The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1896-05-30

may we'll be asked, Where did all tnls
salt come from, and what is the use OF
it? Several scientific gentlemen have
attempted ia answer this first question,
and their efforts are not entirely salts
factory. The second question is not SO
difficult.
According to the history of the crea-
ton of the world, as told by Moses in
the Genesis, it is implied that the ocean
existed before the land, for, on the
third day" the water under the heav-
ens'' was gathered together and the dry
land appeared.
This statement has bothered a great
number of able philosophers, who, in
their effort to stick to the letter OF the
Scripture and ut the same time to rea-
son ont everything on perfectly natural
principles, have been puzzled to know
how such a grand transformation could
be accomplished il one day. And thei"
perplexity was not relieved when learn
ed biologists announced that it must
have required ages for the waters that
enveloped the earth to subside and re-
veal this land that lay beneath.
But when it was suggested that h
word "day" as used By Moses meant,
not d period Of "a hours, but an era Of
thousands of years, the difficulty was
removed. This meaning Of the word
day is at present generally accepted
BY GcvGUt scientists, who now declare
that there is nothing impossible i'll No
ses' cCcount Of the creation.
This e.cription, to lie sure. is Ia
mentally brief. 1t was hardly adequate
to pass ovor such a huge event us the
creation of a world in a few lines. That
was Il big story from a newspaper point
Of view, and all thoughtful persons
must acknowledge that Moses did not
take advantage of his opportunity.
Accepting the Mosaic account, DIR. I.
S. Hunt. Il learned writer OH the phys
ical history Of the globe, supplies what
Moses left out, and in so doing he gives
a very good reason for the presence of
the salt in tho sea. Having arrived at
the point of Moses meager narrative
where the earth was in a molten state
and surrounded by an envelope Of gases
and of water vapor, DR.. Hunt says:
"T.io c~arbonates, chlorides and sui
pilates chemical combinations Of car
bon, chlorine and sulphur with oxygen)
were changed into silicates. The car
bon, chlorine and sulphur, being thus
freed from the oxygen, separated in the
form Of acid gases. These, with nitro.
gen, vapor Of water and a probable e1-
cess of oxygen, formed the atmosphere,
which was very dense (and also very
unhealthy.
1.-THE surface OF the earth was cover
ed with Jumps of molten rock (probably
resembling furnace slag). The depressed
parts Of the surface were filled with
highly heated solutions of hydrochloric
and s~ulphuric acids. which ate into the
surface and decomposed it. In this way
the silicates were changed to pure silica,
taking the fern CT quartz as the atmGs-
nhere cooled, and the condensation Of
the vaporous atmosphere produced sea
water, holding III solution salts of sodi-
um, calcium, magnesium and ammoni-
UNI. Tho atmosphere, thus freed Of it's
n~oxious elements, became pure and fit
for man"
1t is therefore evident that the sea
has been salty from the creation of the
world. The salt does not come, as is
! generally supposed, from friction Of the
water against salt "rocks" in the bed
of the ocean. This, then, answers the
first question. Where did the salt come
from? The second question is pretty
well answered by Mr.. G.. w. Little
: hales i'll Appleton's Popular Science
Monthly.
"It SEEMS" he says, "that the sea
was made salt III the beginning as a
part OF the grand design Of the Creator
to provide for the system of evolution
which has been going on since the crea-
ton. Many distinct species of living
organisms exist in the sea as a result Of
it's SANITY, and their remains have
largely contributed to the growth Of con
tincnts."
The minute creatures that have lived
In the sea for ages past have left endur-
ing monuments III the shape of islands,
rocks and continents. If the sea had not
been salty, these marine animals could
not have existed and secreted the hard
substance known as q "~caicareous skele-
ton,' which has largely contributed to
the growth Of continents. Among these
early inhabitants * tie sea were corals,
crlnoids, sea urchins and starfishes.
The s~altiEess Of the sea has also much
to do with the ocean currents, which
distribute the heat IF the tronics nvar
What Cross Examination Can Do.
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