Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-02-13
Abundance Of Gsla Ia the lnserisr Of
RhA EaRfh


Somewhere in Dante's "Divine Com
edy," II we mistake not, occurs the ex-
preston, the golden core Of the world"
or course the poet uses the phrase in some
metaphorical sense, but the words do but
express the simple fact II the latest theory
respecting the constitution OF the interior
Of our globe be q true one. The theory
in question has just been enunciated BY
Mr.. John Calvin Moss, who laughs at the
current notion that the earth is a mass OF
LIQUID FIRE, covered with a cool crust some
thirty or so miles thick-a crust whose
thickness, as Sir William Armstrong re-
marked in his famous speech before the
British Association at Newcastle. "may
be fairly represented by the skin OF a
peach, taken in relation to the body Of the
fruit which it covers" The idea that the
interior Of our globe is a vast fiery ocean
doubtless arose." says Mr.. Moss, .from
the idea that heat was . material sub
stance, and would have to pass of into
space before the earth could cool ; whereas
the more modern researches OF science
show that heat is no more q material sub
stance than motion. gravitation or mag
netism, but that it is merely a condition
Of matter, and that, in the case in ques-
ton, instead Of passing Of from the earth
it would only become. by q gradual chemi-
cal action. fixed or latent. But even sup
posing that the cooling would, or did,
take place first at the surface, it is a we'll
known fact that all substances (water in
the state of ice alone ~excepted) increase in
density and weight as their heat is dimin.
ished, so that the cooler portions would
be the first to sink from the surface toward
the center. Is it not quite evident that
those substances most difficult Of fusion,
and possessing the greatest specific gravi.
", would. therefore. be the first to hnd
their way to the centers Now, gold,
platinum, and a few other of the precious
metals, possess these properties in a high
degree, above all other known substances;
and though We know them to be scarce on
the surface of the earth, we have no as
surance but that they are abundant in
nature a belief that the interior OF
the earth is a~bundantly supplied with.
il not mainly composed Of them." Mr..
Moss may be perfectly right in this belief,
but as the specific gravity Of the earth.
according to the highest estimate. that OF
Prof. Airy, is only 6:56-other estimates
have madeit3:95. 5:4S. respechvely-while
that Of gold is 1873, and that Of platinum
2l:5, it is at least certain that the greater
part of the bulk Of the world must be made
up Of substances lighter than those metals.
The average density, however, or those
rocks which are most abundant in as much
of the "crust" Of the earth as we are &C.
ouainted with does not exceed 2:5, and
so, il the average density of all the con-
stituents of the earth, other than those
heavy metals, is no higher than that, about
one-ffth Of the bulk Of the earth may be
composed OF gold and platinum. A globe
whose bulk should be one-ffth Of that Of
the earth must have q diameter equal to
more than half that Of the earth, 80 that
If four-ffths Of the bulk Of the earth con-
sist Of materials Of an average density of
2:5, and the other fifth, forming a globular
GORE" Of materials Of an average density
of 20 or So, the diameter Of this globular
core must be somewhere between four and
five thousand miles. Only to think OF q
globe Of that size, all Of gold, and to cal
culate how many sovereigns it would coin
into The man to do that would be the
author of that strange book, miranda"
in which we are told of periods of time OF
such enormous length that to write, in
figures Of which ten should 60 the inch.
the number Of years included in one OF
them. would require a line Of figures two
hundred thousand miles long. In fve-
pound notes. all spread out fiat. place one
the top of another, and pressed together
as closely as possible, a million sterling
would make q column nearly as high a.
the monument at London Bridge. In
gold, i, would 60 into abox measuring
two feet and o half every way and leave
room for a modest fortune besides. A
globe Of gold four thousand miles in diam
eter, il divided into ~ many equal por-
tons as there are men. women and chill.
dren on the face of the whole earth. would
yield for each individual a greater number
Of such boxes full than could be counted
in q long life-time.-Enginser.