, 1879-01-11

HOW THE ALPS WE'RE FORMED.
Mr.. j. ". Judd. F. Il. g., Professor Of Neolo-
gy 1t the ROYAL Sehool OF Mines. Cayc the Mon
day lecture at the London Institution two
wrecks ago, hs subject being tho formation Of
tho Swiss Alps. The rcStilts Of geological OBJ
scrvsttnns arc, hs the lecturer pointed out. that
four Stages can he recognized III tho history Of
these Alps. First, tho existence Of line Of
weakness In the eartll's crust nearly coincfdent
with the line OF tho psesent mountains. Thls
IL evidenced by the fact TINT n!unG this 1nn Of
weakness there weru volcanic outbursts, the
results Of which tan still he traced. Secondly,
there followed along this 1id6 Of weak
ncsa depression, and In this hugh through"
Of miles In extent there were accumulated
xanLs, lneRtoNcs, md c1uys by various tortns Of
water ngencies and by artu,nlh living In the va-
ters. rhiruly, there followed tile consolidation
Of thcse soft und loose fnatcrsals. There Is CYL
lenrc that tho accumulation Hns OF from six to
Rryen miles in thckrcss, and The mere weight
VI tho super1ieumbent uaaterial on the lower
Atrata would 1lnvc sharc tn ef!ectfHg conso1fda-
ton. Hut Ills WA not all. Under this vast COW
crInE heat had led TO capitalization from fuhlon.
Thern was, tou, the crushing In from thc Sides
uf the trough. This was illustrated bT model
OF tho latrsstr II. DO 1a Dccc, where lateral prcss
1lrc was employed OIL iayrrsof different coloEcd
cluth. showing ho" erunpsing resulted. wiih
uplifting of pusts of tho accumulated mass.
Fouethly. there Ind been tho seulnturuE ot all
1hts into i,a present toru which was tue work Of
rains a,Nl trosts. Some Of the existing peaks
Tho disintcgra,rd material resulting from tho
aetloh of the water, either aR leu IN glaciers OF
| rs rain and strca1ns. The amount ri nsateffal
| removed In this wnr was 30 stupru1ous II was
| almost staggering TO try tn Ernsp the farta. Ihe
sctilptnring u the coatours L. attli going. on.
| This fourth stage was OF auite recent date,
| epeakiuy Eco1ogitaly; but tue wholo history lu-
| yu.yed lapse vi tmn which at tlIe beginning III
-. 1,ns,
procured 10 grant, even II ihlK since acquired
| knowledge Of facts had been presented to them.
TIIF ORIGIN OF COMETS.
! In his theory Of the dcvclopm cut Of tho solar
syste.,, Klnt derives the comets from the sub
ktancu Of tlIe coudcnsiug solar uebula. lio r..
CARDS them ~ really planets, which, through
some disturbing cause, layn been forced out OF
ttcir normal orbit. On tho other hand, La
P!acu, ip worstng out his nrbllla hypothesis,
suppo,cs co,ncta to bc formed Of matter dis
perscl throughout the regions Of the liked stars,
md that tbetF origin has 10 relation u the SOLAR
peb,lla. .Arc NC In possession Of fncls which
raY warrant positive decision between these
two theories! This Inquiry l,as recently bean
siuilicl BY Prof. Scwtnu, who, tn recent num'
hcr Of the american .ivnr'tai of Sci
<7.cs aud .irfs. ilTst Indicates to conso.
ot ao tW1 tc0fss orr WIN fex1r
md thc,, compares tic actually ot.sryel paths
ut M1 r4,tlltts. The former nre represented by
The author IN two graphite curves anl when the
results nf observation arc nut tnto this sang
for II ts ut tIrst touud that the cursa thus hut
tiiiIess froll, both t!,u theoretical OURS. As,
however, thu known colhctA alt haYr thGlr pcrl,
hr,tun {t1at part Ut their orbit nearest tho auE]
wjtht,, tho orbit ri Mars, und afu exposed to
planetary disturbances, Fruf. Newton rafrulatsa
the Influence Ut iAesn disturbances, aud arrives
u. TIM result that Tho curve corresponding to
tu thu artuai c0IueturY paths IL thus brought
into Eousl ssEeu.ncnt will the Theoretical curve
draucel from In FIAre's hypothesis, whereas Il
ny,oihcsi.. Thus tho origin u rnn,c.s, 1t seems
1uuut bu placed tn lnter.telar space.