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SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XI. No. 271 



MENTAL SCIENCE. 

 Psychic Disturbances in Russia. 



The subjection to law, of phenomena apparently the result of 

 free individual choice, forms one of the most interesting results of 

 the application of scientific methods to the observation of mental 

 facts. Statistics have made us so familiar with this type of facts, 

 that we are apt to overlook their real significance. The number of 

 suicides, to take one instance of many, we know to be quite con- 

 stant (in the absence of unusual causes) from one year to another, 

 and yet we usually regard this act as the result of a voluntary delib- 

 eration. The various classes of crimes are subject to a similar 

 regularity ; and one writer has gone so far as to say that a criminal 

 is as much a manufactured product as is calico, only the methods 

 of production are not so well understood in the former as in the 

 latter case. When any marked deviation in the regularity of such 

 phenomena presents itself, we at once look about for some definite 

 cause, and from a consideration of such causes we are enabled to 

 predict, or at least to confidently expect, that with the presence of 

 such unusual causes there will be found unusual deviations in the 

 prevalence of the phenomena that depend upon it. Thus M. De 

 Candolle, from a study of the frequency of eminent savants in 

 various countries, tabulates a series of influences that foster the de- 

 velopment of science as well as of those that hinder its growth, and 

 is even able to ascribe a relative importance to these influences. A 

 very striking illustration of the intimate relation between two such 

 series of facts is to be found in an article by N. Tsakni (Contempo- 

 rary Review, March, 1888), upon ' Mystical Pessimism in Russia.' 

 The debasing social, political, and educational conditions that e.xist 

 in that country have been compared to those of the middle ages, as 

 well as to the times preceding the French revolution. The psychic 

 pestilences that devastated mediaeval Europe, the host of absurd 

 and fanatic extravagances that took possession of France in the 

 last century, seem to the psychologist to follow as necessarily from 

 the low mentality and unnatural mode of living of the people as 

 does insanity from a disordered brain. It is not surprising, then, 

 to find in Russia a fertile soil for all kinds of superstitious and ab- 

 normal growths. 



" Pessimism," in the words of the writer whose article we are to 

 follow, " is a characteristic feature of all those epochs of history in 

 which the mass of human suffering is at a maximum, and moral 

 aspirations are entirely out of harmony with social conditions. In- 

 volved in an unequal conflict with their surroundings, men come to 

 regard life as a terrible burdep, and seek refuge in suicide, or in 

 strange, mystical, and extravagant theories of society." This is 

 the condition of Russia to-day, and as a consequence it is overrun 

 by a series of barbaric occurrences which it is hard to believe are 

 going on in our day. Spiritualism flourishes, and is constantly on 

 the increase : all sorts of religious sects flourish among the well-to- 

 do as well as among the peasantry. Faith in sorcei7 and the super- 

 natural is everywhere current : a large number of persons earn a 

 living by predicting fortunes and reading the future from the palm 

 of the hand. A simple peasant woman had such a reputation in 

 I this regard, that not only the peasants, but even the officials, always 

 consulted her before any serious undertaking. A belief in the evil 

 eye and a host of superstitious cures is wide-spread. Recently a 

 retired officer acquired a reputation for removing hysteria by exor- 

 cism ; and the leisure classes flocked to this pretender, who repeated 

 cabalistic formulas as a cure for insanity, paralysis, and inebriety. 

 The small intelligent population is merely an oasis in the vast desert 

 of the population, ignorant, superstitious, and unhappy. Hysteri- 

 cal outbreaks are frequent, and men and women scream like mad- 

 men, fall into convulsions, and announce the end of the world. 

 Sects are formed to preach the misery of life, and death as the sole 

 road to salvation. 



