1 pp4 #fd et   
seq42 the ,revue de l',hypnotisme1      
,january #ahic2 and ,proceedings        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 p4 #agg #ech ,a and
 ,b4  #gh ,thrapeutique ,suggestive1 pp4
 #fd et seq4  #gi ,see the ,revue       
,philosophique1 ,november #ahhf4 ,the   
same case is discussed in ,mind for     
,january #ahhg #eci ,a4  #hj ,nagel     

suggests that there may have been at a  
certain stage mixed sense-organs1 by    
means of which two or three sensations  
were perceived simultaneously4  #ha ,for
 a circumstantial ,english account of   
the well-known case of ,louise ,lateau1 
see ,macmillan's ,magazine1 vol4 xxiii4 
p4 #dhh et seq4  ,three cases of the    
production of cruciform marks reported  
by ,dr4 ,biggs1 of ,lima1 appeared in   
the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4    
#ajj4  ,another remarkable ,american    
case of stigmatisation was reported in  
the ,courier-,journal1 ,louisville1     
,ky41 ,december #gth1 #ahia1 on the     
authority of ,dr4 ,m4 ,f4 ,coomes and   
several other physicians4  ,see also the
 case of ,ilma ,s4 recorded in ,dr4 ,r4 
von ,krafft-,ebing's ,experimental      
,study in ,hypnotism4  ,dr4 ,p4 ,janet  
describes somewhat similar experiments  
in ,l',automatisme ,psychologique 7see  
p4 #aff et seq474  ,again1 somewhat     
similar is a case recorded by ,dr4 ,j4  
,rybalkin in the ,revue de              

l',hypnotisme1 ,june #ahij 7p4 #cfa71 in
 which a post-hypnotic suggestion to the
 subject to burn his arm at a           
stove--really unlighted--produced       
blisters as of a burn4  ,hmorrhage and  
bleeding stigmata were several times    
produced in the famous subject1 ,louis  
,viv1 by verbal suggestion alone4 7,drs4
 ,bourru and ,burot1 ,comptes ,rendus de
 la ,socit de ,biologie1 ,july #abth1   
#ahhe2 and ,dr4 ,mabille1 ,progrs       
,mdical1 ,august #bith1 #ahhe47         
,professor ,beaunis 7,recherches        
,exprimentales1 etc41 ,paris1 #ahhf1 p4 
#bi7 produced redness and cutaneous     
congestion in his subject1 ,mlle4 ,a4   
,e41 by suggestion1 and the experiment  
was repeated on the same subject by the 
present writer and ,edmund ,gurney in   
,september #ahhe 7see ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #afg74  ,it      
appears that there is at present at the 
,salptrire a stigmatise1 the development
 of whose stigmata has been watched by  
,dr4 ,janet under copper shields with   

glass windows inserted in them 7,revue  
de l',hypnotisme1 ,december #aijj1 p4   
#aij74  ,other cases are recorded in the
 ,revue de l',hypnotisme1 ,june #ahij1  
p4 #cec2 the same ,february #ahib1 p4   
#bea #edc ,a to ,h4  #hb ,see           
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4    
#bfh-cbc #eea ,a4  #hc ,professor       
,fontan's experiments described in the  
,revue ,philosophique1 ,august #ahhg1   
cannot lightly be set aside4 ,an account
 of his experiments is given in         
,proceedings ,s4 ,p4 ,r4 vol4 ii4 p4    
#bfc-bfh4 #edi ,d4 ,see also the works  
of ,pttin1 ,durand1 ,foissac1 and       
,despine1 especially ,observations de   
,mdecine ,pratique1 pp4 #de1 #fb1 and   
tude ,scientifique sur ,somnambulisme1  
p4 #afg4  #hd ,see ,journal ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 iii4 p4 #ajj #edc ,b4  #he ,see    
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 pp4   
#agf-bjc #eea ,c4  #hf ,revue           
,philosophique1 ,september #ahhh #eeb   
,a4  #hg ,revue de l',hypnotisme1 vol4  
vi4 p4 #ceg #eec ,a4  #hh ,for          

illustrative instances see ,brain1      
,summer ,number #aijj1 p4 #bjg1 ,revue  
de l' ,hypnotisme1 ,january #ahhi1 and  
,brillon1 ,de la suggestion et de ses   
applications  la pdagogie 7#ahhg7 #eec  
,b4 ,see also ,brillon1 ,la ,psychologie
 du ,courage et l'ducation du ,caractre4
 ,paris #aije4  #hi ,proceedings        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 pp4 #bjd-eh #eee   
,b4 ,see also his book on ,hypnotism1   
pp4 #dbe-cb4  #ij ,see also the ,revue  
de l',hypnotisme1 ,january #ahhi1       
,september #ahij1 ,november #ahhf1      
,november #ahhh1 for cases reported by  
,libeault1 ,brillon1 ,bernheim1 and     
,voisin4  #ia ,see ,mr4 ,fryer's paper  
on ,the ,welsh ,revival of #aijd-e1 in  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xix4 p4    
#hj4  #ib ,see ,puysgur1 ,recherches sur
 l',homme dans le ,somnambulisme        
7,paris1 #ahaa72 ,pttin1 ,electricit    
,animale 7,paris1 #ahjh72 ,despine1     
,observations de ,mdecine ,pratique     
7#ahch71 and ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
ix4 p4 #ccc4  #ic ,natural and ,mesmeric

