FIRST DAY.
_Section_ I.--CHAOS.
Inquiry into the origin of things natural to man --
Character of Moses as a sacred historian important --
Explanation of the term Created -- Chaotic state of the
elementary principles of matter -- Influence of the Spirit
of God upon the chaotic mass -- Opinions of the ancients --
Similitude between the first and second creation -- Agency of
the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration asserted and proved.
As creatures possessed of conscious existence, and furnished with both
intellectual and moral powers, it is very natural for us to inquire
into the origin and first state of things; and, when difficulties
present themselves, to meet with clear and satisfactory solutions of
them, removing the darkness in which they were enveloped, affords
to reflecting minds a high gratification. Without the aid of divine
revelation, the creation of the world would have been involved in
uncertainty, and our unassisted reason left to speculate in fields
of wide conjecture. But in following the luminous torch of sacred
communication, we are safely conducted to the first great Cause, by
whose almighty _fiat_ matter was called into existence, and afterwards
disposed and modified according to the plan devised by the eternal Mind.
Moses, considered as a man of scientific habits, being well versed in
all the “wisdom of the Egyptians”--mathematical, physical, moral, and
divine; could not but know that his cosmogony would have to pass the
ordeal of critical investigation, and undergo the best of philosophical
inquiry: that contemporaries, as well as future and remote nations
and generations, would minutely examine his historical record; and
science, in its progressive state of improvement, try the validity
of his system: that it would meet the inquisitive eye of genius and
learning, and fall into the hands of both sincere friends and insidious
enemies to religious truth: that candor would patiently search into its
pretensions, impartially weigh its evidence, and sober inquiry respect
its claims: while narrow prejudice, blind bigotry, or superstitious
enthusiasm, would dispute its authority, deny its veracity, and
disdainfully reject its aid. But listening to an all-wise Instructor,
following a Guide that could not deceive him; and disregarding the
envenomed tongue of calumny, the lampooning pen of the satirist, the
surly frown of literary pride, and the imperious authority of exalted
rank; he committed to writing a true account of the creation of the
world, for the information and religious improvement of mankind to the
latest generation.
Viewed as the ground-work of all future revelations, if any defect or
false position were discovered in his relation of things, that would
deprive his history of credibility, and decisively prove him to have
been led by the sallies of a vain and heated imagination, and not the
Spirit of the living God. But of this there was no danger; and, as a
distinguished author pertinently observes, “from the book of Genesis,
almost all the ancient philosophers, astronomers, chronologists, and
historians, have taken their respective _data_: and all the modern
improvements and accurate discoveries in different arts and sciences
have only served to confirm the facts detailed by Moses, and to show,
that all the ancient writers on these subjects, have approached to,
or receded from truth, and the phenomena of nature, in the exact
proportion as they have followed the Mosaic history.” As a writer,
Moses does not attack other systems, formed on this or that hypothesis;
but in a simple and incontrovertible narrative, acquaints us with the
origin of matter, and the progressive formation and completion of the
solar system.
The Scriptures inform us, that Moses was privileged to converse with
God “face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend,” and from him
received clear and manifest revelations, not by visions, ecstasies,
dreams, inward inspirations, or the mediation of angels, but familiarly
and with confidence, by articulate sounds, in his own language. The
Lord said, “With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently,
and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he
behold.” God being a Spirit, has neither shape nor parts, consequently
is invisible, and cannot be seen by eyes of flesh: he is the most
simple essence. When he speaks of himself as having a face, mouth,
eyes, hands, &c, he adapts his language to our capacities, designing
to express by these figures the perfections of his nature; but he
is really one undivided essence. That which Moses saw, was only the
_Shekinah_, a glorious brightness, the symbol of the Divine presence,
and not the essence, which is invisible.
In giving an account of the true origin of things, he attends
particularly to the _mode_, _agent_, and _time_ of their being
produced. His history commences with the creation of matter, “In
the beginning.” Before the creative acts mentioned by him, all was
eternity. _Time_ signifies _duration_ measured by the revolutions of
the heavenly bodies; but prior to the creation of these bodies, there
could be no measurement of duration, and consequently no _time_;
therefore, “In the beginning,” must necessarily mean the commencement
of time which followed, or rather was produced by God’s creative acts,
as an effect follows, or is produced by a cause.
[From several expressions in this chapter, it is obvious
that Mr. Wood considered the account given by Moses, in the
first chapter of Genesis, to apply to _universal creation_,
and not to be restricted to our _Solar System_. It is also
plainly inferable, that he considered this the _first exercise
of God’s creative energy in any way_. This view is entirely too
contracted, is not clearly warranted by the text of the sacred
historian, and is unnecessary.
There are no passages of Scripture which say distinctly,
the Mosaic creation is the first or only acts of creative
energy: but there are several which intimate the _previous
existence of creatures_, and of course imply a previous
exercise of creative power.
It is sufficiently clear that there were intelligent beings
existing at the creation of this world. Hence it is said, “the
morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for
joy,” in view of the rising creation.
Since, therefore, the previous existence of intelligent
beings is established, we must, of course, assign to them some
_mode_ of subsistence; and this will compel us to assign at
least what must be _necessary_ to every creature, a _place of
abode_, suited to his wants and conditions, without which he
cannot subsist. Thus we establish even a _material_ creation,
_anterior_ to the creation mentioned by Moses.
After weighing the account which Moses gives in the first
chapter of Genesis, together with the facts and analogies in
Nature, the conclusion seems irresistible, _that he describes
only our Solar System_; which includes the seven primary
planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and
Herschel: the four asteroides, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, and Pallas:
and the eighteen moons which attend the primary planets.
Because,
1. As this account forms the introduction to a revelation
designed for the _human family only_, it is reasonable to
conclude it would have reference to those bodies only which
operate materially to their benefit or injury. But there are no
such bodies except in the Solar System.
2. Moses in describing the formation of the heavenly
bodies, mentions only the _sun_ and _moon_ in a conspicuous
manner: because, these are the only luminaries which contribute
_essentially_ to our comfort: and then, lest a beholder might
imagine God did not also make the other suns and stars, says
incidentally, “He made the stars also.”
3. The conclusion is clear from the fact, that _the Solar
System is complete in itself_: forming a perfect whole, which
could exist were all other stars and suns destroyed, and vice
versâ, all other systems could exist were the Solar System
destroyed.
