Mrs L Kolisko

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Prelude to Scientific Research – by Mrs L Kolisko

INVITED by the Editor of the Modern Mystic to write a few articles about my scientific research work, I will begin by describing some events of my childhood and later show how they led me to those branches of Science which I have made my own particular province.
I remember one evening, in my fourth or fifth year, being very naughty. My mother told me to cease immediately, or something would happen. I simply could not stop. Not only did I wish to keep on, but I was now intrigued to know what it was that would happen. So I was sent to a dark room, my mother saying : “Look, there is the moon ! He will come and fetch you because you are so naughty.” Left alone, I trembled with fear, but did not cry. With my back to the window, I saw the shadow of the curtains moving to and fro in the moonlight which fell on the opposite wall. After a time, drawn by some magnetic power, I walked to the window, pushed back the thin curtains, and looked up at the moon. It was almost full. I looked at it more and more intently, trying to see the “man” mirrored in its face, but I could not. Instead, I saw two angels, flying from its sides into the middle - an image which has remained - so that even now when I look into the moon, I see them. Much later my mother came in and wondered why I was not crying. All my fear had gone, the moon had not “fetched” me ; I only felt very tired. Ever since that day I have liked the moon!

After my first experience I used always to look at the sky even when there was no moon - like someone waiting for a friend. One evening, pointing joyfully to the sky, I said to my mother, “There is the moon!” She became very angry, slapped my arm which was still outstretched to the moon, exclaimed, “You must not point at the moon ; if you do, then it will get angry with you.” These words made a deep impression upon me. I was no longer afraid of the moon, yet I felt that in some vague way what my mother had said was true. The glimmering Stars, like eyes of God watching the earth, might be offended if a human being pointed at them. I have never since dared to point at the heavens!

I was about twelve years of age when, one Sunday in mid-summer, my father took me into the beautiful woods around Vienna. It became late and we were overtaken by darkness. At last we came to an open place and saw in the far distance the steeples of the town. The night was wonderfully clear and the sky full of twinkling Stars. Suddenly, there appeared on the horizon a bright, reddish-yellow light. It grew larger and larger, then a huge red ball appeared. I was highly excited, and asked my father what it could possibly be. He hesitated a moment before saying, “Oh, I think it must be the moon.” “No, that is impossible,” I cried, “the moon never looks so red, and is much smaller.” We still had a long walk before us, and my eyes remained directed to the red ball on the horizon. It rose higher and higher, the colour slowly changing to yellow. After a time the orb became smaller, then streamed out its silvery light, and was my old friend, the moon.

My father could not explain why the moon looked so enormous and had so red a colour. I was very much puzzled about this strange phenomenon and went on thinking about it. As I grew into young womanhood, I read scientific books, and I should say here that I decided upon my future profession very early. I was hardly old enough to go to school before I had determined to become a doctor. I longed with all my heart to invent a remedy against a certain illness. I never disclosed my wish to anyone. I therefore decided to learn as much as I could from books. I read books on philosophy, natural science, astronomy, meteorology, and others. But during those years I kept in touch with my friend the moon. My mother used to cut off a little of my long hair every month, saying it must be done before full moon, after which it would grown very long. When I asked why, I was told that my grandmother, and my mother did it too, and attributed to the practice their long and beautiful hair.

I learned that the moon exercised considerable influence upon the earth. I discovered that its light is weak, only about a 465,000th part that of the sun. It radiates a warmth only about a 185,000th part that of the sun, a heat that can be measured only with great difficulty. It was determined first by Mellini, and then by Lord Rosse. It is doubtful whether the moon has any atmosphere. The Spots on its surface, known variously as “the man in the moon,” the hare, lizard and toad, were found to be mountains and craters when Galileo looked through the first telescope. All that remained to be credited to the moon was an influence on the tides and on the rhythms of the female organism. Its influence on the weather was regarded as nonsense. People only remarked on the possibility when it rained during a certain phase of the moon.
On the one hand I found the exact statements of science, astronomy, and of mathematics, and on the other, superstition, fairy-tales, and perhaps in the dim background, an ancient wisdom. I placed myself on the side of science. I smiled sceptically at the suggestion of the moon’s influence on men, plants or animals. After the war, during which I had nursed the wounded, I began work as a laboratory assistant and studied bacteriology, the human blood and excretions, which I followed by the study of the blood of animals. It was during these years that I heard of Rudolf Steiner. The first book of his that I read was Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, and it convinced me immediately. Here was real knowledge ; here was truth ! I began to study anthroposophy, met Rudolf Steiner himself, and shortly after the foundation of the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, my husband and I left Vienna to work in close connection with him. Immediately after my arrival in Stuttgart, I heard of an outbreak of “Foot and Mouth” disease in Würtemberg. Rudolf Steiner discovered a certain remedy for this disease, but it was necessary to discover the correct method of preparing it. Several persons undertook the task; sometimes the effect of the remedy was excellent, at other times it did not work at all. Dr. Steiner pointed out that if the remedy could be correctly prepared there would occur a change in the structure of the protoplasm in the cells. As I was acquainted with different methods of histological investigation, I tried to discover the change indicated by Dr. Steiner. It took a long time. After having studied microphotography with Professor Roemer in Leipzig, I at last succeeded. My previous studies in bacteriology now came to my aid in examining the blood of cattle affected by the epidemic, and I had hopes of finding the bacteria at the root of the disease. But now I know it was nonsense to look for it, yet the search through many thousands of blood-samples was not in vain, for one day I found something I could not classify. It puzzled me very much indeed, so I asked Rudolf Steiner if he could tell me what the strange element was.

He told me I had made a very interesting discovery, a hormone of the spleen which he suggested should be present also in human blood where the subject’s rhythm of nutrition had been disturbed. I made the necessary experiments, and after some time, found the elements in human blood. I was asked by some doctors to publish this discovery. It forms the subject of my first book, Function of the Spleen and Blood platelets, published in 1921.

After having found a scientific formula for the preparation of the remedy for Foot and Mouth disease, the question arose : How much of the remedy should be injected in order to produce the best result? Rudolf Steiner asked me to make experiments with plants and to study the influence of different solutions on their germination. This would give a curve corresponding to the healing effect of the remedy in the body of the cow. The results of these studies, begun in 1921, were published in 1923. I am still working on this highly interesting subject which leads to a real understanding of homoeopathic principles.

