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diff --git a/old/68122-0.txt b/old/68122-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 466aea5..0000000 --- a/old/68122-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3972 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Hollow Earth, by F. T. Ives - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Hollow Earth - -Author: F. T. Ives - -Release Date: May 18, 2022 [eBook #68122] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW EARTH *** - - -[Illustration: F. T. Ives.] - - - - - THE - HOLLOW EARTH - - BY F. T. IVES - - _Author of “Yankee Jumbles.”_ - - [Illustration] - - BROADWAY PUBLISHING - COMPANY AT 835 - BROADWAY NEW YORK - - - Copyrighted, in 1904. - BY - F. T. IVES, - - _All Rights Reserved_. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - I. Cranks 1 - - II. Fire and Water 5 - - III. Icebergs 19 - - IV. Gulf Stream 28 - - V. Daily Motion 36 - - VI. Earthquakes 38 - - VII. Volcanoes 40 - - VIII. Rainfalls 44 - - IX. Springs 55 - - X. Glaciers 61 - - XI. Caves 67 - - XII. Artesian Wells 68 - - XIII. Oases 71 - - XIV. Things That Puzzle Us 73 - - XV. Meteors 80 - - XVI. Attraction of Gravitation 81 - - XVII. Scientific Theories 86 - - XVIII. Surface Influences of Water, and Change of Polarity 88 - - XIX. Conclusion 95 - - APPENDIX 103 - - - - -THE HOLLOW EARTH. - - - - -I. - -CRANKS. - - -Cranks are appliances to turn things round. - -A Crank that revolves only half way will not always accomplish much of -a change, and in many cases would only aggravate the situation. Were it -not for Cranks nearly all mechanical appliances would be motionless. - -Men’s thoughts and opinions would all be the same, without some such -device to get them out of the old notions, grooves and ruts in which -they long have indulged and plodded. The world has known Cranks ever -since our first parents adopted the wearing of fig leaves, and Noah -took up ship building on the weather bureau suggesting cloudy weather -and showers in Eastern Turkey. Moses was a Crank when he forbid the -eating of pork, salt water eels, turkey buzzards, owls and all other -unclean birds, fish or animals of any kind, but there is no doubt that -these commands were none of his mistakes. - -Sacred writ gives a plenty of such characters, but, by skipping -to times more recent, we find such Cranks as Copernicus, Galileo, -Columbus, Newton, Franklin, and, during the last century, the Crank -family has greatly increased with Daguerre, Watt, Howe, Edison, Marconi -and Tesla and scores of others, who, in some of the earlier times, -would have been hung or burned as wizards and sorcerers. - -Political, historical and religious Cranks have sprung up, turning over -and upsetting many old-fogey and absurd notions and beliefs of the past. - -In former times Cranks were the subject of ridicule and persecution -for trying to inject some new ideas into the public mind. History is -profuse with abuses of some of the best thoughts and discoveries that -have come to the human race. - -Supposing Copernicus had never advanced and enforced a conclusion that -the Earth was round and revolved on its axis, such motion causing the -apparent rising and setting of the Sun. Only for this we might to -this day believe in the story of Joshua’s command over the sun and -moon, and associate believers with Parson Jasper that “De sun do -move.” It is pleasant to realize that we are living in a time when -new thoughts do not frighten people, and we are not scared at what we -cannot understand, even if it does not harmonize with antiquated ideas -purporting to be 4,000 to 6,000 years old. - -The humble and obscure individual who presumes to offer the few -succeeding pages of crude ideas may be classed among pigmy Cranks, -but, nevertheless, feels impelled to sow a little thoughtful seed on a -subject that, to his knowledge, has never been discussed; and with a -hope that such seed may some of it fall in good ground, and spring up -a crop of criticism that may ultimate in some better mind taking it up -and demonstrate with the success that the writer believes it merits. - -To prove that the Earth was round required a long time and a serious -amount of persecution. Now, to assume that it is hollow, may require -more time than the brief discussion in this small book. Yet it is hoped -the ideas here may take root in the enlightenment of the present day -and start a growth productive of good fruit in the future. In order -to discuss this question involves a task that in the outset may look -discouraging, as follows: - -The ax must be laid at the root of many favorite and long accepted -beliefs laid down by scientific authorities to explain the principal -phenomena of disturbances on and in the Mother Earth, and to overthrow -nearly all accepted theories on the following subjects: - -The assumption that the Earth is intensely hot or in a molten state in -its interior; - -The presumption that it is a solid ball; - -The supposition that there is an actual pole; - -That hills and mountains are always results of volcanoes; - -That volcanoes are a prime or natural existence; - -That living springs and lakes are results of surface influence; - -The theories of the Gulf Stream; - -Icebergs and the Ice belt, their formation; - -Glaciers, how formed; - -Equable condition of the Mediterranean Sea; - -And the Law of Attraction of Gravitation, - -Or that the Sun is a mass of heat. - - - - -II. - -FIRE AND WATER. - - -The two elements of fire and water are evidently the source of all -created things. - -It is the purpose in this plain and homely dissertation to review and -criticise some theories set forth by scientists, and to introduce some -new ones more acceptable to the mind of the writer, and to be submitted -to observing minds to decide upon their merit. - -It is a generally believed assertion that the Earth has been a molten -mass at or near its origin, except from the rather doubtful story of -creation related in first chapter of Genesis, where it appears that -the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. When or how they -were created, the story fails to relate. But, admitting the waters -to prevail to such an extent as to incline God’s spirit for a voyage -thereon, would make the idea of a molten Earth rather improbable. - -The Earth is said to be undergoing a cooling process for the past -thousands of years, but at some remote time in the past it was covered -with ice and traversed by glaciers. - -There are various explanations of the phenomena of icebergs, glaciers, -volcanoes, the Gulf Stream, and why the Mediterranean Sea does not fill -up or change its conditions through the thousands of years known to -history. The philosophy of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, increase of -heat in digging deep in the earth, artesian wells, springs and lakes, -all have various solutions for being as they are, but this discussion -proposes to throw into the waste-basket nearly all of the accepted -conclusions on the subject, and, in order to go to an extreme limit -of Crankism, will dispute the law of Attraction of Gravitation. To -dispute the long accepted conclusions on most of these topics would be -presumptuous without an effort to give good and sufficient reason for -such skepticism. - -The first element to consider will be fire, or heat, without which, it -seems safe to assert, nothing can be produced from the Earth, or by -the devices of man. To draw a base line to work from, we will begin at -the polar center of the Earth’s motion. The Earth, unlike any other -object that perpetually revolves that we see or know of, does not have -a shaft, or axle, or anything to create friction, and, therefore, -heat. There is but one word in the English language that tells what -will produce heat; that is friction, which may claim motion for its -parentage. Now, this proposition is offered for a starting point. All -heat is produced by friction, in the absence of which there can be no -heat. This claim made, and presumably well established, how can there -be any central heat of the Earth, revolving on nothing but an imaginary -center? Will any scientist explain at what point heat begins to -generate? It would appear as difficult as to accurately fix the point -where moral responsibility commences in a child, or just when the wheel -of time will cease to revolve. At whatever point heat begins, is it -supposable that it works internally or outward? Any observing mind can -give but one answer. - -It is claimed, to prove the molten condition of the Earth’s interior, -that the various borings for artesian wells and diggings in mines show -a uniform increase of heat as greater depths are attained. All these -ratios of increase differ somewhat in different localities, but not -enough to have ever banished the idea that at a few thousand feet of -depth everything would be a liquid mass. This idea ought to be absurd -enough to make a brazen image smile. - -Let us consider what these explorations into the bowels of the Earth -amount to. The deepest holes bored or dug are, without exception, less -than a mile deep. Admitting a mile, that is 1-4000 of the distance -toward the center. Imagine a puncture on an orange, or on a ball eight -inches in diameter being four inches to the center. Is there any man -living could see a hole as small in proportion to its size to 1-4000 of -one-half of its diameter? How insignificant such a test. Reasons for -this delusion will be given later on, under treatment of Volcanoes. - -Again, the Earth’s surface is covered with at least four-fifths water -at depths ranging from one to five miles, including the millions of -springs, lakes and rivers on land, to say nothing of the inexhaustible -quantities of water encountered in the aforesaid boring and mining -operations. - -The deepest explorations in mines are the salt mines of Poland, the -Calumet and Hecla copper mines and Comstock Lode. These have all -been on trail of some mineral deposit formed by some remote work of -Nature in the undefinable past, when volcanic or other influences in -Nature’s laboratory left their deposit. These are the only places that -man has explored, only insignificant depths, and formed extravagant -conclusions of the rest of the way. - -But let us go back to the oceans, with their great depths and extended -areas, and what do we find? It is this: Whether on the Equator or on -the coasts of Greenland, in the tropics or frigid latitudes the same, -that at the deepest sea soundings the temperature is near or below the -freezing point, being literally liquid ice. These temperatures are at -depths of five times as deep as anybody has bored or dug, and cover -four-fifths of the Earth’s surface, and, instead of being hot, or even -warm, are extremely cold. - -If the internal heat is as great as is claimed, it ought to be enough -to set every drop of water in the oceans into a boiling condition -inside of fifteen minutes, but there does not seem to be heat enough to -warm the bottom of the kettle. - -It is assumed that the earth originated in a nebulous form, or an -aggregation of small starry bodies, or something else which nobody has -as yet explained clearly. - -It is evident that our Earth has come into its present form through a -vast amount of time and changes, and is made up largely of liquids and -plastic substances, which must have had an existence in its origin. -There is little doubt but that all its composition has been revolving -through space in some form for countless millions of years with its -mixtures of liquid, gaseous and solid constituents. - -It does not need a long argument to demonstrate that bodies in such -revolutions as the earth is making have a tendency, by centrifugal -force, to throw the heavier elements to the outside, and as this seems -to be a universal law in all scientific experiments by man, it seems -reasonable to suppose the earth’s centrifugal forces are no exception -in their results. Such being the case, leads at once to the supposition -and probability that the Earth is a hollow globe, and not a solid mass, -with points of actual poles at each end that can be explored. - -As water is, and has been in all history we know of, so large a part of -the earth’s mass, the object of this writing is to show the wonderful -influence it exerts in the world’s affairs, and the ample provision -Nature has in store, and where it is stored, for man, and animals, and -vegetation to bank on. - -But, in passing, it is just that a name for many recent years that has -been a subject for ridicule should be noticed with profound respect for -his wise and superior observations. This man for whom I wish to speak -a word of commendation and admiration is Captain John Cleves Symmes, -who I am prepared to allow the honor of first advancing the theory that -the Earth is hollow, and has been held up as the authority for finding -“Symmes’s Hole.” While the present writer had never seen or read any of -his arguments for such a hole, the idea came originally, as if never -thought of by my worthy predecessor. To avoid any charge of plagiarism, -this topic will, therefore, be treated as if never before thought of. - -Assuming that the Earth is hollow, the purpose will be in the -following pages to show how and why, and the great importance to the -inhabitants of the outside that it should be so. The first proposition -is, therefore, a hollow Earth from causes heretofore named by -centrifugal force; next, that the inside is an ocean of fresh water, -with continents of land, and the outside oceans of salt water and its -continents, as we have partially learned of them. - -That the ice belts in each frigid zone are the dividing lines between -salt and fresh water. That openings at the approach to either pole -are at least 1,500 miles across, and that a magnetic compass above a -latitude of eighty to eighty-eight degrees will not keep its natural -position at any point within such latitude, but will, in its endeavor -to point the needle to the true center of motion, lift up the point in -order to keep the right bearing, or show some other embarrassment or -irregularity. Whoever explores at these latitudes is, instead of going -in a course directly to the center of motion, unconsciously rounding a -circle toward the inside. - -The flattened condition of the Earth at the poles goes to accommodate -both the claims of being hollow and how it came to be so. - -We are informed that every raindrop is hollow falling through a short -amount of space, and how more reasonable to suppose the Earth’s great -mass to be so, revolving in an eternity of space. - -It is more than presumable to suppose that every planetary body in the -universe is hollow, and made so by the same fixed law for all flexible -bodies in revolution to become hollow. Are not the rings of Saturn thus -produced? - -Here is a planet they tell us is seven hundred times as large as the -Earth, but its density only ninety times as great. His mean diameter -about 70,000 miles and compression one-tenth, so that the polar -diameter is 3,500 miles less, and the equatorial 3,500 miles more than -its mean, thus duplicating largely the shape and globular form of the -Earth. Is it not reasonable, then, to suppose that the lack of density -has allowed its revolutions to produce its series of rings, those most -dense being outside? And the whole order being such, that our position -allows us to look through them instead of on to an outside surface? - -Jupiter has the same characteristics in diameters. The mean, 85,000 -miles; equatorial, 87,800; polar, 82,200, a difference of 5,600 miles, -which means the same influences and same reason to make it hollow. -While 1,233 times as large as the Earth, its density of substance is -only 301 times as much. Here we have the two largest planets, perhaps -yet in their period of development for being inhabited, in very like -form relatively as the Earth. - -It may not be ill-timed to assert at this point the belief that all -planetary bodies are hollow and cool, not one in a molten condition or -giving out heat, but only generating heat in their own atmospheres, -thus giving out light, which we, in our ignorance, attribute to a -mass of intense heat or a globe in combustion. Such a condition seems -unreasonable to exist in a body traveling unlimited space, which is -cold beyond any degree of ascertaining. The sun is subject to the same -conditions as the Earth, as far as obtaining heat, and this work will -claim that we receive no more direct heat from the Sun than from Mars -or Venus. - -Taking the first proposition, that in the absence of friction there -can be no heat or light, the assumption is that the Sun generates its -heat and light by its wonderful revolution in its own atmosphere. With -a diameter of 860,000 miles, and revolving in 25.38 days, the Sun is -moving through its atmosphere a mile in eight-tenths of a second, and -seventy-five miles a minute, and 4,500 per hour. - -With an atmosphere of relative density of the Earth’s, it is easy to -see what a pyrotechnical and electrical display this would reveal -to the lens of a telescope, giving the impression of fire on an -inconceivable magnitude. It seems unreasonable that in the realm of -Nature anything, or that anywhere fuel can be found for an eternal fire -except in an old orthodox Hell. - -To an observer on Mars or Venus, the earth would, no doubt, present the -same starlike appearance that those planets do to our earthly eyes. - -The electrical sparks on a trolley wire or dynamo give the same -expression to our eyes, though in miniature, with no consciousness of -heat to our feelings. - -It is doubtful if, with all the observations of the Sun by telescopes, -we have gained any knowledge of its structure, but only of its -revolutions, size and movements, the same as the Earth. It would be -a very difficult subject to diagnose clearly as to its productions -of animal and vegetable life. The electrical influences through an -atmosphere proportionally deep with ours, with its clouds that must -exist in the same, could very thoroughly obscure the surface of the -Sun. Unless at special intervals, when certain exposures would be -called Sun-spots, either on a great space of continent or ocean. - -The great flames of gases in the atmosphere would give the impression, -by telescopic view, of a burning mass, when under these atmospheric -flames all is cool and calm. - -In the writer’s mind there is no doubt but the Sun is as favorable in -condition for animal and vegetable life as the Earth, and has both -in proportional greater variety and species. Nature having no limit -to designs, uses no duplicates, never repeats herself in anything. -No two grains of seed, no two snow flakes, are ever just alike. A -million bushels of peas will have no two alike, yet every one has its -individuality as a pea. Man cannot discriminate one blackbird from -another in a flock, but to the birds they are as individual as mankind -to each other. For these reasons it is easy to see that every planet -may be peopled with different varieties of animal and vegetable life as -it is to find the variations in different countries of the Earth. While -the climate of the Sun may be hotter than that of the Earth, Nature -can adapt itself to any condition of heat or cold. - -Thus far the argument has been chiefly in considering the influence -of heat by friction on planetary surfaces. Later this influence will -be briefly taken up to demonstrate its interior effect in producing -earthquakes and volcanoes. - -For a diversion, we will for a while consider the effect of centrifugal -force on the Earth. The Earth gives many manifestations of said force -in the shape of the continents, courses of rivers, outlets of bays -and ranges of mountains. North America gradually swings to the east -as it approaches the Equator; South America, at the Equator, bulges -most to the east. The mountain ranges, the Rocky, Sierra Nevada and -Cordilleras, in North America, the Andes, in South America, forming a -barrier against the further encroachment of the Pacific Ocean. The West -Coast of Africa is protected from the Atlantic largely by the mountains -of Morocco, including the Black and White, running south, somewhat -protecting Senegambia, and then the Kong, with other mountain ranges -in upper and lower Guinea, stop the encroachment on line of Gulf of -Guinea. In Asia, Hindustan has the Ghant Mountains for a barrier, while -another range of mountains holds the Peninsula of Malacca in place. It -will be plainly seen that all these points of countries lean toward the -Equatorial center of motion. The islands of Oceanica, strung out on the -line of the Equator, also show the effect of the Earth’s revolution. - -The Island of Australia is apparently a new production in embryo of -a new continent in future connection with some of the large adjacent -islands, and ultimately of most of the island groups of Oceanica. The -same result is likely to follow with the Greater and Lesser Antilles. - -The rivers are marked evidence of centrifugal force on both continents. -The largest, the Amazon, running nearly on line of the Equator and -emptying there. All the rivers, almost without exception, north of the -equator to the Arctic circle run southeast when they can, and at their -mouths tend that way. Those south tend northeast where the face of the -country will admit. The Nile, a freak river, is about the only marked -exception. On the north outflows like the Yukon, McKenzie, and Great -Fish in North America; the Yenisei and Lena, and many smaller streams -of Europe and Asia flow to the Arctic Ocean. - -These last named streams so far from the great center of motion and on -account of the marked incline to the country toward the polar centers -head that way and no doubt contribute largely to the great inflow of -water to the internal ocean. The west coasts of both continents are -marked for their dearth of great streams. The open sea that some Arctic -explorers have presumed to be about the poles is no doubt the beginning -of the fresh water ocean. - -The open sea problem introduces the importance of this disquisition. -If there is an open sea, which is in all probability true, it must be -the open door to an inside world as truly as the coming back from those -high latitudes and entering open sea is the evidence of our habitable -outside world. - -With all deference to the reports of Arctic explorers, it is very -doubtful if they really know their actual positions or latitudes with -freaky compasses and unfavorable conditions about them, so that their -stories and adventures while honestly told need to be taken with a -grain of salt. They tell us of witnessing the breaking off of icebergs -of mammoth size from glaciers, which, no doubt, is true. It would be -true if one was seen big as the Capitol at Washington, or as large -as the largest Egyptian pyramid, but doubtful if they ever saw one -one-tenth as large as the latter or as large as the former. - - - - -III. - -ICEBERGS. - - -The venture will be taken here to consider and explain the character -and formation of a big true iceberg which it is supposable change their -location to both inside and outside waters. - -As already said, the ice belt is the dividing line between salt and -fresh waters. - -This being the case, large expanses of the ocean in the Arctic region -must be frozen over. As water is an exception to most everything else -by growing lighter as it grows colder, it rises above its water level. -Without this provision of Nature, our lakes would become solid masses -of ice, and rivers would become mountains, thus extinguishing fish and -producing a mass so deep and solid that a summer season would hardly -melt away. This can be evidenced in any tub of water standing out in a -cold night. Water does not congeal entirely on the surface, but rises -in frozen particles from below like cream on milk. This is shown by -its rising and swelling up in the center and pressing the outside of -the vessel to bursting. - -A pond, lake or river frozen so thickly as to bear up heavy loaded -teams of horses, and armies of men with all their equipages will be -materially arched as it leaves the banks. An evidence of this comes -when rising and cracking with loud reports and at the thawing up and -yielding of pressure on the banks when loud explosions like blasts or -firing of cannons will occur, caused by the settling and cracking of -the ice. - -As the ocean depths are great and the Arctic night of long duration, -the fresh-water portions to a great depth congeal, and rising form a -mass of ice inconceivable to temperate climes, both in height and area. -Imagine what an iceberg must have been in starting from seventy-fifth -to eightieth parallel of latitude and floated through all kinds of -weather till midsummer, arriving off the coasts of Newfoundland, and -then 300 to 500 feet high with seven times its height under water and -so large as to take hours and even days or weeks to pass the main mass -of ice and its fragments that have sloughed off. Has any explorer ever -seen such a body of ice break off from a glacier that must have covered -scores of miles square when it started? - -As an arrow shot into the air bends its course to follow the heavy end, -as truly do the heavy elements in the water manifest themselves at the -center of the Earth’s motion, and the saltness of the Equatorial waters -is much stronger than approaching the polar holes, which last term -might be used with good reason instead of poles. - -There seems to be with all Arctic explorers the obstacle presenting -itself, termed the ice belt. This obstacle is suggestive, and leads the -way to base the following conclusions: - -That the water at this point has become so freshened, as to admit of -such a wide freezing belt, but that the boundary line is made between -salt water and fresh. - -It is not in place here to describe a glacier until the cause and -origin is explained, which will properly come after considering the -water influences from inside. - -The next purpose will be to show and aim to prove that the Earth is -hollow and supplied with an ocean of fresh water and habitable land. - -As said before the theory of an open sea gives the inference of a -new climate and country, therefore now, what evidence, actual or -circumstantial can be adduced? - -It is claimed by Arctic navigators beyond all their attempts to reach -beyond the ice belt, geese, duck, and other wild fowl continue to fly -and seem to be in quest of food which they must obtain in waters beyond -the ice belt. - -The existence of an open sea beyond the ice belt has for years been -conceded. As no explorer has reached much nearer than 750 miles of -the supposed poles, it is reasonable to suppose that the open sea, -so-called, but really a hole must be nearly fifteen hundred miles in -diameter. Various evidences have settled that question in the minds of -navigators, the most important of which is that the sea fowls still fly -beyond the reach of man’s explorations. The fact alone that wild geese, -ducks, and other sea fowl go on to some feeding ground is enough to -settle all doubts or arguments for or against the theory of an open sea -of fresh water around the supposed poles. Conclusive reasons are that -no water fowl or fish can live in an ocean of salt water. Strictly salt -waters do not furnish any food; but only in bodies fed by streams of -fresh waters, as in bays, inlets and mouths of rivers, and adjacent to -the coast line of continents or islands where fresh water from springs -and rainfalls contribute to produce growth and substances suitable for -food. - -It was observed by the navigator, Ross, that moose, reindeer, wolves, -musk-ox, white bear, and foxes seek winter quarters toward the north -rather than to the south, and return when the season becomes favorable, -with their young. Fish are noticed to come south but not to return. - -As to water fowl, how far they could follow this opening into the -center of the Earth, the writer will leave for others to conjecture. - -It has often been a query from whence came the Arctic elephants, the -remains of which are found so plentifully on the north shores of -Siberia, some of which during the last century have been in such a -state of preservation as that their flesh was eatable by bears and -wolves. - -Why were they protected by a covering of hair if not originating in a -colder climate than exists south of the Arctic Circle? - -Do they not still exist in the interior, or have they passed out with -the great Auk, a former external resident? - -Why are the latitudes nearest the poles the favorite fishing grounds -for whales? Is not the interior ocean of fresh water their natural -breeding ground and from thence passing out through Behring Strait -and other channels into the outer waters? Can some scientist give us -reliable information as to where whales propagate most, and why it is -necessary for whaling expeditions to seek high latitudes for their -catch? - -The hole, fifteen hundred miles across, would not give any conscious -impression of there being such an opening. You could not stand and -inspect it like looking down a well. This hole opens into a new world -unexplored by man, unless it is possible that Sir John Franklin and the -Aeronaut Nansen unintentionally drifted in and were unable to navigate -themselves out. - -It must also, in marking out this theory, be admitted that as the -center of the Earth is approached this opening must be somewhat -enlarged, and must assume a concave shape from the center; such being -the case, the diameter must increase from one thousand to two thousand -miles or more, which is very likely to be the fact. With the motion -or revolution of the Earth, the water would assume this condition on -principle of the swinging of a pail of water over the head, and would -merely be a placid ocean as boundless to the eye as the waters on the -surface. - -In these expanses of water, it is quite reasonable to presume that -islands and large bodies of land may exist the same as outside, and -that many fossil specimens thought to have existed on the outer -surface in an early antiquity may have originated in the center of the -Earth and may even still exist; their ancient skeletons having been -thrown to the Earth’s surface by the centrifugal forces of water in -the same way that all the different stratas of rock have been cast up -and mixed in one grand conglomeration from the Earth’s center to its -circumference. These facts seem clearly to prove by these migratory -birds and animals: First an open sea; second it must be fresh water or -mostly so; third, it must produce or contain desirable food elements -different from what exist in the ocean on the outside, on which these -birds can live when they reach their breeding grounds from which -they are reported to return with largely augmented numbers. Now this -consistent query can arise: Do they stop at a near point after passing -this great boundary line of ice and find suitable and pleasant feeding -grounds, or go on 500 or 1,000 miles farther? At that distance, the -water is more likely to be modified in temperature and better adapted -to their tastes and comfort. It seems quite right to assume that they -come to inland seas, and pleasant bays, and sounds supplied with food -from their shores and feeding grounds, rather than being supplied with -anything existing on external parts of the Earth; otherwise, their -supply must all be drawn under the ice belt or pass through this great -Arctic filter. Again this thought comes up. How did these birds get -sight of or learn of this internal feeding, and probably breeding -ground? As migratory birds usually fly at great height, they would have -an advantage over man in seeing this open ocean, as it is reasonable -to think they may have bred as well as fed there. It is only a natural -sequence of their migration in and out of this belt or ice circle, just -as we recognize their flight north and south with the season’s changes. - -If they go there by instinct, they merely do what is credited to the -realm of life, considered lower in the scale of thoughts than man; -but if by exploration and reason, then man must take a lower scale in -calculation than the goose. To conclude this point. If birds live on -vegetation, there must be an abundant supply of fresh water to produce -it. If they live on fish, there must be the same sufficiency of fresh -water in which to breed, feed, and live. If the birds breed, they must -have hospitable shores on which to dwell and rest, and favoring skies -to contribute to their various wants in order to exist. - -Their instincts or reason will never take them where the conditions -will not admit of food and drink, rest, shelter, and protection. - -One other conclusive evidence that our icebergs are not formed by the -breaking off from the terminals of glaciers is the fact of frequently -finding them in midocean carrying such passengers as wolves, foxes, -white bear, and other specimens of Arctic animals. The solidity of the -iceberg is much against the glacial origin, the glacier being made up -of a conglomerate mass formed by snow, rain and spring waters, so much -so as to be impossible to keep intact to any great bulk. The formation -of the iceberg in its method must be a solid mass. - - - - -IV. - -GULF STREAM. - - -The first witness from the interior will be the Gulf Stream, the most -phenomenal stream of water known to the Earth. This great outlet, -authorities tell us, is the result of waters rushing around from the -Caribbean Sea through the Gulf of Mexico and out through the Strait of -Florida, thus giving force enough to be manifest for more than three -thousand miles to the coast of Ireland to give her the climate that -christened her the Emerald Isle; from Ireland and the British Isles, -its influence is felt to the coast of Norway. - -The water is much warmer than at other points after leaving the Bahamas -with different marine conditions, such as containing no jelly fish, -or showing sparkling waters by night and being always avoided by the -whales and other tenants that are in adjoining waters. It is also -claimed by those who have sailed many times through it that the color -of the water is so different as to be quickly noticeable as vessels -enter the Stream. How such a stream can originate with such force in -a reservoir like the Atlantic, connected around through the Caribbean -Sea and returning to itself, is as obscure to the writer’s mind as to -how a man can succeed in lifting himself in a bushel basket. A man that -can adopt this conclusion ought to apply his energies to developing a -machine for perpetual motion. - -The Gulf Stream is, no doubt, an enormous spring tainted with sulphur, -like many of the springs in Florida and up the coast as far as -Charleston, whose waters are warmed from the same influence as the -Gulf Stream, from passing up through a deep strata heated by volcanic -influences so common in Central America. Its sulphurous taint will -account for the absence of whales and jelly fish in its waters, in -which waters of similar nature fish are never found. This sulphurous -condition may account for the stormy features that prevail along its -course. It may be claimed that the waters would smell of sulphur so as -to be detected, but such is not necessarily the case; from springs in -Florida that flow strong sulphurous water, many visitors will not drink -at the spring, but after aërating an hour, it will be drank at hotel -tables and from water urns without a suspicion of its being sulphurous. -The contact with salt water at the great depth from which the Stream -originates diminishes any odor before reaching the surface and quite -likely imparts the noticeable change in color. The deep-sea soundings -off the coast of Bahama is another reason that the Stream originates -there. It is claimed to be almost impossible at the commencement of the -stream to get reliable soundings, as evidently sounding leads would be -sensibly affected by the powerful current of water flowing outward. - -The next evidence offered is, where does the enormous amount of water -come from to supply our lake systems? Nearly all of the large lakes -of the world are located in the highest parts. Lake Geneva 1,226 feet -above the sea level, receives the muddy waters of the Rhone, but has -so much other inflow as a spring as to discharge its waters blue and -clear. Lake Constance is 1,290 feet above the sea and 912 feet deep; -the Rhine rising at an elevation of 7,600 feet enters this lake. In -1770, the waters rose in one hour twenty feet above ordinary limit. It -is said to contain twenty-five species of fish, including salmon. Onega -and Ladoga are high from sea levels, and by canal, connect with some -of the headwaters of the Volga. Titicaca, 12,800 feet above the sea, -720 feet deep near the shore, and probably very deep in the middle, -contains many islands and abounds in remains of Peruvian architecture. -Superior, 627 feet above the sea and mean depth about 1,000 feet, never -freezing over except about the shores, and presents a temperature of -about 45 degrees. - -These are only a few in different countries to which the position is -universal, for both great bodies of fresh water as well as small ones, -as the general impression with people is that lakes are usually in low -lands, while the opposite is the true state. - -How few people in this country ever thought of our great internal -seas of fresh water, Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Ontario, being on -the highest lands between the ocean and the Rocky Mountains, yet such -is the case. From these great fountains flow the waters that plunge -down Niagara Falls, while a larger portion, it is thought, has a -subterranean outlet through Lake Ontario, and uniting with the Niagara -current to form the St. Lawrence. - -Whence come these waters into those great lakes? They have no important -rivers flowing in, and their waters are frequently highest in August -and September when the country is commonly suffering by drouth. If the -supply were rain water, this whole surface would freeze, but spring -water is exempt until well exposed to the air for some time. The lands -about Lake Superior rise quite abruptly, and as you ascend the hills, -and riding from Ashland to Duluth, will see hundreds of small lakes, -and from Two Harbors north as you ascend for fifty miles you see the -same state of things till you come to the divide within less than 100 -miles, when the waters go west into the Mississippi valley and north -to Hudson Bay, and east and south to the Atlantic. Are these lakes -supplied with rain and snows? If so, where does the water collect, and -how does it get into this elevation? A subterranean river is supposed -to run between Superior and Ontario, on account of similar fish being -caught in each lake at particular seasons, but absent in Ontario at -other times. - -The lakes named are only mentioned for their importance; we will now -call attention to lakes universally. Whoever reads this subject will be -obliged to come to only one conclusion as to the general locality of -lakes. Take our Adirondack region, with its thousands of pure, clear -lakes hidden away among the rugged hills. The White mountain country -where lakes abound. Chautauqua on its elevated ground, Mt. Desert in -the ocean with its Eagle lake and others 1,200 feet above the sea. -Lakes and living ponds, full of lilies, on Block Island. All through -the mountains and wilds of Maine, and so on in every state the same -condition exists, till you get to the level and prairie states where -upheavals are rare for producing lakes and springs. - -If a reader will peruse in “Picturesque America” the descriptive scenes -on the French Broad River and the wonders through Delaware Water Gap, -it is very doubtful if the various displays of waterfalls and profusion -of springs and lakes will impress him with the idea that they are to -be attributed to special rainfall in that locality. One particular -evidence ought to be enough to dispel any such conclusion. - -To quote from page 100: “As one of the wonders of the Gap must be -counted the marvelous lake upon Tammany; a lake so singular that -popular superstition has been tempted to add a final touch to its -surpassing strangeness, and declare it has no bottom. As if in quaint -climax to her wild work, Nature, after riving the mountain to its very -base, here places beside the chasm on the very apex of the lofty peak a -peaceful lake.” - -This feature of lakes could be extended indefinitely, but something -must be said about the smaller influences that produce them. Every -lake is but a mammoth spring, or reservoir of numerous springs that -feed into its base. The provision by nature of this inexhaustible -reservoir of fresh water is beyond doubt the most essential of any -other bounty bestowed upon every living thing on Earth’s surface. The -principle of centrifugal motion and power is here developed to its -highest advantage. - -Every man that has ever turned a grindstone at early morning to -prepare a dull scythe for its day’s work, has no doubt observed the -result of frequent pouring on of water. If he turned slow, it would -drizzle off at the bottom, supposed to obey the Law of Gravitation; -but if he turned just fast enough, he could keep about a pint of -water on the surface of a stone four inches thick and two feet in -diameter. Increasing the speed results in throwing the water off in all -directions. - -If yarn or cloth wet from a tank or vat is put in a tub latticed -outside and subjected to rapid revolutions, it can be thoroughly dried -in a brief time. The process of separating cream from milk is done on -the same principle by which butter can be made in ten minutes’ time -from milking. - -The familiar trick of whirling a pail of water over one’s head, is -complete proof in itself that water seeks the surface and center of -motion, and that all these results are from centrifugal force. A funnel -of large, or any capacity, filled and a plug at the bottom removed to -admit its discharge, will evidence that motion at once forms a circle, -and that the center is bare while the outside is full. - -At this point it may be well to call attention to another feature in -the river system. The water on the grindstone will give force to this -suggestion. At a certain speed the water will tend to the outside of -the stone; below speed required to do that, the tendency will be toward -the center of the stone, or strictly toward the center of the Earth’s -motion. - -Now let us see what the river system says. Look on your maps and see -about where the common divide occurs, which is seemingly not far from -the 50th parallel, where centrifugal force is apparently not strong -enough to carry the waters toward the Equator, and the principal waters -flow toward Symmes’s Hole. - -Look on your maps. - -On the 40th parallel sailors have what they call a roaring sea, which -is approximately near the divide of waters, going either toward the -poles or toward the Equator. - - - - -V. - -DAILY MOTION. - - -Nature seems to have just the right adjustment in all its affairs, -whether in coloring of flowers, season for growth, flavoring of fruits, -supplies for animal and vegetable life, and instincts for everything -created, to adapt them to living purposes. - -So in the Earth’s diurnal revolution of 24 hours, supposing it was -slowed to 25 hours, we should have less wind and tides, less warmth and -more land free from the encroachment of the sea. - -Increase the speed to 23 hours would give us more warmth by greater -friction, increase the flow of our springs, give higher tides, and make -most of the present commercial seaports of the world take seats farther -back, as millions of acres of land now available would be flooded every -tide. - -The moon, we are told, has little or no atmosphere. It is pronounced -cold and uninhabitable. This all looks reasonable. Being only a little -over 2,000 miles in diameter and a revolution about like the Earth -through a thin atmosphere, it is easy to see the lack of friction to -produce warmth, and therewith the proper constituents to sustain life. -This is an easy one and readily disposed of. - - - - -VI. - -EARTHQUAKES. - - -It is doubtful if the Earth’s crust exceeds, or equals 1,000 miles in -thickness. The outside is held from flying to pieces by the atmosphere, -which is a sort of tire to the earth, while the inside is constantly -pressing from effect of centrifugal force. These two factors must meet -somewhere. - -On the outside, near the ice belt, the water pressure gets the best of -the inner forces and drives the waters into Symmes’s Hole. In the Earth -the centrifugal force has advantage until reaching the surface; but if -a big hole could be cut at the Equator through to the center, no doubt -a man could jump into it in safety and cease to fall as he cushioned -against centrifugal influence in his descent. Earthquakes are only the -effects of internal pressure of water to get to the surface, at times -bursting large reservoirs, producing tremblings, and at others with -great force throwing up hills and mountains from the tops of which the -fountains of water burst forth. At other times they are produced by -the contact of water with heated elements in volcanoes, creating the -commotion leading to the volcanic eruption, the latter of which can -only