The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1892-07-29
When the Sun Must Die.
The Great Problem Of How Long Can
the Earth Sustain Life.

Il. S. Dell in Fortnishtly Review.
IT seems 10 be worth while to
collect together what may be sad
ON he subject of the duration of
life on the globe. Ii is a ncte-
worthy fact that the pos .ibllily of
the continued existence Of he hu.
man lace depends fundamentally
upon the question Of heat. Ii heat,
or what is equivalent to hea', does
not last. then man cannot last
ell her. There is no shirking this
plain trui-m.
OF course it is obvious that the
available heat generally comes
rom the sun. So far as The coal
goes, we have already observed
thai it is limit lel in quantity it can
offer no perennial supply. Doubt.
less there is in the earth some
quantity Of 0 her materials capa-
bic of oxidation, or of undergoing
other chemical change; in The
course Of which and as an incident
Of such change heat is evolved.
The amount of heat that can pos
sibly arise from such sources is
strictly limited. There is in the
entire earth just certain number
of units OF heat possible. Of such
combinations, but after the combi-
nation has been effected here can
not he any more heat from this
source.
Then as 10 the internal heat of
the earth due TO The incandescent
slate of its interior. Here there
is no doubt a large store OF energy,
but still it is of limited quantity,
and II is also on the wane. This
heat is occasionally copiously lib.
Grated by volcanoes, but ordinarily
the transit of heat from the inter
ior TO The surface and lis discharge
from thence by radiation is a slow
process. 1t is, however, sufficient
tor our presen, purpose to observe
thai, slow though the escape may
he, it is necessarily going on.
There is only a definitely number
of units of heat contained in The
interior of The earth at this mo.
ment, and as they are gradually
diminishing, and as there is no
source from whence the loss can
be repleni>hed, there is here no
supply of warmth that can be re.
lied on permanently. Il goes
without saying that the welfare of
The human race is necessarily con.
nected with the suns beneficent
action. II The sun ever ceases to
shine then must il be certain that
there is a term beyond which hu-
man existence, or, indeed, organic
existence Of any type whatever,
cannot any longer exist on earth.
But we have grounds tor know.
Ing AS a certainty that the sun can
not escape from the destiny that
sooner or later overtakes the
spendthrift. In The interesting
studies OF This subject Prot. Lang.
ley gives a striking illustration OF
The rate at which the solar heat is
being squandered at this moment.
He remarks that the great coal
fields of Pennsylvania contain
enough precious mineral TO supply
the wants of the United States iol
a thousand years. If all that tre
mendous accumulation Of fuel were
to be extracted and burned in one
vast conilagration The total quaint
ty of heat that would be produced
would no doubt be siupendous
and yet, says this authority, who
has taught US so much about the
sun, all the heat developed by thai
terrific colI fire would not be equa|
to that which The sun p0urs forth
in the thousandlh part Of each sin
gle second. When we reflect that
this expenditure of heat has been
going on not alone for centuries
during which he earth has been
the abode of man, but also fol-
those periods which we cannot
estimate except by saying thai
they are doubtless millions o.
years during which there has beer
life on The globe, then indeed w
begin TO comprehend how vas
must have been The capital of heat
with which the sun started on ils
career.
And yet we feel certain that tht
incessant radiation from The SUI
must he producing profound ef
feet on its stores of energy. The
only way OF reconciing this will
The total absence OF evidence o
tie expected changes is to b
found in .he supposltion that sucl
is the mighty mass Of the sun, sucl
the piodiclous supply Of heal, o
what is equivalent TO heat that !
contains. that the grand transfer
nation through which II is passing