The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-05-12
Looking Into the Unknown
TWO VIEWS OF THE LIFE AFTER
Nothing Is Unreal;
Nature Is Eberything
By CAMILLE PLANTATION.

HE unknown Of yesterday may be
recognized tomorrow as truth.
When genius leads the way and
a new discovery is made IL Is
but natural that people in general
should be left behind that they should
not Immediately understand the ways
of progress.
The discovery Of the Roentgen rays,
so inconceivable and so strange. ought
to convince US how very small is the
field Of our usual observations To see
through Opaque substances. 10 look in
side a closed box. TO see the bones OF
the human body through flesh and
clothing seemed at first absolutely I'm
possible to the average mind, but the
fact that II could be done was another
eloquent example in favor OF the axiom
that II is unscientl1c 10 assert that
realities are stopped by the limit Of
our knowledge and observation
Very often things are called super
natural" which are only wonderful, in
explicable. Everything is 10 be found
IN nature, the known and the I'M
known. and there is no such thing as
supernatural" That word has no
meaning.
know perfectly we'll that there are
people who will shake their heads and
laugh at some Of the things I am about
to tell. and who will feel superb con-
tempt for my endeavor to penetrate
into regions hitherto considered i'm
penetrable. I hear them say:
you know perfectly well that such
so-caIled glimpses beyond our ordinary
horizon are only imaginary, because
for US death ends all"
But mol do not know IL, nor you
either You know nothing about It.
and your affirmations. ike your mega
lions. are mere words. All human as
pirations protest against annihilation-
Id ality. dreams. hope. ard justice can
not be pure Illusions any more than
the bodies we wear on earth. Why
need we despair Of ever knowing the
nature Of the thinking principle which
impels US TO know whether it viii sur
vive the death Of our bodies2
My excellent friend, General Par
mentier. one Of our most distinguish
ed and trusted savants. told me the
following incident. which occurred in
his own family:
Several persons had met for lunch
con party given at Andlaa, in Asace-
They wre waiting for the master OF
the house. who had gone out hunting.
but time passed and they sat down at
table without him, his wife saying it
could not be long before he would come
in.
Still time went on and every one was
wondering at the length OF the delay,
when suddenly. though the day was
calm and the skv blue. the window of
the dining room. which was wide open,
-.-as shut with great noise and opened
wide open Immediately
The guests were surprised that this
could have happened without over
turning a decanter of water which was
standing on A table near the window.
b,lt the decanter remained undisturbed-
Something dreadful has happened.
cried the lady of the house. rising
from the table The luncheon was
suspended Three-quar OF an hour
later the dead body q: tho. hunter was
brought homo on stretCner. He had
received a load Of sAc. fun In his
heart he died immed atclv. having
only time 10 exclaim: "AIy wife. Ny
poor children
Now there is a fact whose couci-
depee has to be- explained At first
its details seem commonplace and alb
surd. What signifed 5he strange
movement Of the window And what
had il 10 do with the young mans
death? Would it not be mere loss OF
time to treat so Insignificant an in
cident as a serious natter
The frogs OF Galvani were also in
significant. as vas the pot Of Papin,
but electricity and steam are OF vast
importance.
Here is what seems to me the fact
in this incident:
The window was not shut. the bottle