"Not quite unknown," rejoined Almos. "For lives are sometimes lost in
accidents. Instant death defies all our science, and will not be
conquered. But in accidents, no matter how serious, where a spark of
life remains, we can prevent that from escaping until the body is in a
condition to take care of it.

"This is accomplished by a device known as a virator, which, though
simple in construction, is the greatest marvel of the age. It consists
of a dome, made of material similar to glass in appearance, but which
differs from anything else known, in that it is absolutely atomless.
This dome fits over the operating table, upon which the patient lies,
with just sufficient room for two persons inside, and is kept at the
temperature of the body. On its top is a small globe made of the same
material, measuring but a few inches in diameter, which is connected
with the large chamber below by a neck or passage about an inch wide.
The patient is placed inside, and there operated upon. If life leaves
the body, either during the operation or after, the spirit ascends
through the narrow passage into the small globe above and is there
retained, as it cannot pass through the material of which the walls of
this chamber are constructed. The body is then kept continually bathed
in the regenerating rays, which not only preserve it as if life were in
it, but actually carry on the process of healing. This continues until
the body is in a perfectly sound and healthy condition again, and well
able to retain life.

"And now occurs the most wonderful of all. When everything is in
readiness for the spirit to enter the body again, a strong flow of
super-radium is sent through the top globe from an instrument attached.
Passing through the small chamber and down the narrow passage, it