The Red Cloud chief., 1886-01-22
KRAKATOA.
A Dabsssts ON~ssi Aeeosne - The
Great Esspstes IN iss5-

A 83oberoto O0hsaai Aeeoone - too
Grsas Esspstes IN isss-
Thanks to the hbersli,y Of the Dutch
East Indian Government. the world
has IN elaborate and thorough aceoun
II the great eruption st Kraka,oa in
Nav. lsSS: an account = full, and by
hands 80 competent. moreover. tha; the
full significance Of the phenomena is
made apparent Mr.. Verbeek Was dis
patched by the G~overnmep, in question
Immediately after the great on,burs'. 70
investigate it, causes and effects. and
with the assistance Of Mr.. J. Schnur-
man hs. now published tine second Of
two volumes covering the ground COM
p!.tely. A resume Of the second VOL
ume. which deals with the phenomena
(thc first volume treating the history OF
the erupiion). has appeared in Nature.
The inquiry has resulted IN the conclu-
sion that the disturbance WAS volcanic
am; not seismic. though j, is ssc-rt.ined
that 4 seismic movement Of the sea bot
tom occurred in the whole region Of the
Moluccas. AZ the same time earth
guakes were felt in Australia, and these
movements are supposed 10 result from
a connection between the subt.rranean
reccsses which lie between krakaioa
and Australia. The theory Of the erup-
ton put forward il that Of the sudden
influx Of large bodies II wstcr-prob-
ably the oceau-to masses Of Incandes-
cen matter in the neighborhood of the
old volcano.
The whole theory requires \ revision
OF some OF the suppo>itions concerning
the thickness OF the earth crust. Mr..
Verbeck hold, To- the doctrine Of a cen
trail fire, it is certainly necessary TO
state, and his fact, 90 to show that we
are really less removed from it than
may seem comfortable. What tend.
strongly To demonstrate the instability
Of the crusts is the extent of the dis
turbancc caused by the outbreak IT
krakatoa. la some WAYS II Wa, felt
over the whole earth, the explosions
were actually heard over AN area
amounting Ia ~one-fourth Of the earihs
surface. while the air-wavc caused tray-
elcd all round the globe and back 10
Krakatoa. The great tidal wave which
followed the principal explosions was
no. caused. it i, now held. bv earth
quake shocks. but simply by the pro-
lection into the sea of enormous masses
of matter. including one side Of the
crater itself. and the p~rofuse dis
charges from it. Mr.. Verbeek has cal
culated that at least eighteen cubic
kilometerS of matter must have been
elected. and Nature gives this illustra-
o. 60. L. -. - -
"a Hyde Park and as high n the dome
of 81. Pauls. Z hundred such boxes will
give an idea of the mass Of matter
thrown out by krakatoa in lssJ,'
The elevation reached by the elected
ashes is estimated nj fifty kilometers,
or nearly six times the height If Mount
Everest. the highest mountain in che
world. Mr.. Vcrbeek attributes the red
sunsets to the presence in the air Of Che
finer particles Of the dust, together with
aqueous vapor. These particles he De-
lieves made the circuit Of tine earth
twice. being carried westward 10y
strong east winds. Inasmuch rs the
same kind of red sunsets have been oh
served as recently as the fall Of 1885. IL
is. however. difficult 70 accept the ex-
pl3natlOO as sullcieOt- Inc theory
that the volcanic dust has remained in
atmospheric suspension for two years
and n half is hardly tenable. After the
eruption the sea was covered with
pumice thicklY. Some Of this was car
ried as far as the east coast Of Africa;
another portion is at present encounter
ed in the Pacific Ocean. between the
Caroline and Marshall Islands: and the
author calculates that this pumice will
reach the American coast at Panama in
1886.
While Mr.. Verbeek has made a most
important contribution tothe literature
Of u very interesting subject. il is net
to be supposed that the volcanic or tie
seismic proSems are solved by him.
He has indeed gathered data which
supports the theory of a central lire.
and the belief that the crust If the
globe is thinner than commonly sup
posed. There are. however. many in
applicable points. and a reasonable
probability is the most that can he
claimed for the differences drawn from
the phenomena of the great krakatoa
eruption.-N. y. Tribune.