Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1860-03-23

The Theory OF the Earth.

Marlborough, some years ago published
Theory of the Earth.n He described its
outside ernst as being about fifty miles thicki
be stated also that its interior was filled with
brilliant and ethereal light. There have
been various opinions upon this. but not
much satisfactory information. We have had
some lectures lately in this city on the sub
jet of Geology, and as they lead the mind to
REJECTION they do good, no matter how far
they may be from the truth itself.
The opinions here offered are Of course only
those of speculation. like all that have gone
before, but it does seem to me strange, that
extraordinary phenomena should be called
in to account for things that little conside-
ration and thought would make plain.
The smallest insect that can be conceived
moves and exists under the same living prin-
ciple that man does. Though too minute for
the human eye, the vital action is kept up
precisely in the same manner, the flowers of
the field, the trees of the forest. all exist nm
der the same principle. Mr.. MILNE EDWARDS
and DIR. BRowN have demonstrated satisfacto-
rily that trees have pulsation, and that stones
should we make such grand e. ception with
the earth. The beautiful uniformity IN all
life cannot but have drawn the attention of
reflective minds. From the lowest insect to
the mightiest monarch of creation the vital
principle is the same. Open an artery in man,
and the blood of his body will run out and
cause death, just the same as girdling tree
stops the sap and causes that tree TO die
While we have all this experience before US,
why not apply it to the whole creation. What
has the earth done that she should not partic-
pate in this grand scheme of universal ac-
toni There have been propositions made
that the earth was huge animal, and mod
ern biologists tell us that at one time the
earth was a molten mass, and that millions
of years were required 10 cool it, that 1t is
not cool now, and that alter going a certain
depth water becomes warmer, q statement
which practical experience shows to be erro-
neous. 1t is not the intention here to enter
into any argument to prove the fallacy OF
any opinion expressed by all or any OF those
who have written on this subject, but to sug-
gest another theory that seems so simple and
plain, that he who runs may read. That the
ory is that the waters of the earth act on it
precisely in the same way that the blood does
on the human frame; that it is in point of
fact part and parcel OF the same nature, act
ing on the same principle with all the rest CT
creation. Let us look into the Gulf of Mex
leo. Here are the mouths of the Mississippi,
Al ,Loln
ing the gulf stream. That stream can be
traced from the Gulf along the Atlantic to
the Maelstroom. Let US reflect little on
this Maelstroom. a vortex of such extent that
vessels once coming within its influence are
lost; a body of water supplied by this gulf
stream particularly, but by others impercept-
ily, forever and might not be inaptly likened
to a funnel which, on small scale, exempli-
fies the maelstroom. The waters of the mael-
stroom go somewhere, and certainly into the
bowels of the earth. The constant and for
everlasting supply of water into this vortex,
through ages, would certainly at last nil 1t
up, unless there was some outlet for it. Where
is that outlet? Our mountain springs. all our
springs that never fail, no matter how hot
the sun or how dry the soil, they still come
oozing out and supplying first the branches,
then the creeks, then the rivers, returning
again into the same channels, and still form
ing their Mississippi, OrOnocO and Amazon.
But some tell US that all this water Is sup
piled by rain, which is caused bY evopora-
ton, sc. 1t il just in the same proportion
A. k,va in bQ
perspiraiion, but no more; and with this dii-
ference, that the evaporation of the rivers
descends again in the way of rain, combining
with other influences to keep up the circula-
ton necessary to the good health and the IN
tention of that providence vino has made ev-
cry thing so beautifully in unison, that from
the minutest insect to the earth itself, all
moves on the same grand and uniform prin-
cipIe. Biologists account agreeably to their
views for the manner in which they find the
different strata covering the surface of this
earth. They tell us about the sedementary
deposits, ard presume that after the earth
had cooled sufficiently to allow anything to
rest on it without being burned up, that the
lower grade of animals began to exist, and
they show it, and correctly so TOO, by the proof.
The fossils found in each particular stratum
clearly show the time of its formation in COM
parisOn with that OF other strata exhibiting a
different classification of fossilferous remains.
But how do we account for the lower silurian
being found on the tops of our highest noun
tains? How is il that Nashville is on the
all MI hat nj 4 har
or south, you get on a higher grade of sedi-
mentary Deposit We have here to refer to
the Bible, which settles to any rational mind,
the whole matter. The 7th chapter of Geue-
sis, verse 18th, says, 1.-THE same day were all
the fountains of the great deep broken up,
and the windows of heaven were opened" in
other words that there was CONFUSION on
or in the eSrth and water changed places;
that 10y its action every living soul was de-
stroyed. that the different strata Of rock were
thrown out of their original bed into their
present place. Thus we fad sea shells on the
tops Of our highest mountains. We all know
the power Of water. and can readily under
stand how this could have been Effected, and
why not give a rational Interpretation to cir
which philosophy, science, aud
intelligence clearly iay before Us. The fact
OF our hav ing volcanoes, earthquakes, metal
lie strata. &C.. do not at all affect this theoty;
they are but spots on the skin in comparison
TO the whole body. UNBRA.
VIRGINIA AND THE MERCHANTS TAx.-The
merchants and other citizens Of Richmond,