Wheeling compiler. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [i.e. W. Va.]) 1829-1831, 1830-06-16


placed by force at once competent, and
natural. He furthermore believes, that as
the globe is round, il might turn in any
sense He finds no difficulty in believing
the tradition, which HerodOtus heard from
the priests ofEgypt, that the sun rose twice
in the west; nor those Chinese annals,
which assure us that the sun was seen IF
~ successive days without setting in tho
west. whence followed a universal deluge.
This supposes that the earth had then
chanqed her poles, md instead of turning
upon her equator, from west to east, she
turned on one of the neridlans, from North
to South. The two poles now being di-
recdy influenced by the solar heat. the O.
ceans of ice which had enyelopcd them
for ages, had dlsso1ed.
The glacial oceahis then the primitive
sea- Hence IS 6oived hy the action Of
the sun, and Of the atmosphere, the fluid
ocean, the Aerial ocean. and lsstly the
Subterranean sea--in all four
The first as we have Just seen IS PLACED
upon the poles of the earth, and is DIVIDED
into two seas, which by their alternate dis
solution and congelation, give by turns the
seasons, as they are attracted or recede
respectively from the sun.
This ocean is the mother Of the seas.
There are parts of It dispersed In consId.
cradle masses upon the mountain heights,
as upon the Cordlleras, the Alps, Taurus
and many oihers.-These are the sources
of the streams and rivers, that irrigate the
continents.
The liquid ocean surrounds the earth,
aud is nearly twice as large. Although
salt, it nourishes an infnity Of animals and
plants. 1t continually diminishes, as We
shall perceive.
The Aeriel ocean. although the least
palpable, appears the most extensive. To
it, we must refer all those clouds that ira,
verse the atmosphere, and not only the
daily reparation of the glacial ocean, and
of the ices which cover the mountain sum-
mits, but the sustenance Of rivulets and
rivers. which rrigate the forests and prai-
rles, the lands cultivated by the hand Of
man, and in short, the entire globe.
The clouds which wander through the
atmosphere, the snow and rain which they
pour out upon the earth, suffice not to give
even a feeble conception ofiis extent.
The most transparent portion of the at-
mosphere, is at all times filled with It's hu-
nudity We have seen summers, serene
aud hot. during which not a drop Of RAIN
has fallen, yet the trees of the forest was
full of vIgor. the elms planted along the
highways were covered with verdure; thoA
each Of these trees consumed, in twenty
four hours, more than a hundred measures
OF water These leaves as we have been
assured by academical memoirs, pumped
this quantit. OF duid in a cloudless atmos,
phere.
Ii is to the Aerial ocean, that we must at
tribute the origin Of dew, which does not
always fall from the heavens as we FOR.
merly believed, but springs also from the
earth, as experience has proved. IL pOurs
out. at night, humidity and dews upon the
western parts Of the globe, and rendering
them heavier, forces the earth TO turn them
towards the sun, whilst at the same time,
the eastern portion being lighter by hls ac-
ton, and consequently less attracted, must
recede.
The fourth ocean IS the subterranean.
4 portion ofthe effects Of the Aerial ocean
might be attributed to II; but we know llt'
tie more than the fact Of ITS existence.
How can it extend its viyifying succour
to vegetables, heaped round with rocks,
and in the midst Of quarrIesl-Neverthe-
less have seen many trees grow IN the
bosom Of the hardest rocks. Who has
not witnessed, with astonlshment, during
the most parching heats of summer, tufts
Of otori(erous flowers, full Of freshness
browning our walks7--lt appears to me,
more probable. that these plants pump the
ar Of its humidity By their leaves. than
that ther roots imblbe il from a pebbly
wall. However, every thing proves That
a subterranean ocean exists; our "eiiS are
a papable evidence Of the fact and Il IS
probable. that earthquakes are attributable
20 The same source
Nav NOT a remedy, for these terrible
ahenomena, be found IN extensive excava-
tionl
Man seems placed upon this earth to Co
o,erale. not IA the formation of works
Inch embellish 1t, but TO assist 10 their
preservation.
The more important appertain to the
proprietor, that is 10 say, to the Creator.
He has reserved to man. his temporary
tenant, the minor repairs.
ITO be coutinued.l
The New York Daily Advertiser states
that aAir. McLANE, our Minister at Lon.
-. 90. ,,5riffsa r,rivafo Letters IN hig friends