134 Dr. T. Lauder Brunton [May 6 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 

 Friday, May 6, 1887. 



The Eight Hon. Earl Pekot, Manager and Vice-President, in the 



Chair. 



T. Lauder Brunton, M.D. So,D. F.E.S. 



The Element of Truth in Popular Beliefs. 



The common saying " Seeing is believing " gives a clue to the origin 

 of many i^opular delusions, for the evidence of our eyes is by no 

 means to be trusted, and unless corrected by the observations derived 

 from other senses will often prove deceptive. Some popular beliefs 

 are correct in regard to fact, but erroneous in regard to interpreta- 

 tion. Some others, which in their jiresent form are absurd, are the 

 survivals or modifications of other beliefs which were true. 



In endeavouring to discover the element of truth in any belief 

 we may be aided by tracing its history backwards in time, or by 

 comparing it with allied forms of belief in diifereut places. 



As an example of the historical method we may take the belief 

 that horse-flesh is unfit for food, a delusion which arose from the 

 circumstance that horse-flesh was unfit for Christian food, inasmuch 

 as the horse was sacred to Odin, and eating its flesh was a sign of 

 Paganism. 



As an illustration of the comparative method we may take the 

 belief that a person cannot die if any door in the house be locked. 

 Other forms of the belief are that a person cannot die as long as the 

 doors or windows of the room in which he is lying are closed, and 

 observation enables us to ascertain that this is due to the fact that 

 the room is thus kejDt warm, and life therefore prolonged. 



The belief that disease may be cured by hanging up rags in a 

 sacred place may be connected by intermediate forms with the fact 

 that infectious diseases may be conveyed from one to another by 

 articles of clothing. 



Some omens probably have an historical origin. Others depend 

 on physical conditions, such as stumbling on leaving the threshold as 

 an indication of coming misfortune. This may be regarded as simply 

 an evidence of a deficiency in the motor power of the individual 

 which may cause him to fail in an emergency. 



Others again may be referred to indistinct sensations or sub- 

 conscious conditions. Dreams are frequently influenced by the 

 circumstances of the dreamer, either at the time or some days before, 



