The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-06-20
STORY OF
PLANETARY PHASES.
The Earth in That s.aes W..
the Body First Acquires 4 6h -.
cgnomY Of Its Own.

Though we cannot in AZ, e..
ephemeral life watch any planet NV. N.Y.
through these several phases ~ d.
career. we can get good view Of ~.
process by studying the present co, Nv
lions OF the various planets and h,s..
ing together the information VA tSs'
obtain. 1t is. in the end, az co,.t.
sive as in botany would be tho stTS.
OF wood by carefully NOTING ~
condition Of the individual tres. ~ ~
their various growths from seedl;,s
to patriarch. Thus, at the nreas.,
moment, in stage 2 are found w..
tune, Uranus, Saturn and jupiter. !.
stage 4. the earth; In stage s. M.,,
and in stage 6, the moon and ~
larger satellites Of the Other n,ars.s.
Each planets internal heat VA ~
initial motive power, and cooling r..
mode by which this energy wortsS
first to the fashioning Of it's surf...
aid then to all evolution upon
While still in the molten state n.
mass was seething chaos but mn.
differentiated from any other eou.i
agglomeration OF matter. Yet svsn
hero the several substances had M.
gun to segregate, the heavier fallis,
to the bottom, the lighter rising "a
the top.
With stage We enter the mart a,
a planets career with which. on an,
earth. geology is concerned. Thoush
specifically the story only Of our
earth. that science has analogues eI,s.
where. and to be best understood
needs to be gsnerically considered.
Local as many earth-happeniuss s,e.
with increasing light from the hsey.
ems 1t Is becoming clear that tn
main events are Of cosmic occasion.
Ing. and that astronomic cause pre.
sides over their manifestations In.
ttial instance Of planetary action q.
ours at the first stage OF the eartAi
history to which geology mounts back
that In which a crust began to
form over the molten mass. The
liquid metal In q furnace upon which
the solidifying Stag has begun to aoat
gives US an idea OF this early state u
things. Our metamorphic rocks vers
In action akin to the furnace alag, H.
ing to the surface because Of their
lightness. Proof OF this lies In their
present density, which is only about
one-half OF the average density Of tha
earth. 81 times that Of water instead
OF SIS. Their constitution furnishes
further evidence that such they wsrs.
The gneiss. mica and hornblende Of
which they are composed show "
their crystalline form that they cooled
from a once molten state, and their
foliatlon indicates that they vere
c,umplet and recrystalllzed In tho
process.
In stage the body FIRST acquires
a phys!ognomy Of It's own. Up 70
then It is chaotic mass 40 unstable
and shifting as clouds In tho sky:
but at the advent Of surface solldi0ca.
ton It's features take form-a form
they are In fundamentals ever after
ward to keep. Our knowledge Of this
and the two subsequent stages I and
is derived from study Of three plan
cts of our system. the earth, the moon
and Mars. The others contribute
nothing to our information OF these
mid-phases, either because. like Mer'
Jury and Venus, they are too ad'
or because, like the major
Jupiter. Uranus and Neptune
hey are not advanced enough
From DR.. Percival Lowell's Mars ~
he Abode of Life," in The Century.