Research source

If this interpretation is correct, the figure seen cannot have been subjective in the same sense as 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 164
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

If this interpretation is correct, the figure seen cannot have been subjective in the same sense as the hallucinations described in Chapter IX

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

If this interpretation is correct, the figure seen cannot have been subjective in the same sense as the hallucinations described in Chapter IX. and Mr. Godfrey's apparition may be supposed to have been. The latter were, _ex hypothesi_, _autoplastic_--_i.e._, they were hallucinations built up in the percipient's own mind on a nucleus supplied from without. But what Herren S. and ----n saw was a _heteroplastic_ image, a picture like that of a diagram or a card transferred ready-made from the agent's mind. We should not of course be justified, on the evidence of a single narrative of somewhat doubtful import, in concluding that such an origin for a hallucination is possible.

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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