The Indiscreet Jewels · Chapter
IX: The State of the Academy of Sciences at Banza explained
After Mangogul leaves the recluses, a report spreads in Banza that the virgins of the congregation of Brama's Coccyx speak through their Toys.
What happens
After Mangogul leaves the recluses, a report spreads in Banza that the virgins of the congregation of Brama's Coccyx speak through their Toys. This phenomenon sparks intense curiosity among the learned, leading to numerous academic works. The Academy of Sciences at Banza, divided between Vorticists and Attractionists, debates the cause. Persiflo the Vorticist offers a weak conjecture linking the phenomenon to tides, while Reciproco the Attractionist presents a flawed theory. Doctor Orcotomus then delivers a detailed anatomical explanation, claiming the Delphys (Toy) can produce speech and song like a wind instrument.
Themes in this chapter
Literary and Intellectual Satire
The chapter mocks academic pretension, flawed reasoning, and the rivalry between Vorticists and Attractionists.
Truth vs. Appearance
The learned scholars offer superficial or absurd explanations for the Toy phenomenon, contrasting apparent knowledge with actual understanding.
Characters to notice
- Mangogul
Mangogul has just left the recluses at the start of the chapter.
- Persiflo
A Vorticist who proposes a weak conjecture linking the Toy phenomenon to the tides.
- Reciproco
An Attractionist who presents a flawed theory with tables on tide heights.
- Orcotomus
An anatomist who delivers a detailed speech on the Delphys as a string and wind instrument capable of speech and song.
- Olibrio
Founder of the Vorticist sect, mentioned as an able geometrician and natural philosopher.
Key passages
“The tattle of the Toys gave birth to a great number of excellent works; and this important subject swell'd the collections of the academies with several memoirs, which may be esteemed the utmost efforts of human understanding.”
The chatter of the Toys inspired many scholarly works, and the topic filled academic collections with memoirs considered the peak of human intellect.
Highlights the satirical tone toward academic overreaction to the phenomenon.
“Olibrio's principles have at first sight a certain air of simplicity, which seduces: in the gross they account for the principal phenomena, but they contradict themselves in the detail. As for Circino, he seems to set out upon an absurdity; but 'tis the first step alone that is expensive.”
Olibrio's ideas seem simple and appealing at first but fail in specifics, while Circino's start with an absurd premise but prove consistent in detail.
Compares the Vorticist and Attractionist systems, favoring the latter's depth.
“Yes, gentlemen, the Delphys is a string and wind instrument; but much more a string than a wind one.”
The Delphys (Toy) is both a string and wind instrument, primarily string-like.
Orcotomus's anatomical claim about the Toy's mechanism.