Once started in such a place it ran like sparks in a train
of gunpowder."
"But the madness that seized the multitude before the catastrophe--what
did you mean by saying that it was the ultraviolet rays?"
"I used the term," Edmund replied slowly, "without attaching a very clear
meaning to it. It simply expressed the general thought that was in my
mind. It may be some other form of solar radiation to which we are not
accustomed on the earth, but which is specially effective here when the
sun is uncovered because of the greater nearness of Venus. This
atmosphere, notwithstanding its density, may well be diaphanous to the
ultraviolet rays, owing to some peculiarity in its composition which I
have not had time to study. At any rate, it is evident, from what we have
seen, that the rays of the unclouded sun almost instantly affect the
brain. I, myself, felt them as if a thousand needles had been thrust
through my skull; and I believe that they are responsible, rather than
the shock of the wound in my side, for my present weakness."
"And did you foresee the consequences of the uncovering of the sun?"
"Not altogether.
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