can do no more, the friends follow weeping to the court-house of the chief magistrate, where the one
who wishes to be born declares solemnly and openly that he accepts the conditions attached to his
decision. On this he is presented with a potion, which immediately destroys his memory and sense
of identity, and dissipates the thin gaseous tenement which he has inhabited; he becomes a bare vital
principle, not to be perceived by human senses, nor to be by any chemical test appreciated. He has but
one instinct, which is that he is to go to such and such a place, where he will find two persons whom
he is to importune till they consent to undertake him; but whether he is to find these persons among the
race of Chowbok or the Erewhonians themselves is not for him to choose.