 ,clairvoyance1 pp4 #bbg-bh2 quoted in  
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4   
#hh4  #id ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41  
vol4 v4 7#ahhh71 pp4 #ad-ag4 #efi ,a4   
#ie ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
viii4 pp4 #ecf-eif4 #efi ,b4  #if       
,beginning with cases partly            
retrocognitive1 the leader is referred  
to ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4
 #cj-ii2 ,zoist1 vol4 vii4 pp4 #ie-aja  
#egb ,a and ,b4  #ig ,the longest and   
most important series of experiments in 
thought-transference with hypnotised    
subjects1 carried out by members of the 
,s4,p4,r41 are those of ,professor and  
,mrs4 ,sidgwick4 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 vi4 pp4 #abh-gj2 and vol4 viii4   
pp4 #ecf-if #egc ,a4  #ih ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4 #aii-bbj2 ,dr4 
,fahnestock's ,statuvolism1 pp4 #aag-ce1
 #bba-cb #egc ,b1 ,c and ,d4  #ii       
,zoist1 vol4 xii4 pp4 #bdi-eb #egc ,f4  
#ajj ,see ,mind-,cure1 ,faith-,cure1 and
 the ,miracles of ,lourdes1 by ,a4 ,t4  
,myers1 ,m4,d41 ,f4,r4,c4,p41 and ,f4   

,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 ix4 pp4 #afj-baj4  #aja ,for a true
 synsthetic or sound-seer1--to take the 
commonest form of these central         
repercussions of sensory shock1--there  
is a connection between sight and sound 
which is instinctive1 complex1 and yet  
for our intelligence altogether         
arbitrary4  ,but sound-seeing is only a 
conspicuous example of synsthesi which  
exist in as yet unexplored variety4     
,when we find that there are gradated1  
peremptory1 inexplicable associations   
connecting sensations of light and      
colour with sensations of temperature1  
smell1 taste1 muscular resistance1 etc41
 we are led to conclude that we are     
dealing1 not with the casual            
associations of childish experience1 but
 with some reflection or irradiation of 
specialised sensations which must depend
 upon the connate structure of the brain
 itself4  ,this view is consistent with 
the results of an ,enqute sur l'audition
 colore recently conducted by ,professor

 ,flournoy1 from which it appears that  
of #bac persons presenting these        
associations only #dh could assign the  
date of their origin2 and is supported  
by a case described in the ,revue de    
l',hypnotisme1 ,december #ahib1 p4 #ahe1
 where a man who had long exhibited a   
limited form of audition colore         
developed gustation colore in addition  
when in a low state of health4  ,see    
also the ,report of the ,international  
,congress of ,experimental ,psychology1 
,second ,session1 ,london1 #ahib1 pp4   
#aj-bj 7,williams  ,norgate1 ,london1   
#ahib71 and the ,american ,journal of   
,psychology for ,april #aijj 7vol4 xi4  
pp4 #cgg-djd74  #ajb ,see ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #dhj #faj ,a4  
#ajc ,the ,census of ,hallucinations was
 undertaken in #ahhi1 by a ,committee of
 the ,s4,p4,r41 under the direction of  
,professor ,sidgwick1 and consisting of 
himself and ,mrs4 ,sidgwick1 ,dr4 ,a4   
,t4 ,myers1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,podmore1 ,miss ,a4
 ,johnson1 and the present writer4 ,the 

full report of the committee was        
published in #ahid4 7,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 pp4 #be-dbb47 ,a     
summary of the report is given in the   
original edition4 #fab ,a4  #ajd ,for   
prehistoric and historic crystal-gazing 
see ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang's ,making of     
,religion1 and ,miss ,goodrich-,freer's 
,recent ,experiments in                 
,crystal-,vision1 ,proceedings          
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #dhf #fbj ,a4     
#aje ,it is right also to state1        
although ,i cannot here discuss the     
problems involved1 that ,i believe these
 visions to be sometimes seen by more   
than one person1 simultaneously or      
successively4  #ajf ,see also           
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 pp4     
#bfc-bhc2 vol4 ii4 pp4 #a-e1 #bd-db1    
#ahi-bjj2 vol4 iii4 pp4 #dbd-deb1 where 
a full record will be found of ,mr4     
,malcolm ,guthrie's experiments #fcj ,b4
 ,also ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 
pp4 #b-ag #fcj ,c1 for ,mr4 ,henry ,g4  
,rawson's experiments4 ,others are      

recorded in the ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 i4 pp4 #afa-afg and #agd-bae4 ,see 
also those of ,herr ,max ,dessoir       
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4    
#aaa1 and vol4 v4 p4 #cee72 ,herr ,anton
 ,schmoll and ,m4 ,etienne ,mabire      
7ibid4 vol4 iv4 p4 #cbd and vol4 v4 p4  
#afi72 ,mr4 ,j4 ,w4 ,smith 7ibid4 vol4  
ii4 p4 #bjg72 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge 7ibid4
 vol4 vii4 p4 #cgd72 ,dr4 ,a4 ,blair    
,thaw 7ibid4 vol4 viii4 p4 #dbb72 ,dr4  
von ,schrenck-,notzing 7ibid4 vol4 vii4 
p4 #c72 ,professor ,richet 7ibid4 vol4  
v4 p4 #ah74 ,see also ,phantasms of the 
,living1 vol4 i4 pp4 #cb-cd1 and vol4   
ii4 pp4 #fec-fed4 ,also the experiments 
of ,professor and ,mrs4 ,sidgwick       
7,proceedings1 vol4 vi4 and vol4 viii47 
already referred to in ,chapter ,v4     
#ajg ,see ,mr4 ,f4 ,podmore's           
,apparitions and ,thought-transference1 
,chapter ,v4 #fcj ,d1 etc42 also        
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 p4 #dee
 #fcj ,f2 and ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
vii4 pp4 #cbe-cbi #fcj ,e3 ibid4 pp4    

