[Reprint from The Alienist and Neurologist, St. Louis, Oct., 1891.] HALLUCINATIONS ANH HELUSICNS * By Wm. M. McLaury, M. D., New York City. r WANT to bring before the Academy of Anthropology A a short paper on mind in some of its peculiarities and phases of development. Man in his entirety is a unit; as body and soul, is dual; as body, soul and spirit is triune. We all know something of man as a body, as a physical body, comprised as a body, composed of organs, capabilities and powers. As a soul, we are taught that he is immortal. All our knowledge of the immortal man is derived chiefly from writers known as inspirational, who define the soul as an immortal being. If the soul has no end it had no beginning. It is a law of mathematics that whatever has a beginning, has an * Read before the New York Academy of Anthropology. 2 Wm. M. McLaury. end. Everything conceivable, except a mathematical point, has a beginning and an end, and a continuity between the beginning and the end, thus constituting everything triune in character. So we must conclude that, if the soul is immortal, it existed in some form pre- vious to its habitation in the body. Mind, or spirit, is the personification of characteristics of soul, as manifested in our emotions, affections, powers of mind, comprehension, reason, will-power, attention, memory, and all the faculties capable of cultivation through our intelligence. Life, or force, is universal. It pervades everything. It is the property of all matter. It is electric in its nature and polar in its influences. All force is electric and all matter magnetic. It is a component part of the trinity of nature, that trinity being matter, force and law. As Avero expresses it, " It sleeps in the rocks, dreams in the animal and awakes in man." There can be no matter without soul or force, and no soul or force without matter. They are co-existent and co-eternal, and the law governing all is the only deific power. All passions, fixed ideas, preoccupation of thoughts, may induce hallucination, more especially if the pensive thoughts are intensely fixed on the passions of love, fear or remorse. Dr. Brewster says that when the eye is not exposed to the impressions of external objects, or when insensible to the objects in consequence of being engrossed with its own operations, any object of mental contemplation, which has either been called up in the memory or created by the imagination, will be seen as distinctly as if it had been formed from the vision of the real object. An individual who believes he sees supernatural sights can easily persuade others to see or believe they see them also. Imitation is a powerful agent in the production and propagation of delusions. Example proves contagious. For instance, a man stood intently gazing at a statue. Soon a Hallucinations and Delusions. 3 crowd collected. He strenuously and earnestly asserted that he saw the head of the statue move or nod, and in a few moments a score of people were sure they saw it nod. Lawyers are well aware of the art of manufacturing evi- dence, coaching a witness, by repeatedly telling him or her that they saw or heard a certain act or conversation. The subject so receiving the suggestion, repeatedly and em- phatically stated to them, will come to believe that he really saw and heard, and will so testify in court, whereas, in fact, the only knowledge the witness had was what was built up in the testifier's mind by suggestion. A person may also tell an untruth which he knows to be untrue at the start, but, by repeatedly telling it, come to believe it true in time. Thus many persons have confessed to the perpetration of crimes which they never committed, but by pensively dwelling on them in detail, have come to believe themselves really guilty. One can easily build up an idea in the mind of a child so as to make a most vivid reality. Evidence in divorce cases has been, and still is being built up, by designing parents, in the minds of their own children, so that they will testify that they saw and heard certain things, utterly false, but which, by suggestion, they believed to be true. Dr. H. F. Drayton, in his work on Human Magnet- ism, says that there can be no doubt that much evil has been consummated by the employment of magnetized victims, and these poor victims have in some cases borne the punishment of broken laws, while the doubly villain- ous principal has escaped. The medico-legal records of France contain cases of shocking immorality, in which the perpetrators of the crime were incited to it by hypnotic suggestion. It is just as practicable to induce people to state things that they have never heard, commit perjury, or swear falsely, being made to believe that what they say is true, also by suggestion. Bottey convinced a woman that she had seen a certain 4 Win. M. McLaury. gentleman poison an old lady with opium, and when she awoke she hastened to the proper officer to make the accusation against this man. The fact should be noted as a dangerous feature that the hypnotized person does not, on awaking, remember the cause of suggestion, or from whom he received it, but in a judicial inquiry concerning the act, of one known to be susceptible, the ends of justice may be promoted by obtaining testimony from him while in a state of hypnotism, since the memory of what has occurred while in one state of hypnotism, revives in the next. However, it must be stated that the hypnotizer can neutralize even this ten- dency to revival by an order that the subject shall forget entirely all that was said or done when under control. The phenomena of Salem witchcraft, as also the epidemics of swoons and trance, may be scientifically accounted for by the hypnotism so frequently met with to-day. People are hypnotized without knowing it. Napoleon Bonaparte believed in a luck star and con- sulted oracles. General Rapp relates that, going one night unan- nounced into Napoleon's tent, he found him in so profound a reverie that his entrance was unnoticed. After some time the emperor turned around, and without any pream- ble, seized General Rapp by the arm, saying excitedly, pointing up to the sky, "Do you see that?" The gene- ral did not reply, but on the question being repeated, said he saw nothing. " What! " replied the emperor, " you cannot see it! It is my star! It is shining there before you ! It has never abandoned me ! I see it on all great occasions ! It orders me to go forward! It is a constant sign of good fortune ! " Of Cromwell, Denby relates, that on one occasion he was lying on his bed very much fatigued, when the curtains were drawn aside and a woman of gigantic stature ap- peared to him and prophesied his future greatness. Bodin relates the hallucinated condition of a friend of his, in which touch, sight and hearing were involved. In Hallucinations and Delusions. 