Note: Translated by Lewis Mercier and Eleanor E. King,. This translation begins: "(Preliminary Chapter) During the year 186—, the whole world was greatly excited by a scientific experiment unprecedented in the annals of science. The members of the Gun Club, an circle of artillerymen formed at Baltimore after the American war, conceived the idea of putting themselves in communication with the moon—yes, with the moon,—by sending to her a projectile."