Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1891-05-28
Is 1T HALIuClNATlON?
INTERESTING INQUIRY INTO a
PECULIAR SUBJECT.
How Oftoa DO People See aai Feel Things
That Ara Not rro.cnt or Hear
Uhen 30 Voice spcaks:--
Some ilustratioaa.


Some iiostratioaa
At an International congress Of en-
detrimental psychologists, held in Paris
last year, II was determined to under-
tal;c statistical inquiry into the nature
and frequency OF such phenomenon rs
apparitlons, voices heard whom no one
has spoken, and touches felt when no
one IL near. OF course, all these ex-
poriencos occur In some cases OF i'll
ness; but they also occur occasionally
90 persons who show no signs OF mental
or physical di ordcr--m unless tho expo-
r,onoc is arbitrarily assumed to be
sign. II is with those latter phonom-
ola (Which may be described us
casual Authorizations of the senses
Occurring TO Sano porsons') that the
present inquiry is concerned
In England the conduct OF the in
quiry was undertaken and in America
by Prof William James, OF Harvard
university II Is carried ON by papers
at the head of which stands tho ques-
ton: Have you ever when believing
yourself to be completely awake, had
vivid impression OF seeing or being
touched by u living being or inanimato
object or OF hearing n voice, which Inn
prossion, 80 far ~ you could discover,
wa3 not duo TO any external physical
cause9n
Tho inquiry will, hope yicld
various rosults OF some value to pay
cholo glsts; but my own chief motive
for undertaking il IL desire to in
veSt'gate moro mothodlcally than has
yot boon done, the causes OF II po-
cullayly interesting class OF hallncina-
tons viz; those that coincide with
some external event 80 rs to suggest
strongly that they are casually con
nocted with Il In some ns yet unknown
way. Tho most familiar species OF
this class though not by amy means
the only species consists OF the
apparitons Of dying persons occurring
simultaneously with the death, TO re-
latives or friends at u distance.
Such an appaiiton IL, on the ono
hand. clearly hullucinatory inn
presslon. tho percipicnt apparently
Gees the clothed body Of u human being
occupying portion OF space which IL,
in fact not so occupied; at the same
time il IL, In n sense, u 'Yoridical, or
trrth-tclling impression, since IL sug-
costs that something remarkable Is
happening TO the human being so seen,
and II aftorward becomes known TINT
something remarkable md unexpected
did in fact happen to him mt the timo.
Tho question, thon Ii whether this
coincidence Ia merely accidental, or
whether IL indicates that the external
event and the apparitlon arc really
connected ~ cause and effect.
IL il impossible 10 answer this ques-
| ton concusivcly by the most careful
acrutiny OF any particular case OF u
"coincidcuinr' apparition; II can only
be answered by means Of II wide sta
tisticul inquiry, such rs we have now
| In hand
will illustrate by fow examples
| the distinction between 'Ycridicap or
| "coincidentaln and coincideutaH
or 'puroly subjective hallucinatiols.
| II seems desirable TO give examples OF
/ DDLll tlilBStN, bftillSt, WHO 'hh~
! Gated persons underrato the extent and
! Importance OF the former class, super
| stitious errors nrc undoubtedly liable
| TO arise through misrepresentation OF
the latter will give first II case Of
which the purely subjective origin can
he clearly traced.
A lady writes: "On the evening OF
January u Of this year, 1890, had
been reading aloud TO young friend
J Lord Toanyson's poem. entitled Roa,
and tho last word on which my eye rest
ed ere closing the book was the namo
Rover Please note this seemingly
insignificant circumstance, Tor thereby
hangs my tale. Some after my young
friend loft my mother was seized with
u sudden spasm In the throat which
greatly alarmed me- and caused me to
lie awake that night in state of OK
trCmc nervous tension through anxiety
on her behalf.
while in this condition Of mind. Mt
about o'clock IN the morning, | saw
dilTuscd white light iilling one side OF
the bedroom, which seemed 10 focus
itself to still brighter light that pres
emily took the shape of the page OF n
book, which by and by became crossed
with dark lines which resolved them
selves into printed letters Fascinated
Gt this unlookcd-fOr occurrence, !
thought to myself If only ] can read
those letters ! may discover something
that may prove u.cful in the study OF
phantasmagorical appearances, so !
directed my whole attention TO the
ghostly page OF the book and read
thereon Rover
"As my mcther's sudden attack had
been tho one subject engrossing my
thoughts up 10 that time ! could not
ut first imagine how could have con-
iured up the ghost OF word 80 out Of
place and SO unmeaning, till remem-
bcred that IL was the last word my
eyes had rested on ere anxiety on my
mothers account had blottcd out every
other srbject from my mind, and had
induced the morbid condition of nerv-
oas tension that gave rise to the
vision
As she remarks, had the word she
saw boon OF more significance had
she, for instance, been reading the
eight chapter of Revelations and after
ward seen the wogd "woe," and had
she lived in the Middlo Ages, instead
of being q matter-of-fact person living
in the nineteenth century she might
easily have imagined herself n prophet
10 whom written scroll had been re-
x,1,I,J d;,.,t f,.N,,, hnnvnn
For those who are studying hallucin-
ations this is an interesting one, on ac-
count OF It's gradual development; and
may remark that this feature is often
observed in hallucinations voluntarily
induced by crystal-gazing or otherwise.