5 the beginning he heard rappings at his door, after which time whenever he was about to do' anything dangerous or improper, he felt a touch on his right ear, and if what he was about to do was to be to his advantage the touch was on his left ear. On one occasion he saw on his bed an apparition of a child of marvelous beauty, clothed in white and purple. Soon afterwards he had a wonderful deliverance from imminent danger. Guy Patin shrewdly suspects this was Bodin's own per- sonal experience. In 1890 I had a patient, a man of 33, unmarried, Amer- ican, of Irish parentage, who had hallucinations and illusions somewhat remarkable. In the daytime, when wide awake, he would have visions of friends, acquaintances and relatives, with multitudes of unknown people, constantly passing be- fore his vision, but with a cloudy indistinctness, much more bulky and giant-like than the natural people; but in the midst of this vision, which would last for hours, he said I was always vividly distinct, and in proper form and shape. Sometimes he could distinctly hear my voice. Then the illusion would disappear. After these visions had haunted him for several weeks he began to see the doctor (myself) and someone he called the poet. Both appeared clear and distinct. A few weeks later, three people appeared to look natural to him, but with painful distinctness. These three he described as The Doctor, The Poet and The Clog Dancer. The crowds of other people constantly before him were large, vapory and indistinct. In April he wished me to send him to an insane asy- lum, fearing he would commit suicide if he was not placed under restraint. I told him he was not insane enough to be committed to the insane asylum, that all he required was to apply himself diligently, at regular hours, to his business, which was that of selling goods on commission. After repeated solicitations for me to send him some- where to protect him against himself, I sent him to Dr. Cole, a commissioner of lunacy, who examined him 6 Wm. M. McLaury. thoroughly. We went before a Court of Record and had the papers duly administered for his commitment, but before this was done he had improved somewhat and was willing to be guided by me. I advised him not to enter the asy- lum, assuring him that if he entered he would never come out alive. He was in the habit of coming to see me daily, or three or four times a week, and always claimed that it did him good every time he called on me. The last time I saw him was the 8th of October, 1890, when I told him I would be away from the city for ten days. He assured me he could not live ten days without seeing me, saying that it was only my influence over him that had kept him alive the last six years; but if he wished to, I told him to call and see my assistant. He did not call. I have had no word from him since, and I fear he has committed suicide, or perpetrated some act for which he has been arrested. I find no record of him anywhere in any of the institutions in which he would be likely to be found. November 22nd, 1890. To-day I saw a patient who was hallucinated with the idea that people, strangers to her, visit her rooms, scratch the walls, and leave imprints of their hands and feet thereon. Her sister, who is a religious monomaniac, says that it is because Kate has no religion, that she is so perse- cuted by evil apparitions. The simple truth is, both sisters have insane delusions, but each differing in character, Annie, the religious devotee, being the more melancholy and miserable of the two. A patient of mine related to me the hallucination he was under, that certain persons, nurses and doctors, were trying to kill him, and that he was compelled to fight them off to save his own life. He is now convinced that it was all a misconception, but painfully real to him then. It is this class of cases that give so much trouble to nurses and keepers of insane asylums which so frequently call for investigations for the correction of abuses therein. This patient died of cerebral apoplexy Sept. 14th, 1891. Hallucinations and Delusions. 7 I have now under treatment an accomplished lady who tells me she hears daily, for hours at a time, sweet, rap- turous, vocal music, but it is so prolonged and continuous that it becomes tiresome. Many persons become hallucinated with the idea that they hear human voices, talking to them, exclaiming vehe- mently, advising, denouncing and threatening. Socrates told the Athenians that he was continually influenced to heroic actions and good deeds by a demon. (There were good and evil demons in those times.) These influences to do good were attended by no voice, but he was restrained from evil and danger by a voice. This warning voice was never passed unheeded by him. By strictly observing and attending to the instruction and influence of the voiceless good demon, he could so influ- ence his friends and pupils, and even strangers, as to compel them to do his bidding (independent of word or look) at a distance, or when separated by walls. In the phraseology of to-day, he possessed the power of hypnot- izing by thought transference. He also had ecstasies and hallucinations, and some faith in dreams. (From these cir- cumstances M. Lelut concluded that he was insane.) He believed also in the prophetic power of the human soul. Cogyito ergo sum /-the motto of the philosopher Des- cart. /The power to think and think rightly, sanely, embraced the total of human existence. He said all clear ideas are true. Hence he elaborated his Mathemat- ical or Deductive Method. B. Spinoza elaborated and exemplified this philosophy. Nations as well as individuals become infatuated and deluded. Christian nations look upon the Mohammedans as the victims of a stupendous delusion. The followers of Islam are sure that Christians and Jews are deluded. Indeed all sects who are bound indi- vidually to each other by dogmas or creeds, each one is assured that all the rest are misled and bound by their delusions, and inasmuch