by Robert Reed
lutely to an end with the last bed but one . But the last bed, which
was the narrowest, with the walks on either side of it which were
the widest, occupied more than a third of the whole extent of the
cultivated ground . The true extent of the foul growths and vapours
was about this: they covered rather more than a third of the ground,
and the space which they covered was rather nearer the southern end
than the northern end . I had reason to believe before the close of the
day that these vapours were deadly; but I had reason also to believe
that there was something in the bed to the north beyond them which
was deadlier still .
There were many men employed at all the beds, much the greater
number at the first bed, but the work at the sixth bed seemed to be
far the more important; certainly it proceeded, as far as I was able to
judge, with far more care and deliberation . Not, however, that there
was anything slovenly about any of the work or of the workers .
I first turned my attention to the first bed, and there I saw a num-
ber of men at about equal distances on each of the walks, each pro-
vided with an instrument like an elaborate sort of hoe, and having a
box slung round his shoulders, and hanging directly under his face .
Looking along these rows of men to the far edge of the beds, I saw
that the valley ended at the west end with a platform, and on this
platform several men were standing who were evidently working in
concert with the workers at the beds . This platform was not so high
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 522
as that at the east end, but, unlike that, it extended the whole width
of the valley . It consisted of two terraces connected by steps, and on
the lower terrace were the men whom I have mentioned who were
working in concert with the workers at the beds . One man stood at
the end of each walk, and handed to the nearest man on the walk
a parcel, and then another and another . He took these parcels out
of a little box on wheels that stood beside him . These parcels were
marked and numbered . At least so I concluded from the manner in
which the man on the walk received each parcel, glanced at it, and
passed it on . This distribution of the marked parcels had commenced
before I began to observe .
Looking to the boxes on wheels, I saw that they were standing on
rafts, and were constructed so as to run on the same principle as the
little wagons at the eastern end . Following with my glass the course
of the rails on which they ran, I saw on the upper platform whither
the rails led several machines in general appearance not unlike some
of those at the other end . The glass which I was using was very pow-
erful, much more powerful than any field-glass I had ever seen. Still,
I could not observe with any such exactness as if I were standing by
the machines . The car that I sat in, although there was not a breath
of wind, was not absolutely still . I should not perhaps have noticed
this if I had sat still and talked, or even read, but the moment I began
to observe closely some object not on the car, I became conscious of
a motion such as would be felt at sea on a calm day if there were a
long but very gentle swell .
I saw with enough exactness, however, to conclude that the
processes which were being carried on here were not mechanical,
but most likely chemical . I could see many jars and retorts and in-
struments of similar aspect, and I thought I could make sure that
electricity was being largely applied, and that some strange use was
being made of light . It seemed as if there were some substances in
certain small vessels on which now and then light greatly magnified
was being thrown . These vessels were arranged in order within the
machines in such way that they could be subjected at the will of the
worker to the various light, magnifying, and chemical and electric
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 523
processes which it seemed to be the function of the machine to keep
in action .
I did not feel sure at first whether the substances in the vessels
were being simply examined, or whether they were being treated
with a view to effect some change in them . But I soon saw that the
latter was the more likely purpose . For I perceived on further obser-
vation that they were subjected to a very severe and exact scrutiny
before they were placed in the vessels . At one end of the row of
machines was a very long table along which, near the middle, a
trough ran from end to end . A man stood at the table who seemed
to be examining something in the trough with a microscope, or at
least with some sort of magnifying apparatus . Then he laid aside the
magnifying apparatus, and poured from a little bottle either some
fluid or powder, I could not tell which, on the objects which he was
examining; then he would apply the magnifier again, and so on. Last
of all, from this trough he would take up something or other with a
little shovel or trowel, and place it in certain tiny wagons or boxes on
wheels which communicated, apparently by automatic means such
as I have before described, with the different machines, emptying
their contents into the small vessels of which I have told you . All the
machines appeared to be of the same sort, and engaged in the same
work . I concluded that the man at the table with the trough in it was
examining certain substances, and that these were being treated by
the men at the machines with a view to some modification of their
nature . And I had no doubt that this work, whatever it was, stood in
some direct relation to the work at the seed beds .
