The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-12-20
THE CUBICAL PLANET.
The Surprising Theory Based On
It's Alleged Discovery.

Inc surprising Theory Based On
It's Alleged Discovery.
The alleged discovery by Arndt, of
Munich, OF a planet whose orbit lies be-
You'd that of Neptune, and which differs
from all other reputable celestial bodies
in the fact that it is neither sphere nor
a spheroid, but cube, has naturally
caused some excitement among scientific
men, who, however, nearly all discredit
the 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 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 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-
cist and mathematician, DIR. Vankirk
smiled at the notion of the alleged dis
covery, 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-whch
itself is more than 100000, 600 miles
distant from the earth-was cube or
sphere. "The whole account is hoax, !"
he continued, land there neither are
nor can be such things as cubcal 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 them"
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 planetp Mop
Well, then; forone thing, your present sys-
tenn OF geometry and mathematicswould
be upset before long-completely and
lrrecoverably 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 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 fine thought
for your Hegels, your Harrses, your
McCoshes, your Emersons, your Bow
ems, and your metaphysicians in gener-
al! Only to think of it! A physical fact
puffs yonr Immediately belongings and
your absolutely true mathematics away
like cloud of dust in high windr'
"How do you make that outpn asked
the writer.
''ln 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 proportioned
head. "On a cubical planet-that is to
say, on 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 a height would make, as we
say, a bee line for the center. Now,
consider what the result of such state
of 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 a cubical planet when trav-
eler sets out on a 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 'jumping-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 1000
miles around, from the center
of the plane to the edge will be
1000 miles. When a man has gone
4,000 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
q stone dropped from his hand any
where onto the plane must fall toward
the center Of the cube; its fall must be
slanting when the man stands any
where but at the planes middle point,
and the 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, just as
the stone slants in falling, the mans
body would slant in standing By great
exertion he might do what we call stand |
Ing, but generally when he occupied that
position he would accidentally have
STUN, led into it. His houses would all
have 10 slant In the same way; trees
would grow 10, and rain would fall so."
stUhek ~, nwtynuaA1v nhn1,rd attn atjnn