as all are superstitious, they give 8 Wm. M. McLaury. better judgment on the faith of others than on their own. The only class of individuals who are free from supersti- tious delusions are the philosophers who are searching for truth for truth's sake, and are willing to follow where she leads, even to blank materialism. Church people look upon modern Spiritualism as a delusion, yet they are very ready to believe in Bible Spir- itualism, which philosophers would accept or reject, one or both, according to the amount of rational evidence either might be able to produce. Such Bible teaching as "the handwriting on the wall," at Belshazzar's feast, and "the transfiguration on the mount," with several other incidents of like import, would at once be recognized as material manifestations of spirit power, as claimed by modern Spiritualists, and may occur in our day and generation as truly as in Bible times. Since the time that Herodotus, the father of history, began to write, we have in every generation manifestations of spirit presence and power recorded, under various names and in all countries. Hypnotized subjects lose their will-power, because they are dominated by the thought, will and suggestion of another, and they cannot rise higher in moral senti- ment than that which actuates or inspires the hypno- tizer. Inasmuch as persons of rare acquirements, good mind and intellect, may be held under the hypnotic influence of persons every way inferior to them and without their being aware that they are so influenced, is to be deplored by everyone devoted to the welfare and development of our race. I believe from my own observation of cases, persons may become insane or idiotic by the persistence of the hypnotic suggestion. Dr. Rush relates the case of a young lady who had been for some time confined in a lunatic asylum whose only indication of insanity was indifference and even hatred to her parents, whom she had previously devotedly loved. Hallucinations and Delusions. 9 At length she one day acknowledged with pleasure her fil- ial attachment and was soon afterwards discharged, entirely recovered. There is a great variety in the manner and degree to which the mind is influenced by hypnotism and other extraneous and erroneous impressions. In many cases it effectually changes the whole character of the individual. Its general tendency is to lower the moral tone. Accus- tomed occupations become odious; the nearest and dear- est friends become objects of indifference or aversion. Abercrombie relates the case of a wealthy man who became hallucinated with a matter of business, of a trifling nature, which rendered him callous to the most important and serious incidents, destroying his affection for his fam- ily. The death of one of his children occurring at the time, did not affect him or depress him in the slightest degree. Those who were present on the evening of February 3rd and listened to the very interesting and instructive paper on "Phrenology and the Physician," by our es- teemed ex-Secretary, Dr. Laidlaw, may recall the remarks of Prof. Nelson Sizer, in' discussing Dr. Laidlaw's paper, where he related the complete recovery of cases of many years' duration, as well as recent ones, by the local treat- ment of the areas of the brain. Doctors and others familiar with people suffering from delusions and hallucinations know that for twelve, fifteen or twenty years they will harp on the one subject in their delusion, and be fairly natural on other subjects. Prof. Sizer would point out the brain area to be treated by the phrenological action, of the particular mental condition of the patient. A captain in one of the regiments serving in the war of the Rebellion, who was for several weeks a prisoner at Andersonville, returned home at the close of the war with shattered health. A few years later he became hallucinated with the idea that he had committed the " unpardonable sin." This so depressed him that eventually 10 Wm. M. McLaury. his friends were compelled to send him to an insane asylum, where I visited a few weeks later. The first time I saw him there, one of his sisters was with him. As I entered, he exclaimed with excited voice and manner: " Well, if there isn't the ghost of Dr. McLaury." I replied, " Why do you call me a ghost, Captain? You may assure yourself that I am something more real than a ghost." His reply was, " Well, you know I died at such a time (mentioning about the time he was committed), and as I had repeatedly told you that I had committed the ' unpardonable sin,' and at death should immediately pass into hell. Now I know I am not in hell-I am sure I am not in heaven-I can- not tell where I am, but I know that the ghosts of my earthly friends appear to me. This is the first time that you have appeared, but my sisters and Masonic friends frequently appear, but whether you are Dr. McLaury really, or a ghost, I want a little private conversation with you." This patient recovered suddenly, to the surprise of all the doctors who saw him. I have now under observation a member of the legal profession, who is continually annoyed by people trying to electrify him. He fancies he hears them in the walls and ceilings of his house; they are continually plotting his ruin, and that of his family. He frequently calls his sisters in the middle of the night, to help him to resist their evil machinations. I have scores of letters that he has written to me on this subject. He's Blown to Pieces Frequently.-A Man who Thinks his Body is Pierced with Electric Wires. The man in the Hudson County Insane Asylum who was afflicted with the idea that he had a telephone in his stomach now thinks he is being tortured with electric batteries. This man was a telephone crank before the first telephone was put in use. It has been his hobby for a year or more. He began to hear voices talking to him wherever he went. Soon after the first telephone came into use he visited a place where there was one to experiment with. The instant he heard a real Hallucinations and Delusions. 