A Descent into the Maelström ( 1841 )

Note

There's a very good story in here somewhere, were an editor to accidentally step on it. If the quotation above is any indication, you might remember the early descriptions of the water as murky, as Poe stumbles over himself to give a reason as to why a seaman may know the names for solid shapes, and includes a helpful footnote to Archimedes, should the layman reader be so interested to brush up himself.

I made, also, three important observations. The first was, that, as a general rule, the larger the bodies were, the more rapid their descent — the second, that, between two masses of equal extent, the one spherical, and the other of any other shape, the superiority in speed of descent was with the sphere — the third, that, between two masses of equal size, the one cylindrical, and the other of any other shape, the cylinder was absorbed the more slowly. Since my escape, I have had several conversations on this subject with an old school-master of the district; and it was from him that I learned the use of the words ‘cylinder’ and ‘sphere.’