The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-02-03
Magnetic DroAns.

been disposed to think that there is
something to be said for the popular
faith in ghosts and among these phiIo-
sophers perhaps the foremost place is
due to Schopenhauer, who took such
high rank among the original thinkers
OF his age that he earned the right to be
heard about any matter regarding which
he chose to express decided opinions.
AS rule, he was by no means easily
duped but when he approached the sub
ject OF "vision" lie seemed almost to
lose the faculty OF testing evidence.
Hardly any story relating to the border
land between the natural and superna-
tural, whether recorded by ancient or
modern writer's, was condemned by him
as extravagant and in one OF his essays
he rebuked Kngllshmen (whom in other
respects he considered to be far ahead
of Germans and Frenohmen) for their
scepticism as to the mysterious atlinities
and capacities of the human mind.
Curiously enough, he attributes our
backwardness in this departement of
philosophical inquiry to the malign in.
fiuence of the clergy OF the National
Church, who, he thought, denounced
animal magnetism and all other ''isms
OF similar tendency, because they per-
celvcd the perils to which these soiences
would expose their superstltious reli-
gious Beliefs"
One OF the fundamental doctrines of
Schopenhauer's philosophy is that the
world as we know it hos not al indepen-
don't existence. Like Berkely, he held
that it is merely al "appearance." Tho
only really existence, lie maintained, is
"the thing in ITSELF; and 'sthe thing in
itself" he Identified with the will. In
ordinary circumstances we know the
will only az it manifests itself under the
forms of space, time, and causality but
he contended that there are states of the
BRAIN in which we penetrate behind
these forms, and come into contact with
the will as it is i'll its ow nature. cat
such times we escape from tho system
Of intellectual illusions which it is the
business Of science to investigate we
are i'll the realm Of absolute truth, which
constitutes the proper domain of phiIo-
sophy. Even members of the Society
for Psychloal Research are not likely to
take up higher ground than this and
they will certainly not surpass Sohopen-
hauer in the confidence with which he
drew conclusions from his ultimate prin-
ciples. The states of the brain which
lead to such surprising results occur
when we are in ga magnetic sleep" "and
a magnetic sleep may be produced when
we are asleep in the ordinary way. It
does not follow that if we fall into
magnetic sleep we shall have magnetic
dreams ; and If We do Dire am magnetic
ally, it does not follow that We shall re-
member what we have dreamed. A
magnetic sleep is far deeper than M
ordinary sleep, and in the slow process
of awaking from it we may forget tue
spectacle which it has enabled us to
see. Sometimes, however, the impress
sion which the vision has produced Oil
our feeling remains and on these ocoa-
sions, if the vision has been one of
coming disaster Gas it commonly Is in
the worst of possible worlds, according
to Soopenhauer), we have what is called
a presentiment of evil and one presen-
timent is sure to be realized sooner or
later.
At other times our magnetic droam-
that Is our perception of entities may
be transformed into sort of allegory
which is capable of different interpreta.
tiens. Of this kind were the predictions
of the Delphic oracle, which frequently
could not be understood until they were
fulfilled. Shopeuhauer was not of opinion
however, that our mysterious visions in
their original form Invariably pass from
the memory and ho gives an example
of one which he himself had m oppor-
tunity of studying. This instance
seemed to illm all the more remarkable
because it related to matter of little
Importance. One dly he was writing q
letter in great haste, and when he had
anished the third page he intended to
strew writing sand over what he had
written. In his hurry he seized the ink
stand instead of the vessel containing
sand, and dashed the contents over his
letter. As tho ink poured from his
desk he rang for the maid to wipe it
from tho floor. When she was engaged
in dong so, she said, "Last night I
dreamt that I shon'dbe,wiping ink-spots
from the floor here" '"Ehat is not
true" answered Schopenhauor. cit is
true, she replied, 'and when awoke 1
mentioned it to the other maid who
sleeps with me-" Just then the other
maid happened to enter the room in
order in to call away her fellow-servant.
Shopenhauer, advancing to meet her, at
once asked, "What did this girl dream
last night ?" "I don't know" eyes.
you do she told you when she awoke."
"Oh, to be sure" the maid then said"
she dreamt that she would be wiping ink
spots from the floor here" Shopen-
hauer grayely points out that this anec-
dote is not only sufficient evidence for
magnetic dreaming, but that it estab-
fishes tho truth OF the doctrine that