Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-05-05
Pr !ii>tnr;t 2i.,,s.


~ present t:3r moon j. 3iJ. 400 miles
h,3}: h,,i ii.r,. MIS- : tim. when the
moon u;'~ o'il uu"-.iNlh i.art Of this. or
II i'tFa' :lii", away. ThHt time mus
j. w. r"rf'~i"!i t" -nn,r geological
,je'rh. l. mal have been cari:er than
t.- time nh'r ErIa"n lived. II is mor>
lih"il 10 :al,' i.,r'n la.rr. / uant 80 point
p'J; Tia, hen lhr illrnn v - only iO.tso
miles away. w. had in !; a "toiooicat
engine of tran-,1nl,n' ..pl,rr. If the
present tales he tlirr,. i.,i. aad If the
earlier fades lr PIG tir..- their present
amount. then il is pla that The, ancient
tides must have been GiN feet.
There can l,, no ,louh that in ancient
times tides of this amount a,y' even
tide, very much larger must have occllr-
red. ask the gcolo@i-IS to take account,
Of thr-,. facts, and to consider the e:ic,i
Tidal rise and fall of 6iS feet twirr
every day. Dwell for one momrni on 'hr
sublime spectacle uf Il Idle 6lS feet hiuh.
and So latSin agent it would he for
the performance nf geological work. We
are now staining. l suppose. some jnG
feet above The level ot tlr >'l. The sea
is a good many miles from Hirninclam,
Vet il the rise and fell n the coasts were
i.o feet. birmingham might he a. great
4 seaport a~ !.iyrrp"ol l'hrcr-,pIar'rrs
tide would bring the ~"r into the streets
Of Birmingham. Al high tide there
would b" about ljU feet OF blue water
over "uc heads. Every h,nl," would
he covered ami ,h'. tops III Il frw china
nr|s would alone indira!,. the >ilr nf the
town.
In Il few hours more the whole of ,hi.
vast food would have rrtrcatrd 81
only would il leave England hig!, and
dry. hut probably the Straits nf Dover
would be 'Iraiii'd. and perhaps even ire
land would in Il literal sense become a
member "f the United Kingdom Afrw
hour, pass, and the Whole of England is
again inundated. hut only again to he
abandoned.
These mighty Tide, are the rift which
astronomers have now made tu the work
in% machinery of the gcolo@i>t. They
c"noiit'it" 9n nrn"nr OF terrific power To
aid in the great work of geology, What
would th"puny efforts of water in other
way accomplish when compared with
thr>r majestic tides and the great cur
rents they prndrcrr
In tn" great prim"val tides will pr"ba-
bly, be found cr\planation of what has
long been Il rrpr"lrll Ia geology. The
early palrUzoic rocks form Il >iupcndou>
mass of occan-'uadr beds. which. accord
inT tn Professor Williamson. are twenty
miles thick up t" the top of the >ilurian
beds. il lr> long been Il difficulty 10
conceive now such II gigantic quantity
of material could have been ground up
and d"pn>itcd at tin. bottom Of the sea
Th:' g"olori>tS said: - The rivers and
other agents of the present day will do
il ii You give them time enough. But.
unfortunately. the mathrmaticianS and
the natural philosophers would not give
then: 'in'" enough. and they ordered she
.'eto"i~i~ to = hurry up their phrnomc-
na. Tn" mathematicia,- had other
reasons for helicvin" that the earth could
not have been so Old H. the "cologi>ts
demanded. Now. however. the mathc-
matician> have discovered t!t' new and
>tuprndoH> tidal grinding-rnginc. With
Til, powerful aid the gruloTi>t~ can get
through their work in reasonable
period of time. and the grologistS and
the maiirmaiicianS max he H. oncilcd.
-Lcci"rc by Professor Bail. u Engtand