New-York tribune., 1875-02-11

enarQement Z
an indefinite series OF centuries" ID 20 p YET DE-
Draper conndenty tells (p. 1897 "Tso facts are TO
yeaed by the oblaeness OF the earth: That she mas
formerly been In yielding plastic condition. inaS
she has been modelled by mechanical ana taerelore
secondary cause" Surely here s not science enough
I'm this contradiction OF authorities to make Us Joy
willing Just at present TO throw away our Bioesi "o
have been taught all along that the coal nelds oo
testably prove the enormous iapsos OF limo "hien n
have been consumed in the structure OF tue earsn "o
writer of this thoroughly believes it, Dr. praper 'oen'
40 ure about It that he thinks, this ground among
many Others that Genesis Is not worth thougnt as a
authority But what shall we say when We sec s''''
ment Of a fact like this floating aroundf
Tn one OF the old mines Of the Upper nart1cr,o ,
Dorothea mine. near Clausha-s3me Oh 'e tr atcr
inally employed timOerlDg mas become 80 ar uto'o
as 10 assume OF the quates OF true ~ tba
brown coal N fs mine are filed with refuse
matter consisting chiefly OF fraemens o, ey-Sii.e
more or less saturated with mine waer ana contlnlue
hero and there fragments OF the old tinberlng ih5
wood when in the mine Is soft and OF eatnery consist
ence hut on exposure TO the air rapidly bardens to
solid substance having not all the characters OF
true ligute. II breaks win well-narKed conc1olu
sent tho black hstrous appearance characteristic or
the German pitch-oOals" AT the same time chemcdi
examinations altered wood show that 1t stands
actually to true coal than 40 some OF tbe tertly
gntes. Tls for instance, seems TO prove tha1 pine
wood placed under highly favorable conditions, may
be converted into genuine igne withina period which,
from what We know of tue history OF mining III inc
HlriZ cannot have extended 6eyond Tour Centuries
In the light of this fact, which crcumstantally
told tho enormous periods the geologiss shrink up,
and We are liable proianely to think tho ICONS OF mil
lions Of years may after all be only few multiplied
centuries. Or perh APPS some OF the cave" people, OF
the "lake builders" may have, just to annoy Us, oeeh
| at mining away back in the Permian time, aud sup
porting their galleries with pine ossat all events VIC
| do not know what to think.
while aro not long, the geologists told u.s. aud we
believed them that granite primitive plutonic.
| /, was once molten state. and had been' III many
| places. projected upward through other Strata VIZ
we're stupid II could not that. But OF late, Ihey
tell. 80, no, granite never molten at all, DO you
not see by It's very structure that 1t could not nave
beeni 1t Is plutonic, 1t is neptunan 1t was u'auo
what 1t is by water deposits with gentle heat uhuer
enormous pressure" So tho solid foundation sL's
itself. Take the chalk formations. The geolOgists nave
been telling with authority, OF tho ihuuiheIaOo
ages that must have passed III their formatoh an" u
the excessive heat that must have been necessary 10
| make them lime. Bat OF late tho dcep-Sea
| dredgngs have revealed their present forma-
tion, that the process Is now gong on ana
| with, perhaps great rapidity at tue bottom oi
the soa and tho hint comes TO us that ohIy
pressure necessary make the accommodating deposit
into marble do not dispute. only begin to fear th"t
will have to throw overheard all they have taught me-
aud 10 drcdge VIII be able 10 bring up my lost theory
The most OF us, since knew much or astronomy
have been deghtng ourselves with that most glorious
OF all Theories. OF the structure OF the universe first
suggested by Kant taken up by Hcrscnel and SO Won
derfuly carried by La Pacethc nebular hypothe-
sis. We have sort Of beei--so strong arc the past
teachings upon us-in it still. Dr. Draper Is certain
about it, Means for the settlement OF this question
are available, he says, aud at once reers To Seeti u
anaysis lie is both Of the means by winch Ne
proves IT, and OF the theory ITSELF that the record oI
| Geuesls is OF course absurd. Bat what shall we do
when Place himself, quoted by Iecus e. E1rt p. @O,
