Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-28


were they by Fourniers blow. \ few min
utes later they broke up.
Several years had passed. / had received
my degree from the Ecole. but had not en-
tered upon the practice of medicine. being
employed in certain chemical and physical
researches which had deeply interested me,
and in which, j may say, / had gained some
slight repute-
One day i was surprised and compliment
ed to receive q letter from Prof. Fourier,
in which. after stating that he had OBJ
served my progress with deep interest and
concentration he ended by proposing that
I should enter his private laboratory-per-
hars the best equipped in France.
To be known as Fournier's assistant was
almost to become famous, and you may be-
Heve 1 accepted promptly.
Then followed the happiest years of my
life. Only a small portion of my time was
taken up in work for my master while
facilities which could never have afforded
were placed at my disposal for the prose-
CutiOn of my private experiments. In fact,
If there was any cloud upon my horizon, it
was in the form of a regret that the pro-
fessor Gid not put more upon my shoulders.
and one day / ventuIed to take him to task
for his assumption of detail from which
stood ready and willing to relieve him.
He sat silent for some minutes Then he
said:
~ hope you do not doubt my entire reli-
once upon your honor, discretion and abil-
ity-"
Not in the least" l FASTENED to say
"IIad done so / should not have spoken
rs l have
Fo.lrnier smiled and nodded.
My dear FRIEND, he said. laying his hand
upon my shoulder. Believe me. l have
weak and unmanly fear of ridicule- ] am
pursuing line of experiments so remark
able in their present revelations and so
stuDendousiy strange in their possible re-
suits. that. were / to make even you my
confdaut you would simply assume that
was taking leave of my senses. / do not
wish you to think that. Therefore. it is
better to keep silent until / can lay the
whole matter before you supported by evil
dence which no man of science can gain
saw"
After this It was impossible for me not
to observe Fly masters movements more
closely, and I soon found that he spent
mitch of his time in certain room reached
oriy by the winding stair at one end of the
main laboratory. When I came there, had
assumed 1t to lie a store room where he
kept new material and old junk, but no
sooner did 1 begin to realize that he was
engaged in secret investigations, than
felt sure 1t was his private work shop
Then, cudgeiing my brain, l recalled that
I had frequently seen him mounting the
stair, carrying instruments or parts of in
stTu1lents. often of strange shapes, but
which my general knowledge told me must
have been designed for electrical work 1
vas also quite positive, from similar OBJ
servations. that photography bore no small
share in his experiments.
Meanwhile his secrecy increased He now
habitually entered or left his sanctum bear
trE his a covered basket, from
which on one occasion / heard the plain
tive news of an imprisoned eat. This sur
prised me more than l can tell. for it SEEM
ell to indicate experiments in the line Of
vivisection, to which Prof. Fourier had al
ways expressed himself unalterably OPP
posed.
TO make q long story short, I was pos
sessed night and day by furious curiosity
until az last did what, even as a young
man and an eager Searcher for scientific
truth. 1 was thoroughly ashamed Of
had Il key fitted to the lock of this room:
sEd one day / took advantage of my mas
ter's absence TO mount the stairs and
open the door. AS did SO. however, there
came to ME a full appreciation of my
treachery. I STEPPED quickly back, closed
the portal, descended to the main labora-
tory. and. placing the key, the silent in
strument Of my Guilt, in small blast
furnace, reduced 1t in a few minutes to a
shapeless lump OF metal
Still 1t had been impossible to control
my eyes for the instant had stood in that
threshold. and it was equally impossible,
however I might try, to Danish from my
mind n recollection of objects I had seen
Some of these we're what bad expected 10
see, electric and Photographic apparat us.
Several things, however, were more mex
plicable: A rabbit lying upon the table, dead
but without sign Of wound; a scrap basket
full of dead flowers and plants, and, close to
TIE rabbit. a Photographic plate which
seemed to contain a very poor negative of
some animal
That was all saw. AS you may imagine,
II did not help ME much In my surmises.
Some days later, Fourier astonished me