The book seized by the Baltimore police contained thirty pages, sprinkled with formulæ, multiplications1, equations, and finally the general results of J. T. Maston’s calculation. It was a work of the higher mechanics, appreciable2 only by mathematicians3. One of the equations was the—
V2 - (V0)2 = 2g(r0)2(1/r - 1/r0)
of which we heard in the Moon Voyage.
The “general reader” could make neither head nor tail of Maston’s performances; but they could understand the results as communicated to the newspapers a few days afterwards.
There was nothing wrong with J. T. Maston’s working, the Commission reported. The calculations had been made with such precision that the Commission had no doubt as to their accuracy and consequences. If the operation was effected, the terrestrial axis4 would be undoubtedly5 changed, and then the catastrophes6 foreseen would be accomplished7 in all their plenitude.
“The object,” said the official communication to the newspapers, “of the directorate of the North Polar Practical Association is the substitution of a new axis of rotation8 for the old one; and it is proposed to attain9 this object by means of the recoil10 of an apparatus11 fixed12 in some agreed upon point of the Earth’s circumference13. If the core of this apparatus is firmly fixed in the ground, there can be no doubt but that it would communicate its recoil to the mass of our planet.
“The apparatus adopted by the Association is a monster 88cannon, which would have no effect if discharged vertically15. To produce the maximum effect it must be aimed horizontally towards the north or south, and it is this latter direction which has been decided16 on by the Association. In this way the recoil will produce a shock towards the north of the nature of that given to a billiard-ball when struck on the side.”
Exactly as Alcide had foreseen!
“As soon as the explosion takes place, the centre of the Earth will be displaced in a direction parallel to that of the impetus17, and a change will ensue in the plane of the orbit, and consequently in the length of the year; but this will be so slight as to be of no appreciable amount. At the same time the Earth would take a movement of rotation around an axis, supposing that no rotation existed previous to the shock. But as the rotation in the line of the Poles already exists, it will combine with the accessory rotation produced by the recoil, and result in a new axis. If the gun is fired at the moment when the Equator and the Ecliptic are in intersection18, and if the recoil is enough to displace the Pole 23° 28′, then the new axis will become perpendicular19 to the plane of the orbit.
“The consequences of this perpendicularity20 were clearly stated by Impey Barbicane at the meeting on the 22nd of December.
“Given the mass of the Earth and the amount of movement it possesses, can a gun be produced having a recoil sufficient to produce such a displacement21 of the Pole as 23° 28′?
“Undoubtedly, if a gun, or series of guns, be constructed in accordance with the laws of mechanics, or if the inventors possess an explosive of the necessary power. Such 89an explosive they unfortunately possess. It was discovered by Captain Nicholl. Its name is meli-melonite, but all that is known of it is that it is a mixture of organic substances with nitric acid. A certain number of monatomic radicles are substituted for the same number of atoms of hydrogen, and a powder is obtained, which, like fulmi-cotton, is formed by combination, and not by mechanical mixture of the principal combure............