FALLACIES OF TESTIMONY. 249 



to the testimony of any individuals or bodies dominated by a 

 strong religious " prepossession ; " tiiat testimony having neither 

 been recorded at the time, nor subjected to the test of judicial 

 examination ? 



Though I have hitherto spoken of " prepossessions " as ide- 

 ational states, there are very few in which the emotions do not 

 take a share ; and how strongly the influence of these may 

 pervert the representations of actual facts, we best see in that 

 early stage of many forms of monomania, in which there are as 

 yet no fixed delusions, but the occurrences of daily life are 

 wrongly interpreted by the emotional colouring they receive. But 

 we may recognize the same influence in matters which are con- 

 stantly passing under our observation ; and a better illustration of 

 it could scarcely be found than in the following circumstance, 

 mentioned to me as having recently occurred in the practice of a 

 distinguished physician : — The head of a family having been 

 struck down by serious illness, this physician was called in to con- 

 sult with the ordinary medical attendant ; and after examining 

 the patient and conferring with his colleague, he went into the 

 sitting-room where the family were waiting in anxious expectation 

 for his judgment on the case. This he delivered in the cautious 

 form which wise experience dictated : — " The patient's condition 

 is very critical ; but I see no reason why he should not recover." 



One of the daughters screamed, " Dr. says Papa will die ! " 



another cried out, in a jubilant tone, " Dr. says Papa 



will get well." If no explanation had been given, the two 

 ladies would have reported the physician's verdict in precisely 

 opposite terms, one being under the influence oi fear, the other 

 of hope. 



I shall now give a few illustrative examples, from recent ex- 

 periences, of the contrast between the two views taken of the 

 same phenomena, (i) by such as are led by their "prepossessions" 

 at once to attribute to "occult" influences what they cannot 

 otherwise explain, and (2) by those who, under the guidance of 

 trained and organized common sense, apply themselves in the 

 first instance, to determine whether there be anything in these 

 phenomena which "natural" agencies are not competent to 

 account for. 



