Can Such Things Be? · Chapter
Science to the Front explained
This chapter discusses Dr.
What happens
This chapter discusses Dr. Hern of Leipzig's theory of mysterious disappearances, proposing that voids or cavities in the luminiferous ether allow animate and inanimate objects to fall into an invisible world, beyond sensory perception and physical processes. The theory is noted as insufficient to explain certain incidents, such as the sound of Charles Ashmore's voice.
Themes in this chapter
The Uncanny and the Grotesque
The theory of voids in space where objects vanish into an invisible world evokes an uncanny sense of the unknown.
Isolation and Terror
The description of a void where one cannot see, hear, feel, live, or die suggests profound isolation and existential terror.
Characters to notice
- Charles Ashmore
Mentioned as an example whose voice was heard, contradicting Dr. Hern's theory.
Key passages
“A man enclosed in such a closet could neither see nor be seen; neither hear nor be heard; neither feel nor be felt; neither live nor die, for both life and death are processes which can take place only where there is force, and in empty space no force could exist.”
A person trapped in such a void would be completely cut off from all sensory experience and unable to live or die, as life and death require force, which is absent in empty space.
Summarizes Dr. Hern's theory of the consequences of falling into a spatial void.