Tiffles read with bated breath; and Marcus listened in astonishment.
"What do you think of it?" asked Marcus.
"I think," replied Tiffles, "with every respect for the memory of the
inventor, that he was insane. Perpetual motion, without an exhaustive
power--or, in other words, the eternal motion of a thing by its own
inherent properties--is a simple impossibility. To cite familiar
illustrations of its absurdity, you might as well try to lift yourself
by the straps of your boots, or pour a quart into a pint pot. I wasted
six months on perpetual motion when I was a boy, and gave it up. Every
inventive genius bothers his head with this nonsensical problem, till he
learns that he is a fool. Of course, I say this with every possible
regard for your deceased friend. He was insane on this point--_quoad
hoc_, as the lawyers have it--without question, or he would not have
thrown away twenty years on it;--or twenty-three years, I should say,
since the paper is dated, you observe, three years ago."
"But Mr. Minford says, in that document, that the machine moved twice.
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