The Worcester spy., 1901-12-08

This is a book about ghosts and
ghost seers. The Introduction is writ
ten by Thomson Jay Hudson, Phi. D.,
LII. D.
This is one of the most odd and
gruesOme books ever written. 1t deals
with such pleasant subjects as Alle
gOriCal Dreams. Double Dreaming and
| Trance, Apparitions, Haunted Houses.
While the stories contained in the book
| and the conclusions drawn therefrom
are to be taken with a grain of salt,
the introduction makes it all the more
| impressive by giving sort of scien-
| tific endorsement to it.
The Night-side of Nature was first
published in the nineteenth century,
and, as DR.. Hudson says in his intro
duCtion, he knows of none more de
serving of resuscitatiOn among the
books giving weird tales of phenomena
that have before been relegated to
the domain of fancy or of superstition.
He says that many more could now
| be Tepublished to the infinite adVan-
| tage of science, for like this one, they
constitute vast repositories of facts
| that are Illustrative of recent disCov-
cries of modern science.
The author of the book believes in
ghosts and spirits, and some of the
scientists even are coming around to
| believe in ghosts after a long period
| of disbelief. What DR.. Hudson says
/ on this point is Of more interest, per-
| haps, than more or less unreliable stor-
! les presented in the old book.
| If l were inclined to assume a criti-
! cal attitude, I should say that some
| of her explanations of particular phe-
nOmena logically preclude her general
conclusion, which is that apparitions,
or ghosts, are, in fact, the spirits of
deceased persons; and that it is to
them that we must appeal for a sOlu-
! ton of the problem of a future life.
But, while l am compelled to dissent
! from that conclusion, l cannot forget
that when The Night-side of Nature"
was written there was absolutely no
admitted the veridity of the phe-
| nOmena.
| In those days the only resource of
| those who were skeptical as to a fu-
| ture life was to deny the phenomena
| and refuse to investigate. Those who
| did investigate, and became convinced
| of the reality of the phenomena, were
| compelled to admit the validity of the
! current explanation, Professionally, at
! least, simply because no other rational
! theory could be found which was ca
! pable of explaining the facts. And
| thus it happened that the author was
enabled to fortify her position by the
! citation of a long list of the names of
men of her day who We're great in
science and in literature. Moreover, it
must be confessed that if great names,
| backed by great numbers, carry COM
mensurate weight in the solution of
| such problems, the authors animistic
conclusions are still strongly fortified.
For it must not be forgotten that even
the great London Society for Physical
Research, which was organized for the
/ express purpose Of seeking a scientific
| explanation. of psychicaI phenomena.
and which has done more than all 9TH
er societies combined to promote the
inductive investigation of that subject,
has at length converted itself into a
gigantic spiritistic propaganda, it's
chief officers, whose great names are
as familiar as household words wher-
ever the English language is spoken,
being convinced that the animistic
theory Of causation is the true ex-
planatiOn of the phenomena.
1T will be seen, therefore, that the
authors views are backed by the au-
thority of great names, of the living
as well as of the dead, and that they
will strike a responsive chord in the
hearts of millions whose faith in a
future life is based upon phenomena
4 identical with, or cOgnate to, those
which are so graphically described in
this book"