Sketches of the philosophy of apparitions; or, An attempt to trace such illusions to their physical causes

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Preface

In the winter of 1823, I had the honour of reading an Essay on Spectral Impressions to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Whatever interest it excited was rather due to the subject, than to the degree of success with which a theory of apparitions could possibly be discussed in the limits of a short paper. This consideration, therefore, among others, has given rise to the present volume.

The plan of this work may now be briefly stated : —

In the first place, a view is given of the various opinions, ancient as well as modern, which have been entertained on the subject of apparitions. The hypothesis, however, which I have myself preferred, is, that apparitions are nothing more than ideas, or the recollected images of the mind, which have been rendered more vivid than actual impressions.

vi PREFACE.

An explanation is next rendered of the particular morbid affections with which the production of phantasms is often connected.

It is also pointed out, that in many ghost-stories of a supposed supernatural character, the ideas, which by disease are rendered so unduly intense as to induce spectral illusions, may be traced to such fantastical objects of prior belief as are incorporated in the various systems of superstition,which for ages have possessed the minds of the vulgar.

But if apparitions are really to be considered as ideas equalling or exceeding in vividness actual impressions, there ought to exist some important and definite laws of the mind which have given rise to this undue degree of vividness. These laws, accordingly, form the subject of a long investigation.

Another object of this dissertation was to have established, that, in every undue excitement of our feelings, (as, for instance, when ideas become more vivid than actual impressions) the operations of the intellectual faculty of the mind sustain corresponding modifications, by which the efforts of the judgment arc rendered proportionally incorrect. But the reason which I assign

PREFACE. vii

for being obliged to suspend such an intention, is, " that an object of this nature cannot be attempted but in connexion with almost all the phenomena of the human mind. To pursue the inquiry, therefore, any farther, would be to make a dissertation on apparitions the absurd vehicle of a regular system of metaphysics."

This work is not addressed to any particular class of readers. As we live in an age exceeded by no previous one for the desire of information, and as there is a general interest excited on the subject of apparitions, which are properly regarded as unexplained phenomena, I have not thought fit to fashion this discourse to the exclusive taste either of metaphysicians or physiologists ; but, on the ) contrary, have so endeavoured to treat it, that, without any previous study of the sciences which it involves, it may be fully understood. Yet the reader ought by no means to flatter himself, that he will be enabled to comprehend the laws which give rise to phantasms without any mental exertion on his own part. The phenomena, which for ages have puzzled the most learned men in the world, are not to be thus easily dealt with.

I shall, lastly, remark, that the illustrations viii PREFACE.

which appear in the course of this work are not more numerous than the treatise requires ; my object being not only to render the principles that I have inculcated as intelligible as possible, but to direct the attention of the reader less to the vulgar absurdities which are blended with ghost-stories, than to the important philosophical inferences that are frequently to be deduced from them. The subject of apparitions has, indeed, for centuries, occupied the attention of the learned ; but seldom without reference to superstitious speculations. It is time, however, that these illusions should be viewed in a perfectly different light ; for, if the conclusions to which I have arrived be correct, they are calculated, more than almost every other class of mental phenomena, to throw considerable light upon certain important laws connected with the physiology of the human mind.

S. H.

Part I

SKETCHES OF CERTAIN OPINIONS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, WHICH HAVE BEEN ENTERTAINED ON THE SUBJECT OF

APPARITIONS.

Page Chap. I. The Opinions entertained regarding the Credibility

of Ghost-Stories, 3

II. The Reference of Apparitions to Hallucinations, &c. 15

III. The Opinions entertained that a Ghost was a ma-

IV. The Opinions entertained that Ghosts were external Ideas, or Astral Spirits, - - 25

V. The Opinions entertained that Ghosts were attri^ butable to Fancy or Imagination, - 31

VI. The Opinions which attribute the supposed Influence of Fancy to the direct Operations of the Soul, - - . 38

VII. The Notions entertained that Ideas, by their Action on the Nerves, gave rise to Spectral Impressions, - - - 44 VIII. The Opinions that Spectral Impressions were the

Result of a false Judgment of the Intellect, 46

IX. The Devil supposed to be a Cause of Ghosts, 48

Part II

THE PARTICULAR MORBID AFFECTIONS WITH WHICH THE PRODUCTION OF PHANTASMS IS OFTEN CONNECTED.

