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 its place as if I saw 

 it there. There now ! But then distance and direction 

 imply \wvplaces. 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 no. 



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

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



