Kansas City daily journal., 1897-02-07
.'Messrs. Van Ylecl, &. Minter
PROFESSOR JAMES ON sp1RrruAn1sm
Members of the Neurological Society
Listen to n Review of the Beliefs.

Members of the Neurological Society
Listen to n Review of the Beliefs.
From the New York Sun.
Professor William James. the well known
psychologist of Harvard university. ad-
dressed the members of the Neurological
Society last evening at the society's hall
on Forty-third street. The subject of Pro-
fessor James discourse was 'Demoniacal
Possession treated from the point of view
of neurology.
Professor James first spoke of the great
strides which science has made in the in
vestigation of the so-called changes Of
personality and double personalitv. He
then proceeded to point out the analogy
between these phenomena and that of de-
lnonlacal nd,is possession, showing how the
cpuse OF both was the same, namely, hyp-,
nouc suggestion. The history of the sub
Ject was next taken up.
Oemoniacal Possession" said Profess
~ Janes, occupies prominent placein the
history of all nations Every land and
every age has list of cases in which
ilhalyiduals lai i,SI were supposedly afflicted with
ootble personality or possessed by de-
mons. This was especially true in ancient
indla and Palestine. and is true to-day in
China and Japan. Formerly these phe-
natural origins. In ancient times the
possessing demons were regarded as di-
vine During the early Christian era and
the Middle Ages they became diabo1icai
This belief in its turn gave way to the
optimistic belief in modern spiritualism
Wnlch Is the natural homologue of the
earlier superstition.
From a. scientific point of view this
modern spiritualism is very interesting.
Ihe phenomena are familiar Uncon-
sclcusness on the part of the medium
comes with commissions. The whole char
acter Is altered, the voice becomes nm
natural ana the individual generally speaks
OF hlmself or herself in the third person
This condition is known as the tranca
STATE and Is therefore entirely distinct
from insanity.
An account has been published recent
ly or certain Mount Tabay in Janan
which has come to be regarded as the
mecca OF japanese spiritualists group
tbt 9b pIIgTims on arriving at the summit of
this mountain are entranced. and while i'm
this abnormal condition answer ouestions
which are put TO them with the assurances
OF an oracle. A long discipline Is necas
sary before they are able to bring on tbIs
condition, and the process gone through
with Is accompanied with considerable
ceremony. 1t is also curious to note that
victims of demonacal possession in Janan
often Imagine themselves possessed by
In India shrines are erected to local
gcds, each shrine having its own medium
The delusion of witchcraft is explained
as due to the efforts of some melancholy
insane persons to spread their hallucina
ucns and attach the imaginary blame to
different people in the community. In
mcst cases the witches themselves have
not been microscopic, but, on the con-
trary, perfectly normal. Simply stated.
the disease of idemonology' is a disease of
neurology. In former days, if a case of
Illness proved beyond the reach of the
doctor, it was assumed at once that it
was 'demonology,' especially if the patient
was eventually cured by one of the So
called witches.
Demonology attacks people differently
in different countries. The form which
hallucinations assume depends upon the
climate, the traditions and environment
of the land
Augustine Constance, French physi-