Chap. I. The Pathology of Spectral Illusions, - 61

II. Spectral Illusions resulting from the highly-excited States of particular Temperaments, - 72

b x CONTENTS.

Chap. III. Spectral Illusions arising from the Hysteric Temperament, - - . 8 IV. Spectral Illusions occurring from Plethora ; for instance, from the Neglect of accustomed periodical Blood-letting, - - 86 V. The Spectral Illusions which occasionally occur as

Hectic Symptoms, - - - 91

VI. Spectral Illusions from Febrile and Inflammatory

Affections, 94

VII. Spectral Illusions arising from Inflammation of

the Brain, ... 99

VIII. Spectral Illusions arising from a highly-excited State of Nervous Irritability acting generally on the System, - - - 112

IX. The Spectral Illusions of Hypochondriacks, 117

X. Certain less frequent Morbid Sources of Spectral

Illusions, - - - 119

Part III

PROOFS THAT THE OBJECTS OF SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS ARE FREQUENTLY SUGGESTED BY THE FANTASTIC IMAGERY OF SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEF.

Chap. I. Explanation of the Mode in which the Ideas which - are suggested by various Popular Superstitions become recalled in a highly- vivified State, so as to constitute the Imagery of Spectral Illusions, 125 II. Remarks on the Apparitions of Good Spirits, recorded in Popular Narratives, - 138

III. General Remarks on the Apparitions connected

with Demonology, - - 160

IV. General Remarks on the Apparitions of Departed

Part IV

AN ATTEMPT TO INVESTIGATE THE MENTAL LAWS WHICH GIVE RISE TO SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS.

Chap. I. General Object of the Investigation which follows, 241 II. Indications afforded by Mental Excitements, that Organs of Sensation are the Medium through which past Feelings are renovated, - 244

CONTENTS. xi

Page Chap. III. The various Degrees of Excitement, of which Ideas, or the renovated Feelings of the Mind, are susceptible, - - - 258

IV. An Inquiry into those Laws of Mental Consciousness which give rise to the Illusions of Dreams, 272 V. Phantasms may arise from Ideas of which the Mind might otherwise have been either conscious or unconscious, - - J282

VI. The Effect of Morbific Excitements of the Mind when heightened by the vivifying Influence of Hope and Fear, - 295

VII. The Illusions which Hope and Fear are capable of exciting independently of the Co-operation of Morbific Causes, - - - 305

VIII. Mental Excitements distinguished as partial or

IX. General Mental Excitements considered as the Result of Morbific Causes co-operating with moral Agents, - - - 315

X. The frequent Effect of general Morbific Excitements in rendering the Mind unconscious either of pleasurable or painful Feelings, - 319

XI. The Influence of any prevailing moral Disposition may be so increased by a Morbific Excitement, as to be productive of Spectral Impressions of a corresponding Character, - - 323

XII. When moral Agents which exert a pleasurable Influence are heightened in their Effects by the Co-operation of Morbific Excitements of a similar pleasurable Quality, the Mind may be rendered totally unconscious of opposite or painful Feelings, ... 340 XIII. When moral Agents which exert a painful Influence are heightened in their Effects by the Co-operation of Morbific Excitements of a similar painful Quality, the Mind may be rendered totally unconscious of opposite or pleasurable Feelings, - - - 347 XIV. Proofs that, during intense Excitements of the Mind, no less than during Syncope and Sleep, the Causes which exclusively act upon Organs of Sensation eventually extend their vivifying Influence to the Renovation of past Feelings, 353

XV. When Morbific Causes of Mental Excitement exert to their utmost Extent their stimulating xii CO JN TENTS.

Page Powers, they often change the Quality of then- Action, as from Pleasure to Pain, or from Pain to Pleasure, - - - 361

Chap. XVI. When Causes act acutely upon Organs of Sensation, and are unremittingly prolonged, they occasionally change the Quality of their Action ; as, for instance, from Pain to Pleasure. Ideas likewise partake of this Change of Excitement, 367

Part V

SLIGHT REMARKS ON THE MODIFICATIONS WHICH THE IN- TELLECTUAL FACULTY OFTEN UNDERGOES DURING IN- TENSE EXCITEMENTS OF THE MIND, - - 377

Part VI

SUMMARY OF THE COMPARATIVE DEGREES OF FAINTNESS, VIVIDNESS, OR INTENSITY SUBSISTING BETWEEN SENSA- TIONS AND IDEAS, DURING THEIR VARIOUS EXCITEMENTS AND DEPRESSIONS.

