The Blockade Runners

The Blockade Runners and Dr. Ox's Experiment

In "The Blockade Runners" Verne again adopts a theme which is, at least nominally, American. In it he gives a very fair view of the British attitude toward our country during that tragic period of our suffering and trial.

"Dr. Ox's Experiment" was one of those prophetic scientific fantasies which leaped so frequently into the inspired mind of Verne. The remarkably vivifying and invigorating effects of pure oxygen, even upon the dying, have now become an established part of medical science. In 1874, when "Doctor Ox" was published, the knowledge of this gas was in its infancy. Verne tells us that the story was suggested by an actual experience of his own in Paris, in which he realized the effects "tr¨s interessante" of the potent gas. The story develops a spirit of mischievous exaggeration and burlesque very different from the author's usually serious and thoughtful attitude toward scientific marvels.