Word-lovers will, I think, appreciate what I stumbled across
last night. I was reading Volume II of Phantasms
of the Living, a classic in parapsychology by Edward Gurney et al, the real
focus of which, broadly speaking, is telepathy; in detail it is filled with
reports of people seeing apparitions, usually associated with the death of the
person seen. Phantasms was the result
of the first effort to conduct research by the Society for Psychical Research
after its founding in 1882. In every meaningful regard, it is a classic and
laid the groundwork for all future research in paranormal studies, not least
its very rigorous reliance on statistical analysis of findings.
The story of the book itself, in a modern context, is
amusing in its own way. I’m reading Volume II in the original, you might say:
print-outs from a gigantic PDF produced by direct photocopying of the original.
That task was then followed by digitization of the image, both tasks performed
by Google. The actual reprint of the book,
made from the digitization, turns out to be essentially unreadable. The text has been reprinted—but without any attention
paid to layout. Footnotes are reproduced as paragraphs wherever they fall—not
at the bottom of pages—and without change in typography. New Chapters begin
simply as new paragraphs in the middle
of pages. And so on. The photo images I’m reading, however, are clear, sharp,
and laid out with the meticulous care applied in 1886.
Now to my little discovery. It comes from Chapter XIV, p. 58
of Volume II. It is yet another case (Number 239) of an apparition, written by
one J. Merrill. In the commentary on the vision, Mr. Merrill says:
Moreover, I used the Scotch word ‘wraith’
instead of ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit,’ as I had an idea that the former word was
applied to appearances before death.
The comment is added because the subject revolves around
this issue: was the person whose apparition had been seen dead at the time—or
still alive? Mr. Merrill thought it was best to assume that the answer was “still
alive” hence the use of the word wraith.
Well, I didn’t know that there was
such a distinction expressible by choice of word.
Indeed, it turns out, there is. My 1961 unabridged Webster’s International provides the
following as its first definition: “1a an apparition of a living person in his
exact likeness seen usu. just before his death.” The word is further defined as
a “ghost” in 1b—but the first definition agrees with Mr. Merrill’s sense
expressed in 1885.
Webster’s does not indicate a Scottish origin, but Online
Etymology Dictionary does; that source, however, says nothing of the fine
distinction in J. Merrill’s mind.
Now for those who have little interest in obscure words,
never mind phantasms and such, this post is presented, also, as perhaps of some
future value. Ever wonder how people in their very late 70s and 80s spend the
ample time and leisure they have from housekeeping, gardening, and shopping?
Here you have an example. Words, particularly for those who’re almost-wraiths (there ought to be a word
for that too) are a great source of amusement, indeed of merriment. Merriment, incidentally, finds its
rooting in mirth.