If I had had any such doubt it would have been removed by what I
observed at the other end of the row of machines . There I saw a table
just like an enormous billiard table, only there were no pockets, and
at this table stood four or five men busily at work. This table was
connected with the seed beds by the rails, along which ran the boxes
on wheels. Indeed, it was to it that my look had first been directed
when I followed, with my glass, the course of these boxes . But the
more curious aspect of the machines had attracted my attention, and
I had observed the whole row of them to the other end and the table
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 524
with the trough in it which stood there, before observing this end
more particularly . I now saw that the substances which had been ex-
amined in the trough and treated in the machines were carried, still
by automatic machinery, to this enormous table and emptied upon
it . There they were very rapidly sorted and distributed into parcels
by the five or six men at work there. These men must have had great
accuracy of eye and touch, and their way of working reminded me
of the man in the who rings the coin . The parcels which were so
made up were distributed among the workers in the seed beds in the
way already described .
It was clear to me now that some substances, probably germs
of one kind or another, w
ere being examined and treated by scien-
tific methods, and were being subjected afterwards to some sort of
discriminating culture . I began to guess at the purpose of all this,
and quite suddenly a suspicion broke upon me which almost made
me drop my glass with horror . And I may as well say here at once
that knowledge which I obtained later on confirmed this horrible
suspicion .
Recovering myself, I turned my attention to workers at the seed
beds. The men engaged at the first bed went slowly along the walks
taking every now and then something out of the boxes which were
slung one over the shoulder of each, and planting it in the ground and
covering it over . I saw that they examined also something already
planted, and sometimes took it up and put it into the box . I could
not tell, owing to the distance and the motion, whether or not what
they took up exhibited any visible growth . The substances, whatever
they were, which were thus taken up, were placed in a little wagon
which ran at the eastern end of the bed at right angles to the walks,
and conveyed its contents to the walks which separated the first bed
from the second, and were dealt with by the workers there . If you
ask me how I knew that it was the substances exhumed and not the
substances in the parcels that were thus passed, I can only say that
such was my conclusion from the whole aspect of the movement,
for I could not accurately distinguish small objects at the distance .
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 525
The way of working at the next four beds was not so different
from what I have described, as to make it worth while attempting
a detailed account. It will suffice to say that the mode of procedure
was to sow something in each bed, and to take up something which
had been down in order to transfer it to the next bed, and this lat-
ter process evidently involved much careful examination and dis-
crimination . I should also mention that at the third bed and onward
the workers wore masks, apparently wire masks of some elaborate
construction . They wore them, not continuously, but whenever they
stooped to the ground or examined very closely the substances with
which they were dealing . At other times the masks hung at the gir-
dles . At the fourth bed the workers wore the masks more frequently,
and at the fifth they only removed them occasionally. The way of
working at the sixth bed was different and will need a fuller descrip-
tion .But before attempting to describe it I should say that just as I
was beginning to observe the sixth bed, a slight change came in the
weather which made two considerable changes, each in a different
direction, in my opportunities of observation . It had been quite calm
and at the same time cloudy . Now a light breeze began to blow and
the sun shone out. The effect of the breeze was, at first, so to increase
the motion of the car as to make very close observation impossible .
But Signor Davelli presently applied a sort of ballasting machinery,
which had the effect of greatly steadying the car . I was so much
interested in what was going on below that I did not very accurately
observe how this was done . But I think that it was somehow in this
way . He moved, by mechanical contrivance, certain weights in the
car, so as to change the centre of gravity in such manner as to render
the part of it which we occupied subject to less motion than the rest .
I have not much skill in such matters and I hardly know if this is
possible, but so it seemed to me . But even after this was done the car
was not by any means as steady as before .