11 voice through the transmitter he became violently insane. He smashed the instrument to pieces. He was taken to the Hudson County Asylum in a strait-jacket, and has been there ever since. He was one of the curiosities of the asylum. He talked rationally on any subject that visitors chose to talk about, but right in the middle of his conversa- tion, without any warning, he would exclaim: " There's that fellow again, dang it all. Hello! hello! down there: what's wanted? Now, just hear him ring that bell, as though I didn't hear and answer him. Hello! I say, down there, hello! Well, if he won't answer, let him go." Then he would resume conversation just where he left off. Some- times he would think the imaginary voice answered him, and would carry on a long conversation with him, always at the end complaining of the rumpus the fellow created in his stomach. The officials of the asylum don't know what caused him to change his delusion. It was done suddenly. One day recently, when the doctor talked with him, he said: "This is awful, doctor. Those batteries down stairs have got to be taken out. They are killing me." The doctor asked him for an explanation, and he said that " a lot of bat- teries had been put in the cellar, and that wires running from them went right through his body. Then they turned them on!" he exclaimed, and began to dance up and down and shout and cry out in apparent agony. At last he gave an extraordinary loud shout, and his arms and legs flew out and about in every direction. He explained afterward that he had been blown to pieces by the electricity. At intervals ever since then he has had similar spells which very often ended in his blowing to pieces. He acts and talks rationally nearly all the time. In the midst of one of these spells one day the doctor said to him. "You are only fooling yourself. There is no battery and no electric machinery in the cellar. Come with me and I will show you." The man accompanied him gladly. The cellar was searched thoroughly. When the search was concluded the man turned to the doctor and said: "You are a foxy doctor, ain't you. You knew you would bring me down here, and so you had it all taken away to fool me, but you can't do it." The doctor went back up stairs with him. At the head of the stairs the man said: " There, you pressed the button and it's back again. You don't dare take me down now." There are many cases recorded of cures being effected, as well as insanity caused, by accidental blows on the head. Dewes cites a case of a man who left his house at night with the determination of drowning himself, when he was attacked by robbers. He did his best to escape 12 Win. M. McLaury. from them, and having done so, returned to his home with his suicidal ideas entirely dissipated. Dr. Burrows mentions a similar case of a woman in the act of attempting suicide. An accidental blow on her head changed her purpose and restored her to reason. A man who was greatly fatigued by a long journey on horseback, and suffering severely from headache, concluded he would have to abandon his purpose of reaching his home, ten miles distant, without taking a much-needed rest. While in this mood of giving up he was suddenly pursued by highwaymen. He urged his horse and escaped them, and when the danger was passed, rode the remainder of the way without weariness or headache. Last August I attended at one of the hotels in this city the wife of a hotelkeeper at Galveston, Texas. They were on a visit of pleasure to New York. The lady was ill before leaving home, and became very sick the second day after their arrival. In ten days she had so improved that they returned to their Southern home. I had a letter from her husband a few days ago, inform- ing me that she had kept up the treatment for a month and that she has never been so well since he knew her, as since her return, but she has no distinct recollection of anything of her visit to New York but my attendance, daily visits and treatment. All that she remembers dis- tinctly to the minutest detail, and now she wishes to return and complete her visit. A lady, 30 years of age, suffering from a fatal illness, told her nurse shortly before death, that Dr. McLaury had deserted her and sent another doctor to take charge of her. This doctor she said was going to shoot her dead. She was sure of it, as she distinctly saw the pistol under his coat. My friend Dr. J. L. Campbell, of this city, had a patient, belonging to a wealthy family, who was prepar- ing to celebrate her 17th birthday. They were making extensive preparations, and she was in a high state of pleasurable excitement in her anticipations. Hallucinations and Delusions. 13 On the morning of the festive day, she slept so pro- foundly, that she could not be aroused, and for several days seemed most of the time asleep. When she did partially awake, she remembered nothing of all her past life, was dull, stupid, and almost idiotic. Her parents employed all the medical skill that wealth could pro- duce, in her behalf, but she did not improve, until nearly four years later, when she was under no special treat- ment, she awoke on a Sunday morning bright and early, perfectly clear and lucid, sprang out of bed, and com- menced preparations for the party, where she had left off three or four years before, and wondered at the indiffer- ence of her family in regard to her birthday. I believe she continues well. I can only account for these cases of sudden recovery, on the theory, that there is an impediment, or clogging of some portion of the brain. It was probably blood clot, which was suddenly absorbed, or sluiced, leaving the brain clear, active, and in its normal condition. Mr. Abernethy mentions a Frenchman who spent most of his life in England, and who for many years had lost the habit of speaking French, but while suffering from an injury to the head, again spoke only in his native tongue with readiness and fluency. An inmate of St. Thomas's Hospital, in a state of stupor, in consequence of an injury to the head, on recovering his speech, spoke only a language that none of the attendants could understand. The attending physician discovered it to be Welsh, which he had not spoken before in thirty years. On regaining perfect recovery he was unable to speak Welsh, and again spoke English. Dr. Pritchard, mentions a lady, who when in a state of delirium, spoke only a language which none of those around her could understand, which also was discovered to be Welsh. None of her friends could form any con- ception of the way in which she had learned this lan- guage, but after much inquiry, it was discovered, that in 14 Wm. M. McLaury. her childhood, she had a Welsh nurse. She had never been known to speak it since her early childhood, till this attack of