302 STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



and remained for about eight minutes. The apparition was unseen 

 by his wife, to whom Nicolai appealed, and in about two hours after 

 the first phantom had appeared it was succeeded by several others. 

 Becoming accustomed to the incident, and recovering from the 

 natural surprise at their appearance, Nicolai set himself to examine 

 these new and unwonted incidents of his life, but failed to associate 

 it with any known cause or condition. When he passed into an 

 adjoining room, the first figure which had appeared, followed him. 

 After a day or so had passed, this first figure was succeeded by 

 others, amongst whom friends and strangers were commingled. 

 His intimate friends and associates but rarely appeared in the phan- 

 tom crowd. His sensations may best be understood from his own 

 words " After I had recovered from the first impression of terror, 

 I never felt myself particularly agitated by these apparitions, as I 

 considered them to be what they really were the extraordinary 

 consequences of indisposition ; on the contrary, I endeavoured as 

 much as possible to preserve my composure of mind, that I might 

 remain distinctly conscious of what passed within me." There was 

 no connection betwixt the phantoms and his thoughts ; nor, as he 

 tells us, could he produce at will spectral representatives of his 

 friends. " I tried," said Nicolai, " to reproduce at will the persons 

 of my acquaintance by an intense objectivity of their image ; but 

 although I saw distinctly in my mind two or three of them, I could 

 not succeed in causing the interior image to become exterior." 

 Neither solitude nor the presence of company affected the distinct- 

 ness of the images. By day and by night they were equally discern- 

 ible to Nicolai, and at home and abroad they appeared to his mental 

 gaze, whilst the act of closing the eyes had no constant effect in 

 causing their disappearance. Although resembling real figures, he 

 had no difficulty in distinguishing them from living persons ; and 

 although mixing with one another, the phantoms did not appear to 

 be of a social or communicative disposition. 



In about four weeks after their first appearance, says Nicolai, 

 " the number of these apparitions increased ; I began to hear them 

 speak ; sometimes they spoke to each other, generally to me. Their 

 discourse was agreeable and short. Occasionally I took them for 

 sensible and tender friends of both sexes, who strove to soften my 

 grief : their consolatory speeches being in general addressed to me 

 when I was alone. These consolatory addresses consisted sometimes 

 of abrupt phrases, and at other times they were regularly executed. 

 Although my mind and body were at this period in a sound state, 

 and the spectres had become so familiar to me that they did not 

 cause me the least annoyance, I sought by suitable means to rid 

 myself of them. 1 An application of leeches was made to my head 

 1 Nicolai, it may be mentioned, had neglected to undergo the periodical blood- 



