Page:The Naturalisation of the Supernatural.pdf/367

Rh University of Ghent, has communicated to us five instances, all occurring within a few years, apparently in the same district of Belgium, in which young men had dreamt beforehand of the actual number which they would draw for conscription, and had announced the number, before the drawing, to the presiding officer. The facts in each case are certified by the commissaire d' arrondissement, who was himself the presiding officer on at least two of the occasions referred to. Cases of this kind are certainly much more remarkable than dreams of the winning horse, because the numbers concerned are much larger (the highest number in the urn in one case is given as 223), and the results are of course quite incalculable. It is not difficult to suppose, in the case of the lottery or the horse race, that the fears and hopes centred on the issue breed dreams so numerous that here and there one must in the long run coincide with the event, while those which remain fruitless soon pass away and leave no trace in the memory. Possibly dreams of the number drawn for conscription—since the event would affect the dreamer more nearly than the result of a race or lottery—are even more common. In the only case given by Professor Hulin in detail, the dream took place two months beforehand, and the lad had been for months previously in great anxiety as to the issue. Further it is to be noted