Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-06-08
YEARS OF THE EARTH
THIS WORLD OF OURS COUNTS THEM
BY THE MILLIONS.
Various Calculations by which thu
Famous Scientists Have EntIcav.
orcd TO Figure Out the Age OF tn
Planet Upon Witch We Live.

pEtu w Out tue aye OF tn
Planet Upon which We Live.
The time has admittedly gone by 70.
attempting to reconcile Tie facts OF
nature" to use a recognized phrase,
with the chronology of the Bible. which
makes the nge Of the world rather less
than 5000 years.
Indeed, In the Egyptian rooms Mt tho
British museum tile visitor can see for
himself objects which so back to an
authenticated period long antcccdcnt
to 1000 yenrs b. G., and great Is the
wonder produced on the minds of those
who first make their .,luaintance.
In TINT same department, among tho
mnmmics, there is what Is In many re.
spccts the most striking of the exhibits
IN the department The body of n man
who belongs to the stone age. II lies
In an accurate representation of the
peculiarly shaped grave In which 1t
was found, and 1t has been IN consc-
qncncc somewhat irrcvcrcntly nick
named Ivy the hnbitncs OF the museum
tho mnn In the pir dish
The particular interest In that corpse,
which men, women md even children
look upon without the least thought or
suggestion Of the fear or horror usual
ly lnscpnrnble from death. Is that 1t Is
unQueRtionably the oldest exhibit In
the museum, md scientists have been
rather struck by the fact that the au-
thOrlttcs of the great institution in
Great Russell street have not. so to
say. taken The bull hy the horns. boldly
In ll,,1ol llnt t,yhilhi a
10000 Il. G. Thus with. one single
stroke of the pen bishop I'shcr's Rib
lical chronology Is multiplied by about
nine. and II may bc that an oven high
or number would lIr required to satisfy
the requirements Of The age of that
particular specimen.
How long has the earth been n planet
capable Of supporting not only human,
hut MI forms of life;
In mn address Lord Kelvin once de-
llvcrcd OH the subject hc gathered to.
gcthrr The opinions Of various scientific
men which cannot hut he Of interest
TO every thinking being Darwin. In
his Origin OF Species" stated that,
lin all probability Il far longer period
than 300.000.WO years has capSed;''
while later OH. I'm The same book, hc
wrote: He who can real Sir Charles
I-yeli's grand work on the Principles
of Geology which tile future historian
will recognize MS having produced
revolution In natural science. yet does
not admit how lncomprcllensbly vast
have been the last periods of time may
at once close this volume"
ord I<n1vin httOcnlP- Is,nT,e,o,.
Willinm Thomson-latcr made an at
tempt to calculate the length OF time
during which the sun has been burning
mt Its present rate. and In that connec.
tion he wrote: at seems on the whole
most probable that the sun has not
Illuminated the earth for l0O,OOO.O0O
yenrs and almost certain TINT 1t has
not done 40 for 50000O,O0O years. AS
for tho future We may say with equal
certainty That the inhabitants of the
earth cannot continue to enjoy the
light and hcnt essential to their life for
mnny million years longer unless new
sources. now unknown to us, are pre-
pared In the grcnt storehOuse OF crca-
ton"
1t Is remarkable evidence of the
acute perception Of Lord Kelvin's
mind. ms of the rare provision of his
intellect that the last words -",lnless
new sources, now unknown to us, are
prepared In the grent storehouse of
creation'-s should have been added to
TINT remarkable sentence
AS an example of the very eytraor-
binary range of time given to the age
Of the earth. consider the following
statement from Professor Jukes' STU.
dents Manual OF Geology" lie wrote:
MIR. Darwin estimates the time re-
CURED for the denudntion Of the rocks
OF the weald OF Kent. or the erosion of
spnce between the ranges of chalk hills
known MS the north and south downs,
at 30o,00O,00O years 1t may he posi-
bic. perhaps, that the estimate is n
hundred limos too great. and TINT the
rcnl time elapsed did not exceed 3.OOO,-
600 years: but, on the other hand. it is
Just ms likely TINT the time which
actually elapsed since the first com
mcncement Of the erosion TIL it was
nearly as complete us it now is was
really hundred times greater than
his estimate, or 300.nO0.0O0 years"
Professor Phillips In lecture Mt the
University OF Cambridge considered
the rate of erosion between the ranges
of the north and south downs to be
rather one inch II year thnn Dnrwin's
estimate of one inch In n hundred
years, so that on mere geological
grounds he reduced the time to about
hundredth. Calculating. however,
the actual thickness of all tho known
geological strnta of the earth he came
to the conclusion that life on The cartb's
SURFACE may probably date back to be-
tween AS 0O0 O00 nna HG 00n nnn ,.o,re