be produced by contact of fire and water. - -It is believed that this is the complete and brief explanation of -earthquake causes. - - - - -VII. - -VOLCANOES. - - -The volcano is nothing more than a local fire, as much in connection -with the Earth’s surface as the furnace fire built in a man’s basement -to warm his house, or in his stove to cook his breakfast. When the fuel -that is used in either one is consumed, the fire goes out, which is a -common result in both cases. Of all the volcanoes known to have existed -as evidenced by their craters, fully three-fourths have become extinct. - -Now what causes the volcano? The Earth is filled with immense supplies -of fuel, consisting in stores of coal, sulphur, oil, gas, limestone, -etc. While it is claimed that at the imaginary axis of the Earth there -can be no friction, yet when the surface is approached with all its -weight of mountains and continents, here friction begins to put in its -work. It is very doubtful if any volcano exists, or ever has existed -whose fires go to the depth of 500 miles, and more likely not half -that distance. - -On the outside of this circle, of 25,000 miles it is only reasonable -to expect an enormous strain. The abrasion of limestone found in huge -masses will, by process of heat, convert them into lime. The contact -with water, universal throughout the Earth, will start the volcano, -which by slaking, this small amount of rock converted into lime will -generate a heat that may ignite and produce more lime, or reach other -combustibles, which may be set on fire by this; or when in contact -with other substances, this would lead to reservoirs of oil and gas, -and deposits of coal and sulphur. These when ignited may remain in -a slight slumbering condition and burn for ages, but water will be -the constant aggressor and from time to time will manifest itself -by coming in contact with these burning forces thus producing the -volcanic eruptions and in time will be the conqueror, and the crater -of the volcano will become a lake, of which evidences exist all over -the Earth. That volcanoes are only local, the same as fires in our -houses, is fully evident from the fact that they burn, and go out. This -theory of producing volcanic eruptions can be easily demonstrated in -every kitchen or casting shop in the country. Kettles of hot fat or -melted metals when brought in contact with water will cause a miniature -eruption at short notice. It is common to speak of volcanoes emitting -smoke, but it is rare that such cases are ever a fact, but instead of -smoke, we should say steam. The result of friction to produce effects, -we claim, is well illustrated in shipments of cotton. Cotton shipped -from India in the vessel’s hold, rarely, if ever, takes fire. From -this country it is no unusual thing, and why? In India they bind the -bales with jute or hemp, while in this country with straps of iron. In -the ship’s hold, there is, of course, a constant motion and rubbing -together of great weight of bales which ofttimes generates the fire -in the cargo. This is the way the volcano is started, but sooner or -later, water will put it out. All volcanic eruptions are credited with -throwing out great volumes of water, steam, mud, ashes, stones, lava -and sulphur. During earthquake convulsions which generally precede -volcanic eruptions, the world over there is a bursting out of fresh -springs as well as an increase in the present existing flows. - - -WHAT ARE VOLCANOES FOR? - -If they are, as is claimed by some, for vents to the interior molten -condition, why do they become extinct, so many of them, and almost -invariably become lakes inside their craters? - -With the whole center of the Earth a molten mass, there ought to be -fire enough to keep them going incessantly. Where does the water come -from to keep up a constant outpour of steam and vapor in locations -where it seldom rains? - -It would seem as if the small amount of rain or snow that fell would -get pretty well dried out before it arrived at a point to create an -eruption by contact with melted rock, or that such a quantity could -keep up steam in such an immense cauldron. There is no reason to -presume that a drop of rain water ever enters a volcanic crater, except -what may fall into its open mouth, which will be impossible. - -Have Volcanoes any specific use in Earth economics? Do they tend to -open up water courses from the interior and by their upheavals on the -continents and islands of the Earth create natural elevated reservoirs -from which the lower regions of Earth can be irrigated? Do they not -send out certain gases to mingle in the atmosphere, producing favorable -results in vegetation and animal life? Are not the vicinities of -volcanoes noted for the fine fruits and wines in latitudes in which -they grow? - - - - -VIII. - -RAINFALLS. - - -This chapter being devoted to rainfalls, a few introductory -observations may be in order. The essential need on Earth’s surface for -growth of vegetation, and the sustenance of life, depending thereon -in some form, is in universal irrigation, which Nature failed to -furnish by its internal provision of water with its outflow of springs -and lakes, except by artificial use. The rainfall on the Earth is no -more intended for filling of springs, lakes and seas than it is for -supplying us with fuel. It is simply a provision for surface watering -of vegetation, and has no more effect on the existence of living -springs and subterranean outflow of water than the eclipse of the moon. -There never was a rainfall, except, perhaps, in Noah’s time, that wet -the general surface of the country to the depth of three feet, and -rarely one-half of that. It is generally called a good, soaking rain -that moistens the bottom of the potato hills, and to wet what the soil -will hold one to two feet requires a prodigious amount of water. It -is claimed by proprietors of orange groves that a volume of water of -six inches in depth is requisite to thoroughly irrigate the grove. If -the claim that rain has no effect on the supplies of springs and lakes -be true, you will ask why it is that after a long drouth and a heavy -rainfall, the springs resume running, and water returns into wells -that have for a time been dry? The effect on those sources of supply -is simply the same as results from wetting a sponge to take up water -which will not absorb and be taken up in a dry one. You can easily be -convinced of this effect. To show that water will run uphill or away -from the Earth: The surface of the Earth becoming saturated, and in -some places penetrating into the seams and crevices of rock and soil, -at once forms a medium of attraction for the waters below to follow. -Another valid reason is the general condition of the atmosphere from -the time of drouth to a condition of moisture when it becomes really a -mammoth sponge after being dampened. Against the claim that rainfall -has little or no influence in raising or producing springs or lakes, or -living wells, this question naturally arises regarding springs, which -has in a measure been answered. It is, however, a pertinent question, -and a pleasant one to answer fully. - -In the summer season, most commonly of any, the air becomes hot -and dry. The surface of the Earth loses the moisture of the air’s -influence, together with the Sun’s heat evaporating the dampness, -becomes generally arid, and fails thereby to be a conductor of the -moisture from below. - -As a season of very dry atmosphere occurs for months at times, the -soil becomes correspondingly dry and dusty to quite a depth. From this -cause the springs and water in wells recede and sink away. It is an -easy matter to find people who have witnessed the following seeming -phenomena in times of drouth: After a period of weeks or months of -drouth before any rainfall has occurred at all, the fountains, long -dry, often commence to run, and wells begin to fill with water, and -this without a drop of rain. - -Just here comes the pleasant task of answering the question fully: How -can this occur without a soaking rain? - -At such times, when the Earth and all nature is thirsting for water, -and every fountain seems to have dried up forever, the day will come -which will bring these evidences. - -The aged will complain of their rheumatism; men’s bones will ache; -geese will wash in the dust; the peacock will scream; birds, beasts and -vegetation will feel a humidity in the air and intuitions that rain is -near. As the atmosphere has felt the approach and preparation for rain -some time in advance, so all Nature feels its effects. To illustrate -the burned or dry condition of the air, you may consider this test: -Take a pail of water, and a dry sponge, big as your head, and lay the -sponge on the surface, and it will take a long time for the sponge to -absorb the water and become fully saturated. Wet the sponge before the -test and squeeze it dry as you can, and lay it on, and it will fill -rapidly and quickly. Pour a pail of water on the floor and try the same -experiment. Your sponge will not fill at all if dry, only a little as -it comes in contact with the water; but moisten it as before, and press -it nearly dry, and throw on the puddle of water, and it will drink -itself full at once, drawing up the water like a pump. You cannot wipe -up a floor with a dry sponge. - -The springs and wells that have dried and receded a short distance from -their usual level from lack of moisture in the air that penetrates the -surface, quickly feel a returning moist condition and are drawn by the -same influence upward as the water climbs up through the damp sponge. - -The atmosphere performs the same duty as the sponge, and this answers -why the springs and wells resume running before a drop of rain has -fallen, and which, when it comes in copious quantities, still adds to -the general effect of making a stronger draft on the fountains below. - -Another question proper to ask scientists is this: If the rainfall -affects springs and lakes, how is it that the analysis of mineral -springs in all quarters of the globe is not affected by every change of -season? How can the waters of Saratoga, Carlsbad, Waukeska, Kissengen -or of any other such spring be relied on for uniform assays? How can -this great variety of springs come in such near proximity to each -other and possess such distinctive curative properties as at Saratoga, -for example? Within a radius of two or three miles are springs, one -of which is a cathartic, another a diuretic, another emetic, another -tonic, and so on, no two alike, but retain their individuality through -all times, wet or dry? They are affected only in amount of flow by the -same atmospheric conditions of either dryness or moisture, as just -described. - -When the atmosphere is heavily charged with moisture, it becomes -a mammoth sponge, and this condition of air, evidently, is what -precipitates thunder showers in the summer. As all the hills and -mountains are the result of water upheavals, they are for this reason -the reservoirs of water for watering the Earth, and therefore quicker -to respond to atmospheric conditions than the plains. - -It is almost without exception that thunder showers form their nucleus -on the heads of mountains and the tops of hills. - -After a shower let us see the condition and results. The face of Nature -smiles after its refreshing wash; every tree and plant has drunk -its foliage full of new life; the air’s sultriness has changed to -freshness. All animated life seems to take a fresh lease, and as the -clouds roll away and the quickly swollen streams rush to the rivers, -lakes and oceans, it seems as if almost a deluge had passed by. - -The remarks, “What a lovely shower!” “What a much needed rain!” “What -lots of good it will do!” etc., pass between neighbors. Farmer Smith -comes along and says, in reply to the shower being such a cracker, that -he went into his garden to set out cabbage plants, and down little over -an inch the ground was dry as powder; that while this will do lots of -good to grass, and “sich,” it wants a good soaker to get down to the -bottom of the potato hills. - -Such is the history of most of our copious showers that flood -everything for half an hour, but not a drop reaches the roots of forest -trees of any depth, or does anything more than to temporarily wet and -freshen the surface. - -Such being the case on the prairies and unbroken plains, the -evaporation of two or three days’ sun leaves them in almost the -condition of a desert. This was the case in our new States, Nebraska, -Kansas, Colorado and Indian Territory, which, now so productive, were, -as our early Geography describes them, before the soil was broken to -hold the rain for a while, the Great American Desert. - -On a hot day the air in the valleys is still and suffocating. Climbing -up from the valley to the hill or mountain tops, you find a cool and -refreshing breeze; the moisture in the air is becoming condensed. -Here is where the philosophy of lightning seems to work a prominent -part. The cold currents of air and moisture, collecting, seem to come -in contact with this subtle and wonderful agent, and the result is -like fire to powder, a vivid flash and explosion. Stand on the plain -on a sultry day and watch that little white crest of what we call a -thunderhead. The farmer who has hay down will notice it with a little -anxiety. The sailor will think of his sails, and the picnickers will -think about going home. Soon a flash, and a dark base is forming. Soon -the rumble of thunder is heard; the girls with their bonnets on begin -to look worried. The captain on his yacht is giving orders to reef -sails, and Farmer Jones and his boys are cocking and pitching hay for -their lives. - -The little white-capped clouds of an hour ago have turned into a black -and threatening massed park of artillery. Every discharge deepens and -darkens the advancing column. - -Just as the vessel’s sails are dropped and snugly reefed, just as the -farmer rushes his team, with load of hay or grain, into his barn, -and the picnic is almost under cover, the big drops of rain begin to -patter. Another flash and quick report; a scream from the girls, nearly -as sharp, and they rush for shelter, and down comes a torrent of rain. - -A slight cessation, another flash, and, like shaking a tree of fruit, -every electrical explosion seems to shake down a fresh reserve of rain -drops. This is in keeping with the theory that after great battles the -cannonading produces a copious rainfall. - -It is a method at times adopted by military garrisons when destitute of -water, when the atmosphere is in a favorable condition for rain, to get -out a battery of artillery and have a season of vigorous firing, and -generally with successful results. - -And while all this grand and complete arrangement supplies vegetation -with its bathing and drinking, as said before, it has nothing to do -with the living and lasting supply of our springs, lakes and rivers. -They are fed from a never failing and almost unchanging source--that -is, by the immense supply taken in at the polar holes in a river over -4,000 miles wide at each end of the Earth’s axis. - -That the presumption of rainfall furnishing the supply for all of -our lakes, springs and wells has never been questioned seems almost -discreditable to the observing talent of our age. Whatever the -character of rainfall, either by protracted storm or sudden and copious -showers, it cannot escape our notice that the largest portion of the -water runs from the highlands to the lowlands into the gulches and -small streams, and thence to the rivers, into the ocean; so that the -percentage of water retained by the soil is much smaller than that -which runs away. - -In our Western prairies, the country formerly called the Indian -Territory, the soil was covered with an almost waterproof matting of -grass roots, on which, when showers fell, the penetration was so slight -that in a very few days evaporation left them parched and dried. Since -the settling up of our territories, which were once termed deserts, the -soil has been broken by the farmer’s plow, thus admitting the rainfall -to be longer retained in the surface soil, which fact has led to the -development of lands once considered barren to become some of the most -fruitful grounds in our domain. - -Another peculiar feature of climatic change may be mentioned here, -whereas until recent years thunder showers and storms were almost -unknown in many of our Western States and in the Pacific States also, -till now these storms and showers, with their electrical disturbances, -are nearly as common as in older States. - -Another feature of weather which has seemed to develop in recent years -is that of milder winters in our Northern States and colder freaks in -the Southern; snows and frosts reaching States which rarely ever had -such experiences, and the burdens of snows becoming much less in States -which always expected a long season of sleighing. - -It is proposed to venture the following reasons as conducive to much -of this change in weather conditions of the country at large. First, -the general denuding of our forests, which evidently has much influence -on the water courses. Next, the settling up of the whole country, and -location of cities and towns from ocean to ocean, all quite evenly -distributed, and in a great portion of them large amounts of machinery, -composed of iron and steel, producing a great amount of friction and -electrical influence in their workings; besides the almost innumerable -fires from furnaces, factories and households, discharging their heat -into the upper air. Again, the railroad system, with its millions of -tons of steel rails, make a magnetic connection between every State -and almost every county in forming one grand combination. The rush -of thousands of trains all over the country, with their friction by -wheels on the tracks, and the rush through the atmosphere, cannot -fail to influence in largely equalizing the same. Still another -potent influence must exist in the almost unlimited number of wires -for telephone and telegraph purposes, which make all the electrical -combinations more complete than anything else. If all these things -combine, it does not seem strange that magnetic and electric currents -and conditions of our weather throughout the country should be somewhat -modified. - - - - -IX. - -SPRINGS. - - -The person in full enjoyment of health rarely ever appreciates it to -the fullness that he will on being deprived of it and have its welcome -return. - -The bounties of Nature are so great and common that they fail to -attract our attention to the extent of some trifles that come new into -our way from day to day. One of the greatest provisions of Nature, -as universal as air and Earth, is the millions of springs gushing up -through the pores of the Earth in every country and clime. To make -this provision of fresh water ample, needs very large reservoirs for -supplies. The amplitude of this reservoir, if the situation is as -claimed in this book, it is believed everybody will admit. To prove -that this supply comes from such a general source a class of witnesses -must be brought out. One of the most important must be the feeding -of our great lakes on high altitudes. These great bodies of fresh -water are universally credited with enormous depths of pure, clear -water, such as never could exist as the result of shed water. Many of -them practically have no streams feeding them, but, without regard to -weather conditions of seasons, pour forth enormous bodies of water -without change of volume. Lake Superior will be taken again as a -prominent witness. Here is an inland sea, on the highest ground between -the ocean and Rocky Mountains, so large that vessels can sail on it for -days out of sight of land. Not a river of any importance flows into it, -the country around it not admitting the formation of a large stream. - -The water during the hottest summer months sustains a uniform -temperature of forty-five degrees, and is as clear as crystal. - -The outflow from this lake furnishes the great river passing through -the Sault Ste. Marie, through which passes a greater tonnage of vessels -than through the Suez canal, and most of them of very large draft. This -river with the combined waters of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron passes -on through the Detroit River and Lake Erie and over Niagara Falls. It -is also claimed that from Lake Superior a large subterranean stream -flows into Lake Ontario from which lake the stream in junction with -Niagara river forms the St. Lawrence, the river so copious in its flow -as to be immune from floods. - -This question is in point: Where does this enormous supply of water -come from to supply Lake Superior? - -Without taking single witnesses, we will call up groups. Take the -various great lakes of the world, Europe, Asia and Africa, where all -great rivers seem to have their sources in some lake. - -As to rainfall if that originates these streams, and if so, how is -their flow kept so uniform, or is it from a steady, unfailing source, -as would come from the inside ocean of supply? - -Lakes of enormous depth exist in the Sierra Nevada, and Rocky -Mountains, as Pyramid Lake, Donner, Tahoe and Crater Lakes. In our -Adirondacks are thousands of lakes, in Vermont and New Hampshire, -and in the White Mountain region, throughout the mountain portions -of Maine, in West Virginia, and the Carolinas, and in other high and -mountainous sections lakes abound. As we come to the low country there -are few witnesses to call, as the only body of water worth mentioning -is in Utah, that lake being salt and below the level of the ocean. - -While the subject of this chapter is introduced under the heading of -springs, it may seem out of place to bring in these great lakes, -assuming that they are of the same class. But there is no doubt -whatever of their being nothing more or less than mammoth springs. - -Next to the great lake system of the world, may be called in evidence -the atolls so prevalent in the southern Pacific Ocean and growing also -in other places on the globe. These peculiar features appear to have -been built up from the tops of submarine mountains or old craters that -have been filled with fresh water, from which structures of coral have -grown till they reached the surface. The formation of these atolls -being generally elongated, or in chains like mountain ranges, is -suggestive of the same influence in their inception as the upheaval of -mountain chains on land surfaces by hydraulic pressure. - -This may be a good place to ask where the fresh water supply comes from -to produce these atolls. That they are produced