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==Online Flat Earth Literature==
  
== Online Flat Earth Literature ==
+
===Earth Not a Globe===
 +
by [[Samuel Birley Rowbotham]], PhD.'''
  
'''Earth Not a Globe
+
Description: "An experimental inquiry into the true figure of the Earth, proving it a plane, without orbital or axial motion, and the only known material world; its true position in the universe, comparatively recent formation, present chemical condition, and approaching destruction by fire, etc. A treatise on Zetetic Astronomy."
by Samuel Birley Rowbotham, PhD.'''
 
  
An experimental inquiry into the true figure of the Earth, proving it a plane, without orbital or axial motion, and the only known material world; its true position in the universe, comparatively recent formation, present chemical condition, and approaching destruction by fire, etc. A treatise on Zetetic Astronomy.
+
*[[Earth Not a Globe]]
 +
*[http://library.tfes.org/library/samuel_rowbotham_-_zetetic_astronomy_1ed.pdf Original Pamphlet (1849) (16 Pages)]
 +
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=oTUDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage First Edition (1865) (225 Pages)]
 +
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za00.htm Second Edition (1881) (416 Pages)]
  
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=oTUDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage First Edition  (225 Pages)]
+
===Zetetic Cosmogony===
 +
by [[Thomas Winship]]'''
  
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/za/za00.htm Second Edition (416 Pages)]
+
Thomas Winship presents evidence demonstrating that the world is not a rotating-revolving globe, but a stationary plane circle. This in-depth study provides further supporting evidence for the work of Samuel Birley Rowbotham by way of test, trial, and experiment.
  
 +
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=GzkKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA#PPP9,M1 Second Edition (1899) (215 Pages)]
  
 +
===Kings Dethroned===
 +
by Gerrard Hickson
  
 +
Description: "A History of the Evolution of Astronomy from the Time of the Roman Empire Up to the Present Day; Showing it to be an Amazing Series of Blunders Founded Upon an Error Made in the Second Century B.C."
  
'''Zetetic Cosmogony
+
*[[Kings Dethroned]]
by Thomas Winship'''
 
  
Thomas Winship presents conclusive evidence demonstrating that the world is not a rotating-revolving globe, but a stationary plane circle. This in-depth study provides further supporting evidence for the work of Samuel Birley Rowbotham by way of test, trial, and experiment.
+
===One Hundred Proofs the Earth is Not a Globe===
 
+
by [[William Carpenter]]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=GzkKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA#PPP9,M1 Second Edition (215 Pages)]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
'''One Hundred Proofs the Earth is Not a Globe
 
by William Carpenter'''
 
  
 
William Carpenter (1830-1896) maintained that "There are rivers that flow for hundreds of miles towards the level of the sea without falling more than a few feet" notably, the Nile, which, in a thousand miles, falls but a foot. A level expanse of this extent is quite incompatible with the idea of the Earth's 'convexity.'" Carpenter also presents aeronautic testimony that even at the great observable heights no curvature of the earth is observed, and fits with the idea of a flat-earth, since it is the nature of level surfaces to rise to a level with the human eye.
 
William Carpenter (1830-1896) maintained that "There are rivers that flow for hundreds of miles towards the level of the sea without falling more than a few feet" notably, the Nile, which, in a thousand miles, falls but a foot. A level expanse of this extent is quite incompatible with the idea of the Earth's 'convexity.'" Carpenter also presents aeronautic testimony that even at the great observable heights no curvature of the earth is observed, and fits with the idea of a flat-earth, since it is the nature of level surfaces to rise to a level with the human eye.
  
*[http://www.geocities.com/lclane2/hundreda.html First Edition]
+
*[[A hundred proofs the Earth is not a globe| First Edition]]
  
 
+
===Article: $5000 for proving the earth is a globe===
 
 
 
 
'''Article: $5000 for proving the earth is a globe
 
 
by Modern Mechanics, Oct 1931'''
 
by Modern Mechanics, Oct 1931'''
  
Would you like to earn $5,000? If you can prove that the world is a sphere, floating in space, turning on its own axis, revolving around the sun, you can earn a prize of that amount. Such a prize has been posted for years, offered by Wilbur Glenn Voliva, general overseer of Zion, 111. Post and Gatty didn't fly around the world, according to Wilbur Glenn Voliva, they merely flew in a circle around the North Pole. This article presents Voliva's theory of a flat world, and tells you how you can win his offer of $5,000 for proving that he is wrong.
+
Description: "Would you like to earn $5,000? If you can prove that the world is a sphere, floating in space, turning on its own axis, revolving around the sun, you can earn a prize of that amount. Such a prize has been posted for years, offered by Wilbur Glenn Voliva, general overseer of Zion, 111. Post and Gatty didn't fly around the world, according to Wilbur Glenn Voliva, they merely flew in a circle around the North Pole. This article presents Voliva's theory of a flat world, and tells you how you can win his offer of $5,000 for proving that he is wrong."
 
