SKETCHES 792H-2 OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF APPARITIONS; OR, AN ATTEMPT TO TRACE SUCH ILLUSIONS TO BY SAMUEL HIBBERT, M.D. F.R.S.E. SECRETARY TO THE SOCIETY OF SCOTTISH ANTIQUARIES, &c. &c. &c. "I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Which outwardly ye show?"-Macbeth. THE SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED. EDINBURGH: PUBLISHED BY OLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE-COURT; AND GEQ B. WHITTAKER, LONDON. 1825. KONINKLIJKE то SIR WALTER SCOTT OF ABBOTSFORD, BART. PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, &c. &c. &c. SIR, AMONG the pages of your various works, are many incidental notices of early and prevailing superstitions, from the perusal of which I have often experienced a more than common degree of interest, on account of their intimate connexion with the history of the Human Mind. You have, indeed, yourself occasionally adverted to the importance of investigating the mental principles to which certain popular illusions may be referred: in most respectfully, therefore, inscribing to you this little volume, in which such an attempt has been made, I beg that it may be considered as a sincere testimony of gratitude for the pleasure and advantage which I have frequently derived from your literary labours. PREFACE. In the winter of 1823, I had the honour of reading an Essay on Spectral Impressions to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Whatever interest it excited was rather due to the subject, than to the degree of success with which a theory of apparitions could possibly be discussed in the limits of a short paper. This consideration, therefore, among others, has given rise to the present volume. The plan of this work may now be briefly stated : In the first place, a view is given of the various opinions, ancient as well as modern, which have been entertained on the subject of apparitions. The hypothesis, however, which I have myself preferred, is, that apparitions are nothing more than ideas, or the recollected images of the mind, which have been rendered more vivid than actual impressions. |