"Now look at your aneroid. What does that say?"
"It says we are under considerable pressure."
"Very good; so you see that by going gradually down, and getting accustomed to the density of the atmosphere, we don't suffer at all."
"Nothing, except a little pain in the ears."
"That's nothing, and you may get rid of even that by quick breathing whenever you feel the pain."
"Exactly so," I said, determined not to say a word that might cross my uncle's prejudices. "There is even positive pleasure in living in this dense atmosphere. Have you observed how intense sound is down here?"
"No doubt it is. A deaf man would soon learn to hear perfectly."
"But won't this density augment?"
"Yes; according to a rather obscure law. It is well known that the weight of bodies diminishes as fast as we descend. You know that it is at the surface of the globe that weight is most sensibly felt, and that at the centre there is no weight at all."
"I am aware of that; but, tell me, will not air at last acquire the density of water?"