In 1924, Rudolf Steiner gave a series of lectures to agriculturalists about new principles in farming and gardening. I collaborated with him and was given the task of conducting all the necessary scientific investigations. I was naturally highly interested in the problem of the effect of the moon on plant growth. Rudolf Steiner was asked by some farmers whether there was any truth in the old saying that one should observe certain phases of the moon at seed time ? He concurred while regretting that hitherto there existed no real scientific knowledge which would serve as a basis for experiment. Thus began my own researches on the influence of the moon on the growth of plants.

Now if the moon has such an influence, is there also a correspondence between the planets and metals? Is there a scientific method of discovering whether there exists a relationship between the moon and silver, the sun and gold, the planet Mars and iron ? After many years of exhaustive research, I can definitely assert such a relationship. I hope to treat of these correspondences in greater detail in future articles.

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Mrs. L . Kolisko was born in Vienna and worked in different factories as correspondent in English, German, French and Italian. During the world war she was nurse in a large hospital in Vienna, where she first met Dr. Eugen Kolisko, who at that time was a medical Student. Later on she was assistant in a medical laboratory and then studied medicine and zoology. During this time she met Rudolf Steiner and became interested in his new scientific ideas. It was in collaboration with him that the Biological Institute of the Goetheanum in Stuttgart was founded, where Mrs. Kolisko was occupied for sixteen years in research work in various departments of biology. Among her many publications the most important are : “The Function of the Spleen” (discovery of a new element in the blood). “The Influence of Smaller Entities” (objective proofs for homoeopathy). “The Influence of the Moon on Plant growth,” “The Influence of the Stars on Earthly Substances” (Planets and Metals), etc.

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The Influence of the Moon by Mrs L Kolisko

“Now you have enough to do, haven’t you? ” “Oh yes,” I replied, “I have enough to do,” and enumerated the different investigations I was engaged upon. Dr. Steiner continued: “I mean the agricultural problems.” “But I am no gardener! I really do not know what I could just do in this direction! Or is there any special experiment to be done?” Dr. Steiner smiled in his friendly way and answered my question by another question. “Any special experiment? But of course all the scientific research work has to be done by you. The agricultural people have to do all the practical work, but you have to carry out the scientific researches. These cannot be done by the gardeners or farmers.”

I only relate these details because they were the starting point for many, many experiments on agricultural lines and because always the starting points are important for the understanding of the whole. To-day I am really convinced, that it is not and cannot be the task of a gardener or farmer to make all these minute experiments. Much time and patience are needed, and, I am sorry to say, also much money. Gardeners and farmers cannot afford the necessary time for research work. On the other hand, if one is already an experienced gardener, many things have been learned and some prejudices acquired.

I began to study the influence of the moon on plant growth in 1925. Part of the experiments had to be carried out in the laboratory, another part in the open. I wished to find out, whether … [?1] … do when the moon is actually full. But what means one year and one special plant ? Nothing of course. One little step on a high ladder, beginning on earth and reaching to the heavens. Next year I had another question ready. What about two days before new moon? If two days before full moon produced a better result than at full moon, it would be interesting to see whether two days before new moon were a good time for sowing purposes. The next year we had three different series of experiments. The first series: maize sown two days before full moon and at full moon; the second series: maize sown two days before new moon and at new moon; the third series: maize sown again two days before full moon and at full moon. The last series was therefore a month later than the first one.

The result was as follows: the first series, sown two days before full moon, produced plants much bigger and healthier-looking than those sown directly at full moon which were considerably smaller, bearing only a few spadix. The second series produced plants showing in some way the opposite effect. The plants sown two days before new moon were smaller than those sown directly at new moon. Compared with series number one, the new moon maize was much smaller than the full moon maize.

The third series, again a repetition of two days before full moon and at full moon produced the effect already shown. Those sown two days before full moon were considerably bigger.

Comparing the third series with the second, the full moon plants although they were younger than the new moon plants, were considerably larger, full of strength. How can we explain the fact that sowing two days before the new moon we get just the opposite effect to that obtained by sowing two days before full moon? At full moon the moon forces are just beginning to decrease. Two days before the moon is full we are in a stream of energy striving toward the maximum strength. It is therefore necessary to sow two or three days before the moon is full.

On the other hand, if we wish to get the strongest effect of the new moon it would be wrong to sow just exactly at new moon, because then the moon forces are only just beginning to increase. The stream of decreasing moon forces is used if one sows two or three days before new moon. It is easy to understand that the maize sown at new moon will grow better than that sown two days before.

In following years we studied many other plants. For instance, a very interesting subject is the tomato plant. We began to sow tomato seed in a warm bed very early in the year, one series after another. Two days before full moon ; two days before new moon; two days before full moon and again two days before new moon and so on.

We watched the seedlings in the warm beds under the same conditions of light, warmth, and water. After some time we saw great differences between the full moon series in comparison with the new moon series. Always we observed that the seed sown two days before full moon germinated (using exactly the same species of seeds for the new moon experiment) and that only a certain percentage of the latter germinated. So we got fewer plants. In due time we transplanted the seedlings in another warm bed and then into the open. All the plants sown two days before full moon were stronger and looked much healthier than the plants sown two days before new moon.

The blossoms also exhibit great differences. Examining the fruits we found beautiful big tomatoes full of juice and of a very good taste belonging to the full moon series; and much smaller tomatoes belonging to the new moon series.

There exists an old peasant saying: all fruits ripening above the soil should be sown during the waxing moon, and all fruits ripening beneath the soil should be sown during the waning moon. We tried to find out whether the rule holds good. We made many experiments with beetroots, carrots, kohlrabi and radishes, some two days before full moon and two days before new moon. The result was that we got bigger and more carrots, kohlrabies, beetroots and radishes from the full moon crop. Regarding the quality there has to be mentioned an interesting fact. Take one of the full moon carrots and one of the new moon carrots, cut them with a knife and watch the surface. The full moon carrot becomes watery immediately after cutting, the new moon carrot remains dry. Now if you try the taste, you find a very sweet, mild flavour in the full moon carrot, and a more bitter and sharp taste in the new moon carrot. Looking carefully at the skin of the carrots you will find that full moon carrots have a smooth surface ; the new moon carrots are often wrinkled and shrunken. This is a sign that the one is fully penetrated by the watery element, and that the other is more dry, which has something to do with the difference in the taste.

A similar effect will be found in cutting the radishes, kohlrabies and beetroots. It seems to be a natural law, that full moon forces bring more of the watery element into the fruits. If you once understand these laws you can master them. There are two possibilities of error. If you sow two days before full moon, and there is too much rain the fruits may be too watery and get easily putrid. If you get too much of the new moon forces the other extreme is likely; the fruits will become too dry. For instance, sowing kohlrabi two days before new moon you may easily get a certain percentage of woody fruits, which cannot happen if sowing took place two days before full moon.

