Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-07
ELONGLOOK AHEAD.
SLOW Progress Of Earthly Life Toward An
Inhalation.

t'-'fs NsfEfHH ~ tatfAitff hsNtt ANtNffW anti~
inhalation.
Jacques LooiarI In La Nature.
Before reaching tho present period Of its
history the earth passed. IN succession
Through great geological phgses during
which lts continents end seas were several
times dwanged by the p.ternsi forces that
its nucleus OF matter in fusion d6-eloped.
None Of these revolutions b8s been able
TO destroy the powerful germs Of !'fe. and
1t f. today moro impossible th9n ever
for a geological cafaclysIn % cause such
a result. The most important Of he his
tOric catastTophes OF This kind Is cOntempO-
ranecus. We refer 10 the gigantic eruption
OF krakatOn in 1898, which clsimed $4,000
victims and tot0lly transformed the con-
tigur0iion of the Strait Of sunda Despite
their great violence such phenomena are
always local, and consequently without
untoward influence upon animate beings
collectively. Tho internal activity Of our
planet is now greatly reduced. So the
earth has entered upon the calm period Of
It's existence. A rapid examination Of
this progressive diminuilon Of in
ternal energy ia 10 lead Us 70
particularly rational solution of the
problem Of tho worlds end. When the
solid crust Of our globe formed il sur
rounded an incandcsCcnt fluid spher0id,
which afterward condensed toward its
centre under the action Of cooling. Ia
measure as 10 contracted this nucleus di-
minished in volume andthe external cover
ing gave wav in places and cracked in or
der ~ follow The motion Of shrinkage. II
is in this way that were produced The large
folds that formed the principal reliefs Of
the surface. Consequently the terrestrial
crust having become thicker, will be cover
cd By enormous creya5ses, through which
tho oceans and atmosphere will be gradu-
ally absorbed in the numerous internal
spaces.
The surface of the moon. deprived of air
and water, with immense burrows that
traverse It's plains and mountains, presents
the spectacle OF this beginning Of rupture.
for our satellite is more advanced ia de-
vclopment than the terrestrial globe.
Having passed this stage the dead star,
cracked in al directions. Will break in
pieces and heterogeneous will be scattered
along its orbit. This destiny Of The
earth is still Il thing Of n very
remote future. Yet &c seems as If
tho natural evolution Of our globe
will cause the disappearance Of life long
before the extinction Of Tho sun. it Is,
moreover. easy 20 see that IN the geological
epOchs lost in the night Of ages the vital
forces were moro powerful than those If
Our day. We have a proof Of this In the
exubeance of life that then gave birth to
animals and plants beside which the pres
cut gigantic beings are but dgarfs. Tho
day on when, through such general weak
euing of vitality, Uan viii have fallen into
q pi vsical decadeuce that bic refined intel
lieeuce win not hc able to supply tho
place Of. will probably be also the day on
which the last representatives, of our race
and Of the entire creation viii have 10 live
IN the bowels OF earth IN the pursuit Of
air and water. which slowly descend to-
ward the centre Of the earth. Deprived Of
atmospheric fluid. the surface OF the globe
will thereafter have for temperature only
that Of iutorstellary space, say Is hundred
centigrade degrees below zero. And while
our human race will be reimmersed IN the
nihility from which it had emerged for a
few thousands Of centuries, other human
tiles will succeed one another upon the in
Vulnerable stars that people infinite space.