Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1876-09-20

reason for this and mine is that Lineol
Island was formerly part of some vas
continent, which has, little by little
sunk beneath the surface Of the Pacific.
"Then." said Pencrof, who did no
seem entirely convinced, "what remain
of this old continent may disappear il
turn and leave nothing between Amer
lea and Asia"
Yes" said Smith, "there will b,
new continents which millions upon mil
lions Of animalcule are building at thi
moment"
"And who arc these masons y inquir
cd Pcncroff.
THE coral insects" answered Smith
1T is these who have built by thoir
constant labor the Island of Clermont
Tonnerre, the Atolls and many 6tber
coral islands which abound in the Ra.;
fc 1t takes AZ 600, 900 of thesesis.
sects to deposit one particle; and yet
with the marine salt which they absPb,
and the solid elements of the Ttcr
which they assimilate, these animalgdle
produce limestone, and limestone fGms
those enormous submarine structures
whose hardness and solidity is equal to
that of granite.
Formerly, during the first epochs of
creation, Nature employed heat to pro-
duce land by uphcayal, but now she lets
these microscopic insects replace this
agent, whose dynamic power at the in
terror of this globe has evidently dimin-
ishod. This is sufficiently proved BY the
great number Of volcanoes actually, ox-
tinct on the surface of the earth.
verify believe that century after century,
and infusoria after infusioria will change
the Pacific some day into a vast CONT
nent, which new generations will, in
turn, inhabit and ciyilize
lit will take a long time" said
Pencrotf
Nature has time on her side, re-
piled the engineer.
But what is the good of new CONT
nents ?" asked Herbert. ~. -9,,.s to
me that the present extont of habih.ble.
is enopqL ",r mankind. Now
Nature I..~~ nothing in vain" ~"
he sn',,nng = ching in vain, indeed f;l3s9s an
sAplia sbe necessity Da1 Yet Of a new ls
occupied by these sgejtssly tS!y 'ESpd issppnds Here
is an explanation, which soems to satse at
least plausible"
"We are listening, Mr.. Smith, re-
piled Herbert.
This is my idea Scientists general
ly admit that some day the globe must
come to an end, or rather the animal
and vegetable life will be no longer pos
sible, on account of the intense cold
which will prevail. What they cannot
agree upon is the cause of this cold
Some think that it will be produced by
the cooling Of the sun in the course ofmil-
lions Of years; others by the gradual
extinction of the internal fires of our
own globe, which have more decided
influence than is generally supposed. |
hold to this last hypothesis, based upon
the fact that the moon is without doubt
a refrigerated planet, which is no long
er habitablc, although the sun continues
to pour upon its surface the same amount
Of heat If then, the moon is rcfriger-
ated, it is because these internal fires,
to which like all the steller world it
owes its origin, are entirely extinct. =
In short. whatever be the cause, our
world VIII certainly some day cool but
TINS coollng viii take place rrad,,allu
What will happen then !? WIZ r.
temperate zones, at a time more Or less
distant, will be no more habitable than
are the Polar regions, now. Then
human, as well as animal life, will be
driven to ATTITUDES more directly under
the influence of solar rays. An i'm
mense emigration will take place
Europe, Central Asia, and North Amer
lea will little by little be abandoned \,
well as Australasia and the lower part,
of South America. Vegetation vii
follow the human emigration. Tn,
fora will move towards the equator a
the same time with the fauna the centra
parts of South America and Africa vii
become the inhabited continent Tn,
Laplandcrs and the Samoyedes will fin'
the climate Of the Polar Sea on tn
banks of the Mediterranean Who cal
tell but at that this epoch, the equatoria
regions will not be too small to contain
and nourish the population of the globe
Now. why should not proyldent ma
ture, in order from this time, to proyid,
a refuge for this animal and yegetabl
emigration, lay the foundation, unde
the equator, Of a new continent ant
charge these infusoria with the building
of it | have often thought of this, m,
friends, and | seriously believe that, som
day, the aspect of our globe will b,
completely transformed, that afte
the upheaval Of new continents tn,
seas will cover the old ones, and tina
in future ages some Columbus vii
discover in the islands of Chimboaaz
or the Himalaya, or Mount Blanc, al
that remains Of an America, an Asia
and a Europe Then at last, these ne,
continents, in their turn, will becom
uninhabitable The heat will die Gu
as does the heat from Il body whose sou
has departed, and life will disappca