 
[ed: $5000 is $65,000 adjusted for inflation]
 
 
 
*[http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/19/5000-for-proving-the-earth-is-a-globe/ Article link]
 
 
 
 
 
'''Movie: Flat Earth - Pantheon Movies
 
by Pantheon Movies'''
 
 
 
A short video produced by Pantheon Movies to illustrate the possibilities of a Flat Earth.
 
  
 +
[ed: $5,000 (1931) is $91,430 (2021) adjusted for inflation]
  
+
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120205001209/http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/05/19/5000-for-proving-the-earth-is-a-globe/ Modern Mechanics Article Link]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=872910379143364672&q=Flat+Earth+Society&total=70&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4 Google Video Link]
 
  
 +
===The Anti-Newtonian===
 +
by Author Unknown
  
 +
''The Anti-Newtonian'' is a Flat Earth work written in the early 1800's by an unknown author, which is believed to have been the basis for Earth Not a Globe. This model features three poles, as opposed to the later Flat Earth models which featured one or two poles.
  
----
+
*[[The Anti-Newtonian]]
  
 +
===The Plane Truth===
 +
by Robert Schadewald
  
 +
[http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/ebooks/PlaneTruth/pages/index.html Full Text Link]
  
 +
''The Plane Truth'' is a historical account of the Zetetic movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
  
 
== Offline Flat Earth Literature ==
 
== Offline Flat Earth Literature ==
 
 
'''Documentary: In Search of the Edge
 
by Scott Barrie'''
 
 
An Inquiry into the Shape of the Earth and the Disappearance of Andrea Barns. Humorous, thought-provoking, and at once both absurdest and matter of fact, it presents a carefully constructed argument from a definite, well-researched "flat-earth" point of view, while dismissing the "global earth" doctrine as little more than an elaborate hoax.
 
 
As seen on the Discovery Channel
 
 
 
 
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2602284039812956586&hl=en Google Video]
 
 
 
[ed: this film presents Leo Ferrari's model of the Flat Earth and does not necessarily reflect the model described on this site or in any of the published literature]
 
 
 
 
  
 
'''Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea
 
'''Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea
 
by Christine Garwood'''
 
by Christine Garwood'''
  
Contrary to popular belief, fostered in countless school classrooms the world over, Christopher Columbus did not discover that the world was round. The idea of the world as a sphere had been widely accepted in scientific, philosophical and even religious circles from as early as the fourth century bc. Bizarrely, it was not until the supposedly more rational nineteenth century that the notion that the world might actually be flat really took hold. Even more bizarrely, it persists to this day, despite Apollo missions and widely publicized pictures of the decidedly spherical earth from space. Based on a range of original sources, Garwood's history of flat-earth beliefs - from the Babylonians to the present day - raises issues central to the history and philosophy of science, its relationship with religion and the making of human knowledge about the natural world. "Flat Earth" is the first definitive study of one of history's most notorious and persistent ideas, and evokes all the intellectual, philosophical and spiritual turmoil of the modern age.
+
Contrary to popular belief, fostered in countless school classrooms the world over, Christopher Columbus did not discover that the world was round. The idea of the world as a sphere had been widely accepted in scientific, philosophical and even religious circles from as early as the fourth century B.C. Bizarrely, it was not until the supposedly more rational nineteenth century that the notion that the world might actually be flat really took hold. Even more bizarrely, it persists to this day, despite Apollo missions and widely publicized pictures of the decidedly spherical earth from space. Based on a range of original sources, Garwood's history of flat-earth beliefs - from the Babylonians to the present day - raises issues central to the history and philosophy of science, its relationship with religion and the making of human knowledge about the natural world. "Flat Earth" is the first definitive study of one of history's most notorious and persistent ideas, and evokes all the intellectual, philosophical and spiritual turmoil of the modern age.
  
