The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1904-07-26

The letters Of Sir David Brewster
upon Natural Magic which were de-
signed as a supplement 70 Sir Waiter
( SCOTS Essay on Demonology and
Witchcraft form an admirable treatise
of this character. which should be put
into the hands Of every child as sn
antidote to the spurious philosophy %
/ the day. In It are to be found explain
ed some Of the most astonishing phe.
nomena of nature. as well as many of
the surprising contrivances Of art an
cient and modern. For example, he
shows us how, upon purely natural
principles. we may account for many
marvellous deceptions of the sight.
/ He points out why It is, that the in
voluntary expansion of the eye in
very obscure light is unfayorable to an
accurate perception OF the form. size
and distance of objects. Why the
/ brighter parts are often visible while
the other parts are unseen. Why parts
of one object thus seem to be comDin-
eJ. not unfrequently with those Of an
other Why objects sometimes appear
TO us in positions. and at distances.
that are really impossible. And why
the focus Of vision being in such cases
/ IN adapted to the perception Of near
objects. thcy disappear at the very
time when we expect to see them most
distinctly. These suggestions go very
far to explain the apparihons, so gem
orally seen at twilight. or after dark.
of grotesque and misshapen figures in
situations where, by the laws of ma
ture they could not be found, and al
most invariably clothed in white
which. from its contrast to surround
ing objects, is most likely to attract
( the notice Of the beholder There are
also the gigantic spectres of the
I Brocken, the pictures in the air of
shlps, castles. and mountains. of mon
and horses trooping along the face Of
/ inaccessible cliffs, all of which are
familiar TO us now as the effects Of
reflected and refracted light. Such
appearances have constantly been re-
garded in Ignorant times as the re-
suits Of witchcraft and magic; and
are still viewed as ala.ming portents
by the great majority of those who
witness them. Yet in the hands Of
the true philosopher, they are stripped
of all their mysterious terror. and be-
come pleasing manifestations OF tho
wonderful perfection and variety Of
the works Of God.
But our business is just now with
things of much less pretension; and,
without further preface we come to
the promised stories, which we leave
our friend to tell in his own way; TO
which he is the better entitled, as he
processes to have derived them, for
the most part, from actual witnesses.
First Story.
A youth about IA years Of age, was
sent to pass some weeks of his sum
mer holidays with great aunt who
lived in one of the old countries Of the
Old Dominion. The venerable lady
occupied one Of those great mansion
/ houses. memorials of the colonial aris-
tocracy of Virginia, built of imported
bricks. fun of staireases and passages,
and with rooms enough to accommo-
date half dozen families. and scores
OF individual guests, when congresat
ed for some high festival. But At this
time it was almost deserted The
old lady and her granddaughter were
the only white persons within It's
walls. She occupied bed room on
the first floor; our hero slept in the
story next to the garret; and the ser
wants were al, in the basement. Dur
ing the day, his time passed merrill
enough. Horses. dogs, and guns, boat
ing and fishing. filled up the hours
with sports in which he was support
ed by as many Of the African, grea
sad little, as he thought ft to enlis
in his service But the nights hum
heavily His aunt always went TO be-
at an early hour The few books II
her library were soon exhausted, an
the short evenings Of summer seeme
80 his sleepless eyes 10 be sttetche
out lnterminably Now and then
-9ssip with some old negroes. VIII
had grown gray in the family, beeai
ed him With snatehe1 Of the history O
the former occupants Of the hail. an
these narratives, as might be anuc
pated were plentifully sprinlded wit
incidents Of the supersutious characI
or in " Yhich such old crones delight.
One night he had lain in bed a Ion
time counting in vain a relief fror
enuui in sleep, lie had listened. I'll
he was tired, to the ticking Of the ar
a ROM. clock 10 the whistling of IN