The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-10-20
The Moon q Dead Star.

THE Maine Journal Of Education has
translated an article from the Cosmos, in
which Stanislas Meunier gives some curl
GUS speculations with regard to the pres
ent physical condition Of the moon.
HIS theory is, and he has the support of
eminent astronomers like Beer, Moedler
and Arago, that the moon is dead star.
He draws this inference from singular
appearance upon the surface, which is
called grooves" by the physicists. These
grooves have parallel sides nearly mile
in width and from ten to one hundred
and twenty miles in length. There are
already ninety Of them, and it is supposed
that more are in process of formation.
Reasoning from analogy, we must believe
that at some period in the distant past
the moon had an atmosphere and water,
and also that on account of her inferior
size she had cooled much more quickly
than the earth. The water penetrating
| the crust has been absorbed as the de-
| crease Of internal heat increased the
| thickness Of the crust, until long before
| the cooling process had reached the CEN
tire, the water had disappeared. The
rocks then solidifying, as the heat supply
diminished, contracted in a manner re-
sembliDg the appearance of basalt, and
| produced the grooves into which the at
mosphere settled. Hence comes the cha
otto appearance Of the moon, with its
immense mountains, volcanoes, and era
tiers. Some astronomers have detected an
appearance of action in some of the vol
csnoes; but the general opinion is that
every vestige CT physical life has long
| since departed from the surface of our
satellite.
These theories are all very we'll when
applied to our distant neighbor, the
moon; but we cannot shut our eyes to
the startling fact that the earth is under.
going similar process of transformation
Biologists place close resemblance be-
tween the circles III the moon and the
circles OF granite and porphyry upon the
earth. they have also discovered evi
dences of fiue qualification among the
lunar mountains, while the volcanic for.
nations bear discernable analogy tc
those of Tenerifie and Palma.
According to the new theory, the fol
lowing is the process slowly taking place
on the earth's surface; for she, like hel
subordinate, is gradually cooling. 1t il
estimated that one-fiftieth of the origins,
ocean mas been already absorbed, and thai
when the crust of the earth has become
one hundred miles in thickness every drOI
of water VIII disappear. 1t is also esti
mated that the earth could easily Absorb
fifty oceans like those which now cover
large portion OF the surface. All the We
ter at present on the earth CONSTITUTES
only one twenty-fOur th0usandth part O
its weight, and once absorbed would be
come insensible to chemical analysis. TIL,
water bsing absorbed, the earth will crscl
open like the moon, and form simila
grooves into which the atmosphere viii
settle. Long before this era al life vii
have ceased.
Whether there is any truth in the mat
ter or not, we have no immediate cause o
alarm, for the process will not advsnc
! enough to give the slightest record in tn
short space Of a single life time. Accord
ing to the experiments of Bischof, it vii
take nine millions of years for the cart
to cool down fifteen degrees This loss
almost imperoeptiole, as the internal hea
adds only a thiTtietb of degree to tic
temperature of the surface-Prooidenc
| Journal.