Page:Weird Tales v01n03 (1923-05).djvu/86



AN is by nature an experimenter," argued my friend, Dr. Armand, a psychologist of some repute, "and he is steadily delving into the Unknown and bringing to light knowledge that is often appalling in its intricacy of concept.

"He gathers about him a few relatively simple pieces of apparatus and discovers the existence of particles infinitely smaller than the most minute object visible under the ultra-microscope. He measures its size, mass, electrical charge, and in truth finds out more about it than he knows of visible objects. All of this he learns about matter that he can never even hope to see with his naked eye. The simple but marvelous instrument, the spectroscope, tells him of the composition of the stars. It told him that upon the sun there is an element unknown upon this earth; he called it helium, and later discovered and isolated the gas after first finding it on a body millions of miles away. Beautiful indeed, is modern science!"

Armand paused for a moment as if more fully to comprehend the scope of the subject, and then continued:

"But the most refined and sensitive piece of apparatus, if I may call it that, and about which so little is understood, is the human brain. A vast amount of research has been done along the lines of psychology by many able men and the data has been formulated into several well established hypotheses, and yet"—he stretched out his arms in a vague sort of gesture—"how little we really know about the brain!"

We had met, as had been our custom, at Armand's apartment to enjoy an afternoon together and to discuss old times and friends. I must confess, with all due respect to the Doctor, that the subject was often soon changed into a scientific lecture by him on his favorite theme, psychology. I really enjoyed these informal talks immensely, for there is no more entertaining speaker than the scholarly Armand. 85