Introduction, - - - - 391

Chap. I. The various Excitements and Depressions connected with the Sleeping and Dreaming States, 393 II. The Order of Phenomena observable in extreme Mental Excitements, when Sensations and Ideas are conjointly rendered more vivid, - 409 III. The Images of Spectral Impressions differ from

those of Dreams in being much more vivid, 429

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.

Formula (contained in a Tabular View) of the various comparative Degrees of Faintness, Vividness, or Intensity, supposed to subsist between Sensations and Ideas, when conjointly excited or depressed, — to face page 392.

Wood Cut of Grotesque Carvings over the Door of the Cheetham Library, Manchester, — illustrative of the Demonology of the Middle Ages, — to face page 172.

Part I Sketches Of Certain Opinions

ANCIENT AND MODERN, WHICH HAVE BEEN ENTERTAINED ON THE SUBJECT OF

APPARITIONS.

PART I.

Chapter I. The Opinions Entertained Regarding The Credi- Bility Of Ghost-stories

•' We thinke that to be a lie, which is written, or rather fathered upon Luther; to wit, that he knew the devill, and was verie conversant with him, and had eaten manie bushels of salt and made jollie good cheere with him ; and that he was confuted, in a disputation with a real divell, about the abolishing of private masse." — Scof s Discovery of Witchcraft.

To give a regular history of the various opinions entertained in successive ages relative to apparitions, would form the copious subject of a large volume ; a selection of them, therefore, is all that will be here attempted.

There is perhaps no age of history in which the idle attempts to reconcile the wild incidents of spectral impressions have not induced many learned people to reject the whole, or most of them, as fabulous, or as the coinage of rank impostors. Hence, probably, the ridicule which apparitions incurred from Lucian, and hence the doubt which, in the 16th century, Reginald Scot entertained relative to Martin Luther's visions, a few of which were certainly fabrications. It is, indeed, certain, that many stories of apparitions are either gross forgeries, or are attributable to the tricks of jugglers. The devils which Benvenuto Cellini saw, when he got into a conjurer's circle, are, by Mr ftoscoe, the learned translator of his life, referred to the effects of a magic-lantern. Granting, however, that this was the case, the excited state of Cellini's mind would greatly contribute to aid the deception practised upon him.*

It must thus be instantly kept in view, that however numerous ghost-stories may be, there are comparitively few which are to be depended upon. If they had their origin in true spectral illusions, they are, at the same time, grossly exaggerated, while other narratives are nothing more than the device of rank impostors. As specimens of this dubious kind of visions may be adduced, the popular narratives published in the commencement of the 18th century, one of which relates, how one Mr John Gairdner, minister near to Elgin, " fell into a trance on the 10th of January 1717, and lay as if dead, to the sight and appearance of all spectators, for the space of two days; and being put in a coffin, and carried to his parish, in order to be buried in the church-yard; and when

* See Note 1st at the end of the volume.

going to put him in his grave, he was heard to make a noise in his coffin, and it being opened, he was found alive, to the wonderful astonishment of all there present • being carried home and put in a warm bed, he in a little time coming to himself, related manystrange and amazing things which he had seen in the other world." Another choice production of this kind narrates, " how Mr Richard Brightly, minister of the gospel near Salcraig, at several times heard heavenlymusic when at prayer, when many persons appeared unto him in white raiment ; also how, on the 9th of August, at night, as he was praying, he fell into a trance, and saw the state of the damned in everlasting torment, and that of the blessed in glory ; and being then warned of his death by an angel, how he afterwards ordered his coffin and grave to be made, and invited his parishioners to hear his last sermon, which he preached the Sunday following, having his coffin borne before him, and then declared his visions ; — and how he saw Death riding in triumph on a pale horse, — of the message he had given him to warn the inhabitants of the wrath to come, and of his dying in the pulpit when he had delivered the same ; lastly, of his burial, and of the harmonious music that Was heard in the air during his interment ;" the truth of all which was certified by the signatures of Mr William Parsons, two ministers, and three other honest men. A third pamphlet describes what " was revealed to William Rutherford, farmer in the Merse, by an angel which appeared unto him as he was praying in his corn-yard, who opened up to him strange visions unknown to the inhabitants of the earth, with the dreadful wrath that is coming on Britain, with an eclipse of the gospel, and the great death that shall befall many, who shall be suddenly snatched away before these things come to pass ; also the glorious deliverance the church will get after these sad times are over ; with the great plenty that will follow immediately thereafter, with the conversion of the heathen nations, and with meal being sold for four shillings a boll : — the truth of all this being attested by the minister of the parish, and four honest men who were eye and ear-witnesses."*

