"A Comparative Study of Ghost Stories" (1885)

We seem to need a name for a new branch of the science of Man, the Comparative Study of Ghost Stories. Neither sciology, from ���������, nor idolology, from ���������������, appears a very convenient term, and as the science is yet in its infancy, perhaps it may go unnamed, for the time, like a colt before it has won its maiden race. But, though nameless, the researches which I wish to introduce are by no means lacking in curious interest.

It may be objected that the comparative study of gho...