Although our conversation was quite informal and simply an after-dinner
amusement, I found that it involved diligent preparation, especially
when I was approaching one of the questions where I was in open
conflict with current theories, which are often taken for granted on no
better ground than their respectable antiquity.
One of these theories, which is described in fencing language as the
importance of judging the blade by touch, I was now prepared to
challenge, and I was ready to maintain the superiority of another
principle, against which the professors raise their voices, almost
with one accord, in a chorus of unmerited abuse. Accordingly when we
assembled in the smoking-room, I took my usual seat and began without
preface.