Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-03-10
Scientific Ghosts.

Dr. Jessopp of London, recently declared
he saw the ghostly figure of man. while
engaged In writing in friends library at
night DR.. Wilks, of Gray's Hospital,
London, writes as follows in relation IN the
matter: Putting aside the supposition of
trick, the story resolves itself into the
question whether the appearance of the
man beside him Or. Jessopp) was objec-
tive or subjective Under ordinary circum-
stances. when we see an object the latter is
material, and forms an image on the re-
tina: this is mentally known through per-
ceptive part of the brain; the mere retinal
image is not enough to constitute vision,
as pictures are constantly painted upon the
retina which are never discerned- Now il
is possible for this perceptive part of the
brain TO be thrown in;o an active condition
quite independent of the normal stimulus
conducted to it from the retina, and under
these circumstances the person apparently
sees an object, which by the law of our
nature, is projected by him certain dis
tance before the eye. This is common
enough in fevers and in delIrium tremens,
where patients see people and animals
around them whose reality is such that the
memory of these becomes part of the ex-
perience of their future lives. In mental
arrangements these hallucinations are also
common, and patients see objects and hear
voices which have no external existence.
So il is in our dreams, from which We may
be suddenly reused by great noise where
all is still around, the auditory perceptive
centre of the brain having been abnor-
1 II L., al f1.a
sight Of an object implies the painting Of
il on the retina, as the hearing noise I'M
plies the vibration Of the drum Of the ear.
! If sight and hearing occur without these
normal excitants of the nerves, the brain
must have been stimulated from within,
and the impressions are abnormal ahd sub
iective. At the present time we have no
knowledge that anything in the likeness Of
a ghost or anything that has not material
basis can excite an image on their retina,
whereas we do know that under abnormal
conditions the brain may be stimulated so
as te produce a visual impression indepen-
dent of any such image ON the retina. The
probabilities are then immensely in favor
of the appearance which the doctor saw
being subjective rather than objective. We
nave only I'd suppose tndt lIlost very VoH-
mon abnormal conditions of brain which
are observed in bad health may occur under
exceptional circumstances in an otherwise
healthy organ, 10 account for the occasional
appearance Of ghosts. The probabilities
are also in favor Of this view from other
considerations. First, there seeems no rea-
son why the spirits of another world should
prefer midnight for their visits, but the rea
sons are obvious why we should conjure
them up at that time. Then, again, the
want Of individuality shown by this partic-
ular ghost, no ordinary mortal would find
it very difficult to put himself in exactly
the same place and attitude as before on
his appearance second time, as this appa-
rition did, and then 50 dependent was itupon
the observer, that when the latter put his
arms up it was gone, and the same occurred
on the second occasion on another move
ment. How these movements of the Doc
tor could have affected real object does
not seem clear, nor why il could not be
gazed at from different points Of view. II
may be noticed, too, that its nearness cor
responded with the focusing of the Doc
tors eyes to objects close around him