Truly ridiculous as such pretended visions are, and unworthy of the smallest degree of attention, there are however some narratives on record, which require a more serious notice. Of this kind is the curious account written many years ago by Nicolai, the famous bookseller of Berlin, — a narrative which Dr Ferrier very properly characterizes as " one of the extreme cases of mental delusion which a man of strong judgment has ventured to report of himself." It is, indeed, a case which affords correct data for investigations relative to the belief in apparitions ; on which account I shall take the liberty of transcribing the narrative in this essay, however frequently it may have appeared before the public.

<{ Individuals who pretend to have seen and heard spirits are not to be persuaded that their apparitions were simply the creatures of their senses. You may tell them of the impositions that are frequently prac-

* Preface to the Memorials by the Rev. Mr Robert Law, edited by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esq. Edinburgh, A.D. 1818.

tised, and the fallacy which may lead us to take a spirit of our imagination by moonlight for a corpse. We are generally advised to seize the ghosts, in which case it is often found that they are of a very corporeal nature. An appeal is also made to self-deception, because many persons believe they actually see and hear * where nothing is either to be seen or heard. No reasonable man, I think, will ever deny the possibility of our being sometimes deceived in this manner by our fancy, if he is in any degree acquainted with the nature of its operations. Nevertheless, the lovers of the marvellous will give no credit to these objections, whenever they are disposed to consider the phantoms of imagination as realities. We cannot therefore sufficiently collect and authenticate such proofs as shew how easily we are misled, and with what delusive facility the imagination can exhibit, not only to deranged persons, but also to those who are in the perfect use of their senses, such forms as are scarcely to be distinguished from real objects.

u I myself have experienced an instance of this, which not only in a psychological, but also in a medical point of view, appears to me of the utmost importance. I saw, in the full use of my senses, and (after I had got the better of the fright which at first seized me, and the disagreeable sensation which it caused) even in the greatest composure of mind, for almost two months constantly, and involuntarily, a number of human and other apparitions ; — nay, I even heard their voices ; — yet after all, this was nothing but the consequence of nervous debility, or irritation, or some unusual state of the animal system.

" The publication of the case in the Journal of Practical Medicine, by Professor Hufeland of Jena, is the cause of my now communicating it to the academy. When I had the pleasure of spending a few happy days with that gentleman last summer, at Pyrmont, I related to him this curious incident."

The narrator now explains the state of his system at the time ; but this important part of the account not being at present connected with our subject, it will be noticed in its proper place.

<c In the first two months of the year 1791, I was much affected in my mind by several incidents of a very disagreeable nature ; and on the 24th of February a circumstance occurred which irritated me extremely. At ten o'clock in the forenoon my wife and another person came to console me ; I was in a violent perturbation of mind, owing to a series ot incidents which had altogether wounded my moral feelings, and from which I saw no possibility of relief; when suddenly I observed at the distance often paces from me a figure, — the figure of a deceased person. I pointed at it, and asked my wife whether she did not see it. She saw nothing ; but being much alarmed, endeavoured to compose me, and sent for the physician. The figure remained some seven or eight minutes, and at length I became a little more calm ; and as I was extremely exhausted, I soon afterwards fell into a troubled kind of slumber, which lasted for half an hour. The vision was ascribed to the great agitation of mind in which I had been, and it was supposed I should have nothing more to apprehend from that cause ; but the violent affection had put my nerves into some unnatural state; from this arose further consequences, which require a more detailed description.