The experiments with maize have stimulated some farmers to make experiments of their own. Some years ago I received a report from a farmer, personally unknown to me, in East Africa (Kenya Colony) “. . during the two maize crops I have found the fact spontaneously proved, that maize planted with the waxing moon yielded 30-40 per cent. more than the one planted in the waning moon. Also here the differences between one to three days before full moon and one to three days before new moon are greatest.”

Many things about the influence of the moon are known today, but they are not acknowledged by orthodox Science. Some years ago I had an interesting interview with a professor of the technical high school in Stuttgart. The professor visited the Biological Institute of the Goetheanum in Stuttgart and asked me to answer some questions. He had heard that I was studying the influence of the moon on plant growth and had published a work on the subject. Now it often happened to the professor, when he needed wood, that the forester said, “It is not possible to cut the trees now. The woodcutter would not do it, because we have not the right moon.” The professor was very puzzled about this and wished to know whether I could give an explanation. He was smiling very sceptically the whole time. Then I told him about my experiments, I showed him many curves obtained by plants growing at the various phases of the moon - experiments repeated year after year, and after some time of studying the material his sceptical smile died away, and he became more and more interested and found the facts convincing. But what about cutting trees? Of course I had not experimented with trees but it was still possible to explain the phenomenon. If a tree is cut during full moon it is full of growing energy - sap - and it is nearly impossible to get the wood dry. Very often trees get worms and the wood cannot be used for working purposes, and is not even good for fuel. But if trees are cut during the waning moon, then the wood easily gets dry and can be used for making furniture and so on. Those who spend their lives as woodcutters know these laws and they refuse to do their job at the wrong time. Only people living in towns, far away from nature and plant life, unbelieving and treating such laws as superstitious nonsense, think it is possible to fell trees at any time of the year.

Pliny tells us, that if one would like to sell fruits, it would be good to gather them at the full moon, because then they are full of juice and very big. But if one would like to preserve fruits for a longer period, then it would be much better to gather them at new moon, because they can sooner become dry and do not become putrid. Harvesting of corn should be made therefore at new moon. There existed once in mankind a real knowledge of the influence of the moon on plant life, our task is to re-discover this knowledge and adapt it to the present state of human evolution.

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Moon and Silver by Mrs L Kolisko

What do we know about the Moon and Silver? The science of astronomy can tell us something about the Moon, and that of chemistry about silver, but science acknowledges no relationship between the two. There has of course always existed a knowledge of the connection which exists between metals and the planets, but in these days it would not be termed “science.” In the commentaries of Proclos to the Timaeus of Plato we are told that sunbeams create gold in the earth, moonbeams silver, the radiations of Mars iron, those of Saturn lead, and so on. But a scientist of today would merely smile at such fancies. Time was when the alchemists referred to metals by the names of their corresponding planets, - of Luna instead of silver; Sol instead of gold, and Saturn instead of lead [sic].

I now attempted to find some scientific proof for the relationship (if any) between earthly substances and the planets, and here again I have to acknowledge the immense help contained in the suggestions of Rudolf Steiner. He told me that while all substances in their solid state are mainly subject to earthly laws, they become immediately susceptible to planetary influences when reduced to a liquid state. This fact opened the door to a new science, the study of which engaged me for about sixteen years during which I developed a method culminating in the proof of the influence of the planets upon metal-salts. There are two ways of studying substances in their liquid state; one way is to melt the actual metals, the other is to dissolve metal-salts in water. I conducted some experiments with molten metals, but the prevailing method is with metal-salt solutions.

The question is: what can be done with a solution of metal-salts to determine planetary influences? In the preliminary account of my research work which appeared in the June issue of The Moderm Mystic I described some investigations concerning foot-and-mouth disease and how those researches led me later to study the problem of “smallest entities.” In order to effect the correct dilution of the remedy I studied on the one hand the influence of smallest entities upon the growth of plants, and on the other I used the method of so-called capillary analysis - a very simple method. Filter paper is dipped into a liquid, which, rising up the filter-paper, ultimately reaches a limit of absorption, and creates a characteristic borderline which differs according to the substances used. This method I now adopted for use in my new experiments which commenced in 1922.

Small (about one inch) Strips of filter paper were dipped into a solution of 1 per cent. nitrate of silver. Day by day and night by night, I recorded the “rising height” to discover variations at new and at full moon. After a time it became very clear that great differences existed between experiments made by day and those conducted at night. I then enlarged the size of the filter-paper to 10 and even 15 inches to discover the cause of the day and night variation of the borderline. I also used smaller strips, say half an inch, attached to a wheel which in turn was connected with a watch so that I could determine the height of the borderline every hour. A further control wheel with twenty-four strips of filter-paper was working to show such differences as occurred when only distilled water was used. After a time eight such watches were in use to check the metal-salts and the water-control experiments. Each morning at the time of changing the filter-paper, 192 measurements had to be taken, or, in the course of a year’s experimenting, 70,080 measurements, while every day and night many large cylinders containing nitrate of silver solution were being checked for results. The experiments were made incessantly in the manner described for fifteen years! I think, therefore, that what I have to say about the effect of the moon on silver can claim some authority.

Silver is really a mysterious substance ; and it took all these years of work to discover its hidden qualities. The day-time experiments were carried out between nine in the morning and sunset; the night experiments between sunset and nine a.m. The rising process takes about two hours, and then the formation of the borderline begins. During the day the nitrate of silver becomes reduced; its borderline has a brown colouring and assumes characteristic forms. The night experiment also produces a borderline, but not so expressive, and slightly less coloured. Such differences as existed between the day and night experiments, whilst very striking, did not reveal the secrets of silver. I then combined the day and night experiments (see Fig. 1).

The filter-paper was dipped into a glass vessel containing a few cubic centimetres of nitrate of silver. The liquid began to rise until it reached its limit (shown about the middle of Fig. i)- During the day, sunlight darkened the paper. At night, more nitrate of silver was added and the process repeated. The liquid rose to the borderline it attained in daylight, and then passed beyond it *1 forming a second borderline. Between the two borderlines there are radiating lines, and in the middle of the photograph (taken immediately after the conclusion of the experiment, i.e. after twenty-four hours) is a white spot. The white spot is rather a puzzle. Why ls the formation of the radiating lines interrupted at this point? Why is the silver solution lighter there than elsewhere in the picture? After the photograph was taken, I kept it in a dark room to prevent any further darkening. A few days later we looked again at the picture and found a remarkable change (Fig. 2). The white spot had completely vanished and many new forms had developed in the dark room!

