Morris tribune., 1882-12-21

ground that it was scriptual name
for such an animal, and referred to the
words "Moreovcr the dog &c. 1t
does not matter so much what the
name may be, SO long as that which
it represents is all right. "Ragnarok"
is the title which Mr.. Donuelly has
selected for his latest work, and which
we have had the pleasure of pcrusm%.
Personally unknown to Mr.. ponnelly,
we seem to know him by his book.
Speak" said the old philosopher,
''that may see thee Mr.. Donnelly
has written, and we are acquainted
somewhat with the truer part OF him,
his mind. Thus We gather from his
preferences for the Dcuay version OF
the Bible, in his comments en- the
book of job, that he leans toward the
Roman Communion. 1t may easily
he perceived, also, tIlat he tuvors the
ideas OF the evolut;oniSts and does not
think those views antagOnistic 10 TO
ligious feeling. Il is also very evident
that he does uut beiitvc shakespeare
to be the author Of those plays which
go by his name; but whether he would
os.ril,a tl.n, :, I,r.,nci. Rac,n ur ii,
w.lt.r R,la;ub ,r ,nn otha, s;nwla
individual, is not implied. But to the
book
rrber,, ,re SOM. Lo,,,. like son,e in
di,.i,iu.l, ,ou .,,n ,.nnv. than, f,l,
r,oro : ,,,t ,u,.I ,l,nou rbo or-
nario,o,.d ra,d.r lool,. ,t f.,,. ,,r..
and t.l,as tban in ,t , uiarcn rlis i.
mot ga with R.wn,r,i, # first ,vn
did moi know u.h.thcr # Was am ,t-
ton,nt y fter tba m,,;nar If Iul,s T.run
tha r,n,,ncist nf sr;oncn ar som.thiu;.
foIlowi,~ in tho v,lsa Of Fiuuicr or
Iubboc,z II i rnither and vet il
nartakes of the character of both For
If is os eaav raadinr os-,nd to Ms
much easier readiuv ,}an-p,o,,v nov
els and a great deal more satisfactory,
Mr. Donnallv holic~os that the .scYpat
drift " the sand gravel and clov which
covers tbe str,titiaI rocl, far hpneoth
us-the drift on which we live, through
which we cut our RAILWAYS, and in
which wa shall he ultimately hur;p.I. is
the result Of comets s'sweepn oyeythe
earth. The various views adopted bv
the scientists are examined. and most
fairly Dut bv the author. He shows
their Inconsistencies, Ice could not
be the cause of this wondrous drift:
Waves would not account for it:
Glaciers could not accomplish it; Con-
tinental ice sheets would be made
ouate to produce it. His theory is
that if is the result of 4 cataclvsm and
that again is from a passing comet "the
tail of which is composed of stones and
sand. the finely comminuted particles
of stones ground off bv ceaseless attri-
tion.n
Mr.. Donnellv gives us the history of
the world in paragraph. He leaps
over the chasms of history. 1t is as
though he went with "a hop, skip and
a iumpn over the continent Of Amari-
CO, from tne Atlantic 10 the Pacific,
from New York to San Francisco.
It is agreed that this globe of ours
was at first a gaseous mass: as it cooled
il condensed like a cooling steam
into a liuuid mass: it became in time
a molten globe of red hot matter. As
if cooled still further. a crust or shell
formed around it like the shell formed
on an eru and on this crust we dwell.
-rpave ~
The comet accoyIino TO Mr. Dounal-
! w. has mich 10 answer for 80 fnr as
this little u,obe Of oir, i concerned
The comet caused the drift. The COM
Of caused the "Foll OF n,an.u The
comet c,used his destruction. # d.-
stroved tba citias of tho Mai, r.
sunL Atlantis where now the Atlantic
rolls It burned Chicapo: il devast,-
tod Wisconsin,. if swent with destruc-
five force over Nichiran. and caused
fr;obtfnl loss in Illinois Ng dom
nelly was in minnesota at the time of
these mysterious fires. but sThere was
q marched comhustible infIammahIe
fnrnaoe |, lte feeling in the oir that was
raallv alornino IT. felt as if tbera
wore needed but q match and . shark
to oouse . world wido exn1o.i,, T.
was weird and unnatural. y Page 41IL
We sbould not he s1rnrised to hoa,
if the recent great fire in London bv
which 25 million dollars, worth Of
nronortv- was destrovad were attr;h-
ntad to the switch Of the comct,s tai,
and who knows nerhans tba comet
had something to do with the recent
disos+o, Of ATorr;sr So far ss o,,,
,,,+,,o,. ig 80 oonoorned bo oon nn,ao -
vor,, stro,o s.rhe comet has bronobt
dootb into tho world and all o,r woe u,