4. It does not well comport with the character of the
Divine Being, when we consider his eternal power, infinite
wisdom, and boundless goodness, to suppose He never exercised
his creative energies but _once_, and that not until a few
thousand years since. Yet we are compelled to this conclusion,
however reluctantly, unless we restrict the Mosaic account of
the creation to our Solar System.
This argument will derive additional weight, when we
recollect the _immensity_ of God’s works taken together, and
the _illimitable space_ in which he has, and may, exercise his
creative energy. We may _approximate towards_ a very faint idea
of their immensity, by calling to mind the immense number of
_fixed stars_. All astronomers admit their number to be very
great indeed, but how many cannot be correctly known. There
may be millions whose light has not reached us yet. Of those
which may be detected, Professor _Vince_, says, there are at
least _seventy-five millions_; and each the centre of a system
as large, possibly much larger than our own. Indeed we can
scarcely approach towards a competent idea of _illimitable
space_. The nearest _fixed star_ is supposed to be Sirius, or
the dog-star, at the lowest calculation _twenty-two billions
of miles distant_. If we compute according to this analogy,
and say there are seventy-five millions of fixed stars, each
the _centre_ of a system, perfect, and independent: what mind
can conceive the illimitable space through which these worlds
must lie? Yet this would scarcely be an approximation towards
the true extent. Beyond this there is still _unoccupied space_,
“where existence sleeps in the wide abyss of possibility.”
It may, therefore, be asked with justice, whether a being
capable of creating, even in this limited view, would have
exercised his creative powers _but once_, and that not until
a few thousands years since? _Credat qui posset, non ego._
Who can tell what may have been the _successive_ creations,
durations, and, possibly, destructions of those worlds which we
see, and of others, of which the inhabitants of this earth have
never heard, whose light has not yet reached us since their
creation, though coming at the rate of nearly _twelve millions
of miles in a minute_?
Finally: A _succession_ of creative acts, whose
commencement runs back _almost_ parallel with eternity, and
will extend forward _almost ad infinitum_, seems to comport
best with the eternal, immense, and immutable activity, energy,
and goodness of the Divine Being.]
The word _created_ means, that God caused that to exist which,
previously to this moment, had no being. The Rabbins, who are
legitimate judges in a case of verbal criticism on their own
language, are unanimous in asserting, that the word ברא
_bara_ expresses the commencement of the existence of a thing,
or its egression from nonentity to entity. It does not, in its
primary meaning, denote the _preserving_ or _new forming_ things
that had previously existed, as some imagine; but _creation_, in
the proper sense of the term, though it has some other acceptations
in other places. The supposition that God formed all things out of
a pre-existing eternal nature, is certainly absurd: for, if there
was an eternal nature besides an eternal God, there must have been
two self-existing, independent, and eternal Beings, which is a most
palpable contradiction. _Ex nihilo nihil fit_, “That out of nothing,
nothing is produced” is a maxim that applies itself in every case where
Deity is not concerned; it was the main argument used by Aristotle and
his followers, but is completely refuted by the authority of Divine
revelation. God created את השמים ואת הארץ _eth hashamayim
veet haarets_, “the heavens and the earth.” The word את
_eth_, which is generally considered as a particle, simply denoting
that the word following is in the accusative or oblique case, is often
understood by the Rabbins in a much more extensive sense, “The particle
את _eth_,” says Aben Ezra, “signifies the _substance_ of the
thing.” The like definition is given by Kimchi in his _Book of Roots_.
“This particle,” says Mr. Ainsworth, “having the _first_ and _last_
letters of the Hebrew alphabet in it, is supposed to comprise the _sum_
and _substance_ of _all things_.” “The particle את _eth_,”
says Buxtorf, Talmudic Lexicon sub voce, “with the Cabalists, is often
mystically put for the _beginning_ and the _end_, as Α
alpha and Ω omega are in the Apocalypse.” On this ground,
these words should be translated, “God in the beginning created the
_substance_ of the heavens, and the substance of the earth: i.e. the
_prima materia_, or first elements, out of which the heavens and the
earth were successively formed.”[23]
During the first state of things, Moses informs us, that “the earth was
without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The
original terms תהו _tohoo_, and בהו _bohoo_, translated, “without form
and void,” convey the idea of confusion and disorder. The translation
by Paginus, is _desert and emptiness_; in the Vulgate, it is _empty and
void_; in the Septuagint, _invisible and incomposed_; from the Syriac,
_desert and uncultivated_; the Samaritan is the same as the Vulgate;
the Arabic, _covered with abysses_: these translations are allowed
by the learned Walton. There is but little difference in their real
meaning, and all the Versions express the first state of things.[24]
The whole collection of matter, created in a fluid state, was a crude,
indigested chaos: all belonging to our system, as the sun, moon, stars,
earth, and seas, lay blended together in one vast, confused mass,
without any arrangement of their constituent particles, heavy and
light, dense and rare, fluid and solid, being all mixed together; air,
water, and earth, (which have since obtained the name of elements,)
were promiscuously scattered throughout.
The chaotic mass remained in this primitive state, till God was pleased
to assimilate, assort, and arrange the materials,--out of which he
built up, in the space of six days, the whole of creation.[25] _The
Spirit of God_, represented us sitting upon the vast abyss, like a
bird, while either in the act of incubation or fostering its young,
_moved_ or brooded _upon the face of the waters_, communicating, by his
vital energy, life and motion to the unformed chaos.
Some writers understand by רוח אלהימ _the Spirit of God_, a “mighty
sweeping wind,” a “tremendous tempest,” separating diversified
particles of the elementary principles of matter, and combining those
of the same kind together. But this is making an effect to be produced
by a cause, which, as yet, had no existence; nor, as a cause, is it
sufficient to produce so great an effect. To make an effect superior to
its cause, is as absurd and contradictory as to say, a long line and a
short one are equal. That the single Hebrew word רוח _ruach_, the Greek
πνευμα _pneuma_, the Latin _spiritus_, and the ancient Saxon _ghost_
or _gast_, signifies _wind_, as well as the vital breath, the soul of
man, a created spirit good or evil, is readily admitted. But concerning
the phrase רוח אלהימ, _the Spirit of God_, so frequently used in the
Scriptures of the Old Testament, there is not one instance that it
signifies _wind_, and to attempt to force such meaning upon it, is a
most manifest violation done to the text. By _the Spirit of God_, is
meant the third subsistence in the Divine essence, distinguished from
the person of the Father, and that of the Son; he is called a _Spirit_,
to signify his spiritual and immaterial nature, as well as to express
his mighty agency; and the works of which he is the author can only be
effected by an omnipotent power.
