Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-02

monest of all lavas, is like granite in
crvstallizing completely -
Natural glass, like artificial glass, Is
also rigid and strong at ordinary tenn
peratures; it is a fluid at high tenn
| peratureS and at low preSsures. Un-
cryStallized, hot rock, therefore, flows
under its own weight"
| The writer then describes sedimentary
and metamorphic rocks, both made
from the original molten glass;" which
| first, by capitalization, formed the orig
inal granite and basalt. Then he states
| the principle known as "isostasy"
! theory that section of the ocean bot
tom, plus the water above it, II ex-
| tended to the center Of the earth,
weighs almost exactly the same as an
| equal section of the continent. whether
mountain or plain, also extended to the
center, for otherwise, II one part were
out of balance with the other, the force
of gravity would tend to cause a flow
of the excess until it balanced. That
is isostasy. and the most outstanding
authority in America on iSostasy Is DR..
William Bowie of the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey, and he
differs from the argument of DR.. DAILY
that in order to float. the granite and
basalt must be molten to liquid. DR..
Bowie points to the fact that solids"
may float or bend under long continued
pressures when they would snap and
break If the pressure were great enough
to overcome rigidity quickly. Hence,
solids" do run regardless of heat For
example, take barrel of tar in Mid
winter, remove the slaves and the tar,
being cold, will stand up, solid as
granite rock, but even If the tempera-
ture is below zero and remains so, in a
Gay or two that tar viii flatten out and
run"
| Take stick of sealing wax; It can't
be bent suddenly. but lay each end on
a support, with no support in the mid
ole, and IN day or two 1t will be found
curved by gravity. SO it is not neces-
sary to agree with DR.. DAILY that the
basalt or granite must be molten in or
der to flow.
DR.. Bowie, in pamphlet entitled
Possible Origin Of Oceans and Gen.
tinents," says:
There are many speculationS as to
| how the GRANTEES were collected into
separate units, forming continents, but
the one that appeals to me most, be-
cause it does not violate the principle of
isoStasy. is that advanced by Osmond
Fisher in his book entitled Physics of
the Earth which was published about
40 years ago. Fisher suggested that
Darwins hypothesis that the moon had
broken away from the earth, due to
tidal action. reinforced, perhaps, by
bodily oscillations of the earth, has much
to commend it. Darwin's idea was that
the moon was detached from the earth
while the earth'S matex.aA was still
molten. Fisher suggested that the dis
ruption. If it occurred. was after the
outer shell of the earth had solidified.
THE disruption might have occurred,
according to Fisher, either as a result
Of tidal force or as the result of an
explosion. In any event, should there
have been a disruption, the material
which went of would have been the
outer portion of the earth which, of
course, would have been the lighter ma
terial, or what we call granite. The re-
mainder of the granite shell would have
been torn to pieces, leaving blocks more
or less widely separated. The large
blocks would be what we call continents
and the smaller fragments the oceanic
Islands, such as Antarctica, Madagascar,
New Zealand, Australia and many
others of less magnitude.
The wounds made on the earth by
the loss of the granite material would
have been healed by the upwelling
OF subcruStal, baSaltic material The
baSaltS, being denser than the GRANTEES,
would not have to rise to as great q
height as the granite masses dis
"All of this seems to be corroborative
evidence in favor of the hypothesis of
Osmond Fisher, but We have some other
evidence which seems to support it. This
is that the density of the moon, 3.3, is
just about the density of the other por-
ton OF the earth down to a depth of
about go miles. The volume of the
moon is approximately the volume of
the outer shell of the earth now covered
by the oceans extending to a depth Of
80 or 40 miles"
All, -ha! So the Man in the Moon
has been found out! He stole our "outer
shell" extending over all that is now our
oceans. According to DR.. DAILY, we live
on glass house and dare not stone the
tniet' but it is a satisfaction to have
traced the loot. Shell out Mr.. Moon!
You robber behind a smoke screen like
a bootlegger
What a catastrophe that must have
been when the surface of the earth.
equal to all that is now oceans
flve-seventhS of the entire surface-was
ripped off and sent flying through
space! Peeled!
Where is the writer who can pic
ture such an earthquake, or where the
novelist who can imagine a family of
human refugees carried off on that dis
rupted mass Of land to take up their
new abode in the moon and people that
new world?
Tell us not that Adam and Eve had
not then been created. Who knows how
many humans, or pre-humans, and
how many monsterS-great sala-
manderS of our cooling earth-were
carried off in that cataclysm and are
to this day building cities and mighty
works or crawling as salamanders-
'looney now'-on the opposite side Of
the moon, never daring to face the
home of their earthly ancestors?
Noah was a piker In comparison; the
flood was but an April shower
However, these highbrows of science
tell us that the world has sown its wild
oats and is slowing down, so that it
takes half an hour longer to make one
diurnal revolution on its axis than it
did as fapper, 100 ,000, 900 years ago.
At that rate, we are going to stop the
giddy whirl entirely. In only "a times
100000, 900 more years. and Just stare
the moon out of countenance, notion
less and naughty, or like a ship at an
Choir in the sea of space. Now let FIR.
Einstein 60 on with his story; we will
sum IIOu onvftaiFa1