Having read to the end of the statistics, I passed with my companions down several long corridors to the art departments, where some of the more notable contemporary paintings and statues were placed on exhibition along with a multitude of classic works. But if I were to dwell upon the contents of these galleries, beyond saying that its art was in that same exquisite and original style I had already observed, I should have to add chapters to my story; and, likewise, I should find my narrative interminable if I were to describe the other exhibits: the natural history department, with specimens of the flora and fauna of old Atlantis, the paleo-botanical department with lifelike restorations of long-extinct tree-ferns and gigantic palms, the sociological-historical departments, with representations of scenes in prisons, poorhouses, orphanages, and insane asylums, all of which were declared to have been “herding places of the days when unfortunates were so plentiful that they had to be dealt with by the pack, instead of, as at present, being consigned individually to the care of those sympathetic men and women who make social work their service for the State.” But while the sheer abundance of the exhibits makes it impossible to describe them all, there is one that I must not fail to mention, since in some ways it was the most remarkable in the museum. We had just entered the section ambiguously known as “Curiosities, Freaks and Monstrosities,” when Stranahan, with an odd twinkling expression, warned us to be ready for a surprise. And, certainly, he warned us with good reason! As we glanced toward the further wall, we were shocked by sight of something dazzlingly familiar--so very familiar, indeed, that several of us uttered little cries of amazement. Neatly arranged behind a glass case, flattened against the rear panels so as to afford a better view, were dozens of well known blue uniforms! Among them, from the Ensign’s stripes, I recognized my own; and among them, also, was the decorated uniform of the Captain! And above them, on a large-lettered placard, appeared the statement that these were the clothes worn by the only aliens to enter Atlantis since the Submergence, and that they were interesting as showing what grotesque and unsightly garments were fashionable in the upper world! CHAPTER XXVII The Warning of the Waters