MDDM23: Many Newly-Acquired Powers

[Dave Monroe]

"... now the Duck is a Fugitive, flying where it
wishes,-- often indeed visiting the Academy of
Sciences, where they have learn'd that the greater its
speed, the less visible it grows, until at around a
Thousand Toises per Minute, it vanishes entirely,--
but one of many newly-acquir'd Powers, bringing added
Urgency to finding it as quickly as possible, before
this 'Morphosis carries it beyond our Control.'" (M&D,
Ch. 37, 373-4)

"... having learn'd in the meantime that vibrating
back and forth very quickly, whilst standing still,
would produce the same effect of Invisibility as
linear movement,--" (M&D, Ch. 37, p. 378)

"'I know he's dangerous, but, my God, you're
invisible, faster than anything known, you penetrate
walls,--'" (M&D, Ch. 37, p. 378)


"Thousand Toises per minute"

Toise (?), n. [F., fr. LL. tesa, fr. L. tensus, fem.
tensa, p.p. of tendere to stretch, extend. See Tense,
a.] An old measure of length in France, containing six
French feet, or about 6.3946 French feet.

http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=Toise

toise

"a traditional French unit of distance comparable to
the British fathom. Like the fathom, the toise
originally represented the distance between the
fingertips of a man with outstretched arms. Introduced
by Charlemagne in 790, the toise is such an ancient
unit that toiser has become a verb meaning 'to
measure' or 'to size up.' The toise equals six pieds
(French feet). Feet of different lengths were used in
France, but based on the 18th century Paris pied the
toise equals 6.395 (English) feet or 1.949 meters.
This unit was widely used in the 19th century and
hasn't died out entirely today."

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictT.html

1000 toises/minute = 73 mph = 117 kph ...


"you're invisible, faster than anything known, you
penetrate walls"

Cf. ...

"The first character to be called the Flash was known
as Jay Garrick.[...]  The Super Speedster was so
popular that they made other characters with the same
powers, i.e. Johnny Quick.

"The second was Barry Allen, who gained his powers
when a lighting bolt smashed through a window and hit
a bookshelf that had a every chemical known on it. 
The chemicals splashed on Barry, making him the
fastest man alive.[...]  He could run so fast that he
could travel to the future, or go back in time. He
could also vibrate through walls.  He would do this by
vibrating his molecules so fast he could pass in
between the molecules in the walls."

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8580/flash.html

And see as well ...

http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/barry.html

http://www.hyperborea.org/flash/speedsters.html

Vaucanson's Duck = Hermes/Mercury?  Hm ...


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