New-York tribune., 1890-05-31
HAVE YOU EYER SEEN GHOSTS?
IF YOU HAVE, YOUR EXPERIENCE IS AN
UNUSUAL ONE.
PURSUING AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PIE
= NoMENA OF THE HIDDEN w0RbD-WHAr
crvs,,s TAKEN IN ENGLAND SHOWS
VISITS FROM THE DEAD.

crysrs TAKEN IN ENGLAND SHOWS
VISITS FROM THE DEAD
Tho Society for Psychca Research which has i's
headauarters I'm London. and the American Drahch Vi
the societv which has recently been estabhshed Ill
this country with headquarters in Boston, are pi''o
cutjng an eager inquiry into the peculiar ana h'.e'
cor,n,rativey neglected field of halucnat0nN Inc
Cen.us of Hallucil.ations, as it IS called "hIch uc
parept society began, has already assumed inc pro-
nortions Of an ambitious undertaking, ana IL Is an
nouhced that the society will not be satisfied WIN less
than so 600 answers to the questions whch IL Pro-
noses The work has also received the support ana
active Aid of the International Congress of Expert
mental Psychology and the work Of extending inc
inquiry in this country has been lntrnstcd 10 Iro-
fessor William James. of Harvard University VINO mas
for some time made a special study OF 'he ooSouIo
field of psychology in which the operations OF mind
reading. thought transference or sngsestoh haluci'
nations and double consciousness lie.
The general question propounded IN the census
khees read follows:
Have YOU ever. when completely awake. had vivid
impression Of seeing being touched by living beihs
or inanimate object, o Of hearing voice which m
preston. far you could discover was ho' u"o "
uny external physical causei
In explanation of this question Professor 'aioS
says that the experiences TO which thlS question
refers are what are scientifically described AZ casual
hallucinatons of sane persons, including under thS
be hallucnations because they believe them TO DO
ghosts. -
"The object of inquiry is. ~ 10 ascertain
approximately the proportion of persons VINO nave
such experiences and 2) to obtain details as 20 '
experiences with view TO examining mo inc"
cause and meaning. For the first object II Is I'M
portant that the question should be widely asked
and of all sorts of pcople-no only of those WHO are
Thought likely to have had such experience or OF
those who are thought likely not To have had II.
The answer No and the answer 'IeS' are equally
important
The society has tried TO frame the question i'm
partially. so that "the most bgoted materiali>t' or
Gthe most convinced spIritualst' may not be pre-
cluded by its terms from answering. The query Is
not 10 be put to persons under twenty years of
ace although the answers should cover the whole
life Of the questioned person.
WANTED "DETAILS OF THE APPARTloN
Inasmuch as the experiences referred to are be
hevcd to be rare, it is expected that the Affirmative
answers will be few. In this case, however, an an
ditional schedule of queries is made ont, the object
being TO secure detailed Information suppose the
answer "yes7 is given to the general question. Then
it becomes necessary TO follow it up with these queries
l. Pleask state what you 0 heard or feit a7
give the place date OF the experience nearly
you can.
.. How you occupied at the time and were you
out Of health o in grief or anxiety
g. Was the impression Of some ono whom you
were habit Of seeing and DO you know what ne 90
she doing at the time
T. Wore there other persons present with you at thu
time and did they in any way share the experience
s. Please state whether YOU have had such expert
ence more once, and give particulars OF ~
different occasions.
G ANY notes taken at the time other Information
about the experiences will be gratefully received
II is of course important that no second hand
answers be received Testimony to hallucinationS
must be of any avail whatever. come direct from
the person who has has not had such experiences
1t may he asked what is meant by the term hal
lucinaionsl What phenomena does it cover The
Society for Psychical Research had some difficulty in
finding the right word express Just the idea in
yoved in the peculiar experiences which II has under
taken 10 investigate. PhantasmS' ghosts" "ap-
partitions hallucnations"-wh shall it be Ap-
pSSiuo0. could only be used for visual cases and
t1cte ard auditory experiences would consequently
have 10 be omitted many weird and absurd ideas
cluster abop the popular conception Of ghosts that
81 becomes necessary 10 reject that word And al
though the word halucnation implies some slight
measure Of erroneous and ilusOrv belief II has been
adopted by general consent as the most proper word
10 fit the under consideration" meaning simply
to denote by It sensory effect which we cannot at
tribute any external physical cause Of the KIND That
would ordinarily produce this efect'
WHAT IT MEANS TO SEE FRIENDS "CHCsT."
A recent number Of the Proceedings of the society
for Psychical Research gives interesting information
concerning this branch of the sOcieys work. The
cicty readily iustes its Investigations on the ground
of the importance Of the subject Of Authorizations 10
psychologists and Psychologists, for whom they throw
light on the mysterious workings Of the mind and
senses. Practically it is Of to inquire into them
with view 10 dispeng the alarm and worry they
frequently cause. A prominent worker in this field
has calculated that if a apparition Of his
friend he would be justified in assuming the chance
that his friend had died within an hour OF that time
i~
57Oo answers TO the general question on haucna-
tions
Some account has been given in the Proceedings
of the Society of the number Of answers received 70
the census questions. In England the whole mum
her Of answers received is: