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Article NOTES ON SOMNAMBULISM. ← Page 6 of 9 →
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Notes On Somnambulism.
least aided , by a vigorous exercise of the power of abstraction . At the same time , it is Avell known that they have had at command highly nourishing food , prepared by condensation into a very small compass . The fakirs must , undoubtedly , be enabled to go through their frightful tortures and protracted existence in wretchednessbsome such entire removal of the
, y mind from earthly contemplation . " " We have sufficient examples of what mental determination can do in overcoming the sense of pain , " observed Mr . Clairvoy ; " in the martyrs , AA'ho would speak words of hope even Avhile their flesh was consuming . " " No doubt it is a similar exercise of will that sustains the
fakirs and the Mandan Indians , who suspend themselves by skeAvers thrust through various portions of their bodies . That these fanatics really endure the bodily pain which must ensue , we cannot believe ; they really do not feel it in all its aeuteness , being in a sense removed from bodily existence by their ecstatic contemplation . In fact , these circumstances , as well
as somnambulism , are illustrations of the general principle of the influence of the mind over the body . There are mysteries in the nature and mode of action of the mind which can be but dimly apprehended , although mesmerists , among other peiwerters of science , have attempted to explain some of them by the improbable hypothesis of a fluid medium of communication . This singular fallacy is not new . Aristotle and Hippocrates Avrite of phenomena very similar to those of the faculty called ' second sight . '"
" We may recollect , " observed my friend , " on this point the classical example of prevision in the Delphian oracle . In the centre of the temple there was a small opening in the ground , from Avhich , from time to time , an intoxicating vapour arose . No traces of this mephitic exhalation are noAV anywhere observable . Over this chasm there stood a tripod , on Avhich the priestess , called Pythia , took her seat whenever the oracle was to be consulted . The words which she uttered
after exhaling the vapour Avere believed to contain the revelation of Apollo . " " St . Paul , " I added , " cast a ' spirit of divination' out of a damsel of Philippi ; and you no doubt remember the account of the woman that had a familiar spirit at Endor , and who raised up the spirit of Samuel . The theory of apparitions is
that they , being forcibly present to the mind , are thence communicated to the sense of sight , and are , in fact , really seen . Hamlet tells his friend that he sees his father , and quiets his
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notes On Somnambulism.
least aided , by a vigorous exercise of the power of abstraction . At the same time , it is Avell known that they have had at command highly nourishing food , prepared by condensation into a very small compass . The fakirs must , undoubtedly , be enabled to go through their frightful tortures and protracted existence in wretchednessbsome such entire removal of the
, y mind from earthly contemplation . " " We have sufficient examples of what mental determination can do in overcoming the sense of pain , " observed Mr . Clairvoy ; " in the martyrs , AA'ho would speak words of hope even Avhile their flesh was consuming . " " No doubt it is a similar exercise of will that sustains the
fakirs and the Mandan Indians , who suspend themselves by skeAvers thrust through various portions of their bodies . That these fanatics really endure the bodily pain which must ensue , we cannot believe ; they really do not feel it in all its aeuteness , being in a sense removed from bodily existence by their ecstatic contemplation . In fact , these circumstances , as well
as somnambulism , are illustrations of the general principle of the influence of the mind over the body . There are mysteries in the nature and mode of action of the mind which can be but dimly apprehended , although mesmerists , among other peiwerters of science , have attempted to explain some of them by the improbable hypothesis of a fluid medium of communication . This singular fallacy is not new . Aristotle and Hippocrates Avrite of phenomena very similar to those of the faculty called ' second sight . '"
" We may recollect , " observed my friend , " on this point the classical example of prevision in the Delphian oracle . In the centre of the temple there was a small opening in the ground , from Avhich , from time to time , an intoxicating vapour arose . No traces of this mephitic exhalation are noAV anywhere observable . Over this chasm there stood a tripod , on Avhich the priestess , called Pythia , took her seat whenever the oracle was to be consulted . The words which she uttered
after exhaling the vapour Avere believed to contain the revelation of Apollo . " " St . Paul , " I added , " cast a ' spirit of divination' out of a damsel of Philippi ; and you no doubt remember the account of the woman that had a familiar spirit at Endor , and who raised up the spirit of Samuel . The theory of apparitions is
that they , being forcibly present to the mind , are thence communicated to the sense of sight , and are , in fact , really seen . Hamlet tells his friend that he sees his father , and quiets his