The silver messenger., 1911-11-28
@e Search for the Soul
HEETMz| M1N &z ZMgAz410V


experiments. and suggests ynce more
with awesome effect that ceath may
not be rneiely a cessation Of bodily
forces' but that it involves the de-
parture from this house of clay of a
mysterious visitor.
Like MaeDougall, the Chicago ply
slcian watched the last momeuts of
dying man. To his practised eye the
aura OF the sufferer, a patient in
Mercy hospital, was plainly outlined
with its dark etheric double and its
inner and cutter bands of light.
For half an hour or so ODonnell
kept his vigil. The interne in charge
OF the case finally announced that the
patient was sinking. 81 kept my eyes
fastened on the patient" says O'Don.
nell, in his account of the weird ex.
perience. Suddenly the aura began
to spread away from the body. then
1t disappeared At that instant the
house physician announced that the
patient was dead. What force pro
duces the aura we cannot say just
yet Every living person has one II
Is gone the instant death comes"
This inquisitive Chicago doctor has
no mind to be made a scientific mar
tyr by announcing soul-hevesies. but
he is firm In stating his belief that rhe
aura, so evident in life and vanishing
so ghostlike in death, is not the re.
sultant of mere bodily magnetism or
electrical force. He believes he has
discovered the visible effect of some
as yet unknown human force. differing
widely from the play of electricity or
magnetism, ard separated as if by a
gulf from the chemical and mechanical
reactions of the body. In word,
it Is inseparable from life, for when
life goes the aura goes also. AS tc
whether it be the physical side or as
pect of the soul, he refuses to express
his private view for publication
Over in France they are more out.
spoken, and they are telling of mar.
vels the Photographic camera has wit.
messed and recorded which as yet
have been denied to the direct vision
Of the unaided eye Consider the ex
periments Of Doctor Baraduc, a we'll
known savant concerning the light
phenomena above and around the bod
les of the dead
Doctor Baraduc is a psychic as well
as a scientist of repute. Between him
self and his son Andre strong bond
of affection existed. Frequently each
had remarkable telepathic experiences
with the other, and both were interest
ed in the study of the soul. When il
1907 Andre died, his father took pho
tograph of the coffin after the boy hat
been dead nine hours.
When the plate was developed Il
was discovered that emanating from
the body in the coffin was a formless
/ misty. wavelike mass, radiating in al
directions. with considerable force
| touching the bodies of those who came
in close proximity to the coffin. as i
attracted to them by some magnetic
! force. On one occasion the force o
/ contact with this mass was so grea
that Doctor Baraduc received an cleo
trio shock from head to foot, whicl
produced temporary dizziness.
The savants interest was so arouse,
after his photograph was taken tha
he attempted more conclusive expert
ments Immediately upon the death O
his wife, who died six months afte
her SON He set camera at the bed
side and at the moment of her dealt
he photographed the body and short
ly after developed the plate. On
were found three luminous globes rest
ing few inches above the body b.
fine luminous threads.
Ensuing photographs showed tha
these gradually condensed and beca m
more brilliant. Streaks of light lik
fine threads were also seen dartin
hither and thither. A photograph tai
en- Is minutes after the death of hi
wife showed Doctor Baraduc tina
fluid cords had developed partly encil
cling the globes of light.
An hour after her death a photo
graph then taken showed the col
densed globe which obscured the hea
of Nine. Baraduc. Cords appeared i
the shape OF a figure eight, closed a
the top and opened at the point neal
est the body. Finally, three hours an
a half after death. well formed glob
rested above the body, apparently bel
together by the encircling luminou
cords. which seemed to guide and col
troll it. At last the cords snapped on
by one and the globe floated away an
vanished.
Are these eird and grewsome lur
inous phenor ena connected with tn
departure OF the aura? And can tn
aura be the physical manifestation
the soul? These are two question
that need 10 be authoritatively al
swered one way or the other, and tn
experimenters will not rest till tn
answers are found.