Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1874-04-09


around in was "a hours, "a minutes and
% ITO seconds. 1t may seem to you un-
necessary to be so exact. But there is
one important question which may be
solved by such information as that.
1t has been found that our earth is ro-
tating more and more slowly as centuries
go by. The moon lifts the tidal wave,
the tidal wave acts as brake, as ittravels
in direction contrary to that on which
the earth travels, and slowly indeed our
earth is losing its speed. We cannot
measure that change by an ordinary
clock, because our clocks are set by the
rotation of the earth We time our clocks
to the transit of the stars. How can we
answer a question such as that except by
having some true clock! Here is Mars,
this small planet, a pocketchronometer
and we can have that chronometer time,
and as soon as we have her time we can
compare with that our own terres-
trial clock There are well-marked places
on the face of the planet, and there is this
also, that the planet has nothing to dis
turb its rotation. The sun is so far away
that the solar tides do not affect it; il has
no moon, and the oceans are not suited to
the formation of tidal wave; therefore
the change of the planets rotation would
be insignificant. The planet is suits
BILE clock for getting at our earth's rota
ton.
THE ASTEROIDS.
now pass from these planets to the
asteroids. There are now known 134 oil
these minor planets There is theory
in the books that the asteroids are pro-
duced by the bursting of planets. That
ic ,nt n nj
which would result from such catas-
trophe completely demolish that theory.
Considering the giant planets, to which
/ next pass, we shall feel that they may be
quite unlike this earth on which we live.
Consider the enormous size Of
JUPITER.
We are accustomed to consider him
larger than our earth, but it isn't merely
that; he is / $50 times larger. Here is a
difference altogether too great to be re-
garded as difference of degree; it is a
difference of kind. Our conceptions of
them are necessarily different We should
expect it would be a different kind of body
from that on which we live, and we find
clear evidence of that as we consider him.
If the atmosphere of Jupiter were only
100 miles deep, the pressure at the bottom
would be so great that the bottom atmos-
phere would be a million of times as
dense as platinum, the heaviest of all the
elements. 1t seems utterly impossible
that life In any such atmosphere could ex-
list but that is the legitimate calculation
the pressure would be million times as
great as ours, so as to produce a density
equal TO that of platinum. There is one
popularity about the planet opposed to
that idea. Instead of Jupiter being the
densest planet, it is less dense than the
earth. Its density is one-fourth the real
density OF the earth and corresponds with
that of the sun, and this seems to give an
explanation of the difficulty. The great
compression of the suns attraction would
make his atmosphere dense, but its enor-
nous heat expands the atmosphere, and
instead of being dense globe we have a
globe less dense than the earth.
The satellites of Jupiter may be bodies
well lighted, though not intended to sup
ply light to the planet. ALI the satellites
cannot supply the planet with one-six-
teenth of the light which we get from The
small SUN of Jupiter, which is but the
one-twenty- part of our sun in size.
SATURN.
Now to his brother giant, the planet
Saturn, with his glorious ring system.
Those belts on Saturn correspond in kind
to those that exist on Jupiter; and l
might apply the reasoning on Jupiter to
Saturn without any further argument.
This equatorial belt Of Saturn remains
during the whole long year of Saturn
lasting twenty-nine years of ours-equa-
torial. Now the axis Of Saturn is in
clined very much as the earth's axis is in
clined, but the equatorial belt never
shifts, following the sun as ours does,
along rhe ecliptic. 1t seems by its posi-.
ton to show that it is produced by force
residing In the planet itself. Now there
is one argument derived from the rings
of Saturn. Those rings have been de-
scribed by Brewster as glorious bodies
rejecting on Saturn, and making up
for want of the sun, Instead of doing
that, those rings cut off the sunshine.
When the winter of part Of the planet Is
in progress, and when more light Is
wanted, the ring cuts off the light. So,
If we are TO argue from causation, If we
are to say the Almighty intended that to
be the abode of light, we have at once an
enormous difficulty brought before us.
Instead of the thing being well devised,
IL seems i'll devised. It seems as if the
only time the ring reflected light was
when it was not wanted, and when II was
wanted the ring came and cut off great
part of the suns light, and 1t does not cut
it off for a short time, but for eight and a
half years a certain portion of sunlight
is cut off, and for six Of those years the
whole of the sunlight Is cut off by 1t.
The largest Of the satellites Of Saturn Is
called Titan. and is certainly larger than
Mercury, and probably as large as Mars
How splendid must be the scene which
the planet Saturn presents TO its inhabit
ants does seem as though scene OF
such wonderful beauty was not intended
to remain without spectators. Itpresenls
through the telescope the most beautiful
colors, the most wonderful symmetry
all presented to the inhabitants, II inhab-
itants there be.
LIFE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
Now few words remain To me on the
general question of life in the solar sys-
tenn. must confess the more / study
the matter / am convinced we are not
bound, in order TO reconcile US TO the
Almighty's work, TO adopt the theory
that all or any considerable portion Of
the ulaUpfs are Inhabited We look