(127) "A friend of mine, Mr. Adams, was seriously ill, and we were expecting his death. I had a dream that I saw the corpse of his wife laid out upon a bed, though we had no reason to suppose that she was even ill. A friend with whom I was staying also dreamed that she saw Mrs. Adams a corpse. [This is not accurate.] The morning's post brought news of her dangerous illness, and a telegram during the morning announced her death. My friend and I told each other our dreams in the morning at breakfast. My friend had called for her letters before coming down in the morning, fearing bad news. "Marianne Varah".

In answer to inquiries, Miss Varah tells us that Mrs. Adams died between 11 and 1, on the night of February 25th, 1876, and we find the 25th given as the date in an obituary notice in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph; but she does not know the exact hour of her dream. She adds, "The dream described is the only one I believe I ever had of the kind".

Miss Varah's friend, the late Mrs. Muller, wrote as follows: -

"8, Bevington Road, Oxford.

"January, 1885.

"I dreamed that I was at Hastings, on the shore. I saw my friend, Miss Adams, running towards me. She passed me by, and then took off her hat and bent her head down into the sea. I tried to grasp her by her clothes, but she cried out, ' Don't stop me, for my mother is dying.' In the morning I jumped out of bed on hearing the post, and said to Marianne Varah, ' Have you had a letter from Miss Adams? There must be something the matter with her mother.' Miss Varah answered, ' I have a letter, but have not opened it. I have had a very strange dream, but I thought nothing of it, "because Mr. Adams is so ill.' Miss Varah then opened her letter, and called out, ' You are right.' There were a few lines, ' My mother is dangerously ill: doctors say no hope. We will send a telegram.' The telegram came during the morning of February 24th [clearly a mistake for 26th], 1876, saying she was dead. She had been in perfect health the day before.

1 This alternative will be considered in Chap. xviii., on "Collective Cases".

"Neither Miss Varan nor myself are at all given to dreams, and had not till then believed in them at all. "Emily E. Muller".

[In case 128, which is omitted] the dreamer's mind embodied the idea of death in the figure of a long deceased relative. More commonly the imagery in such cases is drawn from the familiar earthly symbols of death - coffins, funeral processions, and graves. A few examples may be given here [129 and 130 omitted].

In the following cases the imagery of death is still more elaborately developed. Mrs. Hilton, a lady actively engaged in most practical work, and not in the least a "visionary," has given us the following accounts: -

"234, Burdett Road, E. "April 10th, 1883.