Read Ebook: Zetetic astronomy: Earth not a globe! An experimental inquiry into the true figure of the earth etc. by Parallax

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 167 lines and 36794 words, and 4 pages

Penny Cyclopaedia, Article Sea.

"The people are under a great mistake who believe that the substance of the water moves to any considerable depth in a storm at sea. It is only the form or shadow which hurries along like a spirit, or like a thought over the countenance of the 'great deep,' at the rate of some forty miles an hour. Even when the 'Flying Dutchman' is abroad the great mass of water continues undisturbed and nearly motionless a few feet below the surface."

London Saturday Journal, August 8, 1840, p. 71.

Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieut. Maury, p. 265.

If a raft, or a ship, or any other structure floating upon water be carefully observed, it will be seen to have a gentle fluctuating motion. However calm the water and the atmosphere may be, this gradual rising and falling of the floating mass is always more or less observable. If vessels of different sizes are floating near each other they will be seen to fluctuate with different velocities, the largest and heaviest will move the least rapidly. This motion will be observable whether the vessels be held by their anchors, or moored to buoys, or freely floating in still water. A large and heavily laden vessel will make several fluctuations in a minute of time; the Earth once only in about twelve hours, because it is proportionately larger.

Physical Geography of the Sea, by Lieut. Maury, p. 176.

That the Earth has a vibratory or tremulous motion, such as must necessarily belong to a floating and fluctuating structure, is abundantly proved by the experience of astronomers and surveyors. If a delicate spirit-level be firmly placed upon a rock or upon the most solid foundation which it is possible to construct, the very curious phenomenon will be observed of constant change in the position of the air-bubble. However carefully the "level" may be adjusted, and the instrument protected from the atmosphere, the "bubble" will not maintain its position many seconds together. A somewhat similar influence has been noticed in astronomical observatories, where instruments of the best construction and placed in the most approved positions cannot always be relied upon without occasional re-adjustment.

SECTION 11.

CONSTITUTION, CONDITION, AND ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH BY FIRE.

"The uppermost strata of the soil share in all the variations of temperature which depend upon the seasons; and this influence is exerted to a depth which, although it varies with the latitude, is never very great. Beyond this point the temperature rises in proportion as we descend to greater depths, and it has been shown, by numerous and often-repeated experiments, that the increase of temperature is on average one degree for about every 545 feet. Hence it results that at a depth of about twelve miles from the surface, we should be on the verge of an incandescent mass."

Rambles of a Naturalist, by M. de Quatrefages.

"The World's Birthday," by Professor Gaussen, Geneva, p. 43.

"The World's Birthday," by Professor Gaussen, Geneva, p. 42.

In a periodical called "Recreative Science," at the end of an interesting article on volcanoes, &c., the following sentence occurs:--"The conclusion is therefore inevitable, that the general distribution all over the earth of volcanic vents, their similarity of action and products, their enormous power and seeming inexhaustibility, their extensiveness of action in their respective sites, the continuance of their energies during countless years, and the incessant burning day and night, from year to year, of such craters as Stromboli; and lastly, the apparent inefficiency of external circumstances in controlling their operations, eruptions happening beneath the sea as beneath the land, in the frigid as in the torrid zone, for these and many less striking phenomena, we must seek for some great and general cause, such only as the central heat of the earth affords us."

Professor Silliman, of America, states "that in boring the Artesian wells in Paris, the temperature increased at the rate of 1 degree for every 50 feet downwards; and, reasoning from causes known to exist, the whole of the interior part of the earth, or, at least, a great part of it, is an ocean of melted rock agitated by violent winds."

"The observations made by M. Arago, in 1821, that the deepest Artesian wells are the warmest, threw great light on the origin of thermal springs, and on the establishment of the law, that terrestrial heat increases with increasing depth. It is a remarkable fact, which has but recently been noticed, that at the close of the third century St Patricius, probably Bishop of Partusa, was led to adopt very correct views regarding the phenomenon of the hot springs at Carthage. On being asked what was the cause of boiling water bursting from the earth, he replied, 'Fire is nourished in the clouds, and in the interior of the earth, as Etna and other mountains near Naples may teach you. The subterranean waters rise as if through siphons. The cause of hot springs is this: waters which are more remote from the subterranean fire are colder, whilst those which rise nearer the fire, are heated by it, and bring with them to the surface which we inhabit, an insupportable degree of heat.'"

"Humboldt's Cosmos," p. 220.

