by John Mount
Professor John Tyndall, the noted British
physicist of last century whose forté was molecular physics,
acoustics, and heat radiation, performed a little known experiment in
the late 1800's.
Tyndall filled an experimental glass tube with the vapours of certain
acids, iodides, and nitrites. The tube was then turned on its side in a
level horizontal position, and so arranged that the axis of the tube
and parallel concentrated beams of electric light or focussed sunlight
were coincident. Adjustments were made to the focus until the vapors
began to react. Gradually, and to Tyndall's astonishment these clouds
of vapor began to coalesce, forming into colored three dimensional
images of animals, plants, and other shapes including geometric
patterns of spheres, cubes, and pyramids. At one stage during the
experiment Tyndall was amazed to see the swirling clouds suddenly
change into the shape of a "serpent's head," and as the serpent's mouth
slowly opened a long tendril of cloud emerged forming into a perfect
tongue. No sooner had this image faded than it was immediately replaced
by another, this time of a perfectly formed fish complete with gills,
feelers, scales, and eyes.
Tyndall commenting on the "completeness" of this figure said: "The
twoness of the animal form was displayed throughout, and no disc, coil,
or speck existed on one side (of the figure) that did not exist on the
This "twoness" as Tyndall put it could lend some credibility to the
experiment. The fact that every "twin" detail of an image is faithfully
reproduced, i.e., both eyes, both ears, etc., suggests that the image
is being purposely generated and is not just a coincidental occurrence
like watching the clouds in the sky form rough caricatures of known
Regarding the "focusing" of the beams, is it possible that once the
knack of "tuning" the beams of light had been mastered certain images
might then be pre-selected at will?
Tyndall's detractors had a field day, they pointed out that the
phenomena could easily be explained by the mechanical action of a beam
of light which would normally stir up molecules of vapor into certain
shapes like globes and spindles, a process, which they said was
recently demonstrated by the physicist Sir William Crookes. Yet they
omitted to mention the precisely shaped images of flowers, vases,
seashells, fish, serpent's head, and a number of other forms that the
Did Tyndall's own thoughts physically interfere with the experiment or
do the vapors of certain chemicals have a propensity to form images? No
one at this point in time seems to know.
Tyndall, it must be realized, was a scientist of some repute, a fellow
and Director of the Royal Institute, President of the British
Association, and disciple and confidante of Michael Faraday. He was a
modest and charitable man, according to his peers, whose research work,
writings, and lectures were greatly appreciated by the scientific
community. Not the sort of fellow that was wont to seeing things that
weren't really there.
Another experiment sounding very similar to Tyndall's was performed by
Sir Thomas Browne, a 17th century physician and author. Browne called
it amongst other things: "Palingenesis...the re-individuality of an
Browne, after reducing a plant to ashes by calcination, separated the
salts from its ashes and after "special fermentation" placed them in a
glass vial. He then made the following observations: "...by the heate
of embers, or the natural heate of one's body the very forme and idea
(of the plant) will bee represented; whiche will suddenly vanish away,
the heate being withdrawn from the bottom of the glasse."
A witness described the experiment as it was being performed on a
flower: "...having ... by calcination disengaged the salts from its
ashes and deposited them in a glass phial; a chemical mixture
(reaction) acted on it, till in the fermentation they assumed a bluish
and spectral hue. This dust thus excited by heat, shoots upward into
its primitive forms; by sympathy the parts unite, and while each is
returning to its destined place, we see distinctly the stalk, the
leaves, and the flower arise; it is the pale spectre of a flower coming
slowly forth from its ashes. The heat passes away, the magical scene
declines, till the whole matter again precipitates itself into the
chaos at the bottom. This vegetable phoenix thus lies concealed in its
Shades of Semyon Kirlian! Talk about photographing phantom leaves and
Imagine the revolution these experiments could cause in modern science.
These experiments, if proven true, could present the unique possibility
of being able to view nature's storehouse of "bio-blueprints" or
"life-ideas" before (and after) she clothes them in flesh.
Take forensic medicine, for example; burnt evidence could be visually
resurrected. And in archaeology, those old ashes and coals of burnt
remains could show us how the people actually lived (and died). And
would the skin or bone samples of Egyptian mummies and other ancient
people properly treated allow us to gaze once more on the finely
chiseled features of beautiful Nefretiti, or see again that Hellenic
smile that once launched a thousand ships?
Another interesting experiment similar in some respects to those
mentioned above, was performed during the 1940's using the Wilson
expansion cloud chamber. This chamber which is filled with a gas or
vapor (usually water vapor) is normally used to track the path of
atomic, and sub-atomic particles.
Dr. R.A. Watters, director of the William Bernard Johnston Foundation
for Psychological Research in Reno, Nevada, theorized that the human or
animal soul exists in the "intra-atomic space between the atoms of
human cells." He decided to test his theory using the cloud chamber.
A large grasshopper was placed in the chamber and dispatched with
ether. At the precise moment of death, expansion of the water vapor
occurred which in turn triggered a camera and a photograph was taken of
the condensation figure. In all, around 40 experiments were carried out
using frogs and white mice. According to Watters, in all the tests
where the creature permanently died, even after eight hours of
observation, a "shadow phenomenon" appeared in the chamber coinciding
with the shape of the creature. However, if the animal revived, no
condensation figure would appear on the photograph.
Did Watters photograph the soul of those creatures? Is the soul more
easily captured on film as it is leaving its body (with some small
amount of the material world still clinging to it) than some time
A brief tantalizing account of a French scientist's experiments clearly
shows how easily momentous discoveries can be made, and then how just
as easily, they can fade into obscurity.
In 1856 Dr. Jobard of Paris declared to a startled press: "I hold a
discovery which frightens me. There are two kinds of electricity; one,
brute and blind is produced by the contact of metals and acids; the
other is intelligent and clairvoyant. The brute (one) ...has followed
Jacobii, Bonelli, and Moncal, while the intellectual one was following
Bois-Robert, Thilorier, and Chevalier Duplanty. The electrical ball or
globular electricity (ball lightning?) contains a thought which
disobeys Newton (gravity?) and Mariotte (?) to follow its own
freaks.... we have in the annals of the academy thousands of proofs of
the intelligence of the electric bolt...but I remark that I am
permitting myself to become indiscreet. A little more and I would have
disclosed to you the key which is about to discover to us the universal
What other potential world-shaking discoveries lie concealed and
forgotten in dusty tomes sitting in equally dusty out-of-the-way
bookshops and libraries?
L'Ami Des Sciences, March 2 1856, Page 56
Sir Thomas Browne, Works Vol II, London 1883.
S.W. Tromp, Psychical Physics, London 1949.
H.P Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, California 1950.
Copyright 2000 by John Mount