During a whole year we took a daily photograph of our experiments, followed a few days later in each case by a further picture of the changed original. And every day we got a different picture! A study of a year’s pictures revealed the effect of the changing seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are all reflected in the metamorphosis of nitrate of silver. In winter-time there are practically no formative forces visible in the silver pictures; during spring and summer they are abundant; in autumn the forces were more acute, and then died away, leaving only a black horizontal line. Every month had its own characteristic formation, and, observing the experiments over a number of years, we found that each year had a distinctive character of its own. That was a new revelation. Our eyes behold the natural rhythm of nature in plant life, in germination, blossoming and ripening. We found a reflection of her rhythm in the mineral kingdom through these experiments. This secret cannot be discovered in solid substances, but only when they are reduced to a liquid state which perforce reminds us of the evolution of our planet earth. Long eons ago the earth was not solid as it is today. Substances which are now solid, were once liquid. The metals silver, gold, iron and all the ores were once fluid and underwent a long process of crystallisation. With the sole exception of quick- silver, all the others became solid.

When we melt metals we reduce them to a previous state of their existence - a state when once again they are under planetary influences. When the metal is reduced to a salt, the salt then being dissolved in water, planetary forces stream through I - a fact I can prove by thousands of experiments carried out with various metal-salts.

How can the influence of the moon be discovered in the nitrate of silver experiments? I trust that Figs. 3,4, 5, and 6 6 will provide some evidence of the laws involved. These cannot be explained in detail in the course of a short article, but readers who are seriously interested will find a full account in my book Der Mond und das Silber (1929).

Fig. 3 shows an experiment carried out during the waxing moon of May, 1927; Fig. 4 a similar experiment during the full moon of the same month and year; Fig. 5 represents an experiment during the waning quarter, and Fig. 6 at the new moon.

The waxing and the full moon show very clearly the strong working of formative forces. Compared with the waning quarter and with the new moon, the latter show a decrease in the formative forces. There is both a similarity and a contrariety between Figs. 3 and 5 and between 4 and 6.

For instance, looking at the borderline in Fig. 4 and Fig. 6, we found certain curves, subdivided into smaller curves. The full moon borderline appears more elaborate than the new moon borderline. The huge forms at full moon are contracted and shrunken at new moon, but there is a similarity of character. Expansion and contraction; full moon and new moon. The very beautiful, clear, and even impressive colourings of the originals at full moon, were offset at new moon by sombre and washed-out forms. The study of these pictures makes it possible to observe qualitative differences as well as the variation of the rising height of nitrate of silver during the moon’s phases. In my next article I shall try to show the relationship of the Sun to Gold, and later on, that of Mars to iron, Jupiter to tin, Saturn to lead.

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Gold and the Sun by Mrs Lily Kolisko

In our studies of nitrate of silver we found many hidden and formative forces, and after comparing the experiments carried out during one year, we found differences according to the seasons, to the months, at the full moon and new moon, and the waxing and waning quarters. In a previous article we noted the effect of the moon on plant-growth, last month we observed its workings on the salt-solution, nitrate of silver.

Is it possible to show a connection between the sun and gold ? We approached this problem by means similar to those employed in our Moon and Silver experiments. We used filter-paper in a solution of chloride of gold. It is a dark brown salt, easily soluble. One gramme was dissolved into one hundred cubic centimetres of distilled water, ten cubic centimetres of the solution being transferred to a glass vessel of about four inches wide. Into this we dipped, in the form of a cylinder, a piece of filter-paper. The liquid gradually rose until its limit was reached, during which time the paper turned yellow, and the borderline, violet. After a time other colours appeared, alternating between a dark yellow, pink, purple, and violet. It is almost impossible to give an adequate description of the gold picture, - certainly not with the ease experienced in the silver pictures, for in the latter case we had forms with which to compare the phenomena. It is useless to take a photograph, because the original yellow becomes black and nothing is left of the characteristics of gold. Silver produces forms; gold produces wonderful colours. We might have studied the changing pictures, day and night, for say, a year, their reactions to the various times of day and night, and to the seasons. But how could we have proved a connection with the sun? It may be possible, I thought, during an eclipse; if something unusual were to happen to the sun, would there not be a correspondence in the chloride of gold?

I therefore undertook an experiment during the 1927 eclipse, - ten years ago, although the eclipse was not “total” in middle Europe. Two days before the event I began with preparatory experiments. I should mention that I did not confine myself to gold alone, but employed many other metal salts in combination with the gold. For instance, I mixed gold-chloride with a solution of nitrate of silver. The result was of course a chemical reaction (chloride of silver being deposited), but my interest was chiefly concerned with observing the influence of an eclipse. I then mixed chloride of gold with a solution of chloride of quick-silver, or with a solution of sulphate of copper, sulphate of iron, chloride of tin or nitrate of lead. Each combination produced a different picture. I argued that if the sun affects gold, then it must produce changes in all combinations containing gold.

Two days before the eclipse I experimented every hour, day and night. The experiments were with gold, silver, then with silver and gold, quicksilver and gold, copper and gold, iron and gold, tin and gold, lead and gold, and so on. During the eclipse, experiments were carried out every five minutes so that the whole twenty-four hours were occupied. The first day and night, and also the second day went by comparatively smoothly, but the second night brought fatigue with it. Relief was not possible, for the experiments must be conducted throughout by one person; it is a very sensitive process, and the intrusion of another person may create complications. The third morning was that of the eclipse, and fatigue was lost in the excitement. Would the next few minutes prove me right or wrong? Would the rows of bottles and rows of filter-papers representing forty-eight hours of experiments be just so much labour wasted, or would the result justify it? Soon after sunrise I mixed silver and gold, and it appeared to me that a reaction was setting in with greater rapidity than usual; the colour of the deposit looked darker. But perhaps I was mistaken? I then mixed gold and tin, and was quite sure that the reaction changed. Gold and tin normally produce purple, but this reaction was a dark violet.

