, 1870-09-25
OLD MOTHER EARTH.

OLD MOTHER EARTH |
Different Theories In Regard to Her
AUo-Esktmntcs yAryinx from D.
000,00OYOoo 10 100000, 600 TcnFs.
Fturl the Se.e York Ford.
Heo1ogisss are called upon 10 abate some OF 4
the pretensions they have set up for tho an
siquity Of the earth. They have induiged the
fancy that they had unlimited time behind I
theM- They hsve dfavu hard upon the infi-
nile to supply. the periods Of succession Of
their catastnqphes, 10 allow tho evolution Of |
Life and Of superficial chlnges. Mr. Darwin,
for iustance-and he ia comparatively ! mod
ethte man xmoug then-dem4nds three hum
dred millions Of years for the erosion Of the I
Mealden formation. And thia Is only one OF |
the score OF moro Of systems with which geo2- \
ogiats have to do. When Mr. Darwin has dis
posed Of hia score Of systsns, and has reach
bis retrospect, he claims that an equal time to |
that which he hAa accounted for shall be allow
ed to have elapsed eince life A1t began, In I
order that It might hare reached the stage of |
deyelopncnt which it presented then
long, period As Mr. Darwin'a estimate,
or about three thousand millions OF ysars,
mere correctly represents the dura-
tion OF the Neilden eroSion. Ridiculously
modest by the side Of these men Of treme,s-
PHILIPPE, Nho thinks that the AFFAIR Of the
Wealden might have been performed in
au0.GlU yearn. Darwin MD Jnkes have had
their day; mot found" is written aeainst
Their theories. nerised opinion goes to the
side OF Professor Phillips.
sir William Thompson struck h,rd blow at
tue cocrtine Of extreme duration il The work.
ing Of the earta's activities, when he. last
:,Ar. announced that the earth ranpot have
l'eeu iu condition to make life possible for a
.l.'uger period than 100, COZ, 900 Ct yca.s and
tuas The sun in its prestnt Fhape cannot have
thed Light as 1t does now fox more than TO-
tween ono hundred and i've huuired million
yea1s; and That the earth 1nust have been all
4 reti-hot fluid Bome time between 6fty and
three hundred mullen years ago,
Professor Huxley accepts the deduction
from Sir William Thonpson's postulate, and
adnts that the hundred million ycass afford
time enough for the evolution Of his pro-
toplasm through the series Of animal forms
from protozoa to man. Biology offers no re-
s,stAncc to the foreshortening Of the easth's
history, provided geology will allow that the
rocks mar hare been washed into mud and
dsiited up again, and ali ths animals that arc
embedded in the strata may have been GOV.
cred up during that time. Geology turns to
the nebul4r theory and the tidal theory, to
the spectrum analysis, to mathematics, and to
the other mesns Ut information that are in
reach. The result is an admission that the
rarth's Life may have been built up within the
| t.ne specified.
Mr. Alfred Russell Wallace has undertaken
| to compute the age Of the earth By \ calc1!A-
ton resting On more substantial basis than
mere estimates. He attempts TO learn from
ASTRONOMY when the glacial epoch took place.
From this baeis he has estimated leagth Of
tune sufficient for the deposition OF the other
geological 81 stems. bEicf enough to bring the
whole Of the recorded age Of animated exist
cnte within the hundred million yeacs, and at
tho rame time 1eaye tho margin Which Mr..
Darwin requires for his theory Of tic develop
nent Of LIFE previous to the cambFian epoch.
Astronomy teaches, a. ono may learn from
the nearest text book, good, bad, Or indider.
ent. that the eccentrcity Of the eatth's orbit
is continually shifting. being for one periot
| very great, ard for another ya1y small, anl
tbAt there is q procession Of the equino1es
" Ieasonings based upon these facts, it ha.
earth has been subjected to grea
nations of which have taken place at very Ion,
periods npAr1. There have been Thousand
Of years Of which the temperature was that o
glacial epoch, and other thousands Of year
Of normal Temperature, like that which it i
the privilege Of the present iuhabitAnta q
the earth to enjoy. Mr. Wallace hAs con
: structed scheme of the eccensricity Of th
earths orbit for the last three million years
. which be has representa- By very ag-zas
1 !!ue. 05 lls aatls<4oce ne LAS learned tia
there have been not less than twelve period
of great eecentticity dnnng that time. II
which there may have been Is many rs ift
pr sixty glacial epoehs in each hem,sphe1e
. Nost Of these epochs ara represented By I'll
presence Of comparatively barren strata, in
leElinlng the deposlts Of the tertiary patiod
! Tho number OF glacial epochs that have bee
: exceptionally violent, or hAye left marks q
! exceptional violence enduring to the presen
] tine. il limited. There waa one of exrem
a intensity and duration, and this was the on
: uew known to geologists ~ 0e glacial epoci
: Nj. Wal!sces frat effort ia to ascertain whe
/ that took place.