Milton, who was well versed in the Hebrew language, in his address to
the Holy Spirit, says,
“Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread,
Dove-like, sat’st brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad’st it pregnant.”
The Holy Spirit, by his vital influence, infused that efficient power
into the great mass of matter, which was necessary for the assumption
of different forms, and the discharge of the assigned functions of
selecting and arranging the materials out of which the world is
formed. By brooding over the mingled earth and water, says Dr. Owen,
“he communicated a prolific virtue; and inlaid them with the seeds of
animal life; and therefore the earth and the water brought forth all
sorts of creatures in abundance, according to the seeds and principles
communicated to them by the cherishing motion of the _Spirit of God_.”
As several of the ancients have described the elementary principles
of all things to be a gloomy chaos, consisting of _darkness_ and
_water_, we may easily infer from what source they derived this notion.
Aristotle observes, the theologists and natural philosophers agreed,
that all things were produced, as the former said, “out of night;” or,
as the latter, “out of a confused mixture.” Whatever knowledge the
inhabitants of Chaldea had of the creation of the world, they ascribe
to the teaching of an amphibious monster denominated Oannes. He taught
his auditors, that there was a time when all things were darkness
and water, in the midst of which various monsters of horrible forms
received life and light. Over this chaotic mass presided the demon
Omoroca, a mythological personification of the ocean. At length arrived
the destined hour of the creation. The monster Omoroca fell subdued
beneath the victorious arm of Belus; the animals which composed her
empire were annihilated; and the world was formed out of her substance.
Oannes, however, taught, that this physiological description was to be
taken merely in an allegorical sense, and that the whole fable alluded
to the aqueous origin of the universe. Matter having been thus created,
Belus divided the darkness from the light, separated the earth from the
heavens, disposed the world in order, and called the starry host into
existence.
According to the Phœnician system, the principle of the universe was
a _dark air_, and a _turbulent evening chaos_; an opinion not very
dissimilar to that given by Moses. Sanchoniathon afterward ascribes to
material operation the origin of that which may be denominated the will
or desire of God, when in his great wisdom he thought fit to create
the world out of nothing. From this personification of Divine love,
a chaotic mixture was produced, and within it were comprehended the
rudiments of all things.
The cosmogony of the ancient Egyptians, though more obscure, is
given by Diodorus Siculus. “Damascius having inquired about what was
the first principle in the world, gives this as an ancient Egyptian
doctrine. The Egyptians have chosen to celebrate the first cause
as _unspeakable_. They accordingly style it _darkness unknown_ and
mention it with a three-fold acclamation. Again. In this manner the
Egyptians styled the first principle _an inconceivable darkness; night
and darkness past all imagination_.” This is perfectly consonant
to passages from the same author, quoted by Dr. Cudworth. “There
is one origin of all things, celebrated by the name of _unknown_
(incomprehensible) _darkness_.” Again. “They hold, that the first
beginning or cause of things was _darkness beyond all conception; an
unknown darkness_.”
Hesiod mentions, “A chaos as first existing. Next was produced the
spacious earth, the seat of the immortals; Tartarus hid within the
recesses of the ample globe; and divine love, the most beautiful of the
deities. From chaos sprung Erebus, and black night; and from the union
of night and Erebus were born ether and the day.”[26] Zeno, of Cittium,
the founder of the Stoics, said, Hesiod meant by the chaos, “Water, out
of which all things were formed, which by concretion became firm earth.”
In the work of Aristophanes, we meet with a similar passage. “Chaos,
and night, and black Erebus, and wide Tartarus, first existed; at that
time, there was neither earth, air, nor heaven. But in the bosom of
Erebus, black-winged night produced an aërial egg; from which, in due
season, beautiful Love, decked with golden wings, was born. Out of dark
chaos, in the midst of wide-spreading Tartarus, he begot our race, and
called us forth into the light.”[27]
It is unnecessary to multiply quotations to prove, that the ancients
were not only acquainted with the cosmogony of Moses, but received it
as true; to which they added their own coloring.
[It is now generally agreed by cosmogonists, commentators,
biblical critics, and natural philosophers, that the
_substance_ of the earth certainly, and probably the materials
of the Solar System, was first created in a chaotic state, and
subsequently arranged in order. This opinion is very ancient
and almost universal, found in all nations. Ovid, an ancient
heathen poet, has well described this chaos:
Ante mare et terras, et, quod teget omnia, Cœlum,
Unus erat toto naturæ vultus in orbe,
Quem dixére Chaos; rudis indigestaque moles,
Nec quicquam nisi pondus iners; congestaque eodem.
Non bene junctarum discordia semina rerum.
Before the seas, and this terrestrial ball,
And heaven’s high canopy that covers all:
_One_ was the face of nature if a face:
_Rather a rude and indigested mass:
A lifeless lump, unfashioned and unframed,
Of jarring seeds, and justly_ CHAOS _named_.--Dryden.
Notwithstanding the general prevalence of this opinion,
and the high authorities which support it, the reader must not
imagine it is absolutely _universal_. Some eminent men have
suggested, that the earth, and matter generally, was created in
a _solid_ state at first. This is the view taken by Mr. Ure, of
the Andersonian University. He supposes _the earth was created
a solid ball, or spheroid, regular on its surface, without
hills and vallies, and immersed in a crust of ice, which
completely and uniformly surrounded it: that it was a cold
lifeless lump; heat not yet having pervaded it_. The first, and
all quickening operation of heat he supposes to be indicated
by these words of Moses: “And the Spirit of God moved on the
face of the waters.” He supposes, all the matter of our earth
is in the same relative position, in which it was when it first
existed at the command of God; _except such cases in which some
subsequent force has disarranged it_. These cases he supposes
to have been many, and to have operated to the _upheaving_
the mountains, and hollowing out the beds of the sea, &c. He
says of the earth: “The central mass composed, most probably,
of the metallic bases of the earths and alkalies, as volcanic
phenomena seem to attest, would fuse, when first the calorific
energy was made to actuate the body of the earth, and the
exterior parts would oxydize into the crust of mineral strata,
and the outermost coat of all, the fixed ice, would melt into
the moveable _waters_.” _New Syst. of Geol. B. 1. chap. 1. p.
