Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-08-13
Earthquakes and Volcanoes.


tried their skill and prowess. Wheth-
er they indicated continued activity
in the interior of our planet, and, Il
80, what was their relation to that ac-
tivity, have been favorite topics OF de-
bate.s The ohomical theory started
by Sir Humphrey Davy, that these
phenomena were produced by tho sud-
don access Of water TO uncombined al
kaline metals, was for long time q
favorite from its very ingenuity and
boldness; and, though facts to sustain
it were difficult to obtain, it was al
most equally difficult to bring forward
well-founded arguments on the other
side. s.r..
The moon has long been with poets
tho emblem of fcklencss and incon-
stancy; her pale, silent gazo was to
their minds suggestive of lovers VOWS,
made only to be broken; yet modern
research gives us very different ac-
count of our paIe-faced satellite. New
or, in fact, wero the poets moro at
fault than when they made the orb
which ever turns toward her lord and
master the same mild and death-like
gaze, tho emblem of Inconsistency and
changeableness. Without water or
air, passing from extremes Of heat to
extremes Of cold, the cold, quiet moon
bears no life in her bosom. No chang
ing clouds fit across her black skies,
no streams murmur down her valley,
no seas broak on her cold, grey stones.
Yet from the moon, all unlike as she
is to our ever-changing earth, we may
draw lesson rs to What our earth is
probably Fastening to.
Geology, all unwearied from her re-
searches on the face of tho earth, flies
boldly across space, and seeks to cor
relate tho action of matter in all the
worlds. To the spectroscope VIC owe
the knowledge that other worlds are
composed much as our own, that the
common elements are with us TO a
great extent tho ordinary elements
with them and, as like ordinarily
produces like, so wo are justified in
the surmise that the succession of phe-
nomena on those of the heavenly bod
les with which We are more intimate,
ly connected, is not unlike what takes
placeon our own globe. Astronomers
detected long ago on the face of the
moon tho wuli-knuwn Liaoos vr vol
canic action; but though the marks
wero there ofcraters and lava streams,
though heights could bo measured
and valleys depicted, tho strange fact
remained that mortal eye had never,
so far as our astronomical records ex-
tend, beheld ON the satellite On out
burst of sublunar energy.
Outbursts, like that OF Skaptur
Joku, of Sumbawa, or Chimborazo,
did not require any powerful instru-
ment for their observation they
would have been visible 10 tho unas-
sisted eye. Little by little, the idea
forced itself on the scientific world
that the energy which had once spent
itself in volcanic activity had finally
left the moon, and that her gaze was
ono Of eternal death. Volcanic phe-
nomena on tho earth are intimately
connected with tho presence Of water,
gases Of various sorts are their noces-
sary product; yet, of water and case.
GUS bodies, the moon exhibited no sign.
Our own globc told us something
which we might assimilate with the
news arrived from the moon. Sink
where we would on the face of tho
earth, after the first few feet of crust
were pierced, we found ourselves in
presence Of an increasing heat. Did
tho heat increase in tho same ratio,
through the mass Of the earth, that
1t did near its surface, a few thousands
Of yards would have brought us to a
temperature sufficient TO melt the
most refractory bodies.
Another school, apart from the
chemical, perceived 10 this the plain
cause of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Astronomers, however, set themselves
to calculate the effects of such o state
Of matters. A fluid nucleus, even
when covered with such crust as
proposed, must be effected by lunar
tides, and in turn affect tho moon her.
self No such tides, however, could
be detected by tho most delicate
observations. Whatever, therefore,
might have been tho original state OF
the world, there was little danger of
its returning to q state Of igneons I'm
sion. Earthquakes might shake us,
and volcanoes dolugo portions of the
surface with fire, but their reservoirs
of heat were not drawn from any such
internal nucleus of fire as was required
by the first supporters Of he doctrine
Of internal heat. So for many years
the matter rested.
Partial seas of FIRE, and partial dis
turbances Of the state of internal
equilibrium Tad to bc accounted for,
and many woro tho theories broacbed.
Chemical action again came into ia.
vor, notwithstanding the weight OF
evidence against its acceptance, espe-
cially as it remained clear that Como
abstrusc connection did exist between
the sites Of volcanic action and the
presence of largo bodies of water
Few men have devoted 80 much
thought to igneous and seismic pbe-
nomena as Mr.. II. Mallot it is, there
fore, not surprising that the latest
theory broached should have proceed
cd from ono 80 well known for his de-
votion to this branch Of science. Our
globe, be points out, is still radiating
heat into space; for overy degree 80
radiated somo contraction Of the mass
must take place. Its surface seems TO
have long ago arrived at on equilibri-
um of temperature, hence the con-
traction must take place internally,
tending continually TO leave round
the shrinking internal corc . loose
and unattached skin Tho force of
gravity continually acting on this
rind draws 1t closer and oIoscr TO tho
centre, and II, not being able TO con
tract, is thrown into ridges and hol.