The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1898-12-07

involving as secondary factor all the phe
nomena that come under the head Of evolu-
ton, Mr.. Baumgardt showed that there is
none on the earth that does not act in ac
cordance with the laws of rhythm, as laid
down in Spencers theory of evolution. This
is exemplified in the vibrations OF the leaves
on the trees, the swaying motion of a reed
in stream, the pulsations of the blood in
the arteries of the human body, the rise of
nations, fluctuations of prices in the mar
ket, the procession of the equinoxes, oscil-
lating change of the position of the earth's
axis, he maxima and minima of sun
spots and all other astronomical phenom-
ena with which We are familiar, are
rhythmic in character.
| Perhaps the best evidence of the truth of
| Spencer's theory OF rhythm is to be found
i'll the wonderful ebb and flow of the tides
Anyone who has watched the tides at the
seashore will at once recognize their
rhythmic character. To obtain a truly phil
osophical view of this phenomenon we
would, in imagination, have to take a view
from distance Of the earth as it revolves
on its axis. We should then see that what
appeared to be a rhythmic movement from
the shore line would lose this characteristic
and instead of the rise and fall of the tides
we should behold one gigantic tidal wave
extending from pole to pole, following in the
wake of the earths rotation. We should
find, however, that instead of rhythm be-
ing lost we should have to take into consid-
Grafton far more extended pulsation that
would require cons of time for it's compen-
sation
| inn nf 40
utmost importance from geological point
of view and OF a stupendous extent. Our
shore lines are being remodeled, bays carved
out, bars formed and as we know that there
is fundamental axiom in physics that no
work can be accomplished without energy
i'll some form becoming dissipated, it will
be interesting to find whence the energy is
derived for this work.
The science Of mechanics has demon
strated that some of this tremendous force
is in the momentum of the earth's revolu
tions on its axis. Hence, as this is being
tapped, We can but reason that it is less
today than yesterday and SO on to infinity
The tides are acting as kind of brake on
the earth's axial revolution, slowly but
surely slackening it's speed and increasing
the duration of the day and night. In mil
lions of years the accumulated loss of mo
mentum will become of startling magnitude
The indirect cause of the liberation of the
energy used in tidal friction is to be found
in our satellite, the moon. The moon steals
our earth momentum and the earth in re-
turn Furnishes the moon by pushing it far
ther and farther away. Following this pre-
cession, we must arrive at time when the
moon grazed the earth's surface; indeed, we
have every reason for believing that the
moon was once part of the earth, and was
fractured off through centrifugal force. This
is but another proof of La Places theory
Of nebular hypothesis.
If we could take view of the whole pro
cess Of tidal friction and sweep over cons o.
time, we should see that after all the tides
are of a rhythmic character, for when equi
librium has been established in the plan
etary system We cannot help noticing that
the system remains exposed to the infu-
ence of inerrant forces throughout the uni
verse. These forces will cause dissolution
and from it new systems from the revers,
of tidal friction will set in, and thus thu
accomplishment of this rhythmical cycle
established.