The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-01-10
= e ny n
speeu1astsss OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.

Ibody has been eoncI nssye rely estab lislaed, and
Though xhe exact rate of increase msy not
have been very definitely aseeriained, still
1.-The results ebtsined By careful observations
made In deep mines and In boTings Tor arte-
sian wells coidcide very closely, and show
such rate OF increase as would lead ns 10
assume that at the depth OF twenty We niles
i below Its surface the earth no ionge remains
i aolid, but exists in the state OF moten semi
1 fluid mass. By the action OF the intense lns
j terDal heat elastic gases and Vapors are ever
/ being generated and evolved, which press
upward with inconceisable force. KY
4 The words of holy Writ declare tnat IN
the beginning g the earth was without form
and void which, think, means that 1t mad
one unbroken surface, void OF any form OF
] mountain, hill, or valley; and this plain sur.
i face was probably covered with an envelope
i of water, The internal fires, which had
] been for ages slowly burning in the bowels
! of the earth, Ia their. appointed time
l reached their maximum Of intensity, and
| their ypent-up forces burst forth with terri.
Bile energy, producing most stupendons
commissions. Mountain chains were, then
! first uphea7ed BIZ the illimitabie powers be-
Meath, and vast holleWs and depressions
| made, into hich the mobile waters receded.
The earth then assumed it's lantediluyian
form, and the land and the sea had their APP
propriate bounds. When the mountains
were first upheayed they rose not as soft, CO
/ herent bodies, but their hardened material
was thrust upiin large, angular, fragmentary
masses, pile upon pile, with Yast,interstices
and hollows permeating its substance.
| Through the pores and hoffows of these
mountain masses the fiery forces of the
seething centre continued for ages to expend
their gradually waning energies, casting out
much matter, fluid and gaseous. In the age
INN sdiately succeeding mountain-formation
quaking was the normal state OF the earth,
and thousands Of volcanoes were for long
time bIsily employed in relieving her ex-
cited condition. But as the fury of the GEN.
trail fires gradually subsidized, fewer vents for
their gaseous products were needed, and
most of the volcanoes in time became ex-
! tinct. - sf @t|
By the creation of mountains sufficient
| outlet was provided for The escape OF the
elastic forces generated by the internal fires,
so that no further upheaVals on any grand
scale have ever since taken place. The rails.
| ing of some small islands subsequent to
mountainformation may seem to contradict
the foregoing assertion, but these islands are
very small as compared with the mountain
chains of the whole earth, and their upheaVal
may be explained by supposng an accumu'
lation of force, generated at points remote
| from an established outlet. and where the
crust intervening between the bottom OF the
ocean and the top Of the molten interior
earth was not Of sufficient thickness to with
stand the upward elastic pressure.
| That the solid crust of the earth Is not OF
uniform thickness we are fully warranted in
supposing, the thickest parts probably being
the plains between the mountains and the
sea, and the thinnest being mountain regions
| and the deep bed Of the ocean. Hot springs,
which are usually found in mountain val
| leys. would seem 10 indicate thinness of
the earth's crust in their localities.
t. one natural effect Of mountain-upheaYll
upon the conformation Of the under surface
! of the earth's crust would be, to cause an
irregular ascent toward mountain chains on
each of their sides, so that bodies of gas or
yapor conf1ed beneath the crust would con-
stanty tend to pass towards the mountain
outlets Owing to the great differences in
the melting points Of different substances,
some of the underlying rocks of the earth's
crust would be fused for some distance up,
while other rocks Of less fusibie texture
would remain solid. Ia this way large
chambers would be formed in. the under
surface. .s.sast
Assuming, then, this under surface to be
jagged aud uneven, with frequent kedges
dipping into the molten sea beneath, We may
| readily suppose that an accumulation OF
dense, elastic vapor, generated at any point
Ion the sub.errene sea OF fire, would force lts
way along under these successive hedges,
thereby causing q rapid series Of shock. and
| importing a heaviug motion TO The supefJa-
ire a-ff fNilr r.. a
until it had found an outlet or escape, a0d
exhibiting all the elements NEEDED for
the perfection Ian earthquake. 1t this
great body of vapor should be arrested in
| its lateral course by the obstructing lodges
noticed above. then it would probably force
its way directly upward through the crust
OF the earth by creating assure for its pas
sage, and would emerge into the outer world
with an explosion. The assure thus created
might be sufficient to swallow up large
CITY, as was probably the case with the city
of Sodom. If by reason Of any potent In
fuence at work in the depths of the seethiDg
central mass there should be a concentrated
pressure of the molten material under and
into one of the large crust.chambers just
mentioned, then new volcano leading from
this chamber might be the result. The vol
cano Of Jorullo, in Mexico, is an example OF
this, sort, it having risen in q broad plain,
in September, 1859, to the height OF about
Q 600 feet. Father joaquin de Ansogorri, en-
eyewitness, says Oft, that before the terri
bic mountain made its appearance the EARTH,
uuakes and subterranean noises became more
frequent, but on the day of eruption itself
the fat soil was seen to rise perpendicularly,
and the whole plain became more or less in
f,ated, SO that blisters appeared, of which the
largest is now the volcano" u is's
Force, like matter, is indestructible; and
those great energies that brought into one;
mass the, aggregated particles. of the earth
still remain stewed away within her bosom,
dormant for the most part. yet ever ready
for use, and capable, at the bidding Of the
Almighty, of rending and scattering this
world into its original atoms. We now and
then get some faint perception of these hid;
den energies, as partially displayed in the
phenomena Of earthquakes, volcanoes, &c.
The simplest theory as to the mode of ope-
ration of these internal forces In the produo.
ton of earthquakes is that they are for the.
most part caused by the rapid passage OF
large bodies of dense, elastic yapor along the
uneven and jagged under surface Of the
earth's crust. All the observed phenomena
Of earthquakes, whether occurring over
large or q small ares OF country, will accord
more nearly with this theory than with any
other. Upon our supposition that all OF our
esrth's interiorison fused mass, its homoge-
neity ana evepness of temperature would
preclude the idea Of any large development
Of electric force.
But there may also be what I would term
mechanical earthquakes, produced by the
falling down Of some weakly-supported mass
of mountains interior, which would cause