The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-03-27
Scientific Ghosts.

DIR. Jcssopp OF London, RECENTLY declared
ho COW tho gi,ostly ngure or man, while
engaged III writing In friends library al
night. DR.. Wilks, of Gray's Hospital
London, writes as follows In relation to the
matter: ssPutting aside the supposition oi
trick, the story resolves itself into the
question: whether the appearance of the
man beside him (Dr. Jessopp) was objcc.
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 into 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 dellrium trcmens,
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 1t Is in our dreams, from which we may
be suddenly reused by great noise where
all Is still around, the auditory perccptive
centre of the brain having been abnor-
mally excited In normal conditions the
sight of an object implies the painting of
1t on the rctina, as the hearing a 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 imp essions are abnormal and sub
jective. AT the present time we have no
knowledge that anything In the likeness of
q ghost or anything that has not material
basis can excite an image Oh their retina,
whereas we do know that under abnormal
conditions the brain may be stimulat cd SC
as to produce visual impression indepen-
dent of any such image OH the rctina. The
probabilities are then immensely in favor
of the appearance which the doctor saw
being subjective rather than objective. We
have only to suppose that those very com.
mon abnormal conditions Of brain which
are observed in bad health may occur under
oACClIlolkl CltCutllSldnCCS Ill an OtDCrWlS(
healthy organ, to account for the occasional
appearance of ghosts. The probabilities
are also in favor of this viow from Other
considerations. First, there sccems no rea
son why the spirits of another world should
prefer midnight for their visits, but the rea
sons are aobyioQs why,we should coniurt
them up atS that time. Then, again The
want Of individuality shown by this partic
ular ghost, no ordinary mortal,would find
1t very difflcult,to put himself I'm exactly
the Same place and attitude ais before on
his appearance second time, as this appa
rition did, and then so dependent was 1t upol
the observer, that when the latter put hi
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 doe,
not seem clear, nor why 1t could not b,
gazcd at from different points Of view. 1
may be noticed, too, that it's nearness cor
responded with the focusing OF the Doc
tors eyes to objects close around him. n.