Rattibha

Walter Kilner is best known for his research into the human aura and the development of various chemical screens to aid in the visualization of these energy fields. He tried many unusual substances & eventually determined the ideal chemical was Dicyanin, a by-product of coal tar.

“Hardly one person in ten thousand is aware that he or she is surrounded by a haze intimately connected with the body, whether asleep or awake, whether hot or cold, which, although invisible under ordinary circumstances, can be seen when conditions are favourable.”

“This mist, the prototype of the halo or nimbus constantly depicted around the saints, has been manifested to certain individuals possessing a specially gifted sight, who have received the title of ‘Clairvoyants’, and until quite recently, to no one else.”

“The cloud or atmosphere, or, as it is generally termed, Aura, is the subject of this treatise, in so far as it can be perceived by the employment of screens containing a peculiar chemical substance in solution.”

“It may as well be stated at once that we make not the slightest claim to clairvoyancy; nor are we occultists; and we especially desire to impress on our readers that our researches have been entirely physical, and can be repeated by any one who takes sufficient interest…”

“As long as the faculty of perceiving the Aura is confined to a few individuals, and ordinary people have no means of corroboration or refutation, the door to imposture is open. Since this has been the case up to the present time, the subject has always been looked on askance…”

“…but there is no more charlatanism in the detection of the human Aura by the methods we employ, than in distinguishing microbes by the aid of the microscope.”

“The main difference lies in the claim of some people that they are able to perceive the one through the possession of abnormal eyesight, while no one has had the hardihood to assert that they had the power of seeing an object one-thousandth of a millimeter in length…”

“There cannot be the smallest doubt as to the reality of the existence of an Aura enveloping human beings, and this will be in a short time a universally accepted fact, now that it can be made visible to any one possessing normal eyesight.”

“It would, indeed, be strange if the Aura did not vary under different circumstances, and we firmly believe that a study of its modifications will show that they will have a diagnostic value.”

“The discovery of a screen capable of making the Aura visible was by no means accidental. After reading about the actions of the "N" Rays upon phosphorescent sulphide of calcium, we were for some time experimenting on the mechanical force of certain emanations from the body…”

“…and had come to the conclusion, whether rightly or wrongly, that we had detected two forces besides heat that could act upon our needles, and that these forces were situated in the ultra red portion of the spectrum…”

“After considering the different spectra and, as far as we could, ascertaining their properties, we made trial of several, and fixed upon one which in this treatise will be called ‘Spectauranine’ as the most likely to be of use.”

“As we were compelled to wait some time before we were able to obtain it, one night the thought flashed across us that that substance might make some portion of the above mentioned forces visible; and, if so, we expected it would be the human Aura.”

“This phenomenon we had heard about but until that moment we had never had any intention of investigating it, as we believed it to be beyond our natural powers. As soon as the chemical had been received, screens made of glass coated with collodion, and also gelatine dyed w/ it…”

"Some friends…recommend the real name of the dye employed to be divulged. This we are quite willing to do, only it is too late to alter the term ‘Spectauranine’ throughout the text, as the book is in the hands of the printers. The real name of the dye is Dicyanin."

“The blue screens accompanying the book merely contain a solution of dicyanin, and the red contain carmine. These four screens are the only ones necessary for ordinary observations of the Aura. There is evidently a great difficulty in the manufacture of these thin flat cells…”

“…as we could find no one in Great Britain or in America who would undertake to make them, but at last we have succeeded in finding a foreign firm able to construct them.”

“Subsequently solutions in alcohol of different strengths in glass cells were employed. These seem on the whole to be satisfactory, but there is tendency after a time for colour changes to take place, even if kept in the dark as much as possible.”

“Directly a screen was finished, we looked at a friend through it, and instantly saw around his head and hands a faint greyish cloud, which we considered could be nothing else but the Aura.”

“After a few minutes we were surprised to find that we could continue to see the Aura without the intervention of the screen. This power did not last long. However, it was renewed by looking at the light for a few seconds through a dark screen.”

“We discovered to our cost that the spectauranine had a very deleterious effect upon our eyes, making them very painful, so much so that it was necessary to cease work for some days.”

“The action of this chemical is cumulative so that we gradually gained the power of seeing the Aura more & more plainly w/o the intervention of the screen. Ultimately our eyes have become so permanently affected that under suitable conditions we are able to dispense w/ a screen.”