Etidorhpa or the End of Earth

Excerpt: ...'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'?" "Yes," I said. And my guest continued: "He might have added, 'and always will be'." Pg 185 "Scientific men will explain this phenomenon," I suggested. "Yes, when they observe the facts," he replied, "it is very simple. They can now tell, as I have before remarked, how Columbus stood the egg on end; however, given the problem before Columbus expounded it, they would probably have wandered as far from the true solution as the mountain with its edgewise layers of stone is from the disconnected artesian wells on a distant sea coast where the underground fresh and salt water in overlying currents and layers clash together. The explanation, of course, is simple. The brine is of greater specific gravity than the pure water; the pressure of the heavier fluid forces the lighter up in the tube. This action continues until, as you will see by this experiment, in the gradual diffusion of brine and pure water the salt is disseminated equally throughout the vessels, and the specific gravity of the mixed liquid becomes the same throughout, when the flow will cease. However, in the earth, where supplies are inexhaustible, the fountain flows unceasingly." Pg 186 CHAPTER XXIX. BEWARE OF BIOLOGY, THE SCIENCE OF THE LIFE OF MAN. 6 (The old man relates a story as an object lesson.) 6 The reader is invited to skip this chapter of horrors.