a positive and a negative pole, or a
north pole and a south pole, as they are usually called?"

I nodded.

"Consider for a moment that the laws of magnetism, insofar as concerns
the relation between distance and power of attraction, are exactly
matched by the laws of gravitation."

"But there the similarity between the two forces ends," I interrupted.

"But there the similarity does _not_ end," he said sharply. "That is the
crux of the discovery which I have made: that magnetism and gravity are
one and the same, or, rather, that the two are separate, but similar
manifestations of one force. The parallel between the two grows closer
with each succeeding experiment. You know, for example, that each
magnetized particle has two poles. Similarly each gravitized particle,
to coin a new word, had two poles, one positive and one negative. Every
particle on the earth is so oriented that the negative poles point
toward the positive center of the earth. This is what causes the
commonly known phenomena of gravity or weight."

"I can prove the fallacy of that in a moment," I retorted.

"There are none so blind as those who will not see," he quoted with an
icy smile. "I can probably predict your puerile argument, but go ahead
and present it."

* * * * *

"If two magnets are placed so that the north pole of one is in
juxtaposition to the south pole of the other, they attract one another,"
I said. "If the position of the magnets be reversed so that the two
similar poles are opposite, they will repel. If your theory were
correct, a man standing on his head would fall off the earth."

"Exactly what I expected," he replied. "Now let me ask you a question.
Have you ever seen a small bar magnet placed within the field of
attraction of a large electromagnet? Of course you have, and you have
noticed that, when the north pole of the bar magnet was pointed toward
the electromagnet, the bar was attracted. However, when the bar was
reversed and the south pole pointed toward the electromagnet, the bar
was still attracted. You doubtless remember that experiment."

"But in that case the magnetism of the electromagnet was so large that
the polarity of the small magnet was reversed!" I cried.

"Exactly, and the field of gravity of the earth is so great compared to
the gravity of a man that when he stands on his head, his polarity is
instantly reversed."

I nodded. His explanation was too logical for me to