Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-09-13
The MANY Earthouake Theories.

The lamentable failure of scientific men
to provide satisfactory solution of the
earthquake phenomena leaves the most
OF mankind quite free to frame their own
theories concerning them in entire conf
dence that they are as likely as anybody
to be right about it, and about as certain
to be wrong. We seem to be going back
ward In our knowledge, in these days, of
the world and its movements, or learning.
at least, that we know less than we
thought we did. Professor Rush, of our
county, finds that the accepted laws of
celestial motion are wrong and the Rus
sian Krapotkin claims TO have made a dis.
covery akin to this before he committed
suicide.
We used to be taught in our schools, and
prQeAbly the same thing is yet generally
taught, that the earth was once molten
mass and that it is still molten in the Gen.
tire, the lapse of ages having only cooled
down matter of fifty or hundred miles
OF the crust. This molten centre was
supposed to have the volcanoes
for its chimneys, and earthquakes
were the result of the slowness of
the chimneys to let out the confined
: gases. There was no particular reason
! that we know of why the earth should
be considered 10 be molten, save that the
lava the volcano emits is so; and there
seems to be no greater reason for believing
that the lava comes from the earth's centre
than there is for supposing that the gas we
have comes thence; and no one has
ever yet suggested that gas, bursting out
OF the earth with great force, may from its
nature,be more nationally supposed to have
come from its innermost bowels than the
volcanoes solid lava. If the earth wa
ever molten mass it is reasonable to con.
clude that as it has cooled on the surface il
has cooled all the way through and Their.
is no trouble about giving it all the time il
needs for the cooling process. Men of sci.
ence take all the time they want for the
work of the worlds creation. A few mil.
lions or billions of years, more or less, are O,
no possible consequence TO them. And as
I 1t il conceded that the earth is cooled off
for hundred miles down, we can affirm
L that the cooling process is done with and
- there is a polar coldness down at tht
- 81; and we find it getting cooler a,
20 down. 1t may even be that iceberg,
are floating through it from pole to pole,
- the author of the famous hole theory
declared. There is no denying any theory
aeont Il, as We do not have any knowledge
with which TO knock it down though that
donotiess seems extravagant enough.
The earthquake used to be the stropo
srgdment for the molten centre theory
since II seemed to need something extraor
dlnary OF that kind to account for the com
motif n; and it was a plausible explanatio,
that the pent-up gases caused it in seekin
Z their way out through the volcano exit
though it has never been satisfactorily e,
planned why they do not keep on comm
\ out after they have once found their wa,
and conduct themselves quietly into Il
outer air through their chimneys, as Il
gases OF our hearth fires do. The molte
centre would keep up constant gas ere
ton II It kept up any, and the volcanoe
shoald he always active while this cond