Facts and Fancies, why Confounded. 79 



When at length he was a little better, he was much 

 disturbed with the appearance of people coming into 

 and going out of his room, and had a difficulty in 

 distinguishing between real persons and the imaginary. 

 The doctor explained to him that this was caused by 

 weakness and the state of his brain, which could not 

 distinguish between the image of the eye and the 

 image of the mind. It was not that the appearances 

 caused him any fear, but they kept him from sleep, 

 for he saw them even when he shut his eyes and in the 

 dark, although they were more lifelike in daylight, 

 and when his eyes were open. His bedroom was 

 very quiet, a thing favourable to his condition at one 

 time, but afterwards too lonely, as he saw the nurse 

 only a few times a day and the doctor on his routine 

 visits. To help to take his attention off the fancies 

 that disturbed him, he was now therefore removed to 

 the large ward among the other patients. There he 

 had much more of reality to engage his mind, and 

 had visits from the nurse more frequently. The 

 phantoms soon became less and less frequent, till 

 they left him altogether, at least in the daytime when 

 his eyes were open. By degrees he was once more 

 greatly improving in health, being able to walk about 

 the ward and take his food with some measure of 

 appetite. 



After so protracted a stay in the infirmary he 

 began to long for home, and told the doctor of his 

 desire ; but the doctor said that it was too soon for 

 him to leave, and when next day the impatient 

 patient again argued the subject, he still held that it 

 would be safer for him to stay where he was for a 



