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303
The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
·
Andrew Lang
93
As
there
are,
undeniably,
many
examples
of
hallucinatory
appearances
of
persons
in
perfect
health
and
ordinary
circumstances,
the
question
has
been
asked
whether
there
are
more
cases
of
an
apparition
coinciding
with
death
than,
according
to
the
doctrine
of
chances,
there
ought
to
be.
Out
of
about
18,000
answers
to
questions
on
this
subject,
has
been
deduced
the
conclusion
that
the
deaths
do
coincide
with
the
apparitions
to
an
extent
beyond
mere
accident.
Even
if
we
had
an
empty
hallucination
for
every
case
coinciding
with
death,
we
could
not
set
the
coincidences
down
to
mere
chance.
As
well
might
we
say
that
if
"at
the
end
of
an
hour's
rifle
practice
at
long-distance
range,
the
record
shows
that
for
every
shot
that
has
hit
the
bull's
eye,
another
has
missed
the
target,
therefore
the
shots
that
hit
the
target
did
so
by
accident."
{92}
But
as
empty
hallucinations
are
more
likely
to
be
forgotten
than
those
which
coincide
with
a
death;
as
exaggeration
creeps
in,
as
the
collectors
of
evidence
are
naturally
inclined
to
select
and
question
people
whom
they
know
to
have
a
good
story
to
tell,
the
evidence
connecting
apparitions,
voices,
and
so
on
with
deaths
is
not
likely
to
be
received
with
favour.
One
thing
must
be
remembered
as
affecting
the
theory
that
the
coincidence
between
the
wraith
and
the
death
is
purely
an
accident.
Everybody
dreams
and
out
of
the
innumerable
dreams
of
mankind,
a
few
must
hit
the
mark
by
a
fluke.
But
hallucinations
are
not
nearly
so
common
as
dreams.
Perhaps,
roughly
speaking,
one
person
in
ten
has
had
what
he
believes
to
be
a
waking
hallucination.
Therefore,
so
to
speak,
compared
with
dreams,
but
a
small
number
of
shots
of
this
kind
are
fired.
Therefore,
bull's
eyes
(the
coincidence
between
an
appearance
and
a
death)
are
infinitely
less
likely
to
be
due
to
chance
in
the
case
of
waking
hallucinations
than
in
the
case
of
dreams,
which
all
mankind
are
firing
off
every
night
of
their
lives.
Stories
of
these
coincidences
between
appearances
and
deaths
are
as
common
as
they
are
dull.
Most
people
come
across
them
in
the
circle
of
their
friends.
They
are
all
very
much
alike,
and
make
tedious
reading.
We
give
a
few
which
have
some
picturesque
features.
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