ON ATOMS. 455 



tance I mean direction: that steeple is a mile off, and 

 not here where we sit ; and it lies south-east of us, and 

 not north or west. And if the steeple were away, I 

 should have just as clear a notion of \\splace as if I saw 

 it there. There now ! But then distance and direction 

 imply i\\o places. So there are three things anyhow that 

 belong to a vacuum ; and let me tell you, it is not every- 

 thing that three things positively intelligible can be 

 " predicated " of (to speak your jargon). 



Hermogenes. Dear me, Hermione ! how can you twit 

 me so? Jargon! Every speciality has its "jargon." Even 

 the Law, that system of dreams, has its "jargon" the 

 more so, to be sure, because it is a system of dreams, or 

 rather of nightmares (God forgive me for saying so !). 

 Well , then, you seem to have tolerably clear notions 

 about a vacuum at least, I cannot make them clearer. 

 Much clearer, an yhow, than Des Cartes had, who main- 

 tained that if it were not for the foot-rule between them, 

 the two ends of it would be in the same place. Still, 

 there is much to be said about that same Vacuum, espe- 

 cially when contrasted with a Plenum, which means (if it 

 mean anything) the exact opposite of a vacuum. In other 

 words, a "jam," a " block," a "fix." But, on the whole, 

 I lean to a vacuum. The other idea is oppressive. It 

 does not allow one to breathe. There is no elbow-room. 

 It seems to realize the notion of that great human 

 squeeze in which we should be landed after a hundred 

 generations of unrestrained propagation.""' One does not 



* For the benefit of those who discuss the subjects of Population, 

 War, Pestilence, Famine, c., it may be as well to mention that the 



