The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-11-13

lty.
OF norsemen enter the New Town after a
heavy storm. Perhaps Braids narrative OF .
delusion Affecting a number OF people on The
banks OF the Clyde below Lanark. in the year
1885. may be explained in the same way. These
people collected on several successive days In
that place. and saw the ground and the trees
covered with bonnets, guns and swords. while
at the same time one company OF soldiers
after another marched along the river bank
In such a manner that one company passed
through the other. whereupOn the soldiers fel
To the ground and disappeared. Immediately
aiterWard new companies appeared. marching
In the same manner According to the account
which has been handed down. twothirds OF the
persons present testified to their conviction OF
the reality OF these appartions. and this con
Nictlon was shown not only I'm their words, but
in the dread and terror shown in their faces
Similarly in 1855 IN Upland. Sweden. many
people saw a fight at sea and one on land take
place simultaneously. Parrish refers also 20
Perty, who quotes a number OF similar cases
OF war hallucnation In his work. Die mys-
tischen Erscheinunsen der menschl Natur"
END ed.
"On a cold Winters day in I74s a noise was
heard at Solothurn like a distant cannonadiug
la the air, and a few minutes later the strains
OF full Turkish band. so that all the inhab
itants rushed out Of doors. Drums and fifes
could be quite clearly distinguished. Some
listeners even stated that they heard the sec.
ond parts Of the wind Instruments"
Though some popular Authorizations" saws
Parrish. may be partially explained as in the
above instances, by unwonted natural pheno-
mena, in many cases the chief factor must be
sought In the emotional excitement. and. gen
orally. in the mental predsposition OF the per
cipients. To this same category be-
long also many OF the religious epidemic hal
lucinations"
So We see we can have a collective or pop-
ulsr lie with no intent TO fraud Frank Pod
more, in his book. ASPIRATIONS and Thought
TT" ference tpage 200, says: Until recent
y the tendency OF even welinstructed
opinion has been to regard a sensory hallu-
ctnatiOn as necessarily implying some phys
ical or mental disorder" Mr. Podmore denies
this. ana goes on to explain that halluci
nation is simply hypertrOphied thought-the
last member OF a series whose intermediate
terms are TO be found in the minds eye pic
lures OF ordinary lie In which the vivid images
winch some artists can summon al will, and
in the faces in the dark which many persons
can see before passing into sleep with its
more familiar and abundant imagery.
We have, then, two kinds OF lies TO
deal with. First. the war lie which Is manu-
featured with an exact motive 10 mislead the
enemy the home consumer and the neutral
country. There Is nothing new In this to the
psychologist except marvel at the ingenuity
Of the human mind for intrigue Second. we
nave the lie which rises almost spontaneously
from what cause We are not certain In a
period Of world horror. excitement has blasted
JUDGMENT. and hundreds OF thousands OF minds
are az the mercy Of their emotions. Is IL pop
ular haLuClnatiOu which Is responsible for so
many phantom armies and atrocities?
", as q number OF experimental psycholo-
rists think, popular hallucination NAV become
excitement "a
nave plenty q. opportunity for eNuerimenta-
ton 10 the present war situation The whole
problem Of thouCht transference Is opened TO
MS. Does one person have the vision OF the
phantom army. ana then through a mysterious
process OF telobathy pass e. on 10 receptive
MINDS. until the idea and the vision become
effectively real? DO times OF common emo
ton and excitement prepare the human mind
Tor popular haluci1at.ur'
IN terms Of the wireless telegraph. can the
common mind be- tuned or KEYED 70 a common
%. III b. d mo
says PodmOre page 39ID. that the conscio1s
ness which lies below the threshold with
which the activity Of tele1athy Is constantly
1s~ocia'ed. NAV be REGARDED as renresenfI,r
On earlier stage in the consciousness Of Inc
individual and even 30 may be an earlier STAGE
in the history Of the race Telepatbv
is pcrchance the relic Of a once serviceabIe
FACULTY. which eked ont the primitive alrhabef
~ gesture. and helped % bind our anresfo-s
OF me eaFe or the tree in as yet inarticulate
community"
Podmore quotes DR. Jules uerlcorrt fA,,slss
dos Sciences Psvohiques. Vol T. page 3i7l a.
goinr even farther Her'cou-t sugrests fb,t
we nha TO- i'I'na'hv traces of the primevaI un-
specialized constituencies which preceded Inc
development 0i a nervous systom-a HERITAGE
shared With The amoeba and the sea anemo1c
ha" muc1 'his may have 90 do with epi.
drw.r HutrI'h and With popular h4ruciratioo
We DO not know. The scientist kcep4 an org-
M'Hd fo alt evidence. Certainly mo- s.hf.rt
would oh'r more fascinating erper. mrnf7ff1r
.IiH OBJ" spread Of particular war rf. l-F
l.a ready acceptance 10 common ...,....,..i
sifes. does affune fhe popular mind fo ror,
mol. I'.I1cinatiou through the process OF fcIe.
., '.'' have much FOB learn
i We sou have traces of n primal eara.r',..
ness .n common with the amocU. p.I-,.f
.W"'loN'I c1nd Ions may bring DO fo Junction
..' '. nH.'..Isl phantom or Illusion into a
The psychology ~ mo mob We are i--, b.
h'Nhln- I1 H"ier-ianH We know ff4f com.
mon emotion. 'nIr. hate patriotism. r.,ar..
can hr .rHf fhrUHrl o. mob ra bad. .,, ...
q current 90. electricity through "a como. ..-,
pr pr J... ".'ia Thar 1871. CON Uv arafrrr
uon' oHf of 'h' mass of war lies r4rrr. .,.
t'IH'r som" mater 1l which will helm rs AM
pr'''h HcHtourts primal so1sItivcucs.F