7._
Perhaps Mr. Ure’s view might be improved, and made
to approximate much nearer the common opinion, possibly
identified with it, by supposing the mass of matter composing
our earth, was confusedly mixed,--and of course chaotic--but
was in a frozen, hard, inactive state: that the quickening
energy, which softened and fused it, was simultaneous with its
revolution on its axis. The consequence then would be precisely
what we find it to be; viz: an enlargement of the equatorial
diameter, and a flattening of the poles. This I conceive to be
the true theory in this case.
Mr. Ure confirms his view by a quotation from Sir Isaac
Newton; Optics, Book 3. towards the conclusion. “It seems
probable to me that God in the beginning formed matter in
solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, movable particles, of such
sizes and figures, and with such other properties, and in such
proportions to space, as most conduced to the end for which he
formed them. All material things seem to have been composed
of the hard and solid particles above mentioned, variously
associated in the _first creation_ by the counsels of an
intelligent agent. For it became him who created them to set
them in order; and if he did so, it is unphilosophical to seek
for any other origin of this world, or to pretend that it might
rise out of chaos by the mere laws of Nature; though being once
formed, it may continue by those laws for many ages.”
I have given this quotation precisely as I found it in
Mr. Ure’s New System of _Geology_, B. 1. chap. 1. p. 10.
Considering the well founded reputation of Newton, it adds very
much to the probability of the above theory: yet it seems to
me to be at variance with the commonly received impression of
Newton’s opinion on this subject. I have not his work at hand
to examine it.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, Article _Earth_, seems to
favor this view. It says, “The common notion of the earth’s
being originally a chaos, seems neither to have a foundation in
reason, nor in the Mosaic account of the creation.”
The reader will here perceive high authorities on both
sides, and all claiming to agree with Moses. The weight of
evidence seems to be in favor of a chaotic creation, which
does _not_ necessarily imply that the mass was created in a
_soft_ state. But the configuration, and internal structure of
the earth abundantly prove it was in a soft, or compressible
state when it was assuming its present form and structure.
This condition was the effect of the quickening energy of the
Spirit of God. The difference between the _equatorial_ and
_polar_ diameters of the earth, which is now well established,
and is about twenty-seven miles, can scarcely be accounted for,
without supposing the substance of the earth, at least to a
great depth, to have been partially or wholly fluid; in which
case, by turning round rapidly on its own axis, it would assume
the shape it is known to possess. It may, indeed, be said, the
Almighty could give it any shape and qualities he pleased, and
we cannot well object to it.
As it regards the interior, or central parts of our planet,
our author has said nothing, and possibly he would give
this very good reason for his silence--_we can know nothing
certainly_. Still, however, we may subjoin the conjectures of
some eminent philosophers.
Some suppose the central parts of our globe to be
_cavernous_ or _hollow_. The principal argument for this
theory is the transmission of _sound_ and _motion_ through vast
extents of country, in case of volcanoes and earthquakes. It is
supposed this could not be done so perfectly and extensively,
unless we suppose some _aëriform_, or _gaseous_ body within the
earth, by means of which it might be transmitted: which would
be to suppose it _cavernous_ or _hollow_.
Dr. Halley supposes the earth is a hollow sphere, in
which there is inclosed a central magnetic globe, and by the
motions of this globe the variations of the magnetic needle are
produced.
Our own ingenious, but unfortunate countryman, _Symms_,
supposed the earth to be hollow, and inhabited within, and its
interior accessible to us. He argues, there is no necessity,
for the purposes of gravitation, or for any other purposes, to
suppose the earth solid to the centre: And it is inconsistent
with the divine beneficence to suppose such an amount of matter
as this globe would be, if solid, should have been created to
afford so small a portion, _scarcely one-fourth_, fit for the
actual habitation of man, for whom principally it was created.
He, therefore, supported, that the interior of the earth was an
immense cavern blessed with changes of season, succession of
day and night, cold and heat, and inhabited by human beings,
and other animals. He supposed the poles of the earth were
hollow, and this hollow entrance gradually verged round towards
the equator; and ships have, without knowing it, been within
the verge, from whence they found no difficulty of returning.
Others have supposed the central parts of our globe are
solid. This is the common supposition, and is principally
supported by these two arguments:--As the attraction of
gravitation depends on the _quantity_ of matter, as well as
the distance; unless we suppose the earth a _solid_ body it
will not be able to exert a sufficient attractive influence on
the moon to keep her in her orbit. Again: it is ascertained
by actual experiment, that the _mean_ density of the earth is
about _five_ times that of water: from which it is infered it
is solid, and must increase in density from the surface to the
centre, in order to give this high mean proportion over the
bodies at its surface.
The increasing density of the earth, from the surface to
the centre is owing to _compression_ in part, and partly to the
supposed fact, that the heavier substances are placed nearer
the centre. Thus we find the different strata of rocks indicate
the same. Granite is the heaviest and lowest rock _in situ_.
Some have supposed that _iron_, probably nearly in a
metallic state, constitutes the nucleus of our earth. This idea
seems to have been suggested to account for the influence of
the earth on a magnetic needle.
But the most splendid, and very probable conjecture is
founded on the experiments of Berzelius, and Sir H. Davy, on
the earths, which experiments prove them to have _metallic
bases_ universally: hence all our earths are _metallic oxides_.
From these circumstances it is conjectured, that the nucleus
of our globe is constituted of the metals in a pure, or nearly
pure state, which are the bases of our earths, alkalis, and
alkaline earths.
It would almost seem a legitimate conjecture to suppose the
substances of our globe were, at _first, metals_ and _gases_:
that the oxygen, combining with the metals formed earths, and
alkalis; and the gases combining among themselves formed air,
water, &c. This would be a chemical process, and necessarily
_fuse_ and soften the earth, and introduce the process of
cooling, which would proceed from the surface towards the
centre. Hence some eminent philosophers have conjectured that
there is a great degree of heat in the interior of the earth
yet: probably the central parts are in a state of igneous
fusion. Some recent researches of Cordier tend to establish
this opinion. The amount of evidence in favor of this
conjecture is increasing annually, and probably will prevail.
See the _additional_ paper on _volcanos_ in this volume.]
