The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-07-11
OF WHAT USE ARE VOLCANOES ?

OF WHAT USE ARE VOLCANOES
Those who have given little or no atten-
ton to volcanoes and volcanic action would
naturally come to the conclusion that, how.
ever ornamental a volcano may be when in
action, il is at no time useful, and should be
regarded with alarm when entirely quies-
cent indeed, history affords abundant evil
dence that volcanoes pronounced extinct
suddenly revive, spreading desolation and
death far and near. 1t is said that volca-
noes seemingly dead are, in many cases
merely dormant, while others historically
active, may be said, In point of fact, to have
spent their fires and TO have entered upon a
period of inviolable repose. ''The day before
the destruction of POmpeii," says a writer,
''the crater of Vesuvlus was vine clad am
phitheater, and that not even legend OF
ravage was connected with the mountain
Tomboro, IN the East Indian island of Sum
para, when it awoke in 1915 from a slumber
of perhaps thousands of years" and the same
is substantially true of Ceboruco, in
Mexico, (which first revealed = its
true character by violent
eruption in 1870" 1t Is said that there are
on.the globe 329 active volcanoes, and inves-
tigation reveals the fact that, though they
occasionally commit fearful devastatons,
they are of inestimable use to the world
The theory is that the interior OF the earth
contains vast store of heat. Observation
shows the progressive rlse OF temperature
with increasing depth OF descent into the
''unexplored profundities beneath our feet,
and an average of ''innumerabIe ex-
periments give rate of increase Of one de-
gree Fahrenheit for every sixty-four
feet of depth below the surface Such ex-
periments lead to the conclusion that the
center of the earth is still liquid fire. The
diameter of the earth is given at s 900 miles;
hence it is 4. 600 miles from surface 10 center.
But at the increased rate of temperature
given, before One-twentieth part Of this dis
lance has been overcome the effective tenn
perature of the sun-1S. 900 degrees-would be
reached temperature at which any known
substance would, under ordinary atmospheric
pressure, be Instantly volatalized." If these
volcanoes serve as vents for such intense
interior heat, il must be conceded that they
are useful TO an extent quite out OF reach of
human estimate, and the inhabitants of the
earth can well afford to take all the chances
of eruptions and earthquakes rather than the
possibility of universal wreck. A Review
writer, however, brings forward other proof
showing the use of volcanoes. 1t is said that
''the separation Of the dry land from the
waters ordained in the beginning, does not
subsist without struggle. Hour by hour,
moment by moment an unceaslng warfare oil
sea with soil is being wsged under the sun
and under the stars. All the untiring ener-
gies OF ocean have for countless ages been
directed toward the re-engulfment of the
continents and islands raised by an adverse
power from its bosom. And its eventual
triumph appears at first sight assured. Every
smiling wave that ripples on sandy beach
bears away its tiny grain of victory. The
bluster of the pillows as they thunder against
the rock of an iron-bound coast is nc
braggartsmenace. Notone of the host deliver:
his buffet in vain, OF retires, though shat
tered, into Intellectual foam without
having fulfilled its destined task of destruc
tion. Wherever sea meets shore over the en-
tire terraqueous globe, the same agencies are
ut work. Nor do they work alone. Sun
ain. frost, lend potent aid; the trickling Of
very rill, the flooding Of every river helps Il