, 1888-11-17
K1.akatOa.

After all. this world Of ours is but a
tiny garden with a pond in it. There can
not be a fire aud an explosion i'll one re-
mote corner but the whole of the rest must
be prstered with smoke and dust for q
twelvemOnth, nor a splash III the pond
without the most distant portions Of the
waters edge feeling the SWaSh. We used
to be told in sermon upon sermon mat the
aim of science was to make man think
highly of himself and OF the little speck OF
the universe in which he lived, and "proud
philosophy" was regarded DIS the hoaSttul
magnifer of the world around us. To-day,
however, no preacher could take such
ground in his discourse. Science, indeed,
at this moment seems bent upon showing
us all what a very small affair the world is.
A Committee Of the Royal Society, for
instance. has lust issued a Report upon the
phenomena attending the great volcanic
eruption in the Sunda Strait-tbe narrow
sra.lane between Sumatra and Java-m
the summer of the year 1883, which serves
as AN excellent illustration. The effects OF
the eruption Of KIakatOa were perceptIble
all over the globe, and science, III It's latest
contribution to knowledge, is hand at work
making us realise the somewhat humIlla-
ting conclusion. StIll, lit must be admit
ted that our fuller knowledge of The effects
of the great upheaVal i'll the East Indian
ArrhinplaUo tends to make us belittlp the
world, and destroy our notions OF ITS vast
ness and the remOtencSS Of its continents
and islands, the Report OF the Royal SocIe-
ty, at any rate, Immediately increases our
respect for the great destructive forces aJ
work on our planet. If the earth is nothing
but a garden, aId the ocean a pond, we
have, at amy rate, The satisfaction OF know
ing that both are we'll mined. The expo
Siv6 forces that lie beneath them are at any
moment capable Of suddenly making water
into dry land, or OF blowing dry land into
clouds OF atoms TO circle round the sun IN
ROSY or emerald mistS, till the great air
currents of the ether disperse them INTO
space, or rain them back upon the earth
as dust.
The world shows traces at many points
Of AS great, or perhaps even greater con
WILSON'S than the eruption OF Krakatoa
but never since man became able To
record horrors, has anything occur
red equal in magnitude or violence to
tbel OutburSt which shook the Indian
Archipelago in 1888. On August 9th,
1888, the whole top of an island III
the straits between Sumatra and Java was
literally blown into the air. The missing
mass of the Island of Krakatoa consisted
of more than two hundred Thousand mil
lion Goo, 900, 900, O0O) cubic feet. vi tins,
some was blown into clouds OF dust that
for hours made full daylight as dark as
night, and for days covered the NEIGHBOUR
hood of the island i'll Il pail OF black
clouds,-clouds that were at last dispersed
all over the earth, but only to tlnSe with
opacity the universal atmosphere, ana To
render The sunset glows everywhere ra-
diant with golden, green, and red. The
rest fell into the sea, and the splash from
the mountains of rock hurled some twenty
miles upwards into the sky, and thence
dropped into the sea, affected the waters
of the world. close at hand, a great wave,
so #. high, rushed upon the neighbourlng
shores. and overwhelmed i'll Its course
81 600 people. Over $500 miles away-lh
tine harbour al Rodriguez, near Maur!tlus-
the resulting wave had force enough TO
make the water ''boil as in Il pot, TO TOSS
the boats about, and to make II sham tlde
ebb and flow, SO that "the inner harbour"
was for a time left almost dry. Even III the
English Channel, the instruments used TOT
observing the movements OF the TIDE record
ed a disturbance, so far did the ever
widening circle OF the wave extend. Inc
or was no less agitated than the sell, ana