Sherry Chandler » Not Schrödinger’s Cat
Not Schrödinger’s Cat
A preparatory experiment, made on October 18, gave the best results and excited the most promising hopes. Barbican, desirous to ascertain the effect of the concussion occurring at the instant of the projectile’s departure, had a 32 inch mortar brought from Pensacola.
Into this harmless bombshell, which could be firmly closed by means of a screw fastened lid, they introduced first a large cat, then a very pretty squirrel belonging to Marston, who had made it quite a pet. The object of introducing the second animal was to ascertain how a living thing so slightly affected with vertigo as the squirrel, could endure the experimental trip.
The mortar was loaded with a charge of powder, the shell put in its place, and the piece fired off. The projectile shot up rapidly, describing its majestic parabola, reached a height of about a thousand feet, and then fell with a graceful curve into the midst of the waves. Without a moment’s delay, a boat started for the spot; skilful divers plunging into the water and fastening cords to the ears of the shell, it was soon hauled aboard.
Ardan, Barbican, Marston, and McNicholl were all in the boat, and you can easily comprehend with what interest they watched the experiment. Scarcely was the lid opened, when out jumped the cat, a little scared and towzled, but as lively as ever, and evidently not a particle the worse for her äerial flight.
But no squirrel made his appearance. They waited for him. They looked for him. They shook the shell, and turned it upside down. No squirrel. There was no mincing the matter. The cat had eaten her fellow traveler.
— from Jules Verne, From the Earth to the Moon
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