Vril

The Power of the Coming Race

by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton

[1871]

Legendary for his turgid prose ("it was a dark and stormy night…") Bulwer-Lytton’s pioneering science fiction novel "Vril" was taken very seriously by 19th Century Atlantis fans (for instance, Scott-Elliot). Vril is a mysterious energy which is used by Lytton’s subterranian race (refugees from the Deluge) to power their advanced civilization; it was later treated as a reality by occultists.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.lege.net/sociopolitica/vril/index.htm