 So rapid has been the advance of 20th century science in the diagnosis and cure of disease that one pictures men of medicine as seizing avidly on any discovery which contributes even slightly to their understanding the human body. And in general, such a picture is accurate. But what shall be said of Dr. Kilner's remarkable experiment? An experiment which might have revolutionized the whole field of medicine had not doctors and laboratory experts chosen to ignore it. The record of Dr. W. J. Kilner's astonishing discovery may be found in a book entitled The Human Atmosphere. There he recounts how on a summer's day 12 years before he happened by the mayor's chance to stumble on a strange and inexplicable fact. He and his assistant were working on a routine experiment in the laboratory of St. Thomas Hospital in London. All right, Alex, I'm ready for the viewing screen now. It's got some sort of a die on it, hasn't it, Doctor? Yes, I extended myself this morning with die cyanine. Hold the screen up, Alex. Let's see if it's dying. Wait a moment. What in the devil's name is that? What? Behind the screen. It's my aunt. But what's around your aunt? Around it. Why, nothing? Nothing you can see, perhaps. Alex, I want you to disrobe. I want to see your whole body behind that screen. The laboratory assistant, completely baffled by Dr. Kilner's sudden intense excitement, removed his clothes and stepped behind the viewing screen. A sort of an aura, all different colors extending beyond the surface of your skin. The human body, at least your body, throws off a strange kind of substance. In the first feverish flush of discovery, Dr. Kilner had no doubt that he had correctly interpreted the amazing thing he'd seen. But an hour later, he began to wonder. And so he summoned one of his patients from a ward in the hospital and asked him to stand behind the screen. I'm not crazy, am I, Alex? You see it too, don't you? Sort of a, will sort of an atmosphere all around his body. Exactly. The human atmosphere. But why is it so different up there around his chest? They're radiations. They're a different color and a different texture altogether. By God, so they are. I'm sure they weren't like that when you... Good Lord. This man's a tubercular and the aura's modified only in the region around his lungs. That screen's given us a new way to diagnose disease. Word of the doctor's discovery spread rapidly through the hospital. The human atmosphere. You saw the radiation? How do I know? They aren't the properties of the screen itself. Alex, you ready with the other patient? Yes, doctor. Well then, help him to sit up behind the screen. The radiations were just an optical illusion. If they were created by the screen itself, they'd always be present. Wouldn't they, doctor? Well then, take a look at the man who's there now. Do you see any aura? No, I don't. How do you explain that, Kilmer? It's simple enough. You see, the body Alex is holding up in that chair happens to be a corpse. Dr. Kilmer made hundreds of difficult and invariably accurate diagnoses with the aid of his viewing screens. And yet, the record of Dr. Kilmer's work lies ignored, forgotten by contemporary science. This fact, like the fact of the remarkable experiment itself, can only be regarded as incredible but true.