AustLit

'Society exists only in the minds of those below it. To them, it is a mystic organisation, greater than the Pythagoreans or Freemasons; to those above it, it is, of course, non-existent; to those in it, it is merely themselves and their friends...Society in Australia is not very highly developed. We are too materialistic; we spend too much time in sport (including politics), and in work (to pay for the sport); hence one lacks the leisure necessary for Society...It must be acknowledged that theatrical managers and restaurant keepers are making powerful efforts to encourage a better Society tone by raising their prices at frequent intervals.'

While drinking at their club, a group of gentlemen take part in a speculative conversation about other life forms. Discussing notions of time and space in relation to the existence of extinct civilisations, Dr Ptolemy Posa informs his companions of the Duodims who inhabited a two-dimensional 'surface world': '"The Duodims," said Posa, "are like the Dodo - they are extinct; but they existed, I know they existed. They inhabited Plateterre, which has followed Atlantis and Lemuria into nothingness."'