A million's worth of property, and five hundred lives annually lost at
sea by the Theory of Gravitation. A letter on the true figure of the
earth, addressed to the Astronomer Royal, by Johannes von Gumpach.[242]
London, 1861, 8vo. (pp. 54).
The true figure and dimensions of the earth, in a letter addressed to
the Astronomer Royal. By Joh. von Gumpach. 2nd ed. entirely recast.
London, 1862, 8vo. (pp. 266).
Two issues of a letter published with two different title-pages, one
addressed to the Secretary of the Royal Society, the other to the
Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. It would seem that the
same letter is also issued with two other titles, addressed to the
British Association and the Royal Geographical Society. By Joh. von
Gumpach. London, 1862, 8vo.
Baby-Worlds. An essay on the nascent members of our solar household. By
Joh. von Gumpach. London, 1863, 8vo.
The earth, it appears, instead of being flattened, is elongated at the
poles: by ignorance of which the loss above mentioned occurs yearly. There
is, or is to be, a substitute for attraction and an "application hitherto
neglected, of a {138} recognized law of optics to the astronomical theory,
showing the true orbits of the heavenly bodies to be perfectly circular,
and their orbital motions to be perfectly uniform." all irregularities
being, I suppose, optical delusions. Mr. Von Gumpach is a learned man; what
else, time must show.