#bcd-bcg1 pp4 #bii-cjf and pp4 #caa-cai2
 and vol4 xii4 p4 #bbc 7,march #aijf74  
#ajh ,it is plain that on this view     
there is no theoretical reason for      
limiting telepathy to human beings4 ,for
 aught we can say1 the impulse may pass 
between man and the lower animals1 or   
between the lower animals themselves4   
,see ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4   
#bgh-bij and pp4 #cbc-d2 the same1 vol4 
xii4 pp4 #ba-c2 the same1 vol4 iv4 p4   
#bhi2 and ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
xiv4 p4 #bhe4  #aji ,see ,proceedings   
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 pp4 #be-dbb4  #aaj   
,see also ,phantasms of the ,living vol4
 ii4 p4 #if  #fec1 and for an auditory  
case1 ibid4 p4 #ajj  #fee4  #aaa        
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#gh  #fde4 ,see also op4 cit41 p4 #hb et
 seq4  #aab ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 x4 p4 #cjf  #fdf4 ,see also the case in
 ,phantasms of the ,living 7vol4 ii4 p4 
#bag7  #fdg1 where an apparition was    
seen by its original and by others at   
the same time4  #aac ,see ,phantasms of 

the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #add #fea ,a   
and ibid4 p4 #fa  #fea4  #aad ,phantasms
 of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ig #fed   
,a4  #aae ,phantasms of the ,living1    
vol4 ii4 p4 #aid #fed ,b4  #aaf ,see    
,chapter ,,ix41 passim4  #aag ,see      
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4   
#cj-ii #egb ,a and #egc ,b2 op4 cit41   
#aii-bbj #egc ,c2 ,zoist1 vol4 vii4 pp4 
#ie-aja1 vol4 ix4 p4 #bcd1 vol4 xii4 pp4
 #bdi-eb2 and ,dr4 ,fahnestock's        
,statuvolism1 especially pp4 #abg-ce and
 #bba-cb4  #aah ,phantasms of the       
,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ca #ffb ,b4  #aai 
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#cg #ffb ,d4  #abj ,see ,journal        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #be #ffe ,a4    
#aba ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4
 p4 #ce #ffb ,c4  #abb ,see ,phantasms  
of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #bfe  #ffd4  
#abc ,for examples of various types see 
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #be2   
vol4 v4 p4 #fh1 and op4 cit41 p4 #adg   
#ffe ,a1 ,b and ,c4  #abd ,see          
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4  

#afb2 op4 cit41 p4 #afd2 ,proceedings   
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #da #fff ,a1 ,b 
and ,c4  #abe ,see ,phantasms of the    
,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #ebg1 for example   
#ffg ,a4  #abf ,for cases see the second
 edition of ,phantasms of the ,living1  
vol4 i4 p4 lxxxi2 ,proceedings          
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 pp4 #bgj1 #bgc1 and  
#dah2 ,forum1 ,march #aijj2 ,journal    
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #bag2 vol4 vii4  
p4 #ii #ffh ,a to ,g4 ,see also         
,phantasms of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4   
#ajc and vol4 ii4 p4 #fge2 and the      
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4 #cjg4  
#abg ,some such power as this is        
frequently claimed in oriental books as 
attainable by mystic practices4 ,we have
 not thus far been fortunate enough to  
discover any performances corresponding 
to these promises4  #abh ,see           
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 pp4   
#aii-bbj #egc ,c4  #abi ,see ,phantasms 
of the ,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #bca4  #acj  
,some word is much needed to express    
communications between one state and    

another1 e4g4 between the somnambulic   
and the waking state1 or1 in hypnotism1 
the cataleptic and the somnambulic1 etc4
 ,the word methectic 7,greek3           
methektikhos7 seems to me the most      
suitable1 especially since ,greek3      
methexis happens to be the word used by 
,plato 7,parm4 #acb ,d47 for            
participation between ideas and concrete
 objects4 ,or the word inter-state might
 be pressed into this new duty4  #aca   
,see for example ,mr4 ,cameron ,grant's 
case4 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4     
viii4 p4 #bjb47  #acb ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 pp4 #djd-djh4  #acc  
,in some experimental cases1 it will be 
remembered1 the impression takes effect 
through the motor1 not the sensory1     
system of the recipient1 as by automatic
 writing1 so that he is never directly  
aware of it at all4  #acd ,see1 for     
instance1 case #ejj1 ,phantasms of the  
,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #dfb4  #ace ,i mean
 by ordinary the classes which are      
recognised and treated of in ,phantasms 

of the ,living4 ,but if the departed    
survive1 the possibility of             
thought-transference between them and   
those who remain is of course a         
perfectly tenable hypothesis4 ,as our   
telepathic theory is a psychical one1   
and makes no physical assumptions1 it   
would be perfectly applicable 7though   
the name perhaps would be inappropriate7
 to the conditions of disembodied       
existence4--,phantasms1 vol4 i4 p4 #eab4
  #acf ,certain statistics as to these  
time-relations are given by ,edmund     
,gurney as follows 7,proceedings        
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #djh73 ,the       
statistics drawn from the first-hand    
records in ,phantasms of the ,living as 
to the time-relation of appearances1    
etc41 occurring in close proximity to   
deaths1 are as follows3--,in #acd cases 
the coincidence is represented as having
 been exact1 or1 when times are         
specifically stated1 close to within an 
hour4 ,in #ajd cases it is not known    
whether the percipient's experience     