* * * * *
_Section_ II.--_Fire._
Omnific word -- Moving principles in Nature -- Criticism
on the original word אור aur -- Creation of fire -- Its nature
-- Friction exciting the action of fire -- Fire attracted by
bodies -- Fire conducted -- Fire in a state of combination --
Fire elastic -- Expansive force of fire -- Subterraneous fires
-- Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions -- Air a storehouse of
fire -- General and final Dissolution of Nature by fire --
Fire a symbol of the Deity, in his gracious presence, vital
influence, transforming energy, and destructive operation.
The sacred historian here informs us of the first regular production
reduced from the chaotic mass. With an astonishing majesty of
expression, God said, יהי אור ויהי אור YEHI AUR, _vayehi aur_, _Let
there be light: and there was light_. Or, more literally, _Be light:
and light was_. Pagninus translates the words יהי אור YEHI AUR,
literally, _Sit lux, Be light_. In the Greek it is γενεθητω φῶς, _Be
light made_, or _generated_. In the Vulgate, _Fiat lux_, which is much
the same as the Greek. The celebrated Dionysius Longinus, meeting
with this passage in the Septuagint, considered it as a specimen of
the _true sublime_. Though a heathen, he thus expresses himself:
“So likewise the Jewish lawgiver, (who was no ordinary man) having
conceived a just idea of the divine power, he expressed it in a
dignified manner; for at the beginning of his laws he thus speaks: GOD
SAID--_What?_ LET THERE BE LIGHT! _and there was light_. LET THERE BE
EARTH! _and there was earth_.”[28]
Here we may inquire, Whether this was a word uttered with a sound, like
that which God spake from mount Sinai in giving the Law; or only the
exercise of the inward faculty of reason or understanding? It could not
be a word spoken with a sound, for that requires air as its _medium_,
and none as yet existed; neither was there any ear to hear, nor any
use of such words. Nor could it be any exercise of the Divine Mind,
now beginning to think of the creation and formation of things; for
this purpose was in his thoughts from eternity. The meaning therefore
is, that God did, without any instruments, toil, labor, alteration,
or delay, for the manifestation of his own infinite goodness, wisdom,
power, and will, actually working like a powerful word or command,
instantaneously produce _light_.[29] Thus
“Dark Chaos heard his voice.”
The Psalmist, touching on the subject of creation, says, “He spake, and
it was done: he commanded, and it stood fast”--יעמד _jagnamad, it stood
forth_, as a servant at his master’s command, prepared to do his will,
and to execute his pleasure.[30]
The divine commandment which produced light, says an intelligent
writer, must be considered as operating on the properties of matter
already created; and as light is found to proceed from the motion of
luminous particles, we must conceive some central force, or attracting
power, to be the instrument of producing this phenomenon of light,
by its attractive or propelling properties. There seem to be moving
principles in all nature, which, when put in action by the first
Cause, produce natural effects according to established laws, which
cannot be altered unless by the first Mover. As the Hebrew word תהומ
_tehom, abyss_, translated _deep_, signifies also to move with a sort
of confused motion; we may justly conclude that the chaotic mass had
some gravitating powers in it, before the forming of the system; and
that attracting and repelling force was naturally and originally in
the universe; and that the first Mover gave them in a regular course,
the specifical direction, and systematical attractions. What our
distinguished philosopher, Sir Isaac Newton, has suggested concerning
attraction and gravitation, even in point of philosophy, appears to
agree with the Principia of Moses.
Another author writes, Whether Moses intended a philosophical account
of light in this place, I will not pretend to say; but one thing is
certain, that he makes use of a word which points out some of the
principal properties of light. The original word אור _aur_ signifies
that body which renders objects visible, which we call _light_; it
also signifies _fire_, and perhaps Moses intended to point out in one
word, what in our language requires two, _light_ and _fire_. When we
consider the words of Moses, it appears evident that what is in our
version called _light_, is in the Hebrew rather something that sends
forth light. The original word אור _aur_ may signify any thing that
makes things visible by emitting particles of light. When the Almighty
said, “Let there be אור _aur, light_,” it is not certain that he meant
elementary fire, or original unpropagated light. It is more probable
that he intended by that word, a body that sent forth light by means of
the motion of similar particles of luminous and igneous matter.
Whatever may be the philosophic differences between these two, _light_
and _fire_, continues the same author, we are certain that they are
seldom separated. The origin of that light which now renders bodies
visible to us, seems chiefly to be _fire_, though light and fire are
not inseparably connected; for light may be propagated where there is
no fire, as from putrid bodies, &c, and fire may be where there is no
light, as in iron, sulphur, &c.
The Hebrew word אור _aur_, signifies not only light, but
_fire_. God created this powerful agent on the first day, and diffused
it through every part of nature; because without it no operation could
be carried on and perfected. T. Bartholine quotes Aristotle as saying,
“That fire is the efficient cause of all things.” Robison says, “Heat
is susceptible of fixation--of being accumulated in bodies, and, as
it were, laid up till we have occasion for it; and we are as certain
of getting the stored-up heat, as we are sure of obtaining from our
drawers the things we put in them.”[31] It pervades all bodies: this is
not the case with any other substance we know of--not even light. It
lies hid in every thing around us. It is a substance which we are ever
in want of; it is therefore deposited on every side, and is ready for
every exigency.
_Caloric_ is the name given by modern chemists, to that substance by
whose influence the phenomena of heat are produced, and which had
before been distinguished by the terms _igneous fluid_, _matter of
heat_, and other analogous denominations. In order to give precision
to chemical language, it was necessary to adopt a word by which to
distinguish between the substance which produces the sensation we call
heat, and the sensation itself; these being connected as cause and
effect; for whenever caloric becomes fixed in a body, it loses its
property of affording heat. Whatever is the nature of that quality in
bodies called heat, we are assured it does resemble the sensation of
heat. A man whose mind is destitute of the cultivation of science, if
endued with common sense, never imagines the sensation of heat to be
in the fire; he only imagines that there is something in fire which
occasions this sensation.