"In the afternoon, a little after four o'clock, the figure which I had seen in the morning again appeared. I was alone when this happened ; a circumstance which, as may be easily conceived, could not be very agreeable. I went therefore to the apartment of my wife, to wjiom I related it. But thither also the figure pursued me. Sometimes it was present, sometimes it vanished, but it was always the same standing figure. A little after six o'clock several stalking figures also appeared ; but they had no connexion with the standing figure. I can assign no other reason for this apparition than that, though much more composed in my mind, I had not been able so soon entirely to forget the cause of such deep and distressing vexation, and had reflected on the consequences of it, in order, if possible, to avoid them ; and that this happened three hours after dinner, at the time when the digestion just begins.

t( At length I became more composed with respect to the disagreeable incident which had given rise to the first apparition ; but though I had used very excellent medicines, and found myself in other respects perfectly well, yet the apparitions did not diminish, but on the contrary rather increased in number, and were transformed in the most extraordinary manner."

Nicolai now makes some very important remarks on the subject of these waking dreams, and on their incongruous character. Of these observations I shall not fail to avail myself on another occasion. The narrative then proceeds after the following manner :

" The figure of the deceased person never appeared to me after the first dreadful day ; but several other figures shewed themselves afterwards very distinctly ; sometimes such as I knew, mostly, however, of persons I did not know, and amongst those known to me, were the semblances of both living and deceased persons, but mostly the former : and I made the observation, that acquaintance with whom I daily conversed never appeared to me as phantasms ; it was always such as were at a distance."

et It is also to be noted, that these figures appeared to me at all times, and under the most different circumstances, equally distinct and clear. Whether I was alone, or in company, by broad day-light equally as in the night-time, in my own as well as in my neighbour's bouse ; yet when I was at another person's house, they were less frequent, and when I w r alked the public street they very seldom appeared. When I shut my eyes, sometimes the figures disappeared, sometimes they remained even after I had closed them. If they vanished in the former case, on opening my eyes again, nearly the same figures appeared which I had seen before.

" I sometimes conversed with my physician and my wife, concerning the phantasms which at the time hovered around me ; for in general the forms appeared oftener in motion than at rest. They did not always continue present — they frequently left me altogether, and again appeared for a short or longer space of time, singly or more at once ; but, in general, several appeared together. For the most part I saw human figures of both sexes ; they commonly passed to and fro as if they had no connexion with each other, like people at a fair where all is bustle ; sometimes they appeared to have business with one another. Once or twice I saw amongst them persons on horseback, and dogs and birds ; these figures all appeared to me in their natural size, as distinctly as if they had existed in real life, with the several tints on the uncovered parts of the body, and with all the different kinds and colours of clothes. But I think, however, that the colours were somewhat paler than they are in nature.

" None of the figures had any distinguishing characteristic, they were neither terrible, ludicrous, nor repulsive ; most of them were ordinary in their appearance, — some were even agreeable.

' ' On the whole, the longer I continued in this state, the more did the number of phantasms increase, and the apparitions became more frequent. About four weeks afterwards I began to hear them speak : sometimes the phantasms spoke with one another ; but for the most part they addressed themselves to me : these speeches were in general short, and never contained any thing disagreeable. Intelligent and respected friends often appeared to me, who endeavoured to console me in my grief, which still left deep traces on my mind. This speaking I heard most frequently when I was alone : though I sometimes heard it in company, intermixed with the conversation of real persons ; frequently in single phrases only, but sometimes even in connected discourse.

" Though at this time I enjoyed rather a good state of health both in body and mind, and had become so very familiar with these phantasms, that at last they did not excite the least disagreeable emotion, but on the contrary afforded me frequent subjects for amusement and mirth ; yet as the disorder sensibly increased, and the figures appeared to me for whole days together, and even during the night, if I happened to awake, I had recourse to several medicines." *

Such is the curious case of Nicolai, in which it would not occasionally be very difficult to explain why certain mental images, to the exclusion of other objects of his waking visions, should have acquired an undue degree of vividness. Frequently, however, it would be impossible to trace any correspondence which the particular complexion or disposition of his mind might have with the quality of the phantasms that were the offspring of his wild imagination. The uninteresting recollections incidental to each train of thought, as well as the lively objects of his grief, appear to have alternately assumed an embodied form. From this circumstance, then, arises the suspicion, that there were not only causes of a moral description,

