The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-27

of a great centipede a beautiful chande-
lier richly jeweled and blazing with light,
phosphore scent fishes eyes and fish scales,
a picture of an arctic sunset, ceiling from
which hung ribbons of every color, and a
camel with gorgeous trappings and a palm
tree behind him.
''All the North American tribes have in
toXicants that produce Authorizations.
They supplement them with dancing, sing
ing, drum-beating and tormenting the
body, for the purpose of helping on the
ecstatic state and encoura ging the illusory
phenomena edge. The character of the hal
lucinations convey communications from
the invisible world; they resort TO them
TO get a view of the past and future, SO
that their conduct may be governed by
superior knowledge. The character of the
Authorizations caused by excess of alcohol
is well known. Terrifying impressions
predominant. Sweet voices are sometimes
heard, melodies delight the ear and fair
landscapes appear TO the eye, but this sell
dom lasts long. Monsters and serpents
take the place of flowers, and vermin rep
tiles, etc, appear in great numbers,
swarming over the bed and up the wall.
Sometimes black men appear, who gibber
and threaten, then vanish up the chimney,
Drugs or Inflammation of the ear may
produce auditory illusions. Disease of the
nose sometimes makes illusions of smell;
the imaginary smells are occasionally very
delicious, but more often they are disgust
ing. 1t is the same way with the sense of
taste, which is most apt to be affected by
illusions of nauseous or poisonous flavors.
In the early stages of paralysis the patient
sometimes experiences all the enjoyment of
an imaginary feast. Hallucinations of
taste are rare, however, and so likewise
are those of smell. A person afraid of be-
ing murdered has been known to be
haunted by fumes of charcoal, noxious
gases ana poisonous dust. Where the sense
of touch is affected, the hallucinations are
usually of insects, mice or snakes crawl
ing on the skin
Il am not speaking of the decisions of
the insane, but of Authorizations to which
persons normal in other respects may be
subject oliver Cromwell had his great
ness foretold to him by an apparition.
Socrates enjoyed the constant companion
ship of benevolent demon who warned
him of impending evil. 1t is a fact, I'M
fortunately, that hallucinations are the
frequent cause of violent and somnambu.
lism, and especially in the delirium occa-
stoned by alcohol cocaine or morphine,
persons are thrown into paroxysms of ter
ror by phantoms which threaten them.
The sufferer snatches up weapon, and,
perhaps, commits murder or sets fire 10 the
house. or, again. despairing of escape
from the enemies which pursue and mock
him, he puts an end to his life, often In a
skillful and cunningly-planned manner.
There has been some awakening of in
terest lately in the subject of crystal Wis
ion as ID is called. In this sort of bust
ness the vision seer strives to Danish all
thought from his mind, and fixes his gaze
for many minutes together upon crystal
a glass of water or other rejecting object
Many persons, after gazing thus for some
time, imagine that they see pictures in the
crystal, familiar faces. etc. remarka-
bic story is told of a Mr.. Salt British
consul general in Egypt who suspected
his servants of theft. He sent for a ma
gician, but himself selected boy as seer
The magician drew on the boys
right palm diagram. Then
he poured into the palm
some ink. and bade the boy look fixedly
into il. Various visions came and went. as
described by the boy. but finally the form
of the guilty servant appeared to him and
was recognized by the description he gave
On being arrested. the thief thus strange
ly convicted, confessed his crime
"A discourse on this interesting subject
would hardly be complete without some
reference to dream hallucinations. Such
illusions are often caused by external in
huences. The bed covering slipped 10 the
ground causes us to dream of appearing
half clad on the street or at a social gath
ering; or it may call up visions of skating,
Alpine travel or Polar expedition These
again may suddenly end in the feeling of
falling into a gulf, due to a slight alter
alton of the sleepers position in bed A
hot-water bottle az the feet may suggest
a vision of climbing Mount Etna and walk
ing on hot lava. If the hand has been rem
dered numb by accidental pressure, the
dreamer may imagine that something
grewsome and horrible is touching him; or,
if the whole side is affected, he may have
an hallucinaton 10 the effect that he has
a strange bedfellow whom he can not get
rid of. A mustard plaster on the face may
suggest the idea of a conflict with Indians,
in which the dreamer is scalped. Dreams
afford an exceedingly interesting subject
of investigation to the psychologist. but
our knowledge regarding them Is likely to
remain rather incomplete, owing to the
difficulties of collecting any definite data.
Such data can only be got from our memo
ries on waking, and they are very unsat-
isfactory."