Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1903-07-08
PICTURES IN THE EYE
ONE or THs MYSTERIES or That
COMPLEX ORGAN, The BRAIN.

Theories as to the Cause OF the Nv
Ing Coiored FancffuI aud Chang
Ing Images That Appear on Lying
Down After an Exciting Day.
There are many who Will not readily
understand what is meant by pictures
In the eye. unless II be the Imagination.
or minds eye" OF Hamlet. for the
power OF seeing them is not conferred
on all alike. Even those who have,
seen them from time TO time, and prob
ably given them little heed. may not
feel altogether sure about the matter
without word OF explanation.
Lying I'm bed. after firing or excit-
Ing day. with your eyes closed and
about To fall asleep. have you never
seen. apparently I'm the eyeball. spots
and streaks OF colored light. changing
their forms AMI shifting their places?
Have you never watched them passing
Into complicated patterns, like those
OF the Kaleidoscope. or into pretty
landscapes quite unknown TO YOU. or
into strange faces. now and again
very beautiful or angelic. but often as
ugly and hideOus as COLLINS from the
Internal regions. or. happy. into scenes
OF action reminding You OF the drama.
nut such as YOU never saw I'm real life
or upon any stagcF These pictures are
more alive than the living pictures
OF. the music halls. They have the hues
OF life and art and rival the quick
change artist I'm their protcan trans
formations. The animatograph that
can Initiate their ceaselcss evolution
without a hitch or tremor will be
novelty and make the fortune OF its in
vcntor
What are they? 1t is one OF the mvs.
tcries OF that marvellous nay. miracu-
lous organ. the brain. We must dis
tinguish them from other mysteries 90
the border land" which lies between
the adjoining states OF widcawake and
sound asleep.
Ihey are not the images OF a reverie
or day dream. Whether we recall the
past in our waking hours or invent
new Incidents like novelist. we can
govern THEN 10 some extent and are
quite aware OF their fancirul or mental
character They are not n hallucina-
ton in the proper sense OF the term.
We feel they are subjective. or within
us; we suppose them i'm the eve itself.
whereas we believe n hallucinatiOn Is
objective. or without MS. An appari-
ton or spccter that we take for rcal-
ity is hallucination. The ghost OF
Hamlcts father. witnessed by several
persons. and the spook Of his distant
brother. seen 10y Lord Brougham. were
probably Authorizations Of "teIc-
pathic" order The picture OF Millais
where man starts up and sees n
luminous lady at the foot OF his bed
Is case OF Authorization. The dream
Image Of the Undergraduate who
dreamed that he was chased by
green figure and. awakening. saw It In
his room was also hallucination.
Pictures i'm the eye are more akin to
what are called after images" 4
gentleman "a doctor. II we are not
mistaken. after "A fatiguing day. was
chccrcd 10y the sight of a becfsteak for
his dinner. as he very we'll might. but
seemingly the steak made Il deep i'm
preston on his mind or his digestion.
for while he was browsing with his
eyes closed after eating il. he saw II
again as wildly rs before. and on
dropping asleep he saw IL a third time
I'm his dream. IL was doubtless n sub
stantial steak. not n ghost. and yet IL
haunted him.
There Is. OF course, more than one
theory Of these living pictures in the
eye or. as they are called in science.
"hypnoSogic images" One is that they
are formed on the retina OF the eve
and confined TO IT, Another is that
they are purely mental and formed
In the corteX or bark. SO TO speak. OF
the cercbrum. As often happens. the
truth appears 10 lie i'm a combination
OF both views. Recent observations OF
Nj. Yves Dclage have put the question
10 experimental proof. When we look
az bright body-fo example. the sun
and shut our eyes we see Il colored
spot OF light. and If we move the eve
up or down. TO right or left. the spot
moves with ii. The spot. I'm fact, Is
left 10y the image OF the sun upon the
retina and therefore moves with it,
Now. II the hypnogoGic images are on
the retina they Will also move with the
eye, and this is what NJ. Delage has
found. Nevertheless the brain also
comes into play in forming them.