Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-07-22
MOTHER EARTH'S CLEAN FACE.
The Soil on. IL Less Than the Powder on
MY Lsdy's Cheeks.


MY Lsdy's Cheeks.-
New York Advertiser.
little figuring sometimes bring out
startling facts. Here is the latest surprise
| for such IL will be to most people. Problem
How much soil is there upon the face of
| the earth2
Enough to give our planet name. APP
| parently it is only natural TO think of the
earth as earthly. II beauty expert were to
face Mother Earth he would probably in.
| snuate that her complexion is rather
| muddy. But this would be a slapderous
falsehood. as will presently be shown, In
reality, the amount of earth OH the earth's
surface Is relatively less than the complexion
powder which my lady dusts upon her
| cheeks
This seems incredible in view of the rich,
inexhanstible soil Of the prairies, and the
fertile fields all over the world, amply suf-
iicent to feed many times its PRESENT popu-
lation II properly cultivated. Il appears i'm
\ possible that the sum total can be so insjg-
nifcant. But let us see. v
As matter OF fact, the earth's soil has
| little depth. Try the experiment almost
anywhere. Dig down. IL is not far to bed
rock. Take an extreme case. In Egypt the
| soil is exceptionally deep. For untold ages
| the Nile has been depositng over its SUR
face layers of mud washed down from re-
mote regions. Yet even here the depth is
not really great IN the centre of the valley
| II is said to vary from minimum of 40
to maximum of ABOUT 20 feet. Along the
edges the bare bones of the earth protrude
through the barren sand.
liut making generous estimate, assum
ing that the average depth Of soil all over
the world amounts to so feet, including
sand, gravel and the dry dust of the desert
everything but solid rock; and ignoring the
hugh boulders and intrusive Lodges that
form SO conspicuous feature the landscape
az
average depth of soil on the bed of the
ocean is no less than that allowed for the
| dry land, more than liberal assumption,
the statements made above are fully justi-
| fed. The grand total is proportonately less
than the powder upon a lady's cheeks and
| very few Of the children Of good Mother
| Earth have faces as FREQ from soil as hers.
The diameter of tile earth is about 5000
miles. Fifty feet is less than the one.hun-
| dredeth part Of a mile. The layer of soil ON
the earth's surface is therefore less than one
eight hundred thousandth of the earth )
| diameter.
| Now, to make comparison. Eight inches
is very fair allowance for the diameter of
the human head. Regarded as small ter
| restrial globe, its scale would he about l,0U0
miles to the inch. The layer OF soil on the
earth $ surface, therefore. would be repre-
sented by an inappreciahle film upon the
| human face scarcely the one.hundred-
What do these figures really mean? Illus
tration is necessary to make them intel
ligible
The one hr1dredth thousandth part of an
inch represents about the degree of accu-
racy atlainable in finishing the finest tele-
| scope ienses-the most exact and perfect
work achieved by the hand of man. |; APP
proximalely represents the thickness Of a
soap-bubble 1t is probably less than the
thickness of the faint print left by the fin
gers when they are pressed upon pane OF
glass.
But this extreme tenuity may be illus
| trated III another way, still more striking.
The wave length of vic ct light is about one
siNty-thOusandth of am nch; that of the red
rays about one-forly-thousandth of an inch.
The thickness assumed is therefore less than
the length of the shortest light wave--less
than half the length of the red waves.
Such a film, of course would be quite
imperceptible upon the human countenance.
The slightest visible stain represents a rela-
tive denth of soil greater than Mother Earth
ever tolerates upon any portion OF her fair
face.
There is another way in which the com
parison may be made with results no less
unexpected Imagine all the soil scraped
from the surface of the earth and made into
a bali of mud--how large would this be?
Massed in this way, the sum total would
seem quite impressive considered by itself
Tor we should nave sphere OF about ia
miles in diameter, with surface exceeding
$1,000 square miles-rather more than twice
the area of the State of Maine. But when
compared with the earth the size of this
formidable mud ball would be found simply
insignificant, it would require more than
10000 OF them to equal the volume of this
planet.
Representing the earth as before, by an
eigh-inch globe, all the soil that could be
Cleaned from its surface would be fairly
represented by a pellet no larger than a
pigeon-shot. If old Atlas who--accordins
to the myth-mak ers-earries the earth upon
his shoulders, should endeavur to tighten
his load by thus scraping off the dirt the
whole result of his effort would be a little
black pill the mnuteness Of which, as it
lay in the palm of his hand, would fill him
with dismay He could never get appre-
ciabe relief by such method.
on the whole, then, Notwithstanding the
popular impression to tine contrary, ouI
Mother Earth is tidy dame setting good
example to her oilsDring-and it would be
well ii they followed it more closely. In,
deed, here little reason to doubt thar hei
face, viewed from proper distance so that
it could be fairly seen, would appear as
bright and beautiful as that of her sister
Venus. We have no reason to be ashamed
of Mother Earth.