 
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1a_JhB9VQMC&printsec=frontcover Limited Preview]
 
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1a_JhB9VQMC&printsec=frontcover Limited Preview]
 
----
 
  
 
== Citations/Peer Reviews ==
 
== Citations/Peer Reviews ==
  
  
A woman named [http://www.zetetic.co.uk/zetetic.html Lady Bount] was among the first to peer review Rowbotham's work:
+
A woman named [http://www.zetetic.co.uk/zetetic.html Lady Blount] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200625201314/http://www.zetetic.co.uk/zetetic.html Archive]) was among the first to peer review Rowbotham's work:
 
 
"The Old Bedford Level was the scene of further experiments over the years, until in 1904, photography was used to prove that the earth is flat. Lady Blount, a staunch believer in the zetetic method hired a photographer, Mr Cifton of Dallmeyer's who arrived at the Bedford Level with the firm's latest Photo-Telescopic camera. The apparatus was set up at one end of the clear six-mile length, while at the other end Lady Blount and some scientific gentlemen hung a large, white calico sheet over the Bedford bridge so that the bottom of it was near the water. Mr Clifton, lying down near Welney bridge with his camera lens two feet above the water level, observed by telescope the hanging of the sheet, and found that he could see the whole of it down to the bottom. This surprised him, for he was an orthodox globularist and round-earth theory said that over a distance of six miles the bottom of the sheet should bemore than 20 feet below his line of sight. His photograph showed not only the entire sheet but its reflection in the water below. That was certified in his report to Lady Blount, which concluded: "I should not like to abandon the globular theory off-hand, but, as far as this particular test is concerned, I am prepared to maintain that (unless rays of light will travel in a curved path) these six miles of water present a level surface."
 
 
 
Mrs. Peach recently found a reference of photographic evidence from The English Mechanic, a scientific journal:
 
 
 
"The Flat Earth: another Bedford Canal experiment" (Bernard H.Watson, et al),
 
ENGLISH MECHANIC, 80:160, 1904
 
 
 
Bedford Canal, England. A repeat of the 1870 experiment.
 
"A train of empty turf-boats had just entered the Canal from the river Ouse, and
 
was about proceeding to Ramsey. I arranged with the captain to place the shallowest
 
boat last in the train, and to take me on to Welney Bridge, a distance of six
 
miles. A good telescope was then fixed on the lowest part of the stern of the last
 
boat. The sluice gate of the Old Bedford Bridge was 5ft. 8in. high, the turf-boat
 
moored there was 2ft. 6in. high, and the notice board was 6ft. 6in. from the water.
 
The sun was shining strongly upon them in the direction of the south-southwest; the
 
air was exceedingly still and clear, and the surface of the water smooth as a
 
molten mirror, so that everything was favourable for observation. At 1.15 p.m. the
 
train started for Welney. As the boats gradually receded, the sluice gate, the
 
turf-boat and the notice board continued to be visible to the naked eye for about
 
four miles. When the sluice gate and the turf-boat (being of a dark colour) became
 
somewhat indistinct, the notice board (which was white) was still plainly visible,
 
and remained so to the end of six miles. But on looking through the telescope all
 
the objects were distinctly visible throughout the whole distance. On reaching
 
Welney Bridge I made very careful and repeated observations, and finding several
 
men upon the banks of the canal, I called them to look through the telescope. They
 
all saw distinctly the white notice board, the sluice gate, and the black turf-boat
 
moored near them.
 
 
 
Now, as the telescope was 18in. above the water, The line of sight would touch the
 
horizon at one mile and a half away (if the surface were convex). The curvature of
 
the remaining four miles and a half would be 13ft. 6in. Hence the turf-boat should
 
have been 11ft., the top of the sluice gate 7ft. 10in., and the bottom of the
 
notice board 7ft. below the horizon.
 
 
 
My recent experiment affords undeniable proof of the Earth's unglobularity, because
 
it rests not on transitory vision; but my proof remains printed on the negative of
 
the photograph which Mr.Clifton took for me, and in my presence, on behalf of
 
J.H.Dallmeyer, Ltd.
 
A photograph can not 'imagine' nor lie!".
 
