“At the moment when the projectile is hurled into space, the moon, which travels forward 13 deg. 10’ 35” each day, will be four times as distant from her zenith point—­i.e., by 52 deg. 42’ 20”, a space which corresponds to the distance she will travel during the transit of the projectile.  But as the deviation which the rotatory movement of the earth will impart to the shock must also be taken into account, and as the projectile cannot reach the moon until after a deviation equal to sixteen radii of the earth, which, calculated upon the moon’s orbit, is equal to about 11 deg., it is necessary to add these 11 deg. to those caused by the already-mentioned delay of the moon, or, in round numbers, 64 deg..  Thus, at the moment of firing, the visual radius applied to the moon will describe with the vertical line of the place an angle of 64 deg..

“Such are the answers to the questions proposed to the Observatory of Cambridge by the members of the Gun Club.

“To sum up—­

“1st.  The cannon must be placed in a country situated between 0 deg. and 28 deg. of north or south latitude.

“2nd.  It must be aimed at the zenith of the place.

“3rd.  The projectile must have an initial speed of 12,000 yards a second.

“4th.  It must be hurled on December 1st of next year, at 10hrs. 46mins. 40secs. p.m.

“5th.  It will meet the moon four days after its departure on December 4th, at midnight precisely, at the moment she arrives at her zenith.

“The members of the Gun Club ought, therefore, at once to commence the labour necessitated by such an enterprise, and be ready to put them into execution at the moment fixed upon, for they will not find the moon in the same conditions of perigee and zenith till eighteen years and eleven days later.

“The staff of the Observatory of Cambridge puts itself entirely at their disposition for questions of theoretic astronomy, and begs to join its congratulations to those of the whole of America.

“On behalf of the staff,

“J.M.  BELFAST,

“Director of the Observatory of Cambridge.”

CHAPTER V.

THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON.

A spectator endowed with infinite power of sight, and placed at the unknown centre round which gravitates the universe, would have seen myriads of atoms filling all space during the chaotic epoch of creation.  But by degrees, as centuries went on, a change took place; a law of gravitation manifested itself which the wandering atoms obeyed; these atoms, combined chemically according to their affinities, formed themselves into molecules, and made those nebulous masses with which the depths of the heavens are strewed.

These masses were immediately animated by a movement of rotation round their central point.  This centre, made of vague molecules, began to turn on itself whilst progressively condensing; then, following the immutable laws of mechanics, in proportion as its volume became diminished by condensation its movement of rotation was accelerated, and these two effects persisting, there resulted a principal planet, the centre of the nebulous mass.