Extracted text
Source-led transcription, lightly normalized from PDF pp. 16–21 (the full Salvator and Scientist insert). The periodical's arguments, quotations, and claimed measurements remain its own. The Salvator masthead and subscription boilerplate on p. 16 have been condensed.
Koreshan Astronomy (No. 4): Consideration of Common Objections Urged by Investigators Against the Cellular Cosmogony
The Integral System is founded upon the incomparable Koreshan Astronomy, the basis of which makes the Sun the Center and the Earth the Circumference of the Universe, from which it is conclusive that the Earth is a Hollow Sphere, with its habitable surface Concave, forming an integral, alchemico-organic structure, which, as demonstrated in the Cellular Cosmogonic System, perpetuates itself through the Eternal and Causative Forces and Functions operating within it.
Ulysses G. Morrow, Editor. Combined with The Flaming Sword; subscription, $1 per year.
The Depth of Our Atmosphere
The emplacement of all substances of the universe obtains from the relations of their specific gravity. The heaviest substance finds its static balance in the plane of its materialization farthest from the central solar sphere. Extremes of specific gravity are found in gold the heaviest, and aboron the lightest; and hence these two substances in their universal emplacement are not lying contiguously, but remote, at the extremes of universal space, separated by the various strata of other substances whose specific weights vary according to a ratio.
The chemist tabulates all known substances, placing at the top of the column the name of the lightest substance, the heaviest at the bottom. When a new substance is discovered and its specific gravity obtained, its place in the table can be determined by simple comparison of its specific gravity with that of others in the list.
Every primary element in the universe has a tendency to seek its place of rest. The static place of each substance — the location of the stratum of materialization — may be determined by ascertaining its specific gravity. The plane of equilibration of a substance is where it is at rest, and where it weighs nothing when weighed in itself. Our atmosphere occupies a plane of emplacement; its position in the great universal scale of primary substances lies between the land and waters surface of the earth and the sea of hydrogen. The conclusions of the Koreshan System concerning the character, functions and depth of the three atmospheres surrounding the central sun are founded upon a specific knowledge of universal law, and are corroborated by every known fact and phenomena observed in the scientific world.
The Koreshan Cosmogony teaches that the depth of our atmosphere is about 1,000 miles — equal to about one fourth the radius of the earth's diameter. This seems to be absurd by those who have followed the physicists in their conclusion that our atmosphere reaches its limit at about 50 miles altitude above the earth's surface. An objection is urged against the Koreshan System from the basis of tests of atmospheric pressure at different altitudes above the earth by means of the barometer, the mercurial column in which rises and falls according to the degree of density, and consequently pressure, in which the tests are made. For instance, at the sea level, mercury rises 30 inches in the tube of the barometer; at an altitude of 5,000 feet, a few tenths of an inch lower. From such observations and tests, the density decreasing at a given ratio for every 1,000 feet altitude above the earth within the reach of the observer, it is concluded that the atmosphere, at the height of about 50 miles, would become so exceedingly rare as to cease to be.
We do not deny the facts of observation of the rise and fall of the mercurial column at an even ratio to the highest point accessible to man; but deny that the atmosphere continues to decrease at the same ratio at considerable height above the surface of the earth. The density of the stratum of atmosphere lying next to the earth's surface results from the character of its constituent elements; it results from the unition of the substances of oxygen and nitrogen. This product extends upward about 50 miles, as indicated by the barometer; but above the plane of oxygen and nitrogen, and belonging still to the sea of air in which we live, is the more rare element, the limit of which is about 1,000 miles. We find the most indubitable proof that atmosphere extends far beyond the 50 or 100 mile limit of oxygen and nitrogen, in the display of the aurora borealis. From the angles at which the great northern lights have been observed, it is evident that the flashes of the aurora are at an altitude of not less than 600 miles; and it is acknowledged by scientific men that this display is within an atmospheric medium. Meteors have also been observed at a height of 200 miles, the explosions of which are acknowledged to be due to their passing through a resisting medium of greater density than ether.
