The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-03-29
A Professor S
Story
By OSCAR cox

| After the death Of Professor Koop-
man, one Of the most remarkable sci
entists of Germany, the following man.
uscript was found among his papers.
His son, into whose hands they fell,
refused for long while to publish 1t,
for there were those who believed that
the professor had impaired his mind
as well as his body by too close appli-
cation to scientific research. However,
the heir at last assented. The paper
reads:
Holding the chair of chemistry in the
university, all the work of my brain
has been devoted to the decomposition
and reconstruction of matter. / have
long been convinced that we must pass
through matter to get at spirit--in 9TH
er words, our medium instead Of being
a person must be science. Now, by
chemical agents we photograph matter
which we can see. More than this, we
photograph objects we cannot see ex-
cept by the aid of the microscope. Still
more, we photograph objects beyond
the range OF our vision even assisted
by the telescope. Ergo, may we not
by the extension OF the process at last
get a picture OF beings existing In
spirit form?
This dry scientific preface is but pre-.
liminary to the story have to tell and
is essential to its understanding. Ten
years ago l married Louisa Markham.
Five years ago she died. Since then
my scientific studies have run In but
one view, to bring her within the sight
of my mortal eyes.
The discovery OF radium gave a new
impulse to my investigations. Radium
Is the first substance known to exert
power without exhausting itself. The
steam engine must have coal, the body |
food. As soon as l heard of radium 1t |
struck me that here was substance |
akin TO spirit, neither requiring fuel.
We may photograph matter even
though invisible. Therefore may we
not photograph spirit?
/ will not ask you to follow me In
my studies Of Photographic processes.
tried TO penetrate the realm Of soul.
viii only say that i at last discover
I'd substance which | converted into
! plate, or, rather, laid upon a plate, a
hundred times more sensitive than any
Known form of matter. IL was one of
many had tried in making ordinary
and failed. But on one
occasion while experimenting with 1t
was called away. On returning sew
raj days later / took the plate from
he camera TO develop It.
To assign a reason for this impulse
i had no object of which | was con-
be to leave the scientific
eld and enter that Of psychology.
m convinced that was impelled by 1
ne in the spirit world to develop the
late. Such direction given to human
bought is very common. I developed
~ plate-not with the usual agents,
ut others had proved by experiment
, be far more delicste--and what was
~ establishment to see the semblance
human forms. The difference be-
veen them and living persons l can
OF explain. To get an idea Of them
ley must be seen.
Why these figures had appeared be-
IRE my camera / do not know.
'uld never get them again. II they
ere spirits they had happened to be
here they would be photographed.
1 pondered long on how / might pho
graph my wife, provided she was &C
STONED to frequent places she had
'en used to frequenting In life. There
a window of her bedroom at which
e used to sit and look over a view Of
ling ground. on which We're scatter