The silver messenger., 1911-11-28

nues OF the spectrum, trusting that
some change In the distribution of the
bands might mark the passage Of the
unknown. mysterious factor from the
frame Of the dying man. What color
the soul might assume, what space it
covered in relation to the body, wheth-
er it emanated from the lips or from
the head alone-these were some of
the momentous questions he thought
TO settle forever.
But neither the pure white light nor
the s. 'trum lands told aught of the
body's dey~-.-s guest. That it
showed no refraction to light was not,
after all. surprising. There is one
substance or force in the universe that
is totally devoid Of light refraction,
and that is the interstellar ether, the
wonderful. perfectly transparent me-
dium in which light itself moves un-
checked and unbent. What if the
soul were ether?
While the revolutionary theory of
the soul as an actual existence OF
ether or ether-like substance was set
ting tongues wagging in Boston, pu-
Pill of the famous DR.. Walter ]. Kill
ner of London. was performing expert
ments Just as marvellous In Chicago.
Doctor Kilner is a believer in the hui
man aura. He holds that every hui
man being is surrounded by an en-
velope of a peculiar kind of light
which follows and incloses every con
tour of the form. Thus another i'm
agined myth-the halo and enclrclns
glory that the superstitious ages at
tributed to the saints-may be dem
onstrated by a queer scientific revers'
al as a solid reality.
Kilner's pupil in Chicago is Doctor
Patrick S. ODonnell. He had from
his master a set OF slides specially de-
signed TO make auras visible. Tnese
are merely bits of glass glued together
with a solution, more or less concen,
trated. of a dark blue dye termeu
dicvanin. The observer first looks al
his subject through a stronger e1ass
and then when he has identifed the
aura as a nebulous haze surrounding
the subject he transfers to weaker
glass with less blue pigment, whlcf
shows him the aura as "a dlsunc'
bluish gray ring extending complete
ly around the body" After the eye
has thus been accommodated TO tne
extreme limit of its vision, the lenses
can be dispensed with altogether ano
the unaided, naked sight VIII oisceil l
nv itself the aura's blush glow.
Doctor ODonnelrs first demonstra
ton was merely to establish the iao'
of the aura to doubling Thomases
Twelve prominent Chicago physicians
and Six sisters of the Mercy hospita
witnessed the trials. Most OF tnen
.aid the demonstration was coM
n,ete success and that they saw uiS
tinctly the bands of light encirclins ns
the bodies of the girl art niodelS VIZ
had consented to pose Each aura "a'
visible in three parts. First next u
the body. a dark band quarter =,
an inch wide. which is known as 'n'
etheric double; secondly, the ihne' ,
aura or band of light. and nnaily 'n'
outer aura. ,-, areU
when one of the physicians drew
his hand along the undrapeo ns", -
of the subject the aura followed i, !,
sister De Lourdes noticed 'nere We ~
distinct bands Of light between 'n' -,
Soctor,s finger tips and the BODY o. o
Ioe' tho model under observation. WIN
sne eu,aI ' of the hand seemed to pull the i
crnm" color like putty away from the ooay y
oo"s,rr oo,vl a decided change OF shape II II
oauSis which however. soon re
sumed its original position. ,s I'm,
s", Curious as all this is. it forms pu' u,
oul ,''Ss iuS 70 the truly extraordinary
axneriment ps Doctor o'Donnell maze
M M ,ater This offers strange p"i