This common objection is not valid, even from the standpoint of the Copernican system; many scientific men have now abandoned the old idea of the 50-mile atmospheric limit, and are now endeavoring to ascertain how far the atmosphere does really extend. We quote as follows from Lockyer's Elementary Astronomy; the evidences of the barometer do not seem to satisfy more recent observations and inquiries:
The atmosphere may be likened to a great ocean, covering the earth to a height which has not yet been determined. This height is generally supposed to be 45 or 50 miles, but there is evidence to show that we have an atmosphere of some kind at a height of 400 or 500 miles.
Idea of the Earth's Molten Interior
The idea that the earth is filled with an igneous liquid, molten matter is very generally believed by the world. For many years astronomers have taught that the earth's crust covering the great ball of fire is about 75 to 100 miles in thickness. When the theory of the hollow globe is suggested to the usual mind, the popular impression of the great fiery mass forms the expression of objection to the Koreshan Cosmogony. It is thought that some facts support the idea that the solid crust enspheres a hot, liquid globe. Volcanoes belch forth fire, smoke and lava; these are supposed to be vents of the great furnace beneath. Water is supposed to run through the crust, generate steam and cause explosions, resulting in earthquakes, etc. Hot springs are commonly thought to be issues from subterranean veins running close enough to the hidden fires to heat the water to boiling point.
Never stopping to consider the fact that if such a crust should be placed around a molten ball nearly 8,000 miles in diameter, it would be reduced to vapor within a few hours' time, the scientists have sought to thus explain these phenomena.
Cannot these phenomena be explained upon any other basis than that generally offered to the world by the modern astronomer? The accompanying diagram will serve to illustrate the contrast between the usual hypothesis and the Koreshan conception; the crust according to each theory is about 100 miles in thickness, represented by mn in diagram. ABCDEFG, the convex surface of the usual hypothesis, the crust enclosing about 2,680,746,000,000,000 cubic miles of molten matter, the really active vents of which number less than a score. On the other hand, mmmm is the concave surface of the Koreshan Cosmogony; mn, the thickness of the crust environing all that is. The shell of the earth is composed of three general divisions of strata, the metallic outermost, the mineral next imposed, and the geologic strata uppermost. There is sufficient room in this shell for all the fires necessary to express themselves in the few outlets found in the world. The great cavities in the geologic strata of the earth's shell become filled with gases and oils; upon ignition from electrical sources, explosions occur, causing the shocks of the earthquake. The unition of certain alchemical substances produces combustion; electrical currents in the various strata consume carboniferous deposits. The great vulcan fires beneath the surface are the result of various forms of decomposition. Some of these manifest themselves at the surface through streams of hot water and through fire and lava issuing from the volcanic craters.
There is an impression among so called scientific men that the temperature increases in proportion to the distance beneath the surface. We wish our readers to know the facts in the case, and in contrast with what we have to present we quote as follows from Newcomb's Popular Astronomy:
It is well known that wherever we descend into the solid portions of the earth we find a rise in temperature, going on uniformly with the depth at a rate which nowhere differs greatly from 1° Fahrenheit in 50 feet. We have every reason to believe that the increase of say 100° a mile continues many miles into the interior of the earth. Then we shall have a red heat at a distance of 12 miles, while at a depth of 100 miles the temperature will be so high as to melt most materials which form the solid crust of the globe.
Over against the above quoted statements, and in refutation of the popular idea, we present the facts concerning the greatest depth man has been able to descend into the earth — a copper mine at Calumet, Mich., excavated to the depth of one mile. Concerning this shaft we quote as follows from an account given of the same:
A hole in the ground a mile deep! This, the deepest hole that has ever been dug in the earth, is in the shaft of the Red Jacket copper mine at Calumet, Mich. This hole, now nearing completion after seven years' work, has great scientific interest because it tells us some things subterranean which we did not know. The Red Jacket shaft deserves to rank as one of the wonders of the modern world. It is a brilliant bit of engineering. The Eiffel tower created a sensation because of its prodigious height, and yet this Calumet hole in the ground could hold five Eiffel towers dropped in one after another. It had long been thought that such a depth as the bottom of the Red Jacket shaft would have had a temperature that would boil an egg. This has been found to be not the case, however. Careful tests at the bottom have proved that the normal temperature at a mile below the earth's surface is only 87.6° Fahrenheit, about a fair August average in New York. At a depth of 105 feet the temperature was but 59°.
