One might illustrate each of these manifestations with numerous
examples. I will mention only a few, selected not among the most
striking or the most attractive, but among those which have been
most strictly tested and investigated.[1] A young peasant from
the neighbourhood of Ghent, two months before the drawing for the
conscription, announces to all and sundry that he will draw
number 90 from the urn. On entering the presence of the
district-commissioner in charge, he asks if number 90 is still
in. The answer is yes.
[1] Proceedings, vol. xi., p. 545.
"Well then, I shall have it!"
And, to the general amazement, he does draw number 90.
Questioned as to the manner in which he acquired this strange
certainty, he declared that, two months ago, just after he had
gone to bed, he saw a huge, indescribable form appear in a corner
of his room, with the number 90 standing out plainly in the
middle, in figures the size of a man's hand. He sat up in bed and
shut and opened his eyes to persuade himself that he was not
dreaming. The apparition remained in the same place, distinctly
and undeniably.
Professor Georges Hulin, of the university of Ghent, and M. Jules
van Dooren, the district commissioner, who report the incident,
mention three other similar and equally striking cases witnessed
by M. van Dooren during his term of office.
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