826 Dynamic Theory. 



, enough by the light of the fire in the grate < ' she saw the full reflection 

 of the form seated on the ottoman looking at a bunch of keys which 

 she appeared to hold in her hand. " While endeavoring to call her hus- 

 band's attention to this phenomenon, it vanished. ( Phantasms of the 

 Living.) 



The following story was told by Dr. Andrew Combe : "A gentleman, 

 a friend of his, has in his house a number of phrenological casts, 

 among which is particularly conspicuous, a bust of Curran. A servant 

 girl belonging to the family, after undergoing great fatigue, awoke early 

 one morning and beheld at the foot of her bed the apparition of Cur- 

 ran. He had the same pale and cadaverous aspect as in the bust, but 

 he was now dressed in a sailor's jacket, and his face was decorated with 

 an immense pair of whiskers. In a state of extreme terror she awoke 

 her fellow servant, and asked whether she did not see the spectre. She, 

 however, saw nothing, and endeavored to rally her out of her alarm, 

 but the other persisted in the reality of the apparition, which continued 

 visible for several minutes. The gentleman, it appears, keeps a pleas- 

 ure yacht, the seamen belonging to which are frequently in the house. 

 This, perhaps, was the origin of the sailor's dress in which the spectre 

 appeared ; and the immense whiskers had also been borrowed from one 

 of these occasional visitors." ( Abercrombie. ) 



This story illustrates well how dreams are composed by the putting 

 together of fragments of various memories. It also shows the practical 

 identity in origin of ordinary dreams and of waking visions. In both 

 cases they may seem to the subject to be real, and in either case they 

 may be contradicted by the activity of either the external or internal 

 sense organs, so that the subject knows he is being entertained by a fic- 

 tion, though this oftener happens in the day visions than in the dreams. 

 When a person is awake he can test his vision by the external senses, 

 or by his judgment, or standard cerebral organs. 



A person afflicted with delirium tremens sees all sorts of repulsive 

 creatures, such as toads, snakes, and slimy, creeping animals, or danc- 

 ing demons, or fairies ; but unless he is pretty far gone, his judgment 

 informs him what is the matter, and he is aware of the illusion, not- 

 withstanding the realistic appearance of the vision. 



It very often happens that the abnormal condition of the cerebral tis- 

 sues is not sufficient without an external guiding sensation to frame an 

 illusory, subjective sensation. But by having a real object for a basis, 

 the sensation of it may be so perverted as to construct it in a very illu- 

 sive form. In such cases the excitement of the organs involved may 

 be but little above the normal of mere attention, provided they are not 

 contradicted by others also active. Thus, to a timid person, an object 

 seen indistinctly at night may give a suggestion of something mysteri- 



