The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-07-11
STORY OF
PLANETARY PHASES.
The Earth in That stags W.
the Body Fist Acquires 4 bh,x.
ognomy Of It's Own,

| Though we cannot in onr q.
tphemeral life watch any nlane, wv wv
through these Several phases ~ y. n.
career. we can get good view a, -. =
process by studying the present co, -.
lions of the various planets and .,sa
ing together the information vs t ~
obtain. 1t is, in the end, as cos saa
sive as in botany would be thu .tssr
OF a wood by carefully not,n, ~
condition OF the individual trs.. -. !.
their various growths from sead,,, :,
to patriarch. Thus. at the nrs.ss.
moment, in stage 2 are found I N.Y.
tune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. e
stage 4, the earth; In stage s. M.,.
and in stage G, the moon and ~
larger satellites OF the other nl.,..s
Each planets internal heat "a, ' =.
initial motive power. and cooiinr -.
mode by which this energy vortss
first to the fashioning of its surf.s.
aid then to all evolution upon =
While still in the molten STATE ~.
mass was a seething chaos but I'M.
differentiated from any other ear.,
agglomeration of matter, Yet ~,
here the several substances had ~.
gun to segregate. the heavier fa,,,,,
to the bottom. the lighter riaine d
the top.
With stage 3 We enter the pa,t 4,
a planets career with which, On orr
earth. geology is concerned. Thorss
specifically the story only Of an,
earth. that science has analoguee sae.
whore. and to be best understood
needs to be generically considarsd
Local as many earth-happeninss ara
with increasing light from the haav.
ems 1t is becoming clear that IL
main events are Of cosmic occasion.
Ing, and that astronomic cause pre
sides over their manifestations. In
itial instance Of planetary action o..
ours at the first stage Of the ssrtlt
history to which geology mouAts haik
that In which q crust began d
form over the molten mass, n
liquid metal in q furnace upon vhieh
the solidifying Stag has begun to aoat
gives US an idea Of this early state Il
things. Our metamorphlc rocks W,
in action akin to the furnace alag. II.
ing to tho surface because Of thsk
lightness. Proof OF this lies In thek
present density. which Is only ahoqI
one-half Of the average density Of ~
earth, 2.7 times that Of water Instead
of SIS. Their constitution furnishes
further evidence that such they vsse
The gnelss. mica and hornblends 4
which they are composed show b.
their crystalline form that they cooled
from a once molten state, and tAels
foliatlon indicates that they vss
and recrystalllsed In ths
process.
In stage 3 the body first acquires
a physiognomy Of its own. Up 10
then It Is q chaotic mass 40 unstable
and shifting as clouds In the aky:
but at the advent OF surface solidldcAr
ton its features take form-a form
they are In fundamentals ever after
ward to keep. Our knowledge OF thu
and the two subsequent stages I and
5 Is derived from study Of three plsa'
its of our system, the earth, the moon
and Mars. The others contribute
to our information Of thses
n!d-phases. either because. IKE ass'
curry and Venus, they are too d.
vanced, or because, like the maJof
PLANETS. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune
hey are not advanced enough
from DR.. Percival Lowell's "Aars y
he Abode of Life," in The Century.