APPENDIX 299 



many die before their time is over, not by a visitation of 

 Providence, but because they are ignorant of the laws 

 controlling their nature." 



"Metals may be preserved from rust, and wood be 

 protected against the rot. Blood may be preserved a 

 long time if the air is excluded. Egyptian mummies 

 have kept their forms for centuries without undergoing 

 putrefaction. Animals awaken from their winter sleep, 

 and flies, having become torpid from cold, become nimble 

 again when they are warmed. A tree will sometimes 

 bear no fruit for twenty years, and then begin again to 

 bloom and bear fruit as it did when it was young ; and 

 if inanimate objects can be kept from destruction, why 

 should there be no possibility to preserve the life-essence 

 of animate forms ? " 



"Life itself comes from heaven. It is an emanation 

 of the Supreme Power of the universe, and it is therefore 

 eternal and unchangeable ; but it requires a substantial 

 vehicle for its manifestation. Material forms are earthly, 

 and, like all earthly substances, they are subject to disso- 

 lution and change. To prolong the process of life, we 

 must try to protect the material form in which life is 

 active against all injurious influences that may act upon 

 it. We must therefore attempt to eradicate all physical 

 and psychical diseases, and to prevent all evils that are 

 caused by age, occupation, or accidents. We should 

 protect man against all evil influences acting upon him 

 during the foetal state, in infancy, youth, manhood, and 

 old age ; we should defend him against injurious in- 

 fluences coming from the astral plane ; cause him to 

 avoid immoderate eating and drinking, fatigue of body 

 or mind, excessive joy or grief, or mental excitement of 

 any kind. We must protect him against infectious or 

 epidemic diseases, whether they are of a physical or moral 

 character, and employ such remedies as have been pro- 

 vided by Nature for such purposes." 



" Such a remedy is the Primum Ens, the source of all 