 
 
----
 
 
 
 
 
The Terrestrial Plane
 
by Frederick H. Cook
 
 
 
Universal Gravitation a Universal Fake
 
by Charles S. DeFord
 
 
 
Does the earth rotate?
 
by William Edgell
 
 
 
Earth not a globe: scientifically, geometrically, philosophically demonstrated
 
by Henry J. Goudey
 
 
 
The book of light
 
by Gilbert Johnson
 
 
 
Unpopular truth against popular error in reference to the shape of the earth
 
by Charles W. Morse
 
 
 
A challenge from the earth-flattening society
 
by Richard A. Proctor
 
 
 
The Earth: A Plane
 
by John E. Quinlan
 
 
 
He knew earth is round, but his proof fell flat
 
by Robert J Schadewald
 
 
 
The view from the edge; on the necessity of a Flat Earth
 
by John P. Sisk
 
 
 
Is the earth a whirling globe?
 
by Carl Albert Smith
 
 
 
Answers to the common 'proofs' that the earth is a globe
 
by Chester M. Shippey
 
 
 
In defense of the square peg
 
by Irving Wallace
 
 
 
The shape of the earth; some proofs for the spherical shape of the earth given in astronomical and geographical text-books examined, and shown to be unsound
 
by Arthur V. White
 
 
 
The Flat Earth and her moulder
 
by Ossipoff H. Woofson
 
 
 
Flat Earth News Quarterly (back issues)
 
by Charles K Johnson
 
 
 
Theoretical Astronomy Examined and Exposed
 
by William Carpenter
 
 
 
Unpopular truth against popular error in reference to the shape of the earth
 
by Charles W. Morse
 
  
Proofs (so-called) of the world's rotundity, examined in the light of facts and common sense
+
{{cite|The Old Bedford Level was the scene of further experiments over the years, until in 1904, photography was used to prove that the earth is flat. Lady Blount, a staunch believer in the zetetic method hired a photographer, Mr Clifton of Dallmeyer's who arrived at the Bedford Level with the firm's latest Photo-Telescopic camera. The apparatus was set up at one end of the clear six-mile length, while at the other end Lady Blount and some scientific gentlemen hung a large, white calico sheet over the Bedford bridge so that the bottom of it was near the water. Mr Clifton, lying down near Welney bridge with his camera lens two feet above the water level, observed by telescope the hanging of the sheet, and found that he could see the whole of it down to the bottom. This surprised him, for he was an orthodox globularist and round-earth theory said that over a distance of six miles the bottom of the sheet should be more than 20 feet below his line of sight. His photograph showed not only the entire sheet but its reflection in the water below. That was certified in his report to Lady Blount, which concluded: "I should not like to abandon the globular theory off-hand, but, as far as this particular test is concerned, I am prepared to maintain that (unless rays of light will travel in a curved path) these six miles of water present a level surface.}}
by the London Zetetic Society
 
  
Water, not Convex: the Earth not a Globe! Demonstrated by Alfred R. Wallace ... by experiments conducted on the Old Bedford Canal, near Downham Market, Norfolk, etc
+
Mrs. Peach recently found a reference of photographic evidence from ''The English Mechanic'':
by William Carpenter and Alfred Wallace
 
  
The Secrets of Nature Exhumed
+
'''The Flat Earth: another Bedford Canal experiment" (Bernard H.Watson, et al)'''<br>
by Lady "Zeteo" Blount
+
'''ENGLISH MECHANIC, 80:160, 1904'''
  
The Sea-Earth Globe and its Monstrous Hypothetical Motions
+
''Bedford Canal, England. A repeat of the 1870 experiment.''
by "Zetetes" (real name unknown)
 
  
The Earth (backissues)
+
{{cite|A train of empty turf-boats had just entered the Canal from the river Ouse, and was about proceeding to Ramsey. I arranged with the captain to place the shallowest boat last in the train, and to take me on to Welney Bridge, a distance of six miles. A good telescope was then fixed on the lowest part of the stern of the last boat. The sluice gate of the Old Bedford Bridge was 5ft. 8in. high, the turf-boat moored there was 2ft. 6in. high, and the notice board was 6ft. 6in. from the water. The sun was shining strongly upon them in the direction of the south-southwest; the air was exceedingly still and clear, and the surface of the water smooth as a molten mirror, so that everything was favourable for observation. At 1.15 p.m. the train started for Welney. As the boats gradually receded, the sluice gate, the turf-boat and the notice board continued to be visible to the naked eye for about four miles. When the sluice gate and the turf-boat (being of a dark colour) became somewhat indistinct, the notice board (which was white) was still plainly visible, and remained so to the end of six miles. But on looking through the telescope all the objects were distinctly visible throughout the whole distance. On reaching Welney Bridge I made very careful and repeated observations, and finding several men upon the banks of the canal, I called them to look through the telescope. They all saw distinctly the white notice board, the sluice gate, and the black turf-boat moored near them.
by Lady "Zeteo" Blount
 
