The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1886-09-09
THE CAt ST or EARTHQt AXES
REV. DIR. =. !. YATES GIVES HIS
THEORY.
me General Inquiry Now - " hat au-
>e> Earthquakes,"---R Read VI hat Dr.
atc> Says About II.

III bFI'i Is foAOWS- Inc gIObe Was once
50 intensely hot rs TO be in a melted con
dltlon. In cooling upon its surface a crust
was formed which increased III thickness
untll AT the present time its depth is e>ti-
mated all the way from 2G to 40 miles.
Taking the highest estimate, aud remem-
berlug that the radius of the earth in
round numbers is about 1 600 miles, we
have left for the depth of the internal
ocean Of melted matter 3 $50 miles The
tidal influence of the moon upon this
Welding ocean would be very great and
the wave thus produced would find out
lets through the crust at the points of
least resistance, that is to say, al the pla
ces where there was the greatest weakness
caused bk fractures. and thus producing
ToIcanoeS; and the falling III of masses
producing waves in the internal ocean of
melted matter imparting their motion to
jhe crust If the earth, and thus causing
thc earth TO quake This theory has been
exploded by such able scientists as Thomp-
son, Hopkins. Darwin Mullett, Winchell
and Others.
There can bc no serious question of the
fact that the earth was once in Il state of
fusion; but such Il globe could not cool
upon its surface To the extent Of forming
a crust such as the above theory suppOses.
The laW Of the cOnNc ION OF heat would
surface and conline, without means of eS-
cape, the internal heat When the slow
process of cooling began, two currents
were set in motion by the well known law
OF convection. the upward current of heat
10 the surface and the down current of
| cold, and these would be exactly equal,
and from the centre of the mass. What
ever film of limited area might be formed
would be Immediately broken up and pre-
| cpitated and this process OF cooling
from the centre would go on until the
state of rigidity of the whole mass was
reached, which would catch or set, rs it
We're, many OF these crust masses, thus
giving the globe the appearance of having
been shattered and then brought together
again Bat it Will be asked, upon the
theory that the earth is 4 solid mass ana
no Internal ocean of melted matter, how
| do YOU account for the red hot matter
| poured cut of volcanoes
Let us consider this a little more par
| ticularly. That there is melted matter
| beneath the surface Of the earth no one
can doubt, for through the openings IN the
earth made by its own force 1t has poured
| itself out upon the surface until in some
instances rivers of red-hO matter We're
| formed one mile wide and forty miles
| long. For various reasons, not necessary
| do not agree with some eminent writer's
| who suggest that there may be zone of
melted matter some distance beneath the
surface too shallow to be solidied by
pressure and too deep to cool. This would
| give. if true a solid nucleus surrounded
| by zone of melted matter, and floating
upon this the crust of the earth, all of
which is incompatible with known phe-
nomena The existence of melted matter
t,1
at various places and at different depths,
may be accounted for in one or both Of
| two ways.
a. Chemical action at certain depths
| would produce heat, and this accelerated
| by water tiltering or percolating through
| the strata of earth would, it is conceivable,
produce, if given sufficient time, a state of
| fusion.
(2.) It is known that sufficient pressure
| or weight will sOlidify melted matter. For
| this reason the earth from the centre to a
given point before reaching the surface
must be solid, no matter how hot Heat
melts matter by piercing between and
| separating the particles. Weight over
! comes the heat and presses the particles
| back into solidity. 1t is conceivable there
| fore and probable, that at different points,
| a few miles beneath the surface, where,
| from le slow proce IS of earth cooling and
shrinking, a favorable condition is found,
| the lateral joined with the perpendicular
pressure produces fusion or melting of the
matter. We could suppose therefore that
| the immense weight Of mountain ranges
| would produce in their neighborhood the
| necessary conditions of fusion, and there
| fore through their tilted strata an outlet
| is found for lava.
| We reach then no cause of earthquakes
| in any supposed igneOuS condition of the
| earth, only to a very limited extent, as
| almost any explosion at or near the earth's
| surface will produce a tremOr of the ad ia
cent parts. 1t remains, however, to be
| said in this connection that while earth
| quakes cannot be produced by any melted
matter within the earth, it is very plain
| that this matter may be elected by earth
| quakes, because they may more or less set
| in motion the local causes of VOLCANOES.
We recur to the question then, what is
the true cause of earthquakes? | believe
| the true cause will after awhile be found
| by scientists to be wholly electrical.
| am led TO this conclusion, as the true one,
more and more when | take into consider
alton the tremendous electric influences
which accompanied the recent terrible
earthquake Railroad bars, hinges and
other iron materials were magnetized, the
needles of compasses detected, and those
erected for determining the magnetic cur
rents of the earth were tremendously dis
turbed. Added to this was the whirring
| sound in the atmosphere, and the sensible
| electric shock felt by nearly every person.
| must apologize for the crudeness of
| the theory | advance, as our knowledge of
electricity is at best IN its infancy. 1t Is
| fairly presumable that electric diSturban-
| ces take place in the earth that are well
known to take place above the earth
| Nature makes a constant effort TO preserve
the equilibrium of her forces. The dis
| charges of electricity among the clouds IS
but an expression of this effort. This is
we'll understood We assume, therefore,
that something similar to this takes place
within the earth. In the passage of the
/ electric currents resistance is found in
! large masses of matter, and these must be
! shattered by the electricity. just as the
oak is shattered by the passage of the
electric current into the earth. The con-
| cuSson produces a vibratOry or puSh-and
/ pull motion. mot wave) in the earth. The
/ displacement doubtless usually takes place
/ at the point Of least resistance, and for
many reasons it may be presumed that
this weak point or point of least resistance
is along the shores of oceans or at sea bot
| toms. and therefore when it is of sufficient
| magnitude at a sea-shore fracture there
will be a subsistence of the earth at that
point But very many of these concus-
sions may take place in the earth which
never exhibit themselves upon the earth's