“Well, then,” said the professor, “I must remind you. Taking the attraction on the earth as 1, that on Mercury is 1.15, on Venus it is 0.92, on Mars 0.5, and on Jupiter 2.45; on the moon the attraction is 0.16, whilst on the surface of the sun a terrestrial kilogramme would weigh 28 kilogrammes.” “Therefore, if a man upon the surface of the sun were to fall down, he would have considerable difficulty in getting up again. A cannon ball, too, would only fly a few yards,” said Lieutenant Procope. “A jolly battle-field for cowards!” exclaimed Ben Zoof. “Not so jolly, Ben Zoof, as you fancy,” said his master; “the cowards would be too heavy to run away.” Ben Zoof ventured the remark that, as the smallness of Gallia secured to its inhabitants such an increase of strength and agility, he was almost sorry that it had not been a little smaller still. “Though it could not anyhow have been very much smaller,” he added, looking slyly at the professor. “Idiot!” exclaimed Rosette. “Your head is too light already; a puff of wind would blow it away.” “I must take care of my head, then, and hold it on,” replied the irrepressible orderly. Unable to get the last word, the professor was about to retire, when Servadac detained him. “Permit me to ask you one more question,” he said. “Can you tell me what is the nature of the soil of Gallia?” “Yes, I can answer that. And in this matter I do not think your impertinent orderly will venture to put Montmartre into the comparison. This soil is of a substance not unknown upon the earth.” And speaking very slowly, the professor said: “It contains 70 per cent. of tellurium, and 30 per cent. of gold.” Servadac uttered an exclamation of surprise. “And the sum of the specific gravities of these two substances is 10, precisely the number that represents Gallia’s density.” “A comet of gold!” ejaculated the captain. “Yes; a realization of what the illustrious Maupertuis has already deemed probable,” replied the astronomer. “If Gallia, then, should ever become attached to the earth, might it not bring about an important revolution in all monetary affairs?” inquired the count. “No doubt about it!” said Rosette, with manifest satisfaction. “It would supply the world with about 246,000 trillions of francs.” “It would make gold about as cheap as dirt, I suppose,” said Servadac. The last observation, however, was entirely lost upon the professor, who had left the hall with an air almost majestic, and was already on his way to the observatory. “And what, I wonder, is the use of all these big figures?” said Ben Zoof to his master, when next day they were alone together. “That’s just the charm of them, my good fellow,” was the captain’s cool reply, “that they are of no use whatever.” CHAPTER VIII. JUPITER SOMEWHAT CLOSE