"Merely second-class beings detailed for the work. Take no notice of them. They will not, of course, venture to remain in our presence." The four men deposited their master gently on a bed of tufted grass and marched away again without a word. So far as I could compute, there were now some two hundred first-class beings stretched out motionless under the pleasant and vivifying warmth of the sun. "May we not," I asked as we reposed ourselves, "take this opportunity for some continuation of your lecture? There is still much about which I am curious." "On what point would you wish me to speak first?" "I am told that among beings of the first class at any rate sex is abolished." "Can sex be of interest to any thinking being? It is of no interest at all to me." "It happens," I said boldly, "to be of the very first interest to myself." "Very well," said the Professor. "We must withdraw to some distance, so that our voices do not disturb the meditations of others." I followed him to the spot that he selected. We lay on our backs on the sand and he continued his discourse. "The practical abolition of sex has with us been a very gradual process extending over centuries. It began with that great social upheaval of which I have already told you. To declare the complete equality of men was to declare the complete equality of the sexes. It ended about one hundred and fifty years ago when the words "men" and "women" ceased to be used by first-class beings, and no distinction of sex was admitted. That I think is all you want to know." "Pardon me," I said. "You give me no explanation whatever."