Chapter III. The Inner Aura
CHAPTER III
THE INNER AURA
THE aura proper lies just outside the etheric double. For some time it was considered indivisible, although the part nearest the body is evidently more dense, and has a different texture from the more distant portion; nevertheless, the one appeared to shade into the other too gradually to be treated separately. After many trials it was found possible to divide the aura into two distinct parts by the help of coloured screens, other than those containing dicyanin. These parts are known as the outer and inner auras. The new screens have made a great addition to our knowledge by opening up an increased field of observation in disease, and affording an explanation of several phenomena which were previously inexplicable.
The most useful screens for the present purpose are C, a deep carmine; Ca, a light carmine; and B, a pale blue, (methylene blue). After the patient has been inspected in the ordinary way without a screen, the aura may be examined through B. By its aid the two auras can be clearly distinguished. The inner will look denser and generally more granular, its outer margin more defined, but its structure incompletely differentiated. The outer aura stands out plainly, and its distal border can be perceived with tolerable accuracy, so that its size and shape can be noted. Next the screen, Ca, may be employed when the outer aura will be more or less eliminated, according to the light admitted and the tint of the screen. These factors should be so arranged that the
two auras may be visible, to allow the width of the inner aura as seen through the screen, B, to be verified.
The last step is to survey the aura through the dark carmine screen, C, when much more light will be required. It might reasonably be expected that the screen C, would cut off some part of the inner aura as well as the whole of the outer. However, the conclusion arrived at, after repeated trials, is that no obliteration takes place if the light has been properly regulated. It is especially to guard against this error that the breadth of the inner aura has to be determined by the screens B, and Ca. The inner aura when seen through the deep carmine screen usually ranges between one and a half and three inches and a half in breadth, according to the age and individuality of the patient, being, perhaps, relatively wider, although absolutely narrower, in a child than in an adult. When the observer becomes expert, he may save time by omitting the examination through the pale carmine and blue screens.
In health the boundaries of the inner aura are determined by the distance the striae reach, when examined through the dark carmine screen. As a rule the breadth is uniform all over the head and trunk, and generally, but not always, slightly narrower down the limbs. Occasionally both in males and females it will become wider and coarser locally, but as striation can be discerned though perhaps with difficulty, there can be no uncertainty about limits. This is quite different to what takes place in local bodily derangements. The commonest position for the enlargement is at the sides of the waist in a woman, and the next is the small of the back in a man, but a granular appearance in this latter situation is generally pathological, and will be described later on. Females often show enlargements of the aura in front of the breasts and abdomen,
and these will be alluded to in the chapter devoted to pregnancy.
As a rule the inner aura follows the contour of the body, its proximal border being in juxta-position to the etheric double, or in the majority of cases apparently to the body itself. The outer margin is free, irregularly crenated with large curves. The structure consists of excessively fine grains, so arranged as to present a striated appearance. The striae, too, are fine beyond description, parallel to each other, and running at right angles to the body. They show no intrinsic colour. They seem to be collected into bundles, with the longest lines in the centre, and the shortest outside. These bundles are massed together, and their shapes cause the outlines of the inner aura. In most people during health, striation is manifest, without the slightest difficulty, while in others of a delicate constitution or during ill-health, it can be only detected, if at all, by the most careful arrangement of the light, and the selection of a suitable screen.
Wherever this aura encroaches on the etheric double, it will almost always obliterate the latter, and this fact raises the issue whether its granules are not always present in the etheric double, although invisible, or whether they are driven outwards by some force emanating from the body, thus leaving it destitute of all granules and in consequence quite transparent. In the latter part of the last chapter, this question was considered when the patient was in good health, and the conclusion arrived at was that the etheric double contained no granules. In the last paragraph it was stated that the inner aura, as far as could be discovered, had no colour, and in Chapter II the striae of the etheric double seemed to be the origin of the rose colour occasionally perceived. If the striae of the inner aura and the etheric double are, as is very likely, continuous, the descriptions
are seemingly at variance. The descrepancy, however, is only superficial, as in the inner aura the faint rose colour would be overwhelmed by the red shade of the screen, and by the deeper hue the aura assumes. Both ill health and local diseases alter all the conditions, and it seems probable that the granular substance of the inner aura does at times invade the etheric double. This subject will be discussed in another chapter.
The outer aura commences where the inner leaves off, and spreads round the body to a variable distance. It has no absolutely sharp outline but gradually vanishes into space, although in the majority of instances its outer border is sufficiently obvious for measurement. The above statement is not, however, quite correct for all cases, because occasionally under very favourable circumstances, an exceedingly fine haze can be perceived extending outwards for a considerable distance, which gives the impression that one is more aware of its presence, than really able to distinguish it. This elusive mist is presumably a continuation of the outer aura, as on every occasion it has been noticed, the periphery of the latter has been less definite than usual. It has only been observed in people with extensive auras. For the sake of reference the phenomenon has been termed the Ultra-outer aura.
At the end of 1915, a patient's aura was inspected which gave most interesting and unlooked for results, and was the first instance that seemed likely to afford any assistance in elucidating the nature of the ultra-outer aura.
Case 18. (Fig. 19). W.B., twenty-nine years of age was first examined in 1914. She was a stout largely built woman with rather small bones. Four years previously she was thin but rapidly gained flesh, and became fat and flabby. Her net weight was one hundred and sixty-eight pounds. She was
anæmic and complained of weakness and shortness of breath, and inability to walk any distance without great pain in her back. Heart sounds were normal but muffled from fat. Her thyroid was rather small.
The outer aura was of good shape, and round the head and trunk could be almost classed as wide, being