Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-04-06
R,mnrknbIe Visions Extraordinary Ex'
ue,fence IN IahaIiua OhlorofOrm.

ue1fenCe ia AnhniinH gmtoEulofms
The following, which smacks Of hasheesb,
and would seem to be made out Of whole
cloth. IA from the San Francisco Mirror. II
desc,ibes what a correspondent felt while
nnder the intoxicatien Of chloroform, in
which he had been placed for the purpose OF
baEit a silver of iron extracted from his
ANY last sane recollection is Of the sur
peon spplyipg the handkerchief TO my
mouth then the room began to magnify 70
oiqaptio PROPORTIONS; q common lamp was
Transformed to aeandelabrum, more lumin-
ous snd costly than ever lighted the grand
est cathedral in the world The surgeon
became giant Of prodigious magnitude,
holding huge, cleaning kuife, with sin
Gle blow of which he might have severed
me. -1ra1
The sound Of voices in the room seemed
like the olsmoring ofa vast multitude during
the burning of a city, and signboard,
screechink outside, conveyed the idea of q
furious mob collected in the street for my
execution. On entering the room, had no.
ticed a large cat sitting asleep on shelf
which turned its head lazly toward me aud
then resumed its slumbers; this creature be-
came hideous, vampire like monster, with
great fiery eyes and with fapgs and claws
ike " hat were tabled to belong to the grif-
fir, walking around and blowing fetid breath
on ne, and pressing its irightful paws on my
breast.
But the worst ofal was a collection of gi-
ganiic men sharpening instruments for my
dissection; | could hear the whirring of the
stone end the shriekng of the htghly-tem-
pered knives as the grinders laughed at the
inter 6ed dissection. One was more jocose
and htartless than the rest; he was my i'm
placshle enemy; we bad quarreled and
fought knives at every joint; | shrieked and
screamed, blasphemed and besought my tor
mentors, but still the instruments hissed
through my quivering flesh, and grated along
every bone. ..
Lam satisfied that all these emotions were
experienced within a moment after the first
inhalation which began the process Of stupe-
facticn. So swift are the evolutions of
thought when sense is subdued, and when
the phantom monarch of dreams leads the
soul through the endless avenues swifter in
its iourteying than the short lived fire which
falls from the womb of an overburdened
cloud.
But gradual revolution Of mental per-
ceptiun succeeds; those frightful speeters be-
gan to recede; the men and knives began to
diminish; the cat returned to natural proper
tions and crept slowly away; the voices be-
came less harsh and threatening, and the
silence.
/ looked into universe of light, with
nothing visible, until indistinct forms ap-
peaIed on the horizon, coming toward me
and d. finipg themselves as they came. One
was ny mother, clad in grave-clothes; but
as she neaied, her habilments changed tt
the fabrics hich glittered in the prophet:
vision when he looked over the great con
greration which no man could number"
Dnecuy she stood by me; and, recogniz
ing every feature, | saw that each age mark
was gone her cheek was fresh as the young
giils, when she first bushes at the whis
peTed words Of love, and STOPPING to kis
me, the apparition went sut, leaving another
still more bcautiful and youthful; it was tn,
figure Of my young wife, who died in tn,
birth OF her first child. She held an iufan
in her AIMS, who reached down and ran hi
tiny 6pGeIs through uy hair; but, when
tiled to take him in my arms, infant an
mother were gone. Strange, that felt n
disappointment; knew they were but pic
lures that hung in the galleries of father
b. art.
Every thing changed to an existence O
indescribable pleasure; laughed and dancet
like one mad with eXtilaratiOn of uneXpecte
deliveTance from torture; the air came lot
my lungs gratefully as the uprising of coo
water to the lips of thirsty drinber.
The aroma of celestial gardens SCENE
about me; believed that | was in the terri
tory OF souls, and wondered how any shoul
fear 10 die. Icould hear sounds in the street
but they seemed to prolong and swell lik
the sound Of a great organ. Millions o
symmetrical creatures passed in review, a'oui
a horizon of silver aud gold, and yet wa
conscious that they were but the creations o
a distorted imagination.
Presently became conscious Of returning
sense my limbs felt unwieldy and Of TOT
great proportions TO be moved by th
Strengthening will; my eyes opened an
began TO discern objects returning to natura
dimensions, and began TO comprehend tn
convtIsaiicn of persons in the room,
The whole operation had not occupied hal
an hour, but had lived Centuries of inde
scribsblc horrors, and emotions of happines
which are incompreheusible to the sane AM
wakeful mind. My sight was preserved, an,
the fragment of steel is in my possession
which, like the key of ST. Peter, un'ocket
celestial splendors and opened Pandor
box of bellish imagery, which, even now
scares me from dreams to sudden and trem
bling wakefuness.