The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1898-01-09

fine That seemingly staid body was
long ago discovered 10 have a pro-
pensliy 10 gain little on the earth.
appearing az ecllpses an inhnlteslmal
moment ahead Of time. Astronomers
we're sorely puzzled by this act OF In
subordinatlOn. but Al last laplace
and Lagrange explained Il a. due 20
an oscillatory change In the earth's or
bit. thus fully generating the moon.
and seeming 10 demonstrate the abb
solute stability and permanence Of our
planetary system. which the moons
misbehaylor had appeared TO threaten
This highly satisfactory conclusion
vas an orthodox belief OF celestial me-
chanlcs until 1853 when Prof. Adams
OF Nepiunlan fame. with whom COM
pick analyses were a paatlmc. reviewed
Laplace's calculations and discovered
an error which. when corrected. left
about half the moons ncceleratlon I'M
accounted for This was a momentous
discrepancy which al first no one could
explain, But presently Prof Hem
holiz the great German psychlui. sug-
gesied that a key might be- found In
tidal friction. which. acting as a per-
poiual brake on the earth's rotation.
and affecting not merely the waters
but the entire substance ~ Onr planet
must IN the long sweep of time have
changed o. rate OF rotation Thus the
seeming acceleration Of the moon
might be- accounted for as actual re-
tardation OF the earth's rotation a
lengthonlng OF the day. instead Of a
shortening OF the month Again the
earth was shown 10 be- AZ fault. but
this time the moon could not be ex-
Oneratod. while the estimated stability
o. our system. instead Of being re-es-
tablished was quite upset. For the
tidal retardatlon u not quite an oscll-
latory change which will presently
correct itself. like the orhital wabble.
but a perpetual change acting always
In one direction. Unless fully coun-
teracted by some opposing reaction
therefore Gas Il seems not TO bel. the
efec; must be cumulative. the ultimate
consequences disastrous. The exact
character OF these consequences was
FIRST estimated By Prof q. a. Darwin
In 1879. lie showed that tidal friction
In retarding the earth must also push
the moon out from the parent planet
on a spiral orbit. Plainly then the moon
must formerly have been nearer the
earth than az present Al some very
remote period Il must have actually
touched the earth. must. IN other
words. have been thrown on from the
then plastic mass Of the earth. a. a
polyp buds out from a. parent polyp
At that time the earth was spinning
about IN a day % from two 20 -four
hours. Now the day has been length
ened TO twenty-four hours and the
moon has been thrust out a dlsianc,
% a quarter million miles. but the end
o. not yet The same progress Of
events must continue tili. NJ some ~
mote period In the future. the day hni
come 10 equal the month. lunar tlda
action has ceased. and one face Of a,
earth looks out always az the moon
with that same fixed stare which ever
now the moon has been brought q
assume toward her parent orb. Shout
We choose 20 take even greater llbeg,
| ties with the future it may BE- mas
10 appear Though some astronomer
dissent from this predioiionl that. n
solar tidal action still continues. the
day must finally exceed the month and
lengthen out little by little toward CO.
incidence with the year. and that the
moon meantime must pause In lts out
ward Eight and come swinging hack on
a swinging spiral. until finally. after
the lapse OF untold aeons. Il plows and
rlcochets along the surface Of ths
earth and plunges to catastrophe de.
rtrucilon. hut even though imaglna.
ton pause far short Of this direful oul
minatlon. q still a clear that modern
calculations. based on memorable a.
dal friction. sulicc 20 revolutioniEs
the views formerly current ne 10 n,
stability OF the planetary system. tn,
eighteenth century mathematician
looked upon this system AZ a vast &C.
lesiial machine which had been IN
existence about 5000 years. and which
was destined TO run on forever Tn,
analyst OF today computes both Va,
past and the future Of this system u
millions instead Of thousands Of years
yet feels well assured that the solal
system offers no contradiction 10 thos'
laws Of growth and decay which seen
everywhere TO represent the immut
] nf,1a nrflrs NJ nnfura