by fresh water there -can be no question, as the work of coral is never performed without -an abundance of this element to build through. That the bottom of the -ocean has many subterranean rivers nobody will dispute. That nearly -every island in the ocean has springs of fresh water, none can deny. -Where does it come from? Many of these islands have thermal springs, -like Iceland with its geysers of many varieties. Some with common -fresh water, and nearby springs of mineral water. One familiar to this -region is Block Island with both fresh water and mineral springs, and -little lakes on the high ground alive with fresh water fish. Are they -supplied with rain water? - -Mount Desert is a very good witness to call. Here is an island eighteen -miles in diameter surrounded by salt water with an elevation of 1,800 -feet, and 1,200 feet above the ocean are three fine lakes, Eagle Lake, -Crooked Lake, and Echo Lake. In which lakes are trout weighing eight or -ten pounds. On this small island are to be found thousands of springs -pouring out from every crack and crevice. The water is pure and clear -as in all such cases. Where does it come from? No more generous gift to -man and all animated nature, has been bestowed by Providence than the -universal distribution of springs all over the world. - -Within twenty rods of the top of Mount Washington, the highest peak in -the New England States, flows out a copious spring of water. The whole -mountain system is full of springs and lakes. The entire Adirondack -region is in the same condition. It is safe to leave it to the reader -who has ever been out of sight of the smoke of his own chimney to -think of the abundance of instances where he has seen lakes and springs -on the tops of high hills, where no shed water to any extent could -reach them, and wonder how they came there. - -To assume that rains sink into the ground and form water supplies, -seems incredible when the experience of any man who has ever dug a -well or sunk a shaft in a mountain, or tunneled under a hill ought to -disprove such an idea at once. As we dig down we always meet water, -and the deeper we get the more we find. Where does the water from the -surface turn around to come back? Some of the water coming up is salt, -some fresh, some hot, but mostly of a uniform coolness of about fifty -degrees. - - - - -X. - -GLACIERS. - - -We hear a great deal said about the age of Glaciers. This is assuming -that the Earth has at some time been in a condition to be almost -uninhabitable, as evidences of this Glacial influence seem to be -reported from all parts of the globe. - -As the theory of a warmer climate having existed in primeval times and -that the Earth is and has been for ages cooling off hardly leaves a -place for a universal period of Glaciers. - -It hardly seems rational that the vast accumulation of flora to produce -the coal deposits and sustain the wonderful specimens of animal and -reptile growth could have been interrupted by a period of ice. If so, -the earth in its present condition shows evidence of growing warmer -instead of cooling off. - -It is by the writer seriously doubted that the many evidences -attributed to glaciers can be charged to their influence. - -Where large rocks are found foreign to anything in their immediate -surroundings and similar to formations at quite long distances away, -the explanation that the straggling specimens were carried there by -glaciers is not necessarily conclusive. - -There may be many instances where such evidences are the work of -glaciers, but it does not seem as if an ice age were needful to produce -the changes of rock, or to show the markings on rocks claimed to have -been caused by glacial abrasions. Icebergs can produce and explain -every such feature as is claimed for the glacier, and there seems to be -little reason to doubt that similar evidences such as are imputed to -glaciers are constantly going on as much at the present day as in any -remote age in the past. - -There can be no doubt that icebergs have existed in all time from the -earliest movement of the Earth’s machinery. - -As explained in treating of icebergs, an area of extent equal to some -of our smaller States frozen to a depth of thousands of feet breaks up -and floats away from the polar oceans. Presuming an iceberg large as -the State of Rhode Island to start off, which is very likely a small -estimate of the size of many, such berg being exposed to thawing winds -and the sun’s rays until thousands of miles away from its starting -point, and after all these exposures is often a mass of 300 or more -feet high and 2,000 feet deep. Imagine the weight and force of such a -body striking the peak of some submarine mountain, the top of a hill -with the momentum produced by wind and tide. There tops could as easily -be wiped off and carried long distances, as a man can strike off the -top of a measure of grain, and leave the same marks attributed to -glaciers. - -These great masses of rock and soil supposed to be transferred from -their original deposit are carried long distances till melting has -loosened a hold, and they are dropped to the bottom of the ocean and -left for the wonderment and surmise of the future as to how they got -there. This process of wiping off high points of submarine lands must -be going on just as much at the present time as ever in the past, and -seems a very wise and cheap system of dredging instituted by Providence. - -With the reasoning to follow of how the Earth obtains and maintains its -warmth an ice age would seem an impossibility and absurdity. - - -WHAT PRODUCES A GLACIER? - -Here again the influence of Springs is called into service. As all -the hills and mountains, it is here claimed, are the results of water -aided by centrifugal force, therefore the hills and mountains become -the reservoirs of supply for all the lower parts of the Earth. This -arrangement of Nature provided the means for producing a Glacier. At -high altitudes in the mountains, whether in the frigid zone or in the -temperate, break forth springs; coursing down the mountain side to the -valleys, the waters soon become aërated so as to freeze. Springs from -different ranges and neighboring heights contribute their streams, -all commingling in the deep cañons and freezing in a mass. With the -accumulations of snow and rain, this body grows until in time, by the -constant supply from the springs, rain and snow, the mountain gorges -are filled however wide and large they may be. - -This monstrous aggregation of ice must of course seek a lower point by -its enormous weight and constant accumulation on top, and naturally -begins to crawl down the valley grade. The first inception of a glacier -is spring water, which with other contributions named ultimately -produces what may be called a river of ice. - -Under the ice river is always flowing a stream of water, and many air -holes and openings are found upon the surface at different points, -no doubt produced by the influence of spring water coming in of -temperature above freezing or at the usual fifty-two degrees, about the -average of fresh water springs in all latitudes. This conglomeration -of influences to make a glacier shows the absurdity of having such -solid masses break off, as claimed to be seen by Arctic explorers, -large enough to remain intact well down into the Atlantic Ocean. As -these mountain ravines fill up, of course the waters involve and -cover with ice, every rock and tree, and all such objects in the way -must necessarily be carried to some lower point and ultimately left. -This faculty of a glacier has given it credit for performing all such -apparent transitions, while icebergs which evidently do 1,000 times -this amount of work are getting much the smaller share of credit. - -It has been reported by sailors in the region of icebergs that by -observations taken during a few months, they perceptibly grow many -feet higher, which goes to prove the claim that they are constantly -being added to from underneath. With change of season, these monsters -are floated away from their moorings, toward the Equator to cool and -freshen the main oceans, produce electric currents of air, become the -wonder and terror of ocean travel, and melting away under tropical -suns; or on the other hand, some may seek the interior and contribute -themselves to the cooling of the waters that manifest themselves in -refreshing springs all over the Earth. - -There were newspaper reports of large masses of ice being thrown out -during the great eruption in the Island of Java, but such statements -may do better for newspaper items than to sustain an argument in -this work. How can this equable condition of spring water, with its -delicious coolness adjusted to all seasons and tastes, be accounted -for if it does not come practically from one common source? Will some -scientist answer? - - - - -XI. - -CAVES. - - -These peculiar freaks in the Earth are nothing to excite much curiosity -or wonder. It is rare to find caves only in limestone formations which -by long contact with water gradually wash away and leave monstrous -chambers that have formerly been a solid mass. - -Sometimes a cave may be formed by a sinking of the floor, leaving the -arched top supporting itself, but whatever the cause and wherever caves -are found, I never read of any but lead to subterranean rivers of -great purity and coolness of water, nearly all the waters of which are -credited with blind fish. Where did the fish originate? The stalagmites -and stalactites tell of the copious influence of water. - -What is the source of these cave rivers? Are they from soakage of -rainfalls and do they have any dry season? - - - - -XII. - -ARTESIAN WELLS. - - -Here is a subject that is worthy the attention of settlers in our arid -and apparently desert regions of country. We are told that the source -of an artesian well is from fountains of water gathered and stored in -higher lands that run through different strata of rocks till they reach -the valleys, and when the boring reaches down to these strata the water -naturally comes up toward the height of the fountain it started from. -Would it not be a sensible inquiry to make as to where the supply came -from to furnish the water in the higher lands? That the accepted theory -of supply to artesian wells comes from some higher point is not correct -can be demonstrated on the prairies, where no higher land is in sight. - -A very good test occurred some years ago at the Hamilton mine, -adjoining the great Chapin mine, in Wisconsin. It became almost -impossible to work the mine on account of the great influx of water. - -Not much more than a half mile away was a lake that was charged with -producing this annoying flow. - -At the time of a temporary abandonment, the writer disputed this -solution, and a survey was proposed to determine the level in the lake -and mine, which showed the water in the mine eleven feet the lowest. To -overcome this encroachment of water, an ingenious device was adopted -by building a chimney over the point of inflow to the height of water -level and stopping at the bottom; when completed allowed to fill. - -When its true level was reached the rest of the mine was dry some -distance above. It is doubtful if any place on the Earth will not -respond with a flow of water within a mile in depth and rarely half -that distance will need to be bored. - -In the Mojave desert it is claimed a depth of 200 feet and often less -gets a good flow of water. What sends it up and whence its source? In -Michigan, Wisconsin, and many other adjacent States, a depth of 100 or -200 feet will produce large flowing wells. Where does this universal -supply come from and why unchanged by wet or dry seasons? The flow from -Lake Superior is frequently larger in the dry season of August than in -the wet season of spring. - -If there is no unfailing supply of water in the Earth, where does the -influence come from to produce an Oasis in a desert? - -If artesian wells are bored in our arid and now almost worthless lands, -wherever a fountain of water is tapped will be an Oasis around which -the settler can produce fabulous wealth of crops and obtain forage for -live stock. The expense of boring wells will be largely compensated by -cheapness of land and bountiful results in vegetation. - - - - -XIII. - -OASES. - - -These green spots in the great deserts are the counterparts of Islands -in the oceans. - -If not thrown up and fed by water upheaval, how are they produced? -Are they volcanic? The Oasis of Ammonium, or Siwah, six miles long -and eight wide, contains the ruins of the famous temple and oracle of -Ammon, visited by Alexander the Great, and celebrated for the fountain -of the Sun, whose waters are warm at morning and evening, and cold at -noon. - -There are several oases not long distances west of the Nile in the -Great Desert. The ancients considered them as Islands in a Sea of Sand, -but they are really elevated lakes, although not manifesting themselves -much at the surface, but underlying so closely as to render the climate -too unhealthy to live in during the summer and autumn, being of a -swampy character, and yet very productive in winter and spring. Where -do these waters soak in to produce such spots in the deserts? - - - - -XIV. - -THINGS THAT PUZZLE US. - - -It is frequently a query how the distribution of fish is so general -even in the most obscure lakes and springs rising and running from -points so isolated as to apparently preclude such specimens from -getting there. It seems strange that some species would exist at the -head of a stream and not inhabit it throughout. Seas and lakes may, -and do exist, without any visible outlets to the ocean, and yet are -plentifully supplied with varieties of fish. Now what may be a rational -explanation of how they got there. It cannot seem right to say that -they originally existed in an adjacent sea or the nearest approach -to the ocean, as they are not found in any adjacent waters and are -entirely peculiar to their locality, having no neighbors akin. It -does not seem as if such would be the case if they became isolated -by some remote upheaval and change of surrounding Earth’s surface, -as this would only divide up the family and spread the species like -immigration from the eastern to the western states. - -As asked before, where do these blind fish come from in caves where -streams do not seem to have any connection with surface waters? Where -do the many specimens come from in the island lakes all over the world? -To all these questions there seems a simple answer when we accept the -idea that the center of the Earth is the womb that is developing and -sending out through every pore, seam, crevice and crack some new seed -and form of life to develop a new and strange existence to us on the -outside. - -It is a Scriptural idea that “We are born of water.” - -Creatures that have their inception in the bowels of the Earth cast -their eggs as the fish and reptile spawn in our rivers. These eggs or -spawn or seeds of life in whatever form are taken in the currents that -course through the different strata of the earth by centrifugal force -and pressure, taking almost any amount of time in their hermetically -sealed transit before they reach an atmosphere in which to develop -into a new existence. Any lake, spring, or fountain of water that is -a living stream fed by the inexhaustible sources within, may have -from that varied storehouse and laboratory of nature any specimen of -fish, scale, skin, shell or reptile of any form, that no adjoining or -neighboring water may develop. - -The spawn or egg may be destroyed on its outward passage or held back -by influences preventing its maturity; or landed on the surface under -unfavorable conditions of climate, air, and properties in the water. - -Why do shad not exist anywhere in similar coast waters? Where do they -come from and is the Gulf Stream to be credited with their origin? -Where do the different schools of blue fish, mackerel, herring and -numerous other fish find their headquarters to breed, and why after -seeking other waters for a season, return to some place that seems to -be their “sweet home”? - -Was Seth Green the pioneer in transportation of spawn to distant waters -for their incubation? It is more than likely that he was not; with all -credit due to the great service his genius has rendered. - -What is said of the dissemination of fish, shells, and reptiles may be -consistently said of vegetation. - -The earth is filled with the seed of every plant and tree and shrub -that ever sprang into life in any place, clime or time. Dig to whatever -depth you will, the substance you throw out, whether earth or stone, -when exposed to the air, will produce some growth of vegetation. -Frequently something entirely new and different from the surrounding -vegetation. To assume that streams, winds, and birds carry and -distribute all the seeds to their different localities where found in -an isolated condition, is too much for human credulity. On the tops of -mountains, where streams do not run uphill on the surface, where the -birds seldom fly, and on spaces impossible for seeds to be carried by -winds, you find species peculiar to their altitude, atmosphere and soil. - -Through the channels that eternally pour from never ending supplies, -and in which storehouse are mingled the seeds from every valley, plain -and mountain top of our Earth; from this source they can be scattered -and mixed in every inch of the soil which composes our Earth from -center to surface, and when brought into contact with our atmosphere -start into new and varied existences. - -The question may be reasonably asked if many of the reptilian specimens -attributed to remote antiquity as belonging to our Earth’s surface, -may not be specimens from an interior world, and even now have -representatives of their existence there? - -Certain plants and growths require specific treatment and conditions. -Wherever pond lilies, peppermint, cattails, flag-root, cresses, and -moss in wells are found is unfailing proof of living fountains of water. - -The ocean furnishes every facility of transportation through the -co-operative system without and within. The millions of seed that -mature in different climes on the surface are dropped and carried by -floods and currents into the main ocean. Some sink and lie buried -for ages, retaining their germs of life, for the outer ocean has its -regular currents and motions to such an extent, it would not make a -general distribution of seed in countless years. - -Through this avenue passing under the ice belt, every variety is more -or less drawn into this general receptacle which, in turn carries them -inward and outward, and in course of time filters them in their course -into every inch of the earth through which the water passes; which is -in this way the medium of transportation. - -By this means every spoonful of earth is in time prepared to give -growth of new life to any plant or tree that has ever existed when -exposed to the influence of air and heat or even cold, to revive its -species. - -In passing to the surface, like the spawn of fish, they may pass -through localities of such excessive heat as to destroy their life -germs, as is undoubtedly the case with the spawn that should travel -through waters like geysers of Iceland or the Yellowstone Park or -waters similar to these, whose streams that flow away always show a -dearth of fish. - -With the Earth formed like this, the writer claims it to be on the -principle of a globe for a gas jet, open on both sides and presenting -as it turns inward a funnel shaped entrance, which is without doubt -over 1,500 miles across; this passage would be just as vast to the eye -as the size of, or distance to, the fixed stars, the eye losing all -conception of measure, and a thousand miles is just as much beyond our -scope of vision as a million. - -In almost any position you can imagine the Earth to revolve around the -Sun, one of these sides or ends must be partially and at times wholly -exposed to the Sun’s rays, and the effect, it seems natural to suppose, -would make the interior horizons light as the exterior. The water, it -is believed, on any body acts as a reflector and is a giver of light -from every planetary body in some degree. - -It is all gas, to talk about the gaseous condition and nature of the -Sun, and “other worlds than ours.” They would at best be a very poor -investment and not worth the labor and genius of a power able to -create; 160 acres of good land in any productive locality would be -worth more than 1,000 such whirling pyrotechnics of space. - -It is altogether too presumptive to suppose that our little Earth -with all its boasted cities, and boroughs thrown in, can be the only -habitation for poor, vain and sinful man. - - - - -XV. - -METEORS. - - -These are nothing more or less than dust particles thrown from volcanic -eruptions on some planet, and in countless numbers drifting through -time and space till sucked into the atmosphere of some other orb. - -Whoever doubts the influence of friction ought to be convinced by -watching these meteoric specks falling through our atmosphere of a -clear evening, although the process goes on as much in day as night -time. - -While falling in space this dust must gain an inconceivable speed, as a -feather without resistance falls as rapidly as a ball of lead. - -The contact with our atmosphere ignites and evidently consumes them -into gas before reaching the Earth. They used to be called falling -stars, but if they were of inferior magnitude it is quite probable -there would have been many a badly bumped head before this time, from -the numbers that have fallen. - - - - -XVI. - -ATTRACTION OF GRAVITATION. - - -This seems to be a question not fully settled by sufficient authority. -It seems as if this term were incorrectly applied and that suction -would be a better name for the agency. - -That bodies fall to the ground when dropped, or return when thrown or -shot into the air is nothing more than a stick of wood thrown into a -stream floats with the current and drifts to the bank. - -Most people when asked which side of a fan you feel the air from, when -fanning yourself, naturally reply from the side toward you, but by -trying the experiment you will soon discover that the air comes after -the passage of the fan, only filling the space or vacuum the fan has -made. - -It has often been asked why people trying to board a train in motion -are so apt to be drawn under the wheels, and legs and arms crushed. It -is the same reason as with the fan, a large vacuum is being produced -and proportionate suction occurs to fill it. - -A man can stand alongside a train when