The eclipse begins; slowly the sun’s disc becomes smaller as the moon covers it. Outside, all is still, the birds cease to sing, and as daylight dies away a strange feeling steals over the soul. But I mix gold and silver, and gold and tin, and gold and quicksilver incessantly. The gold assumes brown-red colours and the picture contains many dirty Spots. The silver and gold reaction is not yellow-brown as before, it grows darker and darker. The liquid rises into the filter-paper, but instead of the beautiful colours and forms which usually attend silver and gold, gold and tin reacted quite suddenly nearly black. The pictures of gold and iron lost their colour, showing more iron than gold; the same happened with copper and quicksilver. Who could fail to under- stand the exultation I felt at that moment! The connection of the sun with gold was proved! Because of the inability of the sun to send his rays to the earth, even in daytime, the substances in my laboratory which contained gold reflected the darkened sun. The gold picture lost its beautiful colours and turned brown and dirty. I worked on and on to discover how long the change would be found in the various substances. It was many hours before the gold returned to normal, but the mixture of gold and tin remained disturbed. The third day and night passed without my getting tired, and even on the fifth day I was working without visible fatigue. Whilst all other substances required only twenty-four hours to regain normality, it was a fortnight before tin and gold regained a usual appearance.

Since 1927 I have studied all eclipses, whether visible or invisible in central Europe, and I can affirm that gold, and the combination of gold and silver always show in a marked degree the effect of the sun upon gold.

Last year I went to Asia Minor to study the total eclipse which was visible at Brussa, this being the first time I had been able to experiment at totality. I began twenty-four hours before the eclipse and finished twenty-four afterwards - seventy-two hours of incessant work. The experiments had to be made in an hotel, but I was fortunate enough to secure a large room having an open veranda looking towards the East which enabled me to watch the whole event. The hotel had only opened its doors on the day of my arrival, and I had asked for a room with windows looking towards the East to facilitate a view of the eclipse, and I was surprised to find that no one appeared to be aware that an eclipse was to take place. I set about transforming the room into a laboratory, and became a little anxious when, after a time, the maitre d’hotel came in and asked about the eclipse. He offered no protest at the transformed room, and showed the greatest interest in my work. I explained everything, which he translated into Turkish and passed on to the head waiter.

The morning of the eclipse came with a brilliant sun-rise ; there was not a cloud in the sky. The head waiter’s propaganda among the guests and staff resulted in their being gathered in force on the hotel roof to witness the eclipse. I mixed gold and silver, gold and tin, gold and iron and so on just as I had done for some years. The gold underwent a change from light yellow to dark violet. At first only the top of the picture became dark; but as the eclipse proceeded, darkness covered the whole picture. The previous day the filter papers had shown a lovely blue-violet; now the colours faded away, the violet turned grey, and then came a strange intrusion into the coloured space. In the middle of the paper appeared a dark spot. The silver segregated itself from the mixture and took the form of a dark brown spot. Totality began. The sun was entirely covered by the moon; the corona flashed out like a silver crown around the darkened disc. A silvery light spread over the sky, and near the sun stood Venus. It was a strange moment; the whole of nature was silent. The birds had disappeared; no sound was heard. In the mixture of gold and silver we found reflected the total eclipse. The moon covered the sun, the silver completely overpowered the gold! Totality lasted only a few seconds, then a little of the sun shone through the darkness. The experiment with silver and gold showed a certain colouring due to the gold, but a great part of the whole picture showed the effect of nitrate of silver. Experiment after experiment was carried out, and each showed how slowly the gold regained its strength. The gold pictures became clearer, the dark-violet-brown zone became smaller, and after a few hours the violet was quite clear. Then, curiously, it turned pink, for on the day before the eclipse practically no pink was visible. It is not practicable to reproduce here the original colours, but coloured prints are in my book “Gold and the Sun.” The pictures reproduced here were taken before the eclipse, during totality, and after the eclipse and are experiments with gold alone. The others taken during the same three periods showing the results of experiments with silver and gold.

Each eclipse has a character of its own. Reverting to the eclipse of 1933, I remember that it rained so that I could see nothing at all. The gold behaved quite properly. The pictures taken before the event show extreme clearness and fine colouring which remained during the eclipse. All the same, the beginning of the eclipse brought into the yellow dark, violet streaks, at first only a few, but gradually increasing. During the middle period, the picture was full of them. The mixture of silver and gold produced the same effect (see the pictures of chloride of gold). Towards the end of the eclipse only a few streaks were visible, and they soon disappeared altogether.

The experiments showed the connection between gold and the sun to be a scientifically proven fact. When anything (such as an eclipse) happens to the sun it is reflected in the behaviour of gold. No such differences occur in lead, iron or copper. During an eclipse all other substances remain undisturbed; only gold, and mixtures containing gold, are susceptible, normality being restored when the eclipse is over.

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5 -

Mars and Iron, Jupiter and Tin, Saturn and Lead
Mrs L Kolisko

PRECEDING articles have made it evident that a scientific method can be devised for demonstrating the fact that differences in substance are the product of differences in the nature of the formative forces that are involved. One of the characteristic qualities of silver is its capacity for exhibiting an amazing variety of forms and, because of this, it occupies a special position among the metals. But while silver exhibits its specific qualities in forms, gold exhibits its characteristic qualities in brilliant colours. The solution of gold salt used is merely yellow but, when absorbed by the filter paper, delicate mauves, lilacs and pinks intermingled with clear yellow are usually manifest. Hence we can see that gold and silver represent the polarities of colour and form.

As an indication of the nature of these diverse influences the following experiment is interesting. If we cover the walls of a room with filter papers showing the forms produced by silver and another with filter papers showing the colours produced by gold, we can have the following experience. If, in the silver room, we try to identify ourselves with the silver process and to vitalise our imaginations of the forms themselves, it soon becomes un- endurable and we receive an impression of being overwhelmed by the powers of the form-building world.

The experience with gold, on the other hand, is just the opposite. If this experiment is performed with the original coloured filter papers we find they induce a mood of peace and harmony. We can submit ourselves to these impressions hour after hour without any symptoms of discomfort or fatigue, on the contrary they harmonise and vitalise. These portraits of themselves which gold and silver impress upon the filter papers have a powerful influence upon observers, but naturally only on those who are willing to identify themselves in imagination with these forces. We learn to look through these capillary pictures into a world in which we are able to perceive something which, although it may sound strange to some, can best be described as the moral qualities of these metals.

Let us now consider the metal iron. The very sound of the word iron awakes in most people associations of ideas such as the following - Mars, war, iron. I do not suppose there are many people who are unfamiliar with the old connection between Mars and Iron. Mars shines in the sky with a dull red gleam. Mars is the god of war and also the producer of iron in the earth. Man has succeeded in harnessing iron to his service and can now use it with equal facility for plough or for sword. Iron is the only heavy metal that exists in any considerable quantity within the human organism; it is an essential part of human blood. It is also a very special metal in another way, in that there exists both the earthly iron and meteoric or cosmic iron, giving a clear indication that iron comes to us from the cosmos.