preceded or followed the death2 such    
cases cannot be taken account of for our
 present purpose4 ,there remain #gh     
cases where it appears that there was an
 interval of more than an hour2 and of  
these #ch preceded and #dj followed the 
death4 ,of the #ch cases where the      
percipient's experience preceded the    
death 7all of which1 of course1 took    
place during a time when the agent was  
seriously ill71 #ai fell within         
twenty-four hours of the death4 ,of the 
#dj cases where the percipient's        
experience followed the death1 all      
followed within an interval of          
twenty-four hours1 and in only one      
7included by mistake7 was the twelve    
hours' interval certainly exceeded1     
though there are one or two others where
 it is possible that it was slightly    
exceeded4  #acg ,the ,proceedings of the
 ,american ,society for ,psychical      
,research 7vol4 i4 p4 #dje7 contain a   
case where a physician and his wife1    
sleeping in separate but adjoining      

rooms1 are both of them awakened by a   
bright light4 ,the physician sees a     
figure standing in the light2 his wife1 
who gets up to see what the light in her
 husband's room may be1 does not reach  
that room till the figure has           
disappeared4 ,the figure is not clearly 
identified1 but has some resemblance to 
a patient of the physician's1 who has   
died suddenly 7from hemorrhage7 about   
three hours before1 calling for her     
doctor1 who did not anticipate this     
sudden end4 ,even this resemblance did  
not strike the percipient until after he
 knew of the death1 and the defect in   
recognition weakens the case            
evidentially4  #ach ,the references in  
this and the two following pages are to 
,phantasms of the ,living4  #aci ,see   
the cases of ,major ,moncrieff 7i4 p4   
#dae72 of ,mr4 ,keulemans 7i4 p4 #ddd71 
where the second phantasm was held by   
the percipient to convey a fresh        
veridical picture2 of ,mr4 ,hernaman 7i4
 p4 #efa71 where1 however1 the agent was

 alive1 though dying1 at the time of the
 appearance2 see also the cases of ,mrs4
 ,ellis 7ii4 p4 #ei72 of ,mrs4 ,d4 7ii4 
p4 #dfg72 of ,mrs4 ,fairman 7ii4 p4     
#dhb71 and of ,mr4 ,f4 ,j4 ,jones 7ii4  
p4 #ejj71 where the death was again due 
to drowning1 and the act of dying       
cannot1 therefore1 have been very       
prolonged4 ,we may note also ,mrs4      
,reed's case 7ii4 p4 #bcg71 ,captain    
,ayre's 7ii4 p4 #bef7 and ,mrs4 ,cox's  
7ii4 p4 #bce74 ,in the case of ,miss    
,harriss 7ii4 p4 #aag7 a hallucinatory  
voice1 about the time of the death1 but 
not suggesting the decedent1 is followed
 by a dream the next night1 which       
presents the dead person as in the act  
of dying4 ,one or two other cases might 
be added to this list1 and it is plain  
that the matter is one towards which    
observation should be specially         
directed4  #adj ,see ,phantasms of the  
,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #cje2 ,proceedings 
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 viii4 p4 #ahj2 ibid4 p4 
#aid4  #ada ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41

 vol4 viii p4 #bcf #gaf ,b4  #adb ,see  
for instance ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41    
vol4 vi4 p4 #bj2 the same1 vol4 xi p4   
#dbi and ,phantasms of the ,living1 vol 
ii4 p4 #bjh #gag ,a1 ,b and ,c4  #adc   
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #bad 
#gai ,a4  #add ,phantasms of the        
,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #ddi #gai ,b4  #ade 
,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 pp4
 #dbb-bf  #gbj4  #adf ,the cases        
recorded in ,phantasms of the ,living1  
vol4 ii4 p4 #baf1 and ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #bfc #gbg ,a and  
,b may be regarded as deflected         
fulfilments4  #adg ,proceedings         
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #chc4 ,see also   
ibid4 p4 #cga and vol4 viii4 p4 #bad    
#gbh ,a and ,b and  #gbf4  #adh ,for the
 other case see ,phantasms of the       
,living1 vol4 i4 p4 #bfe4  #adi ,for    
cases illustrating this1 see            
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4 p4 #dji 
#gcd2 also ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 
viii4 p4 #bbj2 ibid4 p4 #bah2 ,phantasms
 of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fij2 and  

,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 x4 p4 #cgc 
#gcf and #gcf ,a1 ,b and ,c4  #aej ,see 
for instance ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
vii4 p4 #agc4  #aea ,this analogy       
suggests itself still more forcibly in  
the remarkable case recorded in ,journal
 ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xii4 p4 #ag4 ,here the 
visions1 seen in a mirror1 were         
perceived simultaneously1 though not    
quite in the same way1 by four          
witnesses1 and lasted for an appreciable
 length of time4  #aeb ,see the         
,proceedings of the ,american ,society  
for ,psychical ,research1 vol4 i4 p4    
#ddf #gda ,a4  #aec ,in the case        
recorded in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4
 viii4 p4 #agc  #gdb1 the decedent would
 appear to be satisfying both a local   
and a personal attraction4 ,see also the
 cases given in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 
vol4 iii4 p4 #ic1 and vol4 v4 p4 #dcg   
#gdb ,a1 which are somewhat similar4    
#aed ,see1 however1 ,sir ,arthur        
,beecher's case 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 iii4 p4 #aaj7 where there was at  

