Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-09-16

V4pcT, SIdIc NcOlOSlSG OF ILLINOIS,,
as recently Delivered series Of adj i
nirable lectures on his favorite science
We copy from the Genesee Republic
he flowing from his theory On the
'rigin and formation of the praires
Prof. WILDER adopts the theory that
1t one time-very far back in its his
;ory-this vast country formed por-
ion Of the bottom Of the ocean-that
through the eruptious caused by the in
ternal heat, together with the labor and
activity Of those master masons, the
coral insects, our continent was raised
to its present position above the waters.
10 prove this bold proposition, he re-
fers to the many indicia Of salt water
presence, the frequent occurrence Of
shells which legitimately only belong
to animals Of the seattle evidence fur
nished by the rocks of the labor Of the
zoophytes, unmistakable in its develop
ment ; the frequent discovery of tho
remains of monsters Of the sea deeply
imbedded in our limestone system, the
existence upon our surface Of huge
boulders, the former appendages of
polar shores, drifted far away to the
south west, imbedded in huge frames
of ice, and dropped down at length up
on the oceans bed, whence they arose
With our continent. The arguments if
not quite conclusive, arc eminently sug
gestive, and should open the eyes of
thinking men to the wondrous myster-
les buried deep in the earth upon which
we so familiarly tread. I
"The existence Of our prairi>s is &C
counted for in this wise. The result
of the drift SYSTEM was to give to this
part Of the country a soil Of unparal-
leled fertility, and arising from this,
were the very large grasses, which are
peculiar to this soil alone luxuriant
and undisturbed, they grew of great
height, and fairly wove the surface OF
the earth with q thick, almost impene-
trable covering matter. Being dry, how
easy for shaft Of lightning to send a
conaagration from one boundary of the
country to the other. The sproutine
twigs of sturdier growth would perish
by the frequent occurrence Of these fires,
and hence the treeless appearance Of
the West. 10 aid the idea, it is claim
ed that the Indians, when they did ar.
rive, which is supposed to have beer
long subsequent, burnt the prairie
grasses, to drive the game into more
circamscribed quarters, so that it nigh
fall an easier prey to their arrows, ane
to lessen the difficulty Of travelling"
THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT.-The vel
ocity with which light travels is so in.
conceivable that we require to make i
ineligible by some illustrations. 1
moves from the sun to the earth in sew
en- and q half minutes d cannon.
ball fired from the earth would require
seventeen years to reach the sun. Ligh
moves through space equal to the cir.
conference Of tle earth, or about 25,.
600 miles, II about the eighth part Of
a second, The swiftest bird would re.
quire three weeks to perform this jour.
ney. Light would demonstrably re.
quire five years to move from the near.
est fixed star to the earth, and proba-
bly, many thousand years from the mos
remote scar seen by the telescope
Hence, il a remote visible star haC
been created at the time of the crea-
ton of man, it may not yet have be-
come visible to our system.-Encyclo.
pedia Britannica.
How A RAIN CLOUD FoRMs.-Prof
Wise, describing his last balloon voy-
age, says:
: We plainly saw that the southeas,
wind below, which drove US to the
northwest at starting, had now sup
piled the atmosphere with moisture
enough to make growing rain cloud
Slowly, but interestingly the xapor
assumed a milky hue. Presently it
assumed the appearance of vascular
cloud then it spread out and bulged
down in the middle, and soon it had
the appearance of a great udder, with
the water oozing through it, but more
copiously at and round Its protuberant
center. 1t was an interesting phen-
omenon, and it seemed as though ma
ture was unbosoming her mammal to
give the earth some sustenance. l
have noticed these udders and water
spouts before.
Our Cool SUMMERS ACCOUNTED
FOR "A German saUant announces a
discovery which is an appalling one
for the great-great-g grand children of
the present generation. 1t is that the
distance between the earth and the sun
is yearly and constantly increasing.
He thus accounts for the cooler sum-
mers and more frequent intense cold
in winter Of late. Part Of his argu-
ment is based upon the presence of
animal and vegetable remains in the
Arctic circle, indicating that much
greater degree Of heat formerly pre-
vailed there. He also AYERS that the
traditions Of the Chinese and Egyp-
tians represent the sun as anciently
appearing twice as large as it now is,
and argues that in 5000 years more,
we shall only get one-eighth Of the
solar heat we now receive. Fortunately,
however, there is no danger that any
Of us will live long enough to get fro
zen thereby. rg
saT IF an acorn be suspended by a
piece of thread within half an inch of
the surface Of some water contained in