330 ATMOSPHE. SUPERSTITIONS. CHAP. 10. 2. 



curious part of their history relates to coinci- 

 dences connected with them. If correct accounts 

 of the various superstitions, such as I have related 

 in the three foregoing sections, accurately com- 

 piled and compared with their causes, were pub- 

 lished, they might clear up many idle tales and 

 superstitious opinions, and show the origin of 



" a thousand fantasies 



Of calling shapes and beckoning shadows dire 

 And airy tongues which syllable men's names 

 On shores and sands and desert wildernesses." 



Any person capable of the task of compiling 

 such a stupendous w r ork would, by clearing up 

 many idle fables, prepare the way for the march 

 of science, and the promulgation of useful 

 knowledge. 



however, has been explained of late years by the multiplicity 

 of organs in the brain, whose spontaneous activity produces 

 forms, which the mind mistakes in sleep for realities. But 

 this explanation also shows, that the organs themselves are 

 not the mind, and that there is some identical percipient 

 independent of those parts of the brain which produce the 

 illusion. Again, the character, origin, and specific object of 

 -certain visions must be drawn, not from their individual 

 peculiarities, but from the coincidence found to exist between 

 these and certain events in real life. These subjects con- 

 stitute, perhaps, the most curious and interesting part of 

 Physiology and History which exist, a circumstance that must 

 plead my apology for detaining the reader so long with their 

 consideration. 



