“Just so,” said Nicholl, smiling; “if we could succeed in suppressing weight as they suppress pain by anaesthesia, that would change the face of modern society!” “Yes,” cried Michel, full of his subject, “destroy weight, and no more burdens!” “Well said,” replied Barbicane; “but if nothing had any weight, nothing would keep in its place, not even your hat on your head, worthy Michel; nor your house, whose stones only adhere by weight; nor a boat, whose stability on the waves is only caused by weight; not even the ocean, whose waves would no longer be equalized by terrestrial attraction; and lastly, not even the atmosphere, whose atoms, being no longer held in their places, would disperse in space!” “That is tiresome,” retorted Michel; “nothing like these matter-of-fact people for bringing one back to the bare reality.” “But console yourself, Michel,” continued Barbicane, “for if no orb exists from whence all laws of weight are banished, you are at least going to visit one where it is much less than on the earth.” “The moon?” “Yes, the moon, on whose surface objects weigh six times less than on the earth, a phenomenon easy to prove.” “And we shall feel it?” asked Michel. “Evidently, as two hundred pounds will only weigh thirty pounds on the surface of the moon.” “And our muscular strength will not diminish?” “Not at all; instead of jumping one yard high, you will rise eighteen feet high.” “But we shall be regular Herculeses in the moon!” exclaimed Michel. “Yes,” replied Nicholl; “for if the height of the Selenites is in proportion to the density of their globe, they will be scarcely a foot high.” “Lilliputians!” ejaculated Michel; “I shall play the part of Gulliver. We are going to realize the fable of the giants. This is the advantage of leaving one’s own planet and over-running the solar world.” “One moment, Michel,” answered Barbicane; “if you wish to play the part of Gulliver, only visit the inferior planets, such as Mercury, Venus, or Mars, whose density is a little less than that of the earth; but do not venture into the great planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune; for there the order will be changed, and you will become Lilliputian.” “And in the sun?” “In the sun, if its density is thirteen hundred and twenty-four thousand times greater, and the attraction is twenty-seven times greater than on the surface of our globe, keeping everything in proportion, the inhabitants ought to be at least two hundred feet high.” “By Jove!” exclaimed Michel; “I should be nothing more than a pigmy, a shrimp!” “Gulliver with the giants,” said Nicholl. “Just so,” replied Barbicane. “And it would not be quite useless to carry some pieces of artillery to defend oneself.” “Good,” replied Nicholl; “your projectiles would have no effect on the sun; they would fall back upon the earth after some minutes.” “That is a strong remark.”