The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-12-18
THE CUBICAL PLANET.
The Surprising Theory Based On
It's Alleged Discovery.

It's Alleged Discovery.
The alleged discovery by Arndt, OF
Munich, of planet whose orbit lies be-
yond that of Neptune. and which differs
from all other reputable celestial bodies
in the fact that it is neither sphere nor
a spherOid, but a cube, has naturally
caused some excitement among scientific
men, who, however, nearly all discredit
the report. True or not, ii has already
given occasion for some most curious
and interesting speculation as to how
and why certain common physical phe-
nomena, occurring on a cubical planet.
would differ from analogous phenome-
"a taking place on a globe like the earth.
These speculationS are so remarkable
and apparently so well founded, and
they lead to such peculiar results, bear
ing upon what are commonly thought
to be the very Temptations of certainty
in regard to mathematical truth, that it
Is high time they, or some of them,
should be laid before the general public
In a conversation which reccnt,y took
place between the present writer and Dr.
William Fankirk. the wcll-known phvsi-
ciSt and mathematician. DR.. NankirG
smiled at the notion of the alleged dis
coyery, and said that even with the aid
of the new thirty-siX inch lens made in
Paris it would be utterly impossible for
the most Skillful observer to say whether
a planet lying beyond Neptune which
itself is more than $500, 100000 miles
distant from the earth-waS cube or 4
sphere. The whole account is hoax"
he continued, land there neither are
nor can be such things as cubical plan
ets-that is to say, there are no such
things if there is any truth i'll the nebu-
lar theory, which seems to be as near
the truth as it is possible to come in the
present state of physics. But then"
said he pacing thoughtfully up and
down the floor, did You ever think
what an odd thing it would be to be cast
away, not off on comet with Jules
Verne, but on a cubical planet? No?
Well, then; forone thing. Your present sys-
tenn of geometry and mathematicSwould
be upset before long-cOmpletely and
irrecOverably demolished and knockded
into a cooked hat. All your straight
lines would be curves and Your curves
straight lines; you could see around
a corner; and probably look at the back
of your own head, if YOU wanted to, be-
sides doing many other strange thincS.
and all this upsetting of your present
certainty that a straight line is the short
est distance between two points, and so
on, would be due to the action of gravi-
tatiou alone. There is a fine thought
for your HegelS, your HarriseS, your
McCoSheS, your EmerSOnS, your Bow
ems. and your NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in gener-
all Onlyto think of it! Aphysical fact
puffS yonr Immediately belongings and
your absolutely true mathematics away
like a cloud of dust in a high windr'
''HOw do you make that out?" asked
the writer.
I'm this way" was the reply of the
doctor. rs he eagerly thrust one eyebrow
under his chin and placed the other on
the top of his maguilicently proportional
head. ''On cubieal planet-that is to
say, on a regular homogeneous material
mathematical figure bounded BY six
equal planes would tend
10 draw bodies toward the central point
Just rs it does on the earth. A stone let
fall from height would make, as we
say, bee line for the center. Now.
consider what the resul; of such state
of affairs would be. Suppose man to
set out to walk around our round earth.
When he has gone about 5000 miles his
feet still point to the center and his Ices
are at right angles with the line they
described when he started, and are in
precisely the same mathematical relation
to the surface, and at the same distance
from the center. But what will take
place on a cubical planet when tray
eler sets out on long journey? Some
thing entirely different. Suppose his
starting place to be the middle point of
any one of the six planes that form its
sur:ace-the point at which in equila-
teral rectangleS the diagonals cross each
'other-and that he proceeds in any di-
rectiOn toward the edge of his square
toward what, in your blindness, YOU
might call the 'iumping-off plac, be-
cause you probably think that when he
gets there he can lie down on his face
and look sheer down the face of a cliff
as one looks down into a canon. Sup
pose our cubical planet to measure as
much between its opposite sides as the
earth does from one end of its diameter
to the other. say 5000 miles, and 81. 600
miles around, from the center
OF the plane to the edge will be
1000 miles. When a man has gone
1000 miles on the earth his feet |
still point to the center. for he !
has been walking on curved surface.
but when he has gone the same distance
on cubical planet, he has, of course. |
been walking on plane and. as his feet !
must, by the force of gravity. continu- |
ally point toward the center of the cube. !
his body and face must incline more and |
more toward the surface as he goes on. |
You may see my meaning by noting that
a stone dropped from his hand any,
where onto the plane must fall toward |
the center of the cube; its fall must be
slantisJ when the man stands any,
where but at the planes middle point,
and tho further away he is the more the
stone must slant. 1t would not drop at
right angles to the surface, as it would
on the earth, but at an angle VARYING
according to circumstances, and, lust as
the stone slants in falling, the mans
body would slant in standing. By great
escgt:o7 be ni~ht do what we chi stand.