Litchfield enquirer., 1835-08-27

llUCLlIy mexican Missionaries, to, whom Mr. Sillimap awarded high praise not only for their chris liam zeal. but for their attainments in science and literature. Science as well as christiani- Iy is under obligations to them for their de- vOtedness and enterprise.
 The cause Of volcanoes is internal fife.-l That it exists there is very satisfactory eyi. dence. There is gradual increase of heat as we, descend in;o the inferior of the earth. At two miles below the surface water will boil; at ten miles below rocks become red hot. | The friizen crust of the globe is supposed to be about fifty miles thick. We cannot be perfectly secure against the effects Of this fire. 'Fhe crust of the earth is liable at any lime t0 lie broken. Our security and, dependence is upon Him who made the world. who gave tO
 matter alt ifs laws, and who controls its won derful mnvemepfs. isa:7sf 4ssty v
 The sun is q bodyF0f fife, occasionally ex- hihiting dark spots on its sulface, MT. Silli- man suggested that those spots might be pro- duced by the formation If freezing crust
 like this that covers the gI"he. If .sti, the time may come when the sun shalhall bG frd-
 zrhaoNtr. and there slr,li he ao nore'light nor
 heat f0 cherr and warm the solar systern. .--<s
 For theyconselatinn of his audience. he said they would not be there when such an event
 should happen. agf sa& .Is,7Fa sao| I
 THIRD LEcruar-MAY 6.-Professor Silli-
 man resumed the subject of Volcanoes lie
 said volcanic mountains built themselves app
 hy the force of fire beowi them.s In an erup-1
 ton, they sometimes explode and sometimes
 collapses5 There are 30 principal yolcaaie enl-
 inences connected with Etna. He stated thai
 there are submarine volcanoes, which not
 withstandiDg the enormous pressure ot the
 sea, that is. on an average about i've mules
 deep. frequently rise above the surface. They
 are known by the boiling and agitation of the
 waters; by the rising of smoke, and the red
 hot stones thrown ent.3si In }181i as olcanic
 island arose near, the, Azores, and the captain
 of d British man. of war ly ing in that neigh
 borhood, took possession iof it in the name of
 his majesty, and planted a flag upon1its sum init, Not regarding the oath of allegiance, t soon afterwards sunk beneath ihe waters.
 Submarine volcanoes are frequent in the Greciari Archipelago. Aud there is good ev- idence 10 believe eruptions arc more nuil1er- 1 ous under the.sea fhan on the dry land, inas- much as the surface lDfahe water is far more e extensive than that of the land. adf slaa
 Itis computed by Lyell. celebrated wri- ! ter on this subject, that there are twenty yol- canic eruptons en the globe every yearr.-- The force created by the action of fire and water in the production of steam, Mr. Siili- man illustrated by boiling water in a tight vessel \ from which experiment it was easy to see that lie generation of large quantity of steam in the earth might he sufficient to tear asuuder mountains and throw out great masses of melted rocks Werner. the disfin- guished German geoiogist. inferred that vol canic fires were fed by coal. This theory the l Professor said was unworthy of the Feputa7 1 tion of Werner. V0lcanoes have no regard to coal formations; their eFuptions are in pla. ces where coal does not exist and besides { there are 10 mines extensive enough to yield ann,Jiadeaa -tr 'a fUa1offf,eror was snown that heat could he produced by cold sIbsian- ces. The emersion fizinc and copper-plates 1 into cold water comhined with a very small body of sulphuric acid. immediately created an intense heat. A similar arrangement on | an extensive scale may be in the interior of the earth and hence there may be the pro- duction of any quantity Of fire with steam and I gas and all concomitant matters. There are spouting fountains in Iceland, which must be ! owing to the action 0ff fire upon water in the earth. and to the elastic power of steam in overcoming the pressure of the atmosphere.E The production of gas by the burning of gun,l powder enables us to conceive in some meas ure of the mighty results that may and do take place from similar causes, which are be yond all human control. 9RaXf sssE
 Many volcanoes are known to have been burning for a long period oftime. StromboIil has been in d state of eruption for 20QO years Fire can easily be ereatedghy ga!vanic arrange ments, if primitive heat. or that existing whenl the earth was formed, be wanting. What isl remarkable in this galvanic influence, it elec-
 rifles all substances on which it operates; the supporters ofscombustion all go.to the posi-
 i've poles, and tlle cornbustibles to the nega- i've. Thus icolnbiistibles in the earth can be lrawn together, burned. and volcanic actionI produced. .a0g&4G 1SEiafEl a4# gtia1 gab
 The extent of such action MT. Silliman re- presented to be very great An.eruptiOn in celand darkened alt the northern part of Eu-d ope. and filled up valleys 6 miles in width.
 The slectnrer said that the Trap Rock had in intimate connexion with volcanoes; that it vas of n most Interestihg character, and fonnd] n abundance in New. England. "A range of t commences in Greenfield, ,in this state, and continues down to New Haven, Conn. It presents what are called mural fronts, of reg llar slope, from the vertex down to the rains, which generally lie in large masses below tiie columns. The form of this rock is prismat- c and its cracking sis vertical, s0 that the water enters .intoitlt, freezes. expands, and Ihos breaks down it's prison walls, It is dis linguished by great grandeur, and is supposed 10 have heen once melted. and therefore a production of internalfire. It is found in vol canoes, and seems sto he the substance witli!t which all volcanic prodnctions are united byf