SPECTRAL ILLUSIONS.
A SPECTRE VISIBLE—CURIOUS ILLUSIONS—GHOSTS.
We have already given numerous examples of the effects produced
by impressions on the retina by mechanical appliances. We can now
in a short chapter speak of the cause of many spectral illusions,
commonly supposed to be “ghosts” or “spirits.” That there are many
“well-authenticated ‘ghost stories’” no one can doubt who has read the
literature of the day; and we ourselves do not in any way desire to
throw any doubt upon the existence of certain so-called “ghosts.” That
appearances of some kind or another are seen by people we know. We
ourselves have seen such, but we cannot say we believe in the popular
ghost.
In ancient times mirrors were much employed by the so-called magicians,
and in our day many wonderful ghost effects have been shown at
the (late) Polytechnic Institution. Some people are believers in
table-turning and spiritualism, and mesmerists still attract large
audiences, and appear to possess extraordinary power over some
individuals. But apparitions have been seen by people eminently worthy
of credit. The experience of the learned Doctor, which appeared some
months ago in the _Athenæum_, is a case in point. This narrative is
concise and clear. The spectre was there. How did it get there? Was the
“appearance” objective or subjective? Let us give an extract from the
Reverend Doctor’s narrative, and comment upon it afterwards. We may
premise that Dr. Jessopp had gone over to Lord Orford’s (Mannington
Hall), and at eleven o’clock was busy writing in the library, and was
“the only person downstairs.” We will give this ghost story in the
Doctor’s own words. After taking up a certain volume—time about 1 a.m.:—
“I had been engaged on it about half an hour, and was beginning to
think my work was drawing to a close, when, as I was actually writing,
I saw a large white hand within a foot of my elbow. Turning my head,
there sat a figure of a somewhat large man with his back to the fire,
bending slightly over the table, and apparently examining the pile of
books that I had been at work upon.”... After describing the appearance
of the nocturnal visitor, Dr. Jessopp proceeds:—
“There he sat, and I was fascinated; afraid not of his staying, but
lest he should go. Stopping in my writing I lifted my left hand from
the paper, stretched it out to the pile of books, and moved the top
one—my arm passed in front of the figure, and it vanished.”... Shortly
after the figure appeared again, and “I was penning a sentence to
address to him, when I discovered I did not dare to speak. I was afraid
of the sound of my own voice! There he sat, and there sat I. I turned
my head and finished writing. Having finished my task, I shut the book,
and threw it on the table; it made a slight noise as it fell;—the
figure vanished.”
Now here we have a perfectly plain narrative, clear and full. A ghost
appeared; he is described distinctly. How can we account for the
apparition? In the first place, someone might have played a trick, but
that idea was put aside by Dr. Wilks, who attempted to explain the
appearances. He went fully into the question, and as it bears upon our
explanation of the reality of Spectral Illusions, we may condense his
evidence. It will of course be conceded that all the usual objects seen
by people are material, and the image of what we look at is formed upon
the retina in the manner already explained. But _all_ images upon the
retina are not immediately observed; the impression may, to a certain
extent, remain. Words are often impressed upon the brain,—words which
we in our sober senses would never think of repeating,—and yet when
we are delirious we give vent to these expressions, of whose very
nature and meaning we are perfectly unconscious. It is, according to
our reference (Dr. Wilks), “quite possible for the perceptive part of
the brain to be thrown into an active condition quite independent of
the normal stimulus conducted to it from the retina.” If, under these
circumstances, an object be viewed independently, and, as it were,
unconsciously, it is merely, we believe, a parallel to the impression
of words before noted. Sound and light are governed by the same laws.
In fevers we fancy we see all kinds of things which have no existence.
In dreams we hear noises; and many a time people dreaming have been
awakened by the report of a gun, or the ringing of a bell which had no
material origin,—the nerves were excited, the “perceptive centre” of
the brain was moved.
But if sight and hearing thus have their origin from the _brain_
and not from without, there must have been some predisposing
cause, some excitement to induce such a condition of things. “The
impressions become abnormal and subjective,—the normal condition being
objective,—the impression is received from without, and impressed upon
the eye.
Now, let us consider the “ghost”! Lately there have been many instances
brought forward of “spiritual” appearances, but we think nobody has
ever seen a “_material_” ghost; yet on the other hand none of us
have any knowledge of anything in the likeness of a ghost, or that
_has not a material basis_ which _can_ bring forward an image on the
retina! Therefore we are brought to the conclusion that apparitions
are spectres emanating from within the brain, not from any outward
manifestation, because it is within the experience of everybody that in
bad health, or disordered digestive functions, images are produced in
the brain and nerves of the eye.
These remarks have perhaps been made before in one form or other, but
as much popular interest is always awakened by the supernatural, or
what is supposed to be supernatural, we may go a little farther, and
inquire how it was that the ghost seen by Dr. Jessopp disappeared when
he raised his arm. Would any ghost be afraid of the Doctor extending
his hand? The fact no doubt occurred as related. The explanation is
that the narrator had been much impressed by a certain picture, which
a correspondent soon identified as a portrait of “Parsons, the Jesuit
Father.” The description given is that of the priest who was described
by the Doctor in one of his books. The association of ideas in the
library of a Norfolk house connected with the Walpoles, with whom
Parsons had been a leader, gave rise, during a period of “forty winks”
at midnight, to the spectre.
In the interesting letters written upon “Natural Magic” by Sir David
Brewster, the subject of Spectral Illusions is treated at some length,
and with undoubted authority. Sir David thought the subject worth
discussing with reference to the illusions or spectres mentioned by Dr.
