West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-01-29

and not seismic. though il is ascertained
that seismic movement ~ the sea hot.
tom occurred in the whole region ~ the
Moluccss. At the s,une time EARTH
ouskes were fvlt in Australia, aud these
movements are supposed 70 result from
connection between the suht,,rrg,ncau
rvceSScs which lie between KrakatOa
aud Australia. The theory OF the crup.
ton put forward is that OF the sudden
inHuN OF large bodies Of water prob
ably the ocean to masses OF incandcs-
ceut o,atter in the nvighborhood of the
old Volcano
The whole theory requires revision
OF some OF the suppositiuns concerning
the thickness OF the earth's crust MIR
Nerbcek holds to the doctrine of CEN
trail fire. II Is certainly necessary &.
state, and his facts go to show that we
are really less removed from il than
may seem comfortable. What trMds
strongly to demonstrates the inst ability
of the orusts is tho CNtvnt OF the dis.
turbanco caused by the outbreak Of
Krakntoa. In some wN\s il WAS felt
over the whole earth, the explosions
were actually heard OV,T an area
amounting tn Onc-fOWth of the earlh'S
surface, while tho nir-WAvC caused trav-
clcd all round the globe and back to
Krakntoa. The great tidal wave which
followed tho principal explosions WAS
not caused, IL is now held, b. earth
qunk shocks, but siupiy by the pro-
lection into tn" scN of enormous masscs
OF mHtt,r. including one sdc of the
crater itself, and The profuSe dis
charges from IT, MIR V,rheel; has oal.
Culatcd That at least eighteen cubic
kilOmUtrrs OF matter must have been
,jectnd, and Nature gi,rs this ilustra-
ton; "imnpiue II box of ashes as large
0s Hl do PARK and ns high as the domc
of St Paurs, Il hundred such boxes viii
give an idea of the mass Of matter
thrown out by Krakntoa IN 1898"
Tho elevation reached hy the rjncted
ashes is estimated No II kilomctors
or nearly six times the height OF Mount
Everest, tn" highest mountain i'm the
world Mr.. Vcrbcek attributes the red
sunsets to tn" presence in the air Of tho
finer PARTICLES Of the dust. toertherw,tn
aqueous vapOr. These PARTICLES he be-
licvcs made the circuit of tho earth
twice, being carried westward by
strong east Winds lnasmuch ms the
same kinI of red sunsets have been OBJ
served Hs rcCcntiy as Tia" fall OF 1885. il
u.s. however, difficult TO accept the OK
planation as sufficient. The theory
that Tia" volcanic dust has remained in
atmospheric suspension FOR two ycp,s
and - half is hardly tcnob'e. After the
eruption the sea was covered with
pumicc thickly. Some ~ this was chr
ried ms hr as tho east coast Of Africa
another portion isn't present encounter
cd in the Pacific Ocean. between tho
Caroline and Mrshnll Islands: md The
author calculates that this pumice viii
reach the American coast Mt Panama in
1896.
While Mr.. Verbepk has made most
important contribution TO tho literature
Of a. very interesting subject, 1t is not
TO BE- supposed that the volcanic or the
seismic probl"ms arc solved by him.
He hns indeed gathered data which
supports the theory Of central fire.
and the belief tl.at the crust a the
globe is thinner than commonly sup
posed. There are, however many IN
cXplicahlr points. and reasonable
probability is the most that can be
ciAimed for the inf'rences drawn from
the phenomena Of the great Krakatoa
eruption. N y. IriJuRc.