OCCULT CHEMISTRY.

It may be remembered that an article bearing the above title appeared in the journal Lucifer in November 1895, and was reprinted as a separate pamphlet in 1905. In that article, three chemical elements—hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen—were examined through clairvoyance The authors claim to use psychic "extra-sensory perception" to observe atoms directly., and their analyses were presented tentatively to the public. The work was conducted by Mr. Leadbeater and myself. The pressing nature of our other duties prevented further investigation at the time; however, we have lately had the opportunity of pursuing these researches further. As a considerable amount of work has been completed, it seems worthwhile to report the observations made, though still in a tentative manner. Certain principles seem to emerge from the mass of details, and it is possible that readers who are better versed in chemistry than ourselves may see suggestions to which we are blind. An observer’s duty is to state his observations clearly; it is for others to judge their value and to decide whether they indicate lines of research that scientists may profitably follow.

The drawings of the elements were produced by two Theosophical artists, Herr Hecker and Mrs. Kirby, whom we sincerely thank. The diagrams showing the details of the construction of each "element" we owe to the most painstaking labor of Mr. Jinarâjaḍâsa. Without his aid, it would have been impossible for us to have presented clearly and definitely the complicated arrangements by which the chemical elements are built up. We must also thank him for a number of most useful notes, involving much careful research, which are incorporated into the present series; without these, I could not have written these papers. Lastly, we have to thank Sir William Crookes A prominent British chemist and physicist (1832–1919) who was interested in spiritualism and Theosophy. for kindly lending his diagram of the grouping of the elements, showing