There have been no direct demonstrations of the earth's contour by the astronomers of the Copernican school. Astronomer Ball says: "Our knowledge of the figure of the earth is only attained by indirect means."
The Geodetic Survey: Demonstration of the Earth's Concavity the Inevitable Result
The earth is concave! This truth Koresh has proclaimed to a skeptical world for over a quarter of a century. That which the scientists of the present age have considered to be unworthy of notice is now about to become tangibly manifest in absolute demonstration. Evidences as eternal as the universe are about to be forced upon the world. In this age of the prevalence of fallacy, when the central key of life and knowledge is lost to the inhabitants of the great cellular form, the contour of the earth is made to declare the Truth. The testimony of its own curvature, of its own form, is at last appealed to in substantiation of the claims of Koresh!
We are ready to satisfy all those who have asked for proofs and evidences of the earth's concavity. For some time, thousands who have learned of our purpose of demonstration of the premise of the Koreshan System, have been anxiously awaiting the results of the Geodetic Survey on the west coast of Florida. We have had the courage to pivot the system upon our propositions, and to make a practical application of the principles involved therein. Some of our friends have been solicitous for us, fearful, perhaps, that the evidences should be against us.
Modus Operandi of the New Geodesy
On March 18, upon the Gulf coast at Naples, Fla., three miles north of Gordon's Pass, the air line was begun. The first section of the Rectilineator was placed upon its standards with its middle line or horizontal axis just 10 feet above the water level. The ground elevation at place of starting is about five feet below the beginning of the line of survey. At 8:40 a.m., on the morning of the 18th, Section 1 was pronounced level, after the application of very fine spirit and mercurial levels; plumb-line was also applied to the four-foot cross-arms at right angles to the plane of the horizontal, and upon observation, with the eye at the proper altitude, the lower edge of the long mahogany straightedge was exactly parallel to the distinct horizon line upon the Gulf. Thus practically, four tests of level and plumb were applied with the same result. At 8:50 a.m., the first adjustment was made, and the survey of the airline was commenced.
As has been described before, the survey consists in mechanically forcing a straight line, practically building the line by the precise adjustments of the brass-facings placed at absolute right angles to the horizontal axis of the apparatus. After section 2 is carefully adjusted to Section 1, No. 3 is adjusted to the forward end of No. 2, when Section 1 is detached and likewise adjusted to the forward end of No. 2, and so on throughout the line of survey.
Previous to beginning the line, measurements of the water level were made at every eighth of a mile; in the direction of the line, strong stakes were firmly fixed in the ground, with fine lines drawn upon them, indicating altitude of 10 feet above the water. As the survey proceeds, the air line is bound to strike the stakes below, at or above the line showing the 10-foot altitude. If the earth were convex, the air line would run above the cross-line on stakes; if flat, the line of survey would continue to be the same height above the water through the line of survey; but if concave, the air line will gradually go down, falling below the 10-foot altitude lines just in proportion to the distance from the beginning of the survey, as in the diagram accompanying this article, giving a comprehensive view of the air line.
The relation of the air line to the level or horizontal would also change. On the convex basis, the forward end of the apparatus should gradually get higher and higher, and the bubble of the spirit level would tend to shift toward the forward direction of the apparatus; if concave, it would tend in the opposite direction.