Though we are well acquainted with the effects of fire, we know but
little of its nature. It is so active, as well as powerful a principle,
that it eludes all our researches. We may, however, define it to be the
phlogiston or inflammable principle, which pervades in a greater or
less degree all substances. Boerhaave thinks it is a fluid of a nature
peculiar to itself; that it was created such as it is, and cannot be
altered in its nature or its properties; that it naturally exists in
equal quantities in all places; and that it is wholly imperceptible to
our senses, being only discoverable by such effects as in its operation
it produces.[32]
That fire is really a substance, and not a quality, appears from its
acting upon other substances, the reality of which has never been
doubted. Charcoal, in its natural state, contains within its pores a
large quantity of air; but if charcoal is heated, this air is expelled
by the fire, which assumes its place, and occupies the pores of the
charcoal. The burning of lime also, which deprives it of a great part
of its weight by expelling the fixable air, demonstrates that fire, as
a substance, enters into the pores of the lime, and forces out those
other substances which are least intimately combined with it.
Collision or friction of solid bodies, is the means most generally
used for exciting the action of fire. The vacuities of all solid
bodies are replete with fire, so that it is impossible to agitate or
separate their parts swiftly, without giving the same rapid motion to
the element contained within them. When a piece of hardened steel is
struck with a flint, some particles of the metal are scraped away from
the mass, and so violent is the fire which follows the stroke, that it
melts and vitrifies them. If the fragments of steel are catched upon
paper, and viewed with a microscope, you will find most of them perfect
spherules, and very highly polished. Their sphericity demonstrates that
they have been in a fluid state, and the polish upon their surface
shows them to be vitrified; the fire being disengaged with violence,
disposes the particles of the substance to combine with the vital
air, while this air accelerates the combustion. The whole of the heat
produced is not afforded by the body itself, because in proportion as
the interior fire is disengaged, the external air acts upon the body
and gives out fire.
If the irons at the axis of a coach-wheel are applied to each other,
without the interposition of some unctuous matter to keep them from
immediate contact, they will become so hot when the carriage runs
swiftly along, as to set the wood on fire; and the fore wheels being
smallest, and making more revolutions, will be most in danger. The same
will happen to mill-work, or any other machinery, if the necessary
precautions are neglected. It is no uncommon practice with a blacksmith
to use a plate of iron as an extemporaneous tinder-box; for it may be
hammered on an anvil till it becomes red hot, and will fire a match of
brimstone. A strong man who strikes quick, and keeps turning the iron,
so that both sides may be equally exposed to the force of the hammer,
will perform this in less time than would be expected. If in the
coldest season you lay one dense iron plate upon another, and press the
upper one, by a weight, on the lower one, and then rub the one over the
other; by reciprocal motions, they will first grow warm, and at length
so hot, as in a short time to emit sparks, and at last grow red hot, as
if taken out of a vehement fire.
It is not necessary that the substance should be very hard; a cord
rubbed backwards and forwards swiftly against a post or a tree will
take fire; a stick of wood pressed against another which is turned
swiftly about in a lathe, will soon make it turn black and emit smoke.
Even the palms of your hands, if you rub them briskly together, when
they are dry, will smell as if they were scorched. The method of
exciting fire by rubbing two sticks of wood together, was anciently
practised by country people, and is still retained in some parts of
the world. The manner is exactly described in Captain Cook’s voyage.
The inhabitants of New-Holland are there said to produce fire with
great facility, and spread it in a wonderful manner. To produce it,
they take two pieces of _soft_ dry wood; one is a stick about eight or
nine inches long, the other piece is flat. The stick they shape into an
obtuse point at one end, and pressing it upon the other, turn it nimbly
by holding it between both their hands, as we do a chocolate mill,
often shifting their hands up and down, and then moving them down upon
it to increase the pressure as much as possible. By this method they
get fire in less than two minutes, and from the smallest spark they
increase it with speed and dexterity.
The matter of fire is attracted more or less by all bodies. When any
heated body comes in contact with a cold one, the former loses a part
of its heat, and both of them become equally warm. If heated iron is
laid upon a stone, its heat will flow into the stone; if thrown into
the water, the heat will be diffused through the water. If a number of
different substances, as metals, wood, wool, &c, are brought together
into a place where there is not a fire, if they are of different
temperatures, that is of different degrees of heat, the fire will be
attracted from the hottest to those that are colder, till a perfect
equilibrium is produced, or till they have all acquired the same
temperature, as may be proved by applying the thermometer successively
to each of them.
It does not appear, however, that all bodies have an equal attraction
for the matter of fire. If a rod of iron is put into the fire for a
short time, the end which is at a moderate distance from the fire will
almost burn the hand; but a rod of wood, of the same length will be
consumed to ashes at the end which is in the fire, before the other end
is sufficiently heated to burn the hand. A ball of lead, and a ball of
wool, may be of exactly the same temperature by the thermometer, but
they will not appear of the same degree of heat on applying the hand.
If they are of a temperature below that of our bodies, the lead will
appear much colder than the wool, because it attracts the heat more
rapidly from the hand; if they are of a higher temperature, the lead
will appear much hotter, from the facility with which it parts with its
heat. This property in bodies is called their _conducting_ power; and
those bodies through which the element of fire most rapidly circulates,
are called good conductors.
The power of conducting the matter of fire seems to depend upon the
texture of bodies, that is, upon the contact of their parts; hence the
excessive slowness with which heat is communicated to bodies of a rare
and spongy texture. Thus flannel, wool, and feathers, are considered as
warm coverings, not because they possess more heat in themselves--for
they serve to preserve any cold body in a cool state better than other
substances--but because they prevent the escape of the animal heat from
our bodies.
The matter of fire will exist in a state of combination, in a _latent_
state, so as not to be perceptible to our senses. It will be found by
observation, that every body which exists contains a quantity of the
matter of fire in a fixed or neutralized state, disarmed of all its
active, penetrating, and destructive qualities, like an acid and an
alkali in combination.
Fluids, from their very nature and constitution, contain a greater
quantity of caloric in a latent state than solid bodies: indeed it is
now universally admitted, and may be easily proved, that the fluidity
of all bodies is altogether owing to the quantity of fire which they
retain in this latent or combined state, the elasticity of which keeps
their particles remote from each other, and prevents their fixing into
a solid mass. All bodies, therefore, in passing from a fluid to a solid
state, emit a quantity of fire or heat. When water is thrown upon quick
lime, it is absorbed by the lime, and in this state it is capable of
retaining a much smaller quantity of caloric than in its natural state;
on the slacking of lime, therefore, a very intense heat is produced,
the matter of fire which preserved the water fluid being disengaged and
detached. If spirit of vitriol is added to strong oil of turpentine,
they will condense into a solid mass, and a great quantity of heat will
be sensibly emitted. Upon the same principle it will be found, on the
other hand, that when any body passes from a solid to a fluid state,
the adjacent bodies will be deprived of a quantity of their natural
heat.
