Отруєний пояс
Chapter I. The Blurring Of Lines
"Isitpossiblethatyoudonotrealizethatether,ifforamomentweadoptChallenger’spreposteroussupposition,isauniversalsubstancewhichisthesamehereasattheothersideoftheworld?DoyouforaninstantsupposethatthereisanEnglishetherandaSumatranether?PerhapsyouimaginethattheetherofKentisinsomewaysuperiortotheetherofSurrey,throughwhichthistrainisnowbearingus.Therereallyarenoboundstothecredulityandignoranceoftheaveragelayman.IsitconceivablethattheetherinSumatrashouldbesodeadlyastocausetotalinsensibilityattheverytimewhentheetherherehashadnoappreciableeffectuponuswhatever?Personally,IcantrulysaythatIneverfeltstrongerinbodyorbetterbalancedinmindinmylife."
"Thatmaybe.Idon’tprofesstobeascientificman,"saidI,"thoughIhaveheardsomewherethatthescienceofonegenerationisusuallythefallacyofthenext.Butitdoesnottakemuchcommonsensetoseethat,asweseemtoknowsolittleaboutether,itmightbeaffectedbysomelocalconditionsinvariouspartsoftheworldandmightshowaneffectovertherewhichwouldonlydeveloplaterwithus."
"With’might’and’may’youcanproveanything,"criedSummerleefuriously."Pigsmayfly.Yes,sir,pigsmayfly—buttheydon’t.Itisnotwortharguingwithyou.Challengerhasfilledyouwithhisnonsenseandyouarebothincapableofreason.Ihadassoonlayargumentsbeforethoserailwaycushions.
