Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-05
A Strange Case of Dual Personality
Reported by Prof, James.
MORE MONEY FOR INVESTIGATION
Work of the Organization to be Conducted
on a Larger Scale.
CURIOUS EXPERIMENTS IN HYPNOTISM

-NHA OAouSA Va NuG o'S4Cbh AOA ShiSoA AAS-
search-the first since last March-was held
tonight in the amphithe2ter of the Society
OF Natural History. Those persons who at
tended expecting 10 see ghosts or to receive
q revelation of the occult phenomena of
spirit land were disappointed. Neverthe-
less, the session was of intense interest and
the audience was too large for the limits Of
the hail, so that many ladies and gentlemen
had TO stand along the walls and in the
doorways and listen under discouraging cir
cUmstances 10 what was said.
Prot. William Jones occupied the chair.
After the Secretary Mr.. Richard Hodgson,
had read the minutes of the March meeting,
Prof. James gave a suggestive little talk
about the doings Of the society.
FIourishfng State of the Society.
I'VE appear 10 have lost nothing" he
said. ''by becoming merged in the English
society and parting with our own council
Our membership is now 440, as compared
with $50 a year ago. The results OF our
work were never more encouraging. Be-
tween 4 900 and 1000 answers have been re-
ceiyed to the hallucination circulars, of
which about one-tenth have been positively
in the affirmative. That is, we have now the
records OF about 400 persons who have had
Authorizations, the circumstances of which
bear investigation and yield scientifically
valuable data. Our report upon this branch
Of the work will be ready BY next summer
mot so manylpersons as formerly are now
Joining the society through purely sensa-
lional considerations. A deeper scientific
interest is manifest. The members generally
realize that patience and time are required
in this department Of research as we'll as in
other branches of science, in order to secure
satisfactory results. We must mass together
q great number of cases before being able to
draw trustworthy deductions from them,
but these deductions are sure to follow, 1
am confident sooner or later.
1--WE have suffered. however, from cause
that produces trouble in every walk of life.
mean the lack of funds. In many cases
the Secretary has been unable, for want OF
travelling expenses, to investigate reported
phenomena while they were red hot, and in
this way we have undoubtedly lost much
valuable information"
Prof. James Invited Suggestions
Of methods calculated to remedy this condi-
ton of the treasury, and, after brief dis
cussion, the secretary was instructed to send
circulars to all members of the American
branch, asking them whether or not thev
would be willing TO pay an annual fee of So,
instead OF 50 as at present
This business concluded Prof James de-
scribed case of double personality of the
so-called ambulatcry type, the Investigation
Of which he mas just concluded.
gv,ls s.,,rs ,lo,,.
of age, residing in a small place near Paw
tucket, r. l. This person was a carpenter
until 1851, when. by a strange visitation of
Providence, he was induced to adopt alto
gether different habits of lie. He mad been
an atheist. One day, while walking in the
open country he thought he heard a voice,
saying:
Go to the chapel, 90 to the chapel"
TO what chapel?' he inquired of his in
visible monitor.
"To the Christian chapel, was the reply
Now the carpenter was en- unfriendly
terms with the minister of the Christian
chapel, and he exclaimed aloud:
Blasphemy Promptly Rebuked.
Before l go to that place l hope God
may strike me deaf, dumb and blind"
Instantly he fell TO the earth. enveloped
10 darkness and silence, and without the
power of speech.
The events which followed, as Prof James
said in telling this part of the story, were
such as generally occur in cases of the same
sort, which are frequent in religious history.
Suffice 1t to say that the events eliminated
in the mans restoration to his senses, in his
conversion and in his adoption of the voca-
iIon OF an itinerant preacher.
For 80 years he followed this calling,
doing great deal OF missionary work, and
becoming well known over a large area OF
New York State and western New England.
Early in 1887 he had abandoned his
preaching, being advanced in wears and de-
slrous OF living more quietly, and had taken
up again his old trade OF carpentering. His
health was still good, and he worked II or 13
hours daT, in preference to 9 or 10.
In what follows it is we'll to remember
Prof. James assurance of his convection
that the man in question is sincere, free
from deception, aud genuine subject of
Strange Psychical Phenomena.
One day. while living at Greene, r. l., he
suddenly disappeared from home Every
effort was made to find him, but to no avail
He was completely lost
Two months later, in Norristown, Pa, 9
man named Brown, who kept little candy
store, woke up in the middle of the night
and found himself in strange place. His
bed was strange, the room in which he lay
was strange, and the shop into which ht
CROPPED his way was so un familiar that hi
became thoroughly alarmed Fearing h
would be taken for a burglar, he cried fol
help. The nelghbors rushed out in thu
night and discovered Brown, the cand,
merchant, in an unaccountable state.
s'Where am 1? Who am 1? Who arr
you?'' be cried, in great perturbation.
They thought their neighbor must be sud
denly gone crazy. When told that hi
name was Brown, he denied it, and gave a,
his name that of the erstwhile preacher anG
carpepter of Rhode Island.
A Physicians Experiment.
The village doctor was called upon fo
advice, He saw in the case something diff
ferent from ordinary mania, but still ht
thought it was mania. However, he com
municated with Browns alleged relatives II
Rhode Island, and, to be sure, Browns as
sertions concerning himself were found t,
be true.
Rut Brown now had no recollections o
his experience in the candy store, nor di,
he know how he got there or how he lef
Rhode Island.
Dde case became nOised abroad, and wa