Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1851-03-14
sort o butter they use for cookin but DON'T
Ofall things do despise strong, frowy, rancid
butter; Tor pity sake have your butter fresh"
CONCLUDED NEXT WEEK.
The duration Of the Earth, as indicated bv
AStro10yny

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Astronomy.
The evidence which geology affords Of tn,
great antiquity of the earth, turns thought to The
evidence which astronomy furnishes ofits future
continuance, From the many striking resem.
dances between the bodies that compose the so
lar system, we infer for them common origin
and common destiny. The earth, then, viii
probably live while the system lives, and no Ion
ger. What its particular destiny may be and BY
what means brought about, we stop not here &c
inquire. Our only purpose now, is to consider
some limitations furnished us by the system il
SELF that is fashioned for a long duration. This
is indicated by the immense length of some oil
the periods involved in this system.
According to the commonly received chronol-
cgy the planet Neptune has had but SO of his
years since the creation of our race III the an
alogy between the earth and that planet holds
good, then the first generation Of his inhabitants
is hardly yet passed away. Some comets have
not yet had one year since the date of Adam
creation.
But there are periods of greater length still
The earth's PerIhelion is slowly creeping ground
the orbit from West to East, at rate which will
require / 900 years to complete the circuit
The periheion of Mercury is moving in a SINH
lar manner, at a rate which requires 100000
years 10 complete it. Other planets exhibit the
same movement. Now if all the planets in the
system were arraged aongin line on the same
side of the sun, and all in their periheia r. e.,
all in that portion Of their orbits set revolving ac
cording to the present laws of notion millions
of years must elapse ere all of them would
meet again under the sumo circumstances to hold
their family festival preparatory to another revo-
luton of the same length.
IL. -:
ly becoming circular and at it's present rate of
change, will become n perfect circle in about
half a million of years from this time. Then it
will begin to resume its eliptical form, becoming
more and more elliptical for some millions of
years when having attained the maximum of ell
lipticity, it into a circle. Corresponding with
this change Of the period of the moons reyol u
ton. Its period is now slowly shortening its
motion in revolution, of course increasing; and
this rate of increase is such as will make i: gain
a little more than its diameter in thousand years.
This shortening of her period and increase Of We
locity will continue until the earth's orbit be-
comes perfect circle and then she will slowly
reverse her movements and gradually return to
her former condition.
From the mutual attraction of Jupiter and
Saturn, their orbits are passing through similar
changes the orbit of the one becoming more
and more elliptical, while, from the same cause,
that Of the other becomes more and more cir
cuiar, in consequence of which motions, the pc
Rod of one is lengthening, while that Of the 9TH
er is shortening. This oscillation requires
more than 10000 years for its completion,
The Sun has what is called "proper notion"
i. e., the sun, with all his dependent household,
is sweeping through space at tho rate of 422,-
600 miles per day or nearly half its own dame
ter. 1t is supposed by some good astronomers
that all the stars have similar movement: all
revolving together in the plane of the milky
way, about some common centre that the orbit
described by our sun in this grand march is so
large, that this inconceivably rapid motion con-
tinued for years, forms practically straight line;
in other words, the orbit is so large that the arc
of it described since this motion was first OBJ
served, is so short in comparison with the whole
orbit, as to seem to be no arc at ALL At least,
no instruments are, as yet, accurate enough to de-
tect and measure its rate of deviation from
straight line Herschell intimates that the ele-
ments of this orbit may perhaps be determined
after 30 or 40 years, observation with the nj cest
Of course, many millions Of years
must pass, ere this vast circuit can be fully de-
scribed by the sun.
We grant there is some little conjecture at
IuCIl6O 10 llllS last
to any previous ones and yet it is so much in
keeping with those demonstrated facts, that it
can hardly be called improbable.
Although these periods are lncCnceiveably
long, still they are none the less periods. They
are as truly periods, if they were completed
in one day or one hour The fact that our life
is short in comparison and that we cannot in our
best estate, have any adequate conception of
;s Of 10 boip owls q.
ence than tits an objection to the length Of Nep-
tunes period that insects die after few hours
existence, and without any adequate conception
Of an hundred and sixty-four years exist
ence.
From the movement of the heavenly bodies
through certain part of their orbits or of their
oscillations, science determines with the great
es, exactness the fact that, after certain point
in departure is gained, the body will infallibly
return to it's former condition and place. On its
faithfully returning and thus neutralizing The
perturbations caused by its departure, the har-
mony and stability Of the whole system de-
pend.
Now mark the conclusion. For the same
good reason that we say the earth could not
have been made AMI set rotating merely to cause
fifty or hundred days, or was not set revolving
around the sun to canse only one or two years,
or perhaps only a small part OF one year-tor
these good reasons do we well say that these
unmeasured and almost unreasonable periods
were intended by the Creator TO be described,
gone through with and doubtless many times
repeated ere tho great chronome'er runs down.
Our ideas of the perfection of his workman
ship are shocked by any other conclusion. Our
minds refuse to admit the idea of period or an
orbit or an oscillation only partially completed.
In the language of professor Mitchell we say
"The entire system forms one grand compllca-
ted piece of celestial machinery circle within
circle, wheel within wheel, cycle within cycle
revolution so swift as to be completed in few
so slow that their mighty Pc
RODS are only counted by millions OF years
Are we - believe that the Divine Architect con-
structed this admirably adjusted system 10 wear
out and fall to ruins even before one single rev.
olu,on OF complex scheme OF wheels had been
performed At the end ofa vast period, amount
ing to many millions of years, the entire range
of fiuctuation will have been accomplished the
entire system, planets, orbits, inclinations, &C.
perihelia, and modes will have gain
ed their original values and places, and the
great bell of eternity will then sound-OSE y
Tornado and Earthquake at Malta-On the
9th January at the above island, there was expe
rienced terrific tornado, which aorse instanta-
l.. calm II lasted ftx-ap .,y