New-York tribune., 1877-10-27
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.

There has been a long dispute between the
physicists aud mathematcans on the one hand ana 'ne
geoossts and biologists other, to the age OF
the earth or rather since that equally involved the
sge of the sun Cro, distinguished scotch geolo-
gist mas recently offered theory which Is not a'o
eether new but admits of some novel arguments anu
which may serve al parties 10 the dispute Besnlnh
with review OF the different theories as TO the sun
heat he rejects the combustion theory as totally made
innate since If the sun were all mass OF burning COAL
would not last over 5000 years; the chemical theofy
does not prolong the duration sufficiently; the meeoHc
theory wi serve the only remaining explanation 10
the yravation or condensation theory. This supposes
mat the materials the solar system were originally
nemla extending through a space many times greater
than the orbit OF Nepune The falling tog ther the con
densation OF this OF matter it can be mathe-
maacaly shown. would supply enough heat TO Keep the
sun at It's present temperature for 2OOOOoOO years
Unfortunately that period not sufficient for the geolo
cist He demands at least 1OO.OOOOOO years for the
changes OF the earth surface and would prefer twice
that length Of time The arguments OF the gcoogst are
almost upanswerlbc; those of the biologist Who ne-
eves IN evolution tend the point so FAR as they
60 Professor Cro says that there is way out OF TINS
difficulty by supposng that the nebua was not colo nut
hot you suppose hot enough 10 start with you VIII
have heat enou IN TO carry you through obviously 1t is
lust as easy 10 suppose hot nebua as cold one Bht
Professor Cro proposes 10 provide for TINS original neat
II the solar system had originally consisted OF two
immeasurable distance apart, and they fell foul OF
each other owing 10 their mutual gravitation'
they would strike with q speed OF 274 miles per
second Itheir motion was stopped by the concussion'
vert the whole INTO a ncbua that would take 5OOOOoOO
years cool This is decidedly an Improvement on ihe
cold nCbula. But tA,s suppOscs that the cOnpOhcht
halves. before they started on their way 70 col
were MOVING @ bdoreRand at the rate Of 2O2 miles
per second, and that tins speed was added 10 Wnat
they got ny grayitatng toward each other; then we
get, when they struck. nchula extending beyond Ne
tune ana with heat enough for sun Of ears
duration II you insist upon 2OoOtDOVo YOU must slNo
the original masses speed OF GIG miles per sc'ohu'
beforehand. II viii be objected that no such mo'lOn
has been observed in space Even the planets 40 nnt
make such time; the earth, for instance gong only
diS% 5hS%S ha 55eS 5Ss asccraea M i travel very nca o
But Professor Cro says the hNei stars are tuoSe uat
have gone through the collision process ana e
motion. Tie new hypothesis goes behind the ordinary
ncbnl1r theory IN point Of time giving explanation
for tie formation of the nebuie But II prcsuplOs's
that there may De vast cold inyDie masses 0I mater
rushing through space with srch velocity 'hat thet mere
would convert globe into red hot gases ana
not Incompatible with the sudden nahis oat o, a h CM
star ITS conversion into nebua, as seems 10 nave
facts in that remarkable probably not known
Professor Crol at the time mis- essay was written
The postpOnement of the Woodruff Scientific
Fxpedton till next NAV seems to have been resolved
upon rather suddenly. within few days previous to the
announcement Of the change of plan, tue expectation OF
departure during the present month was encouraged
The mode of development of deers' antlers
formed the subject Of a valuable delivered By Pro
fessor Theodore Gi before the National Academy or
Sciences at meeting. The following were the
chief conclusions reached Antler drc horuike appen
dages Of frontal processes peculiar to the deer, degel
oped periodically and cOncOmitanty with the sexual or
gans chiefly males either simple spikes or with
tendency bifurcation, especially but not exclusive
Isl in the direction Of greatest or axlal growth The
notifications of antler and their contour in the yar
Gus forms of the family chiefly dependent on and de-
ternined by the diverse exhibitions OF this tendency, and
examples fsevera kinds furnished by the genera
Cervus Carflcus (also Rusa, Pudu ard Elaphurus As
is generally known all the deer the antets OF the first
year. at least simple spikes In Pudua the antlers
remain simple and never bifurCate In Cervus, the d.
recton Of growth il continuously upward and backward,
and dchotOmization takes place from the hindinost
prong Of the preceding year. the antlers being dhren
tated however into posterior beams" and anterior
brow-anters" In Cariacus the direction OF greatest
growth detected and the main axis continuous sub
spiraly into the homooues OF the anterior up
Tendency In Elayhuris the direction Of PRINCIPAL
growth Is upward from tac base and forward ana the
terror beng homOosou with the brow anil-rs Of CeryGs
and iunctonaly usrpns the place o. me man one, ana
(2) the pOsicIIor being correspOndlngy reduced ana
thrown backward
Canaioharie, in this State, boasts the posses
sion of relic, recently found below the surface IN
making an excavation. Its Size strange to Say, is not
given the newspaper accounts The stone Is believed
20 be very ancient aud carved in shape that is said 10
bear close resemblance 70 the Egyptian SphynX Per
haps, too, it may present a perpetual riddle
In the course of Professor ROOd's researches
respecting colors Of which account recently
given in tue report OF the proceedings OF the National
Academy OF Sciences he obtained numerical value for
the luminosity different nts The results are as fol-
lows: White paper being estimated haynga lumnos-
fly OF 100, vermilliOn has 23.S blue-Sreen 1906
chrone-yellow sO3 cObaltblue 1888. green 4l19 pur
pie 1883 The vermilliOn spread the paper in
thick paste The blue-reen consisted OF mixture Of
emer4d-green and cobaltblue, applied in thick paste
The chrome-yelow was The pale kind. and applied
In series OF washes after the manner of watercolor
paintnr Tie cObaltblue applied in the same way
as tie clrOne-vellOw. The green mixture OF
emerald-green and chrOme-yellOw, applied as thick
paste The purple was an anihne color
From statements made at a meeting Of the
California Academy Sciences, the eucalyptus tree
may enumerated among the means for checking fire
Eucalyptus shingles said u be hreproof tree
of this species was exposed to the san Francisco fire Of
1876 and is still nourshng The notion Is urged that
the spread Of fires in cities could be checked by setting
out such trees for shade and ornament All varieties OF
the eucalyptus said to possess this valuable pro
perry.
The city of Providence. Il. l., is excited con-
cerning its waterworks a Cornish steam engine IN use
which is estimated have S5sOOOO Is SAID to be
cracked and disabled. As preliminary 10 giving the
public an education In respect TO watei-works and eng
neerng that intelligent measures shall be hereafter
adopted The ProreHce Erenng Press has issued an Illus
traded extra" containing descriptive history OF the
invention Of tie Cornish engine beginning with
traed Probably the moral TO be enforced is TO buy
somebody's pump.
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