Off on a Comet
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Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 Next page "Well, then," continued the professor, "keep it in mind for a few minutes now. Look here! In this bag are forty five-franc pieces-- altogether they weigh exactly a kilogramme; by which I mean that if we were on the earth, and I were to hang the bag on the hook of the steelyard, the indicator on the dial would register one kilogramme. This is clear enough, I suppose?" As he spoke the professor designedly kept his eyes fixed upon Ben Zoof. He was avowedly following the example of Arago, who was accustomed always in lecturing to watch the countenance of the least intelligent of his audience, and when he felt that he had made his meaning clear to him, he concluded that he must have succeeded with all the rest. In this case, however, it was technical ignorance, rather than any lack of intelligence, that justified the selection of the orderly for this special attention. Satisfied with his scrutiny of Ben Zoof's face, the professor went on. "And now, gentlemen, we have to see what these coins weigh here upon Gallia." He suspended the money bag to the hook; the needle oscillated, and stopped. "Read it off!" he said. The weight registered was one hundred and thirty-three grammes. "There, gentlemen, one hundred and thirty-three grammes! Less than one-seventh of a kilogramme! You see, consequently, that the force of gravity here on Gallia is not one-seventh of what it is upon the earth!" "Interesting!" cried Servadac, "most interesting! But let us go on and compute the mass." "No, captain, the density first," said Rosette. "Certainly," said the lieutenant; "for, as we already know the volume, we can determine the mass as soon as we have ascertained the density." The professor took up the cube of rock. "You know what this is," he went on to say. "You know, gentlemen, that this block is a cube hewn from the substance of which everywhere, all throughout your voyage of circumnavigation, you found Gallia to be composed-- a substance to which your geological attainments did not suffice to assign a name." "Our curiosity will be gratified," said Servadac, "if you will enlighten our ignorance." But Rosette did not take the slightest notice of the interruption. "A substance it is which no doubt constitutes the sole material of the comet, extending from its surface to its innermost depths. The probability is that it would be so; your experience confirms that probability: you have found no trace of any other substance. Of this rock here is a solid decimeter; let us get at its weight, and we shall have the key which will unlock the problem of the whole weight of Gallia. We have demonstrated that the force of attraction here is only one-seventh of what it is upon the earth, and shall consequently have to multiply the apparent weight of our cube by seven, in order to ascertain its proper weight. Do you understand me, goggle-eyes?" This was addressed to Ben Zoof, who was staring hard at him. "No!" said Ben Zoof. "I thought not; it is of no use waiting for your puzzle-brains to make it out. I must talk to those who can understand." The professor took the cube, and, on attaching it to the hook of the steelyard, found that its apparent weight was one kilogramme and four hundred and thirty grammes. "Here it is, gentlemen; one kilogramme, four hundred and thirty grammes. Multiply that by seven; the product is, as nearly as possible, ten kilogrammes. What, therefore, is our conclusion? Why, that the density of Gallia is just about double the density of the earth, which we know is only five kilogrammes to a cubic decimeter. Had it not been for this greater density, the attraction of Gallia would only have been one-fifteenth instead of one-seventh of the terrestrial attraction." The professor could not refrain from exhibiting his gratification that, however inferior in volume, in density, at least, his comet had the advantage over the earth. Nothing further now remained than to apply the investigations thus finished to the determining of the mass or weight. This was a matter of little labor. "Let me see," said the captain; "what is the force of gravity upon the various planets?" "You can't mean, Servadac, that you have forgotten that? But you always were a disappointing pupil." The captain could not help himself: he was forced to confess that his memory had failed him. "Well, then," said the professor, "I must remind you. Taking the attraction on the earth as 1, that on Mercury is 1.15, on Venus it is .92, on Mars .5, and on Jupiter 2.45; on the moon the attraction is .16, whilst on the surface of the sun a terrestrial kilogramme would weigh 28 kilogrammes." "Therefore, if a man upon the surface of the sun were to fall down, he would have considerable difficulty in getting up again. A cannon ball, too, would only fly a few yards," said Lieutenant Procope. "A jolly battle-field for cowards!" exclaimed Ben Zoof. "Not so jolly, Ben Zoof, as you fancy," said his master; "the cowards would be too heavy to run away." Ben Zoof ventured the remark that, as the smallness of Gallia secured to its inhabitants such an increase of strength and agility, he was almost sorry that it had not been a little smaller still. "Though it could not anyhow have been very much smaller," he added, looking slyly at the professor. "Idiot!" exclaimed Rosette. "Your head is too light already; a puff of wind would blow it away." "I must take care of my head, then, and hold it on," replied the irrepressible orderly. Unable to get the last word, the professor was about to retire, when Servadac detained him. "Permit me to ask you one more question," he said. "Can you tell me what is the nature of the soil of Gallia?" "Yes, I can answer that. And in this matter I do not think your impertinent orderly will venture to put Montmartre into the comparison. This soil is of a substance not unknown upon the earth." And speaking very slowly, the professor said: "It contains 70 per cent. of tellurium, and 30 per cent. of gold." Servadac uttered an exclamation of surprise. "And the sum of the specific gravities of these two substances is 10, precisely the number that represents Gallia's density." "A comet of gold!" ejaculated the captain. "Yes; a realization of what the illustrious Maupertuis has already deemed probable," replied the astronomer. "If Gallia, then, should ever become attached to the earth, might it not bring about an important revolution in all monetary affairs?" inquired the count. "No doubt about it!" said Rosette, with manifest satisfaction. "It would supply the world with about 246,000 trillions of francs." "It would make gold about as cheap as dirt, I suppose," said Servadac. The last observation, however, was entirely lost upon the professor, who had left the hall with an air almost majestic, and was already on his way to the observatory. "And what, I wonder, is the use of all these big figures?" said Ben Zoof to his master, when next day they were alone together. "That's just the charm of them, my good fellow," was the captain's cool reply, "that they are of no use whatever." CHAPTER VIII JUPITER SOMEWHAT CLOSE Except as to the time the comet would take to revolve round the sun, it must be confessed that all the professor's calculations had comparatively little interest for anyone but himself, and he was consequently left very much to pursue his studies in solitude. The following day was the 1st of August, or, according to Rosette, the 63rd of April. In the course of this month Gallia would travel 16,500,000 leagues, attaining at the end a distance of 197,000,000 leagues from the sun. This would leave 81,000,000 leagues more to be traversed before reaching the aphelion of the 15th of January, after which it would begin once more to approach the sun. But meanwhile, a marvelous world, never before so close within the range of human vision, was revealing itself. No wonder that Palmyrin Rosette cared so little to quit his observatory; for throughout those calm, clear Gallian nights, when the book of the firmament lay open before him, he could revel in a spectacle which no previous astronomer had ever been permitted to enjoy. The glorious orb that was becoming so conspicuous an object was none other than the planet Jupiter, the largest of all the bodies existing within the influence of solar attraction. During the seven months that had elapsed since its collision with the earth, the comet had been continuously approaching the planet, until the distance between them was scarcely more |
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