[This theory of what is called _burning lime_, is not
sufficiently clear. Fire does not enter into the pores of the
lime by burning. The mineral commonly used for procuring _quick
lime_ is the _carbonate_ of lime, or common _limestone_, which
is composed of carbonic acid with a small quantity of water,
43, and lime 57, in 100 parts. By submiting it to a strong
heat, the carbonic acid is driven off, and the quick or pure
lime remains, which is an _oxide of calcium_. The loss in
weight is owing to the expulsion of the carbonic acid, with
the small portion of water. By adding water to the quick lime,
it is dissolved, and falls into a powder. This process is
called _slacking lime_, and the product, _slack-lime_. During
the process a large quantity of heat is disengaged; and if
the slacking be done in the dark, _light_ is also observed to
be thrown out. This heat is given out by the _water_, not the
lime. The lime having a _greater affinity_ for the _hydrogen_
of the water than exists between the hydrogen and oxygen in
water, seizes upon it, and the _oxygen passes off_, together
with the _latent caloric_ of the water, and thus the heat is
produced which is observed in slacking lime. The hydrogen of
the water combines with the lime and becomes solid, forming
an _hydrate of lime_, which is the common slacked lime used in
mortar.]
The matter of fire is _elastic_, as is proved evidently from all its
effects. There is indeed reason to believe, that caloric is the only
fluid in nature which is permanently elastic, and that it is the
cause of the elasticity of all fluids which are esteemed so. From the
elasticity of this element it results, that all natural bodies can only
retain a certain quantity of it, without undergoing an alteration in
their state and form. Thus a moderate quantity of fire admitted into a
solid body expands it; a still larger quantity renders it fluid; and if
the quantity is still increased, it will be converted into vapor.
Caloric expands all bodies which it penetrates, more or less, in
proportion to its quantity, and to the nature of those bodies. The
expansion of water, even previous to its assuming the form of vapor,
may be seen in an easy experiment. If a quantity of cold water,
contained in a clear flask, is immersed in a vessel of boiling water;
as the heat enters, the water in the flask will be seen to rise in the
neck till it overflows.
An iron rod a foot long being heated red hot, became 1-60 longer
than before; and a glass cylinder, a fathom long, under the same
circumstances, gained 1-50 in length. A metalline ring thus heated was
increased 9-100 in its diameter; and a glass globe became extended
1-100 part by the heat of the hand only applied to its surface.[33]
The _general_ effects of caloric are to increase the bulk of the
substances with which it unites, and to render them specifically
lighter than they were before; but in whatever quantity it is
accumulated in bodies, it never adds to their absolute weight.
Caloric favors the solution of salts, and promotes the union of many
substances. In other cases it serves to separate bodies already united;
so that in the hands of chemists it is the most useful and powerful
agent with which they are acquainted. It is the cause of fluidity in
all substances which are capable of becoming fluid, from the heaviest
metal to the lightest gas. Let it be remembered that _all_ fluids are
formed from solids by an addition of caloric; and that, by abstracting
this caloric, solids would be reproduced. It insinuates itself among
their particles, and invariably separates them in some measure from
each other. We have reason to believe that every solid substance on
the face of the earth might be converted to a fluid, or even a gas,
were it submitted to the action of a very high temperature in peculiar
circumstances.[34]
[The general and aggregate bearing of the facts and
experiments which are now known, render the statement here
made by Mr. Wood extremely probable, viz; That caloric is a
very subtle fluid which pervades in large quantities every
particle of matter in the universe--that it is the agent which
regulates the _densities_ of all bodies, and by consequence,
regulates in some measure their _weight_ and _dimensions_. It
is considered as an almost settled question, _that a stratum
of caloric surrounds each ultimate particle of every body, so
that the ultimate particles of bodies do not, and cannot be
made to touch each other_. Their inherent inclination to come
into actual contact is called their _attraction of cohesion_:
the power of this attraction is in proportion to the distance
at which they are kept from each other by the atmosphere of
caloric which intervenes between them. This atmosphere of
caloric is _idio-repulsive_: of course the particles of caloric
have an inherent _repulsion_ among themselves, and are ever
struggling to get further asunder.
This idio-repulsive nature of caloric is the great, and
constant antagonist power to the attraction of cohesion.
Caloric has a tendency to drive the particles of matter further
from each other, and these particles have a mutual tendency
to approach. Hence these two principles are ever in conflict.
As a general rule we may say, when the attraction of cohesion
prevails greatly, the body becomes _solid_: when the two forces
are pretty nearly balanced, the body becomes _liquid_: when the
caloric prevails greatly, the body becomes _gaseous_.
There is sufficient reason to believe, that _every_ body
in nature might be raised to a _gaseous_ state by the addition
or action of a sufficient quantity of caloric: and there is,
probably, a sufficient quantity in nature, to render the whole
_universe_ gaseous, were it sufficiently excited to a state
of freedom. It is a well known fact, that _all the metals are
fusible by heat_, and many of them have been _volatalized_, and
it is extremely probable all of them may be.
As caloric regulates the density of bodies, by resisting
and modifying the influence of the attraction of cohesion: if
it were entirely withdrawn from nature, or the whole of it
rendered perfectly latent, _all matter would become perfectly_
SOLID and FIXED: even _water_ and _air_ would assume the
_solidity of the diamond_.
We must, therefore, regard caloric as the great
conservative principle of the Universe, and yet capable, if
called into action, of destroying it instantly.
These views strongly corroborate _our_ paper on _chaos_.]
From the experiments of General Roy, in the 75th volume of the
Philosophical Transactions, it appears that the expansion of a steel
pendulum of a clock is such, that every four degrees of the thermometer
will cause a variation of a second per day; and that the difference
between the going of a clock in summer and winter will be about six
seconds per day, or one minute in ten days, owing to the metallic
pendulum varying in length with every change of temperature. A
knowledge of this circumstance gave rise to Harrison’s self-regulating
time-piece, which, by the different expansion of _different_ metals,
accommodates its movements to every change of seasons or climate.
The fire deposited below the surface of the earth is peculiarly
important, having produced earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Dr.
