The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-08-29

as it has done for ages. The earth's
vegetation will not decrease as civiltza-
ton advances. The destruction of our
| forests will never be effected so long as
mans intellect improves. Such vandal-
| ism will be prohibited by law, and some
day mankind will see the necessity of
replanting mighty forests. Moreover /
think that the human race will always
center in the temperate zones. Popula-
ton will never materially increase in
the tropics. The jungles and thick veg
etable growths of that belt will flourish
more and more, breathing out increased
oxygen. Furthermore, the burning OF
coal, which process consumes vast
quantities of oxygen, will cease. Solar
engines storing up vast quantities Of
the suns heat, will within the next
century supply us with electricity. 1t
will no longer be necessary then to con-
sumo extravagant quantities of oxy-
gen.
Billions of years. Nothing more def
mite" Such is the lease given to earth
ly life by Astronomer George A. Hill,
also of the Naval observatory staff.
"The earth will ultimately become like
the moon" he continued. "All water on
Duh planets surface will dry up, We
will grow colder and colder as result
of a loss Of our moist atmosphere,
which acts as a blanket holding our
heat back and preventing its escape
into space. Our oceans will ultimately
be dry abysses. All animal and vegeta-
BILE life will, of course, go Mankind
will be dried up or frozen out. After
moisture and vegetation vanish there
will be nothing left to keep the earth's
crust dark, 1t will turn white like the
sands of our deserts as it dries. Snow
will cease. There will be no electrici-,
ty, no thunder-storms.
Isn't there q possibility that some
other calamity will meanwhile put an
end to earthly life?"
There are two catastrophes which
might occur. The earth might lose its
present position in the solar system, or
it might be converted into a burning
ball. glowing with fire. Either effect
must result from the earth's or the
suns collision with some other body in
space A comet hitting us? No.
think that would have little effect. A
comet hitting the earth would produce
about the same relative shock as a
feather hitting a baseball A comet is
a gaseous substance. We went through
the tail Of one in 1883, when HawaiiS
volcano went into eruption. The only
effect was a haziness and red glare in
the sky. We did not seem to pass
through this comets nucleus-its CEN
trail mass. To all appearances that ap-
parently solid part was immense. But
when we came to weigh it there was
nothing to it. 1t seemed to be. of the
same material which composed the tail
There has never been a record of a
comet sufficiently large to knock the
earth out of position. The largest
would give us a red sky, nothing more
serious.
IAN immense meteor would be more
likely to end the earth than would a
comet of any size Suppose our planet |
were struck by a meteor one-half it's
size. There may be meteors of such /
magnitude. If there can be small ones |
there can probably be large ones. The
largest which have struck the earth |
within historic times have weighed but |
a few tons. Such bodies falling upon !
our surface might kill one or two per
sons. Nothing more serious would re-
suit. In space there have been meteors
as large as the great planet
Jupiter. But they have been probably |
less than two hundred miles away and |
like ten feet in diameter.
But if a large one should knock the
earth hard enough to change its present
balance, the suns great attraction
would probably draw our planet in.
Then we would all be frizzlad up. 4
meteor one-half the earth's size and
weight might accomplish this. 1t
might take year before we ultimately
reached the sun, but we would be de-
stroyed before we got half way there.
"At forty-five million miles. or half
the distance from the sun, the earth's
temperature would rise possibly to five
or, six hundred degrees. No life could
Withstand such heat, of course. Should
the earth stay at this distance a year
would be but three months long. Our
velocity would be four times as fast as
It is now. We would buzz around at
the rate of seventy-two miles second.
Our buildings and all loose objects