The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-03-25
THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.
No Interior Molten Mass.

-
The geologIsts are in trouble. They cannot
science. Alter long and hard struggle b.
tween the aqueous and igneous theories of the
carth's formation, 1t was generally supposed
that the lgneous had won the day, at least SC
far as relates to the order Of their worship. Il
anything was supposed to be settled In geolo.
gy, it was that the centre of the earth has
been, or is, In molten state and that the
granite rocks are unstrati6ed and give evil
dence of being formed under. great pressure
and intense heat. Earthquakes and volcanoes
were referred to as proofs OF this great inter
nal heat, and the protrusion OF trap rock as q
proof of the molten state. On this granite as
q solid foundation, the strati1ed rocks were
supposed to rest though Of necessity the order
Is generally disturbed by the long action o.
subterranean forces.-
But the foundation seems at last falling
through. The aqueous theory has won new
triumph, and is driving its rival from the field
Granite Is found to be not Of 'gneol,s, but o.
aqueous formation. Some years ago hr
Evan Hopkins, Of England, broached new
theory, and attempted to prove, on selentlnt
principles, that granite was formed not hori
zontally, but vertically, and not by heat anc an,
pressure, but by solution and magnetism. His
speculations at first attracted little attention
and excited indeed much derislon, but they
have Gradually attained the assent Of many
masters In the science.
Professor Thompson, by rigid mathematical
reasoning from well known physical laws, also
proved that the existence OF liquid ocean ID
the interior of the earth was simply 1mposSl
BILE. He declared 1t to be q physical necessity
that 1.-THE interior must be even more rlglo
than the superficial parts"
Leading geologlsts are frankly surrendering
the old theory, and Professor Ansted. In
paper read before the British Association IN
1869, saws: "Geologists, until recently, nave
spoken Of granite as primitive rock, as the
neccus of the earth, and as having. been
from time to TIME erupted, playing an lmpor'
tant part in theEencral disturbances oy which
the general frame work Of the earth is sup
nosei TO have been constructed. The obser.
yations of Daubree and Sorby show that all
true granite has been elaborated with water,
under great pressure, at O temperature below
melting heat; that it has neither been elected
nor has 1t formed frame work. Tnere are
GRANTEES of all ages and of many kinds. Nume-
rous observations show that granite alternates
with, and passes into, stratihed rocks, anG
that its production does not necessarily IN
yoIvc destruction and obiitefatien Of NJ the
stratifed rocks with which it Is associated
This view of the nature of granite will greatly
affect the theories Of geology.
This Is no longer matter OF theory, Dut ol
QeInOQSLTlLlOu.
ncous origin. Chemists testify that the laws
of chemical action disprove it. The presence
of black lead in granite and gneiss Is incon-
sistent with melting heat, for black lead ispure
carbon, and would have been reduced to ashes
by heat. and In turn would have also reduced
the mica and hornblende, as carbon always op.
crates on slicates In blast furnaces. The chem
lists also testify that II the GRANTEES were once
in melted state the magnetic iron ore 10 then
init al l11yith
vtreous instead Of q crystalline rock. At
tempts have been made to resolve granite by
heat into what Is regarded as Its original state
but they failed utterly. 1t would not melt. lt
CRYSTALS gradually decomposed or turned into
block glass, confirming the opinions OF the
chemical critics.
The laws ofgravity also bear witness agains
the igneous origin. AS the Annual of Scientific
Discovery says: "If granite were once In
molten condition, then, as it cooled In the frs
place, quartz mast have crystalllzed out ane
would have sunk down through the still mol
ten, while mass feldspar and mica must nave
crysLallized at much later stage OF cooilng
as the necessary consequence of their diferen
degrees offusibility."
As a last and conclusive stage of proof thai
granite Is of aqueous and not OF igneous origin
Chemists have succeeded in producing feldspar
the base of granite, from solutions of kaolil
and alkaline silicates In heated water, and
it is generally conceded that mica and quartz
the other principal ingredients, are aqueous
deposits, the demonstration may be Regarded
as complete
The science of geology, therefore, will nee!
a thorough reconstruction. If the igneous ori
gin of granite is given up, the idea OF o moltel
mass at the earth's centre VIII also 8, D. d
abandoned. If this intense central heat De ex
ploded, the argument for o gradual cooling 0
| the earth from fre-mlst will limp badly, ant
the Laplace theory of physical development
will lose all probability. And still further,
the GRANTEES are not the most ancient forma
tions, but are often Of modern dates, intermln
gled with rock of the secondary or ever
tertiary period, it may be necessary to MAKE
long deductions from geological timetables.
On the whole, we may safely conclude, tina
1t is not wise for geologlsts to discredit Moses
or to cavil at the credulity of Christians u
they have built some foundation for their SC
ence on which 1t can rest securely. We ma
add, also, that faint-hearted theologlans, VIII
have lost their faith In inspiration because
scientific difficulties, may take heart again
and believe that Moses is more reliable tcacE
er than Lyell OF Huxley.