itself had given at 19h. a
distance of 28-1/2 radii, and a speed far greater than that which upon
its showing had since been maintained. Extinguishing the lamp, I found
that the Earth's diameter on the discometer measured 2° 3' 52" (?).
This represented a gain of some 90,000 miles; much more approximate to
that which, judging by calculation, I ought to have accomplished
during the last four hours and a half, if my speed approached to that
I had estimated. I inspected the cratometer, which indicated a force
as great as that with which I had started,—a force which should by
this time have given me a speed of at least 22,000 miles an hour. At
last the solution of the problem flashed upon me, suggested by the
very extravagance of the contradictions. Not only did the barycrite
contradict the discometer and the reckoning but it contradicted
itself; since it was impossible that under one continuous impulsation
I should have traversed 28-1/2 radii of the Earth in the first
eighteen hours and no more than 4-1/2 in the next four and a half
hours. In truth, the barycrite was effected by two separate
attractions,—that of the Earth and that of the Sun, as yet operating
almost exactly in the same direction. At first the attraction of the
former was so great that that of the Sun was no more perceived than
upon the Earth's surface. But as I rose, and the Earth's attraction
diminished in proportion to the square of the distance from her
centre—which was doubled at 8000 miles, quadrupled at 16,000, and so
on—the Sun's attraction, which was not perceptibly affected by
differences so small in proportion to his vast distance of 95,000,000
miles, became a more and more important element in the total gravity.
If, as I calculated, I had by 19h. attained a distance from the earth
of 160,000 miles, the attractions of Earth and Sun were by that time
pretty nearly equal; and hence the phenomenon which had so puzzled me,
that the gravitation, as indicated by the barycrite, was exactly
double that which, bearing in mind the Earth's attraction alone, I had
calculated. From this point forward the Sun's attraction was the
factor which mainly caused such weight as still existed; a change of
position which, doubling my distance from the Earth, reduced her
influence to one-fourth, not perceptibly affecting that of a body four
hundred times more remote. A short calculation showed that, this fact
borne in mind, the indication of the barycrite substantially agreed
with that of the discometer, and that I was in fact very nearly where
I supposed, that is, a little farther than the Moon's farthest
distance from the Earth. It did not follow that I had crossed the
orbit of the Moon; and if I had, she was at that time too far off to
exercise a serious influence on my course. I adjusted the helm and
betook myself to rest, the second day of my journey having already
commenced.
Chapter III - The Untravelled Deep
*
Rising at 5h., I observed a drooping in the leaves of my garden, and
especially of the larger shrubs and plants, for which I was not wholly
unprepared, but which might entail some inconvenience if, failing
altogether, they should cease to absorb the gases generated from
buried waste, to consume which they had been planted. Besides this, I
should, of course, lose the opportunity of transplanting them to Mars,
though I had more hope of acclimatising seedlings raised from the seed
I carried with me than plants which had actually begun their life on
the surface of the Earth. The failure I ascribed naturally to the
known connection between the action of gravity and the circulation of
the sap; though, as I had experienced no analogous inconvenience in my
own person, I had hoped that this would not seriously affect
vegetation. I was afraid to try the effect of more liberal watering,
the more so that already the congelation of moisture upon the glasses
from the internal air, dry as the latter had been kept, was a sensible
annoyance—an annoyance which would
distance of 28-1/2 radii, and a speed far greater than that which upon
its showing had since been maintained. Extinguishing the lamp, I found
that the Earth's diameter on the discometer measured 2° 3' 52" (?).
This represented a gain of some 90,000 miles; much more approximate to
that which, judging by calculation, I ought to have accomplished
during the last four hours and a half, if my speed approached to that
I had estimated. I inspected the cratometer, which indicated a force
as great as that with which I had started,—a force which should by
this time have given me a speed of at least 22,000 miles an hour. At
last the solution of the problem flashed upon me, suggested by the
very extravagance of the contradictions. Not only did the barycrite
contradict the discometer and the reckoning but it contradicted
itself; since it was impossible that under one continuous impulsation
I should have traversed 28-1/2 radii of the Earth in the first
eighteen hours and no more than 4-1/2 in the next four and a half
hours. In truth, the barycrite was effected by two separate
attractions,—that of the Earth and that of the Sun, as yet operating
almost exactly in the same direction. At first the attraction of the
former was so great that that of the Sun was no more perceived than
upon the Earth's surface. But as I rose, and the Earth's attraction
diminished in proportion to the square of the distance from her
centre—which was doubled at 8000 miles, quadrupled at 16,000, and so
on—the Sun's attraction, which was not perceptibly affected by
differences so small in proportion to his vast distance of 95,000,000
miles, became a more and more important element in the total gravity.
If, as I calculated, I had by 19h. attained a distance from the earth
of 160,000 miles, the attractions of Earth and Sun were by that time
pretty nearly equal; and hence the phenomenon which had so puzzled me,
that the gravitation, as indicated by the barycrite, was exactly
double that which, bearing in mind the Earth's attraction alone, I had
calculated. From this point forward the Sun's attraction was the
factor which mainly caused such weight as still existed; a change of
position which, doubling my distance from the Earth, reduced her
influence to one-fourth, not perceptibly affecting that of a body four
hundred times more remote. A short calculation showed that, this fact
borne in mind, the indication of the barycrite substantially agreed
with that of the discometer, and that I was in fact very nearly where
I supposed, that is, a little farther than the Moon's farthest
distance from the Earth. It did not follow that I had crossed the
orbit of the Moon; and if I had, she was at that time too far off to
exercise a serious influence on my course. I adjusted the helm and
betook myself to rest, the second day of my journey having already
commenced.
Chapter III - The Untravelled Deep
*
Rising at 5h., I observed a drooping in the leaves of my garden, and
especially of the larger shrubs and plants, for which I was not wholly
unprepared, but which might entail some inconvenience if, failing
altogether, they should cease to absorb the gases generated from
buried waste, to consume which they had been planted. Besides this, I
should, of course, lose the opportunity of transplanting them to Mars,
though I had more hope of acclimatising seedlings raised from the seed
I carried with me than plants which had actually begun their life on
the surface of the Earth. The failure I ascribed naturally to the
known connection between the action of gravity and the circulation of
the sap; though, as I had experienced no analogous inconvenience in my
own person, I had hoped that this would not seriously affect
vegetation. I was afraid to try the effect of more liberal watering,
the more so that already the congelation of moisture upon the glasses
from the internal air, dry as the latter had been kept, was a sensible
annoyance—an annoyance which would
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