fever. A German lady, married to an Englishman, and for many years accustomed to speaking English, during a certain illness, was unable to speak except in German, which her English attendants could not understand, only as her husband acted as interpreter. A woman, a native of the Highlands, Scotland, accus- tomed only to speaking English, suffered an attack of apoplexy. When she was so far recovered as to look around her, with an appearance of intelligence, the doctor could not make her comprehend anything he said to her, or answer the most simple question. He then desired one of her friends to address her in Gaelic, and she immedi- ately answered. Dr. Rush cites a case of a yellow fever patient in New York, who in the beginning of his illness spoke English, in the middle French, and on the day of his death only Italian. A Lutheran clergyman informed Dr. Rush, that a number of Germans and Swedes in his congregation when approaching death, always prayed in their native languages, although some of them he was confident had not spoken these languages for fifty or sixty years. Abercrombie relates a case of a boy, who at the age of four years, received a fracture of the skull, for which he was trepanned. He was trephined at the time, and after his recovery, retained no recollection of the accident or the operation. At the age of 15, when suffering from a delirium of fever, he gave his mother a correct descrip- tion of the operation, persons who were present at it with the doctors, and other minute particulars. He had never been known to allude to it before, and no means were known by which he could have acquired a knowl- edge of the circumstances. An eminent medical friend informs me, that during a delirium of fever, he on occasion repeated long passages Hallucinations and Delusions. 15 of Homer, which he could not do when in health. Another friend mentioned to me that in a similar situation there were presented to his mind, in a most vivid manner, the circumstances of a journey in the Highlands, which he had performed long before, includ- ing many minute particulars, which he had long ago forgotten. A surgeon riding home from a visit to a patient, was thrown from his horse, and carried into a house in a state of insensibility. Consciousness soon returned. He described the accident distinctly, and gave minute direc- tions in regard to his own treatment, one part of which was to be bled. He conversed sensibly and correctly with the medical man who visited him in the evening, was bled, returned to his own house, his medical friend taking him home in a carriage. As they drew near home, the medical friend made some observations respecting precautions to be taken, with regard to preventing unneces- sary alarm to the wife and family of the patient, when to his astonishment, he found that the patient had lost all idea of having a wife or children. This condition con- tinued during the following day, and it was only on the third day, after repeated bleedings, that the circumstances of his past life began to recur to his mind. On the other hand, remarkable instances occur of the permanency made upon the mind, previous to such injuries, though the mental faculties are entirely obscured, to all subsequent impressions. Dr. Connolly cites a case of a young clergyman, who when on the point of being married, suffered from an injury on the head, by which intelligence was entirely and permanently deranged. He lived in this condition to the age of eighty, and to the last talked of nothing but his approaching wedding, expressing impatience for the arrival of the happy day. A very dear friend of mine, on recovering from a long and severe illness, could recollect vividly and with indescribable satisfaction many events of her childhood 16 Wm. M. McLaury. life while visiting at the old homestead of her grand- father. She seemed to appreciate this, even more vividly, than the realities of her vigorous and buoyant youth. It is chiefly in connection with attacks of an apoplectic nature that we meet with similar examples of loss of memory on particular topics, or extending only to a par- ticular period. One of the most common is the loss of memory of words or of names, while the patient retains a correct idea of things and persons. A patient of Dr. Gregory, after recovering from an apo- plectic attack, could state correctly her ideas of things, but could not name them. In giving directions regarding family matters she was quite distinct, as to what she wished, but could make herself understood only by going through the house, and pointing to the various articles. A singular modification of this condition has come under my direct observation. A gentleman could not be made to understand the name of an object, if it was spoken to him, but understood perfectly if it was written for him. Another frequent modification consists in putting one name for another, but always using words in the same sense. One patient mentioned by Dr. Abercrombie, uniformly calls his snuff-box a hogshead. The reason assigned for that, was, that in the early part of his life he had been in Virginia, in the tobacco trade, so that the transi- tion from snuff to tobacco, and tobacco to the hogs- heads in which it was packed, seemed to be natural. Another gentleman affected in a similar manner, when he wanted coals to put on his fire, always called for paper, and when he wanted paper, called for coals, and these words he always used in the same manner. In other cases, the patient seemed to invent names, using words which to a stranger were quite unintelligible, but he always used them in the same sense, so that his immediate attendants came to know what he meant by them. A young lady suffered from a shock caused by the Hallucinations and Delusions. 