NOTES ON GHOSTS AND GOBLINS. 419 



times several persons may be deceived by an illusion 

 such as I have been considering. There is an instance 

 of this kind in a book on the supernatural which I 

 read many years ago. I cannot at the moment recall 

 the name. It dealt with all forms of mental deception, 

 mesmerism, witchcraft, necromancing, and so on. In 

 the part relating to visions, it cited the case of Sir 

 Walter Scott, who soon after the death of Byron and 

 while his mind was dwelling on the painful circumstances 

 of that event, saw in the dusk of a large room a vision 

 of the poet which presently resolved itself into furni- 

 ture. Then came the case I have in my thoughts. As 

 nearly as I can remember, the story ran thus: A 

 gentleman who had lately lost his wife, looking out of 

 window in the dusk of evening, saw her sitting in a 

 garden chair. He called one of his daughters and 

 asked her to look out into the garden. ' Why,' she 

 said, ' mother is sitting there.' Another daughter was 

 called, and she experienced the same illusion. Then 

 the gentleman went out into the garden, and found that 

 a garden-dress of his wife's had been placed over the 

 seat in such a position as to produce the illusion which 

 had deceived himself and his daughters. 



I know of a more curious instance, where no expla- 

 nation was ever obtained, simply because the deceived 

 persons were too frightened to seek for one. In a 

 house in Ireland a girl lay dying. Her mother and 

 father were with her ; and her five sisters were praying 

 for her in a neighbouring room. This room was well 

 lit, but overhead there was a skylight and the dark sky 



B E 2 