The curvature of the earth for one mile is about 8 inches. In one mile the earth curvates upwards about 8 inches; in two miles, 32 inches, and in three miles, 72 inches or 6 feet. The curvature for the first few divisions of the first mile from any given point is very little. For one eighth of a mile, one eighth of an inch; one fourth mile, one half inch; three eighths mile, one and one eighth inches; one half mile, 2 inches; five eighths mile, three and one eighth inches; three fourths mile, four and one half inches; seven eighths mile, six and one eighth inches; one mile, 8 inches. If the earth were convex, the air line would rise above our measurement lines in accordance with this ratio; if concave, the air line would fall below the measurement lines in about the same ratio. About one and one eighth miles have been surveyed, and what is the result?
Gradual Descent of the Air Line
The measurements above the water have been made with as much care and accuracy as possible. Very slight fluctuations, even in the tide registers and in the pools, and the capillary effect of the wood surface extending into the water, make absolute measurements impossible — we cannot get down to hundredths of an inch by these means, but approximately to eighths of an inch. That our measurements and survey have been remarkably accurate, may be seen from the following reports of the facts and results obtained as the work of the survey has progressed:
Not until about 400 feet had been passed over was there manifest any deviation from the level obtained at the starting point. At adjustment No. 37, the spirit level was applied, with the bubble slightly shifted toward the starting point of the survey. The angle was very slight, and just observable by means of test by level, and by observation of the relation of the long straightedges to the horizon line on the Gulf. From that point until the time of present report, the deviation has grown more and more marked, and the angle has gradually increased.
At adjustment No. 55, at the end of the first eighth of mile, or 660 feet, record stake No. 2 was reached. Our expectations were realized here upon observation of the horizontal axis of the apparatus 1/5 of an inch below the measurement line upon the stake. The difference was very small, but at the proper ratio, giving strong testimony as to the accuracy of the line surveyed by the Rectilineator, as well as foreshowing what the result would be in the end.
At adjustment No. 110, record stake No. 3 was reached, bearing the line indicating 10 feet above the water, as per our system of tide registering. Below this line, the central line of the apparatus was observed to be about one half inch. At this point level was applied, with the same results as before. Likewise, at adjustment No. 165, at end of survey of three eighths of mile, the air line was one and three eighths inches below the measurement line on record stake No. 4.
At adjustment No. 220, the end of the first half mile was reached, with the line of survey two inches nearer the water than at starting point, while adjustment No. 275 brought us to the end of five eighths of the first mile, with the horizontal axis of the Rectilineator a little over three inches below the measurement line on record stake No. 6. At end of three fourths of mile, the line was down four and three eighths inches; seven eighths of mile, six and seven sixteenths of an inch.
When the end of first mile was reached, the medial line of the apparatus was observed to be 8.02 inches nearer the water's surface than at beginning of survey; and in about the proper proportion the line was below altitude of starting point, as indicated upon stake at end of one and one eighth miles; there the line was observed to be 10¼ inches nearer the water than at commencement of the rectiline.
At the end of 3 miles, we will have reached the point where the water's surface has curvated upwards 6 feet, and the horizontal axis of the apparatus will be only 4 feet from the water's surface; we started with the air line 10 feet above the water. We are now surveying about one eighth of a mile per day; at this rate of progress, we will complete the first line of survey about April 20. When Gordon's pass has been reached, the great scientific "Gordian knot" will have been severed, and the fundamental premise of the Koreshan Cosmogony will have been absolutely demonstrated!
This work of demonstration of the earth's concavity is the beginning of the stupendous scientific revolution. With the demonstrated facts as the foundation of an integral system, Koresh will march steadily onward to victory over fallacy. Ere the scientists will take time to realize the importance of the work of Koresh, thousands and thousands who have hitherto been blindly led by the gross errors prevailing today, will accept the facts presented to them, and the System which they support. When the scientific leaders of today awake to their mistake, they will find that their energies and opportunities have slipped away into more worthy hands for a more worthy and noble purpose than contributing to the false honors the modern scientists have bestowed upon themselves. The great scientific campaign has begun, and the contest and warfare of Truth and fallacy will be waged until Truth becomes the victor in the great conflict!
