The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-05-06
Some Grave Reflections on the Sa-
hara Ocean Problem.

The Baltimore SIN. ordinarily grave and
sedate journal. thus jocularly treats this sub.
jeet;
The proposition Of NJ. de Lesseps to inun-
date Sahara from the Mediterranean has been
deliberately discussed in its several economic
and climatic bearings By unscientifc persons
who have evidently been too deeply interested
in the commercial considerations Of the sub
iecs TO look II IL in the light Of eoSmogony. II
Is an indisputabe fact that the earth Is At pres.
ent in state 81 perfect equilibrium, and that il
did not attain this equilibrium until afteE cons
Of unrest. during which volcanic fires ripped
up is continents, and the seas .'sloshed'
around. 10 use a vulgar bat expressive phrase.
without any order or regularity. In fact. the
moon, which Is now so quiet and mellifineui
in It's way, was once volcanic formation IN
eorporated in the earth physical structure,
and Il i only within the brief period OF some
Eve hundred thousand millions Of years that
il blew itself up into It's present orbit and
cooled Of. NJ. de Isesseps proposes now to
do something which. according 20 the pro
found and well. settled principles laid down by
all the astronomers, from SIR VIM. Herschel
10 Prof Proctor. NAV at once destroy the
equilibrium Of the earth, II NOS Of the solar
system. and perhaps the universe. That va
ter viii ran down hill. unless It's damned ap,
i a proposition which hydraulic engineers
Sil take pleasure IN demonstrating IN the
most elaborate manner 10 any gentleman Who
may entertain a doubt upon the subject II
the Desert Of Sahara Is, ~ some believe, four
hundred and fly feet below the plane Of mean
tide in the Mediterranean on the coast Of Al
gers. canal enc hundred feet vide and ~
teen feet deep through the Alias mountains
wauld in two months, fourteen days and four
and a-halg hours, under sufficient bead and
without obstruction, exiaasi into the Sahara
depression the entire present wafer supply Of
the Mediterranean and begin 70 draw upon
the resources Of the Atlantic oeeaH- The de
preston in which lies the desert, which i one
thousand bv three Thousand miles in extent,
or more than the whole area ef the Mediser.
ranean, i not boarded b. the confines Of the
desert itself, hnt extends over IA aggregate
AREA Of 5000, 900 square miles The weight
Of . enbic foot Of water being estimated AZ 81
pounds, the total weight Of tAs new Sahara
ocean, therefore, according 20 the formula
adopted Al Oxford and Johns Hopkins uni-
versisies in estimating the weight Of the star
indicating the first point IN Ares, would b.
3. 945, 900. coo. 600. OCo. 600 pounds, which y
le7, 250. Ol0, 600 600 tons. The immensely Of
this weight viii he more readily conceived Il
reduced 10 ounces by the usual formula EN-
ployed in primary school Ne. 1. II VAL 81
once be seen that with this Irodigious aqueous
volume suddenly injected into equatorial Al
riea, the centre of gravity would become de-
nsoralized, the velocity Of the eaFth's rotation
increased, and the ocean Of Sahara. instead Of
being a placid inland sra upon which the
fleets 81 Senator Gorman might ride in safety
while carrying cheap coal 70 the grateful in
habitants of the torTid zone. would bulge out
ike a vast mountain Of azure liquid OF, %
employ q more beautiful though less magnih-
cent smile, il would, 10 the man in the moon,
seem 10 hang like big drop Of water upon
the under surface % an ahnoFmally large soap
bubble. As the earth continued TO revoiye
under these circumstances, but one result
could ensae Within tweuty-four hours the
ocean Of NJ de Lesseps would rise into the air
and assume the shape Of ring around the
earth. like the interior ring Of Saturn, and our
orb would become the second wonder Of the
planets, while NJ de lesseps would have IN
expecsedly reached the summit Of his ambition
in the contemplation Of a sapra-terressFial
canal. extending, like the girdie Of Puck.
around the world. Should the earth cease TO
reyolve, however, il is impossible, in tie pres
ent crude state Of scientific research, to say
whether il would fall into the sun or become
comet, OF what would become Of NJ de
Lesseps.