, 1884-09-10
THE EARTH's CRUST.
Pent-Up Forces Underneath Us Which
Sometimes Get Uneasy.
The Latest Convictions of Scientific
Students Concerning the Pc
euIiar Features of Earth
quRkes-Theoriea.

Pros. George IL Merriman OF Rutgers col.
Lego, New Brunswick, has made the crust Of
the ear.h a stuig and has writtan on the
subject. Hs aid ga Fecent lecture.
While facts enough regarding The extent
Of ihs c%arthluake Il SUNDAY have not come
y hnnd TO enable ms b ,geak ou the dIrec-
ton Of tbs earth savs o. IL peculiar
features g. eollI.l..d with other earthquakes,
Jet Something may b said d 70 ths latest
convictions u nr OF science on the
mature Of tho eardi below ths POINT any man
oal snetrat5. Thai mas lead u 70 guess
intslilsntiy AZ the eau ii -urthquakea
-Aou know the long 'eiyei theory u the
nature II tie intsriof II tbs earth was that il
Is a mu'ten H1ss -wi bat We move around
on a crust 10 -~igp-s tie earth and caused
by tn coolnls 90 ai iul- iuas- Ou the onlsido.
" 3D. undoubtedly tni9 that about thirty
mile tt.a~ rhe rlfil auriac- the : mpen-
ture b. - hisu thai 1serythinc !. IN n melted
condition. No ano~ fiir- beH..us~ we havs
lnu.oi .hni egcr3 nfty fsst We panrlrats
into thf earth there j. an increa~- of fsmpern-
tsrs o. about : degree and a. = distance OF
thirty mle~ the heat is - great lhat any sub
stance Ne know 81 yualt melt rerhApS the
melted mrs, g. in ihr form OF tt liquid. That
would b. ruta.. hut Tor tho immense pres
giTu ou IL. The pressure Is estiniffci 81 TO-
unl tons un 70 square foot. OF cour a. scientific
men auIo' rAl rInent with matter at "A
nigh temperature with a pr-ssui, OF 1000
toms b. a riuHrr loot, - We cnn uniy gueiE
puai nay Doc il ambition. Ia talking about
This melted mas thirty miles under us the
term water distance Is used by geolosistg.
How great l. the distance through this
wat-F substance we do not know, hut it Is
c.itam that is density increase more and
rior,, gradually until the interior OF the
earth Is Slid, probably, from tho inconceiv-
aLlc pressure 1000, 1000. or 5000 miles from
he surface Sir William Thompson har
demonstrated that the earth must have
core much dens o. than the hand nnd winter
We live Oh. He points out tho fact that II a
elell uuly iitffy miles thick surrounding a
molten liquid mas extending from one side
OF tho inrth through the center to the other
side then the moon, through the law of
gravitltiun, would displaco the liquid or gus
Ia the interior Of the earth TO such an ex
tent that thu eurth's crust would bulge out
In the direotipn OF tho moon, making a lido
In the solid crust OF the earth, as certainly
a. tho skin OF an orange bulges out when
you squeeze tho fruit between the palms Of e
your hands And this would be ev dent TO
Us because the ocean tides would h. almost,
II not quite, imperceptible to Us. TO with
stand tho attraction OF the moon. the earth.
Sir William savs. must b. AS rigid a. steel.
$50 eo have the theory that the crust Of
IA. earth lonts on and imposes an Immense
Wa.rht on "a water substance, which Is inron-
c+isatiy hot. Now. az 10 the way au earth
,iasr mny 10 caused. Suppose moisture
u.calel RADICALLY, year after year, through
ilastIti.t int, no heated mas In Our at
ilo,phens steatn would lie produced. Thirty
mikes below u, Tbs pressure Is - great that it
Is not likoly that steam could IL generated.
One thing, though; the pressure Of 1000
tons 10 tho -qunr, foot, a pressure exerted In
every direction, would 10 increased. Some
eGsrt must be produced down there, and it "a
easy 10 see that II one place in The earthis
crust l. weaker than another near the region
where thr water trickled IN. then tbs weakest
place mist stan tho strain 1t Is not un-
reasonable to suppose that this pressure be-
low might be 80 great that the earth's cover
inc was shifted little 10 adapt itself to the
pressure FROM below. This shifting Of tho
crust Is, in fact, the earthquake.
Il believe this theory has the greater
reason on it, side, because earthquakes arc
almost always In the region Of volcanoes, and
volcanoes arc almost always in or near the
ocean.
Another theory of earthquakes Is that as
the earth Is very gradually cooling oR the
crust is thickenlng ON tho under side, and
cracks or fssurci on the under side Of the
crust many miles deep may occuf In conso-
quence Of the enormous pressure, so that the
water substance rm hiss into a new position
with a force that would knock u continent
out OF shape II it took place on the earth's
surface. That notion would to sufficient to
produce a vibration thirty miles distant P
Whatever the causes of the earthquake en-
Sunday" added Professor Merriman, u
think the earth In the region where 1t took
place has either settled into a new position or
is forced back into an old position, from
which It Nas pushed by former earth
quHkes.H