Voices

The experience came to me as a dream, but upon waking my distress was so great at the extreme reality of the impression of seeing my son looking so very ill and suffering, and the anguish of his voice in calling me by name, that although I tried for hours afterwards to sleep again, I was unable to do so from the haunting return of the scene and voice, whenever I closed my eyes. My husband had no dream, but all the next day he, like myself, became deeply depressed about our son, although I had said nothing to him on the subject. Towards evening some friends came in, and the impression faded, and the following morning on receiving my son's letter with photographs, I lost all feeling of anxiety about him. In answer to further inquiries, Mrs. Griffith says : — (1) I have never in all my life, before or since, had any such distressing dream, nor am I ever discomposed in any way by uncomfortable dreams. (2) I never remember at any time having any dream from which I have had any difficulty in knowing at once, whilst awakening, that I had been dreaming, and never confuse the dream with reality. (3) I also unhesitatingly assure you that I have never had any hallucination of the senses as to sound or sight. The following is part of a letter to Mr. Richard M. Griffith — dated Loanda, March 26th, 1871 — which I have been allowed to copy. Dear Sir, — It is my sorrowful duty to inform you that your son, Mr. R. M. Griffith, died in my house on the 11th inst. He was staying with me awaiting the arrival of machinery from England, but fell sick about the beginning of the month, and gradually sank, notwithstanding all our efforts to save him. — Yours very truly, Alexander Smith. [It is to be regretted that no written note was made of the date of the dream ; but Mrs. Griffith is certain that the Saturday on which it occurred was afterwards rightly identified as March 11th by herself and her friends. Her reason for remembering the day of the week appears in the account.] And now we come to the large and important group where the percipient forms a very distinct picture of the agent, whose figure and aspect (sometimes with the addition of speech) is not a mere element viii.] REGARDED AS TELEPATHIC. 345 in a scene, but the one thing prominently represented. I will still keep for a time to simple cases, where the mental image that is conjured up corresponds pretty closely to the reality.