Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1870-06-29
For the Clearaeld Republican.
OUR PLANET, AND ITS INTER
NAL STRUCTURE.

Inc most simple OF sclentlnc iacu
are those least understood by the gen
erality of readers, and the best attest
ed and most carefully developed o
modern truths are those that receive
the calumny of men welded TO preiu
dices they cannot defend, and deceived
by errors they do not understand.
1t is a melancholy fact, that meu
whose names now, are emblazoned in
the galaxy of fame, the beautiful scin.
tilations of whose genius, flashing like
summers lightning in the troubled
sky Of science, light the weary pale.
faced student amid the thorny paths,
where lie the pearls of hidden nature,
were men whom cotemporaneous pub
lie opinion had doomed to life OF
woe. Harvey to whom we owe un-
appreciated debts of gratitude, for his
unparalleled discovery OF the circu
latory system; Davy to whom Eng
land owes the past and present pros
perity of her mineral wealth; Wash
ington, even our own Washington,
who made every sacrifice for our
country's good, had to contend with
the tides of popular feeling, and each
had to struggle with the consoling
hope that futuriiy would do justice
to bis memory.
Such opposition likewise do some
facts of modern science meet with at
the hands of those who do not under
stand them; as the formation Of the
earth, the relative age Of successive
strata, the form, size, and habits of
the fierce batrachians, huge birds, and
mighty mammoths, that roamed sole
monarchs Of an uninhabiled world.
To the same scale of disputed facts, is
referred the well attested geological
principles, that the interior OF our
earth is a molten mass Of fiery liquid,
where tho hardest substances
"seethe and boil as pot"
The cye of the experienced geologist
easily detects the igneous agency OF
other days, in the numerous upheavals
whose Jagged edges project from our
mountain sides. Besides the assorli.
vus of scientific men, we have not only
palpable evidence, but irrefragable
proofs of the earths internal heat.
/ 1t is observed that the influence Of
the solar rays cease after the first
hundred feet from the surface, but on
entering mines below that depth, the
temperature increases about ten Fab,
for every sixty or seventy feet. Even
at this increase a point would be
attained at no very great depth
where it would be impossible for the
hardest rocks and metals to Withstand
the excessive heat.
The question then propounds itself
does this heat continue TO increase
may it not be owing to local causes
And before great depths were reached
might not heat be entirely suspended
To the first we might reply, that in
all parts of the world and in every
kind Of rock through which mines
pass, the same phenomena has beer
observed.
As to the second, we can unbcsita
tingly reply that from the most care
ful observations of men, who visited
certain wells in different parts of tn,
world, the above rule is verified. The
water from the well of Grenele a
Paris, rising from the depth of ls0O
foot has n constant temperature .
$50 Fab. whilst the thermal record 0
the city shows q mean tcmperatur,
Of 53o Fab. This shows an averav'
increase in the temperature of thl
water of 10 Fab for every sixty-tw'
feet. Very accurate observation
made on this point by Walferdin, a
Creuzat, in France, in two wells a
depths Of 2000 and 2500 feet, prove
that temperature increased i' Fsh
every filty.fve feet for the first ls0
feet cs descent, after which Il increases
10 Fab. for every forty.four feet
The hot springs in our own an
other countries 90 far in establishing
the existence aud increase of the II
ternal heat OF tho earth.
These proofs, it seems, should b
sufficient to convince tho most skept
cal of tho truth of our proposition
v but there are yet more cogent reason
g that enforce upon the minds Of tn
doubtful tho belief Of this theory
Looking at the vast collections
plutonic rocks that make the hills {
3 the eastern States valuable for buils
ing purposes, the gigantic column
Z aud beautiful grottos of trap rock
that enchant the eye cf tho travcle
make the pleasure-seekor stop an
gaze TO the giddy heights Of the pc
pendicular bluffs that line tho shorl
Of our Columbia, compel us to pond'
J, over the fact that we stand where u
earthquake shook and the volcar
:, thundored.
= Looking westward over the field
waters, We SEQ active volcanoes CIR
ling the vast Pacific Ocean, as solon
.