Phantasms of the Living - Volume II.

Frank Podmore, Frederic Myers, Edmund Gurney

Description

This book contains the second of two volumes of “Phantasms of the Living”, an 1886 work on the subject of spiritualism by leading members of the Society for Psychical Research Edmund Gurney (1847 – 1888), Frederic W. H. Myers (1843 – 1901), and Frank Podmore (1856 – 1910).Within it, the authors have documented more than 700 cases of ghost sightings which they believe are evidence of psychic ability. This volume contains an introduction by Myers as well as an outline of their analytical methods, while the rest is dedicated to telepathy, hallucinations, dreams, etc. “Phantasms of the Living” constitutes a pioneering study that provides a vivid insight into the Victorian fascination with the occult and the supernatural, not to be missed by those with an interest in the subject. Contents include: “Preliminary Remarks: Grounds of Caution”, “The Experimental Basis: Thought-Transference”, “The Transition From Experimental to Spontaneous Telepathy”, “General Criticism of the Evidence for Spontaneous Telepathy”, “Note on Witchcraft”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with the original text and artwork.

Sujets

• Psychological Science (journal)
• Spirituality
• Supernatural

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528767750
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

PHANTASMS OF THE LIVING
BY
EDMUND GURNEY, M. A.
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ,
FREDERIC W. H. MYERS, M.A.
LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ,


AND

FRANK PODMORE, M.A.




VOLUME II.
Copyright 2018 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
FURTHER ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.

Page vi , line 13. For 247 read 248. Line 18. For nearly a trillion of trillions of trillions read about a thousand billion trillion trillion trillions.
Page 16 , line 23. If only cases are reckoned where the auditory phantasm was recorded or described before the news of the death arrived, the odds will be reduced to about a million to 1.
Page 17 , line 29. If only cases are reckoned where the visual phantasm was recorded or described before the news of the death arrived, the odds will be reduced to about a hundred billion trillions to 1.
Page 21 , end of 8. In the numerical estimates, I have throughout confined the reasoning to sensory experiences, and have not attempted to extend it to the ideal and emotional impressions which were considered in the 6th and 7th chapters. This is because a trustworthy census of strong but purely subjective impressions of these commoner and often vaguer kinds would have been impossible to obtain. There is, however, one important point which concerns the non-sensory experiences as well as the sensory, and which ought not to be omitted from the argument; the occurrence, namely, at various times, to a single percipient, of several veridical impressions, sometimes similar, sometimes different in type. (See p. 77, note.) It is clear how enormously this multiplication of the coincidences in one person s history multiplies the already enormous odds against chance as their cause.
Page 24 , line 3 of note. For 40 read 39.
Page 26 , line 8 of note. For 32 read 31. This correction will slightly, but not appreciably, affect the subsequent estimate.
Page 50 , case 233. The narrator mentioned in conversation that she woke her sister at the time of her experience, and also described it to her family at breakfast, before the news of the death arrived. Her sister-who probably supposed it to be a dream, and fell asleep again at once-had no recollection of it when it was referred to some years ago.
Page 52 , case 235. The narrator s first initial is G. We have applied to the gentleman to whom the earlier account was sent; but he forwarded it to some one else, and cannot now recollect to whom. The friend with whom Colonel Swiney was staying has long since left Norfolk, and we have not been able to trace him.
Page 68 , line 23. For 296 read 246.
Pages 139 - 41 , case 296. Further knowledge and a more critical study of this case suggest doubts as to whether it should have been included. It will be seen that three important points-the impression of seeing the handle turn, the getting out of bed to search, and Mr. Phillips s statement as to his wife s having imagined herself to be in the narrator s house-are not mentioned in the diary, but only in the account written more than 3 1/2 years afterwards. Moreover, it appears probable from an inspection of the diary that the entry for Oct. 23 was not written on that day, but after the news of the death had arrived on the following day; and it is, therefore, not unlikely that the description, steps as of a female walking aimlessly, was to some extent suggested by the news.
Page 346 , line 5. For maladie read malade. With this account should be compared the apparent instance of thought-transference in a case of hysterical catalepsy, recorded by Dr. Bristowe in the British Medical Journal for Feb. 8, 1879.
Page 390 , line 1. For Kirkbright read Shuckburgh.
Page 393 , case 419. A first-hand account from Mr. John A. Orr, F.R.C.S.I., of Fleetwood, shows that the dream on which the mother acted had conveyed no more than the idea of her son s serious illness, and, moreover, had been dreamt some nights before the accident, as she arrived on the morning of its occurrence. The case should, therefore, be omitted.
Page 397 , case 424. The narrator mentioned in conversation that the experience was a very vivid impression on waking, rather than an actual dream. The impression was sufficiently disquieting to keep her awake for several hours.
Page 398 , case 425. In conversation, Mrs. Tandy, a daughter of the narrator s, who has heard the percipient describe her vision, expressed a distinct opinion that she spoke of it as a waking experience.
Page 404 , case 432. The narrator mentioned in conversation that her dreams are rarely painful or distressing, and that she has never on any other occasion taken action on a dream.
Page 461 , first line of case 499. For 1877 read 1867.
Page 469 , case 505. The narrator not only told her sister of her experience on the morning (Tuesday) after it occurred, but wrote the same day to England, expressing her uneasiness about her nephew, and asking if anything was wrong with him; and Mrs. Wilkinson, (of 63, Harcourt Terrace, Redcliffe Square, S.W.,) the boy s mother, remembers receiving this letter on the Wednesday evening, while she was herself in the act of writing to tell Miss Wilkinson of the accident. (Miss Wilkinson was therefore mistaken in saying that her sister-in-law wrote on the day after the accident.) Mrs. Wilkinson further mentioned in conversation that on the Monday, while lying in a semi-conscious state, the boy constantly asked whether his aunt had been told of the accident. He was much attached to her, and had been nursed by her through a serious illness.
Page 474 , case 509. We have procured an official certificate from New South Wales, which corroborates the narrator s statement that her mother died on June 17, 1868.
Page 513 , case 556. The name of the percipient has been privately communicated.
Page 515 , case 558. We have now received a written account of this incident from another daughter of the percipient, who was present at the time. It was inferred that the dying man spoke of the little grandson of whose sudden illness and death he had been kept in ignorance, from the fact of his turning to the child s mother and addressing her in the way described (the second account substitutes Don t fret for Never mind ); but it ought to be added that he had lost a son of the same name 24 years before.
Page 524 , end of case 569. The name of the percipient has now been privately communicated.
Page 566 , line 4 from bottom. The narrator explains (Dec. 22, 1886) that her father was an amateur doctor only; he had been a solicitor by profession, but had studied medicine.
Page 584 , line 29, and page 585 , line 4. For Heaton read Seaton.
SYNOPSIS OF VOLUME II.

