A strong hope of £20,000 in the heart of a poor but capable man may
effect a considerable redistribution of the forces of nature—may even
remove mountains. The little, unseen impalpable hope sets up a vibrating
movement in a messy substance shut in a dark warm place inside the man’s
skull. The vibrating substance undergoes a change that none can note,
whereupon rings of rhythm circle outwards from it as from a stone thrown
into a pond, so that the Alps are pierced in consequence.