HUMAN FACULTY 273 



he went down to the cellar with his family, all of 

 them brimful of kindly feelings, to taste the result. 

 He turned the tap, a beautifully clear fluid ran into 

 his glass ; he lifted it with gratitude to his lips, when 

 suddenly his countenance fell ; he sipped a second 

 time and exploded in wrath, for the fluid was pure 

 water. The fact was that each Jew had said to 

 himself, ' What matters it whether I put in a spirit 

 which costs money, or water which costs nothing ? 

 My own contribution will make no sensible difference 

 to the total result.' As every Jew acted on this 

 principle, the result was pure water. 



" Now each of you who perceive Number-Forms 

 has acted in a similar way, so there has been no 

 response to my request ; but I cannot let the matter 



drop, therefore I call on Professor S , whom I see 



on the platform, and who, I know, perceives these 

 Forms, to hold up his hand, and I trust then that 

 you who have hitherto abstained through shyness 

 will do so likewise." 



The appeal succeeded ; up went Professor S 's 



hand, and up went a multitude of scattered hands all 

 about the body of the hall. 



In 1 88 1 I gave one of the Friday Evening 

 Lectures at the Royal Institution on the Visions of 

 Sane Persons [65], in which I dwelt on the far 

 greater frequency than was supposed, of hallucinations 

 and illusions among individuals in normal health, as 

 ascertained through numerous inquiries verbally or 

 by letter. It very often happened that the verbal 

 reply to my question took a form like this, " No, no ; 

 I've never had any hallucination " ; then, after a pause, 

 18 