SAYS tnat in putting forth tins theory he does 1t with
| dfi eucc" Reclus adds it me with eminent
propriety and one has right 10 be more conhIeut
ihai this great geometcian As II 70 Involve US still
| more this authority tells us on the next page:
Finally the discovery OF me spectral anai's sis
| an eternal glory to MN. kirchhon ana BunScn-
warrants ~ believing that tHe chemical cobpo'ton
OF the dif RS decidedly from mat of INC pan
ets forming It's system; for tho sOlai bJdy, at least III
ITS external layers, does not contain either slick, tln
lend mercury III yrr or gold. We must therefore,
fess tnat l., Places celebrated and sedu tive hypOthe
sis is Inadequate to account ior al tne p9en9mena
doubted almost to rejection by me men OF science
same OF us believed t, nave seen it, so he thought
"hn of oil rcyO vIu1 in IN x are o alcohol water
ud revolution throwing on rings which broke up
not matter tnat Dr Draper aud the rest mad told US
that the process cOnion5atOn-the shrinking away
OF the central aud leaving the rings outside. wnle
in the experiment the process was opposite ana the
rings were tnrown Cd by expansion iusead Of ccnden
sIiou-wa have held t. II until the scientists ar6
| compelling doubt aud throw 1t away. AMI then
spectrum ANALYSIS. We have believed IN It's revelations
ever siuce heard them, quarter OF century ago
unfolded by prince OF lecturers himself DE- Dr.
But what shall We 'Iy when Que reads az 40 01 ne
Annual Report oI the Director OF inc U. ). Mint for
IslL" Mncu it is present as an alloy comparatively
! Large proportion of gold viii not DC indica,cd
| at all by spectroscope. In fact In an alloy OF
| gold and copper, containing 300 TO $50 parts
| of gold the gold spectrum is barely visible. We are
| left with the that this mode OF
be trusted. Que aSEs ni,sei, t, ~ .ne W work o tne @
facts known aud may be tested 10y other
where lght winch is analysed comes from BODY
shining within foot Or Two ol the observer. shall its
report upon ray ot light winch has Deen Struggling for
million OF years across the void space oi the unl'erse
and can only gathered through the object glass OF
powerful telescope oo deemed so sure that the Bible
Bat there is class Of tac which De Draper seems
think is very conclusive Have not bones of extinct
animals been found in company wh stone hatcnets and
s,nu ,hr "a Iacent reSearcles give reason 70 be,vc
that under low ANA base grades, the existence OF man
can be traced back Ino tho tertiary times . 1857.
elsewhere have furnished for the StOuc age axes.
knives, lance and arrow points. scrapers, hammers"
a., 1871. So far as in7cs cations have gJne, tuvy
iudIsputaby refer the existence Il man 10 date
remote from us by many hun lreis OF thousands OF
coniIient statcments indeed in the prcoedIng plra
graph. II utterly to annihllae the force Of his arg
menf, DE- Diaper says " u must not oe supposed thaC
the periods INTO which geoloS.ss have found conyeu-
lon 10 divide tie progress OF IN civilization are all
rupt epocls whca mol good simultaneously Tor the
Whole human race" tp 1891 Tue wnoie force Of the
guuent es N just TINS slmuIDeo lsncss IT, as can by
no means b5 denied-t may 5o that wbilo Europe
these lake and caveiwellers III their baruaGic
stone aee-ciyiiziuon VAS growing hoary in the ORIENT
II para or the Garth, DR.. Draper admits the
people may be just "emerging from tue age"
ghteument 1t dnicHlt 10 what possible conciu-
the or the earth can be reached by the
OF the papers and discussions OF this class 81
vaDts ON the discoveries and the Lake dwell
es with their DRIFT sand aud tools; studies the learned
conclusions whlc reached and listens TO the
Tar words which uttered, such as: We are tlus
carried back immeasuraby beyond the SIX thousand !
years Pristic chronology. IL is difficult assign
shorter the last giaciaton OF Europe than
quarter OF million OF yoars. aud human existence
tedates that; one sees ths tleOryLnd It Is Only
one of MANY similar hypJt1eses-TIlklng about wiJh
ITS hydrocepnac head and enlarged body supported
aenuated legs OF fact while Il uters these great
swelling words ana proposes that shall throw |
away our Bibles and listen IT, does not hold h.s