prehend. They
divided matter into new elements and utilized them. They disintegrated
matter, added to it new properties and produced a different material. I
saw the effects and uses of their chemistry, but that was all.

There are minds belonging to my own age, as there have been to all ages,
that are intellectually in advance of it. They live in a mental and
prophetic world of their own, and leave behind them discoveries,
inventions and teachings that benefit and ennoble the generations to
come. Could such a mind have chanced upon Mizora, as I chanced upon it,
it might have consorted with its intellect, and brought from the
companionship ideas that I could not receive, and sciences that I can
find no words in my language to represent. The impression that my own
country might make upon a savage, may describe my relation to Mizora.
What could an uncivilized mind say of our railroads, or magnificent
cathedrals, our palaces, our splendor, our wealth, our works of art.
They would be as difficult of representation as were the lofty aims, the
unselfishness in living, the perfect love, honor and intellectual
grandeur, and the universal comfort and luxury found in Mizora, were to
me. To them the cultivation of the mind was an imperative duty, that
neither age nor condition retarded. To do good, to be approved by their
own conscience, was their constant pleasure.

CHAPTER VIII.

It was during my visit at my friend's house that I first witnessed the
peculiar manner in which the markets in Mizora are conducted.
Everything, as usual, was fastidiously neat and clean. The fruit and
vegetables were fresh and perfect. I examined quantities of them to
satisfy myself, and not a blemish or imperfection could be found on any.
None but buyers were attending market. Baskets of fruit, bunches of
vegetables and, in fact, everything exhibited for sale, had the quality
and the price labeled upon it. Small wicker baskets were near to receive
the change. When a buyer had selected what suited her, she dropped the
label and the change in the basket. I saw one basket filled with gold
and silver coin, yet not one would be missing when the owner came to
count up the sales. Sometimes a purchaser was obliged to change a large
piece of money, but it was always done accurately.

There was one singular trait these people possessed that, in conjunction
with their other characteristics, may seem unnatural: they would give
and exact the last centim