At the same time, however, the sunshine which now appeared
disclosed some features of the scene which I should otherwise have
missed . For now, at the northern end of the beds, on a platform at
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 526
right angles with the western platform, I saw several shadows which
indicated to my now skilled eyesight the presence of several of the
invisible cars. They were standing all still when I first saw them, but
presently one moved, rose quickly from the earth, and passed gradu-
ally out of sight to the northward . I followed its course with my glass
for several minutes, till it was nearly out of sight . I then turned again
to the seed-beds. The men at the sixth bed were very few, only five
in all, and each was working apparently on his own account . But
they were all doing exactly the same kind of work . They were, as I
thought, making a final selection of the germs which had undergone
so careful a process of cultivation . Each of them had three boxes, in-
stead of one, slung in front of him, and a long instrument in his hand
with which he extracted certain substances from the ground . This in-
strument was constructed so as to hold in a little receptacle what was
lifted from the ground . Each of the workers, also, had slung over his
shoulder what looked like a small frame. I selected one of the five
at random, and watched his proceedings more particularly . Now and
then he would unsling the frame and place it on the ground . Then
he would give it a little twist, whereupon it would assume a form
very like that of a lady’s work-table . I saw him do this many times,
and each time he took something out of the closed receptacle which
I have just mentioned, and placed it on the table, and observed it
carefully with some kind of instrument that might have been a kind
of microscope . After a more or less minute observation each time,
he placed the substance observed in one of the boxes at his girdle,
which he opened each time and carefully closed again . By-and-by
he seemed to discover some substance which challenged his at-
tention specially, for after a longer observation than usual, he took
another instrument from his girdle and observed it more carefully
and for a longer time . Then I could see that he called his neighbour,
for he looked, and I almost thought that I could see his lips mov-
ing, and immediately the other looked up and came towards him .
Then the first man handed his observing instrument to the second,
who examined very carefully the substance on the little table . Some
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 527
discussion seemed to follow, an animated conversation as I thought,
with certainly a rapid pantomime accompaniment .
Then a very strange thing happened. As the first man stooped
towards the table his mask fell off . My glass was so good that I saw
it quite plainly come loose at one side, and I saw the man’s hand
lifted up to catch it . But before he could reach it, it fell off as I have
said . Then in a moment the man’s body became a mass of rapidly
seething fluid, and the fluid became a dark cloud of smoke, which
spread into the air and disappeared . Just so I had seen Signor Davel-
li’s body transformed and disappear the day before . The second man
at once caught up the mask and stood apparently waiting . Presently
a diffused vapour appeared . This became denser and denser, until it
assumed the appearance of a seething fluid, as before. This quickly
became consolidated and assumed the form of a body, the body of
the man who had just disappeared . Then the other man, who was
standing ready with the mask in his hand, fitted it again upon the
first man, and both men proceeded to examine the substance before
them, and to converse, as if nothing had happened to interrupt them .
All this time (which, however, was a very short time, although the
change was by no means instantaneous, as the like change seemed to
be yesterday) the other men worked away without, as far as I could
see, taking any notice whatever of what was going on .
I exclaimed slightly and started, and this attracted Signor Dav-
elli’s attention . He had been, I think, examining and preparing some
instruments . “What do you see?” he said . I answered without taking
my eyes from the glass . “A man over there disappeared and appeared
again just as you did yesterday .”
“Careless wretches!” he said, looking towards the place that I
was observing .
“I suppose,” I said, “that these substances which they are exam-
ining must be very deadly, for his mask fell off just before he disap-
peared, and I remember you said yesterday that what would kill us
only drove you back into space .”
“And you infer, I suppose, that if you had been in his place you
would have dropped down dead .”
THE GERM GROWERS, by Robert Potter | 528
“That is what I think,” said I .
“Then you see if you become one of us you escape death .” He
said this with a strongly persuasive manner, and as he spoke a slight
shudder seemed to pass over me, and I expected him to say more .
But he said no more, and he returned to the task in which he had
been engaged .
I then turned my attention again to my examination of the work-
ers at the sixth bed .
You will understand that a very broad walk lay between the bed
and the northern platform . This walk was to all appearance formed
of some hard stuff like flags or asphalt, and I now perceived by
the aid of the sunlight that some of the cars had alighted upon this
pathway and were standing there .
I could see that there were five of them, and presently the five
workers went over to the cars, one to each ear . There was a man in