* Memoir on the Appearance of Spectres or Phantoms occasioned by Disease, with Psychological Remarks. Read by Nicolai to the Royal Society of Berlin, on the 28th of February, 1790. The translation of this paper is given in Nicholson's Journal, vol. vi. p. 1C1.

but also some morbid condition of the body, which might have contributed to render the ideas of his - mind of such a high state of intensity, that they became no less vivid than actual impressions.

After these remarks, the general object of this Dissertation may admit of an easy explanation. An essay seriously written, with the view of confuting all the superstitious absurdities connected with the popular belief in apparitions, would, no doubt, in this philosophic age, be considered of the same importance as the publication of arguments, how weighty soever they may be, intended to weaken the confidence which some very well-disposed persons still choose to entertain on the subject of dreams, or upon the relation which is supposed to subsist between them and future events. At the same time, the utility of an inquiry into the rationale of our dreams has never been doubted, as every proper theory connected with a speculation of this kind must necessarily involve the successful investigation of certain primary laws of the human mind, by which our various states of mental feelings are governed. A similar argument applies to those embodied phantasies, which, under the general name of Apparitions, are the sportive images of what may, with the greatest propriety, be styled our waking dreams. To explain, therefore, the physical causes of such mental illusions, and, in connexion with this elucidation, to point out the origin of the popular belief in apparitions, is an attempt which precludes any notions that may be urged against it on the score of insignificance. The inquiry necessarily involves an accurate and extensive knowledge of the laws of thought, and a capability of applying them to cases, where, from the co-operating influence of certain constitutional and morbid causes incidental to the human frame, the quality and intensity of our mental states undergo very remarkable modifications. In this point of view, a theory of apparitions is inseparably connected with the pathology of the human mind.

But, before entering into an independent investigation of this kind, it may be proper to inquire, What have been the opinions hitherto entertained on the subject by such philosophers as have been the least desirous to contemplate it with the superstitious feelings of the vulgar ? A few of these opinions will be explained in the First Part of this work.

CHAPTER II. THE REFERENCE OF APPARITIONS TO HALLUCINA- TIONS, &c

" Now, whilst his blood mounts upward, now he knows

The solid gain that from conviction flows.

And strengthen'd confidence shall hence fulfil

(With conscious innocence more valued still)

The dreariest task that winter-night can bring,

By church-yard dark, or grove, or fairy ring ;

Still buoying up the timid mind of youth,

Till loit'ring reason hoists the scale of truth."

Bloomfield,

It has long been common to refer apparitions to hallucinations. For instance, a person, prior to an epilepsy, may see every thing crooked. In some affections of vision, objects are greatly magnified : thus, a gentleman whom I know in Edinburgh saw, about twilight, a cow magnified to ten or twelve times its original size, grazing on a field, like some of the Brobdingnag cattle described by Swift.

Many ghost-stories, however, admit of still more familiar explanations, of which I shall give a few instances. The first is from the Statistical Account of Scotland, published by Sir John Sinclair.

f£ About fifty years ago, a clergyman in the neighbourhood, whose faith was more regulated by the scepticism of philosophy than the credulity of superstition, could not be prevailed upon to yield his assent to the opinion of the times. At length, however, he felt from experience, that he doubted what he ought to have believed. One night, as he was returning home at a late hour from a presbytery, he was seized by the fairies, and carried aloft into the air. Through fields of aether and fleecy clouds he journeyed many a mile, descrying, like Sancho Panza on his clavileno, the earth far distant below him, and no bigger than a nut-shell. Being thus sufficiently convinced of the reality of their existence, they let him down at the door of his own house, where he afterwards often recited to the wondering circle the marvellous tale of his adventure." Upon this story, I find, in Mr Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities, the following comment is made : — " In plain English, I should suspect that spirits of a different sort from fairies had taken the honest clergyman by the head, and though he has omitted the circumstance in his marvellous narration, I have no doubt but that the good man saw double on the occasion, and that his own mare, not fairies, landed him safe at his own door."