422 A Century of Science 



he issued a circular, of which the following is an 

 abridgment : " To ALL THE WORLD I declare the 

 earth is hollow and habitable within ; containing 

 a number of solid concentric spheres, one within 

 the other, and that it is open at the poles twelve 

 or sixteen degrees. I pledge my life in support 

 of this truth, and am ready to explore the hollow, 

 if the world will support and aid me in the under- 

 taking. . . . My terms are [Hear, Messrs. Quay 

 and Platt ! and give ear, O Tammany !] the PAT- 

 RONAGE of THIS and the NEW WORLDS. ... I 

 select Dr. S. L. Mitchell, Sir H. Davy, and Baron 

 Alexander von Humboldt as my protectors. I ask 

 one hundred brave companions, well equipped, to 

 start from Siberia, in the fall season, with reindeer 

 and sleighs, on the ice of the frozen sea. I engage 

 we find a warm and rich land, stocked with thrifty 

 vegetables and animals, if not men, on reaching 

 one degree northward of latitude 82. We will 

 return in the succeeding spring." 



This circular was sent by mail to men of science, 

 colleges, learned societies, legislatures, and mu- 

 nicipal bodies, all over the United States and 

 Europe ; for when it comes to postage, your crank 

 seems always to have unlimited funds at his dis- 

 posal. At Paris, the distinguished traveller, Count 

 Volney, doubtless with a significant shrug, pre- 



