The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-23
AGE OF THIS SPHERE.
pRor. SOLLAs DISCUSSES GUEsSES
or MEN or SCIENCE.
Tn. Infant Earth Traced Back More Than
so, o 900 Of Years Indications Of Geoi-
ogy-sir George Robertson on the Develop
mrnt. which Have Consolidated the
u,ltI.h Empire and Keep II Together.

nEN-1lE ~ Us
mrnt. which Have Consolidated the
british Empire and Keep II Together.
roypoN, Sept. s-The seventeen meeting of
a., Dn'ish Association opened on "Wednesday
a, bradford. Sir William Turner. the new
president, In his inaugural address dealt with
,he ur.,yrcs4 made during the past century
q, tho study which he described az his own
oc.,,parinn In life. namely. the science Of the
structure and Organization Of the bodies OF
mon and animals First Of all he rccapitulated
,hc various provisional hypothesis held by
,rvrstigators, when, as he reminded his hearers.
,lare were no efficient microscopes. none Of
,ha modern delicate instruments for section
emitting. none of the modern means Of staining,
hardening and otherwise preparing Issues
Tbsn n, d,,cribcd what science has learned
NJ the coils that constitute the elementary
tissue and ~ microbes. In the course Of his
address h" made this remark concerning the
opntlnutty 81 W."
The time has non" by To- search for the
o-du o. living organisms by a spontaneous
ae,relltipn Of molecules in vegetable or other
lnrl,ious. or from a layer Of formless% primordial
.rmsd a fused over the bed Of the ocean. Living
matter during our epoch has been, and COM
tinl,, IN b.. derived from preexisting living
n,tfar. oven whom II possesses the simplicity
os.'rlcfurn Of a bactcrium and he morphologi-
cal uuil is the cell
A. the second days meeting Prof. W. J.
s,rls nude an interesting address on evolu-
,,pl Zoology. in which h" presented an esti-
m,ra ~ tpa AZ Of the world. Leaving the
n,hllr origin Of tn" world TO astronomers
pr,f sofia, accepted the infant earth from
fh,Ir hands as a molten globe ready made, its
birth from q gaseous nebula duly certified.
In IT, early DAYS" he, said. our planet WAS
n-,suIaIIr disturbed by tides. produced by
N, SIN. for IS yet there was no moon, and II
IA. bon suggested that one of It's tidal waves
r1se ~ O height so great rs To sever its con-
n,,tf1n win the earth and 10 fly of as the
inal' n,,r. This event may be regarded us
mt~k.u, tln rirSt critical period. or catastrophe,
f -, pI,i,,. in M history of our planet. The
cirer u'olr satellite, after lis escape from the
s1.'h. l. uo' known til it attained a distance Of
na,tr-,'rIl, ridil, after this its progress can
b, clearly followed. Al the eyentful time OF
uI-igru ,u thu earth was rotating, with n period
- from two To four hours, about an axis in-
Ca,i A. % II degrees or - degrees to the
e.p'lr TIE time which has elapsed since the
MON occupied a position nine terrestrial radii
d ,rluf from the earth il at least ~ffty->iX
Z G'ry-~cvcn millions Of years. but may have
been mach more. The solidiflCation of the
earth probably became completed soon after
tie birth Of the moon. The temperature of its
..rfara at the time ~ consolidation was about
no degree, G., and it was therefore still
surrounded by lis primitive deep atmosphere
Of steam aud other gases. This was the
second critical period in the history Of the
me earth. the stage Of the Onsistentor status,
tie date uf which Lord Kelvin would rather
know Than that of the Norman Conquest,
though he thinks it lies between twenty and
q -. .IUI.v. .F Lar ,L, nEAhall, paarar
tv,a'y than forty
The professor next dealt with the origin
Of the oc'an He said "Thr cooling Of the
earth would continuously progress Till the
TEMPERATURE Of the surface fell to $40 degrees
G.. when that part of the atmosphere which
consisted II steam would begin TO liquefy.
THIN the dimples on the surface would soon
become filed with superhpated water. and
the pools 80 formed would expand and deepen
Ill thoy formed the oceans This " the third
critical stage in the history Of the earth. dating,
according to Prof Jolly. from between eighty
and ninety millions Of years ago"
After the moon. the ocean and dry land
had appeared the course Of events becomes
somawhat obscure Taking the total maxi
mum thickness Of the sedimentary deposits
g. no less than fifty miles, Prof Sollas tried
10 estimate the age Of the earth Taking the
StrAfltlp0 column tnPTP II Tndn n nv SUM-
nit. and the oldest fossil-bearinR rocks thirty
four miles lower down
Thus" he said, the evolution OF the YER
tebrata alone IL known to have occupied a
period represented by a thickness Of thirty
iou- miles Of sediment How much greater.
then, must have been the interval required
for The elaboration of the whole organic world
Before proceeding TO the discussion Of eSti-
mates of time drawn from a study Of stratified
rocks, let us first consider those which have
been already suggested by other data. These
are ne follows, 90 Time which has elapsed
since the separation Of the earth and moon,
81 millions of years, minimum estimate by
Prof. q. II, Darwin. ~ Since the 'consisten-
tor status 20 10 ~ millions G.ord Kelvin.
tN Since the condensation Of the oceans. 80
70 m millions, maximum estimate by Prof. j.
Jolly These estimates, although independent,
are all of the same order Of magnitude. and 10
far conhrmatory Of each other. Nor are they
OPPOSED 10 conclusions drawn from a study Of
stratiAed rocks; thus Sir Archibald Geikie. in
his address 70 This section last year, affirmed
that, So far as these were concerned. 100 mil
lions Of years might suflce for their formation.
There l. then very little TO quarrel about. and
our task is reduced to an attempt by a little
stretching and a little pairing, 10 bring these
various estimates into closer harmony. Prof
u6rwinS estimate is admittedly a minimum:
The actual time, IA he himself expressly states.
may have been much longer Lord Kelvin's
estimate. which he would make nearer 70 than
" millions. is founded on the assumption that
since m" period Of the 'consistentior status
the earth has cooled simply "a a solid body.
the transfcrenCe Of heat from within outward
being accomplished solely by ConduCtion."
Examining Lord Kelvin'S theory by means
OF applying figures which have been arrived
At A. 10 the supposed average rate Of the in
c"1S' Of tcmperatur, with descent below
ground, Prof Sofas concludes that this
method NJ calculating the earth's age would
ral~" III estimate to nearly 5O,OOO,N0 years.
Having thus made Lord kelvin's somewhat
contracted period Weld to n little stretching,
Frof NoIlas applies himself to cutting down
Prof Joly's more liberal estimate Of eighty
N ninety mi Ion years file SAYS
Ms argument, hron div stated. is as folio VS.:
IN" ocean consisted az first of fresh water II
Is now salt, and lis sadness Is due to the dis
s''"d matter that j. constantly being carried
INTO II 10y rivorS II. then. We know the guam
wv NJ salt which the rivers bring down each
year INTO tho ~"l il is easy to calculate how
many ygIrN flayr bosr,. tRk. ~ N gtttply tho son