motionless and lean against it, -or put his hand on it, as safely as on the depot, but when in motion of -thirty or forty miles an hour, it would be almost sure to cost him his -life. Attraction can hardly be possible except by affinity; iron can -be attracted by a magnet no more than wood, unless possessed of that -peculiar quality of being magnetic. Mr. Edison’s experiments have to be -confined entirely to such bodies of ore. - -That attraction of affinity exists there can be no doubt, as exhibited -in plants, insects, birds and animals, both quadruped and biped, -otherwise courtship and marriage and all means of propagating species -would be for naught and neglected. - -It is a general supposition that we derive our heat from the Sun -by direct rays, but it is doubtful if it comes only through its -innumerable rays of light through which the Earth and the planets -revolve, and here friction puts in one of its special works. The common -idea that noon-day is the time for the greatest heat is not always -justified, for other influences, such as friction in the atmosphere, -can make midnight warmer than noon. - -The concentrated rays of the Sun at midday of course bring them so -closely together, and direct, that the Earth’s revolution comes -squarely across them, as can be demonstrated across the teeth of a -comb, thus showing a greater pressure than drawn obliquely. - -That heat can come directly from the Sun seems an impossibility without -some medium of contact, which through the coldness and a barrenness of -space does not seem to exist. - -As we arrive at certain altitudes in the mountains, we find perpetual -snow and ice, and the same class of atmosphere is encountered anywhere -else rising in a balloon to similar heights. It would be natural to -expect an increasing warmth as we get away from the Earth toward the -Sun, but the reverse being the case, it is hard to imagine what the -temperature of space 1,000 miles away must be. - -The question is likely to be asked, if the Sun does not send out heat, -how is it obtained? - -The answer will be in accordance with the first proposition in this -brief work. All heat is obtained by Friction, in absence of which there -can be no heat. The Earth gets its heat mostly by friction through its -atmosphere. - -The mass of atmosphere surrounding our planet is like an ocean made up -of gases and elements that produce both water and land. The revolution -of the Earth through that atmosphere at the rate of 1,000 miles an -hour, seventeen miles a minute, or nearly four miles every second, is -something as incomprehensible to our minds as the distance to the Sun. -Only for this friction for a certain distance from the surface, the -same condition of cold would no doubt exist on the surface as on the -tops of the high ranges of mountains. - -The Earth is producing its own warmth by friction in its atmosphere the -same as a wagon-wheel would do by being rapidly revolved inside of a -loose tire. The atmosphere is virtually a tire surrounding us, through -which the Earth revolves, and by Friction produces the warmth as really -as a man warms his hands by rubbing them together. - -That the Sun can be an inconsumable body of fire, or that it can become -extinct is a most preposterous belief. - -That the Sun is a vast body of earth and water hardly admits of a -doubt, and its warmth and light is due to the same influence largely -that the Earth and every other planet experiences. - -There is not and cannot be a complete consumption of material in -the immutable affairs of Nature, as there must be an eternal and -exhaustless interchange of supply and demand. While our forest and -other fuel supply is being burned, another is growing and something -forming to keep up the balance. - -In Nature nothing is lost, neither can there be increase; design is -limitless, and resources inexhaustible; duplicates are never known in -form, species, features, and thoughts; thus showing one of Nature’s -most positive laws, that mankind shall not accept one central thought, -creed, or purpose to be universally followed, as such an order of -things would entirely preclude the writing of the few hints herein -offered, as the encouragement of any new device for man’s benefit of -body or mind, thus leaving everything in a state of stagnation wherein -thrift, learning, and progress would be unknown. - -Nature never repeats her works, and no two grains of sand or flakes of -snow have ever been exactly alike, or ever motionless. Motion causes -friction. Friction produces heat. Heat produces life. - - - - -XVII. - -SCIENTIFIC THEORIES. - - -The Mediterranean Sea, a body of water between Europe and Africa, -nearly 2,000 miles in length, surrounded with most of the noted cities -of antiquity, has remained during these thousands of years in an -unchanged condition from tides, inundations, or any other disturbing -causes. Into this sea through the Strait of Gibraltar has been flowing -all this time from the Atlantic Ocean, a river 15 miles wide with an -average depth of one and one-fourth miles. This river is reported to -have so strong a current that a sailing vessel has difficulty of coming -out against it without the help of a favorable east wind. This is a -sufficient flow of water to fill the basin of the sea almost yearly, -besides the help of all the rivers of Southern Europe and Northern -Africa. The reason of no change is given for its location, where -evaporation carries off all this influx of water; while some think an -undercurrent must exist back into the Atlantic. The first reason seems -too ridiculous for a child to give. The water of the Atlantic is so -salt as to produce over a pound of salt to a common bucket full. If -evaporation is the reason of its equable condition, there could be no -other result than a mountain of salt big as the Himalayas long before -this time. - -The claim of a countercurrent is almost as absurd. That the sea -discharges its waters in an undercurrent which passes through the -neighborhood of the Caspian and Aral Seas, is more likely than that the -waters run backward against a powerful current from the Atlantic and -against the centrifugal force that governs the movements of relatively -every other water course on the Earth. - -So much for that subject for any criticisms that may be offered. -Intervening lakes between the Caspian and Aral Seas, seasonably fill -with salt water, from the evaporation of which immense bodies of salt -are gathered. Where does this supply of salt water come from to leave -hundreds of thousands of tons of salt each year? - - - - -XVIII. - -SURFACE INFLUENCES OF WATER, AND CHANGE OF POLARITY. - - -Very little thought or attention is paid to the insidious changes -produced by water on the Earth’s surface. - -Not a day passes, or has gone by, but that a large quantity of material -is transferred from one locality to another. Every shower carries -from some higher point to a lower, and a certain amount of drift goes -toward some ocean. Small streams contribute to the larger ones, and -all lead to the great ocean reservoirs. In going across our country -many important evidences are to be seen of the immensity of work -accomplished by water, in the removal of vast areas and depths of land. - -One of the most noticeable and apparent seen by the writer is in the -valley of the Rio Grande, in passing through New Mexico and at some -other points. For more than 100 miles through this valley in the -spring and summer you seem to be following an ordinary creek that gives -little idea of the importance attached to such a stream as the Rio del -Norte. You see a stream, only thirty or forty feet wide, with steep, -abrupt banks, of a sort of adobe soil, some six to ten feet high. - -At various places, if you observe, in the bends of the stream these -perpendicular banks of earth will be caved off into the water, at -frequent intervals. When the next annual freshet comes this loosened -earth is carried away toward the Gulf of Mexico, and portions of it -reach there while other parts will be lodged at different points on the -way. - -Now this visible, and natural process, has been going on for ages, and -the effect of this incessant work and stupendous result is to be seen -far as the eye can reach for hundred of miles. - -Here follow the proofs of this long and diligent labor. In all -directions you see hills, or immense mounds of land, like inverted -deep pans, with flat bottoms, of all sizes, so that their flat tops -would include from one acre to hundreds. These mounds all have quite -precipitous sides, subject to the wash of every rainy season. As you -study the character of these high mounds you will soon be convinced -they are not upheavals, as their tops in all directions seem to have -a common level. Among these mounds will be occasional ones that have -been washed away to a point, and here and there one reduced to half -its original height. These hill-tops, if they may be so called, were -beyond doubt, at some very remote time in the past, the common level of -the country for hundreds of miles, and as they will average 100 feet -high or more, it is beyond the power of conjecture to estimate the time -required to wash all the vast area away that once existed to make up -the level of this valley. - -Another similar exhibition is at and near River Falls, in Wisconsin, a -town on the east bank of the Mississippi, some thirty miles east of St. -Paul. Here the same occurrence seems to have taken place, of a washing -away of the greatest bulk of the land, and leaving similar mounds with -their flat tops, on many of which are quite extensive farms, approached -by very precipitous roads at some favorable point on their sides. These -mounds seem to have different strata of soft rock, on which they stand, -the lowest and thickest of gray sandstone, quite soft, and must, with -the others, be gradually wasting away by frosts, and other agencies to -disintegrate. Only one yellowish stratum is strong enough to be used -for some building purposes. - -While there are hundreds of these mounds that must have once been the -level of the whole country, that which is now left is a very level and -fertile soil, producing some of the finest wheat, and best quality of -potatoes in the State. - -These instances are only two out of thousands of a similar nature in -this country and all over the world. - -The tendency of this drift is mostly as the streams of water run toward -the Equator or center of greatest motion. - -The vast deserts and other accumulations of sand on the Earth are only -the deposits of ancient rivers into then existing seas, which by later -surface upheavals, by interior hydraulic forces, have been transferred -to other beds, and the deserts like Sahara, Atacama, Mojave, and the -Steppes of Asiatic Tartary, remain as evidences. - -By these enormous changes of soil it seems rational to believe the -uniform and unvarying revolution of the Earth could hardly be possible, -and that more or less change during great length of years must be made -in form as well as time of revolving. Have not both occurred? Riding -down the Quinnipiac Valley to New Haven, Conn., a man is likely to -inquire in his mind where those sand plains came from. Some think the -Connecticut once flowed there, some the Niagara or St. Lawrence; if -so, where did they bring the sand from? - -Think of the change bound to come in the future, when the Falls of -Niagara cut their way back to Lake Erie, thus letting out its waters, -enough to construct it into a large river. - -Some channel has evidently been lowered to settle the surface of Lake -Michigan, as can be plainly seen in leaving Chicago by boat, that the -waters on the western banks were once twenty or more feet above present -level. Either the lake has settled or the land has risen. As deserts -are nearly all below the ocean surface, is it not presumable that this -enormous accumulation of sand has had the effect of such depression, -while the transference from other localities has thinned Earth’s crust -enough to make easy the internal water pressure to lift up the hills -and mountains, through which the great water courses of the Earth are -supplied? Think of the transportation of soil to the deltas of the -Mississippi, Amazon, Ganges and other rivers amounting to millions and -millions of tons every year, and imagine when the time will come when -the Earth approaches the form of a wheel, or ring, nearer than a globe, -and become a small imitation of Saturn. - -Assuming that this is, and has been one cause of the great upheavals, -is it not suggestive that the original of the Earth’s surface in its -formation millions of years past, was nearly or quite free from hills, -and mountains, and the inside as well as exterior has been undergoing -radical changes? - -Great masses of earth on the outside accumulated by floods and washed -from higher points have dammed up and smothered the flow from inside, -while the sections of the Earth that have contributed to this mass -have been thrown up into exterior mountains, and the depressions made -inheavals to a corresponding extent. - -From this reasoning it might appear why Africa and Australia, with -their vast area of deserts, are less supplied with rivers and lakes -proportionally to other continents; the same deficiency of mountains -being noticeable. On the other hand, the rest of the continents and -islands abound in mountains, lakes, springs and rivers. The great -present groups of Islands of Oceanica, will, perhaps, in the distant -future, all be joined to one mass, and while they may rise higher, -others in present use may sink. - -The legend of Atlantis may be repeated in some coming age, and perhaps -a new Bible story will record the seagoing experience of another Noah; -but if so, it is hoped he will have a bigger ship, and better provided -with modern improvements and other sanitary arrangements than the -old boat seemed to be for so long and important a voyage. From what -has been written on surface influence of water is it not reasonable -that polar variations must have occurred through the millions of -years Mother Earth has been whirling through space? The writer does -not assume to know all claimed in this discussion, being an agnostic -in this as well as in spiritual knowledge; but if some full-grown -scientific giant will rise up and give any more plausible reasons for -why things are as they are, I shall be delighted to sit on some little -stool and let him thrust the information into my bewildered cranium. - - - - -XIX. - -CONCLUSION. - - -The author of this unscientific work has assumed the task to contradict -theories that to him have seemed wrong, although long accepted from -scientific authorities. - -The world is given to taking statements for granted that emanate from -some professional man’s brain, and published in some newspaper or book, -whether of real or fictitious origin. - -The stories of Wm. Tell, Robinson Crusoe, Washington and his little -hatchet, Jack the Giant Killer, Samson and the foxes, Joseph sold -into Egypt, St. Patrick’s extermination of toads and snakes, Newton’s -discovering the “law of gravitation” by an apple dropping on his head, -Noah’s flood, etc.--all of these and hundreds more have passed for -current facts by being oft told. Plain stories and simple unadorned -tales have small circulation without lies enough mixed in to make them -interesting. - -Every age has its learned prodigies and scientific minds that are -ready to answer any question and solve all obscure matters. When men of -early ages discovered on hills and mountains marine shells and other -deposits which showed evidence of the bottom of a sea or ocean, and -fossil deposits and footprints in rocks, they naturally inquired of the -wise men how they came there. Hence quite likely the story of the flood. - -When they asked how the people of Europe were white, Asia, yellow, -and Africa, black, the solution was, that Noah had three sons who -settled, one in each country and produced such progeny. The geography -of the world in those early times represented the Earth as having four -corners, and surface flat with “jumping off” places on all sides. It is -evident the solvers of this “race problem” had no knowledge of America -and Australasia. (Time has developed the fact that they either knew -about it and lied, or lost sight of two sons that Noah should have had -to represent the red and brown races.) It is expected of us to believe -that Japheth was white, and peopled Europe; Shem yellow, and settled -down to farming in Asia, and Ham black, and went into the monkey and -elephant business in Africa. Whether the two other boys, the brown one, -that raised Malays, and the red one, that bred and introduced the -American Indian, were ever married, I never learned, but conclude it -was unnecessary, as they seemed to have as good success in settling up -their respective countries as the favorite boys that Noah took, with -other live stock, on his yachting trip. - -Noah should have really been the man to write on the subject about -which this paper treats, as his experience on the “cold-water” question -must have given him superior advantages over the writer. - -There have been conscientious men of all times who have said and done -very silly and unwise things, which, at the time and in the age they -were enacted, were considered by public and private consent right and -just. - -The hanging of witches, buying and selling of slaves, the burning of -John Rogers at the stake, his wife and nine small children, one at the -breast, as spectators, were considered as just and necessary as an act -put in force to destroy crows and kill sheep dogs. - -As age succeeds age, new ideas crop out, and what to a former -generation appeared true and consistent to their successors oft -become a subject of criticism and ridicule. It is to be hoped that -future minds will take up the subject of this crude work and make as -much advance in the development of Earth’s mysteries as the modern -steamship excels in completeness and power the first attempts of -Fulton, or the harmonious modern orchestras the hollow music of a -Hindoo tom-tom. - -To believe what is here written will not insure eternal joys, or to -doubt will not incur Divine wrath, or commit a skeptic into the hands -of him who walketh in darkness, or to an eternity of pain or woe. - -These modest hints are given with the hope that millions of miles of -land on Earth now barren and useless, by tapping the generous fountains -of water so wisely stored by Providence, may be turned into gardens -of beauty, and furnish fruits and sustenance in plenty for coming -generations. - -While many look upon the Earth as “a vale of tears,” it is the best -world we have any reliable knowledge of, and seems well adapted to the -wants of animal and vegetable life, if we avail ourselves of the wise -and ample provisions Nature has put in our way. - -If there is another and better world to come, it is hard to imagine -that pearly gates and golden streets can conduce as much to our -comfort, or will be as goodly a heritage as one of “sweet fields -arrayed in living green,” with shady groves, blooming gardens, and -generous fountains of pure sparkling waters, and not the thirsty abode -experienced by Dives. - -While on this Earth, Nature has supplied with prodigality for this -life’s wants, land and water, light and darkness, floods and drouth, -and, as learned from Paul, four kinds of flesh (and he didn’t say how -many kinds of vegetables) reptiles, insects, worms, bugs, microbes, -poison and its antidotes, good people and bad, heat and cold, salt and -fresh water, scientists, cranks and fools, yet with all this profusion -of gifts, we would be no better off than Dives in Sheol without the -indispensable blessing of water supplied by Symmes’s Hole. - -A few more questions and done. Why should sea soundings five miles deep -be at temperatures below freezing, if, as is claimed, such a depth in -land borings would be in a molten condition, and going much farther the -prevailing theory would make hell an ice house in comparison with the -Laurentian strata? - -Where does the fresh water come from admitted to exist in the bottom of -the oceans? - -Where is the source of fresh water that abounds in the highlands of -islands in all latitudes? - -Where does the water come from that feeds all the coral reefs and -throws up atolls hundreds of miles in extent and nourishes the roots of -trees and smaller vegetation? - -Why are the atoll inclosures filled with different varieties of fish -from the ocean outside? - -Why are most of the great lakes at high elevations and commonly on top -of divides? - -Why are springs more numerous all over the Earth on the hills and -mountains than in the valleys? - -Why are the shallowest and most enduring wells on the highlands instead -of the low? - -Why when a country is below sea level is it a desert? - -Why did Abraham succeed with his flocks, while Lot (as he deserved) was -dried up and burnt out? Answer, Abraham was the smarter of the two, and -took to the hills, where he no doubt had observed the waters lasted. - -Where did Moses look for water when his followers were famishing for -it? He went where water can almost invariably be found, at the foot of -a rocky upheaval which he discovered in Horeb. - -How could water be cast up from a deep artesian well, bored on a plain -with no high land in sight to produce a pressure claimed in explaining -their nature and reasons why they flow? - -Where do all the rivers found in large caves have their origin? - -Where and how does rain water soak into the ground, turn around and -come back again with the force shown in bubbling springs and artesian -wells? - -Why does moss only grow in unfailing wells, and cresses, peppermint, -cattails, and water lilies in living waters? - -Why in digging wells anywhere in striking gravel do they always find -water? - -Why do hills and mountains produce more verdure and forests than the -plains? - -Why are all the volcanoes extinguished by water? - -These questions can none of them be answered by any other hypothesis -than through a belief in the existence of Symmes’s Hole. Into such a -hole sufficient water could flow to supply all the fountains of the -Earth, and, what is more, it does flow, and furnishes the wonderful -quantities that leap down the mountain sides in stupendous waterfalls, -that feed the millions of springs that pour their sweet influences in -rippling streams through valleys and meadows. It supplies the great -volumes that make Lake Superior and its grand associates in America, -and similar great lakes throughout the Earth. Last, but far from -least, the phenomenal Gulf Stream that floats the navies and commerce -of the world like toys and modifies the climate across an ocean. To -supply such resources needs something more than occasional showers -that ordinarily evaporate in forty-eight hours, or than equinoctial or -shearing sheep storms, of which nine-tenths of their volume runs into -the streams and rapidly to the ocean, the great and general reservoir -of supply and distribution. - -Having endeavored to explain the philosophy of heat and its cause, also -other phenomena in brief, I will conclude by paying tribute to the -great exterior waters, for their important participation in Nature’s -munificent work. The Oceans, after tossing in the fury of the storms -and rocking from continent to continent, kissed by tropical winds and -frozen by Arctic cold, sunk in caverns, and dashed upon high rocks, -after drinking up all the rivers, washing every shore, and visiting -every clime, are filtered at the Ice Belt and enter the bowels of the -Earth, to come out again by centrifugal force in a fresh and renewed -form to contribute to man’s necessities in an even greater benefit than -when rolling in majestic waves or floating the commerce of the world. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - -To demonstrate the size of icebergs, fields of ice and glaciers. - -Ocean depths, different estimates of. - -The character of volcanic eruptions respecting material thrown out and -final result of filling with water. - -For evidences of how long heat will remain when covered after great -fires, the same as in old times when people covered the backlog, and to -show the reason for judging the interior to be molten when the heat is -developed at insignificant depths by friction leading it to a further -volcanic development, or else from an extinct volcano from long time -past. - -Artesian Waters, Caverns, Earthquakes, Gulf Streams, Lakes, Springs, -Wells, Islands, etc. - -This appendix is added showing cases something in harmony with the -arguments here presented on all these subjects, to which could be added -several times as many more. - -While most of the points intended for a brief discussion in this book -have been hit upon, a few words, with some newspaper clippings on -mysterious things, are thought best to be added as a sort of appendix, -and of such a character as to prove of benefit to some readers that see -fit to avail themselves of a few hints to obtain water, for domestic -or irrigating purposes, in an easy way, and where they would naturally -least expect to find it. - -At my old home, on the farm where I was born, our well, some thirty -feet deep, nearly every season went dry. I have lugged hundreds of -pails of water from neighbors’ wells and from a spring near the foot of -the hill, one-third of a mile away, during my early life. - -The hill is little over a half mile long, and less than one-fourth a -mile wide from its furthest bases. It is shaped like a box turtle, -rising 100 feet or more. There used to be a place near the top, on the -east slope, that looked springy. The recent owner, a few years ago, dug -into this wet spot, and at a few feet found living water, which is now -piped to his house and barns in plenty. - -Some years ago my cousin owned the adjoining farm on the north end of -this hill, and employed a man to blast out several large iron rocks, -scattered about on the surface of the hill. One of these rocks, nearly -a rod square, lay almost exactly on the highest part of the hill. -This big rock was full of large cracks, which, in my boyhood, I took a -young visitor to see, explaining to him that these cracks, no doubt, -occurred at the time of the crucifixion, of which pious information I -was frequently reminded in later life. This rock was some eight feet -deep in the ground. When the last blocks were hauled out the space -partly filled with clear water, so cold that it was made available for -drinking. Being in the dryest time of the year, the supply appeared to -be permanent, which induced the laying of pipes one-third of a mile to -barns for watering stock, which before had to be drawn mostly from the -wells. - -A man in the town of Durham--Henry Page--for years obtained water -for his house and stock by a hydraulic ram; but, getting a new idea, -took advantage of a knoll, shaped like an inverted bowl, an acre or -two in extent, lying across a field some forty rods from his house. -He dug into the top of this knoll some fifteen feet, striking plenty -of water, which was easily piped all over his premises in abundant -supply. West of his home rose the Besek Mountain, in a gradual rise for -three-fourths of a mile, where it stopped in precipitous ledges, on the -west side, nearly 200 feet high. I have hunted up to the top of these -ledges. Near the top of the mountain is quite a section of swamp, and -nearby descending is a spring that runs a short distance, falling over -a shelving rock, and in two or three rods more is lost in the loose -stones. It is there in the dryest seasons. Similar to this is a lake -on Talcott Mountain, a short distance from Wadsworth Tower, and only -a few rods from the abrupt ledges that overlook the towns of Simsbury -and Farmington. Hundreds of such cases are in evidence all over the -country, and it is quite sure that a large majority of those interested -by reading this book will think of various similar cases that have been -a query in their minds, “Why they were so.” - -While a great number of peculiar features of this kind can be recorded, -I will take time to relate a case or two farther from home. - -My cousin, who took the Scripture lesson of the rock and its rendings, -spent his last days in Southern California, where springs are rare, and -orange groves and vineyards depend greatly upon irrigating for water. -He was located at Duarte, about twenty miles east of the city of Los -Angeles, in one of the finest orange and lemon groves in the State. -While they had provisions for irrigating, the lack of drinking water -was seriously felt. - -Visiting at my house some twenty years ago, where he chiefly made his -Eastern home, he listened to my cranky ideas as set forth in this work. -At first he scoffed, but being a good reasoner, he afterward thought -the idea worth trying, and promised on his return to experiment and -report, as I had convinced him of several successes here. In less than -a month I got word from him that “he had struck it.” The grove lay at -the foot of the San Gabriel Mountain, not one-quarter of a mile away. -I advised him to select some place in the side of the mountain where -the tree growth was greenest, which he did, and got all the pure water -needed. - -A Mr. Fitzgerald, owning a large grove about a mile west, similarly -located, took the hint and obtained quite a favorable result. When -visiting these groves in 1894, almost the first thing Mr. Fitzgerald -wanted to show me was his bountiful supply of spring water, tapped -from the side of the mountain. These hints and cases are related as -suggestions to any reader who may wish to better his water supply. -Don’t go into the low ground for it, but tap the hills and high lands, -where all the fountains of the earth are in abundance. - -In Southern California three seasons out of four the plains and valley -lands become too dry for pasturage of cattle and horses and bands of -sheep, and a general hegira is made toward the mountains. While the -Winter rains swell the streams running to the coast, filling their -banks with rushing waters, by May and June a buggy can be hauled -through every stream from San Francisco to San Diego without wetting -the hubs of the wheels. The small streams are all dried up, and water -for stock rare to find. As you go toward the mountains you meet the -series of foothills like inverted bowls, the tops of which show growth -of bulrushes and fleur de lis. At the foot of the hills will be found -some of the drippings from the streams starting farther back. As these -hills rise in groups, higher and higher toward the mountains, the -green tops show more and more, and the streams increase in volume, -affording good fishing for trout. Standing on the tops of these sugar -loaf formations in the grazing season, one is reminded of Abraham’s -herds of cattle on a thousand hills, to be seen as far as the eye can -reach. In southern Minnesota is a long range of highlands thrown up, -which they term a mountain chain, but scarcely anywhere is there an -upheaval of rocks or any ledges. Over this range every Spring and Fall -season will be seen thousands of flocks of ducks, brant, wild geese -and sand hill cranes. The springs do not gush out in streams as from -rocky formations, but ooze up into great mounds, frequently involving -an acre or more, like a great conical sponge, up the side of which -you can walk, the water gushing out under every footstep, giving an -impression that you may sink in all the way to the top, where you will -find an open spring several feet across, the water from which seems to -be absorbed by this spongy mound of earth and vegetation, so that a -stream rarely runs away. This ridge being the highest land in sight, -where does this water come from? In a country surrounding which, it is -necessary to carry water in kegs for the dogs to drink when hunting -over it. - -The conclusion of this work will be made up of a variety of clippings -from newspapers for several years past, of which these are a small -part. These clippings are published as seeming mysteries, but which, -by the adoption of the theory promulgated of a hollow earth holding an -ocean of fresh waters, seem easy of solution. If any other method can -be suggested to answer these puzzling questions, it is to be hoped some -genius will reveal it. If the assertions made in this book are true, -polar expeditions are and will continue to be as futile as an attempt -to signal the inhabitants of Mars, or to get up a correspondence with -the man in the moon. Not presuming to exhaust this subject in so brief -a treatise, the field is left open, and large enough for the thoughts -and observations of men of greater ability to discuss than yours truly. - - -IMMENSE FIELDS OF ICE. - -A STEAMER SURROUNDED AND COMPELLED TO WORK HER WAY OUT. - -MONTREAL, May 22.--The steamer Fremona, from New Castle, which arrived -here yesterday, had a very startling experience with the ice about 150 -miles on the other side of Cape Ray. The vessel was steaming slowly -through a dense fog on Wednesday last, when she got right in the midst -of a pack of ice, which was drifting southward with the Arctic current. -After the steamer had been pounding about in the ice for some hours the -fog lifted and showed the vessel to be in a dangerous position. All -around her were heavy hummocks of ice, ten feet deep in the water and -showing about a foot above the surface. Gradually nearing the steamer -and crushing the smaller pieces of ice in their way were a number of -huge icebergs. The captain and chief officer climbed to the masthead -and found that the ice extended on all sides as far as the eye could -see. There were hundreds of seals on the ice, some of them being close -to the vessel. Two hours were spent in turning the steamer, and she -was then headed southward and was worked out of the ice. Owing to -the movement of such a large mass of ice southward it is feared that -navigation will be seriously interfered with. - - * * * * * - -News from the whalers in the Antarctic Seas on February 17 was that -up to that time the whaling had proved a failure, with all the ships -that made the venture. There were plenty of whales of the finner and -humpback kind, but none of the Greenland kind. Grampuses were too -plentiful. Seals were very numerous, and there were also plenty of sea -lions. Some icebergs of enormous size were seen; one was fifty miles -long and several were from fifteen to twenty. - - * * * * * - -In the Antarctic Ocean the icebergs that have been noticed from time to -time rose 400, 580, 700 and even 1,000 feet above the water, and were -from three to five miles long. Their enormous bulk may be inferred from -the fact that the part under water is about seven times as large as -that above. - - -PASSED A GREAT ICEBERG. - -LONDON, Dec. 9.--The British steamship Galgate reports ice in the South -Atlantic. On September 28, in latitude 49 degrees south, longitude 42 -degrees west, the Galgate passed an iceberg two miles long and 250 feet -high. Hundreds of other icebergs were also seen. - - -THREE HUNDRED MILES OF ICE. - -ST. JOHN’S, N. F., Feb. 12.--The British steamer Dahome, which left -Halifax on the 9th for this port and Liverpool, arrived here to-day. -She reports coming through a field of ice three hundred miles long. -This is something unprecedented at this season. - - -THE GREATEST OCEAN DEPTH. - -The greatest known depth of the ocean is midway between the Island of -Tristan d’Acunha and the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. The bottom was -there reached at a depth of 40,236 feet, or eight and three-quarter -miles, exceeding by more than 17,000 feet the height of Mount Everest, -the loftiest mountain in the world. In the North Atlantic Ocean, south -of Newfoundland, soundings have been made to a depth of 4,580 fathoms, -or 37,480 feet, while depths equaling 34,000 feet, or six and a half -miles, are reported south of the Bermuda Islands. The average depth of -the Pacific Ocean between Japan and California is a little over 2,000 -fathoms; between Chili and the Sandwich Islands, 2,500 fathoms; and -between Chili and New Zealand, 1,500 fathoms. The average depth of all -the oceans is from 2,000 to 2,500 fathoms. - - * * * * * - -Russian reports say that the Sea of Aral has been steadily rising since -1891. The sea level is now four feet above that of 1874. The line of -railroad from Orenburg to Tashkend had to be changed in order to avoid -being overflowed. Instead of sinking three inches a year, as German -geographers had computed, the sea has been rising at the rate of four -inches a year for the last ten years. - - * * * * * - -In 1812 it was La Souffrière, adjacent to the Morne Garou, which broke -loose on the Island of St. Vincent, and it is the same Souffrière -which now has devastated the island and is bombarding Kingston with -rocks, lava and ashes. - -The old crater of Morne Garou has long been extinct, and, like the old -crater of Mont Pelee, near St. Pierre, it had far down in its depths, -surrounded by sheer cliffs from 500 to 800 feet high, a lake. - -Glimpses of the lake of Morne Garou were difficult to get, owing to the -thick verdure growing about the dangerous edges of the precipices, but -those who have seen it describe it as a beautiful sheet of deep blue -water. - - -THE SUN’S TEMPERATURE. - -F. R. (Minneapolis, Minn.): Has the temperature of the sun been -established? And, if so, what is it? - -The following figures are given by the principal scientists who studied -the solar temperature: Newton, 1,669,000 degrees Alsius; Pouillet, -1,461; Zollner, 102,000; Secchi, 5,344,840; Ericson, 2,726,700; Fizeau, -7,500; Walerston, 9,000,000; Abney and Fessing, 12,700; Wilson and -Gray, 8,700; Pernter, 30,000; Sporer, 27,000; Sainte-Claire Deville, -2,500; Soret, 5,801,846; Vicair, 1,398; Violle, 1,500; Rosetti, -20,000; Langley, 8,333,000; Ebert, 40,000; Guillaume and Christiansen, -6,000; Paschen, 5,000. - - -SAW TREMENDOUS ICEBERGS. - -THEY ARE 300 FEET HIGH AND SEVEN AND EIGHT MILES LONG NEAR CAPE HORN. - -SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20.--French sailing vessels making port from around -Cape Horn hold the record for sighting huge icebergs. The French bark -Eugenie Fautrel, from Hamburg, reported that on September 14, near Cape -Horn, a berg seven miles long and 300 feet high was seen several miles -distant on the port bow. Now comes the French bark Anne De Bretagne, -164 days from Cardiff, and reports that she not only saw a berg 300 -feet high and eight miles long, but she had to sheer off to keep from -wrecking herself against it. - -It was seen on September 3, and after passing through a great mass of -ice, the Bretagne suddenly came within sight of the giant, harmless -enough in appearance through the soft mist, but with terribly jagged -comers, and a breadth of front that made the Frenchmen quail. - - -KINGSTOWN COVERED WITH ASHES. - -It was seen then that the volcano was in constant eruption, and there -was a tremendous roar. Forked lightning played incessantly over the -disturbed section. The flashes averaged from sixty to one hundred a -minute. - -Kingstown, which is twelve miles from the volcano, was covered with -three inches of ashes and showers of stones on Thursday. The bed of the -old volcano was then a lake three miles across. - -ERUPTION STARTED ON MONDAY. - -The eruption was first observed on Monday. Huge flames of water shot -up, and the people in that district fled. There has been a continuous -roar ever since. - -The northern district, from Chateau Belair to Georgetown, has been -completely destroyed. It is impossible to proceed beyond that point, -on account of the rivers of lava. A huge hill was observed where -previously there had been a valley. The whole of that part of the -island is smoking. - -SIXTY KILLED BY LIGHTNING. - -Sixty persons are reported to have been killed by lightning while -getting away. - -On Tuesday and Wednesday the island was showered with ashes. Near -Belair the ashes were three feet deep. - -On Thursday there was a continuous shower of hot sand and water. -Everything on the island was ruined by the ashes. - -SOME PERSONS DYING OF THIRST. - -Many persons were brought in boats from Kingstown. Some of the refugees -who arrived on the coast were dying of thirst. - - -THE NEW JACKSONVILLE. - -A FRESH CITY BUILT BEFORE THE RUINS OF THE OLD HAVE CEASED TO SMOULDER. - -Before the fire that destroyed a great part of the city of -Jacksonville, Fla., had ceased to burn, the city has practically -been rebuilt. This statement not only describes a building operation -remarkable for rapid execution, but also covers an incident unique in -the experience of firemen. - -Jacksonville was almost wiped out by fire on May 3 of last year. An -area of 443 acres, comprising 148 blocks, was swept by the flames, and -property worth at least $15,000,000 was destroyed. - -The work of rebuilding on a better and more substantial scale was -started within a week and has since gone on with rapidity unprecedented -in Southern building operations, and now the city is in far better -shape than it was before the fire. - -About three weeks ago the clearing up of the last of the ruins was -begun. The laborers doing the work removed three or four inches of the -mass of brick and stones on top, and then found, to their surprise, -that underneath the ruins were still hot. - -Smoke began to rise out of the hole they had dug out, and the farther -down they went the hotter became the ruins, and the thicker the smoke. -At last a mass of red hot coals was found, which sprang into flame when -the air reached it. - -It had been necessary several times within the year for the fire -department to soak this part of the ruins with water, but it had been -thought for several months that the fire must be out at last. - -Alongside new Jacksonville had already sprung into existence. Six -months after the destruction of the city a new one already covered the -greater part of the site. - -Within eleven months more than 2,000 buildings were erected, fifty -of them aggregating in cost $2,000,000. And the new Jacksonville is -immeasurably superior to the old. - - -A PRAIRIE CAVERN. - -AN INTERESTING HOLE IN THE GROUND WHERE CAVES WOULD NOT BE LOOKED FOR. - -_From the Oklahoma State Capital._ - -SULPHUR SPRINGS, I. T., Oct. 18.