New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-04-05

r. N.,,r, ss.s ago " completely changed the order
o,.s:... ,sa ncased In ice the elephant Of Lena
,s,,eryite the hair, skip and the very hesh, from
s,,,ote ,sriod down 70 tho present day.
T,,. aue,tiou st puzzles the man OF science, "uu
- ;,c.n;ou. hypotheees have been ohereo "n1 ~
49, nv Cuyjer Buffyn, LsgIsce, slouren' anu ON
49,. Isnl.ee oppoeed the idea advanced oil snade'
..,..,,.nhe which destroyed these animals ana rem
80 GLACIAL the country which they inhabited ana
which ea,scyrm was caused by slight difference III
the axes ofths pos's and the equator
rloursps also denies this displacement, and man
,.;n that ,le change Of climate was gradas eoa do
termiaed by two causes, which are atltuoe anu h"-
uidty; that the elevation, the upheavng OF the lana
n the same time caused retreatng Oh the sea ano
S<tersned also fan in the temperature. ms ele-
Walton e Nor hsm Europe well demonSuaed oy
Leopold oe Buck.
z,pfon has given the following explanation TO tina
...e,t;on: "The cooling Of the globe commenced At
.,hs oes the extent Of earth being less considerable
At that region aud the accession Of the solar fss
.. amouptipg there to nearly nothing. The cocp q vi
.the equatorial part came later. II H. then, thesoe
"hieh ha. received the frst inhabitants Of the frth,
~tbose hinge animals whose remains we fnftst the
",,...nt dav ia Siberia. In what couStTy ~ the
10Th contn.1s he "have the FIRST terfe Ar al ant
pals been born IL it not probable taa = Is the
,,ds the mort elevated since they hsve beth cooled
"l.Sre the otlers IL it not equally probable that
~shose el.a,bnnts end other snrbss actuaV mhabit-
sro the repions Of the south have been born first OF
~nD and that they have occupied those lands OF the
suorth durisg many thousand year, an long before
"the birth Of the reindeer, who nov lnhabit tho'e
Same copatries Of the north. In that time the ee-
-.phant tse rhinocer0, the hppepotanus, ana pfoo-
.,ably all the species wneh only multiply IN the
.,oryid zone. lived and multiplied in the north, Of
s'vbch the heat at the proper degree and conve-
"pient to their nature They were there in great num-
"bers They lived there a long time. The quantity
ivory and other remains which have been and are
"dscovered every day in those septentronai regions
demonstrates evidently 10 us, that they have been
"the home, the brth-paces, and certainly the hrSt
''places that they have occupied"
One vouldbe inclined TO suppose from these facts
ard ths,c views that in process of time. all countries,
% the surface of the globe became cooled would in
evtably be rendered glacial and desoate; but there
are also facts which preclude the supposiion and 10
cline one to the belief that the portion of the world
hos not ALWAYS been the same and that s subject to
forces unknown and uncoDe ctured. On the fossier
Gus shores Of the Mediterranean are found the re-
mains of two species Of Logomys-anmals which
exist at the present day only in the high mountains OF
Siberia.
The question Of the gradual elevation above the
sea-leve is important one, and affords ground Tor
serious reflection. There in doubt that some lands
are being elevated and depressed but there
many which have not changed fingers breadth since
the early periods of Roman history. Stevenson, 10
his observations upon the bed Of the North Sea and
the Channel maintains that the shores OF those seas
have continually and very sensbly risen for three
centuries past. FOrls says the same of many coasts
&C the Adriatc. The altitude of Sweden If very
grest and the increasing difference OF level according
20 Lnreus amounts 10 four and FIVE feet year.
The altitude of North America is also great-grelter
perhaps than that of any quarter of the gobe and 1t
h reasonable suppose that the process Of elevation
still continues. The lower border of Maine, which
sbounds in tertiary terrans formed, at distant
period Of time the bed Of the ocean, the effects of
whose waves everywhere Wis Bile; and estuades
and cords Of late date may be traced in it's broad in
lentations and valleys whose upturned soil and en-
posed strata with their marine foess furnish abund
ant evidence. This elevation Of Maine does not
appear to be the result of sudden cataclysm but OF
the gradual effect OF unknown laws or forces
Many cities which were aourishing seaports at times
veil known in history are to-day far from its shores,
and some have been entirely ruined by the change OF
position SIpa was founded the border of the sea
by the ancient Greeks and in the time OF Strabo was
distant from the sea ninety stsda. AT the present
day solitary ruin is all that remains OF it's former
grandeur The forlorn old city Of Adria was once
lAved by the waters Of the Adriatc, to which l.
gave it's name, aud which IS more than six
leagues distant. This separation, by elevation and
the formation Of aluvions is well shown in the
researches Of NJ. de Peony. Venice with difficulty
keepe free the wide lagoOns which separate her
from the mainland; but in spite of all her efforts
the sea whose smiles gave her her old glory and her
still lingering wealth, is stealing away from her, and
few centuries hence will ponder in mystery those
beautiful lines Of Sanazsrius;
vderat Adriscis Venetian Neptunis in unds
Stare urben, ct toto ponsre juts mari
Objce, o Ns msBia Msrtis, ait;
Sinberm pel.go prsfers, urbem sdspice utrsnque
Ham bomines diess, hsne posusse Deos"
These observations Of ours have been prompted by
neer of London, who has lately published pamphlet
in which he seeks account for these changes of eli
mate by the changing position of the magnetic poles,
the magnetic variation decnation Of which is we'll
known. At the present time il amounts ia London TO
eJo west north while in 1859 the line of no variation
passed through England, and then moved gradually
west until 1916. Murray infers from some observa-
tons that the cold meridian which passes through
Canada and Siberia, may at time have passed
through Italy, and that if the magnetic meridian re-
turns, as 1t is doing, 20 its old lines in Europe,
Italy may experience a change, and Rome msy again
sec her TIber frozen.
Research for a solution Of these phenomena which
are 90 well sttestcd by existing records ' of once
hazardous and perplexing. While their existence is
indsputable the data requisite for their origin and
explanation lie perhaps far beyond the earliest times Of