  
Truth - The Earth is Flat
+
Now, as the telescope was 18in. above the water, The line of sight would touch the horizon at one mile and a half away (if the surface were convex). The curvature of the remaining four miles and a half would be 13ft. 6in. Hence the turf-boat should have been 11ft., the top of the sluice gate 7ft. 10in., and the bottom of the notice board 7ft. below the horizon.
by Albert Smith
 
  
Is Newtonian Astronomy True?
+
My recent experiment affords undeniable proof of the Earth's unglobularity, because it rests not on transitory vision; but my proof remains printed on the negative of the photograph which Mr.Clifton took for me, and in my presence, on behalf of J.H.Dallmeyer, Ltd. A photograph can not 'imagine' nor lie!}}
Author Unknown
 
  
Sight Limitations
+
==See Also==
by S. G. Fowler
 
  
Zetetic Astronomy, Or the Sun's Motions North and South, with the Moon's Motions, Fancied and Real: Showing the Uselessness of the Gravitation Theory, Etc.
+
:*[https://www.tfes.org/library.php The Flat Earth Library — tfes.org]
by Lady Blount (Elizabeth Anne Mould) and Zetetic astronomer Albert Smith
+
:*[https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/SciRefGuides/flatearth.html The Flat Earth and its Advocates: A List of References — Library of Congress]
  
The Zetetic, a monthly journal of cosmological science.
+
[[Category:Literature]]
by Brough, B.C., and 'Parallax' (pseud. Goulden, S.) Editors (London 182-1873)
 

Latest revision as of 17:23, 15 October 2022

Online Flat Earth Literature

Earth Not a Globe

by Samuel Birley Rowbotham, PhD.

Description: "An experimental inquiry into the true figure of the Earth, proving it a plane, without orbital or axial motion, and the only known material world; its true position in the universe, comparatively recent formation, present chemical condition, and approaching destruction by fire, etc. A treatise on Zetetic Astronomy."

Zetetic Cosmogony

by Thomas Winship

Thomas Winship presents evidence demonstrating that the world is not a rotating-revolving globe, but a stationary plane circle. This in-depth study provides further supporting evidence for the work of Samuel Birley Rowbotham by way of test, trial, and experiment.

Kings Dethroned

by Gerrard Hickson

Description: "A History of the Evolution of Astronomy from the Time of the Roman Empire Up to the Present Day; Showing it to be an Amazing Series of Blunders Founded Upon an Error Made in the Second Century B.C."

One Hundred Proofs the Earth is Not a Globe

by William Carpenter

William Carpenter (1830-1896) maintained that "There are rivers that flow for hundreds of miles towards the level of the sea without falling more than a few feet" notably, the Nile, which, in a thousand miles, falls but a foot. A level expanse of this extent is quite incompatible with the idea of the Earth's 'convexity.'" Carpenter also presents aeronautic testimony that even at the great observable heights no curvature of the earth is observed, and fits with the idea of a flat-earth, since it is the nature of level surfaces to rise to a level with the human eye.

Article: $5000 for proving the earth is a globe

by Modern Mechanics, Oct 1931

Description: "Would you like to earn $5,000? If you can prove that the world is a sphere, floating in space, turning on its own axis, revolving around the sun, you can earn a prize of that amount. Such a prize has been posted for years, offered by Wilbur Glenn Voliva, general overseer of Zion, 111. Post and Gatty didn't fly around the world, according to Wilbur Glenn Voliva, they merely flew in a circle around the North Pole. This article presents Voliva's theory of a flat world, and tells you how you can win his offer of $5,000 for proving that he is wrong."

[ed: $5,000 (1931) is $91,430 (2021) adjusted for inflation]

The Anti-Newtonian

by Author Unknown

The Anti-Newtonian is a Flat Earth work written in the early 1800's by an unknown author, which is believed to have been the basis for Earth Not a Globe. This model features three poles, as opposed to the later Flat Earth models which featured one or two poles.