A DDITIONS AND C ORRECTIONS
CHAPTER XIII.
T HE T HEORY OF C HANCE -C OINCIDENCE .
1. Assuming the substantial correctness of much of the evidence for phantasms which have markedly coincided with an event at a distance, how can it be known that, these coincidences are not due to chance alone? In examining this question, we must be careful to distinguish waking cases from dreams -in which latter class (as we have seen) the scope for chance-coincidences is indefinitely large
2. The answer to this question depends on two points-the frequency of phantasms which have markedly coincided with real events, and the frequency of phantasms which have not . If the latter class turned out to be extremely large- e.g ., if we each of us once a week saw some friend s figure in a place which was really empty-it is certain that occasionally such a subjective delusion would fall on the day that the friend happened to die. The matter is one on which there have been many guesses, and many assertions, but hitherto no statistics
3. To ascertain what proportion of the population have had experience of purely subjective hallucinations, a definite question must be asked of a group large and varied enough to serve as a fair sample of the whole. The difficulty of taking such a census has been much increased by a wide misunderstanding of its purpose
4. But answers have been received from a specimen group of 5,680 persons; and there is every reason to suppose this number sufficient
5. It may be objected that persons may have wrongly denied such experiences (1) through forgetfulness-but the experiences of real importance for the end in view are too striking to be readily forgotten; (2) by way of a joke or a hoax-but this would lead rather to false confessions than false denials; (3) in self-defence-but such error as may have been produced by this motive has probably been more than counterbalanced in other ways
6. First as to auditory hallucinations, representing recognised voices-in the last 12 years such an experience has, according to the census, befallen 1 adult in every 90; but it would have had to befall 7 in every 10, to justify the assumption that the cases recorded in this work on first-hand testimony, of the coincidence of the experience in question with the death of the person represented, were due to chance. The odds against the accidental occurrence of the said coincidences are more than a trillion to 1
7. Next as to visual hallucinations, representing a recognised face or form-in the last 12 years such an experience has, according to the census, befallen 1 adult in every 247; but it would have had to befall every adult once , and most adults twice , to justify the assumption that the cases recorded in the pr