ence had intervened between Godwin's tale and
that of Captain Samuel Brunt. The later voyage to the moon is no less
fantastic in its outlines than is the earlier, yet it shows clearly the
impact of science upon popular imagination. The imagination of man had
expanded with the expanding universe. Brunt takes care to indicate the
vast distance between the earth and the moon by subtle mathematical
suggestion. Although both travelers flew "with incredible swiftness,"
the eighteenth-century flyers found that it was "about a Month before
we came into the Attraction of the Moon." Brunt's account of the
preparation for the ascent into the orb of the moon is almost as careful
as a modern account of an ascent into the stratosphere. His bird flyers
lay their plans deliberately and upon the basis of the most recent
scientific discoveries. There is nothing fortuitous about their final
ascent. Brunt was clearly aware of the work of many scientists, notably
Boyle, upon the nature and rarefaction of the air. His flyers proceed
by slow stages, accustoming themselves gradually to the rarefied air,
assisting their respiration by the use of wet sponges. They learn by
experience the answer to the problems with which Godwin's mind had
played but which many later scientific writers had considered more
definitely: what is the nature of gravity; how far beyond the confines
of the earth does it extend; what would happen to man could he "pass the
Atmosphere"? The generation to which Captain Samuel Brunt belonged might
still delight in the fantastic; but like our own generation, it insisted
that fantasy must rest upon that which is at least scientifically
possible, if not probable.

_A Voyage to Cacklogallinia_ is republished today because of its appeal
to many readers. It offers something to the student of economic history;
something to the student of early science. It is one of several
little-known "voyages to the moon," of which the most famous are
those of Cyrano de Bergerac, a form of reading in which our ancestors
delighted and which deserve to be collected. But apart from having a
not-inconsiderable historical interest, it remains the kind of tale
which may be read at any time because it appeals to the fundamental love
of adventure in human beings. Its author was undoubtedly only one of
many men who, under the influence of Godwin, Swift, and others, could
weave a tale in an accepted pattern. Yet there are elements which
make it unique; and