In my experiments I used sulphate of iron, a light green salt that dissolves easily in water. As it is sucked up by the filter paper it appears as bright orange yellow in the filter pattem, with a fine zig-zag upper edge at a certain level in daytime, while the pattem reaches a higher level at night but with an indeterminate upper edge. What forms are characteristic of the nature of iron and how can they be produced? In the case of silver the characteristic forms are produced by allowing the solution to rise through the hours of a day and a night (24 hours) and this has proved to be the right method for iron as well, but it needs patience for development for days or even weeks may elapse before the characteristic iron forms slowly emerge from the original orange yellow colour.

A characteristic form produced by iron sulphate alone is shown in Fig. 1. In the case of silver it is impossible to show a single characteristic form, for silver is so rich in form-building forces that this metal expresses itself in a great variety of forms, even in the case of iron. There is some variation, but only within narrow limits. The characteristic form for iron, we could almost say the Symbol for iron, is that of a pointing hand. Sometimes it appears as a clenched fist with one “finger” extended, sometimes the “fingers” are slim and delicately formed, sometimes they are plump and heavy, but protuberances which give the impression of “fingers” are always present, the filter pattem is always the metamorphosis of a single fundamental form. If we surround ourselves with the original filter paper impressions of these iron forms and allow these impressions to sink deeply into us, then the soul is filled with a feeling of deep earnestness. We receive the impression of a hand pointing with a warning gesture to something that ought to be done; this earnest, warning gesture is the moral quality of iron.

How can the connection between Mars and iron be definitely established? By studying the transformations that the forms of iron undergo through days, months, years and even through several years. At the moment it is only possible to give one example of these changes. The most favourable conditions, for observing the influence of Mars the planet on iron the metal, exist during conjunctions of Mars and Moon (among the most favourable being the occultations), oppositions of Mars and Moon together with conjunctions and oppositions of Mars and Sun.1

In experiments conducted during a conjunction or opposition of Mars and Moon the earthly representatives of these planets are iron (Mars) and silver (Moon). I well remember the occasion when I first thought of mixing silver nitrate with iron sulphate. I was sitting by a large window late one night, working at some calculations, when I chanced to look up and saw the Moon with Mars shining close by. Moon and Mars, silver and iron at once flashed through my mind. What has Mars to say to the Moon? let us ask silver and iron. This may appear quite fantastic but moments like this do occur which suddenly bring solutions to long standing problems. I had been using silver salts and iron salts for a long time, but never together, but this appearance or Moon and Mars in the sky suggested their use in conjunction.

I always have ready for use solutions of 1% silver nitrate and 1% iron sulphate, so I took appropriate quantities of these solutions, mixed them, and stood the filter papers in the mixture, then placed the vessels in front of me and continued my calculations. I did not expect anything special, and in the normal course at least 2 hours is needed for the upper level of absorbtion to be reached; furthermore, as it was night, I did not expect effective darkening of the silver nitrate. After a few minutes, however, I looked up from my work and saw to my astonishment a number of black marks on the filter paper. My first thought was that either the solution or the filter paper contained some impurity, so in order to make quite sure I repeated the experiment and kept it under rigid control. To my amazement small dark marks again appeared within a few minutes, the marks grew in size and number and showed that silver and iron together possessed a most remark- able activity. The forms looked like a shower of tiny arrows. I kept repeating this experiment through the night with varying concentrations and proportions and marvelled at the showers of arrows that were apparently produced out of nothing.

By the aid of combinations of iron and silver I studied many conjunctions and oppositions of Mars and Moon (they occur every month). Figs. 2, 3 and 4 show the experiments of one of these events before, during and after an opposition, in which it can clearly be seen that the formation of the arrow-like forms is suppressed at the climax of the opposition.

Let us take another metal - tin. This is rather a difficult metal to use in these experiments for the salt we have to employ is tin-chloride, a white salt, the solution of which becomes pale yellow after a time, but which only leaves a faint, hardly perceptible yellow line on the filter paper. Up to now I have been unable to find any way of producing forms from tin salts alone, although it is natural to suppose that, like silver and iron, tin has also its own specific formative force. I have therefore had to rely upon a number of combinations which I have found to be effective for some years now and one of these combinations will be described in this article. I first tried the help of silver nitrate, which was so effective when mixed with iron, but found that it led to no result with tin. After a time however I found I could obtain results by taking 10 c.cs. of silver nitrate and allowing it to rise in the filter paper where it gave the customary brown band. When the silver solution is dry a solution of tin chloride is then poured into the vessel and this solution rises through the silver pattern so that the tin develops its own forms and colours on the silver background. These tin-silver patterns are very plastic and give the impression of waving veils, the colours being brown (silver) and mauve grey (tin). We are now able to carry out the following experiment to ascertain whether the planet Jupiter has any connection with the metal tin.

Suppose a conjunction of Jupiter and Moon is due to occur at midnight, during the preceding morning a considerable number of silver nitrate filter patterns are made which are naturally similar to each other as they are made with the same solution and under the same conditions of time, light, temperature and humidity. Now we take a series of these silver patterns and begin, two hours before the conjunction, to add tin chloride to the first pattern, half an hour later tin chloride solution is added to the second pattern, and half an hour later still to the third, and so on until we approach the actual time of the conjunction. Now these experiments are made at diminishing intervals of time until one experiment is made at the exact moment of the conjunction and then others follow at widening intervals of time after the conjunction is over. Thus we have a long series of experiments which show how the tin forms gradually diminish up to the time of the conjunction, are nearly suppressed at the conjunction, and gradually return to their normal condition after the conjunction of Jupiter and Moon is over. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the capillary forms obtained by experiments with silver-nitrate and tin-chloride before, at, and after such a conjunction.

The concluding example will illustrate the method of demonstrating the connection between Saturn and lead. Here we meet a similar difficulty to that which occurred in the case of tin. Nitrate of lead is a white salt that can be easily dissolved in distilled water, but its effects on the filter paper are hardly visible. It seems very difficult to unveil the secret of its formative forces and in mixing it with silver we still get no results. If we try the method that was successful with tin we can observe small changes but they cannot be identified as characteristic of lead.

