"They would fight and exterminate one another."
"Yes, of course they would invent weapons first; but, as they grew less savage—"
"Hum—inventing weapons is a peculiar mode of making oneself less savage!"
"Why, the weapons, as they became more deadly and efficient, would get so capable of exterminating them that they would prove the actual means of civilising and rendering them more humane—"
"What does 'humane' mean?"
"It is the same as human, that is, kind, sympathising, benevolent, mild, compassionate, tender, merciful."
"Oh, indeed!" said William; "pray go on."
"By degrees their relations one with another would become more polished and pleasant; a stranger would not necessarily be a foe—"
"Hold hard a moment," said the sage; "how many of these human beings do you propose to have in your world?—some dozens?"
"Many millions."
"Millions!! But are they all to be precisely alike, so that one could not be distinguished from another? If that were so, everything would be utter confusion."
"Of course. That would never do. Each must necessarily have his individuality."
"That would be somewhat difficult when it came to millions," said William. "Of course, while you confined yourself to dozens, one might be spherical, another cubical, a third triangular, a fourth oval, and so forth—"
"Bless your soul!" said James. "My human beings are not to be in the form of geometrical figures! Each would have a body, two legs, two arms, a head, so on."
"Varying the positions of the parts."
"Oh! I see; and you will differentiate between them by varying the positions of these parts—now placing the head at the end of one leg, now of the other; now put-
