The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-09-04

Say tuey have uOCuueuIS III Lutlr poSScS-
sion to show that Mr.. Clarke was divorced
the other relatives are resolved to contest
her claim if necessary to the Court of
Appeals. Y. Sun.
CONSTANCY OF THE OCEAN LEVEL.
The upheavals and depressions of the
earth's crust were already recognized by
the philosophers of antiquity. Aristotle
found it necessary to correct some philoso-
pliers of his day, who imagined that the
surface of the ocean was becoming lower
by the gradual drying up of the water.
He says: "Only those Of narrow views
and small experience attribute local changes
to an overthrowing of the whole globe. In
support of their view they bring forward
the drying up of seas and the existence of
land where formerly it was not; and give
authentic facts, from which, however, they
deduce false conclusions. 1t is true that
certain spots, heretofore covered with
water, now form portions of the continent;
but the contrary is also the case, and any
who studiously examines the facts will find
that the sea has invaded and submerged
several parts. Such is the explanation OF
Deucalion's flood, the ravages of which
were more especially felt in Greece, and
which, among other provinces, was most
terribly felt in ancient Hellas, at that time
inhabited by the Helles, and by the people
named Greeks, but now called the Hell
lenes."
So far Aristotle. His theory evidently
was that the amount of water in the ocean,
and therefore the level of it's surface, is
constant, but that the land is ascending in
one spot and descending in another. The
latter is most forcibly illustrated by the
historical accounts Of the Straits of Gibral-
tar, which are evidently, as we'll as the
British Channel, conquest by the ocean
over the gradual sinking land. Avienus
quotes measurement, on the authority of
Damon of Amphipolis, which (reduced to
our unit, the mile) makes the width of the
Straits at the narrowest place not quite
three miles. Then he quotes subsequent
measurement, made by Euctemon of Ath-
ems, who found it four miles. Next we
find that Scymmes of Chic measured it, in
the year 143 before our era, and found it IS
miles at the Atlantic outlet, between Spar
tel and Trafalgar, which now is 90 miles
in width. Turanius Gracilis, about so
years before our era, gives the width of
the narrowest place, from Mellaria in Spain
to Cape Blanco in Africa, as A miles,
Strabo gives the greatest breadth as nearly
Z miles, while Pliny, who had been in
Spain and visited the Strait, gives it as Z!
miles for the narrowest part, and about 10
miles for the widest part. Bishop Victor
measured the distance in the year of our
era 500, and found it to be twelve miles;
while the present Spanish measurement is
IA miles.
Besides the evidence of a gradual widen
ing and probable sinking of the land Of
both shores, we find the positive evidence
of the sinking in the account of Avienus,
who speaks of the two wooded isles in mid
channel, on which were temple and affairs
in honor of Hercules. These were the
celebrated Pillars of Hercules of the an
cient authors. The Carthaginians "were
obliged to build fat-bottomed vessels, so
as to be able to sail over the shallow water
of the Straits" according to Avienus, who
also says that Hannibal had reported that
there was ga bottomless and boundless sea
farther to the west" which, as it CORES
ponds to the Atlantic Ocean, puts the local
ity intended to be described beyond doubt.
Pliny visited the Straits, and speaks of a
low lying island, covered with wild olives,
and upon which were tho remains of the
Temple of Hercules. Pomponius Mela, a
Spaniard, living several centuries later,
and to whom these regions were very
familiar, describes the Straits as channel
broken by number Of small islands. At
present they have all disappeared, and the
largest ships sail freely over every portion
of these waters.
In 1928 there happened to be very low
tide, and ON this occasion the remains of
the famous Temple of Hercules were dis
tinctly seen in the oceanic part of the
Strait, and some souvenirs were even OBJ
tanned for preservation.
Ignacio Lopez de Ayla mentions, in his
'History of Gibraltar" that the sea covers
the greater part of the land on which
stood the ancient city of Mellaria. In the
bay of Gibraltar, the sea has engulfed a
part of Carteia and Algesiras. Nine miles
west of Tarifa was the city of Belon, at
the shore of the Strait; and this is now
engulfed, while the traces Of its existence
are seen below the waves.
Lastly, Colonel James, in his " History
of the Straits of Hercules" mentions that
during an earthquake, the site of Gales
disappeared, together with the small isles
opposite the city of Bactes, near Tarifa;
and rock named ola Perle," once an
island, sank, and is now covered with more
than 10 feet of water at low tide.
The gradual sinking in this neighbor-
hood is balanced by upheavals in other
regions; which are very marked, we'll es-
tablished by observation, and carefully
measured in the northern part of Sweden
and Norway, where the sea, especially the
northern part of the Baltic, appears to re-
tire from year to year, and leaves villages,
formerly situated at the shore, few miles
inland. The Azores are rising, so is the
island of Santorin, and the island of Julia
The former sea port of Aigues Mortes is
now nine miles from the shore; while the
celebrated Temple of Scraps, at Puzzuoli,
for many centuries engulfed, is now uncov-
cred, and is visited by travellers and tour
lists.