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[Psychical research] is a field in which the sources of deception are extremely numerous. But I believe there is no source of deception in the investigation of nature which can compare with a fixed belief that certain kinds of phenomena are impossible.
WILLIAM JAMES
The purpose of this essay is to report three short dreams which we believe of interest because they exhibit, it seems to us, the possession by the dreamer of knowledge which—to paraphrase William James—he could never have gained by the ordinary use of his eyes and ears and wits. Our object is to examine the tenability of this proposition. We consider it not without interest, further, that at least two of these three dreams furnish rather striking corroboration of Freud's statement that 'If then one comes across a so-called telepathic dream, one can convince oneself by its analysis that the telepathic message has played the same role as any other residue of waking life, and as such has been altered by the dream work and made to serve its purpose'.1
The two dreams were reported within some three weeks of each other, one by a female and one by a male patient. The conclusion seemed inescapable that these two dreams made unequivocal reference to a relatively important situation in the life of the therapist (T.G.B.) of which neither dreamer could possibly have 'known' anything.
The dream of the female patient follows.
A party in your lobby, and all your patients are there; coffee and cookies are being served. I am in a corner. Across the