The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1913-02-19
On Earth For Awhile and
What Would Occur.
EARTH WOULD Be OVERFLOW
Simply Transformed Into a
Whirling Mass of Strug.
Cling Creatures.
ONLY ny DEATH THAT WE LIVE

were to cease imagine death ar
rested in it's work! What would
happen? The number of living h.
ings upon the surface of the earth
would be so great there would be
no room for them. The atmosphere
would be transformed into com
pact mass of birds and insects
which would be impenetrable even
by the rays of the sun. In its SUI
perabundance. life would suffOcate
and crush out life itself. And then
death would rule supreme all at
once. In few days all organic life
would have disappeared from the
earth: it would be nothing but a
waste and 4 desert
THAT microscopic animal. the
Rotifer or Rotator, lays 80 eggs at
time and starts 30 generations
every year. If all these individuals
remained alive at the end of year
their total would he so enormous
as to make sphere larger t'tan the
known universe.
The Cynips. which produce ihe
gals on the oak trees, the rose lice,
the phylloXera and othc" aphidans
or fns6cTg. WHIT 07trIrr' T+r1- vu-rr1 :
from plants. multiply in enormous
numbers. One aphidian produces
- descendants in a single day; on
The second day we should have %
by -. or G25 individuals, the third
day 15.625. and so on in geometri-
cal proportion. Ten thousand of
these insects, lighter than ether.
weigh one twentieth of grain. Ten
consecutive generations would make
ii cube equal to 100000 men
weighing 200 pounds each, and this
in 20 days.
One fly gives birth to about 90
000.O0b individuals in single
summer. Al the end of five sum
mers of free propagation we should
reach . fantastic tgure-32 follow
ed by SO Zeroes.
Consider the vegetables for a
moment. One plant of henbane
can produce no less than 10000
seeds in single year. In five years
ii would have covered the entire
surface of the earth with an i'm
penetrable layer. And what about
all the mushrooms that multiply so
rapidly in a few days as to make all
other vegetable life almost impossi-
BILE?
The destruction OF life is as cruel
in the depths of the ocean as 1t Is
on earth. and the same terrible
things would happen If there were
no death in the sea. Take, for in
stance. the simple Goldfish. If there
were no death. one cod would, in
six years, fiji the ocean solid full
and running over. OF course the
original Goldfish wouldn't do 1t
alone. but she would be responsible
for it. One cod lays about 5000
o00 eggs in the year after she is
three years old.
Three years later. If there were
no death. all the progeny of this
first fish would each deposit 5000 |
GOO eggs during that year, making |
total of 81 ,0D0, 900. 600. 900. OF
course. these figures are so great |
that they mean nothing to MS. en- /
cept. perhaps, gasp of astonish- |
ment. Now, take another three /
years making six in all from the !
time the first cod deposited her eggs |
each of these cod deposits 5000
GOO eggs. making the total of six
years 64,OS1 900. 900. 900, 200, 000,-
600, 900. 900. 900. And this from
one Goldfish only.
If there were no death. imagine
what all the Goldfish would do at
this rate. As "A matter OF fact, TAX
ing Goldfish alone, II there were no
death among them, they wonid
smother everything to death with
their numbers in the first three
years and leave the old earth drip
ping Goldfish into stellar space.
Medusae are destroyed in enor
nous numbers by aquatic animals;
but the stomach of each medusa
more than 100000 OF
those microscopic marine algae
called diatoms. One whale at
single mouthful swallows billions
Of these marine animalculae.
From the bottom TO the top of
he scale the scene Is the same. The
greater the propagating power OF
species, the greater and more rapid
IS the work of death. so as to pre-
serve the equilibrium. without which
III life would cease. Nature seems
'ruel TO us. but Is Il?
or course such thing as no