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 asingular speculation .This distinguished scientist has expounded his views in abook 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 aso- 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 aknot in an endless cord and to_turn arubber 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 amaterial thing-- as_much asubstance 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 aSwiss cheese . in_such acavity there would_be absolutely nothing .It would_be such avacuum as cannot_be artificially produced; for if_we pump the air from areceiver 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 asingle one_of_the conditions necessary to_the action of any of_our senses . in_such avoid, 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 acloset 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 .