In using lead we need a combination of three salts and the best results have been obtained by mixing 1% solutions of silver nitrate, iron sulphate and lead nitrate in equal parts. The arrow-like forms produced by the mixture of silver and iron undergo a remarkable transformation under the influence of lead nitrate. They become bigger and “heavier,” for the latter word offers the best expression for their appearance. The light rain of arrow-like forms produced by silver and iron appears ponderous and overloaded when lead is added, while their clear definite contours now appear to be wrinkled. The impression one gets on taking up a lump of lead - its weight - appears in these filter patterns on another plane. When, with the help of this combination of three salts we make an experiment at the time of a conjunction of Saturn with the Moon or the Sun we find that those characteristic forms, which are due to the influence of lead, partly or entirely disappear when Saturn is in conjunction or opposition with Moon or Sun. In order to dispel any doubt that the lead is actually the cause of these changes, control experiments are made at the same time with silver and iron alone, but these patterns remain quite unchanged during a Saturn conjunction or opposition, with the Solutions, however, to which lead is added the changes already described inevitably appear, as shown in Figs. 8, 9 and 10.

During my years of experimental work I have naturally accumulated an extensive collection of results obtained by experiments during solar, lunar and stellar phenomena which show the connection between all the planets of the solar system and their corresponding earthly metals. Some few of these have been already published but by far the greater part still await an opportunity for publication.

In looking at this mass of evidence there can be really no doubt that there are definite connections between earthly substances and planetary bodies and that these connections can be proved by scientific means.

This concludes the series of articles on planetary influences, but with the next issue another field of experimental research work carried out in connection with the Biological Institute will be explored under the title “Is Matter really Material?”

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6

Is matter really material? Research into the influence of the infinitesimal
Mrs L Kolisko

THE present article is concerned with the beginning of my research work at the Biological Institute of the Goetheanum at Stuttgart, and I cannot begin better than by an attempt to give readers of The Modern Mystic some insight into the manner in which practical scientists were helped by Dr. Rudolf Steiner when working in collaboration with him, for out of his occult knowledge and clairvoyant insight he could often suggest some unusual use of substance or method which the scientist could then test, elaborate and apply. Here is an example of the practical value of such collaboration. When a severe epidemic of foot and mouth disease broke out among the cattle of Wurttemburg in 1920, Dr. Steiner suggested a remedy. This remedy was first prepared in my laboratory and then Dr. E. Kolisko, with other medical helpers, obtained consent of the Government to try its effects on cattle on an extensive scale. Thousands of cows were treated and observed over a period of half a year, and on many occasions Dr. Steiner himself was present during the course of treatment ever ready with helpful advice. When we had surmounted the first difficulty in finding the right method of making the remedy, the next difficulty was to find the right dilution to employ, as we found that if administered in its normal concentration it worked too strongly on the cattle.

On one occasion I asked Dr. Steiner, who was watching Dr. Kolisko giving injections to some infected cows, if there were any reliable method of determining the correct degree of dilution. In answer he said, “The best way to proceed would be to observe the effect of different dilutions of substance upon seed germination, for by this means you will get a curve that will be a reflection of the vital processes that work in the body of the cow.” I began, therefore, in 1920 to test the effect of various dilutions of substance upon the germination of seeds. It was a long and tiring road that had to be traversed. Seeds of various plants were selected for treatment, good seeds only being used, dead or sterile seeds being thrown away. To begin with I doubled the dilutions of substance at each stage so that the range of dilutions ran as follows : ½, ¼, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 and so on. When the treated seeds were observed, however, it was found that no germination at all took place over wide sections of the range of dilutions. The seeds merely lay dormant and became covered with mould. It occurred to me that the differences in degree of dilution might be too slight, in any case calculation with vulgar fractions proved to be very inconvenient, so in my next experiment I began to dilute with a decimal ratio so that the fractional series ran 1 in 10, 1 in 100, 1 in 1,000, 1 in 10,000 and so on, or more simply stated, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. My second set of dilutions therefore represented decimal potencies.

At this time I only knew homoeopathy as a system of medicine, it was only later that I began to realise that my research work was very closely connected with the whole theory and practice of homoeopathy as founded and established by Hahnemann. It may be necessary here to make clear that my work was solely confined to finding the best dilution or potency for each of the remedies used. Homoeopathic doctors also work with highly potentised substances, but in addition to the theory of potentised substances, Hahnemann also asserted that illnesses should be treated with remedies that produced similar symptoms in healthy persons. Hence the name homoeopathy is used to distinguish that system of medicine that worked on the principle of similarity, from the other system that uses antidotes, or opposing substances. There is of course no question of giving a description of the various schools of medicine in this article, but I did want to indicate the way I came to begin this work as a clue to its understanding.

It was in 1920 that I began to study the effect of highly diluted substances on plant growth. After three years of unbroken work the first results were published, in 1926 the second publication appeared, while, in 1927, Dr. E. Kolisko was able to give a detailed report of this work to the International Homoeopathic Congress that was held in London in that year. The assembled homoeopathists were quite sympathetic, and from the discussions reported in the “Transactions of the ninth Quinquennial International Homoeopathic Congress of 1927” I extract the following Statement:

“Dr. Julian thought the occasion ought not to be allowed to pass without congratulating the author on the careful and scientific way in which these investigations had been carried out. Work of the character described was bound to influence the opinion of the other school of medicine in favour of homoeopathy, when they found such work being carefully and scientifically conducted. Dr. Wheeler, in the chair, also agreed with Dr. Julian that Dr. Kolisko should be heartily congratulated on his paper.”

This was in 1927 since when ten years have elapsed during which these problems have been still more intensively investigated. The process of studying the effects of dilutions of substance on plant growth, as indicated by Dr. Steiner, have proved of great utility, but it needs great exactitude together with a fundamental knowledge of the various factors that influence plant growth such as light and darkness, electricity and magnetism, the influence of the seasons and so on. On the personal side the experimenter has to acquire a faculty for selecting grains or seeds for experiment that possess approximately the same energy of growth, and energy of growth is not the same thing as faculty of germination, for it is only by a careful selection of seeds of similar character that one can be sure of accurate results.

This is the method of one such experiment. Take ten grammes of nickel-sulphate (a green salt) and dissolve it in 100 c.cm.’s of water. This gives the first potency, a dilution of 1 in 10. This solution must be carefully shaken for some time - the exact time of shaking required by each substance had also to be found by a long series of experiments. Thirty selected wheat grains are then placed in a shallow glass dish and moistened with the 10 per cent. nickel-sulphate solution. Meantime other glass dishes, each containing thirty similar wheat grains but damped with water only, are used as a control. Now take 1/10th of the first potency and dilute it with 90 c.cm.’s of water and, having carefully cleaned the vessels, shake as before. This gives the second potency, 1 in 100, and with this wheat grains in the next dish are moistened. This process can be continued as far as necessary though I stop at the 60th potency. All the dishes are now placed under the same conditions of light and warmth while the grains are kept moist with their respective potencies as the moisture evaporates. After one or two days germination begins, according to temperature and season. On the fifth day the plants are taken from the dishes, dried on filter paper, while a suitable selection are placed on glass plates and photographed.