Hibbert. Sir David Brewster gives his own experiences which occurred
while he was staying at the house of a lady in the country.
The illusions appear to have affected her ear as well as the eye.
We shall see in the next chapter how intimately sound and light are
connected, and how the eyes and ears are equally impressed, though in
a different way, by the vibration of particles. The lady referred to
was about to go upstairs to dress for dinner one afternoon, when she
heard her husband’s voice calling to her by name. She opened the door,
and nobody was outside; and when she returned for a moment to the fire
she heard the voice again calling, “Come to me; come, come away,” in a
somewhat impatient tone. She immediately went in search of her husband,
but he did not come in till half an hour afterwards, and of course said
he had not called, and told her where he had been at the time—some
distance away. This happened on the 26th December, 1830, but a more
alarming occurrence took place four days after.
About the same time in the afternoon of the 30th December, the lady
came into the drawing-room, and to her great astonishment she perceived
her husband standing with his back to the fireplace. She had seen him
go out walking a short time previously, and was naturally surprised
to find he had returned so soon. He looked at her very thoughtfully,
and made no answer. She sat down close beside him at the fire, and as
he still gazed upon her she said, “Why don’t you say something!” The
figure immediately moved away towards the window at the farther end of
the room, still gazing at her, “and it passed so close that she was
struck by the circumstance of hearing no step nor sound, nor feeling
her dress brushed against, nor even any agitation of the air.” Although
convinced this was not her husband, the lady never fancied there was
anything supernatural in the appearance of the figure. Subsequently she
was convinced that it was a spectral illusion, although she could not
see through the figure which appeared as substantial as the reality.
Were it advisable, we could multiply instances. In the _Edinburgh
Journal of Science_ these, and many more instances of spectral
illusions were narrated by the husband of the lady. She frequently
beheld deceased relatives or absent friends, and described their dress
and general appearance very minutely. On one occasion she perceived
a coach full of skeletons drive up to the door, and noticed spectral
dogs and cats (her own pets’ likenesses) in the room. There can be no
doubt upon these points; the appearances were manifest and distinct.
They were seen in the presence of other people, in solitude, and in
the society of her husband. The lady was in delicate health, and very
sensitive. The spectres appeared in daylight as well as in the dark, or
by candle-light.
Let us now, guided by what we have already written, and by Sir David
Brewster’s experience, endeavour to give a rational explanation of
these illusions. “The mind’s eye is really the body’s eye, and the
retina is the common tablet upon which both classes of impressions are
painted, and by means of which they receive their visual existence
according to the same optical laws.”
“In the healthy state of mind and body the relative intensity of the
two classes of impressions on the retina are nicely adjusted—the bodily
and mental are balanced. The latter are feeble and transient, and in
ordinary temperaments are never capable of disturbing or effacing
the direct images of visible objects.... The mind cannot perform
two different functions at the same instant, and the direction of
its attention to one of the two classes of impressions necessarily
produces the extinction of the other; but so rapid is the exercise of
mental power, that the alternate appearance and disappearance of the
two contending impressions is no more recognized than the successive
observations of external objects during the twinkling of the eyelids.”
We have before illustrated, by means of the pen and the ink-bottle, how
one object is lost sight of when the other is attentively regarded, and
a material picture or scene may be equally lost sight of, and a mental
picture take its place in the eye, when we recall places or people we
have seen or remembered.
We have all heard numerous anecdotes of what is termed
“absent-mindedness.” Some people are quite absorbed in study, and
can see or hear no one in the room when deeply occupied. We may be
satisfied then that “pictures of the mind and spectral illusions are
equally impressions upon the retina, and only differ in the degree
of vividness with which they are seen.” If we press our eyes the
phosphorescence becomes apparent, and we can make a picture of the sun
or a lamp visible for a long time to our closed eyes if we stare at
either object for a few seconds, and shut our lids. So by increasing
the sensibility of the retina we can obtain the image, and alter its
colour by pressure on the eye.
It is well known that poisons will affect sight, and belladonna
applied to the eyes will so affect them as to render the sight _nil_,
by enlargement of the “pupil.” If one is out of health there is
practically a poisoning of the system, and when we have a “bilious
headache” we see colours and stars because there is a pressure upon the
blood-vessels of the eye. The effects of a disordered stomach, induced
by drinking too much, are well known; objects are seen double, and most
ghosts may be traced to a disordered state of health of mind or body,
brought on by excitement or fatigue. We could relate a series of ghost
stories,—some in our own experience, for we have seen a ghost equally
with our neighbours,—but this is not the place for them. Although many
apparently incontrovertible assertions are made, and many spectres have
been produced to adorn a tale, we must put on record our own opinion,
that every one could be traced to mental impression or bodily affection
had we only the key to the life and circumstances of the ghost-seer.
Many celebrated conjurers will convince us almost against our reason
that our pocket-handkerchief is in the orange just cut up. They will
bring live rabbits from our coat-pockets or vests, and pigeons from our
opera-hats. These are equally illusions. We know what can be done with
mirrors. We have seen ghosts at the Polytechnic, but we must put down
all apparitions as the result of mental or bodily, even unconscious
impressions upon the retina of the eye. There are numerous illusions,
such as the Fata Morgana, the Spectre of the Brocken, etc., which
are due to a peculiar state of the atmosphere, and to the unequal
reflection and refraction of light. Those, and many other optical
phenomena, will, with phenomena of heat and sound, be treated under
METEOROLOGY, when we will consider the rainbow and the aurora,
with many other atmospheric effects.