least a rumour of some crime4 ,in ,mrs4 
,m4's case1 too 7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 viii4 p4 #agh7 and ,mrs4 ,penne's 
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4    
#fj7 there is some indication of past   
troubles in which the percipients1 of   
course1 were in no way concerned4 ,but  
in no other cases has there been        
anything1 as far as we know1 which could
 trouble the departed spirit with       
importunate memories of his earthly     
home4  #aee ,for a discussion of this   
problem1 illustrated by a large number  
of cases1 see my article on             
,retrocognition and ,precognition in the
 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4   
#ccd-eic4  #aef ,see1 however1 ,mrs4    
,sidgwick's remarks 7,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 pp4 #gi-hj71 as to 
the rarity of any indication of         
intelligence in such sounds1 and the    
possibility of reading more intelligence
 into them than they really possess4    
,there is now1 of course1 more evidence 
as to these sounds than there was at the

 date of ,mrs4 ,sidgwick's paper        
7#ahhe74  #aeg ,thus ,mrs4 ,sidgwick1   
even as far back as #ahhe 7,proceedings 
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4 #adb71 writes3  
,i can only say that having made every  
effort--as my paper will1 ,i hope1 have 
shown--to exercise a reasonable         
scepticism1 ,i yet do not feel equal to 
the degree of unbelief in human         
testimony necessary to avoid accepting1 
at least provisionally1 the conclusion  
that there are1 in a certain sense1     
haunted houses1 i4e41 that there are    
houses in which similar quasi-human     
apparitions have occurred at different  
times to different inhabitants1 under   
circumstances which exclude the         
hypothesis of suggestion or expectation4
  #aeh ,this case is given in ,appendix 
,,vii4 ,g4  #aei ,in an earlier part of 
this paper1 ,i mentioned cases of       
haunted houses where the apparitions are
 various1 and might therefore all of    
them be merely subjective               
hallucinations1 sometimes1 perhaps1     

caused by expectancy4 ,it is1 of course1
 also possible to explain these cases by
 the hypothesis we are now discussing4  
,another class of cases is1 perhaps1    
worth mentioning in this connection4 ,we
 have in the collection two cases of    
what was believed by the narrators to be
 a quite peculiar feeling of discomfort1
 in houses where concealed and long     
since decomposed bodies were            
subsequently found4 ,such feelings are  
seldom dearly defined enough to have    
much evidential value1 for others1 at   
any rate1 than the percipient2 even     
though mentioned beforehand1 and        
definitely connected with the place     
where the skeleton was4 ,but if there be
 really any connection between the      
skeleton and the feeling1 it may        
possibly be a subtle physical influence 
such as ,i am suggesting4--,e4 ,m4 ,s4  
#afj ,to avoid misconception1 ,i may    
point out that this view in no way      
negatives the possibility that telepathy
 7or its correlative telergy7 may be in 

some of its aspects commoner1 or more   
powerful1 among savages than among      
ourselves4 ,evolutionary processes are  
not necessarily continuous4 ,the        
acquirement by our lowly-organised      
ancestors of the sense of smell 7for    
instance7 was a step in evolution4 ,but 
the sense of smell probably reached its 
highest energy in races earlier than    
man2 and it has perceptibly declined    
even in the short space which separates 
civilised man from existing savages4    
,yet if1 with some change in our        
environment1 the sense of smell again   
became useful1 and we reacquired it1    
this would be none the less an          
evolutionary process because the        
evolution had been interrupted4  #afa ,i
 do not wish to assert that all         
unfamiliar psychical states are         
necessarily evolutive or dissolutive in 
any assignable manner4 ,i should prefer 
to suppose that there are states which  
may better be styled                    
allotropic2--modifications of the       

arrangements of nervous elements on     
which our conscious identity depends1   
but with no more conspicuous superiority
 of the one state over the other than   
7for instance7 charcoal possesses over  
graphite or graphite over charcoal4 ,but
 there may also be states in which the  
7metaphorical7 carbon becomes           
diamond2--with so much at least of      
advance on previous states as is        
involved in the substitution of the     
crystalline for the amorphous structure4
  #afb ,see1 for instance1 ,proceedings 
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 p4 #bia4  #afc       
,sensation et ,mouvement1 par ,ch4 ,fr4 
,paris3 ,alcan1 #ahhg4  #afd ,la        
,suggestion ,mentale 7see ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4 pp4 #bci sqq474     
#afe ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
ii4 pp4 #bbf-ca #hcj ,a4  #aff ,see ,mr4
 ,wilkinson's book ,spirit ,drawings3 a 
,personal ,narrative4 ,but1 of course1  
like other automatic impulses1 this     
impulse to decorative or symbolical     
drawing is sometimes seen at its maximum

 in insane patients4 ,some drawings of  
an insane patient1 reproduced in the    
,american ,journal of ,psychology1 ,june
 #ahhh1 show a noticeable analogy 7in my
 view a predictable analogy7 with some  
of the spirit-drawings above discussed4 
,see also the ,martian landscapes of    
,hlne ,smith1 in ,professor ,flournoy's 
,des ,indes  la plante ,mars4  #afg ,an 
account of recorded instances of        
,socratic monitions and some discussion 
of them is given in the original edition
  #hac1 #had4  #afh ,du ,dmon de        
,socrate1 etc41 by ,l4 ,f4 ,llut1       
,membre de l',institut4 ,nouvelle       
dition1 #ahef4  #afi ,for other         
authorities see ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang's    
paper in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
xi4 pp4 #aih-bab4  #agj ,on this point1 
see ,mr4 ,lang's paper referred to      
above4  #aga ,see ,plutarch's ,de genio 
,socratis4  #agb ,see ,phantasms of the 
,living1 vol4 i41 ,chapter ,,vii1       
passim4  #agc ,see ,proceedings of the  
,american ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 i4 p4 #cig2   

