this moment, the globe becomes separated from the
body, and, guided by the cords, floats into Dr. Baraduc's bedroom. He
speaks to the globe intensely; the globe thereupon approaches him, and
he feels an icy cold breeze, which seems to surround and issue from the
ball of light. It then floats away and disappears.

[Illustration: "Photographs of the Soul" (13, 14)]

Frequently, within the next few days after these experiments, Dr.
Baraduc saw similar globes in various parts of the house. By means of
automatic writing, obtained through the hand of a non-professional
psychic, he succeeded at last in establishing communication with this
luminous ball, and was informed that it was the encasement of Madame
Baraduc's soul, which was still active and alive within it! It was
asserted that, as the days progressed, the encircling cords were one by
one snapped, and that the spirit more nearly assumed the astral body
facsimile of the earthly body. Andre, however, was seen by him to be a
completely developed astral body; and his wife asserted that she too
would shortly take her place beside Andre in her permanent form. As
further photographs were not developed, however, there is no
experimental evidence confirming these statements.

Although these initial experiments of Dr. Baraduc cannot, of themselves,
be considered conclusive, they are nevertheless highly interesting, and
should lead to further research in the same direction. The evidence
afforded by apparitions, single and collective; by haunted houses; the
indirect testimony afforded by the apparent psychic perception by
animals; the evidence, such as it is, for "spirit photography"; the
recent experiments in thought-photography, and the photographs made at
the seances of Eusapia Palladino, all tend to confirm, it seems to me,
the conclusions arrived at by Dr. Baraduc, as the result of his
preliminary researches. If an astral body of some sort exists, it must
occupy space; and, being space-occupying, must, _a priori_, be material
enough to occupy it! Whether or not this material is sufficiently solid
to reflect light waves, and make an impression upon the sensitive plate
of the camera, is an aspect of the problem still open to debate.

Further indirect testimony is afforded by the statements of
clairvoyants, and by the direct testimony (taking it for what it is
worth) of so-called "spirits" who communicate their sensations and the
knowledge they have gained after bodily death