17 falling of a gallery of a church. She escaped without injury, but without a recollection of the circumstances of the accident, and this extended, not only to the accident, but to everything that had happened to her for a certain time before going to church. A gentleman mentioned by Dr. Beattie, who after a blow on the head, lost his knowledge of Greek but did not appear to have lost anything else. A few years ago, I had a patient, so hallucinated with the idea that he was under police espionage, that he could neither eat nor sleep. - He said that there were detectives on every corner watching to arrest or give evidence against him. My efforts to convince him that this was only an impression on his mind, and not a reality, proved futile, until I took him in my carriage, drove over to the 20th Precinct station house, introduced him to Captain Wash- burn, and asked him if he knew the man, to which he replied, he did not. I said, " Captain, are you sure you have not detectives watching him ? Are you sure that he is a good man? and that he does not require watching? If so I want you to re-assure him of the fact," which he did. This interview with the captain dispelled this hallucination. The patient slowly recovered by careful attention to diet and a few medicinal remedies for build- ing up the brain and nerve power. In a work entitled " Duality of Mind," the author relates a case of an intelligent, amiable man, who had the power of placing before him, at will, his own image. He often laughed at this Eidolon, which also seemed to laugh at him. This was for some time a diversion, but the result was deplorable. This other self discussed obstinately with him, and to his great disgust often worsted him in the argument. At length, wearied with ennui, he resolved not to enter upon another year. He arranged all his affairs, with the utmost method, awaited, pistol in hand, the night of the 31st of December, and when the clock struck midnight, shot himself. 18 Wm. M. McLaury. Doubtless all present are familiar with the historical legend of Constantine: " Hoc Signum Vidus" This is one of the myths of our religion, and they are numer- ous all along the line of Christian literature. To illustrate this, we will cite Lord Herbert, who in writing his book on the " Falsity of Revealed Religion," devoted to it every spare moment he could snatch from business. In doubt as to its publication, he on one occasion prayed audibly for a sign to guide his decision, with regard to publishing it, and affirms that he had no sooner concluded his prayer than he heard a loud but agreeable sound in the heavens, proceeding from a clear sky. This gave him great joy, believing as he did, that this was the sign he craved, approving of its publication. It may be remarked that the work in question was against, rather than favorable, to Christianity. Semiramis saw everywhere the pale specter of Ninas, and Brutus was haunted by the apparition of his familiar friend Caesar. As everyone will recollect, Brutus, at the Ides of March, surrounded by darkness and solitude, seeing vividly an apparition which he addressed, demanded an explanation of her intrusion upon his solitude, to which she replied, ''I am thy evil genius. I will meet thee again at Phillipi," where Brutus met his death. In this apparition there is no reason to believe that the eye was imposed upon. The impression might have been made upon the brain, independent of the organ of vision. Hatch cites a case of a young woman of 24, who could neither read nor write, who while suf- fering from nervous fever, talked fluently, in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, in pompous tones. The priests and monks who visited her said she was suffering from demoniacal possession, and that the devil spoke through her. This possession was rendered more probable, as she had been a heretic. A young physician visited her, wrote down hundreds of pages of her ravings, which were found to consist of Hallucinations and Delusions. 19 sentences, coherent and intelligible, each by itself, but with little or no connection with each other. All trick or conspiracy in this case was out of the question. The young doctor traced back all her former life, and found that when she was about nine years of age, she was the ward of a Protestant clergyman, who had been in the habit, for years, of walking through the library and halls of his house, reading and reciting in a loud tone. A great many inventors and men of genius perform their most wonderful exploits when on the verge of madness. Dr. Rush says, talent for eloquence, poetry, music and painting, and uncommon ingenuity in several of the mechanical arts, are found involved in this mental con- dition. He describes a female patient, who while suffering from puerperal insanity, sung hymns and songs of her own composition during the latter part of her illness, with a tone of voice so soft and pleasant that he lingered and listened with delight, every time that he visited her. She had never discovered a talent for poetry, or music, in any previous part of her life. It is a well-known fact that Edgar Allen Poe wrote " The Raven " while he was delirious. Dr. Beasly says we observe in mad people an unsus- pected resuscitation of knowledge, hence we hear them describe past events and hear them speak in ancient and modern languages, or repeat long and interesting passages from books, none of which we are sure they were capable of recollecting in their natural and healthy state of mind. A young man, says Archbishop Bordeaux, was in the habit of getting up in the night, in a state of somnam- bulism, going into his study, taking pen, ink and paper, and composing and writing sermons. When he had finished one page of the paper on which he was writ- ing, he would read it over aloud and correct it. In order to ascertain whether the somnambulist made 20 Wm. M. McLauiy. use of his eyes, the archbishop held a piece of paste- board under his chin, to prevent him seeing the paper upon which he was writing, but he continued to write on without being incommoded in the slightest degree. The paper upon which he was writing was taken away and another placed before him, but he immediately- perceived the change. He wrote pieces of music while in this state, in the same manner, with his eyes closed. The words he placed underneath the music. It happened upon one occasion that the words written by him were in too large a character, and did not stand exactly under the corresponding notes, he soon perceived the error, erased the part, and wrote it over with great exactness. Gassendi tells us of a man, who used to rise and dress himself in his sleep, go to the cellar, and draw wine from a cask, while in a somnambulistic state. He appeared to see as well in the dark as on a clear day, but when he awoke, either in the cellar or in the street, he was obliged to grope or feel his way back to his bed. When spoken to while in this state, he always answered as if he was awake, but in the morning recollected noth- ing that had happened. Gassendi mentions a countryman of his who passed on streets over frozen torrents, in the night, but on awaking dared not return before daylight, or before the water had subsided. Somnambulism is believed to be hereditary. Some time before the Revolution, in the northwestern part of North Carolina, in what is now known as Ashville, there lived a family by the name of Porter. The head of the family one day was called away from home on busi- ness, and remained longer than was expected. The wife, in her anxiety for her husband's safe return (for the surrounding country was infested with hostile Indi- ans), kept a sharp lookout from day to day, and, much to her joy, saw the well-known horse and rider coming into Hallucinations and Delusions. 