science to_the front

by Ambrose Bierce

in connection with_this subject of " mysterious disappearance"-- of_which every memory is stored with abundant example-- it_is pertinent to note the belief of Dr . hem, of Leipsic; not by way of explanation, unless the reader may choose to_take it so, but because of_its intrinsic interest as a singular speculation . this distinguished scientist has expounded his views in a book entitled "Verschwinden und seine Theorie," which_has attracted some attention, " particularly," says one writer, " among_the followers of Hegel, and mathematicians who hold to_the actual existence of a so- called non- Euclidean space-- that_is_to_say, of space which_has more dimensions than length, breadth, and thickness-- space in_which it would_be possible to tie a knot in an endless cord and to_turn a rubber ball inside out without 'a solution of_its continuity,' or in other words, without breaking or cracking it ."

Dr . hem believes that in_the visible world there_are void places-- vacua, and something more--holes, as it were, through which animate and inanimate objects may fall into_the invisible world and be seen and heard no more . the theory is something like this: space is pervaded by luminiferous ether, which_is a material thing-- as_much a substance as air or water, though almost infinitely more attenuated . all force, all forms of energy must_be propagated in_this; every process must take place in_it which takes place at all . but let_us suppose that cavities exist in_this otherwise universal medium, as caverns exist in_the earth, or cells in a Swiss cheese . in_such a cavity there would_be absolutely nothing . it would_be such a vacuum as cannot_be artificially produced; for if_we pump the air from a receiver there remains the luminiferous ether . through one_of_these cavities light could_not pass, for there would_be nothing to bear it . sound could_not come from_it; nothing could_be felt in_it . it would_not have a single one_of_the conditions necessary to_the action of any of_our senses . in_such a void, in short, nothing whatever could occur . now, in_the words of_the writer before quoted-- the learned doctor himself nowhere puts it so concisely: "A man inclosed in_such a closet could neither see nor be seen; neither hear nor be heard; neither feel nor be felt; neither live nor die, for both life and death are processes which can take place only where there_is force, and in empty space no force could exist ." are these the awful conditions ( some will ask) under which the friends of_the lost are to_think of_them as existing, and doomed forever to exist ?

Baldly and imperfectly as here stated, Dr . hem's theory, in so_far as it professes to_be an adequate explanation of " mysterious disappearances," is open to many obvious objections; to fewer as he states it himself in_the " spacious volubility" of_his book . but even as expounded by its author it does_not explain, and in truth is incompatible with some incidents of, the occurrences related in_these memoranda: for example, the sound of Charles Ashmore's voice . it_is_not my duty to indue facts and theories with affinity .