,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 pp4 #cc
 and #ce #hag ,a1 ,b1 and ,c4  #agd ,the
 case is recorded in ,journal ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 v4 p4 #acf #hag ,d4  #age ,for a  
somewhat similar case1 possibly due to  
hypersthesia of hearing1 see ,american  
,journal of ,psychology1 vol4 iii4 p4   
#dce 7,september #ahij74  #agf ,see     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 pp4    
#dai and #dba #hba ,a4  #agg ,see       
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xi4 p4 #dbb
 and #dbc  #hbb and #hbc2 also a case   
given in ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4   
viii4 p4 #cde1 where a lady hurrying up 
to the door of a lift1 is stopped by    
seeing a figure of a man standing in    
front of it1 and then finds that the    
door is open1 leaving the well exposed1 
so that she would probably have fallen  
down it1 if she had not been checked by 
the apparition4  #agh ,revue de         
l',hypnotisme1 ,march #ahic1 p4 #bfh4   
#agi ,when the automatic drawings have  
any telepathic or other supernormal     
content1 they are usually associated    

with automatic writing4 ,compare the    
case of ,mr4 ,cameron ,grant 7,phantasms
 of the ,living1 vol4 ii4 p4 #fij74     
#ahj ,see ,james's ,psychology1 vol4 i4 
p4 #cid3 ,one curious thing about trance
 utterances is their generic similarity 
in different individuals4444 ,it seems  
exactly as if one author composed more  
than half of the trance messages1 no    
matter by whom they are uttered4        
,whether all sub-conscious selves are   
peculiarly susceptible to a certain     
stratum of the ,zeitgeist1 and get their
 inspiration from it1 ,i know not4 ,see 
the account of automatic and            
impressional script1 by ,mr4 ,sidney    
,dean1 which ,professor ,james goes on  
to quote1 and which is closely parallel 
to 7for instance7 ,miss ,a4's case1 to  
be referred to below1 although the one  
series of messages comes from the hand  
of a late member of ,congress1 all his  
life a robust and active journalist1    
author1 and man of affairs1 and the     
other from a young lady with so         

different a history and entourage4  #aha
 ,some other cases of ,mr4 ,smith's will
 be found in this volume4 ,see also     
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 p4 #be
  #hca for a case of ,prof4 ,sidgwick's1
 and ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4   
pp4 #bbf-bca for the complex ,clelia    
case4 ,other cases of imaginary         
personalities are to be found in the    
accounts of possession which have come  
down to us from the ,ages of ,faith4    
,see for example the autobiography of   
,soeur ,jeanne des ,anges 7,bibliothque 
,diabolique collection ,bourneville     
,paris1 #ahhf74  #ahb ,for the          
description of a curious case combining 
various motor automatisms in a very     
unusual way1 see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 ix4 p4 #ahb  #hcc4  #ahc ,for     
,mlle4 ,smith's later history1 see      
,professor ,flournoy's ,nouvelles       
,observations sur un cas de             
,somnambulisme1 ,geneva1 #aijb4  #ahd   
,we have already printed several        
incidents of this type in our           

,proceedings and ,journal4 7,see1 for   
instance1 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  
viii4 p4 #cdd #hah ,a47  #ahe ,a        
somewhat similar but less complex set of
 experiments by ,mr4 ,g4 ,m4 ,smith is  
given in the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 v4
 pp4 #cah-cbj #hdc ,b4  #ahf ,for       
further cases see ,proceedings          
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 pp4 #b and #e  #hde
 and #hdg4  #ahg ,see ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iii4 pp4 #h-bc #hdi ,a4 
,for a series of experiments on a       
smaller scale but analogous to these see
 ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4       
7#ahic71 pp4 #fa-fd4  #ahh ,mr4 ,newnham
 procured for me two autograph letters  
from eye-witnesses of some of the       
experiments1 who do not1 however1 wish  
their names to be published4 ,one writer
 says3 ,you wrote the question on a slip
 of paper and put it under one of the   
ornaments of the chimney-piece--no one  
seeing what you had written4 ,mrs4      
,newnham sat apart at a small table4 ,i 
recollect you kept a book of the        

questions asked and answers given1 as   
you thought some new power might be     
discovered1 and you read me from it some
 of the results4 ,i remember            
particularly questions and answers      
relating to the selection of a curate   
for ,b4 ,my wife and her sister saw     
experiments conducted in this manner4   
,mrs4 ,newnham and you were sitting at  
different tables4 ,another eye-witness  
writes3 ,i and my sister were staying   
at----1 and were present at many of the 
,planchette experiments of ,mr4 and     
,mrs4 ,newnham4 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,newnham 
sat at different tables some distance   
apart1 and in such a position that it   
was quite impossible ,mrs4 ,newnham     
could see what question was written     
down4 ,the subject of the questions was 
never mentioned even in a whisper4 ,mr4 
,newnham wrote them down in pencil and  
sometimes passed them to me and my      
sister to see1 but not often4 ,mrs4     
,newnham immediately answered the       
questions4 ,though not always correct1  

they 7the answers7 always referred to   
the questions4 ,mr4 ,newnham copied out 
the pencil questions and answers        
verbatim each day into a diary4  #ahi   
,for further cases see ,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #dd #hea ,a2     
ibid4 p4 #dh  #heb2 ibid4 p4 #fd  #hec2 
ibid4 p4 #fe  #hed4 ,also ,proceedings  
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ii4 p4 #bcf2 vol4 vi4   
pp4 #aab-aae  #hee and #hef2 vol4 xi4   
pp4 #dgg-dha #heb ,b2 vol4 ix4 pp4      
#fg-gj #heg ,a and #heh ,a4  #aij ,see  
,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 7#ahic7
 pp4 #gc-ib #hci ,a and #fbe ,c4  #aia  
,for another series of messages which   
afford an interesting field for the     
discussion of the rival hypotheses of   
cryptomnesia and spirit-control1 see    
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4 #cai2   
op4 cit4 p4 #agd2 and ,proceedings      
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 ix4 p4 #ib  #hfj1 #hfa  
and #hfb ,a4  #aib ,for further examples
 see the cases given in ,proceedings    
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 pp4 #cee-eg2 vol4   
viii4 pp4 #bdb-dh2 ,journal ,s4,p4,r41  

