Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-23
THE EARTH NO GLOBE.
Modern Science Modi6es a Popular
Belief.
A Tetrahedron the Shape Accepted as Cor.
rect by the Best Scientific Minds.


and the Coast and Geodetic Survey of
the United States is contributing it's
share toward a very interesting study
of the size and shape of the earth, says
a writer in the Boston Transcript. So
quietly do the scientific bureaus of
Washington go on with their work as
almost to be lost sight of in the turbu
lence of politics and the struggles of
arms. But it seems that some of the
questions supposed from the textbooks
of the grammar school to be settled
are still open for discussion, and at
tracing the keenest attention of some
of the worlds greatest students. That
the form of the earth is that of an OBJ
late spheroid, or sphere slightly fiat
tened at the poles was such settled
QUESTION is commonly believed, when in
fact the scientists are entertaining the
hypothesis that the earth is gradually
varcing toward the tetrahedron--a sol
id bounded by four trangles, or a tri-
ansular,or a triangular pyramid-With
the apex al the south pole, and the
continents representing the bulging out
from the spherical surface. OF
course, the earth is not yet far out Of
its spherical form, if the tetrahedral
theory be proved, but certain facts
make the hypothesis an interesting
one. The earth in its cooling, accord
ing TO the theory, is causing a collapse
of its envelope. or crust, and while
the sphere is that geometrical body
which has the greatest volume for a
given surface. and the tetrahdron The
least, the shrinkage Of the interior
would tend to throw the superficial en-
velope, grown too large by the shrink
age of the interior. into q tetrahedral
form. In October a settles of expert
ments under the direction of the Inter
national Geodetic Association Will be
undertaken, and in this country the
coast and ge0detic survey will have
charge Of Americas share Of the work.
From the observations made IL viii he
possible to derive some fresher CON
illusions as to III shape Of the earth.
tn movement Of the poles. ana kindred
subjects.
1t is remarkable" said MIR. l.. j..
Preston Of the coast survey To your
figure of the earth has been a subject
of scientific study. There are several
ways nj determining the earths size
and shape. but the method adopted
by our coast survey Il 70 measure arcs
on the surface of the earth, and from
those we can find the curvature Of the
earth and also it's absolute dimensions.
About the middle of the last century
great discussion arose as TO whether
the spheroidal form of the earth was
Oblate or probate. Measurements in
France seemed to show that il was
probate. but that was in opposition to
Ncwton's theory Of gravitation-that
the centrifugal force Of the earth in
revolving on its axis would naturally
produce a spheroid fattened at the
poles--and the two things could not be
reconciled. one scientific party fol
lowed the French in the belief that il
was probate, and the other Newton
that it was oblate. Two expeditions
We're organized and sent forth. one to
Peru on the equator, and the other to
Lapland as near the pole as possible,
50 as to get the greatest effect. 1t was
seven years before the expedition got
back, and when they compared the
measures they had obtained at the
equator with those at the pole. the
question was cOnclusiVely settled that
this earth as a spheroid was ohlate
rather than probate. and since that
time it has never been doubted. In
fact, when these expeditions returned
they were said to have hattened not
only the earth but Cassin who had led
the probate theory, and this verb has a
much more forcihle meaning in French
than in English. Bousucr, one of the
scientists who went to Peru on this ex-
pedition. made a number OF ohscrVa-
tons on the density of the earth. He
swung q pendulum at the top OF the
Andes, and at the bottom. 30 get the
mean density of the earth as We'll as
the size and shape. This was the first
time the resistance Of the air was APP
piled To pendulum observation.
But 10 estimate the exact size of
the earth and the amount of its curVa
ture, great manytdifferent arcs have
been made through the years, and these
We're all collected and grouped up to
1871 by BesseI. a German. From dis
cussion of all these measures he de
termined the figure of the earth, and
his conclusions We're Of course accepted
by scientific men in ali their calcula
tons in which these data entered. Hes-
sells tables We're used from 1871 10 1866.
In the meantime every nation had been
going on with geodetic researches.
Colonel Clarke of the Royal Engineers
of England took all the material that
had accumulated up to 1866. and
brought out another spheroid. Meas
ures Were becoming more and more
exact, and his figure Of the earth is
slightly larger and flatter than Bes
sells.
The Clarke spheroid is the one now
used in the coast survey work, was
adopted in 1880, and all our tables are
made to conform to il. OF course.
when you make projections for our
large scale maps we make them on the
theory that our earth has a certain
radius and certain fattening. All
our tables are on that basis. And it
is from these measures Of arcs that
the shape of the earth, that is. the
hattening, and the size can be learned.
The hattening, without reference 10