In the top left corner of Fig. 1 are the control grains that have been damped with water only, both sprout and roots are approximately 1 cm. long. The next group shows the effect of the 1st potency, the grains are swollen but are only beginning to germinate. The grains damped with the 2nd potency are a little more advanced, while with the 3rd potency group the root and sprout can already be distinguished. The 4th potency groups shows a growth nearly equal to that of the water control, while the 5th shows an advance on that.

The group at the top left corner of Fig. 2 shows that the effect of the 6th potency retards growth a little, but the 7th potency produces a level of growth far beyond that of the water control.

This potency corresponds to a dilution of one part of substance to ten million (10,000,000) parts of water, but it stimulates growth to a great extent. At this high degree of dilution it is just possible, by very exact chemical tests, to distinguish a trace of nickel sulphate, but is it not strange to discover that the less of actual substance we use the stronger is its effect? We are in the habit of thinking that force and mass are proportionate but here we find the contrary, the less the substance the greater the force.
The 8th potency, top right corner of Fig. 2, is smaller again, the 9th approximately the same, but the 10th potency, right, bottom corner, shows a remarkably retarded growth. The experiment so far shows a curve of increasing and decreasing growth with a certain maximum and a certain minimum. But now let us look at the effects of some of the higher potencies.

The top row of Fig. 3 shows the 41st, 42nd and 43rd potencies, on the bottom row the 44th potency shows retarded growth while potencies 45 and 46 indicate the beginning of a new maximum.

The three potencies on Fig. 4, potencies 47, 48 and 49, show an even higher maximum than the first maximum at the 7th potency. This higher maximum occurs at the 49th potency, which is 7 times 7. By this time there is no observable trace of material substance left for at these levels of dilution we should require the waters of all the oceans of the world to hold one observable atom of physical substance.

At these levels the experiment indicates the presence of a force that has no physical basis, force without substance. Here we are in the presence of a scientific phenomenon which should cause every person to think, whether scientist or not. After the publication of my first pamphlet, “Physiological and physical proofs of the effect of smallest entities,” I received a letter from a German scientist saying, “What explanation do you offer for this? At the level of these high dilutions it is naturally impossible to find any trace of physical substance, still an effect is produced. What is the cause? for you have said nothing to indicate what you think is at work when you have no substance left.”

Such a question is legitimate and natural and I gave the following reply, “My first paper was published to 'prove the existence of these effects quite apart from any theory I might have to explain them. I will however give an explanation though I fear it is one that is unlikely to be accepted. Here is the explanation: at the lower potencies there is still some physical material that retards plant growth, but as the substance diminishes in quantity its effects decline until a point is reached at which the plants can grow as freely as in pure water. Eventually we approach a level of dilution at which it is possible to calculate that only a few molecules are present in the solution, then a point at which only one atom is present. With further dilutions even this disappears and then the plants begin to grow even better than in pure water, indicating that the water has absorbed a power the effect of which, on plant growth, can be observed, measured and weighed. At a certain point we reach the limit of the world of substance and a leap must be made into another world which we may call the spiritual world, but it is just this leap which people hesitate to make, especially if they are scientists. Although I have proved these facts by thousands of experiments I am continually meeting scientists who prefer to believe that the experiments are untrue because they cannot bring themselves to admit that it is possible to produce physical effects without the use of physical substance.”

Let us now consider experiments with wheat grown in the open. In this experiment the grains were soaked in the usual series of potencies, in one case of sulphate of iron, in another with chloride of mercury. After soaking they were planted out in the garden, each separate potency in its own little plot, and allowed to grow to maturity without further treatment. The effects of the earlier experiments with germinating grains could now be observed in the full-grown plant. Some plots showed a luxurious growth of rich green stalk followed later by full heavy ears of corn, while others turned yellow quite early and showed but meagre growth.

Fig 5 shows a series of examples from the group soaked in potencies of sulphate of iron. The first pair of ears, potency showed practically the same results as the normal, non-treated grains that were used as the control. The 7th potency shows enlarged growth, the 16th shows a minimum, the 24th the maximum, the 28th the second minimum while the 30th again shows a growth beyond the normal.

Fig. 6 shows the experiment with chloride of mercury. Here again the 7th potency shows increased growth, the 17th and 19th the first minimum, the 24th the maximum, the 29th the second minimum.

Many thousands of experiments have been carried out during the last 17 years with a wide variety of plants and a large variety of substances. In conclusion I show in Fig. 7 an experiment with sunflowers.

The sunflower seeds were soaked with decimal potencies of tin-chloride until they began to germinate. They were then planted out in the garden and thereafter were watered with plain water only. The varying heights shown in the photograph give a graphic illustration of the growth curve produced. The first potency is shown at the right hand edge of the picture and the 60th potency on the left. Four weeks later this experiment was repeated and the results appear in the row of smaller plants in the foreground, from which it will be seen that they repeat the curve of the older plants in every particular. As a control all the untreated sunflowers in the surrounding gardens were measured and gave a maximum height of 2.65 metres (8 1/2 feet). The maximum height, however, reached by the plants treated with potencies of tin-chloride was 3.65 metres 10 ¾ feet) which indicate clearly that the dilutions of tin-chloride had a definite and measurable influence on the sunflowers, although there was obviously no substance present in the high dilutions and the treatment was limited to soaking the seeds up to the time of germination. In fact the influence of this non-material force, which was only applied for a few days, had an effect that endured through several months.

Similar experiments have also been extended to the animal kingdom when, with tadpoles for instance, we find that with the potencies that produce the maximum growth in plants abnormally large growths result, While with the potencies that retard plant growth the tadpoles die. With other animals, mice for instance, we find an increase or decrease in powers of reproduction.

In these experiments we may say that we touch a realm from which the immaterial and invisible can produce material and visible results.

At the moment of writing it is difficult even to guess to what fields of practical application this knowledge can be successfully applied, though we do know that successful results have already been achieved in its application to agriculture and medicine. The results of this experimental work, carried out unceasingly for 17 years, have been carefully preserved and are now being transferred to England where they will be kept until opportunity and means permit of their publication.

The chief interest this work must have for readers of The Modern Mystic lies in the fact that it provides scientific proof of the reality of an unseen world of forces that are able to produce material effects in the visible world.

The conclusions to which these researches point is that the phenomena of force without matter provides direct proof of the influence of the spirit in the realm of the material.