About twenty years ago a peasant in the province of Perm, after 

 spending much time in the reading of religious books, concluded 

 that '.he end of the world was at hand, and converted his neighbors 

 to his belief. Voluntary suicide was the only release from the mis- 

 ery that surrounded them. A number of men, women, and children, 

 including the members of his own family, retired to a forest, where 

 the men dug catacombs, while the women made shrouds. This 

 lasted three days. Then all the disciples, dressed in the garments of 



death, three times renounced Satan. The leader gave the command, 

 " Take no food and no drink for twelve days, and you shall enter the 

 kingdom of heaven." Then the days of suffering began. .-V few, 

 more human than the rest, appealed in behalf of the children, whom 

 they saw writhing in agony, and sucking blades of grass or eating 

 sand ; but the leader was immovable. At length two of the fanatics 

 could endure it no longer, and fled. This frightened the band, and 

 the leader announced that the hour of death had come. They 

 massacred the children, and decided to continue the fast. At this 

 stage the police had sought them out, but their frenzy was kindled 

 to the highest pitch. With the prospect of capture before them, a 

 horrible carnage ensued. They killed the women with hatchets, 

 and the efforts of the police only succeeded in saving the leader and 

 three of his associates. 



Another instance is that of the monk Falare, who, not many years 

 ago, went along the banks of the Volga, preaching suicide with 

 great success. One night eighty-four persons met in a cavern that 

 had been filled with straw. They began to fast and pray ; but one 

 woman fled, and informed the police. As their pursuers appeared, 

 they set fire to the straw, and threw themselves upon it, killing 

 themselves with hatchets. Many were saved, however, and one of 

 the condemned escaped from prison, and continued to propagate 

 the doctrine. More than sixty persons, including whole families, 

 became his disciples. A day was fixed upon which one peasant 

 went to the houses of the others, killing men, women, and children, 

 all calmly submitting to their fate. The leader then had himself 

 killed. Thirty-five persons, in all, thus perished. 1\\e.%i en 7nasse 

 massacres are becoming more rare, but all kinds of crimes are still 

 perpetrated as the result of a religious fanaticism. In 1870 a woman 

 threw her child into the fire in obedience to a divine command, and 

 showed no signs of remorse when called to trial. A dozen years 

 ago a man crucified himself, actually nailing his feet and one hand 

 to a cross, and then impaling the other on a nail. 



Sects with less horrible practices are numerous. One such calls 

 itself the ' Negators,' and its members keep themselves aloof from 

 all men. They recognize no government, no right, no duty, no 

 property, no marriage, no rites of any kind. Each stands for him- 

 self, and life is of no value. They oppose compulsory labor, and 

 neither hire themselves as nor keep servants. They lead lawless 

 lives, and spend much of their time in prison. About twenty-five 

 years ago the ' Jumper ' (Prigoony) appeared. They found many 

 followers in the Caucasus and the neighboring mountains, where 

 prisoners had been exiled. The chief apostle of the sect called 

 himself God, and among their doctrines was the gaining of insight 

 by prayer and ecstasy. The face would grow pale, the breath be 

 quickened ; then the body would sway, the feet begin to beat, fol- 

 lowed by jumping and violent contortions, until exhaustion ensued. 

 Some cry and declare the Spirit is upon them. The meeting ends 

 by a fraternal kiss among all the members, men and women. They 

 abstain from many kinds of food, allow no stimulants, and forbid 

 all even the most innocent pleasure. Their time is spent in pray- 

 ing and fasting, but they have no ceremonials of any kind. A group 

 of these calls itself the ' Children of Zion.' They live in solitary 

 houses, and scourge themselves, jumping and shrieking until they 

 are possessed. They fast, often letting their women and children 

 die of hunger. They believe the end of the world to be near, and 

 regard themselves, as do other sects, as the only true Christians. 

 They predict a kingdom of Zion that shall last for a thousand 

 years. Their leader has twelve apostles and a number of queens. 

 When once displeased, he threatened to fly to heaven. Another 

 sect are the ' Communists,' who regard themselves as the elect peo- 

 ple of God. They, too, have ecstasies, and predict the end of the 

 world. A man of twenty-five and a girl of eighteen represent 

 Christ and the Virgin among them, and receive homage. They 

 preach an equal ownership in property, and a rich citizen gave up 

 his property to be divided among them. The police has interfered 

 with the organization, but it is still secretly propagated. These are 

 only samples of the many social and religious disturbances that 

 give evidence of the abnormal state of mind under which these un- 

 fortunate people live. 



Illusions of Sight and Motion. — The senses are subject 

 to illusions in proportion to the remoteness of the information that 



