\'What？\'Dr。Hammerfieldcried。\'Itwasnotthethinkingandthespeculationthatledtothevoyagesofdiscovery？\'
\'Ah,mydearsir,\'Ernestsmiled,\'Ithoughtyouweredisqualified。Youhavenotyetpickedouttheflawinmydefinitionofphilosophy。Youarenowonanunsubstantialbasis。Butitisthewayofthemetaphysicians,andIforgiveyou。No,Irepeat,metaphysicshadnothingtodowithit。Breadandbutter,silksandjewels,dollarsandcents,and,incidentally,theclosingupoftheoverlandtrade—routestoIndia,werethethingsthatcausedthevoyagesofdiscovery。WiththefallofConstantinople,in1453,theTurksblockedthewayofthecaravanstoIndia。ThetradersofEuropehadtofindanotherroute。Herewastheoriginalcauseforthevoyagesofdiscovery。ColumbussailedtofindanewroutetotheIndies。Itissostatedinallthehistorybooks。Incidentally,newfactswerelearnedaboutthenature,size,andformoftheearth,andthePtolemaicsystemwentglimmering。\'
Dr。Hammerfieldsnorted。
\'Youdonotagreewithme？\'Ernestqueried。\'ThenwhereinamI
wrong？\'