vol4 iii4 pp4 #baf-ai2 vol4 ix4 pp4     
#fe-h2 vol4 ix4 pp4 #bhj-hd #hfh ,a and 
,b1 #hfi ,a and ,b1  #hgc4  #aic ,see   
the ,report of ,dr4 ,ira ,barrows on the
 case of ,miss ,anna ,winsor4 ,an       
account of ,professor ,james' inquiry   
into the case will be found in          
,proceedings of the ,american ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 i4 p4 #eeb #bcg ,a4  #aid ,the    
cases of ,swedenborg1 ,cahagnet's       
subject1 ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 and ,stainton   
,moses will be discussed in the course  
of this chapter4  #aie ,bibliothque     
,diabolique 7,collection ,bourneville74 
,paris3 ,aux ,bureaux du ,progrs        
,medical1 #ahhf #hcb ,b4  #aif ,see     
,professor ,janet's paper in the ,revue 
,philosophique1 ,march1 #ahhh4 ,the case
 is also constantly referred to in his  
,l',automatisme ,psychologique4  #aig   
,see page #di4  #aih ,see page #bhh4    
#aii ,one important point of similarity 
is the concurrence in some savage       
ceremonies of utterance through an      
invading spirit and travelling          

clairvoyance exercised meantime by the  
man whose organism is thus invaded4 ,the
 uncouth spirit shouts and bellows1     
presumably with the lungs of the        
medicine-man1 hidden from view in       
profound slumber4 ,then the medicine-man
 awakes1--and tells the listening tribe 
the news which his sleep-wanderings1    
among gods or men1 have won4  ,if this  
indeed be thus1 it fits in strangely    
with the experience of our modern       
seers1--with the spiritual interchange  
which takes place when a discarnate     
intelligence occupies the organism and  
meantime the incarnate intelligence1    
temporarily freed1 awakes to wider      
percipience1--in this or in another     
world4  #bjj ,see ,modern ,spiritualism2
 a ,history and a ,criticism1 by ,frank 
,podmore 7,methuen and ,co41 ,london1   
#aijb74  #bja ,in this edition the      
,synopsis alone is given4 ,see ,appendix
 ,,ix4 ,a4  #bjb ,the asterisks indicate
 the end of the part of this chapter    
which was consecutively composed by the 

author4 ,the rest of the chapter        
consists chiefly of fragments written by
 him at different times4  #bjc ,this as 
well as the next two cases mentioned are
 given in ,appendix ,,ix4 ,b4  #bjd ,see
 ,x  ,y  ,z2 or1 ,the ,sleeping         
,preacher of ,north ,alabama4           
,containing an account of most wonderful
 mysterious mental phenomena1 fully     
authenticated by living witnesses4 ,by  
the ,rev4 ,g4 ,w4 ,mitchell4 7,new      
,york3 ,w4 ,c4 ,smith1 #fg ,john        
,street1 #ahgf7 #icd ,a4  #bje ,for     
,kant's evidence in regard to the       
supernormal powers of ,swedenborg1 see  
,dreams of a ,spirit ,seer1 by ,immanuel
 ,kant1 translated by ,e4 ,f4 ,goerwitz2
 edited by ,frank ,sewall 7,london3     
,swan ,sonnenschein  ,co42 ,new ,york3  
,the ,macmillan ,co41 #aijj7 #icf ,a4   
#bjf ,see also an account of the        
,seeress of ,prevorst1 translated from  
the ,german by ,mrs4 ,crowe1 and        
published in ,london in #ahde #icf ,b4  
#bjg ,see ,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4  

xi4 p4 #efj #icf ,c4  #bjh ,the chief   
sources of information as to ,d4 ,d4    
,home's life and experiences are the    
following works3--  ,incidents in my    
,life1 by ,d4 ,d4 ,home 7#ast edition1  
,london1 #ahfc2 #bnd edition1 #ahfd2    
second series1 #ahgb74  ,d4 ,d4 ,home3  
,his ,life and ,mission1 by ,madame     
,dunglas ,home 7,london1 #ahhh74  ,the  
,gift of ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 by ,madame      
,dunglas ,home 7,london1 #ahij74        
,report on ,spiritualism of the         
,committee of the ,london ,dialectical  
,society 7,london1 #ahga74 ,this        
contains the evidence of the ,master of 
,lindsay1--now ,earl of ,crawford and   
,balcarres1--and others4  ,experiences  
in ,spiritualism with ,mr4 ,d4 ,d4      
,home1 by ,viscount ,adare 7now ,lord   
,dunraven2 privately printed74          
,researches in the ,phenomena of        
,spiritualism1 by ,william ,crookes1    
,f4,r4,s4 ,reprinted from the ,quarterly
 ,journal of ,science 7,london1 #ahgd74 
,notes of ,sances with ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 by

