Note 1 — Front matter

Judging from the vat in which Perry and Troubles were reduced, the apparatus attached to it, and the sensations of being in that green fluid, it would seem that the process of reduction is partly electrical. Perhaps similar to electroplating—the drawing away of substance from one electrode, and its transfer, in the form of ions, to the opposite electrode. Each cell in Perry's and Troubles' bodies, and in their clothing, could have been reduced that way. This isn't so startling when reduced to prime factors. The human body is simply chemicals. So are clothes. And life may be electrical in itself.—Ed.