Recreative Science, p.p. 257 to 260.

Thus it is certain, from the phenomena of earthquakes, submarine and inland volcanoes which exist in every part of the earth from the frozen to the tropical regions, hot and boiling springs, fountains of mud and steam, lakes of burning sulphur, jets and blasts of destructive gases, and the choke and fire damps of our coal mines, that at a few miles only below the surface of the earth there exists a vast region of combustion, the intensity and power of which are indescribable, and cannot be compared with anything within the range of human experience.

As the earth is an extended plane resting in and upon the waters of the "great deep" it may fitly be compared to a large vessel or ship floating at anchor, with her "Hold" or lower compartments beneath the water-line filled with burning materials; and, from our knowledge of the nature and action of fire, it is difficult to understand in what way the combustion can be prevented from extending, when it is known to be surrounded with highly inflammable substances. Wherever a fire is surrounded with heterogeneous materials--some highly combustible and others partially and indirectly combustible--it is not possible for it to remain continually in the same condition nor to diminish in extent and intensity, it must increase and extend itself. That the fire in the earth is so surrounded with inflammable materials is matter of certainty; the millions of tons of coals, peat, turf, mineral oils, rock tar, pitch, asphalte, bitumen, petroleum, mineral naphtha, and numerous other hydro-carbons which exist in various parts of the earth, and much of these far down below the surface, prove this condition to exist. The products of volcanic action being chiefly carbon in combination with hydrogen and oxygen, prove also that these carbon compounds already exist in a state of combustion, and that as such immense quantities of the same fuel still exist, it is quite within the range of possibility that some of the lower strata of combustible matter may take fire and the action rapidly extend itself through the various and innumerable veins which ramify in every direction throughout the whole earth. Should such an action commence, knowing, as we do, that the rocks and minerals of the earth are but oxides of inflammable bases, and that the affinities of these bases are greatly weakened and almost suspended in the presence of highly heated carbon, we see clearly that such chemical action or fire would quickly extend and increase in intensity until the whole earth with everything entering into its composition, would rapidly decompose, volatilise, and burst into one vast indescribable, annihilating conflagration!

SECTION 12.

MISCELLANEA.

MOON'S PHASES.--It has been shown that the Moon is not a reflector of the Sun's light, but is self-luminous. That the luminosity is confined to one-half its surface is sufficiently shown by the fact that at "New Moon" the whole circle or outline of the Moon is often distinctly visible; but the darker outline is less, or the circle is smaller than the segment which is illuminated. From this it is easily seen that "New Moon," "Full Moon," and "Gibbous Moon" are but the different proportions of the illuminated surface which are presented to the observer on earth.

"Mechanism of the Heavens," by Denison Olmsted, LL.D., Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in Gale College, U.S.

Mitchell's "Orbs of Heaven," p. 232.

"Thus was the theory of Uranus surrounded with difficulties, when M. Le Verrier, an eminent French mathematician, undertook to investigate the irregularities in its motions. His first paper appeared on the 10th November, 1845, and his second on June 1, 1846 . In this second paper, after a most elaborate and careful investigation, he proves the utter incompatibility of any of the preceding hypotheses to account for the planet's motions, except only that of the last one, viz., that of a new planet. He then successively proves that this planet cannot be situated either between the Sun and Saturn, or between Saturn and Uranus; but that it must be beyond Uranus. And in this paper he asks the following questions:--'Is it possible that the irregularities of Uranus can be owing to the action of a planet situated in the ecliptic, at a distance of twice the mean distance of Uranus from the Sun? If so, where is it actually situated? What is its mass? What are the elements of the orbit it describes?"

"These remarkable calculations have pointed out a position which has very nearly proved to be the true one.

"Thus the result of these calculations was the discovery of a new planet in the place assigned to it by theory, whose mass, distance, position in the heavens, and orbit it describes round the Sun, were all approximately determined before the planet had ever been seen; and all agrees with observations, so far as can at present be determined. It is found to have a disc, and its diameter cannot be much less than 40,000 miles, and may be more; its motions are very slow; it is at present in the constellation of Aquarius as indicated by theory; and it will be in the constellation of Capricornus all the year 1847. It may be readily seen in a telescope of moderate power.

"Whatever view we take of this noble discovery it is most gratifying, whether at the addition of another planet to our list; whether at the proving the correctness of the theory of universal gravitation; or in what view soever, it must be considered as a splendid discovery, and the merit is chiefly due to theoretical astronomy. This discovery is perhaps the greatest triumph of astronomical science that has ever been recorded."

