Here he took from his saddle-bags, half listlessly, a precious phial encased in wood, and, opening it, poured into another thick glass vessel part of a smoking fluid; he then crumbled some of the calcined fragments into the glass, and watched the ebullition that followed with mechanical gravity.

When it had almost ceased he drained off the contents into another glass, which he set down, and then proceeded to pour some water from his drinking-flask into the ordinary tin cup which formed part of his culinary traveling-kit.

Into this he put three or four pinches of salt from his provision store.

Then dipping his fingers into the salt and water, he allowed a drop to fall into the glass.

A white cloud instantly gathered in the colorless fluid, and then fell in a fine film to the bottom of the glass.