his sensations, and observed, that his astonishing disorder of the mind could only be explained by the mental anxiety he had undergone, and by the disturbance in the cerebral circulation which was produced by it.

Example 6. "On the 26th of December, 1830," says Dr. Brewster, "Mrs. A. was standing near the fire in the hall, and on the point of going up-stairs to dress, when she heard, as she supposed, her husband's voice calling her by name, —, come here! come to me!' She imagined that he was calling at the door to have it opened, but, upon going there and opening the door, she was surprised to find no one there. Upon returning to the fire she again heard. the same voice calling out very distinctly and loudly, come, come here!' She then opened two doors of the same room, and upon seeing no person she returned to the fire-place After a few moments she heard the same voice still calling,

come to me, come! come away!' in a loud, plaintive, and somewhat impatient tone. She answered as loudly, 'Where are you? I don't know where you are;' still imagining that he was somewhere in search of her; but receiving no answer, she shortly went up-stairs. On Mr. A.'s return to the house, about half-an-hour afterwards, she inquired why he had called her so often, and she was, of course, greatly surprised to learn that he had not been near the house at the time.

"Subsequently, Mrs. A. had numerous other illusions, some of them of a much more alarming character." Brewster adds, “that during the six weeks within which the three first illusions took place, Mrs. A. had been considerably reduced and weakened by a troublesome cough. Her general health had not been strong, and long experience put it beyond a doubt that her indisposition arose from a disordered

state of the digestive organs. Her nervous system was highly sensitive, and the account of any person having suffered severe pain by accident or otherwise occasionally produced acute twinges of pain in the corresponding parts of her person. She would talk in her sleep with great fluency, and repeat long passages of poetry, particularly when she was unwell.

"From the very commencement of the spectral illusions seen by Mrs. A., both she and her husband were well aware of their nature and origin, and both of them paid the most minute attention to the circumstances which accompanied them, for the purpose of ascertaining their connexion with the state of health under which they appeared." "" *

Example 7. "During my attendance at school I was in frequent intercourse with a boy, whom I shall call D.; he was, in short, my intimate acquaintance in boyhood for many years, until, by the continued dissipation of an infatuated father, the circumstances of the family began to decline, and step by step they became reduced to the greatest wretchedness. In the course of a few years D. was sent to sea, as the speediest method of getting rid of him. I consequently lost sight of him for many years, until at length I heard that he had returned to his wretched home, labouring under symptoms of advanced consumption. He was attended during his illness by Dr. C., and three months after his return home he died. I was requested to attend the inspection of the body, and it will readily be believed that many reflections of a sad and painful nature occurred to me, producing an impression on my mind which several years failed to dissipate. This occurred in 1835, and three years afterwards, the circumstances of the family having continued the same, their unhappy case was again called to me in the following singular manner :-One *Brewster Opus cit. pp. 39-48.

evening, at the time when I was daily in the habit of seeing spectral illusions, I was engaged in reading Tytler's Life of the Admirable Crichton, for a considerable time after the rest of the family had retired for the night; and after I had finished my book, and was on the point of proceeding to my bedroom, I saw a letter lying on a side-table, which proved to be an invitation to attend the funeral of D.'s mother. This was the first intimation I had had of her death; and many painful circumstances connected with her unhappy life, which need not be mentioned here, immediately occurred to me. I proceeded to my bedroom, reflecting on these circumstances, undressed myself, and had extinguished the candle, when I felt my left arm suddenly grasped a little below the shoulder, and forcibly pressed to my side. I struggled to free myself for a time, calling aloud, 'Let go my arm,' when I distinctly heard the words 'Don't be afraid,' uttered in a low tone. I immediately said, 'Allow me to light the candle,' when I felt my arm released, and I then proceeded to another part of the room for means to light the candle, never for a moment doubting but that some one was in the room. I at the same time felt an uneasy giddiness and faintness, which almost overpowered me. I succeeded, however, in lighting the candle, and, turning towards the door, I beheld the figure of the deceased D. standing before me. It was dim and indistinct, as if a haze had been between us, but at the same time perfectly defined. By an impulse I cannot account for, I stepped towards it with the candle in my hand; it immediately receded at the same rate as I advanced, and proceeding thus, with the face always towards me, it passed through the door slowly down-stairs until we came to the lobby, when it stood still. I passed close to it, and opened the street door; but at this moment I became so giddy that I sank down on one of the

chairs, and let fall the candle. I cannot say how long I remained in this situation, but, on recovering, I felt a violent pain over my eyebrows, with considerable sickness, and indistinctness of vision. I passed a feverish and restless night, and continued in an uneasy state during the following day. I was always able to distinguish the different colours of the clothes, and I had never seen the individual during life dressed in a similar way. In all its characters it approximated the illusions of fever more than any other which I have witnessed, and I never for a moment could have considered it a real object. It is difficult, in this instance, to find any other exciting cause, except the pain felt in my arm, which I now refer to cramp of the triceps muscle acting on the peculiar state of mind incident to spectral illusions, together with a powerful imagination, already greatly excited by the peculiar circumstance of the case. I may state that I have felt the same feeling in the arm since, without associating it with any similar con

Example 8. Along with the preceding case we may place one that has been published by Bostock. "I was labouring," says this physiologist, "under a fever attended with symptoms of general debility, especially of the nervous system, and with a severe pain of the head, which was confined to a small spot situated above the right temple. After having passed a sleepless night, and being reduced to a state of considerable exhaustion, I first perceived figures presenting themselves before me, which I immediately recognised as similar to those described by Nicolai; and upon which, as I was free from delirium, and as they were visible for about three days and nights, with little intermission, I was able to make my observations. There were two circumstances which appeared * Paterson: Loc. cit. p. 84,

E

to me very remarkable : : first, that the spectral appearances always followed the motion of the eyes; and secondly, that the objects which were the best defined, and remained the longest visible, were such as I had no recollection of ever having previously seen. For about twenty-four hours I had constantly before me a human figure, the features and dress of which were as distinctly visible as that of any real existence, and of which, after an interval of many years, I still retain the most lively impression; yet, neither at the time nor since, have I been able to discover any person whom I had previously seen that resembled it.

"During one part of this disease, after the disappearance of this stationary phantom, I had a very singular and amusing imagery presented to me. It appeared as if a number of objects, principally human faces or figures, on a small scale, were placed before me, and gradually removed, like a succession of medallions. They were all of the same size, and appeared to be all situated at the same distance from the face. After one had been seen for a few minutes it became fainter, and then another, which was more vivid, seemed to be laid upon it or substituted in its place, which in its turn was superseded by a new appearance. During all this succession of scenery I do not recollect that, in a single instance I saw any object with which I had been previously acquainted; nor, as far as I am aware, were the representations of any of those objects, with which my mind was the most occupied at other times, presented to me; they appeared to be invariably new creations, or at least new combinations, of which I could not trace the original materials."*

"If it is asked,' adds Conolly, 'how it was that Nicolai and the English physiologist did not lose their reason,' the ready answer will be,' they never believed * Bostock: System of Physiology, vol. iii. p. 204.