The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-11-27
HALLUCINATIONS.
Two Somewhat Remarkable Cases of
t@.0& 200. Self-delusi0n,

| "oA4u WIN, SUFFERING unQer some torn OF
other of nervous disol der, habitual;y sec
figures or face S, hear threatening or in.
cutting voices, even feel blows and taste
polsons, which have no existence outside
their own minds; and neither argument
or demonstration of the imposibility OF
what they allege they perceive will shake
their convictions in the least. aYou as
sure me" they Will say, 'that I am mis-
taken, that there ere no such persons az
l see, no such voices as I hear: but 7
protest to you that I see and hear them
as distinctly as see and hear you at this
moment, and that they are just as real to
me-" What are we to reply? I have re-
pied sometimes, "that as you are alone
on one side in our opinion, and all the
world is on the other side, I must needs
think either thAt you are an extraordi.
nary genius, far in advance of the rest Of
the world, or that you are msdman 9,
long way behind it; and as T don't think
you to be genius, am bound to CON
clude that your senses are disordered." But
the argument does not produce the least
effect. Let me give an example or two
OF the character Of those hallucinations.
and st their persistence in minds that
mighfbe thought sane enough to correct
them. The first shall be that Of an old
gentleman who YVES much distressed be-
cause OF an extremely offensive. smell
which ne imagined to proceed from all
parts OF his body. There was not the least
ground, in fact, for this imagination. He
was scrupulously clean in person, ex-
tremely courteous in manner, thoroughly
rational IN his conversation on every 9th
er subject, shrewd and clever man of
business; no one talking with him would
tor moment have suspected him of en-
Pertaining such extraordinary fancies.
Nevertheless, his life was made miserable
by them, he would not 20 into society.
but took solitary rambles in the country.
where he might meet as few persons as
possible; in his own house he slept for
the first part of the night on the ground
floor, mounting up higher at later period
of the night, and this he did to prevent
tho bad odors from becoming too con
centrated In one room. He believed that
the people in the next house were irrita-
ted and offended by the emanations, for
ne often heard them moving about and
coughing; and when he passed a cab
stand In the street he noticed that even
the horses became restless and tidqeted.
de used to hang his clothes out Of the
window at night that they might Get
pure, unit his housekeeper put q stop to
the practice by telling him that the ex-
hibition of them would excite the notice
ana comment of his nejghbors.
Al the while he was nducting
his business with propriety and success:
his own partners had no suspicion of his
condition con Knowing this, asked him
now 1t was that no one of the many per-
sons who he met daily in business had
ever complained of any bad smell, and
the answer be made was that they were
all too polite to do SO, but he could see
they were affected nevertheless, as thew
sometimes put their handkerchief to their
nose-no doubt for quite innocent pur-
pose. Another gentleman was the victim
Of very common hallucinstion; he was
much afflicted by voices, which were con
tlnually speaking to him at all times and
all places-in the quietude of his room
and IN the crowded streets, by night and
BY day. He had come to the conclusion
that they mast be the voice of evil spirits
- the air which tormented him, They
knew t his thoughts and replied to them
before he had himshelf conceived them:
The ! remarks which they make were always
annoying, often threatening and abusive,
and sometimes most offensive and dis
tresslng; and they disturbed him 50
much at night that he got very little
sleep. He had been driven to the expe.
1lent Of buying q musical box, which he
placed under his pillow when he went to
oed. The noise of the music drowned
he noise of the tormenting voices, and
Enabled him to 60 to sleep; but as he
!ald, the measures was not entirely salts
actory, because when the box had PLAYED
ut its tunes it stopped, and he was
obliged to wind it up again. It was i'm
oosslble to persuade this gentleman, SEN
Idle as ne seemed in other respects, that
he voices had no real existence, and that
hey were due to the disordered state of
is nervous system.
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