"Illustrated London Almanack for 1847."

"Times" Newspaper, Monday, Sept. 18, 1848.

"As the data of Le Verrier and Adams stand at present there is a discrepancy between the predicted and the true distance; and in some other elements of the planet. It remains, therefore, for these or future astronomers to reconcile theory with fact; or, perhaps, as in the case of Uranus, to make the new planet the means of leading to yet greater discoveries. It would appear, from the most recent observations, that the mass of Neptune, instead of being as at first stated one nine thousand three hundredth is only one twenty three thousandth that of the Sun; whilst its periodic time is now given with a greater probability at 166 years; and its mean distance from the Sun nearly thirty. Le Verrier gave the mean distance from the Sun thirty-six times that of the Earth; and the period of revolution 217 years.

"Cosmos," by Humboldt, p. 75.

"May 14, 1847. A Paper was read before the Royal Astronomical Society, by Professor Schumacher, 'on the identity of the planet Neptune with a star observed by M. Lalande in May, 1795.'"

"Report of Royal Astronomical Society," for Feb. 11, 1848, No. 4, vol. 8.

Such mistakes as the above ought at least to make the advocates of the Newtonian theory less positive, and more ready to acknowledge that at best their system is but hypothetical and must sooner or later give place to a philosophy the premises of which are demonstrable, and which is in all its details sequent and consistent.

PENDULUM EXPERIMENTS AS PROOFS OF EARTH'S MOTION.

In the early part of the year 1851, the scientific journals and nearly all the newspapers published in Great Britain and on the Continents of Europe and America were occupied in recording and discussing certain experiments with the pendulum, first made by M. Foucault, of Paris; and the public were startled by the announcement that the results furnished a practical proof of the Earth's rotation.

No one anticipated such a result; and the experiment has been received by some with incredulity, by all with wonderment; and one source of the incredulity arises from the difficulty of conceiving how, amidst the ten thousand experiments of which the pendulum has been the subject, so remarkable a fact could have escaped notice so long. Fully admitting that these experiments have generally been conducted with pendulums which had little freedom of motion horizontally, we still think odd that somebody did not stumble upon the curious fact.

Though all the parts of the Earth complete their revolution in the same space of time, it is found that the rate of horizontal motion in Foucault's pendulum varies with the latitude of the place where the experiment is made. At the pole, the pendulum would pass over 15 degrees in an hour, like the Earth itself, and complete its circuit in 24 hours. At Edinburgh, the pendulum would pass over 12?/? degrees in an hour, and would complete its revolution in 29 hours 7 minutes. At Paris, the rate of motion is 11 degrees and 20 minutes per hour, and the revolution should be completed in 32 hours.

"T."

Another writer declared that he and others had made many experiments and had discovered that the plane of vibration had nothing whatever to do with the meridian longitude nor with the Earth's motion, but followed the plane of the magnetic meridian.

"Manchester Examiner" , May 24, 1851.

"Punch," May 10, 1851.

At a recent meeting of the French Academy of sciences, "M. Dehaut sent in a note, stating that M. Foucault is not the first discoverer of the fact that the plane of oscillation of the free pendulum is invariable; but that the honour of the discovery is due to Poinsinet de Sivry, who, in 1782, stated, in a note to his translation of 'Pliny,' that a mariner's compass might be constructed without a magnet, by making a pendulum and setting it in motion in a given direction; because, provided the motion were continually kept up, the pendulum would continue to oscillate in the same direction, no matter by how many points, or how often the ship might happen to change her course."

SECTION 13.

PERSPECTIVE ON THE SEA.

Instances:--A man with light trousers and black boots walking along a level path, will appear at a certain distance as though the boots had been removed, and the trousers brought in contact with the ground.

A young girl, with short garments terminating ten or twelve inches above the feet, will, in walking forward, appear to sink towards the Earth, the space between which and the bottom of the clothes will appear to gradually diminish, and in the distance of half-a-mile the limbs, which were first seen for ten or twelve inches, will be invisible--the bottom of the garment will seem to touch the ground.

A small dog running along will appear to gradually shorten by the legs, which, in less than half a mile, will be invisible, and the body appear to glide upon the earth.

Horses and cattle moving away from a given point will seem to have lost their hoofs, and to be walking upon the outer bones of the limbs.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet