Mr. Cooper says: "A fortnight before the death of the late Earl of L---in 1882, I called upon the Duke of Hamilton, in Hill Street, to seehim professionally. After I had finished seeing him, we went into thedrawing-room, where the duchess was, and the duke said, 'Oh, Cooper,how is the earl?'"The duchess said, 'What earl?' and on my answering 'Lord L---,' shereplied: 'That is very odd. I have had a most extraordinary vision.I went to bed, but after being in bed a short time, I was not exactlyasleep, but thought I saw a scene as if from a play before me. Theactors in it were Lord L--- as if in a fit, with a man standing overhim with a red beard. He was by the side of a bath, over which a redlamp was distinctly shown."I then said: 'I am attending Lord L--- at present; there is verylittle the matter with him; he is not going to die; he will be allright very soon'."Well he got better for a week and was nearly well, but at the end ofsix or seven days after this I was called to see him suddenly. He hadinflammation of both lungs."I called in Sir William Jenner, but in six days he was a dead man.There were two male nurses attending on him; one had been taken ill.But when I saw the other, the dream of the duchess was exactlyrepresented. He was standing near a bath over the earl, and strangeto say, his beard was red. There was the bath with the red lamp overit. It is rather rare to find a bath with a red lamp over it, andthis brought the story to my mind. . . ."This account, written in 1888, has been revised by the late Duke ofManchester, father of the Duchess of Hamilton, who heard the visionfrom his daughter on the morning after she had seen it.The duchess only knew the earl by sight, and had not heard that he wasill. She knew she was not asleep, for she opened her eyes to get ridof the vision, and, shutting them, saw the same thing again. {45a}In fact, the "vision" was an illusion hypnagogique. Probably mostreaders know the procession of visions which sometimes crowd on theclosed eyes just before sleep. {45b} They commonly represent withvivid clearness unknown faces or places, occasionally known faces.The writer has seen his own in this way and has occasionally "openedhis eyes to get rid of" the appearances. In his opinion the picturesare unconsciously constructed by the half-sleeping mind out of blursof light or dark seen with closed eyes. Mr. Cooper's story would bemore complete if he had said whether or not the earl, when visited byhim, was in a chair as in the vision. But beds are not commonly foundin bathrooms.
