Note 180 — Chapter VIII · MOTOR AUTOMATISM

See James's Psychology, vol. i. p. 394: "One curious thing about trance utterances is their generic similarity in different individuals.... It seems exactly as if one author composed more than half of the trance messages, no matter by whom they are uttered. Whether all sub-conscious selves are peculiarly susceptible to a certain stratum of the Zeitgeist, and get their inspiration from it, I know not." See the account of automatic and impressional script, by Mr. Sidney Dean, which Professor James goes on to quote, and which is closely parallel to (for instance) Miss A.'s case, to be referred to below, although the one series of messages comes from the hand of a late member of Congress, "all his life a robust and active journalist, author, and man of affairs," and the other from a young lady with so different a history and entourage.