"Uniform intensity" turns our way as much as against us--or some day
some brain will conceive a way of beating Newton's third law--if every
reaction, or resistance, is, or can be, interpretable as stimulus
instead of resistance--if this could be done in mechanics, there's a way
open here for someone to own the world--specifically in this matter,
"uniform intensity" means that Lescarbault saw no ordinary sun spot,
just as much as it means that no spot at all was seen upon the sun.
Continuing the interpretation of a resistance as an assistance, which
can always be done with mental forces--making us wonder what
applications could be made with steam and electric forces--we point out
that invisibility in Brazil means parallax quite as truly as it means
absence, and, inasmuch as "Vulcan" was supposed to be distant from the
sun, we interpret denial as corroboration--method of course of every
scientist, politician, theologian, high-school debater.
So the text-books, with no especial cleverness, because no especial
cleverness is needed, lead the reader into contempt for the amateur of
Orgeres, and forgetfulness of Leverrier--and some other subject is taken
up.
But our own acceptance:
That these data are as good as ever they were;
That, if someone of eminence should predict an earthquake, and if there
should be no earthquake at the predicted time, that would discredit the
prophet, but data of past earthquakes would remain as good as ever they
had been. It is easy enough to smile at the illusion of a single
amateur--
The mass-formation:
Fritsche, Stark, De Cuppis, Sidebotham, Lescarbault, Lummis, Gruthinson,
De Vico, Scott, Wray, Russell, Hind, Lowe, Coumbray, Weber, Standacher,
Lichtenberg, Dangos, Hoffman, Schmidt, Lofft, Steinheibel, Pastorff--
These are only the observations conventionally listed relatively to an
Intra-Mercurial planet. They are formidable enough to prevent our being
diverted, as if it were all the dream of a lonely amateur--but they're a
mere advance-guard. From now on other data of large celestial bodies,
some dark and some reflecting light, will pass and pass and keep on
passing--
So that some of us will remember a thing or two, after the procession's
over--possibly.