

280 
both cf infantry and cavalry. The former, 
which confit of more than 200, have now 
motily been railed feveral years. The 
latter, confifting of 69, and formed in 
1798, had their, ftandards prelented to 
them in the month of July, in the prefent 
year. One of the flandards has the king’s 
arms, the other their major’s upon ae 
with the motto, Pro aris et focis. \- 
The creftt of the ‘latter reprefents a 
mower with a fcythe in the right hand, 
which reprefentation is founded upon the 
traditionary tale, a the wake of 
Haftings, one of the Pilkington famil y (the 
major’s name) who had taken the part of 
Harold, was obliged to aflume the habit 
of 2 mower, butwas difcovered by his un- 
fkilfulneis in handling the feythe. Ont 
arms of the Pil kingtons in Yo addi 
the mower, I am told, holds the ae in 
the left hand. 
_- Thus, Mr. Editor, I have endeavoured 
te fhew, that the town and neighbourhoed 
of Boltch prefint fome objects “worthy the 
‘attention of the curious. 4 
Tt lies with you to decide, whether my 
communication is fufficiently interefting for 
infertion. As the firft tribute of efteem 
and approbation, it is offered to your €x- 
cellent magazine *, 
By your conilant reader, 
Bolton,—1799- J. H. 

For the 
SIR, 
CERTAIN as it is that the apparition 
of ghofts and (pettres militazes againft 
all known laws of nature, yet inftances 
a this kind are related by men, who 
either. can be fufpected of having -had 
Monthly Magazine. 
i leaft inclination to impofe upon the 
world, nor be fuppofed to have fuffered 
themfelves to be impofed upon by others. 
How are we to reconcile fac accounts to 
found reafon and the eftablifhed laws of 
nature? Let us inquire whether it be not 
poffible to afficn fome natural reafon for 
apparitions related by refpectable and cre- 
ditable perfons, without giving counte- 
nance to fuperftition. ‘The eafieft way to 
account for fuch fincular inftances will be 
to prove, that the fort me which fometimes ap- 
pears topeople whomagine, they feeghofis and 
Spirits, does not ex if exteritall » but that the 
idea of Jue app ae itions 1s produced bym - 

* We fhall be glad to receive from other 
equally intelligent corre{pondents fimilar com- 
maunnieabions relative to the ftate of fociety, 
manners, &c. in all the large cities and towns 
in the kingdom. : 
On Apparitions and Second Sight. 
[ November, 
prefi ions made on the ophthalmic nerves of — 
the brain. 
Our nerves are the inftruments of fenfa- 
tion. They originate in the brain, where 
they receive a very fine fluid, fecreted 
from the moft fubtile parts of the blodd, 
and conveyed by the nerves to all parts “oR 
the body, for thes performance of every 
animal fun&tion.. This fluid is called zer- 
vous fiuid. The nerves fpread from the 
medulla of the brain through the whole 
body, and are connected with the upper 
furface of the fkin, where, they, conftitute 
the general fenfe of feeling. When a nerve 
receives an impreflion, this impreffion i is 
communicated to the brain by the motion. 
of the nervous fluid, which produces in our 
foul a perception of its prefence, and we 
then fay that we feel. - Amongft other 
nerves, two pair proceed from the medulla of 
the brain, which are called the optec nerves. 
The rays of light refleéting from every ob- 
ject that prefents itfelf to our view, fall up- 
on the retiza, which 1s an expanfion ef the 
optic nerve at the bottom of the eye, where 
they caufe an impreffion, producing a mi- 
niature piéture of the objeét in ficht, which, 
is conveyed to the brain, and caufes the 
foul to form an idea of the fhapeand co-: 
lour of bodies, which is called  vifioz. 
Every one, who will confider what we now 
are going to fay, will eafily comprehend 
that thefe optic nerves can reprefent an ob- 
ject to our foul, although there fhould be 
no external caufe producing i it. Every ob- 
- Jett which we {ee affects our optic nerves 
in adifferent manner by the. diverfity of 
its fhape and colour... One impreffion is 
produced when we fee a iteeple, another 
when we perceive a tree, and another when 
we perceive an human form; and theno- 
tions which our foul receives are as diffe- 
rent as thefe impreffions differ. There- 
fare, when juft fuch an impreffion takes 
place in our optic nerves, by means of the _ 
motion produced in the nervous fluid, 
as would be caufed by the real appearance 
ofa perfon ; ; this fenfation produces in our 
foul an image of fuch a perion, and we be: 
lieve we fee it, although it actually is not 
prefent. An example will render this. 
more intelligible. Mr. HENNINGS, a ce- 
lebrated pradtical philofopher in Germany, 
quotes in his excellent work Ueber Ahn- 
\ 
x 
~ 
a 
dungen und Vifionen, page 55- the following » - 
cormarkablet inftance firem the Tranfa&tions 
of the Royal Society of Sciences at Paris : — 
‘© Mr. POUPART mentions a woman who* 
had loft. one half of her cranium. The 
dura mater was therefore uncovered, and 
being touched one time by fome perfon 
with the finger, the woman {creamed vio- Pi 
Je 