Prof. Vail's Reply: The Scientist Wants to Submit the Question to a Higher Tribunal Than Facts of Demonstration
In this department of the January number of The Flaming Sword, there appeared an article from our pen briefly reviewing Vail's annular system, indicating that we accepted his challenge to refute the arguments advanced in his publications. The writer promptly addressed a letter to the Professor accepting his challenge, and requesting the conditions of his offer of reward of $1,000. To this letter we have received no reply, except in the form of his publications, which he has kindly sent us.
In the January number of Vail's Annular World, we find the following:
Among the many valued exchanges that came to our table during three weeks of absence, is the Flaming Sword, published at Chicago, Ill. One of its great labors is the demonstration of the claim that this world is neither round, square, flat, nor triangular in shape, but concave, and that humanity dwells on the inside of a hollow sphere 8,000 miles in diameter. This, of course, knocks the Annular System clear out of time. One of the editors of that journal grows jubilant over the fact (?) that he has suddenly become the prospective possessor of the $1,000 we have offered for the refutation of the argument presented in "Eden's Flaming Sword." It is a clear road to wealth for a man who can accept challenges and then proceed to make himself jury, judge, umpire, witness, and banish all tribunals save his, while the case comes up at his beck and he rakes in the cash. We heartily thank this able Salvator and Scientist for the free advertisement he gives the Annular Philosophy, but we admit that the sublimity of his flaming head-lines "The reward of $1,000 Offered for the Refutation of Vail's Annular World Theory is Ours," is exceedingly shadowy, and "we move the previous question," which is that the tribunal before which the grand truth of Annular World Evolution is to be tried, is neither self-constituted nor packed. One of the conditions of our challenge is, that he who thinks he is able to tackle the argument in "Eden's Flaming Sword," or any other part of the Annular hypothesis, must be man enough to stipulate that if he fails to smash this child of our brains, he shall forfeit $1,000 and let the other man rake in the pile. The modus operandi of this able exponent of Koreshan Cosmogony is simply this: The earth is not a solid globe, but a hollow shell, therefore "the $1,000 is ours." Ah, my good brother, the jury of juries will settle this question, and that kind of logic will keep the world in a fit of laughter for the next age.
We are somewhat amused at the character of this reply, because in it we see an attempt to evade the question. As long as the professor can persuade himself that the Koreshan System is in the realm of hypothesis, on an equal plane with his own on that score, he will not consider it necessary to get down to terra firma, where the facts may be obtained.
As our readers well know, the modus operandi of the Koreshan System is not that of assertion, but of demonstration; it is not that of leaving the question to a popular or other tribunal which has not opportunity to observe the actual and absolute basic facts by which only can the question be settled. In accepting the challenge of our esteemed scientific friend, it was not our intention nor desire to gain his reward by argument; that could be prolonged indefinitely without a settlement of the issue between the "Annular hypothesis" and the Koreshan System of ratiocination. We desire to have the testimony of the earth's contour settle the question — the tangible, curvating crust! If it is within the possibility of human ingenuity to determine what this testimony is, let it be applied! If not, then upon what is Vail's annular hypothesis founded?
What is more certain of answering the question of the earth's form than the testimony of its own contour? It is to this testimony that we appeal — not to the statements or reports we may make regarding our observations, merely. We are not fearful that the earth's surface will change very materially during the next several years. But perhaps the author of the annular hypothesis is fearful lest the tangible surface upon which we live, in giving its testimony in settlement of the question at issue and in determining who shall forfeit the $1,000, that it is "self-constituted" and too firmly "packed" to be of any weight!
In appealing to the earth's surface itself, are we making ourselves the "jury, judge, umpire, witness" and all? In endeavoring to engage the scientific world in the pursuit of truth by simple investigation and test of the earth's surface to ascertain whether it is convex or concave, are we constituting ourselves the tribunal that will palm off a fraud on the world? In boldly facing the great issue by pivoting the entire system upon a single and simple proposition, and substantiating the same in a public test of his premise, is Koresh attempting to build a System devoid of a reasonable premise? We answer, No! We desire to place the facts, susceptible of investigation, test and absolute demonstration, over against the offer of the reward of $1,000 by the author of the annular system, as he advertises. And, lest we should by some bold stroke of facetiousness, constitute ourselves as the exclusive witnesses, jury and tribunal, we will give our scientific friend the opportunity of becoming a witness and part of the jury in a tribunal of investigation of the facts we have to publicly exhibit to the world, if he desires! Can anything be fairer? Will he agree to this? If so, let him speak out, and we will enter into some negotiations with him concerning expenses of an expedition, and endeavor to come to some agreement as to who shall hold the $1,000 put up for the contest!