21 the yard. She waited a long time for him, and becom- ing uneasy, went to the stable. Much to her hor- ror, she found neither horse nor rider. Then she retraced her steps, expecting at least to find traces of the foot-prints of the horse. But she was doomed to disappointment. Becoming alarmed she aroused her neighbors, and they instituted a search for him. He was found in the woods,, having been murdered by the Indians at the time she had supposed he had driven into the yard of his home. Abercrombie, in his chapter on Spectral Visions, cites a case of Dr. Gregory's, in which the patient saw an old woman in a red cloak, who seemed to come up to him and strike him with her crutch on the head, at which he fell down in an apoplectic fit. This particular vision was noticed in each successive attack. Dr. Ferrier mentions a case of a man who, while in a state of mental excitement, while awake, for several months was haunted constantly by figures of men, women, ani- mals and birds. Dr. Albertson mentions a saloonkeeper who saw a soldier endeavoring to force himself into a house in a threatening manner. When, on pushing forward to pre- vent him, he was astonished to find it a phantom. He had also a succession of visions of persons long dead, and of others who were living. He says; "I have known a patient describe distinctly a dance of fairies, on the floor of the apartment, and give most minute account of their figures and dresses." A writer in the Christian Observer mentions a lady who, during a severe illness, repeatedly saw her father, who resided at a distance of many hundreds of miles, come to her bedside and, drawing the curtain aside, address her, in his usual voice and manner. A medical friend relates a case of a relative of his own, a lady 50, who, on retiring one evening from a party, went into a dark room to lay aside some part of her clothing, when she saw distinctly before her the figure of death, as a skeleton, with its arm uplifted, with a dart 22 Wm. M. McLaufy. in its hand. It instantly aimed a blow at her with the dart, which seemed to strike her on the left side. That same night she was seized with a fever, accompanied by symptoms of inflammation in the left side, but recovered after a severe illness. So strongly was the vision impressed upon her mind that even for some time after her recov- ery, she could never pass the room where she saw the vision without becoming agitated. Trains of thought bring up images to the mind which appear as real visions. Dr. Gregory says of his father, who having gone to bed with a vessel of hot water at his feet, dreamed that he was walking on the crater of Mount ^Etna, feeling the ground warm under him. He had visited Mount Vesuvius and had actually felt a sense of warmth when walking near the crater. It was strange the dream was not of Vesuvius instead of ./Etna, of which he had only a description. There are many cases which show the mind to be active while the body is asleep. Also that certain bodily functions may be dormant while others are alert. The faculty of locomotion may be in exercise while the senses are in slumber, as is indicated by soldiers sleeping while on their march. It is abundantly evident that the spirit is not only awake during sleep of the body, but that it is constantly on the alert, and that it has a certain supervision over the body, so that it rouses into consciousness whenever it becomes necessary for so doing. A physician will not heed the cry from a child which instantly arouses the mother, but the slightest sound of his night-bell will rouse him. He may get up, go out and return without his wife being aware of it. When we fix a determination in the mind to awaken at a certain time the mind wills it and we awake, while if we trust another to waken us the mind relaxes its vigi- lance and fails to rouse the body. It is not on the alert for measuring time nor listening to sound. An alarm Hallucinations and Delusions. 23 clock will awaken a person while louder noises in the street will be passed by unheeded. Anyone unaccustomed to having another enter his room after his retiring will usually be awakened by his approach, however silent it may be. Every phenomenon connected with the human constitu? tion goes to show that man is a two-fold being, possess- ing an outward and an inward consciousness. The simplest and most common form of this is the ordinary sleep and the usual wakefulness. Between these two conditions he continually alternates and derives his rest, not from the state of unconsciousness, but by changing his conscious actions from one plane to another. His alternations of these forces, therefor?, between the correlative planes of the outer and inner life, is to the human constitution what day and night, summer and winter are to the planetary system. A man may be thinking or reading in a perfectly lucid, conscious manner, but on closing his eyes his mind imme- diately reverts to other scenes and thoughts, and many times with more activity than in his wide-awake moments. Dr. Read relates of himself, that after a blister on his head, having become irritated, causing pain, he dreamed of falling into the hands of savages and being scalped by them. Every event must have a cause adequate to the result. Appearances showing a correct application of means to an end, indicate design and intelligence in the cause. Dr. Abercombie says, by memory we retain the impression of facts and events. With recollection we recall them into the mind, by voluntary effort. By concep- tion we recall portions of the impressions of casual scenes, persons or transactions; thus, a skillful painter can delineate from conception a landscape