THE REALM OF SOULS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 411, 21 January 1909, Page 11

THE REALM OF SOULS.

SpME);STRANGE SPECULATIONS.

.Mr/.-Fournier d'Albe/B.Sc;,; secretary of the Dublin Society for .'Psychical Research, explaincdto an audience 'of- spiritualists at the. rooms'of:, the .'Royal. Society, of British Artists;in.'Suffolk Street, Pall Mall,"on.;De-c^inber-3,'his n<jw theory regarding, the life of the soul after.; death. t

; - He'weiit""so far.'as'.tbliridicate'the kind of life .'which, :in.. : his ' .belief, is led by disembodied souls and the'probable duration of it, supporting "his speculations by scientific arguments.,;'.; ;•: V ;.';.V; , . ■■'■-.; •,:•. ■•" /After;-cbmmenting_' lipori the fact that" "a poor;ghost looking in at the window is shot at,.-persecuted,."derionne'ed, .arid exorcised;" ■Mr.. d'Albe: gave his 'reasons: for believing that; the soul of man'is. ah; aggregation of the "psychomeres," :or,- soul .partiwes,- ;in-, habiting the.individual cells of -iho' human' body.../•■'.■:■;.;.; : ; ' ■■ ■■''-.;;;•-. ; ''•;-•'.-'.'' -'•'."These psychomeres," he said, "are pror bably. opaque; to ultra-violet light, and therefore may; some' day 'be made visible by inore powerful optical means than we at present possess. Tbey will then be weighed and measured..:-Their .weight will probably, be found to be: about one-thousandth part ;of thfr weight of the body."' -. ...-..''■;;:;.■■■; ;\ After : death Mr. d'Albe's "psychomeres": unite to' form the "soul-body,"-and are, from their nature, suited to tho environment of .the';'earth" atmosphere in which lie 'believes they' float.. ' They".have'.; consciousness 'and power of locomotion, -or. eriergy," which, .as it must be. derived from some source, is probably, obtained from the ultra-violet, rays'of the'sun. -:'; ( .. ; . '■'•'.'■ .",', ; V ":Mr. d'Albo argued that as the. soul-body, subsists I- .on the' sun-rays' it requires no digestive organs and has no need to struggle as the material body: does for food. Haying thus' lost tho. incentive to compete for • existence, the .soul-body , retains .the ■; higherquality of competition in mutual service. The soul-body, according to Mr. d'Albe's theory, is therefore engaged only in cultivating the higher virtues of justice, -kindness,' and sym--pathy: ; .'; ;■■•.;•:■ .-• '■'.'>'.'•':'■'; •' ■'■~"■ Following' this' lino of argitm'erit, " Mr. d'Albe, whose work in science and psychical .research has' been commended by Professor .Oliver Lodge aiid Sir William Crookes, argued that : the atrnosphcre ,is. jnhabited by tho souls'of those who have lived for the last 30,000 years..'; ' ;■." .-■ ; . "T,he realm of .souls,'-', he said, "extends upwards.frorii where we stand for 200 miles, and is.as thickly populated as the earth.", .' After 30,000 -years of this soul existence in the' atmosphere, Mr, d'Albe suggests a fur-ther-transformation into; a state of existence suited to the environment which is to be found in inter-planetary space, implying, as one of his audience pointed out'in the discussion following' the lecture, the .final cosmic union of all souls■ arid all ages. ; .