78. The incredulous go so far as to assert that the raising of a table, without a
prop, is impossible, because it would be contrary to the law of gravitation. To this
assertion we reply, first, that negation disproves nothing; next, that, the occurrence of a
fact, if contrary to all known laws, would only prove that it occurs in virtue of some law
as yet unknown to us. We shall give, further on, an explanation of this law; but our
explanation will not be accepted by our adversaries, precisely because it is given by
spirits who have quitted their terrestrial garments, instead of being given by spirits who
wear frock-coats and sit in learned assemblies. If the spirit of Arago, in the flesh, had
laid down this law, those objectors would have accepted it blindfold; but, being given
by Arago after his decease, they reject it as fanciful, because according to them, Arago
being dead, all is over with him. We will not pretend to alter their opinion; but, as this
objection might prove a stumbling-block to some minds, we will try to answer it from the
objector's Own standpoint, that is to say, leaving aside, for the moment, the theory of
artificial vitalisation.
