Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-10-09
Thrown Up by, Volcanoes.

come?
Thrown Up by, Volcanoes.
In the judgment of some very dis
tinguishGd astronomers there is but
one conclusion left as to their origin,
and that is that they come from the
earth and that they are bodies of ter
restrial origin. In this case they
must consequently once upon a time
have been projected with an initial
velocity of at least seven miles, and,
after revolving for ages as cosmical
bodies around the sun were met by
the earth at the point where their or
bit crosses the orbit of the earth. This
hypothesis might be objected to on
the ground that in the memory of
man no volcanic eruption has ever
produced such a velocity as to pro
ject bodies beyond the limits of the
attractive force of the earth. This
objection, however, may be removed
by the superstition that in primeval
times the volcanic forces were far
more powerful than they are at pres
ent, a supposition which is supported
by the fact that in those times the
lofty mountain ranges of the earth
were raised, which was possible only
by the agency of forces, the potency
of which would be more than suf-
ficient to hurl smaller fragments be
yond the limits of the force of terreS-
trial gravitation We have given here
the argument for the terrestrial orr
gin of the meteOrites in a very con
densed, though, we hope, sufficiently
plain manner. 1t must be allowed to
be a speciOus one, but of course, can
not be considered a conclusive one.
The origin of these strange visitors
from the sky is as yet a mere ny
pothesis. However, as a noted writer
says, hypothesis is one of the Iegit-
innate and necessary operations in sci
entific investigation, 1t only becomes
a dangerous and treaCherous weapon
when it is made to preCede rather
than to follow observation and expert
ment, or when being regarded with
paternal indulgence an attempt is
made to shield 1t from the relentless
logic of facts. Good and bad hypoth-
eses must be allowed to grow together
till the harvest; such as are unable to
accommodate themselves to the sur
rounding conditions imposed by new
ly discovered facts and freshly estab-
lished laws will assuTedly perish, and
/ in this struggle for existence the true
hypothesis will in the end survive,
while the false will perish.
At about o'clock in the October
evenings the constellation Pegasus
will be on the meridian. Its configu-
ration is rendered very conspicuous
by the large square which forms its
most prominent portion. Three of
the yertices of the Square OF Pegasus
belong to this constellation, while the
fourth is generally considered as be
longing to Andromeda, The north
eastern corner is marked by Alpha
sionally lettered Delta Pegasi. Beta
Pegasi or Scheat is in the northwest
corner; Alpha or Markab in the suo,n
west corner and Gamma or Algenib
in the southeast corner. In some
treatises on astronomystill in use the
proper name Algesib is given to Al
pha Persei, but in other works. nota-
bly, the Nautical Almanac, this name
is confined to Gamma Pegasi Zeta
and Theta Pegasi lie in a straight line
with Markab, which bends at Theta,
and the constellation ends with En-
silon or Emf
The Vernai Equinox.
Connecting Algenib in Pegasus, Al
pheratz in Andromeda ard Caph in
Cassiopeia We have an arc of very