The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1890-03-19
THE ORIGIN OF NATTER
OUR EARTH ORIGINALLY A GREAT
FLUID MASS.

The Process OF Nature IA the Formation
of Oceans, Islands and Mountains - A
Popular subject Inteiii gently Discussed
Without questioning Tire efficacy
and reasonableness of religious dog
mas regarding the age of the world, or
taking issue with UNCONVENTIONAL ia
naticism regarding the origin of the
same, ii Is a subject within the scope
of the present age of reasoning to solve
these problems on purely scientific
bases; for whatever differences of opin-
ions may exist regarding the first two
propositions, there is but one, there
can be but one, regarding the ultimate
origin and source of matter.
Again, that substances or matters,
like those formed in all things tli~t
exist, wero produced by the sun from
its atmosphere is an incontrovertiole
fact; neither can anything exist but
from prior self.
If, then, the atmospheres are the
prior things by which the sun presents
itself In ultimates, and inasmuch as
those prior things continue to decrease
In activity and expansion as time
passes 10 ultimates, ii Is reasonable to
conclude that when their activity and
expansion ceases In ultimates the re-
suit IS the substances and matters as
| found In the laboratories of to-day.
| Thus, while retaining the atmospheres
to winch their origin is directly trace
able, an endeavor is put forth by ma
| ture to conform them to some uses
hence any and all other hypothesis are
built unconnected and disjointed, and
d
like the beautiful structures they are,
but like heaps of dirt and rubbish.
If, then, the origin of things mani
mate is the end and termination Of
atmospheres, the heat of which has
ended in cold, the light in darkness, IA
1t were, and activity in inertness, we
still have the evidences they have pro-
duced, or rather brought with them by
continuation in past ages with the sun
| these substances.
| In this connection it is not desirable
to- array ones self antagonistically In
front of the great multitude who be-
lieve that everything was made from
nothing. The world as now known
| could not have been made from nothing,
because We can see that it is incom-
| patible with the natural order of
| things that anything can be-
of which we speak has never and
can never change. Anything from
nothing Is the greatest mathematical
absurdity the mind can conceive, con-
tradiction being inconsistent with all
truth, for all must
Accept the truth where'er it may be found,
| Among our friends, among our foes,
| On Christian or on heather ground"
That all things were made from
something is truth that should not and
is not accepted as conflicting with de-
nominational truths by the most emf
nent theologians of our age; and it
is safe to conclude that matter, as we
find it, had its origin in time so re-
mote that the capacity of the human
mind fails to grasp the immensity of
it's duration, for authorities whose
teachings are above question have
shown the world itself to have been
originally fluid mass. with an i'm
mense atmosphere, all revolving in
space around the sun. By its cooling
portion of this atmosphere would
naturally be condensed into water,
which, perforce of gravity, would find
its way into the burrows formed by
surface cooling and contracting around
an internal seethipg fluid mass. In
this condition no forms of life, such as
now belong to this system, could by
any possible means exist. The world
was then uninhabitable Then the
primary -granite-which contain
not the faintest traces of previous or
der of things, must of necessity have
been the result of the first condensa-
ton and subsequent evaporation.
Later on the water cooled; it con-
tracted; residuums ensued; shell fish
and coral insects were created-how
and when, we will see further on-and
began their labors. The oceans and
seas thus formed soon contained islands
raised from the deep by the productive
energies of the countless myriads of
these zoophytes.
What then? These islands soon be-
came covered with vegetables, the
natural order of which peculiarly fitted
them to withstand high temperature.
among these the palms, and various
species of plants similar in appearance
and general characteristics to those
now found in the hottest countries.
BY close inspection of these sub
marine rocks il will be noticed that
these new formations of land became
covered with aquatic vegetables, ON
which various species of shell fish and
common fishes found their nourish-
ment. The temperature of the mass
became lower, and higher order Of
life could live upon it; this was pro-
vided, and we find the traces of ovipa-
rous reptiles; the turtle, the crocodile
and various gigantic animals of the
saurian 0izard) haunted the bays aud
wallowed in the Shiny morasses of that
primitive world.
Perchance there was no general or
der, then, of events--there seems to
have been none-similar to the pres
emit. 1t is known that immense volcan-,
ic explosions were constantly taking
place, the crust was too weak and thin to
withstand external contraction and in
ternal expansion of the gases from tho
smoldering mass within. These made
elevations and depressions on the sur