The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1882-05-06

regularity. In fact, the moon which
now so quiet and melliluent in
rs way, was once volcanic formation
incorporated in the earth's physical struc,
ture, and II il only within the brief period
of some five hundred thousand millions Of
years that it blew itself up into its present
orbit and cooled of NJ de LeSscpS pro-
poses now to do something which, accord
ing to the profound and well settled prlnci-
pies laid down by all the astronomers, from
Sir William llerschcl 10 Professor Proctor
may at once destroy the equilibrium 81 the
earth, if no. of the solar system, and per
haps the universe The water will run
down hill, unless It is damned M, is a pro
position which hydraulic engineers will
take pleasure in demonstrating in the
most elaborate manner to any gen
tleman who may entertain n doubt
upon the subject. Ii the Desert of
s .hara il, as some believe, four hundred
and fiitv feet below the plane of mean tide
in the Mediterranean on the coast of Al
gicIs, Il canal one hundred feet wide and if
teen feet deep through the Atlas mountains
would in two months, fourteen days and
four and half hours, under sufficient head
and without obstruction, exhaust into the
Sahara depression the entire present water
supply of the Mediterranean and begin to
draw upon the resources of the Atlantic
ocean. The depression IN which lies the
desert, which Is one thousand by three
thousand miles in extent. or more than the
whole area of the Mediterranean, is
not bounded by the confines of the
desert itself, ',n' cv'nnds over
a. aggregate area of 5,0)O,COci
square miles the" sht GA cube loot
water being estimated at G2l mounds. the
total weight of the new Sahara ocean.
therefore, according to the formula adopted
al oxford and John Hopkins universities in
estimating the weight of the star indicating
the first point in Aries, would he 3,9lj 400,
coo coo, 600 600 pounds, which is l97 ,27O, 900
OO,OOO tons. The immensely Of this weight
Will be more readily conceived il reduced TO
ounces by the usual formula employed in
primary school books. 1t will at once be
seen that with thisprOdigiouS aqueou. vol
ume suddenly injected into equatorial
Africa, the centre OF gravity would become
demoralized, the velocity Of the carths ro-
tation increased, and the ocean of Sahara,
instead Of being a placid inland sen upon
which the fleets of Senator German might
ride in safety while Carrying cheap coal
TO the grateful inhabitants of the torrid
zone, would bulge out like a vast
mountain of azure liquid; or, to employ
more beautiful though less magnificent
smile, it would, to the man in the moon,
seem to hang like IA big drop Of water upon
the under SUFFICE of an abnormaly large
soap bubble. AS the earth continued to re-
volre under these circumstances, but one
result could cnsue; Within twenty four
hours the ocean of NJ. de Lcsscps would
rise into the air and assume the shape of
ring around the earth, like the intcriorrin
of Saturn, and our orb would become the
second wonder of the planets, while NJ. de
lcsseps would have Unexpectedly reached
the summit of his ambition in the contem-
plation of supra.tcrrcs rial canal, extend
ing. like the girdlc of Puck around the
world. Should the earth cease to reyolvc,
however, it is impossible, in the present
crude state of scientific research, to saw
whether 1t would Al into the sun or he.
come comet, or what would become of NJ.
de Lessons