with the terrestrial crescent in question. I watched
long and with intense interest the gradual change, but I was called
away from it by a consideration of no little practical moment. I must
now be moving at a rate of nearly, if not quite, 40,000 miles an hour,
or about a million miles per diem. It was not my intention, for
reasons I shall presently explain, ever greatly to exceed this rate;
and if I meant to limit myself to a fixed rate of speed, it was time
to diminish the force of the apergic current, as otherwise before its
reduction could take effect I should have attained an impulse greater
than I desired, and which could not be conveniently or easily
diminished when once reached. Quitting, therefore, though reluctantly,
my observation of the phenomena below me, I turned to the apergion,
and was occupied for some two or three hours in gradually reducing the
force as measured by the cratometer attached to the downward
conductor, and measuring with extreme care the very minute effect
produced upon the barycrite and the discometer. Even the difference
between 200 and 201 radii of elevation or apogaic distance was not
easily perceptible on either. It took, of course, much more minute
observation and a much longer time to test the effect produced by the
regulation of the movement, since whether I traveller forty,
forty-five, or forty-two thousand miles in the course of one hour made
scarcely any difference in the diameter of the Earth's disc, still
less, for reasons above given, in the gravity. By midnight, however, I
was satisfied that I had not attained quite 1,000,000 miles, or 275
terrestrial radii; also that my speed was not greater than 45,000
miles (11-1\4 radii) per hour, and was not, I thought, increasing. Of
this last point, however, I could better satisfy myself at the end of
my four hours' rest, to which I now betook myself.
I woke about 4h. 30m., and on a scrutiny of the instruments, felt
satisfied that I was not far out in my calculations. A later hour,
however, would afford a more absolute certainty. I was about to turn
again to the interesting work of observation through the lens in the
floor, when my attention was diverted by the sight of something like a
whitish cloud visible through the upper window on my left hand.
Examined by the telescope, its widest diameter might be at most ten
degrees. It was faintly luminous, presenting an appearance very
closely resembling that of a star cluster or nebula just beyond the
power of resolution. As in many nebulae, there was a visible
concentration in one part; but this did not occupy the centre, but a
position more resembling that of the nucleus of a small tailless
comet. The cloudlet might be a distant comet, it might be a less
distant body of meteors clustering densely in some particular part of
their orbit; and, unfortunately, I was not likely to solve the
problem. Gradually the nebula changed its position, but not its form,
seeming to move downwards and towards the stern of my vessel, as if I
were passing it without approaching nearer. By the time that I was
satisfied of this, hunger and even faintness warned me that I must not
delay preparing my breakfast. When I had finished this meal and
fulfilled some necessary tasks, practical and arithmetical, the hand
of the chronometer indicated the eighth hour of my third day. I turned
again somewhat eagerly to the discometer, which showed an apparent
distance of 360 terrestrial radii, and consequently a movement which
had not materially varied from the rate of 11-1/4 radii per hour. By
this time the diameter of the Earth was not larger in appearance than
about 19', less than two-thirds that of the Sun; and she consequently
appeared as a black disc covering somewhat more than one-third of his
entire surface, but by no means concentrical. The halo had of course
completely disappeared; but with the vernier it was possible to
discern a narrow band or line of hazy grey around the black limb of
the planet. She was moving, as
long and with intense interest the gradual change, but I was called
away from it by a consideration of no little practical moment. I must
now be moving at a rate of nearly, if not quite, 40,000 miles an hour,
or about a million miles per diem. It was not my intention, for
reasons I shall presently explain, ever greatly to exceed this rate;
and if I meant to limit myself to a fixed rate of speed, it was time
to diminish the force of the apergic current, as otherwise before its
reduction could take effect I should have attained an impulse greater
than I desired, and which could not be conveniently or easily
diminished when once reached. Quitting, therefore, though reluctantly,
my observation of the phenomena below me, I turned to the apergion,
and was occupied for some two or three hours in gradually reducing the
force as measured by the cratometer attached to the downward
conductor, and measuring with extreme care the very minute effect
produced upon the barycrite and the discometer. Even the difference
between 200 and 201 radii of elevation or apogaic distance was not
easily perceptible on either. It took, of course, much more minute
observation and a much longer time to test the effect produced by the
regulation of the movement, since whether I traveller forty,
forty-five, or forty-two thousand miles in the course of one hour made
scarcely any difference in the diameter of the Earth's disc, still
less, for reasons above given, in the gravity. By midnight, however, I
was satisfied that I had not attained quite 1,000,000 miles, or 275
terrestrial radii; also that my speed was not greater than 45,000
miles (11-1\4 radii) per hour, and was not, I thought, increasing. Of
this last point, however, I could better satisfy myself at the end of
my four hours' rest, to which I now betook myself.
I woke about 4h. 30m., and on a scrutiny of the instruments, felt
satisfied that I was not far out in my calculations. A later hour,
however, would afford a more absolute certainty. I was about to turn
again to the interesting work of observation through the lens in the
floor, when my attention was diverted by the sight of something like a
whitish cloud visible through the upper window on my left hand.
Examined by the telescope, its widest diameter might be at most ten
degrees. It was faintly luminous, presenting an appearance very
closely resembling that of a star cluster or nebula just beyond the
power of resolution. As in many nebulae, there was a visible
concentration in one part; but this did not occupy the centre, but a
position more resembling that of the nucleus of a small tailless
comet. The cloudlet might be a distant comet, it might be a less
distant body of meteors clustering densely in some particular part of
their orbit; and, unfortunately, I was not likely to solve the
problem. Gradually the nebula changed its position, but not its form,
seeming to move downwards and towards the stern of my vessel, as if I
were passing it without approaching nearer. By the time that I was
satisfied of this, hunger and even faintness warned me that I must not
delay preparing my breakfast. When I had finished this meal and
fulfilled some necessary tasks, practical and arithmetical, the hand
of the chronometer indicated the eighth hour of my third day. I turned
again somewhat eagerly to the discometer, which showed an apparent
distance of 360 terrestrial radii, and consequently a movement which
had not materially varied from the rate of 11-1/4 radii per hour. By
this time the diameter of the Earth was not larger in appearance than
about 19', less than two-thirds that of the Sun; and she consequently
appeared as a black disc covering somewhat more than one-third of his
entire surface, but by no means concentrical. The halo had of course
completely disappeared; but with the vernier it was possible to
discern a narrow band or line of hazy grey around the black limb of
the planet. She was moving, as
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