The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-08-27


disturbance, no one day seemed TO perceive
the figure OF a corpse about ten yards dis
tant from him.
Next day the corpse disappeared. but
was replaced by number o! living figures,
some being licensees OF friends whom
he recognized, but most Of them being
strangers. These figures appeared to him
as clear and distinct as lie, In company
home ss abrHsG T' lie sss Hsa
fectly well aware all the time that they
were mere phantoms, and he adopted WI hat
ne thought proper measures for getting
rid of them. After remaining with him for
about four weeks In silence the figures
began to talk, and he distinctly heard them
speak, sometimes TO one another and some
times to himself But one day. after the
application Of leeches to his head, all the
figures completely disappeared and be
never afterward had any repetition OF the
Apatient OF Dr. Ma udsley was 80 annoyed
by voices which he heard continually ad-
dressing unpleasant remark to him that he
bought musical box in order TO circum.
vent them. He used to wind this up and
place 1t under his pillow every night when
he went to bed, but unfortunately as soon
as the instrument ran down the voices were
heard again. and they would even some
timeewake him UP after he had fallen asleep.
Another very distressing hallucination
uCoSiiDCu W III. Eihih III q
calm and sensible manner by a lady who
consulted him. She frequently saw OBJ.
Jectiona BILE persons standing not far OH
making faces at her and sometimes
throwing stones. She knew quite well
that it was not real but the sensa ton was
30 strong that she was occasionally obliged
to go to her mirror before she could assure
herself that her head was not wounded.
This proved to be merely transitory con-
dition, due to a depressed state OF the sys-
tnwa Il nN,Ivv utlynN
out attaining any more serious aspect.
Many persons who have auditory hal
lucinations never have visual ones, and
vice versa, but they sometimes occur in
combination. DR.. Abercrombie records
very queer case. A clergyman So years OF
high living. was one day seized with vertigo
and vomiting and for several days after
ward complained that he perpetually heard
tunes in his head, most distinctly. played,
and in accurate succession At the same
time he experienced rare and remarkable
affection of vision, seeing all objects in
verified, as photographer does in camera.
Bon vivant clergymen, however, may be
relieved to learn that after short time
the unwelcome music ceased and external
objects resumed their normal position.
An incipient form Of Authorization shows
itself in the practise common enough among
children, and familiarly known as Seeing
faces in the fire." Dr. Abercrombie, with
perhaps an excess Of caution, thinks the
indulgence Of this practise, as we'll as Of the
habit Of day dreaming, or building castles
in the air. to be distinctly dangerous He
saws it sometimes leads to an unshakeable
belief in the real existence OF the visions.
and quotes, as a case in point, an instance
known to him of a man who very much
wished to he appointed to a certain office;
then, in day dreams, imagined that he had
been appointed and, at last, could not be
persuaded that he had not been appointed.
although the Office in the meantime had
never become vacant.
Mind" warns portrait painters against
cultivating similar faculty. He cites the
case of William Blake who began by painting
portraits from single sitting Of each sub
ject, during which he looked at the model
attentively for half an hour and made an
occasional sketch on the canvas. He then
passed on to the next person, and when
he wished to continue the first portrait
he took the subject into his mind and men
tally placed him In the sitter's chair. He
could then, it appears. see the person a, as
would suspend his painting to examine the
pose, DC, and. as he said, Every time
cast my eye on the chair I see the man."
This abnormal exercise, we are told. inevi-
tabiy led up to the visions" which became
so celebrated and resulted in poor Blake g
confinement for thirty years in Bethlehem
ASYLUM.
Sir Isaac Newton. however. experimental
in this way with the solar spectrum. and
Goethe with the forms Of flowers. without
anv evil result. But perhaps the most
striking instance Of this kind Of voluntary
hallucination is that recorded by an intimate
friend OF the actor Talma. Langlois states
that the great tragedan told him that when
ever he entered on the stage he was accus-
toned by force Of will to make his brilliant
audience disappear and to substitute for
them house full OF skeletons. The emotion
which these ghastlv creatures Of his own
ina gination excited served, he declared,
to give additional force to his imrersonation.