d
between 0 deg. and 28 deg. of north or south latitude. In any other place the
range must necessarily be oblique, which would seriously affect the
success of the experiment.

"Regarding question No. 6, 'What place will the moon occupy In the
heavens at the moment of the projectile's departure?'

"At the moment when the projectile is hurled into space, the moon, which
travels forward 13 deg. 10' 35" each day, will be four times as distant from
her zenith point--i.e., by 52 deg. 42' 20", a space which corresponds to the
distance she will travel during the transit of the projectile. But as
the deviation which the rotatory movement of the earth will impart to
the shock must also be taken into account, and as the projectile cannot
reach the moon until after a deviation equal to sixteen radii of the
earth, which, calculated upon the moon's orbit, is equal to about 11 deg.,
it is necessary to add these 11 deg. to those caused by the
already-mentioned delay of the moon, or, in round numbers, 64 deg.. Thus, at
the moment of firing, the visual radius applied to the moon will
describe with the vertical line of the place an angle of 64 deg..

"Such are the answers to the questions proposed to the Observatory of
Cambridge by the members of the Gun Club.

"To sum up--

"1st. The cannon must be placed in a country situated between 0 deg. and 28 deg.
of north or south latitude.

"2nd. It must be aimed at the zenith of the place.

"3rd. The projectile must have an initial speed of 12,000 yards a
second.

"4th. It must be hurled on December 1st of next year, at 10hrs. 46mins.
40secs. p.m.

"5th. It will meet the moon four days after its departure on December
4th, at midnight precisely, at the moment she arrives at her zenith.

"The members of the Gun Club ought, therefore, at once to commence the
labour necessitated by such an enterprise, and be ready to put them into
execution at the moment fixed upon, for they will not find the moon in
the same conditions of perigee and zenith till eighteen years and eleven
days later.

"The staff of the Observatory of Cambridge puts itself entirely at their
disposition for questions of theoretic astronomy, and begs to join its
congratulations to those of the whole of America.

"On behalf of the staff,

"J.M. BELFAST,

"_Director of the Observatory of Cambridge_."

CHAPTER V.

THE ROMANCE OF THE MOON.

A spectator endowed with infinite power of sight, and placed at the