allucinatory in character and was induced by means of
telepathy. Such cases (and there are plenty of them) are very striking
proof of the direct action of mind on mind; and at the same time form a
sort of bridge across the gulf which otherwise seems to exist between
the experimental cases we have just quoted and the spontaneous cases to
which we must now refer.

Soon after the Society began its work it was noticed that numbers of
cases were sent in, in which apparitions were seen at the very moment of
the death of the person symbolized by the apparition. In many such
cases, no other experience such as this has happened to the percipient
throughout his or her life; but on the very occasion when such a figure
_was_ seen, the individual was found to have died at that particular
time! Can so many cases of so remarkable a character be attributed to
chance?

The answer at first sight is: No. But here we must be cautious. In
scientific research such as this, we must not be guided by impressions,
but by facts and figures. Accordingly it was decided to put this matter
to the test, and an "International Census of Hallucinations" was
inaugurated, which extended throughout several countries (America being
represented by Professor William James), and the taking of which lasted
several years. As the result of this laborious undertaking, 30,000
answers were received--the percentage of coincidental apparitions being
calculated. After making allowances for all possible sources of error,
it was ascertained that the number of coincidences received were several
hundred times too numerous to be attributed to chance; and the following
statement was signed by Professor Sidgwick's Committee[41]:

"_Between deaths and apparitions of the dying person a connection exists
which is not due to chance alone. This we hold as a proved fact._"

These are important words in many senses; and _donne a penser_. It shows
us that, after all is said and done, this old theory of "ghosts" is not
so far wrong, and that they, in a certain sense, _do_ exist; it is only
a matter of their interpretation: the "mystics" have as usual been
right as to the existence of the facts, but the "scientists" may be
right in their interpretation of them.

So we have the whole class of "spontaneous" telepathic phenomena, so
called because they are not induced by direct experiment. In this class
we have all those manifestations which take place at or about the moment
of death;