184 



KNOWLEDGE * 



[Maech 23, 1883. 



^ur ^aralioir Cornrr. 



FLAT EAKTU )'. (;iA)liE. 

 [Mr. Hampden ie angry witli nic because the second part of his 

 explanation of tlie Hat eiirtli tlieory did not appear last week. It 

 only reached mo at Brighton when the last number of Knowledge 

 was already made up; and by the time the first ensuing post had 

 taken it to Great yueen-etreet, half the edition would have been 

 printed. 



The first portion of what was actually sent I have had to omit, for 

 the reason that it was simple (denunciation of the accepted views, 

 and I had promised my readers to admit no mere denunciation. 



in his drawing, and run here from 15° E. to 15° W. ; 3°, the addi- 

 tion (for which the preceding change provided) of the details of 

 land and water between those longitudes, — the outlines being taken 

 from a map of the whole earth supplied me by Mr. Hampden ; 

 4°, the addition of the marks A, B, C, D, for pnrposes of reference, 

 as will bo seen below. — R. P.] 



" My case is too strong to render me at all disposed to imitate 

 the example of my opponents. But it is with an ill grace that they 

 can avail themselves of a condition which they have so anscnipn- 

 lously ignored when denouncing my views. However, it is not my 

 nature to be ungenerous, or to e.tult over a fallen foe. I accept 

 the privilege now accorded me as an «mendt for the unfair treat- 

 ment I have hitherto been subject to ; and 1 send with this a roDgh 

 diagram (Fig. 1) of the geometry of the circular plane, and 

 publish it with the full assurance that, sooner or later, it will be 

 the alone standard of reference when describing the configuration 

 of the earth-plane on which we live. It has never before been pub- 

 lished since type and paper were invented, and I claim the merit 

 of having detected the marvellous hannonv of the solar courses. 

 I do not say it will carry conviction at a glance ; though that mind 

 must be very much distorted by prejudice, if it fails to detect in it 

 a degree of perfection that may be looked for in vain in the solar 

 ystem devised by the ingenuity of man. I am quite willing that 

 it should meet with the severest scrutiny that prejudice and 

 mathematical skill can array against it. If it is false, let it perish 

 and its fallacy be exposed. If it outlives the ordeal, it is to a far 

 higher authority than mine that is due the credit it will claim. I 

 will give some explanations in nest succeeding number. 



I will endeavour, as far as possible, to confine my articles to 

 about a column and a half. JoHX Hampdex. 



[Mr. Hampden will understand that I have no wish to dictate to 

 him the course which his description and explanation of the Zetetic 

 philosophy should pursue ; nor do I wish to enter into any discussion 

 of the various features of his flat-earth theory. But I know the 

 difficulties which are likely to suggest themselves to those who con- 

 sider it for the first time ; and I venture (in their interests only) 

 to submit a few questions to the teacher of this new (or very old) 

 system, which he will doubtless be very glad to answer in con- 

 sideration of the ignorance of beginners. 



I note first that one great advantage of the new system is that 

 all measurements on the Zetetic chart are made on one scale, 

 unlike our ordinary geographical maps, which vainly essay to picture 

 accurately part of a globe on a flat surface. Now, I note that if 

 we allow the meridians and parallels in Fig. 1 to represent for a 

 moment the sector of the earth in which Victoria, Xew South 

 Wales, and New Zealand are contained — that is, to range from 135° 

 East to 180° — then A would be the position of Sydney, B of Hobart 

 Town, D of Invercargill (at the extreme south of New Zealand), and 

 of Auckland. I find the distance AC to be about 2,100 miles, and 

 the distance BD about 2,000 miles. In the steamship Botomahana, 

 of about 1,200 tons, whose average rate of steaming is certainly not 

 more than 300 mUes per day, I sailed from Auckland to Sydney in 

 about four days, and a cuirent will not account for the enormous 

 rate thus indicated (more than 500 miles daily), since the journey 

 is made in the same time both ways. The Pacific Mail Steamers 

 run constantly between Sydney and Auckland, both ways, in a 

 little over four days. They are noted rather for strength and safety 

 than for speed. Again, from Hobart Town to Invercargill a smaller 

 steamer (700 tons) of the same line carried me in 4i days, in very 

 unfavourable weather — some 440 miles per day in a steamer whose 

 liest rate was under 300 miles a day. The journey both wayB 

 between Cape Town and Melbourne involves similar difliculties, 

 which Mr. Hampden can, of course, very easily remove for us. 



Next, — I think I am right in presenting AA', BB', CC, Fig. 2 

 (or na', lib', cc', or lines between these and parallel to them), as 

 side-views of the circular paths of the sun in mid-winter (northern), 



A.^utAfSiuuWnUr/>uA.seen.aiffewuf B RuAt SuAi Sprij>gaJuiAjJim.lhti,san.tdgurue. CC'u th, Siwi Summt^ Path tan, eda»zse 



>m rr ' n'mr \\ mim<inMiimmimiumiiii"''iiiim«mmm>m 



Mubu^ttr 



J^ 



Fig. 2. 



The illustrative diagram is reduced from 5Ir. Hampden's drawing, 

 with no other changes bat — 1°, the addition of a name ; 2°, the 

 change of the longitudes represented, which ran from 0° to 45° W. 



in spring or autumn, and in midsummer, respectively, where DLN 

 represents a side-view of part of the earth's surface. This, in fact, 

 follows obviously from what is shown in Fig. 1. Now the following 



