New-York tribune., 1902-05-14

In Sir Robert StaweI Balls The Eartbs Re-
ginning published by d. Appleton (. Co. the
writer says
n @ 5i.Sh temperature must be found at the depth
VI even a small fraction the earth's radius And
eaTt' f5y nigh pressure characteristic Of the
must be borne in mind in any con-
Fn1'nS S'4I. OF the condition of the matter there
'rttL, ~ we We're to judge merely from the tenn
PSSIdiures reasonably believed to exist at a depth
oi some twenty miles, and if we might oVeriook The
H. fon CL pressure we should certainly say that
Seerns 80 - ~, i'etIoI must De In Huid state. IL
SEEMS at least certain that the temperatures To be
at at Greater depths, must be high that the most
u,diIS 81 ~ SoIIus, whether metals minerals
temperatures every metal wonIT ha a. sucn
II it We're not transformed into a cloud of vanor
but none OF our laboratory experiments can te
inch the application al OF ny 5eS of
int iG5id "oqtd De adequate to transform solids
IftSo i4ulas II may indeed De reasonably doubted
MhtLther the terms solids and liquids applicable
materials forming the interior of the earth
III, iI a Sqlid can be made % behave like a liquid
now are We TO suppose that the solids would be-
subjected the Interior of the earth The fac
is that the terms solid and liquid. at least as we
meaning with regard to bodies subjected 10 these
StuPehGous ] & presspres, and this must be carefully
boIne IN mind when we are discussing the nature
OF the interior of the earth.
RIGIDGTY OF EARTHs INTERIOR.
IL must. however be admitted that the interior of
SesS al least one of the most important character
@ @iStics Of solid. for it seems TO be intensely rigid
We mean by this that the material of the earth. or
iaIher each particle Of that material. is very little
lhcllhed TO move from its position with reference TO
the adjacent particles by the application OF force
differently in this respect from solid such s
cast iron, II each of them exposed to a pres
as are the materials which form the great bulk of
the earth. But, without specializing on these
as 4 whole does exhibit extreme rigdity. This is
ever been made with regard to the physics Of our
earth, The discovery that the earth is rigid is
mainly due to Lord Kelvin.
The same writar savs that tbara 4, rr,,,oL 5ts
ference of opinion to the causes Of earth
quakes. He says:
But it will not be doubted that an earthquake is
ere, OF the gradual loss internal heat from the
irg, it follows from the law that We have already
SO otten had occasion to use that the bulk Of the
uon in the earth's diameter iue to the ass Of
period of time. The cause. however, is continually
in operation, and, accordingly, the crust of the
to the fact that the whole globe is Iessenng, The
Gf our earth at the equator must be
CT inference is lost each wear. We may admit that
~ any % &c as yet & De b1
theless, ii is productive of phenomena so impor-
1t follows from these considerations that the
rocks which form the earths crust over the surface
OF the continents and the islands or beneath the
beds of must have a leSSening acreage wear
c9mpression either continuousiv or from tie ~
time and the necessary yielding of the rocks will in
materials of the earth's crust happen to have com
Fomnression will often and perhans ,onara n0t
proceed with uniformity, but rather With small sue
of the rocks in these shifts be actualV yorv sma
yet the pressures to which the rocks are subjected
great terrestrial disturb' nee.
Sir Robert Ball believes that the subsistence
of the sea floor is due to movement on the side
of the crack or fault on which the volcanoes are
situated, and suggests that people on the low