royal honours was due to his belief, that this was the true interpretation of the celestial prodigy. There are, however, fulfilments that cannot be explained so readily. A man, for example, believes that the appearance of a comet, or some other sign which he considers supernatural, announces his death on a particular day, and he dies accordingly on the very day. Numerous cases of this nature might be cited, which cannot be accounted for merely by accident. The explanation is a psychological one. The strong belief itself produces the physical effect. The phenomena of mesmerism, or, as it has been called, biology, sufficiently illustrate this. The operator works upon the mind of a weak or susceptible subject, and impresses strongly the belief, that some effect such as catalepsy must ensue, and, accordingly, the subject becomes cataleptic. Cases too are on record, where, by concert, some credulous person is made to believe, on the testimony of various parties, that he is labouring under a disease which must necessarily be fatal, and death has actually ensued. The belief in the prophetic character of comets, however, has chiefly been sustained by the fallacy of human judgment, which consists in giving more weight to a few coincidences than to many failures. The moon is a familiar instance. Even at the present day, there is a very general belief among intelligent people that its various phases influence the weather; and men of sound judgment in other matters, will speak of the change
