The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1872-01-10
a SCIo ntIfic Sensation,

We have all heard OF the great year
which Is supposed to be equal 10 t"Cnty-siX
thousand, or more accurately. twenty-five
thousand eight hundred and sixty eight of
our years. We are told that it has its sea-
sOns-spring, summer, autumn and winter
and that ever since the dcluge the deEi-
zcns of those portions Of tie earth lying be-
tween the polar circles have been enjoying
the summer of the great year. This astro-
n0mical period is measured by the pr,ccs-
sion OF the cquinoXes. 1t may be necessary
to explain that the procession q; the Cqui-
noXes is a continual shifting Of the cquinoc-
tial points from east to west. II, Tor the
sake OF Illustration, a particular point in the
heavens where the sun crosses the equator
this year be noted. next Year the sun will
cross little 10 the westward of that point,
and 50 on every year. until complete cir
Gle has b: en- described hy this shifting point
or, rather, till an entire revolution has
been made, which will he in twenty-five
Thousand eight hundred and SiXty-.ight
years. But there are said 10 be some other
conditions entering into the problem which
rCdmcc the per,ol OF revolution to twenty
one thousand, This is, of course, an imag-
mary method of representation OF the pre-
ccssion CT the cquinOXeS. This shifting OF
the points ol contact between tho apparent
path OF the sun and the equator is an effect
caused by the attraction of the sun and
moon u JOn the excess OF matter about the
equatorial region.
without entering into any eluc!Gation of
the scientific problem, ii will DC sufficient
! to say that AlphO"s ST kdbcmer, an eminent
! French mathematician, has demonstrated
, the fact that during half the "great year,
the sun shines on the northern polar re-
gions seven days longer than on the cores
. tl
| That is, for ten thousand five hundred years
! the northern regions have seven days more
sunshine than the southern. This destroys
what might be called the isothermal equilib-
rum. Seven days, or rather nights, adds to
| the cap of ice that covers the south polar
zone, slowly and steadily it is pushing itself
up IN the direction OF the antartic circle.
When the period of ten thousand five hum
drcd wears rsa ,hed the seventeenth degree of
south latitude, and will have changed to
some extent the shape of the earth. The
center of gravity will have shifted some
| three or four miles to the south. Then
comes change. The earth will have pass
ed around to the other side of this imaginary
| orbit, or. rather, its projected axis will have
I tqpped over and the sun will shine on the
south polar regions seven days longer than
on the northern. The effect will be TO melt
/ the cap of ice, and in the course OF cen
| turies, cause general breaking up of that
section of the ice cap that has pushed itself
beyond the antartic circle. Then comes the
mighty catastrophe.
| While the freezing was going oa and the
! ice accllmulating in the south polar regions,
the carih's center of gravity had shifted Il
! few miles along its axis in the direction of
the south pole, drawing with it the vast
body of water on the earth's surface. A
glance at tie map of the world shows that
nearly thrcc-fourths of the water surface of
the earth is in the southern hemisphere.
When we remember that the southern
oceans are much deeper than the northern,
we can torn some idea of the vast prepon-
derance Of water In the Southern Hemis-