"What is this new substance I hear so much about?" asked the eminent
scientist's wife.
"What new substance, my dear?"
"The element in the air that has just been detected."
"Oh! that, my dear," he answered, beaming over his spectacles with the good
nature of superior wisdom, "is known as argon!"
"Oh!"
"Yes; its discovery is one of the most remarkable triumphs of the age. It
has revolutionized some of the old theories, or at least it will
revolutionize them before it gets through."
"What is it?"
"It's--er--a--did you say, what is it?"
"I said that."
"Well--ahem--you see, we haven't as yet discovered much about it except its
name."