Inferences from Haunted Houses and Haunted Men | Page 9

for their lives in a squall, and
took strychnine at a doctor's orders; that medicament, as is known,
makes the nerves more sensitive. Further rascally attempts were a
failure in better-situated houses. The terror of hearing a voice suddenly
is in those circumstances very great; against one in good health it is less,
no doubt. The trouble given at B---- was particularly great in the case
of Miss Moore,[23] who scarcely slept for a week; she was Miss Freer's
comrade in No. 1, the S.W. corner room of the house at B----, and the
most exposed room where voices were chiefly heard; and that, too, by
almost every one who slept there, Miss N., the Rev. Mr. Q., Father
MacL., and Madame Boisseaux. The road ran nearest to it there. The
writer believes that the remarkable fact that No. 1, the S.W. room, No.
2, the W. room, No. 3, the N.W. room, showed a far higher average of
phenomena than the other five--i.e. the three eastern and the north and
south centre rooms--is accounted for by the following circumstances.
[Footnote 23: "Alleged Haunting of B---- House," p. 118.]
No. 8, the south room, was much exposed, but unlike No. 1, it had no
door in a line with another door and a window. Upon No. 1 an almost
direct attack could be made from northward or southward; for the
partition walls of the house, as well as the outer walls, were very
thick.[24]
[Footnote 24: "Alleged Haunting of B---- House," p. 94; ibid., p. 140,
note.]
In the new part of the house these were less so, but people in them were
less affected than had been the case when the H. family stayed there.

Rooms Nos. 1, 2, and 3 could be raked from north or south. Nearly all
the persons in the house were affected, and leaving out one or two men
who objected to being reported, it appears that the ladies, who spent in
the aggregate 237 nights in the house, had sixty-two nocturnal
experiences, whilst men spending 108 nights had twenty experiences
(between bedtime and breakfast was considered night-time). But three
of the eleven ladies were very sensitive; only one man out of fourteen
was so. Therefore, on a fair estimate, men and women were about
equally sensitive; and this is the case with hypnotism generally. A
further proof of the nature of the attack.
With regard to rooms Nos. 1 and 2, the following curious fact is noted
by Miss Langton. "The knocks on the door between Nos. 1 and 2 have
been audible in this room; No. 2 in my experience only when No. 2 is
empty; and in No. 1 only when No. 2 is empty."[25] This looks as if
attacks were made from the opposite side of the house to make
detection less easy, especially by daylight. The maid-servants in the
attics were often more impressed than the people in the rooms below.
This seems due to the construction of the house; the attics are more
approachable than the rooms from the staircase. The electricity follows
the track of a person far better on a stair than on a ladder, it may be
remarked. Thick walls, high window-sills, a commanding position, and
a murmuring brook, are great securities against hypnotism, and these
would be found in older Scotch castles. Another element of safety, the
purling brook, is here mentioned; all noise is a good antidote; it is
perhaps the case that with hypnotism from a distance the hypnotic state
is continually waxing and waning, one link, generally a weaker one,
succeeding another in the chain of impressions on the temperament.
The diminution being continual, the force is renewed by people getting
near enough to get a strong hold again, otherwise it dies out.
[Footnote 25: "Alleged Haunting of B---- House," p. 169.]
These approaches were doubtless most dangerous on railway journeys;
hypnotism acts better in a small room than in a large one, and therefore
a person in a railway carriage is more affected. Here discomfort and
oppression helps hypnotism, but the hypnotist if in the train is in a

favourable position, as the distance is preserved very closely and need
not be very great.
Carriages are of the same size, and this is doubtless a help to the
operator. The frequency of phenomena being observed on the night of
arrival has been noticed. Miss N., who drove over, was not affected.
The average recurrence of phenomena to each person was every fourth
night; other people besides those previously mentioned as suffering on
first nights, were on the second visit Miss Langton and Miss Duff. The
latter was only very restless. This resembles the experimental result
obtained by Mr. Rose; he attempted to impress two ladies in the same
house: the elder saw