laws. Most of your elements are evolved through tedious process.
This is picked up by chance."

"That is so. But there are still a thousand ways. A meteor,
perhaps; a bit of cosmic dust--there are many shattered comets.
Our chemistry is earthly. There are undoubtedly new elements that
we don't know of. Perhaps in enormous proportion."

I let him have it. It was the only night I had been away from the
ring. I may say that it is the only time I have been free from its
isolation.

When I called at his office next day I found he had merely
confirmed his suspicions. It defied analysis; there was no
reaction. Under all tests it was a stranger. The whole science
that had been built up to explain everything had here explained
nothing. However there was one thing that he had uncovered--heat.
Perhaps I should say magnetism. It was cold to man. I have spoken
about the icy blue of its colour. It was cold even to look at. The
chemist placed it in my hand.

"Is it not so?"

It was. The minute it touched my palm I could sense the weird
horror of the isolation; the stone was cold. Just like a piece of
ice.

This was the first time I had ever had it in direct contact with
the flesh. Set in the ring its impulse had always been secondary.