“And in what part of the room do you imagine that you see it now?” asked the doctor.
“At the foot of my bed,” replied the patient: “when the curtains are half open I can see it place itself in the empty space between them.”
“You say that you are convinced that it is only an illusion,” replied the doctor; “have you the firmness to convince yourself of it positively? Have you the necessary courage to get up and go and place yourself in the position which appears to be occupied by the spectre, in order to demonstrate to yourself positively that it is only a vision?”
The unfortunate man sighed and shook his head.
“Well,” went on the doctor, “let us try another plan.”
He quitted the chair on which he was sitting, at the head of his patient’s bed, and placing himself between the half opened curtains, in the place where the patient had pointed out the skeleton, he asked if the apparition was still visible.
“Not the whole of it,” answered the patient, “because you are standing between him and me; but I see his skull looking at me over your shoulder.”
In spite of his philosophy, the learned physician could not help starting to hear that the spectre was immediately behind him. He had recourse to other questions, and tried endless remedies, but without success. The prostration of the patient, however, increased, and he died in the same distress of mind in which he had passed the last months of his life. This example is a sad proof of the power of the imagination over the life of the body even when the terrors endured are powerless in destroying the judgment of the unfortunate sufferer. We will say more; men who have the strongest nerves are not free from similar illusions.
The second kind of spectres, in which the science of optics plays so important a part, is the result of the imagination being deceived by art with the assistance of science.
These spectres are displayed in the ghost trick which has been practised at various Parisian theatres for a number of years, with very great success, more especially at the Théâtres du Châtelet and Dejazet. The Adelphi, in London, also employed Mr. Pepper to heighten the effect of the excellent acting of Mr. Toole and Mrs. Alfred Mellon, in the dramatic version of Dickens’ “Haunted Man,” by the introduction of various spectral effects. And the same trick was also called into requisition with some success in several of the minor theatres in New York and other cities of the United States. At the Polytechnic, in London, very remarkable effects were produced, and few who ever saw them will forget the surprise they felt at seeing the first representation of an imponderable ghost endowed with motion, and even speech. Amongst the most successful productions in this way was the entertainment of M. Robin, one of the cleverest of the many successors of the great Robert Houdin, the prince of prestidigitators. M. Robin claims to be the inventor of the ghost illusion, and to have shown it frequently since 1847. Whether this be so or not it is not our business to decide, but we can testify that his exhibition in the Boulevard du Temple drew all Paris to see it. Evening after evening he not only “called spirits from the vasty deep,” but “made them come.” He pierced them with swords, he fired pistols through them, and he made them appear and disappear at his slightest wish. He showed the Zouave at Inkermann, lying dead amongst a heap of slain, who at the familiar sound of the drum, rose, pale and grave, and showed the bleeding wounds from which he died. Amongst other scenes shown by M. Robin was one of a spectre appearing to an armed man, who after trying in vain to shut out the vision from his sight fires a pistol at the intruder. [Fig. 72] shows the scene as seen by the audience, and [fig. 73], the method by which the illusion is worked. The theatre is shown in section. On the left, at the end, are seen the spectators; on the right is the stage upon which the scene is represented. Beneath the stage is an actor clothed in white to personate a ghost, whose image is reflected by the glass above.