[2] The good old word had now regained its ancient and uncorrupted meaning.
[3] Such a poison as this is no figment of the imagination. It has been known to Oriental adepts in poisoning for many centuries, and the Borghias were certainly familiar with it. A kindred drug was used by the Russian agents who kidnapped the late Prince Alexander of Bulgaria, though in his case the injury was permanent. It reduced him from one of the most able and daring princes in Europe to a mental and moral cripple, who was perfectly content to live in the obscurity to which his enemies had consigned him.
[4] Those readers who may be inclined to think this speed extravagant or impossible are requested to remember that the most recent experiments in aerodynamics have proved that the higher the speed of an aerial machine the less is the power required to support and propel it, or, to quote the words of Professor Langley, of the Smithsonian Institute, “One horse-power will transport a larger weight at twenty miles an hour than at ten, a still larger at forty miles an hour than at twenty, and so on with increasing economy of power with each higher speed up to some remote limit not yet attained in experiment.” Granted therefore the practically illimitable energy of the motive power supposed to be at the command of the Aerians, there is no reason why a ship of the dimensions of the Avenger should not be propelled at the enormous speed mentioned in the text.
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With numerous Illustrations by Fred. T. Jane and Edwin S. Hope,
THE ANGEL OF THE REVOLUTION.
A TALE OF THE COMING TERROR.
By GEORGE GRIFFITH.
In this Romance of Love, War, and Revolution, the action takes place ten years hence, and turns upon the solution of the problem of aerial navigation, which enables a vast Secret Society to decide the issue of the coming world-war, for which the great nations of the earth are now preparing. Battles such as have hitherto only been vaguely dreamed of are fought on land and sea and in the air. Aerial navies engage armies and fleets and fortresses, and fight with each other in an unsparing warfare, which has for its prize the empire of the world. Unlike all other essays in prophetic fiction, it deals with the events of to-morrow, and with characters familiar in the eyes of living men. It marks an entirely new departure in fiction, and opens up possibilities which may become stupendous and appalling realities before the present generation of men has passed away.