194 BOOK OF THE DAMNED 



deal with, but I suppose it's good enough for the quasi-intellects that 

 stupefy themselves with text-books. The trick here is to gloss over 

 Leverrier's mistake, and blame Lescarbault he was only an ama- 

 teur had delusions. The reader's attention is led against Lescar- 

 bault by a report from M. Lias, director of the Brazilian Coast 

 Survey, who, at the time of Lescarbault's "supposed" observation 

 had been watching the sun in Brazil, and, instead of seeing even 

 ordinary sun spots, had noted that the region of the "supposed 

 transit" was of "uniform intensity." 



But the meaninglessness of all utterances in quasi-existence 



"Uniform intensity" turns our way as much as against us or some 

 day some brain will conceive a way of beating Newton's third law 

 if every reaction, or resistance, is, or can be, interpretable as stimu- 

 lus instead of resistance if this could be done in mechanics, there's 

 a way open here for some one to own the world specifically in this 

 matter, "uniform intensity" means that Lescarbault saw no ordinary 

 sun spot, just as much as it means that no spot at all was seen upon 

 the sun. Continuing the interpretation of a resistance as an assist- 

 ance, which can always be done with mental forces making us 

 wonder what applications could be made with steam and electric 

 forces we point out that invisibility in Brazil means parallax quite 

 as truly as it means absence, and, inasmuch as "Vulcan" was sup- 

 posed to be distant from the sun, we interpret denial as corrobora- 

 tion method of course of every scientist, politician, theologian, 

 high-school debater. 



So the text-books, with no especial cleverness, because no especial 

 cleverness is needed, lead the reader into contempt for the amateur 

 of Orgeres, and forgetfulness of Leverrier and some other subject 

 is taken up. 



But our own acceptance: 



That these data are as good as ever they were; 



That, if some one of eminence, should predict an earthquake, and 

 if there should be no earthquake at the predicted time, that would 

 discredit the prophet, but data of past earthquakes would remain as 

 good as ever they had been. It is easy enough to smile at the illu- 

 sion of a single amateur 



The mass-formation: 



Fritsche, Stark, De Cuppis, Sidebotham, Lescarbault, Lummis, 

 Gruthinson, De Vico, Scott, Wray, Russell, Hind, Lowe, Coumbray, 

 Weber, Standacher, Lichtenberg, Dangos, Hoffman, Schmidt, Lofft, 

 Steinheibel, Pastorff 



