The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-12-20
THE CUBICAL PLANET.
The Surprising Theory Based On
It's Alleged Discovery.

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The alleged discovery by Arndt, OF
Munich, of a 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
spherOid, but a cube, has naturally
caused some excitement among scientific
men, who, however, nearly all discredit
She report, True or not, it has already
given occasion for some most curious
and interesting speculation as to how
and why certain common physical phe-
nomena, occurring on cubical planet,
would differ from analogous phenome-
ma taking place on 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 foundations 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 conversation which recently took
place between the present writer and DR..
William Vankirk, the well-known phvsi-
clst and mathematician, Dr. Nankirk
smiled at the notion of the alleged dis
cOveTy, 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
planet lying beyond Neptune-which
itself Is more than $500 100000 miles
distant from the earth-was a cuhe or a
sphere. The whole account is a 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 cubical planet? No?
Well, then; fOrone thing, your present sys-
tenn of geometry and mathematicswould
be upset before ong-completely and
irrecoverably demolished and knockded
into a cooked hat. All your straight
Zines 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 things,
and all this upsetting of your present
certainty that straight line is the short
est distance between two points, and so
on, would be due to the action of gravi-
tation alone. There is a fine thought
Tor your Hegels, your Harrises, your
McCoshes, your Emersons, your Bow
ems, and your NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in gener-
al! Only to think Of it, physical fact
putfs yonr Immediately belongings and
your absolutely true mathematics away
like cloud of dust in high wind!"
How do you make that out?" asked
the writer.
I'm this way" was the reply of the
doctor, as he eagerly thrust one eyebrow
under his chin and placed the other on
the top of his magnifcently proportional
head. "On cubical planet-that is to
say, on a regular homogeneous material
mathematical figure bounded by six
equal planes -gravitation would tend
to draw bodies toward the central point
just as it does on the earth. A stone let
fall from 3 height would make, as we
say, bee line for the center. Now,
consider what the result of such state
Nof affairs would be. Suppose a 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 legs
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 cubical planet when trav-
.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
surface-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 cliff
as one looks down INTO q 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 $4,000
miles around, from the center
of the plane to the edge will be
1000 miles. When man has gone
1000 miles on the earth his feet
still point to the center, for he
has been walking on curved surface,
httt NUhpn bn hos uoua tho uapn distance
on a oubical planet, he has, of course,
been walking on a plane and, as his feet
must, by the force of gravity, continu.