The Plane Truth

by Robert Schadewald

Full Text Link

The Plane Truth is a historical account of the Zetetic movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Offline Flat Earth Literature

Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea by Christine Garwood

Contrary to popular belief, fostered in countless school classrooms the world over, Christopher Columbus did not discover that the world was round. The idea of the world as a sphere had been widely accepted in scientific, philosophical and even religious circles from as early as the fourth century B.C. Bizarrely, it was not until the supposedly more rational nineteenth century that the notion that the world might actually be flat really took hold. Even more bizarrely, it persists to this day, despite Apollo missions and widely publicized pictures of the decidedly spherical earth from space. Based on a range of original sources, Garwood's history of flat-earth beliefs - from the Babylonians to the present day - raises issues central to the history and philosophy of science, its relationship with religion and the making of human knowledge about the natural world. "Flat Earth" is the first definitive study of one of history's most notorious and persistent ideas, and evokes all the intellectual, philosophical and spiritual turmoil of the modern age.

Citations/Peer Reviews

A woman named Lady Blount (Archive) was among the first to peer review Rowbotham's work:

  “ The Old Bedford Level was the scene of further experiments over the years, until in 1904, photography was used to prove that the earth is flat. Lady Blount, a staunch believer in the zetetic method hired a photographer, Mr Clifton of Dallmeyer's who arrived at the Bedford Level with the firm's latest Photo-Telescopic camera. The apparatus was set up at one end of the clear six-mile length, while at the other end Lady Blount and some scientific gentlemen hung a large, white calico sheet over the Bedford bridge so that the bottom of it was near the water. Mr Clifton, lying down near Welney bridge with his camera lens two feet above the water level, observed by telescope the hanging of the sheet, and found that he could see the whole of it down to the bottom. This surprised him, for he was an orthodox globularist and round-earth theory said that over a distance of six miles the bottom of the sheet should be more than 20 feet below his line of sight. His photograph showed not only the entire sheet but its reflection in the water below. That was certified in his report to Lady Blount, which concluded: "I should not like to abandon the globular theory off-hand, but, as far as this particular test is concerned, I am prepared to maintain that (unless rays of light will travel in a curved path) these six miles of water present a level surface. ”

Mrs. Peach recently found a reference of photographic evidence from The English Mechanic:

The Flat Earth: another Bedford Canal experiment" (Bernard H.Watson, et al)
ENGLISH MECHANIC, 80:160, 1904

Bedford Canal, England. A repeat of the 1870 experiment.

  “ A train of empty turf-boats had just entered the Canal from the river Ouse, and was about proceeding to Ramsey. I arranged with the captain to place the shallowest boat last in the train, and to take me on to Welney Bridge, a distance of six miles. A good telescope was then fixed on the lowest part of the stern of the last boat. The sluice gate of the Old Bedford Bridge was 5ft. 8in. high, the turf-boat moored there was 2ft. 6in. high, and the notice board was 6ft. 6in. from the water. The sun was shining strongly upon them in the direction of the south-southwest; the air was exceedingly still and clear, and the surface of the water smooth as a molten mirror, so that everything was favourable for observation. At 1.15 p.m. the train started for Welney. As the boats gradually receded, the sluice gate, the turf-boat and the notice board continued to be visible to the naked eye for about four miles. When the sluice gate and the turf-boat (being of a dark colour) became somewhat indistinct, the notice board (which was white) was still plainly visible, and remained so to the end of six miles. But on looking through the telescope all the objects were distinctly visible throughout the whole distance. On reaching Welney Bridge I made very careful and repeated observations, and finding several men upon the banks of the canal, I called them to look through the telescope. They all saw distinctly the white notice board, the sluice gate, and the black turf-boat moored near them.

Now, as the telescope was 18in. above the water, The line of sight would touch the horizon at one mile and a half away (if the surface were convex). The curvature of the remaining four miles and a half would be 13ft. 6in. Hence the turf-boat should have been 11ft., the top of the sluice gate 7ft. 10in., and the bottom of the notice board 7ft. below the horizon.

My recent experiment affords undeniable proof of the Earth's unglobularity, because it rests not on transitory vision; but my proof remains printed on the negative of the photograph which Mr.Clifton took for me, and in my presence, on behalf of J.H.Dallmeyer, Ltd. A photograph can not 'imagine' nor lie! ”

See Also