The Irish standard., 1893-08-12
SOLID ALL THROUGH.
a Now Theory az to tho Earth and Res
sons for Entertaining It.

a Now Theory IA 20 tho Eortn ana h0o~
sons for Entertaining It.
Although man has lived upon the
earth for thousands of years and made
many discoveries. he has not yet mas
| tered its surface, much less solved all
the problems it presents, says the Bal
timore Sun. In some respects he
knows more about the planets and
stars, that are millions of miles away,
than he does about the globe on which
he lives and moves and has his being.
But if his knowledge OF the earth's
surface is limited, it is nevertheless
much greater than his knowledge Of
it's interior. 1t was the belief Of sci
entists years ago, and is still the be-
lief of the majority of tolerably we'll
read people. that this,earth of ours is
molten mass covered by a thin crust of
chilled and hardened material. One
of the suggested reasons for this be-
lief is the observation that the temper
AZURE of rocks increases as one de-
sends into the earth at the rate of one
degree for about sixty-four feet. 1t
has been assumed from this observa-
ton that temperature which would
melt the rocks would be reached be-
fore going many miles Volcanic
action has also suggested molten in
terror, and so also has the appearance
of rocks subjected to great heat. But
scientists do not accept these observa-
tions as conclusive On the contrary,
they show that so far as these observa-
tions go the question is still left open,
and that there are certain other facts
which appear more conclusively to
show that the earth is solid or nearly
solid. The increase of temperature in
the interior of the earth is accom-
panied by increase OF pressure, which,
! it is believed, raises the melting
point, so that notwithstanding the OBJ
servations in mines the melting point
of rocks may never be reached. More
| over, volcanoes may not be vents for
| the interior molten mass nor for large
| reservoirs. The matter they eject may
be rendered fluid or gaseous at the mo-
ment of eruption by a sudden with
| drawal Of pressure or by the action OF,
water. The proofs of the theory that
| the earth is solid are so much depen-
dent upon mathe1na tics that they can
only be described in general terms.
They relate mainly to the action OF
sun and moon upon it in the creation
of tides. Astronomers have calculated
that the earth offers as much resis-
lance to tidal reformation as would
globe of steel, and hence it is not
molten mass with thin crust, but a
solid or nearly solid body. Prof. New
comb has added another kind of proof.
Some small, varying changes of ]ati-
tude have been detected and shown to
be periodic, and these periods are
shown to correspond With what would
theoretically occur if the earth were
solid, while they do not correspond
with what would occur from similar
reflections of the axis of molten mass,
thinly encrusted. While these argu-
ments may not be considered conclu-.
sive they are entitled to more respect
than those which at one time were ac-,
cepted as showing til at the earth is O.
mere crust cooled upon the surface of
a molten mass. The new view of the
earth is much more satisfactory than
that of Descartes. "Firm as Il rock
will have added strength to it's mean3
ing when it is established that the
rocks are not liable to fall through the
supporting crust into a cauldron, where
they may be melted and disappear.