a person sees himself out of himself, while others who are present observe nothing, the apparition may be real, or it may be merely imaginary; but when it is also perceived by others it is no fantasy, but something real." He then gravely adds, "I myself know of persons having seen themselves and dying shortly afterward."
He tells of one of the Government secretaries who went, as he was wont to do, to the archives to look for a paper which was very important. On arriving there, he saw himself sitting on a chair. Much terrified, he went home and sent a woman servant to fetch the documents. It is asserted that the woman found him there also. Dr. Stilling does not say that this man died "shortly afterward"; but that he did die some time after is probable, as the book is nearly a hundred years old.
Another case is that of a professor who was having a theological dispute with a number of his friends. Having occasion to go to the library for a book, he saw himself sitting on a chair at the table where he usually sat. Going nearer, he looked over the shoulder of the person and saw that this figure of himself pointed with one finger of the right hand to a passage in the Bible. He looked at the passage indicated, and saw that it was, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die." Full of astonishment and fear, he went back to the company and related the occurrence; and in spite of all they could say he was firm in the opinion that this apparition betokened his death, and accordingly took leave of his friends. "The day after, at six o'clock in the evening, he expired, being advanced in years." Many not advanced in years would be killed by such an experience as this.
The origin of such visions is readily traced. To imagine one's self in a familiar place with almost the