Sir Cna. lea Lye1l, Who believes that II,
e world has been ground out very slowly, assigr
+ the period OF high eceeutr7city, which Q.
= cured frrm ~, 60 to 950. 600 years ago, .
+ the period Of excessive glacial action. VI
J, Tety c!t selE. Indicates the period that pr
q vailed from SO,0G0 to 100, 900 years ago. VI
o Wallace concludes from his caicul1t;ous Ii,
Ill TINT has happened since the drift or glaci
:, epoch may LAvo been accomplished With
+ that time; more should have como to pass
r drift period terminated some g., 900 or 7o,0
years ago This computation leaves Knpj
It time foE the foundation Of the hills md Il
6 .illing up Of lhe vslleys; for the life Of IL
; quaItc1naty oxen and the besrs and elephant
4 Of the stone age men and Of the bronze n
It lake dWellers, and OF the men who have lc
; the kjoeckeumedd1ng, Of which and
70 whom the records are left in the post -dilu>t
| deposits,
It For the last sixty thousand years, aceordin
= to Nr. Wallace, the earth has enjoyed &C,
{ son Of slight eecentncity as to itA orbit. !
T. consequence the climate has been cquabls N
Q mild Species which depend upon chu11i
have not changed The alterations Of glaci
s tEocn. nov 1t ono pole now at the othe
/ NhIcl have occurred many times in the L.
:,WG 010 yea1s and in the 81. OK, 900 yas1s th,
o preceded them, 90 far to account fof tue va
. atios!s Of species and Of their distribution. {
Il Which the etFsh'a strata bear Witness The
% I.ay De held to have furnished great numb,
Il Of the catsst1o?hes that are demanded By ii
"eafastrolhist geologists to account #
The Ht st marked phenDmena. A moderai
: draft on volcanic fo1ce viii be sufacie,
= to provide for tie rest With this calcul.tio
!. Ct the date Of Tho ElaciA epoch - his basi
b Mr. Wallace has made IN estimAte Of the n
b Of each and al Of the previous great geolog
g cal epocls. Il ie not worth Wills to repeat
d .lnce it deals IN dg0rts and Names a excl
s:ve interest to tho learned. 1t reducea 8
)" Charles 1yells estimates to tenth, Il
lriDgs the beginning Of the CanbEian pesio,
Il IN witch are the nost ancinnt visible fossil =
!. mains. to date no further back than ~ ,oc0
's COO years By this Nr. Darwin is allowed II
Z equal time he demands for the evolution
t auIual life mp 10 the standard Of the Camhi,
fauna. and TIRES times ~ much, while d
It whole petiod Of the eArths development N,
n still be brought within the prnsSsitsd limit
t. 100, ,00o, 900 years
r Now comes the latest discoveries to sti
J. further confuse the theories Of this geologic
% period During the last yeas OF two, vesse
I'd Of the Rzltiah Government md vessels Of Il
Cuited States Government hive been engage
10 in examining the bottoms Of deep ee&a. E
b. perts in scientific manipulstiQu hsyo uensur,
,e the depth OF the water: they have tested Il
70 temperature Of the deepest spots thoy ha,
b drrdgtd the mud OF the extreme bottom. II
have examined it to see what it IL 1nsde Q
b The results OF their observations 20 to aho
F. that temperature, approaching that Of
r glacial epoch, and resembling 1t In liz eHec
t. upon aninAl Life, Is constantly prevailing
D. those subaqueous ptofunditiea. Though tie
to Is no ice, the thermometer dfscends to Il
T. freezing point OF fresh water, md below
to Evidences OF lite arc abundant under q pre
Do hure which il measured by tons 10 the sdus
re- inch, and, which il mora extreme than phv,
cista thouEhta few yrAB aeo could be suatsi
4 Cd by organized existence. But in tho absen
o. OF ice, Of gl2cierB, and OF drift rocks, /
be more violent features OF the glAcial period i
in Of eou1se not to be looked for.
g, An important bearing is given to the d
be coverles which are made in these inyestie
i'll lions by the charcter Of the ANIMALS Viii
ly- are found going into tho mud Of the prsse
Is ocean bottom A great many OF them are
ut species which were thought 70 hare lonx in
I'd ei1s Of the tertiary period; more arc ideutit
tn uith the Organisms which make mp the en-
Ii OF the cresaceons period, of the period Viii
ed lies Lack OF the diff, bAck Of the plioce
ut ard rniocene and eotene tertiary. l. ia
nd period which Mr.. Wallace COMPUTES to hs