considerable time after he has seen it, or the countenance of a friend who is dead or absent. These appear to be the leading phenomena which are referable to the head of memory. There seem to be 24 Wnt. M. McLaury. original differences in the power of memory, some indi- viduals being remarkable for retaining memory, though not otherwise distinguished by their intellectual endow- ments. Thus persons have been known to repeat a long discourse after hearing it once, or even a series of things, without connection, as a long column of figures, or a number of words without meaning. There is a man on record, who could repeat the whole contents* of a newspaper, and of another who could retain words that were dictated to him, without any con- nection, to the amount of 6,000. A man mentioned by Seneca, after hearing a poet read a new poem, claimed it for his own, and in pursuance of this claim, repeated the poem from beginning to end, which the author himself could not do. A similar anecdote is told of an Englishman whom the King of Prussia placed behind a screen, when Vol- taire came to read him a new poem of considerable length. The king derided him on claiming the author- ship of the poem, and soon called the Englishman, who had overheard the reading of it, who repeated it word for word. But these prodigies of memory do not manifest other intellectual powers to correspond. Though the mere memory of words may be met with in a high degree in persons of a defective understanding, it is true also that men of high endowments have to be remarkable for memory. I have written something more on the effect of vision^ and dreams on peoples and nations as well as individuals/ but I will not detain you further than to say that there is a universal law underlying all these phenomena. " There is a sufficient cause for every effect." Now if noting and tabulating these various mental phenomena will enable anthropological students to comprehend and understand this law, the objects of this paper will have been attained. It is said that Themistocles could call the names of all the men of Athens, amounting to twenty-thousand, Hallucinations and Delusions. 25 and that Cyrus knew the name of every man in his army. It is reported that the late Dr. Lyden was remark- able for his memory. It is said that he could repeat correctly a long Act of Parliament, or any simular docu- ment, after once having read it. When a friend congratulated him on his remarkable power in this respect, he replied, that it was often a source of great inconvenience, as well as an advantage. This he explained by saying that when he wished to recollect a particular point in anything, which he had read, he could do it only by repeating to himself the whole, until he reached the point which he wished to recollect. I cannot conclude this paper without alluding from an anthropological stand-point, to the wonderful influence that visions and dreams have had upon our race. The establishment of religious creeds and dogmas of all nations have had for their origin and foundation the belief in these unsubstantial vagaries. Even the divine Plato was a believer 'in visions and dreams. Dreams and visions comprise an important part of the sacred scriptures. All inspired writers seem to have been impressed with the importance of these evidences of spirit manifestations. The Pentateuch, the Prophets, the Apostles, all dwell with minuteness of detail upon this phase of evidence of supernatural inspiration. Even the evidence of the dogmas of faith in the Christian religion largely rest on Mary's vision, and Joseph's dream. The Buddhists' faith is also visionary, but much more ancient and direct. In the Oriental faith, Buddha sus- stains the same relation to Brahma that Christ does to God. Correlatively, the Buddhists are the Christians, and the Brahmins are the Jews of great antiquity. The legend of the Buddhistic writers (of a time 600 to 1,000 years before the Christian Era), as inscribed on the tablets and temples in India, is that Mai, a Virgin of the ancestral line, having been impregnated by a ray of light from Deity, in due time gave birth to Gantama 26 Wm. M. McLaury. Buddha, who, by his deific parentage, became endowed with superhuman talents and powers. He was enabled to heal the sick, cast out evil spirits, and even to raise the dead, and by special aid and dis- pensation from Brahma, the Father God, was enabled to struggle against and to destroy the Giant of Evil, for which he was surnamed Christna. The legend then recounts many wonders, miracles and prodigies, accomplished by him, and finally closes with the assertion that he died a martyr for the peace of mankind on earth. The ancient faiths place Buddha synonymous with Vishnu, as the second^pers^r^in the Brahminical trinity, Brahma Vishnu, Siva -VjistauT being the incarnation of which the sacred books of the Hindoos declare will be reincarnated in seven separate atavors or mani- festations to mankind. OTHER PAPERS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. I.-AN ESSAY ON THE MIND. II.-LIGHT AS AN ORGANIC STIMULANT. Read before the N. W. Medical aud Surgical Society, Nov. 17, 1874. III.-INSANITY AND HALLUCINATION AS SUPERINDUCED BY DISEASE OF OTHER ORGANS THAN THE BRAIN. Read before the N. W. Medical and Surgical Society, March 21, 1877. IV.-A PAPER ON HYDROPHOBIA. V.-A PAPER ON HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION. Read before the N. W. Medical and Surgical Society, Sept. 17, 1879. VI.-SOCIAL ETHICS; BEING A DISCUSSION OF CHARLES H. KITCHELLS, ESQ., PAPER ON "THE SOCIAL EVIL." Read before the Society of Medical Jurisprudence and State Medicine. VII.-THE SENSES-FIVE OR SEVEN. Read before the N. Y. Academy of Anthropology. VIII.-A PAPER ON CREMATION. Read before the N. Y. State Medical Society. IX.-REMARKS ON THE RELATION OF MENSTRUATION TO THE SEXUAL, FUNCTIONS. Read before the N. W. Medical and Surgical Society. X.-A TREATISE ON CRIME AND CRIMINALS Read before the N. Y. Academy of Anthropology. XL-A BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH OF THE N. W. MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SOCIETY. Read at the 20th Anniversary of the N. W. Medical and Surg- ical Society, October 20, 1889. XII.-PAPER ON CHOLERA. Read before the N. W. Medical and Surgical Society. Oct., 1891. XIII-ADDRESS. Delivered on Retiring from the Presidency of the Syrian So- Society, May 4, 1893.