nds the heads of holy persons;
of the "internal light" experienced by many who have had a special
conversion or illumination; of the "aura" surrounding the bodies of
certain individuals--always perceptible to clairvoyants, and lately (it
is asserted) to any one who observes the subject through specially
prepared chemical screens;[3] of the "light" diffusing itself over the
region of the forehead, which certain mesmeric subjects have inwardly
perceived,[4] and of the "aura" which may be produced experimentally by
means of high-tension electric currents. We must not forget, also, that
Christ Himself is called "the light of the world," and that He once made
the very significant remark: "If thine eye be single, _thy whole body
shall be full of light_." Lastly, it is somewhat significant, it seems
to me, that Andrew Jackson Davis used to see the nervous system of the
person he was studying, while in the "superior condition," as
_light_--as though it were illuminated by some interior glow, or was
more or less phosphorescent. (And we know that phosphorus is certainly
connected with the activities of the nervous system--even though it be
not so intimately as before supposed.) This string of coincidences is at
least remarkable; and it will be observed that the "light" is usually
associated with nervous centres and nervous activity--for the head,
e.g., is certainly the part most highly illumined, as a rule; while it
is certainly the seat of the most active self-consciousness.

11. These facts throw an interesting side-light, also, upon another
oft-observed phenomenon in psychical research. I refer to the fact that
apparitions ("ghosts") are nearly always seen to be clear and distinct
as to the head and upper portions of the body, while they taper off to
vapour and "filmy nothingness" in the lower limbs, so that often the
feet are not visible at all. While this may be due in part to the fact
that the observer's attention is not directed to the lower limbs, but
more or less centred upon the head and face, it appears to me that
there may be another interpretation of the facts, more in accordance
with the phenomena above mentioned, which is this:

During life we are conscious of our body in varying degrees--of the head
most of all, then of the arms and upper portions of the body; and
finally, of the lower limbs and feet, we are, a large part of the time,
hardly conscious at all. Now, if the light accompanies nervous activity,
and is