Page:Meda - a tale of the future.djvu/231

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A TALE OF THE FUTURE.
227

see another set of blue silk threads that represent the east and west lines of force, also slightly diagonal. The north and south lines of force are produced, we believe, by what you call magnetism, and the east and west lines of force by some power that is generated by the earth's rotation,—some say it is electricity. Now, the second globe is taken to represent two thousand feet above the earth's surface, and you will notice that the lines of force instead of being nearly at right angles to one another, are at an angle slightly more acute. Then if we take the third and fourth balls, you will see that the greater distance we get from the earth's surface the more acute these lines of force get to one another.

"We have three great powers at our disposal for aerial navigation; first, we have the earth's attraction, which you will see, if it could be destroyed or modified, would allow us to ascend; then, we have what we call the red and blue lines of force. If we destroy or partially destroy the earth's attraction, we will