The Indianapolis journal., 1902-05-18
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND GEOLOG-
ICAL CHANGES.

The recent volcanic eruption in the West
Indies was undoubtedly one of the most de-
structive of human life on record, and there
is reason to believe that the accompanying
earthquake disturbances were the most ex-
tensive ever known. There may have been
similar convulsions in ancient or medieval
times as widespread. of which no record
was made, because of the lack of recording
instruments and telegraphic communica
ton, but dispatches from various parts of
the world indicate that the recent eruption
was accompanied by disturbances more or
less pronounced in widely separated parts
Of the earth. These disturbances included
increased activity of live volcanoes, mild
outbreaks of extinct ones and the distinct
agitation of seismographs in various parts
of the world. At Teplitz. in Bohemia, some
celebrated hot springs discharged waters of
a reddish-brown color and permeated with
iron and ochre, the first time such a thing
has occurred since the Lisbon earthquake
in 1855. These facts go to prove a sort of
universal connection or communication be-
tween the internal forces of the earth, and
they also show that the recent outbreak
was one of extraordinary violence, and that
it's disturbing influences were unusually
widespread.
In view of what has happened before and
what is transpiring now one is led to won
der if the time will ever come when vol
canic eruptions and earthquakes will cease.
At present it is certain the interior of the
earth is a surging mass of molten rock and
metal and of sulphurous gases, which must
occasionally, at greater or less intervals.
break out upon its surface with deadly and
destructive results This molten mass is
not so far from the surface as might be
ina gined. The increase of heat in the earth
is at the known rate of one degree Fahren-
heit for each sixty feet in depth. or IS de-
grees per mile At this rate the heat at
depth of twenty miles from the surface
would be 1,76O degrees-enough to melt met
ais and pulverize rocks. Whether this in
ternal heat is a survival of the earth's orig
inal condition, and to what extent it is
affected and prolonged by the pressure of
the superintendent mass of the earth s
surface is a matter of conjecture even
among scientists. In recent work. en-
titled 1.-The Earth's Beginning" by an Eng
lish scientist, the writer says;
A high temperature must oe found at the
depth of even a small fraction of the earth s
radius, and the excessively high pressure
characteristic Of the earths interior must
be borne in mind in any consideration of
the condition of the matter there found.
II we were 10 judge merely from the tenn
peratures reasonably believed to exist at a
depth of some twenty miles, and if we
might overlook the question OF pressure,
we should certainly say that the earths
interior must be in a fluid state. 1t seems
at least certain that the temperatures TO be
found at depths Of two score miles. and
still more at greater depths. must be so
high that the most refractory solids
whether metals or minerals would at once
yield If we could subject them TO such tenn
peratures in our laboratories. At such tenn
peratures every metal would become fluid
even III IL were not transformed into a cloud
or vapor. But none Of our laboratory ex-
periments can tell us whether. under the
pressure OF thousands of tons on the square
inch, the application OF any heat whatever
would be adequate TO transform solids into
liquids IT may, indeed. be reasonably
doubted whether the terms solids and
liquids are applicable, in the sense in which
we understand them. TO the materials form
ing the interior OF the earth.
The author thinks there Is no doubt that
the internal heat OF the earth is gradually
declining, and that the circumference OF
the earth, In other words, its size, is