--At a spot eleven miles southeast of -this place, in the level prairie upland, is an opening about forty -feet in diameter and sixty feet in depth. By clinging to its rocky and -precipitous walls, a person may descend to the bottom, and there find -the openings to the two caves, one leading westward, and the other two -to the east. For years this place has been known as Rock Prairie Cave. -It is one of the most striking natural curiosities in the Chickasaw -nation. The caves are of unknown length, and through one rushes a -subterranean stream of great depth in places and of icy coldness. -Exploring parties have ventured into these labyrinths for hundreds -of yards, but the danger of becoming lost has prevented a thorough -examination of the underground passages. - -The cave leading westward is easiest of access and contains a number -of spacious chambers. The room is about seventy feet square and fifty -feet from the floor to the ceiling. The floor is obstructed with huge -boulders. The darkness and stillness are intense. Picnic parties -sometimes go there, and, with a huge boulder for a table, eat their -lunch in the glare of torches that cast uncanny shadows along the -massive walls. - -Timid persons hesitate in venturing into the depths of the eastern -cave. The passage slants downward at an angle that compels the explorer -to crawl and slip and slide for nearly 100 feet before reaching a spot -where a person may stand upright and walk safely. From the darkness -echoes the sound of rushing water, which later is found to be a stream -that runs from eight to thirty feet in width, and from six inches -to many feet in depth. Men have waded in the stream until the water -reached their chins, and then gone in a boat to points where they were -unable to touch bottom with the longest oars. A farmer carried his -boat into the cave several years ago to follow the stream to its end. -At a depth estimated to be 200 feet below the surface of the ground is -a natural bridge, formed by a huge stone that fell across the stream. -The water plunges underneath this bridge like a millrace. A boat can -be pulled over the bridge, however, and launched on the other side. -About 100 feet below the bridge the stream widens into a broad, deep -pool, with a high, vaulted roof. Beautiful stalagmites and stalactites -adorn this chamber. Two hundred feet below this pool the passage is -difficult. It is claimed that this cave has been explored for a mile. - -The stream is believed to find its outlet at a spring about three -miles from the entrance to the caves. This spring is of great size -and volume, and flows with remarkable swiftness. In rainy seasons the -spring boils and gushes as if choked with the flood of water that pours -from its mouth. The stream in Black Prairie cave rises when there is a -heavy rainfall in the surrounding country, and the increased flow of -both springs and stream at such times is taken as evidence that they -are connected. - - -ARTESIAN WATERS IN TEXAS. - -In the south central part of Texas is an upland covering an area -of 14,000 square miles, and known as the Edwards Plateau. At the -southeastern foot of this elevated tract there is no end of gushing -springs, which form the headwaters of the San Antonio and San Marcos -rivers. In a big State like Texas, the rainfall of one locality often -varies a good deal from that of adjacent regions. But, according to -a bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, the fluctuations -of discharge of the streams just mentioned correspond closely to -the rainfall up on the plateau, from which it is inferred that some -invisible connection exists between the springs and the upland. The -bulletin declares that this similarity has been found to hold true for -dry and wet years alike. The Edwards Plateau is a flat, grass covered -upland. The rain which falls upon it does not flow off in surface -streams, but sinks into the porous soil, and eventually finds its way -underground to the bold scarp line of the region, where it bursts out -in abundant springs. - -The San Antonio River has its source in one of these artesian springs, -and between it and the wells driven to supply water to the city of -San Antonio there seems to be close connection, shown in their mutual -changes, which indicates that their waters have a common source. It -was recently noticed that when the wells were steadily drawn upon for -twenty-four hours the water level of the head lake of the river fell -several inches, but that on shutting off the wells the lake regained -its level in about one day. So intimate is the relation between the -flow of the wells and that of the river that it is always possible -to tell how high the water will rise in the former by observing the -river’s height on a gauge rod placed upon its bank. - - -THE GREAT ASSAM EARTHQUAKE. - -A thorough report of the earthquake in Assam, in 1897, the most violent -and extended earthquake of historic times, has been made by Mr. R. -D. Oldham. From an abstract by Prof. Davis of Harvard University, it -appears that an area of 150,000 square miles was laid in ruins, all -means of communication interrupted, the hills rent asunder and cast -down in the landslips, the plains fissured and riddled with vents from -which sand and water poured forth in astounding quantities, causing -floods in the rivers, etc. A surrounding area of 1,750,000 square -miles felt a shock of unusual energy. The earthquake wave traveled -at the rate of 120 miles a minute. The vertical displacement of the -ground near the center of disturbance was probably as much as fourteen -inches--an unprecedented quantity; the vertical movement of earthquakes -of great violence, like the Charleston earthquake, is seldom more than -two inches. - -Some of the results of this great earthquake of June 12, 1897, are -astonishing. Faults were produced, one having a throw of 25 feet and -a length of 12 miles; another a throw of 10 feet and a length of 2½ -miles. The larger of the two dammed a river so as to form a lake -several miles in extent and ruining a forest of at least 50,000 trees. -Landslides of great magnitude were produced in the Himalayas and the -valleys of streams were changed beyond recognition. - - -CURIOUS RESULT OF THE EARTHQUAKE. - -INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 1.--An interesting point in connection with the -earthquake which was felt in this city yesterday is the fact that a -number of small Indiana streams having their source in the southern -border of the gas belt have suddenly filled with water. No rains have -occurred in this State for months to swell the streams, and in the case -of Honey Creek, in the eastern part of Bartholemew County, it had gone -dry several weeks ago, the water standing only in pools here and there. -This week it is filled to the brim, and in some places has overflowed. -Sugar Creek, that runs near Edinburg, Johnson County, was nearly dry, -but to-day it is reported to be nearly filled. Smaller streams rising -in the Hancock County gas territory have shown similar phenomena. No -one can imagine where the water comes from. In the case of Honey Creek -the records show that previous to the Charleston earthquake, August 31, -1886, the stream acted in the same way. - - -A VILLAGE DESTROYED BY AN EARTHQUAKE. - -CONSTANTINOPLE, May 27.--The village of Repahie in Armenia has been -destroyed by an earthquake. A number of mineral springs spouted from -the crevasses made in the earth by the shocks and the flow of water -was so great that the adjacent fields were flooded. The earthquake was -preceded by rumblings which caused the inhabitants to flee from the -village and they thus escaped death from the falling houses. No lives -were lost however. - - * * * * * - -Since a recent earthquake at Santa Ana, in Orange County, Cal., the -well of Mr. Huntington in Los Bolsas district, which for years -has never flowed to any considerable extent, has given forth large -quantities of mud, stones and other materials, the eruptions being -volcanic in character. The supply of water is now far in excess of -the means provided at the surface for its care, and it has been found -necessary to ditch from the well to the river to carry it away. The -pipes are at all times in danger of bursting--the sudden blasts of air -and foreign substances rendering it more or less dangerous to go near -the opening. - - -FIRE BANKED FOR YEARS. - -_From the Galveston Daily News._ - -ORANGE, Tex., Feb. 21.--J. W. Link is filling in some low lots with -ashes and charcoal that he is hauling from the pit where A. Gilmer at -one time burned the slabs and refuse that came from his sawmill. The -mill was destroyed by fire Sept. 13, 1899. When the wagons commenced -hauling the mound of ashes was 20 feet high and nearly 40 feet in -diameter at the bottom, tapering as it went up. - -To-day when the men had worked in about 15 feet, but before they had -reached the center of the heap, the teamsters discovered smoke issuing -from the charcoal as it was being brought in contact with the air. -One of them felt of his shovel and was startled to find it very hot. -He picked up a piece of charcoal and blew it with his breath, when it -developed into a blaze of fire. The experiment was repeated several -times to-day and each time the charred lump would become a live coal. -The ashes were about 16 feet thick that stood above the live coals, and -from the outer edge to where the hot ashes were first discovered, a -little above the ground the fine ashes were fully as thick. - -No smoke has been seen to come from the big ash pile for nearly two -and a half years, and these coals have been in their present resting -place probably for a longer period, as the cone-shaped mound was much -larger when the mill was destroyed than it was at the time the wagons -commenced removing the ashes. - - * * * * * - -The Volcano of Kilauea is very active at present. The cavity produced -by the last breakdown has not filled up, but there is an active lake -200 to 300 feet below the general level of the floor and a quarter of a -mile in diameter. - - -A WHOLE VALLEY LAID IN WASTE. - -FIFTEEN CRATERS DESTROY WHAT WAS ONCE A DELIGHTFUL SPOT. - -LUNAHUANA, United States of Colombia, March 30, 1891.--This beautiful -valley has experienced a topographical change, and I may now call a -desert that which was formerly a delightful spot. Fifteen craters -have been constantly at work since Sunday, March 22, throwing out -masses of mud and water which on its precipitate descent and with the -great strength of the current, is carrying ruin in all directions and -sweeping houses before it, together with their inhabitants and the -cattle, vineyards, farms and irrigation works. - -All the roads north and south of here have been converted into ditches, -through which the water is continually pouring, and all communication -between Canete and Chincha is interrupted, while the bridge across the -river has been swept away. - -The numerous victims who have suffered, the deep impression caused by -the destruction of all the irrigation ditches, the fact that it will -be impossible to gather the remainder of the crop of grapes, and the -certainty that the necessities of life will reach famine prices, lead -me to suggest that the government should take steps on behalf of the -residents here. Hundreds of families have been left without homes and -are camping out on the hillsides, the only clothes they have being -those in which they escaped. They are preparing to cross the ravines, -as the floods may sweep down upon them at any moment. - - * * * * * - -An interesting geological phenomenon is noticed in the district of -Izium, in Kharkoy, Russia. In consequence of the heat this summer -the ground broke open in many places and deep ditches formed, at the -bottom of which subterranean water appeared. Geologists who examined -the ground think that the subterranean water comes from the same source -which supplies the Slavinskoye salt lakes of the neighborhood. - - -A HIVE OF VOLCANOES. - -OVER THREE THOUSAND ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. - -SAN DIEGO, Cal., July 25.--The San Diegan to-day publishes a -descriptive account by Colonel I. K. Allen, the well-known engineer, -of a phenomena in what is known as the volcano region of the Cocapah -Mountains, situated sixty-five miles southwest of Yuma in Lower -California. Colonel Allen says there are over three thousand active -volcanoes there, one-half of which are small cones, ten or twelve -feet at the base, the remaining half five to forty feet at the base, -and fifteen to twenty-five in height. The whole volcanic region is -encrusted with sulphur. One peculiar feature of the region is a lake of -water jet black, which is a quarter of a mile in length and an eighth -of a mile in width, seemingly bottomless. The water is hot and salty. - - -A TUNNEL A LIME KILN. - -THE SANTA FE MAY HAVE TO ABANDON ITS JOHNSON CANYON ROUTE. - -LOS ANGELES, Cal., Jan. 31.--The Fairview tunnel through the mountains -at Johnson’s canyon, near Williams, Ariz., is again on fire and the -officials of the Santa Fe Pacific fear that they may be compelled to -abandon the tunnel, as they are at a loss to devise means to extinguish -the flames. Investigation shows conclusively that the new fire was -caused by spontaneous combustion. The tunnel is now nothing but the -flue for an immense lime kiln. The mountain through which the tunnel -passes is chiefly limestone of a high degree of purity. - - -VOLCANIC OUTBURST PROBABLE. - -SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., July 1.--News from Susanville, in the Sierra -Nevadas, says that slight earthquake shocks continue and that the -people have been so accustomed to the constant trembling of the earth -that they pay no attention to it. The shocks, however, have revived -recollections of old settlers who predict volcanic disturbances in the -extinct craters, such as there were in 1850. - -Susanville lies in a highly mountainous walled valley directly east of -Lassen Butte, an extinct volcano 10,000 feet high. From its summit no -less than forty extinct craters can be seen. Cinder Cone, which rises -600 feet above the level of the plateau, was in eruption in 1850. Two -prospectors examined it and found Lake Saltafara, miles south of Cinder -Cone, a center of volcanic forces. The lake was a mass of boiling water -and mud and from it vast columns of flames shot up at intervals. The -timber in the vicinity was on fire. Within the last few years there has -seemed renewed activity in the internal fires and the present shocks -point to the possibility of another great volcanic outburst which will -find vent through some of the old craters. - - -DESOLATED BY ERUPTIONS. - -FIFTEEN NEW CRATERS DESTROY MANY HOMES AND RUIN A WIDE AREA IN CHILI. - -PANAMA, April 26.--Regarding the eruptions in the Lunahuana district of -Chili, the Lima _Opinion National_ has published the following letter -dated March 30: - -“This beautiful valley has experienced a topographical change, and -I may now call a desert that which was formerly a delightful spot. -Fifteen craters have been continually at work since Sunday, the -22d, throwing out masses of mud, which, in its precipitate descent -and with the monstrous strength of the current, is carrying ruin in -all directions and sweeping houses before it, together with their -inhabitants and the cattle, vineyards, farms, and irrigation works. All -the roads north and south of here have been converted into ditches, -through which water is continually pouring, and all communication -between Canete and Chincha is interrupted, while the bridge across the -river has been swept away. Hundreds of families have been left without -homes and are camping out on the hillsides, the only clothes they have -being those in which they escaped. They are preparing to cross the -ravines, as the floods may sweep down upon them at any moment.” - - -GLACIER ICE. - -Glacier ice is not like the solid blue ice on the surface of the water, -but consists of granules joined together by an intricate network of -capillary water, filled fissures. In exposed sections and upon the -surface of the ice can be observed “veined” or “banded” structure -veins of a denser blue color alternating with those of a lighter shade -containing air bubbles. The cause of this peculiar structure has been -the subject of much theorizing among investigators, but hitherto the -greatest authorities consider that the explanation of the phenomenon is -yet wanting.--_Goldthwaite’s Geographical Magazine._ - - -THE LONGEST GLACIER IN THE TEMPERATE ZONE ASCENDED BY MR. CONWAY. - -Mr. W. M. Conway, who was sent out by the Royal Geographical Society -of London last spring to explore the Kara Koram Mountains and their -mighty glaciers north of Cashmere, has accomplished the most brilliant -feats of mountain and glacier climbing that any explorer has achieved -in years. He has sent to the society a report of his ascent of the -Baltoro glacier, over forty miles in length and the longest glacier -that is known in temperate regions, and of his ascent of an ice-covered -mountain over 23,000 feet high at the upper end of the glacier. - -He began the ascent of the Baltoro glacier on Aug. 5. He had little -idea on starting of the discomforts before him. His party included -three Englishmen besides himself, an Alpine guide, and four Sepoys -detailed from an Indian regiment. Fully two-thirds of the entire length -of the glacier was so completely covered with stone debris that the ice -was not visible except where lakes or crevasses occurred. He was unable -to ascend along the banks at the sides of the glacier, for they were -not traversable. He was therefore forced to go up the horrible middle -of the ice. The surface was not flat, but was a series of prodigious -mounds. He measured one of them, which was over 200 feet high, and it -was usually easier to climb over these mounds than to circumvent them. -The stones that rested upon the ice were constantly giving way under -foot. The consequence was that the progress of the heavily laden Sepoys -was slow and the marches had to be short. - -The party was nearly two weeks ascending this icy river, four days -of which time they remained in camp on account of stormy weather. -When they finally turned up a tributary glacier in order to ascend -the mountain, they had reached a height of 16,000 feet above the -sea. All through the journey the cold was very severe. The party was -very heavily laden because in addition to their food supplies it was -necessary to carry a quantity of fuel. - -It was not until Aug. 25, twenty days after they had left the foot of -the glacier, that they began the assaults upon the icy peak which they -intended to surmount. Two or three of the party had become disabled -by cold and fatigue, and had to return to a camp established on the -glacier. The party complained of some discomforts which travelers -among the Himalayas have often mentioned. The sun, day after day came -out with scorching power, and while their feet were numbed with cold, -their bodies were far too hot to be comfortable. Mr. Conway says the -great variations between biting cold and grilling heat are the chief -impediments to mountaineering at high altitudes in those regions. Not -only the cold and the heat alike are hard to endure, but the change -from one to the other seems to weaken the forces and render the whole -body feeble. - -Ascending the steep slope of the final peak, their climbing irons were -of the greatest assistance. They found to their dismay after climbing -a few hundred feet that the upper part of _the peak was not of snow, -but of hard, blue ice, covered with a thin layer of snow. Every step -they took had to be cut through the snow into the ice. The ice was too -hard for the steel points of the climbing irons to penetrate until -it had been prepared by a stroke or two of the ax._ The Alpine guide -said the work of step cutting was far more fatiguing than he had ever -experienced in Switzerland. One of the Sepoys was overtaken by mountain -sickness and had to be left behind. Now and then a puff of air inspired -the party with a little life. Most of the time they suffered from the -rarefication of the air. - -Reaching the top, about 23,000 feet above the sea, Conway named the -mountain Pioneer Point. He saw the most glorious views on every side. -The whole panorama of valley, mountain, glacier, and snow has an -effect, at an elevation, of majestic repose. The observers were far -above the noises of avalanches and rivers and nature’s forces were -reduced to mere insignificance as they gazed thousands of feet below -them upon the scenery. Many of the mountains they saw had not before -been seen by human eye. - - -ANOTHER GULF STREAM FROM SAME SOURCE. - -In many respects the North Pacific ocean resembles the North Atlantic. -A great warm current, much like the Gulf Stream, and of equal -magnitude, called the Black Stream, or Japan current, runs northward -along the eastern shore of Asia. Close to the east coast of Japan it -flows through a marine valley which holds the deepest water in the -world. It was sounded at a depth of 5¼ miles by the United States -steamer Tuscaroa in 1875, while surveying for a projected cable route -between the United States and Japan. The heavy sounding weight took -more than an hour to sink to the bottom. But trial was made of a chasm -yet more profound, where the lead did not fetch it up at all. It is the -only depth of ocean that remains unfathomed.--_San Francisco Examiner._ - - * * * * * - -At the head of Onion Valley, in Inyo County, Cal., are two abrupt -mountains, one 13,000 and the other 14,000 feet high. Tumbling down -the side of one is a cataract 500 feet high, which in the distance -resembles falling snow, and two other waterfalls of equal height are -visible from the head of the valley. - - -THE LAKE ON THE MOUNTAIN. - -MR. DRUMMOND THINKS HE HAS FOUND WHERE ITS WATERS COME FROM. - -On the north side of Lake Ontario, southwest of the Canadian city of -Kingston, is a lake situated on a height of land one side of which -forms a cliff. It is just south of the arm of Lake Ontario known -as Quinte Bay and it stands 180 feet above the bay. There is no -opportunity for surface waters to flow into this little lake and no one -has the slightest idea whence it derives its waters, which are clear -and fresh. The lake is about one and a half miles long with a width of -about three-quarters of a mile. - -Mr. A. T. Drummond recently wrote a letter to _Nature_, in which he -said he believed he had solved the mystery of the invisible inflow, -which cannot possibly be attributed to springs from any higher ground -in the neighborhood. In his opinion the source of the lake is to be -found in the Trenton limestone area some twenty-five or thirty miles to -the northeast. There is a steady rise in these rocks to the north and -their dip is favorable to sending the water that sinks through the soil -to them southward to the region of Lake Ontario. Fifty miles away the -rocks have a height of 400 feet above the lake. - -In order to ascertain the bearing of these rocks upon the origin of -the inflow, Mr. Drummond last summer made a series of soundings in -the little lake. The largest part of the lake is shallow, but along -its southern edge he found a great rent in the bottom nearly a mile -long and a third of a mile wide. In this rent the depths varied from -seventy-five to 100 feet. He says the rent is probably due to a wide -fault or breakage in the Trenton limestone, and he believes that the -same forces that gave rise to this fault may account for a subterranean -connection with the higher ground many miles to the north through which -the water finds its way into the little lake that overlooks Ontario. -Mr. Drummond’s theory is the most plausible that has yet been suggested -to account for the source from which this mysterious lake receives its -waters. - - -A BOILING LAKE. - -There is a lake of boiling water in the Island of Dominica, lying in -the mountains behind Roseau, and in the valleys surrounding it are many -solfataras, or volcanic sulphur vents. In fact, the boiling lake is -little better than a crater filled with scalding water, constantly fed -by mountain streams, and through which the pent-up gases find vent and -are ejected. The temperature of the water on the margins of the lake -ranges from 180° to 190° Fahrenheit; in the middle, exactly over the -gas vents, it is believed to be about 300°. Where this active action -takes place the water is said to rise two, three, or even four feet -above the general surface level of the lake, the cone often dividing so -that the orifices through which the gas escapes are legion in number. -This violent disturbance over the gas jets causes a violent action -over the whole surface of the lake, and, though the cones appear to be -special vents, the sulphurous vapors rise with equal density over its -entire surface. Contrary to what one would naturally suppose, there -seems to be in no case violent action of the escaping gases, such as -explosions or detonations. The water is of dark gray color, and having -been boiled over and over for thousands of years, has become thick and -slimy with sulphur. As the inlets to the lake are rapidly closing, -it is believed that it will soon assume the character of a geyser or -sulphurous crater.--_St. Louis Republic._ - - -AN UNCANNY LAKE. - -There is in Missouri a lake, perched on the top of a mountain, its -surface from 50 to 100 feet below the level of the earth surrounding -it, fed by no surface streams, untouched by the wind, dead as the -sea of Sodom. There is no point of equal altitude from which water -could flow within hundreds of miles, and yet it has a periodical rise -of 30 feet or over, which is in no way affected by the atmospheric -conditions in the country adjacent. It may rain for weeks in Webster -County, and the return of fair weather will find Devil’s Lake at its -lowest point, while it may reach its highest point during a protracted -drouth.