Ellsworth American., 1877-05-31
The Fate Of the Last Man.

In all the discussion which has agiiated
III" world over the Mosaic aul geological
accounts oi the creation. no question has
been more argued than that at the origina
non ot the race There j. nothing Ike
variety, even In scientific argument; and
" have heard 80 much dis puiatiot a, 10
whether Adam or an anihroppd ape was
our primal ancestor. that We are now i'm
prllei u turn 70 the djamctricaily oppo-
sitr cud of creation. anI consider not The
beginning of the first but the end of the
last man. Speculation a. 10 future event,
especially If several billion or 80 wears
distant i not particularly profitable; but
II personal originator of tie race Il 10
hc made an object Of the present theory,
similar theorlZng as 10 the personal ter
minatlor Of the race j. certainly iu-t a.
useful. but hypothesis being equal in the
speculative nature of their basis: and il
being certain that we cannot know any
.. II. "ne " thahi' abouf that II III" ofgtect OF
M. .Alphonso de CandoIle points out
that the terrestrial surface Is constantly
diminishing. ani that elevated regions are
being lowered through the incessant ac-
tion Of water, ice. and air. Besides ,earthy
matter. washed or ground away. is being
carried into the sea. which l. thus filling
up, consequently in course OF time the
present coniiguration Of the land will
change. Continents will be divided into
islands. and these will be gradually sub
merged. The human race Will De driven
by the encroaching waters from island to
island. Finally the sun will rise on z vast
waste Of sea dotted perhaps with far-Sep-
Grated islets which once were mountain
peaks. one by one these will submerged
until finally but one i left; kunchainjunga
the loftiest summit Of the Hmalavas, per
haps; or more likely, some new coral reef
which an insect to-day is laborlng. down
Ia the depths, to build up. Here will per
ish the last man. and the body Of tile last
relic Of our race Will be washed away by
fore (ll lfhe last man does not Stare n
death h. lrW pr0bRbiy be drnrHed
Another theory is that OF the periodlcty
Of deluge, proposed bv Adhemar, which
depends on the fact OF the unequal length
Of the seasons In the TWO hem ispheres.
Autumn and our winter last with US l79
days, In the Southern hemisphere they
last ls6 DAYS. These seven days or l6s
hours of difference increase each year the
GOODNESS OF the pole. During 10 800 wears
the Ice accumulates at one pole aud metS
at the other. thereby displacing the earth's
center OF gravity. Now a time. it is res
soned will arrive when. after the maxi
mum OF elevation of temperature on one
side. a castrOphe will happen which will
bring back the center of figure. and cause
an immense deluge. The inventor of this
theory fails to consider the probability of
the center of gravity returning as gradual
y as II was displaced but with this de-
feet, the hypothesis from another point of
view goes 10 show that (2) the last man
riH certainly be drO,r1led.
Every few years or so we have a comet
scare; and when the fitming star appears
IN the SKY. there are plenty of nervous per-
sons who fret themselves over the chances
of our earth coming in contact with it. 1t
is. Of course, not without the limits OF
possibility that such collision should oc-
cur. If it did, cur globe would plunge in
to an atmosphere Of gas. which, mingling
with the air. say those who predict this
mode of death TO our planet. would pro-
duce an explosion which would destroy
every living thing. Such being the case,t
person capable of breathing deleteriaus
gas longest would survive the rest; and
therefore (3) lfthe last man is not sugocat-
cd by cOn.etary gas he ,oW be bloion up.
II is believed BY many astronomers that
there is retarding medium in space, based
on the fact that Encke's comet, in thirty
three years. losses thousandth part of
its velocity. If the either resists our
earth's motion in its orbit. then the CEN
trifugal force will be constantly lessened
while the action Of gravity will remain
constant; so that the earth will describe
spiral path, always approaching the sun.
The effect OF this would be to convert the
tropics into desert. which would grad
ually expand toward the poles, from about
which the ice and snow would be quickly
melted. Finally the intense heat would
turn the whole globe into one barren
waste; but before then the human race
would have disappeared. The probabii.
ties In such event point to the suppesition
that az the last man ,oiu be sunstruck.
There are certain class of rocks which
are constantly becaming hydrated, and
are thus occluding immense amounts of
water. The theory has been broached
that, in course of time, these seas will thus
be dried up; and water being abs ent, our
atmosphere will disappear, the earth be-
coming "A waste similar to the moon. But
before then, the atmosphere would pro-
badly become too rare for human exis-
tence. As the air pressure decreases. as
M. Bert has shown, the privation OF
oxygen produces the deleterious effects
experienced chiefly by aeronauts and
mountain climbers. Consequently, in veiw
of this theory (5) the last man piH be sut-
focdted.
Our sun itself may come to an end in
two ways. First, as Mr.. Proctor has re-
Gently very graphically explained, being
but variable star it may suddenly blaze