surprise, followed by ridicule and a sharp scolding for their silliness, so that the poor little things shrank back into themselves, and never ventured again to allude to their inner world.  I will quote just one of many similar letters as a sample.  I received it, together with much interesting information, immediately after a lecture I gave to the British Association at Swansea, in which I had occasion to speak of the Number-Forms.  The writer says:—­

“I had no idea for many years that every one did not imagine numbers in the same positions as those in which they appear to me.  One unfortunate day I spoke of it, and was sharply rebuked for my absurdity.  Being a very sensitive child I felt this acutely, but nothing ever shook my belief that, absurd or not, I always saw numbers in this particular way.  I began to be ashamed of what I considered a peculiarity, and to imagine myself, from this and various other mental beliefs and states, as somewhat isolated and peculiar.  At your lecture the other night, though I am now over twenty-nine, the memory of my childish misery at the dread of being peculiar came over me so strongly that I felt I must thank you for proving that, in this particular at any rate, my case is most common.”

The next sort of vision that flashes unaccountably into existence is the instant association in some persons of colour with sound, which was spoken of in the last chapter, and on which I need not say more now.

A third curious and abiding fantasy of certain persons is invariably to connect visualised pictures with words, the same picture to the same word.  These are perceived by many in a vague, fleeting, and variable way, but to a few they appear strangely vivid and permanent.  I have collected many cases of this peculiarity, and am much indebted to the authoress, Mrs. Haweis, who sees these pictures, for her kindness in sketching some of them for me, and for permitting me to use her name in guarantee of their genuineness.  She says:—­

“Printed words have always had faces to me; they had definite expressions, and certain faces made me think of certain words.  The words had no connection with these except sometimes by accident.  The instances I give are few and ridiculous.  When I think of the word Beast, it has a face something like a gargoyle.  The word Green has also a gargoyle face, with the addition of big teeth.  The word Blue blinks and looks silly, and turns to the right.  The word Attention has the eyes greatly turned to the left.  It is difficult to draw them properly because, like Alice’s ‘Cheshire cat,’ which at times became a grin without a cat, these faces have expression without features.  The expression of course” [note the naive phrase “of course.”—­F.G.] “depends greatly on those of the letters, which have likewise their faces and figures.  All the little a’s turn their eyes to the left, this determines the eyes of Attention.  Ant, however, looks a little down.  Of course these faces are endless as words are, and it makes my head ache to retain them long enough to draw.”