Nitrate of cerium, there’s an excitable monster for you, man; and chloride, chloride, tetrachloride of nitrogen, that’s exploded by light. You turn on the light, and bang! But that’s nothing. Listen,” he exclaimed, suddenly sticking his thin, terribly mutilated hand out of the bedclothes, “when I take anything in my hand, so . . . I feel the vibration of the atoms. Just like ants. Each kind of substance creeps differently, see?”
“No ”
“That’s power, see? Power in matter. Matter is terribly powerful. I . . . I feel it moving. It holds together . . . with an enormous effort. Once you loosen it inside, it disintegrates. Bang! Everything is an explosive. Every thought is a sort of explosion inside the head. When you give me your hand I feel as if something is exploding inside you. I’ve an extraordinary touch, man. And hearing. Everything is bubbling like effervescent powder. Tiny explosions again. There’s a noise going on in my head. . . . Ratata, like a machine gun.”
“Yes?” said Thomas. “And now swallow this aspirin.”
“Yes. Ex—explosive aspirin. Perchlorated acteylsalicacid. That’s nothing. Man, I’ve discovered an exothermic explosive. Water. Water is an explosive. Every material is really an explosive. The feathers in a feather bed are explosives. At present, you see, this has only a theoretical significance. And I’ve discovered atomic explosions. I—I—I—I’ve made alpha explosions. It disintegrates into plus electrons. No thermochemistry. Des-truc-tion.