--_St. Louis Globe-Democrat._ - - -CURIOUS LAKE IN THE WEST INDIES. - -CHICAGO, Oct. 14.--_Editor of the Herald_:--In your very interesting -“Missing Links” of to-day you mention the great sunken lake in the -Cascade Mountains as the most deeply sunken lake in the world. This -reminded me of a lake similar to this which I visited while traveling -in the West Indies in 1891. This lake is situated in the island of St. -Vincent on the highest peak of the Souffrière range of mountains, 4,500 -feet above the level of the sea. - -It is one mile and a half down to the surface of the water and like the -Cascade Lake the depth of the water is unknown. - -Soundings were taken many years ago by Lieutenant Smith, of the United -States navy, but with no result. The lake is almost a complete circle -and is about three or four miles in circumference. - -The color of the water is light olive, but there are times when it -changes to an intense yellow and is saturated with sulphur. It was in -the latter state that I saw it in 1891, and so thick was the sulphur -that two of our party who ventured to bathe came out with a thin -coating of sulphur on many parts of their body and emitting so strong -an odor that we were forced to quarantine them for some hours. - - ED FITZGERALD. - - -LOFTY LAKES OF THE WORLD. - -The most loftily situated lakes are found among the Himalaya Mountains -in Thibet. Their altitudes do not, however, seem to have been -accurately gauged, for different authorities give widely different -figures regarding them. According to some, Lake Manasurovara, one of -the sacred lakes of Thibet, is between 19,000 and 20,000 feet above the -level of the sea, and if this is so it is undoubtedly the loftiest lake -in the world. Two other Thibetan lakes, those of Cholamoo and Surakol, -are stated to be 17,000 and 15,400 feet in altitude respectively. For -a long time it was supposed that Lake Titicaca, in South America, was -the loftiest in the world. It covers about 4,500 square miles, and -is 924 feet above the sea. In spite of inexactitude with regard to -the measurements of the elevation of the Thibetan lakes, they are, -no doubt, considerably higher than this and any others.--_New York -Telegram._ - - -THE WATER STILL RISES. - -QUEER PRANKS OF A LAKE AS AN EFFECT OF AN EARTHQUAKE SHOCK. - -NEW YORK, September 18.--To-day’s _Herald_ has these cable dispatches: - -“SAN SALVADOR, VIA GALVESTON, TEX., September 12, 1891.--The waters in -Llapango Cojutepeque, or Illabasco Lake, as it is variously known, keep -on rising. The workmen sent by the government to open an outlet to the -ocean are still hard at work. - -“The shocks continue to be felt at irregular intervals. The earthquake -of September 8 was experienced all over the country. The material -losses are estimated at $500,000, although this seems a low figure. - -“News was received here this morning from Guatemala City that -ex-vice-President Dr. Rafeel Aola had been accidentally shot and -killed while attempting to separate two of his friends who were -engaged in a quarrel.” - - * * * * * - -In the extreme eastern edge of Arizona there is a great shallow salt -lake in a bowl-like depression, the sink itself being some hundreds of -feet deep and three miles across. The basin, all the portion of it not -taken up by the lake, is dazzling white with millions upon millions -of salt crystals. In the center of the lake rises what appears to be -a cone-shaped volcanic peak. Should you take the trouble to ford the -lake you will find a miniature lake in the middle of the peak clear as -crystal. - - -THE DEEPEST LAKE KNOWN. - -By far the deepest lake in the world is Lake Baikal, in Siberia, which -is in every way comparable to the great Canadian lakes as regards size; -for, while its area of over 9,000 square miles makes it about equal to -Lake Erie in superficial extent, its enormous depth of between 4,000 -and 4,500 feet makes the volume of its waters almost equal to that of -Lake Superior. Although its surface is 1,350 feet above the sea level, -its bottom is nearly 3,000 feet below it. The Caspian Lake, or Sea, as -it is usually called, has a depth in its southern basin of over 3,000 -feet. Lake Maggiore is 2,800 feet deep, Lake Como nearly 2,000 feet, -and Lagodi-Garda, another Italian lake, has a depth in certain places -of 1,900 feet. Lake Constance is over 1,000 feet deep, and Huron and -Michigan reach depths of 900 and 1,000 feet. - - * * * * * - -Blowout Mountains in the cascades above Breitenbush, Ore., is -unmistakably one of the wonders of the cascades, consisting of about -eight hundred acres of granite rock piled up in every conceivable -shape. From all indications it has been caused by an accumulation of -gas below, which bursting out threw the rock into the cañon, forming a -beautiful lake from twenty to thirty rods wide and half a mile long, in -which abound myriads of trout. - - * * * * * - -A peculiar fish, of brown color, without scales, and weighing -twenty-one pounds, was caught in a net at New Dorp, Staten Island, this -week, by the lighthouse keeper. In forty years’ fishing the keeper has -never seen a similar fish. - - -A MAMMOTH SPRING. - -The largest and most wonderful spring of fresh water in the world is on -the gulf coast of Florida in Hernando County. The Wekowechee River, a -stream large enough to float a small steamer, is made entirely of water -spouted from this gigantic natural well, which is 60 feet in diameter -and about 70 or 80 feet deep. Chemists who have analyzed the water say -that there is not a trace of organic matter in its composition, and -that it is the most pure and fresh of any spring in America. A dime -tossed into the spring can be seen lying on the bottom as plainly as it -could in a glass of common well water. The steamer which makes regular -excursion trips up and down the Wekowechee is often floated into the -cavity of the spring, but cannot be made to stay in the center, as -the force of the rising water forces it to the sides of the basin. -The spring and 2,000 acres of land adjoining belong to two Chicago -capitalists, who are making it a pleasure resort. - - -THE WORLD’S LARGEST SPRING. - -At Mammoth Spring, Ark., and under the shadow of the Ozark Mountains, -is the largest spring in the world. The water comes up in such a body -that it forms a lake about the orifice. The output of the spring is -29,600,000 gallons daily. Records have been kept of it for ten years, -and during that time the output has not varied 100 gallons a day nor -the temperature a single degree. Winter and summer the spring remains -at 59 degrees. The spring is evidently the outlet of some underground -river. - - * * * * * - -The Poncho springs in Colorado are all on the side of a mountain, and -hot and cold water flows from the ground in places not more than three -inches apart. - - -FRESH WATER FROM A SALT BAY. - -_From the Florida Times-Union and Citizen._ - -BELLEAIR, March 3.--The Eldridge spring is quite an attraction to the -visitors; it furnishes drink water for the hotel. It is out in the bay, -but is cemented up, so as to keep out the salt water, and throws up -100,000 gallons of water per day. - - * * * * * - -A species of eyeless fish has been found in a subterranean boiling -spring discovered in a Nevada mine. - - * * * * * - -The motion of the earth around the sun is 68,305 miles an hour; over -1,000 miles a minute, or nineteen miles a second. - - -A STRANGE POND. - -Hicks Pond, in Palmyra, Me., is a strange body of water. It is only -twelve acres in area, but it is more than 100 feet in depth. It has no -visible inlet, although a fair sized stream flows from it into Lake -Sebasticook. The volume of its waters is not materially affected by -either drouth or freshet, and the water is always cold.--_Philadelphia -Ledger._ - - -WONDERS BENEATH THE SURFACE. - -Workmen engaged in sinking an artesian well in Sandy Valley, near -Niria, N. M., struck an open seam, from which a cold stream of air -rushed with force enough to remove a 12-pound rock laid over the -opening. The air was charged with millions of small yellow bugs, each -having but two legs, no wings and a small red circle on his back. They -lived but a few seconds after striking the warm outside air. Local -scientists are puzzling over the question: How did they get so far down -into the earth?--_St. Louis Republic._ - - -FISH IN AN OLD WELL. - -Some queer fish were taken out of the recently reopened well on the -United States fish station at San Marcos, Texas, says the Louisville -_Courier-Journal_. There were several salamanders, varying in length -from an inch and a half to four and a half inches. These creatures live -on land or water, have human-looking faces, hands and feet, bulldog -head, tail of an eel and body of fish. There were also large numbers of -shrimps, resembling sea shrimps, only much smaller. It is an artesian -well, and everybody wants to know where the creatures come from. - - * * * * * - -A wonderful artesian well is in flourishing activity at Huron, N. D. It -throws a stream 100 feet high, and the flow is estimated at from 8,000 -to 10,000 gallons a minute. - - -ST. WINIFRED’S WELL. - -One of the most copious springs in Great Britain is the famed St. -Winifred’s well, near the town of Holywell, in Flintshire. The well is -an oblong square, about twelve feet by seven, and its water, say the -people of the district, has never been known to freeze. This latter -assertion may be true, as besides containing a fair percentage of -mineral matter that lowers its freezing point, the well is inside a -beautiful chapel, which was erected over it by Queen Margaret, the -mother of Henry VII. The water thrown up is not less than eighty-four -hogsheads every minute, and the quantity appears to vary very little -either in drouth or after the heaviest rain, showing doubtless that its -primitive sources are numerous and widely distributed. Sir Winifred’s -has been the object of many pilgrimages. - - -MONTEZUMA’S WELL. - -One of the most pleasing natural curiosities in the Territory of -Arizona is the pool of water known as Montezuma’s well. It is situated -fifteen miles northeast of the old abandoned military post known as -Cape Verde. It is 25 feet in diameter, and the clear, pure water is -about sixty feet below the surface of the surrounding country. Some -years ago certain military officers sounded the pool and found that -it had a uniform depth of eighty feet of water, except in one place, -apparently about six feet square, where the sounding line went down -about 500 feet without touching bottom. - -The well empties into Beaver Creek, only about 100 yards distant, -the water gushing forth from the rocks as though it were under great -pressure. The well is undoubtedly supplied from subterranean sources, -possibly through the hole sounded by the army officers years ago. The -sides of the well are honeycombed with caves and tunnels, permitting -sightseers to descend to the water’s edge. - -Montezuma’s well contains no fish. The flow of water from it is the -same throughout the season. Popular opinion has attributed the origin -of the well to volcanic action, but as the rock surrounding it is -limestone, it is more than probable that the action of the water is -responsible for its creation.--_Native American._ - - -A REMARKABLE ISLAND. - -_From the Pittsburg Dispatch._ - -A rim of land inclosing a fresh-water lake in the middle of the Pacific -Ocean is a novelty in the way of islands. There may not be more than -one such in the great ocean, and, at any rate, that type of island is -extremely rare. This strange spot is Niuafou, which is quite apart from -other ocean islands. It lies midway between the Fiji and Samoa groups, -and is under the government of the Tonga group, though it is 200 miles -from these islands. - -It has recently been visited by Lieutenant Somerville, of the British -Navy. Some time or other a volcanic vent opened at the bottom of the -ocean, and the lava that poured out of it piled up higher and higher, -until it finally overtopped the sea. A great volcanic mountain had -been formed, and the part of it that came into view above the waste -of waters was, of course, an island. As time went on this volcano was -the scene of one of those tremendous explosions that sometimes tear -mountains to pieces. It was such a cataclysm that blew off the upper -3,000 feet of Krakatoa some years ago. - -The explosion at Niuafou had a remarkable result. The interior of -the crater was blown out to a considerable depth, leaving only the -narrow rim, in this case a nearly perfect ring, around the deep central -cavity. Such is the island of to-day. - -A thousand Tongans live in the five villages that lie along the outer -slope of that crater wall. The drainage from the inner slope has -partly filled the cavity, forming a lake whose waters, though slightly -alkaline, are drinkable. From the top of the crater rim one looks down -upon the peaceful lake within, with its three little islands and the -curiously shaped peninsula jutting out into it; and outside the rim is -the ever-restless ocean. - - -WHERE THE VALLEY WAS A HILL IS. - -_From the Chicago Record._ - -SEATTLE, Wash., April 6.--A tremendous upheaval, accompanied by -wonderful changes, occurred in the Mount Baker district March 27. What -had once been a valley and the bed of a river is now a hill seventy -feet high. The noise of the upheaval was heard at Hamilton, ten miles -away. A report of the occurrence was brought to the city by D. P. -Simons, Jr. - -Simons says the noise of the upheaval sounded like heavy thunder. He -and his party, who were examining timber lands, journeyed in the -direction from which the sound came, and were astonished to see a huge -mound of earth, nearly a quarter of a mile square, where formerly there -had been a valley. In places the mound was seventy feet high. The -Nooksachk River had been turned from its course, and ran around one -side of a hill. Nearly in the center of this high bank of earth was a -large lake. A forest had formerly occupied the ground, and trees which -had escaped destruction rose above the water. There were cracks here -and there in the mound large enough to ingulf a horse and wagon. There -was a smell of sulphur in the air, and it is Mr. Simons’s impression -that the disturbance was caused by gases underneath the mountain. - -William Hadley, a trapper, whose wrecked cabin now stands in the center -of the huge mound, was absent at the time of the upheaval, and thus -escaped death. His cabin was split in two. - - -REMARKABLE GEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY. - -According to a Florida paper a remarkable geological discovery has been -made there. The _Galena Advocate_ says: “As P. M. Oliver, in company -with a lot of friends, was chasing a fox through his field near Payne’s -prairie Saturday night last his horse ran into a sink and in getting -the animal out Sunday morning attention was attracted to the numerous -curious petrological formations on the sides of the sink. Further -examination Monday disclosed immense beds of the petrified bones of the -now extinct dinotherium giganteum, icthyosaurus, glyptodon, cuvieri, -plesiosaurus, and peterodactyl. This is probably the richest find in -the world and was altogether accidental.” - - -TUNNELLING FOR WATER. - -FOLKS OUT IN IDAHO WHO RUN THEIR WELLS INTO A SIDE HILL. - -The citizens of Sweet, Canyon County, Idaho, have a novel way of -obtaining water for domestic and irrigation purposes. The water is dug -out of the hillside, with wells run like tunnels, and not down into the -earth as ordinary wells are dug. East of the town, there is a bluff out -of which sparkling mountain water can be procured almost anywhere by -merely running a tunnel in from twenty to forty feet. - -At one point in town, a stream sufficient to irrigate a fine orchard -and garden, besides an ample supply for domestic use and for watering -all the teams that pass that way, comes pouring out of the 40-foot -tunnel. Neither the spring freshets nor the summer drouths affect its -flow. - - -DOMINICA’S BOILING LAKE. - -A NATURAL CURIOSITY THAT WAS NOT DISCOVERED TILL 1875. - -Mr. Sterns-Fadelle of Dominica has just published a little book giving -some interesting information recently obtained about a curious natural -phenomenon in Dominica, one of the Lesser Antilles. - -This island is only 291 square miles in area. It was colonized by -the Spaniards in the seventeenth century and peopled later by French -emigrants, who controlled the island uninterruptedly until the -eighteenth century, and its resources have since been exploited by -English and French; and yet its natural curiosity in the northern part -of the island had never been seen or heard of until twenty-eight years -ago. - -This can be explained only by the fact that the neighborhood of -the boiling Lake of Dominica is difficult of access. The lake was -discovered by an Englishman, Dr. Nichols, who organized an expedition -to explore the unknown part of the island. - -One day his little party were clambering up a mountain. They suddenly -came upon evidences of sulphur, and a moment later stood looking down -into a crater which was filled with boiling water. - -Stifling vapors rose from the agitated surface, rumblings of thunder -came from the subterranean regions, and near the center of the little -lake, where the water was most violently disturbed, the furious boiling -lifted the surface ten or twelve feet above the general level. The lake -was constantly fed by several small brooks that poured from the heights -above the crater. - -Mr. Sterns-Fadelle says that the lake is still boiling. It has been -found to be at an altitude of 2,490 meters above sea level. In form it -is elliptical. - -When it is filled with water it is about 200 feet long and less than -100 feet wide. Its depth is unknown. An attempt to touch bottom was -made thirty feet from the water edge, where, at a depth of 195 feet, no -bottom was reported. - -The water is not always in movement. At certain times the surface is -calm and glistens brilliantly under the rays of the sun. - -At other times it is violently agitated and boils away, exactly like -a big tea kettle. But, instead of the singing that accompanies the -ebullitions in the kettle, the boiling fluid in this cauldron is -accompanied by the gruffest and most unpleasant detonations. Little -waves roll up on the narrow shelf of sandy beach, which is covered with -a scum of sulphur. - -The boiling lake is the center of the present volcanic activity of -Grande Souffrière, or Diabolin, a mountain covering an area of about -five square miles. The lake is one of the last vestiges of volcanic -energy left to the big mountain, which within the historical period has -had no great outbursts. - - -LAKE CICOTT’S SEVEN-YEAR RISE. - -INDIANA PHENOMENON REAPPEARS ON SCHEDULE TIME. - -INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 1.--With neither outlet nor inlet that is at any -time visible, Lake Cicott, a small body of water in Cass County, has -now reached a height which it attains every seven years, and hundreds -of acres of fine corn land are covered by several feet of water. The -rural mail route, which runs along the lake’s banks, has been abandoned -by the carrier, for the water covers it to a depth of three feet and -stretches beyond for several hundred yards. - -Lake Cicott has been an interesting phenomenon to the people of -northern Indiana for many years, but the secret of its rise and fall -has never been discovered. It is the only Lake in Cass County and is -about one mile wide and about one mile long. The water is clear and -cold and perfectly fresh. Its most mysterious characteristic is the -fact that it overflows its banks every seventh year. The farmers who -own the land upon its banks have become so used to this that they never -attempt to cultivate the land in the seventh year, but give it up -without protest, as they know it is sure to be claimed by the waters. - -The Pottawattomie Indians who inhabited what is now Cass and adjoining -counties were familiar with the characteristic of the lake. They -believed that its bottom was inhabited by a powerful spirit, which at -intervals of seven years caused the lake to overflow. They construed -this action as approval of the tribe by the spirit, and watched -anxiously for the time to come, for they saw in the rising waters -a sure indication that they had done nothing to displease it. The -early white settlers became acquainted with the legend and the oldest -inhabitant is not able to recall a time that the overflow did not take -place when expected. - -The water has now reached its highest point, and will soon begin -to recede and continue to do so till the old confines are reached. -Residents of the locality say that the weather conditions have no -effect upon the lake, for its rise in the seventh year takes place -regardless of the fact of rain or drouth. Amos Jordan, a veteran of the -civil war, who lives on a bluff overlooking the lake, says the only -apparent difference between wet and dry seasons when the rise occurs -is that the water appears to be colder in time of drouth. What is true -of the rise of the waters is also true of their recession, for they -gradually disappear regardless of the amount of rainfall in the county. - -The phenomenon is explained on the theory that there is a subterranean -outlet, which becomes closed in some way and is opened by the pressure -of the water when the highest point is reached every seventh year; but -this is mere guesswork and nothing has ever been discovered to justify -such a theory. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company, which owns a number -of ice-houses on the edge of the lake, made soundings at different -places before the rise began, and found the greatest depth to be ninety -feet. - - * * * * * - -Hundreds more of such clippings have been preserved in a scrap book -describing similar phenomena all over the Earth, all of which seem -solvable through claims herein set forth, in the combined influences -of frictional and volcanic heat, and the occasional contact with -outpouring streams from the _internal_ ocean of fresh water. - - -THE END. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - - Archaic or variant spelling has been retained. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOLLOW EARTH *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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