 ,william ,crookes1 ,f4,r4,s4           
7,proceedings ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4    
#ih47  ,see also a review by ,professor 
,barrett and the present writer of      
,madame ,home's first book1 ,d4 ,d4     
,home3 ,his ,life and ,mission1 in the  
,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 pp4        
#aja-acf2 a briefer review of her second
 book1 ,the ,gift of ,d4 ,d4 ,home1 in  
the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41 vol4 iv4 p4     
#bdi2 and a note on ,the ,character of  
,d4 ,d4 ,home in the ,journal ,s4,p4,r41
 vol4 vi4 p4 #agf2 also an article by   
,mr4 ,hamilton ,aid1 ,was ,i hypnotised8
 in the ,nineteenth ,century for ,april 
#ahij4  #bji ,see ,proceedings          
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 pp4 #dcf-fei2 vol4  
viii4 pp4 #a-afg2 vol4 xiii4 pp4        
#bhd-ehb2 vol4 xiv4 pp4 #f-gh2 vol4 xv4 
pp4 #af-eb2 vol4 xvi4 pp4 #a-fdi4  #baj 
,for a discussion of ,professor         
,hyslop's report see ,proceedings       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 xvii4 pp4 #cca-chh4     
#baa ,the original unabridged edition   
was published in two volumes4  #bab ,the

 ,synthetic ,society1 before which these
 pages were first read as a paper in    
,march #ahii4  #bac ,enn4 vi4 #d1 #ad4  
#bad ,enn4 iv4 #c1 #bg4  #bae ,enn4 v4  
#b-c4 ,the ,world-,soul is supra        
grammaticam2 and ,plotinus sometimes    
uses a personal1 sometimes an           
impersonal1 locution to express what is 
infinitely beyond the conception of     
personality1 as it is infinitely beyond 
any human conception whatsoever4  #baf  
,for the fullest account of ,flida1 see 
,hypnotisme1 ,double ,conscience1 etc41 
par le ,dr4 ,azam4 ,paris1 #ahhg4  #bag 
,revue ,scientifique1 #c;e srie1 xxxii4 
p4 #afg4  #bah ,an apparent discrepancy 
between ,professor ,hilprecht's account 
and that of ,mrs4 ,hilprecht calls for  
explanation4 ,professor ,hilprecht      
states that he verified his dream on    
,sunday morning at the ,university2     
,mrs4 ,hilprecht that he verified it    
immediately upon awaking1 in his        
library4 ,both statements are correct4  
,he had a working copy in his library   

which he examined at once1 but hurried  
to the ,university next morning to      
verify it by comparison with the        
authorised copy made from the           
originals4--,w4 ,r4 ,n4  #bai ,this     
appendix has been greatly abridged4     
#bbj ,see ,annales                      
,mdico-,psychologiques1 #ahhb1 p4 #ge1  
and ,dr4 ,berjon1 ,la grande ,hystric   
chez l',homme1 ,paris1 #ahhf4  #bba     
,annales ,mdico-,psychologiques1 #ahhd1 
vol4 ii4 p4 #bhi seqq4  #bbb ,dr4 ,e4   
,dufour1 mdecin en chef de l'asile      
,saint-,robert 7,isre74 ,see ,annales   
,mdico-,psychologiques1 ,september      
#ahhf1 p4 #bch1 and ,contribution       
l'tude de l'hypnotisme1 par le ,dr4     
,dufour1 ,grenoble1 #ahhg4  #bbc ,it was
 not unusual for her to sit in the salon
 in the evening1 after the day's        
occupations were over4  #bbd ,i noted on
 this narrative at the time ,i received 
it3 ,this account is entirely concordant
 with the account written by ,mrs4      
,ramsay before reading ,mrs4 ,elgee's   

account in #ahhh1 and abstracted by me  
for an article in ,murray's ,magazine4  
,there was this discrepancy between     
,mrs4 ,elgee and ,mrs4 ,ramsay1--that   
,mrs4 ,ramsay thought that the figure   
wore a beard1 whereas ,mrs4 ,elgee saw  
him as she knew him--with whiskers only4
 ,he certainly had no beard at the time4
  #bbe ,a plan enclosed shows a suite of
 four rooms1 ,m4 ,potolof's study1 the  
ante-room1 the drawing-room1 and ,m4    
,mamtchitch's study1 all opening into   
one another1 the three doors between    
them being in one straight line4  #bbf  
,see ,phantasms of the ,dead from       
another point of view1 ,proceedings     
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vi4 p4 #bia4  #bbg ,we  
have ascertained that this date was a   
,sunday4  #bbh ,some of the             
correspondence about the case given in  
the ,proceedings is omitted here for    
want of space4  #bbi ,a dream in which a
 message of somewhat the same kind is   
given is recorded in the ,journal       
,s4,p4,r41 vol4 vii4 p4 #ahh4 ,see also 

the old case of ,dr4 ,binns1 given in   
his ,anatomy of ,sleep1 p4 #dfb4  #bcj  
,an account of this case appeared in an 
article by ,herman ,snow in the         
,religio-,philosophical ,journal for    
,january #cast1 #ahia1 and ,mr4 ,snow   
also sent us an earlier article on the  
subject which he had written in #ahha1  
and of which his second account was a   
mere repetition4 ,the facts were related
 to him by the ,unitarian minister of   
the place where ,mrs4 ,finney lived2 and
 this third-hand account recorded by    
,mr4 ,snow fifteen years after the event
 closely coincides with ,mrs4 ,finney's 
first-hand one1 recorded twenty-five    
years after the event4  #bca ,in this   
edition the synopsis of the scheme alone
 is given4  #bcb ,this appendix was     
written originally with a special view  
to the phenomena alleged to occur in the
 case of ,mr4 ,w4 ,stainton ,moses4     
#bcc ,mr4 ,goodall thinks that the      
mule's sudden fall1 otherwise           
unexplainable1 may have been due to     

terror at some apparition of the dying  
child4    ou il prparait le samovar