Poison Belt, The

"Humanity is Shocked into Placing a Higher Value on Life" DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Poison Belt. Being an account of another adventure of Prof. George E. Challenger, Lord John Roxton, Prof. Summerlee, and Mr. E.D. Malone, the discoverers of "The Lost World". With 16 Illustrations by Harry Rountree. London: Hodder and Stoughton, [1913]. First English edition. Octavo (7 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches; 188 x 124 mm.). [viii], [1-2]-199, [1, blank] pp. Frontispiece and fifteen plates tipped-in. Publisher's light blue cloth front cover blocked and titled in black, spine blocked in black and lettered in gilt, white endpapers, all edges untrimmed. Lower joint with small 1 1/2 inch split, spine slightly faded, corners and spine extremities a little rubbed. Still a much better than usually seen copy. 10,000 copies were published on 13th August 1913 priced 3/6d. The Poison Belt is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, the second book about Professor Challenger. Written in 1913, much of it takes place in a single room in Challenger's house in Sussex. This would be the last story written about Challenger until the 1920s, by which time Doyle's spiritualist beliefs had begun to influence his writing. Challenger sends telegrams asking his three companions from The Lost World- Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton, and Professor Summerlee- to join him at his home outside London, and instructs each of them to 'bring oxygen'. During their journey there, they see people's behaviour become excitable and erratic. On arrival they are ushered into a sealed room, along with Challenger and his wife. In the course of his researches into various phenomena, Challenger has predicted that the Earth is moving into a belt of poisonous ether which, based on its effect on the people of Sumatra earlier in the day, he expects to stifle humanity. Challenger seals them in the room with cylinders of oxygen, which he (correctly) believes will counter the effect of the ether. The five wait out the Earth's passage through the poison belt as they watch the world outside, human and animal, die and machines run amok. (According to Victorian values-or to Doyle's understanding of them-Challenger's servants are left outside the sealed room, and they continue to perform their duties until the ether overtakes them.) Finally, the last of the oxygen cylinders is emptied, and they open a window, ready to face death. To their surprise, they do not die, and conclude the Earth has now passed through the poison belt. They journey through the dead countryside in Challenger's car, finally arriving in London. They encounter only one survivor, an elderly, bed-ridden woman prescribed oxygen for her health. After returning to Challenger's house, they discover that the effect of the ether is temporary, and the world reawakens with no knowledge that they have lost any time at all. Eventually Challenger and his companions manage to convince the world what happened- a task made easier by the tremendous amount of death and destruction caused by runaway machines and fires that took place while the world was asleep-and humanity is shocked into placing a higher value on life. (Wikipedia). Green & Gibson A38a.…