220 Account of a remarkable case of Spectral Illusion. 



gazing on her, and passed so very close to her in doing so, 

 that she was struck by the circumstance of hearing no step 

 nor sound, nor feehng her clothes brushed against, nor even 

 any agitation in the air. The idea then arose for the first 

 time into her mind, that it was no reality, but a spectral illu- 

 sion, (being a person of sense and habituated to account ra- 

 tionally for most things, the notion of any thing supernatural 

 was out of the question.) She recollected, however, your hav- 

 ing mentioned that there was a sort of experimentum crucis 

 applicable to these cases, by which a genuine ghost may be dis- 

 tinguished from one conjured up by merely natural causes ; 

 namely, the pressing the eye in order to produce the effect of 

 seeing double, when, according to your assertion, a true Tarta- 

 rean ghost would be duplicated as well as every thing else ; 

 while the morbid idea being, I suppose, an impression on the 

 retina would, or ought to remain single. I am sorry, how- 

 ever, to say that the opportunity for verifying your theory was 

 unfavourable. Before Mrs ■ > was able distinctly to 



double her vision, my figure had retreated to the window, and 

 disappeared there. The lady followed, shook the curtains, 

 and tried the window, being still loth to believe it was not a 

 reality, so distinct and forcible was the impression. Finding, 

 however, that there was no natural means of egress, she be- 

 came convinced of having seen a spectral apparition, such as 

 are recorded in Dr Hibbert's work, and consequently felt no 

 alarm or agitation. The appearance lasted four or five minutes. 



It was bright day-light, and Mrs is confident that the 



apparition was fully as vivid as the reality ; and when stand- 

 ing close to her it concealed, of course, the real objects behind 

 it. Upon being told of this my visible appearance in the spirit, 

 having been only audible a few days before, I was, as you may 

 imagine, more alarmed for the health of the lady than for my 

 own approaching death, or any other fatality the vision might 

 be supposed to forebode. Still both the stories were so very 

 much enregleas ghost stories, the threecallsof the plaintive voice, 

 each one louder than the preceding, the fixed eyes and mournful 

 expression of the phantom, its noiseless step and spirit-like 

 vanishing, were all so characteristic of the Wraith.^ that I might 

 have been unable to shake off some disagreeable fancies, such 

 as a mind once deeply saturated with the poison of nursery-tales 