Scientists Are Defenseless: Kansas City Journal Admits That the Logic of Koresh Is Too Much For the Modern Astronomer
Koreshanity is an enigma to the newspaper fraternity. To them the System grows more puzzling as they find it continually gaining momentum in the world. One reporter after another comes to interview Koresh, expecting to find a weak-minded enthusiast, only to go away with profound look and knitted brow in the endeavor to comprehend the stupendous import of the many facts presented to him in proof of the premise of the Koreshan System.
The news of the Koreshan Geodetic Expedition to the Gulf Coast of Florida is now attracting the attention of the newspaper world. Prominent dailies the world over have lately published articles descriptive of the plans and purposes of this work of survey and of the fundamental principles of the System. Editorial columns have contained many and diverse comments, and many inquiries are being received at the office of The Flaming Sword from the readers of these reports and editorial comments. While some journals endeavor to defend the Copernican system, others contain the frank admission that the Koreshan System is fully equipped for warfare upon the old systems, as for instance, the following from the Kansas City Journal:
While it embraces a complex system of theology, and purports to run the whole range of the natural sciences, its foundation stone is the belief that the earth is hollow, and that humanity dwells upon the inner crust. At the outset it may be stated that Dr. Teed and his followers have equipped themselves with a lot of sophistries with which to answer those objections which must naturally arise. They have imagined this terrestrial system, and they have fixed up universal conditions to fit it in a manner most ingenious. Let the astronomer attempt to upset Koreshanity with the facts which his telescope supplies and Dr. Teed will unhorse him after a fashion to fill him with surprise, and to all those natural phenomena which go to prove that the earth is peopled upon the outside, he has responses just as ready, with the single exception of the one which this Gulf of Mexico expedition is designed to solve. The Koreshans declare that it is an optical delusion which makes ships appear to be coming up over the convex surface of the sea. They believe that with the proper telescopes, the hulls of ships can be seen just as quickly as their masts, and that, in fact, the ocean is a concave body. To prove this, it is proposed to make a water survey which will show that a true right angular line from a given point will not project itself into space, but will strike the water.
The above is a frank admission of the weakness of the arguments that the earth is convex, as directed against the demonstrated fact of the earth's concavity. Let the reader inquire as to how the founder of the Koreshan System can so easily overthrow the position of the astronomer. It can instantly be seen that it is not on account of popular sympathy, for that has been almost entirely given to the system Koresh comes to destroy. It cannot be because he has the more means to promulgate his system, for astronomers have millions at their command. How, then, is the astronomer really unhorsed or overthrown from his position? There is but one way — and that is the method employed by the Koreshan Scientist — by the application of superior mentality, by the use of the formidable weapon of facts of absolute demonstration, before which the scientists of the world will flee.
Scientific Credulity: Evidence That Astronomers Are Unable to Produce Practical Proofs of the Theory of the Earth's Convexity
The fact that for all these years thousands of people have accepted the claims of scientific men without question and without even asking them to demonstrate a single premise of their conclusions, seems quite remarkable when considering their immediate demand for proofs of the basis of the Koreshan System, when coming in contact with statements of its principles. The many excerpts we have published from the writings of the world's most renowned astronomers, are sufficient to show that the old system is utterly lacking in proof of its claims. The people at large, however, are so sure that modern science is absolute, that they never suspect that it is not true. Their demand for proof of the Koreshan System may have a tendency to generate a little spirit of inquiry on the other side of the question; when this is done an effective work will be accomplished, for whenever the X-rays of scientific scrutiny are applied to the old system, they invariably reveal its fallacious character.
