Research source

But after making due allowance for forgetfulness on the one hand, and for the creative activity of the…

Date of account: Published 1894
Source: Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy
Reference: Apparitions and thought-transference: an examination of the evidence for telepathy · selected passage 154
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

But after making due allowance for forgetfulness on the one hand, and for the creative activity of the imagination on the other, we find the actual proportion to be 1 to 40

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

But after making due allowance for forgetfulness on the one hand, and for the creative activity of the imagination on the other, we find the actual proportion to be 1 to 40. In the face of these figures it would be preposterous to ascribe the reported cases of hallucinations at the time of death to chance. And the argument for some causal connection between hallucinations and external events is of course considerably strengthened if, in addition to (_a_) the coincidences of visual hallucinations with death, we take account of (_b_) the coincidences of auditory hallucinations with death, and (_c_) the coincidences of both visual and auditory hallucinations with other events than death, and (_d_) the cases in which the coincidence of the apparition with the death is nearer than twelve hours, the limit assumed in the above calculations.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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