Marcel Millet

1895. Discovery of X-rays. Researchers and scholars are true martyrs, because they do not know how to protect themselves against radiation dermatitis. Professor Belcour has to have one hand amputated, his assistant Henri Vermont, aware of the danger, has the courage to break up with his fiancée. Withdrawn to the countryside, they eventually recover.

Clarisse (aka 'Venus') learns that she will go blind in a year or two .Although pregnant by her lover, Madère, she pretends she's cheated and he leaves her. Madère owns a boat, Le Tapageur. While Venus' friends try to bring eyesight to the blind and they take her to an imaginary voyage on Le Tapageur; her crippled sister describes for her the 'landscapes' of the countries they 'visit'.