It is also equally remarkable that some astronomers upon examination of the Koreshan Cosmogony, can find nothing whatever in it to discuss. The editor of this department has spent over six years in the study of the Cellular Cosmogony, and finds the harmony and completeness of the system to be marvelous, and its profundity grows more and more apparent as the many details are taken up and compared with the Copernican and the several other theories of cosmogony. The astronomical world has been much pleased in the past to examine so called astronomical paradoxes, and astronomers have taken pains to publish in more or less detail, the ideas of astronomical aspirants. The curiosity of these ideas resides in the fact that the boastful authors know so little of the field of astronomy; these fragmentary and ignorant attempts at explanation of astronomical phenomena have pleased and amused our modern scientists. But when a complete and perfect system is presented to them they have neither the time nor apparently the desire to look into the demonstrations of its premise. This is because "truth irritates those whom it enlightens but does not convert."
We are glad, nevertheless, when scientists, from whatever motive, will undertake the investigation of even the simplest principles of Koreshan Science; for we know of no class of minds that is more in need of astronomical truth than those engaged in the promulgation of the Copernican system! Replies from some of them are very characteristic, and evince the fact that they possess no facts with which to demonstrate the earth's convexity. The following letter is from the President of the Toronto Astronomical Society, after consideration of the published reports concerning the scientific experiments on the Old Drainage Canal and Lake Michigan, during the past summer. We have begun the agitation and will continue, through the presentation of the facts of demonstration, until the world repudiates the teachings of the modern fallacy, and seeks enlightenment through the integral system of Koresh.
I have read your Salvator and Scientist, and have tried to understand what you call Koreshan Astronomy. There is nothing, I think, to discuss. The author appeals to observation. Well, I have not appealed to observation, but I am willing to do so if I have a good opportunity, and the next opportunity I have (which cannot be until next summer) I will try some experiments. I feel like Proctor when he says, "We do not understand it; we decline to believe it." The gentlemen who made these experiments on the Illinois Canal, I take for granted were honest men. I am quite convinced they have been mistaken. There has been some refraction, or some atmospheric cause that has disturbed the effect of the true result of such experiments. There is nothing, of course, to argue about; it is simply the question, Are these men truthful? and if truthful, have their observations been conducted with care and accuracy? I cannot tell, because I was not there. I would like very much indeed to have taken part in the experiments, so that I might more fully understand where their difficulty lay. I am obliged to you for sending me copy of the periodical. I have shown it to the Secretary. Yours truly, — John A. Patterson.
The Triumph of Philosophy
We are in sympathy with every well-directed movement against the inconsistencies of the prevailing popular system of astronomy. There have been put forth during the past decade, several attempts at system building, for the purpose of supplanting the Copernican idea; every such attempt has been instrumental in pointing out to the world some fallacious features of the old astronomy, thereby paving the way for the success of the perfect and integral system of Koreshan Cosmogony.
We have before us a treatise on astronomy, purporting to set forth "The Triumph of Philosophy, or the True System of the World," the result of the labors of Prof. James Gillespie, of Scotland. The Gillespian system is a cross between the Ptolemaic system and the Copernican, rejecting the orbital revolution of the earth about the sun, yet accepting the idea of the earth's rotary motion, holding, as in the usual system, that the surface upon which we live is convex. He is thus "outside" of the realm of true science; and having a false premise, he necessarily evolves an erroneous system. Notwithstanding this, there are several points in his work which are commendable. Some of his arguments are unique, and his propositions clearly stated and illustrated by numerous diagrams. His system is to be preferred to the Copernican, inasmuch as he denies the infinity of the universe, and endeavors to fix an absolute center of universal activity. He succeeds as well as the Copernicans in accounting for all the ordinary astronomical phenomena. His method of accounting for the differences of solar time is considered by him as his main proof; and his dissertation on the planet Mars is a hard blow at the theory of modern astronomers.
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The Flaming Sword · Vol. 11, No. 4 · Apr. 1897 · PDF pp. 16–21