Watson, late Bishop of Llandaff, in his Chemical Essays, says, The most
remarkable changes which have taken place in the form and constitution
of the earth, since the deluge, have probably been produced by
subterraneous fires; for it is to their agency that philosophers
ascribe volcanos and earthquakes; those tremendous instruments of
nature, by which she converts plains into mountains, the ocean into
islands, and dry land into stagnant pools. Mr. Lemery, as far as I have
been able to learn, adds the learned Bishop, was the first person who
illustrated, by actual experiment, the origin of subterraneous fires.
He mixed twenty-five pounds of powdered sulphur with an equal weight of
iron filings; and having kneaded the mixture together, by means of a
little water, into the consistency of a paste, he put it into an iron
pot, covered it with a cloth, and buried the whole a foot under ground.
In about eight or nine hours time the earth swelled, grew warm, and
cracked: hot sulphureous vapors were perceived: a flame which dilated
the cracks was observed; the superincumbent earth was covered with a
yellow and black powder: in short, a subterraneous fire, producing a
volcano in miniature, was spontaneously lighted up from the reciprocal
actions of sulphur, iron, and water.
Volcanic eruptions are awfully terrific, and sometimes extensively
destructive. The violent eruption of Vesuvius, in 1767, is reckoned the
27th since that which destroyed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii,
in the reign of the Emperor Titus; and this eruption of 1767, has been
succeeded by several others. Of the eruptions of Ætna, Mr. Oldenburg
has given a historical account in the Philosophical Transactions, No.
xlviii. p. 967. A very great eruption of this mountain was in the year
1669. The progress of the lava, or fiery deluge, was at the rate of a
furlong a day. It advanced into the sea 600 yards, and was then a mile
in breadth. It had destroyed, in forty days, the habitations of 27,000
persons; and of 20,000 inhabitants of the city of Catanea, only 3,000
escaped. This inundation of liquid fire, in its progress, met with a
lake four miles in compass, and not only filled it up, although it was
four fathoms deep, but raised it into a mountain. Borelli, an ingenious
Neapolitan, has calculated, that the matter discharged at this eruption
was sufficient to fill a space of 93,838,750 cubic spaces. The lava
which ran from it is fourteen miles in length, and, in many parts, six
in breadth. There have been no such eruptions since, although there
have been signs of many, more terrible, that preceded it.[35]
The principal volcanos in Europe are Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, in
Italy; Mount Ætna, in Sicily; Mount Hecla, in Iceland; and Stromboli,
the most northern of the Lipari islands, north of Sicily. Of all the
volcanos recorded in history, Stromboli seems to be the only one that
burns incessantly. Ætna and Vesuvius are sometimes many months, and
even years, without the least emission of fire; but this is ever at
work, and, for ages past, has been considered as the light-house of
the Mediterranean Sea. It is very probable, that Mount Vesuvius and
Mount Ætna form but different portions of _one_ chain of mountains that
passes under the sea, and the isle of Lipari; for whenever one of the
volcanos has a great eruption, it is observed that the other, and the
volcano in the isle of Lipari, throw out more flames than ordinary.
This remark was made by Huet, Bishop of Avranches, in France, a
celebrated philosophical, historical, and commercial writer. The force
of volcanos is supposed to be the greatest of any thing yet known in
nature. In the great eruption of Vesuvius, in 1779, a stream of lava,
of an immense magnitude, is said to have been projected to the height
of at least 10,000 feet above the top of the mountain.
[The present state of chemical science, and the
geological discoveries of the last ten or fifteen years,
seem to discountenance the theory, that volcanic action, and
earthquakes result from _sulphur_, _iron_, and _water_, as Mr.
Lemery’s experiment seems to indicate.
The vast extent of volcanic action, as indicated by extinct
and active volcanos, would require a greater amount of these
materials, than can be supposed to exist in the composition of
the earth. Thus, according to the Newtonian test of a correct
theory, the means, if true, would not be sufficient.
Again: If sulphur and iron were the principal agents in
producing volcanic action, and earthquakes, _volcanic products
would give evidence of it_, by being, principally, _sulphate
of iron_. So far is this from being the fact, that in 100
parts, volcanic product, Dr. Kennedy found, in reference to two
volcanos, not exceeding 14.25 oxide of iron, and no sulphur at
all.
Volcanic products are generally, “mixtures of the earth in
an oxidated and fused state, under intense ignition; water and
saline substances, such as might be furnished by the sea and
air, altered as might be expected from the formation of fixed
oxidated matter.” URE.
These two simple considerations must set aside the theory
mentioned in the text. Other valid objections might be urged.
As this theory is inadmissible, because, neither true in
application to volcanic action and product, nor sufficient in
force, it is proper to supply the deficiency.
By a careful inspection of the phenomena attending volcanic
action, as well as an examination of its products, we are
clearly convinced, the _agents are aëriform_; chiefly _steam_
and the _gases_, and they act with an _expansive force from
beneath_.
Mouna Roa, in the island Owhyhee, rises 15,000 feet,
and has on its top a crater _eight miles_ in circumference,
containing a vast lake of molten lava. Mr. Goodrich visited it
in 1824. He says, “exhalations escape from all the fissures of
the lava crust, producing here and there a blast _like strong
vapor blowing out of a steam boiler_.”
Subsequently, a party from the Blonde frigate visited it,
and the Rev. Charles Stewart, who accompanied the party, has
given a description of the crater. He says, “its surface had
all the agitation of the ocean. Billow after billow tossed
its monstrous bosom into the air, and occasionally the waves
from apposite directions met with such violence, as to dash
the fiery spray, in the concussion, forty or fifty feet high.”
_Ure’s New Syst. Geol._ pp. 381-2.
In both these accounts we clearly see aëriform agents
acting from beneath. The _hissing_ noise of steam escaping from
a boiler, convinces of the _nature_ of the body escaping. The
_upheaving_ of the melted lava proves, not only, that the agent
acts from _beneath_ by expansion, but also, by its resemblance
to the common phenomenon observed in boiling liquids, that
the agent is formed below, and rises through the melted lava,
heaving it up in swells and waves, until it escapes in a
gaseous state, like vapor from boiling liquids.
We must come to the same conclusion from the experiments,
observations, and reports of the celebrated, and intrepid
Spallanzani, who visited and examined the crater of the
ever-burning Stromboli. His words are nearly these: Fluid lava,
resembling melted brass red-hot, and liquid filled the crater
to a certain height, and this matter appeared to be influenced
by two distinct impelling powers; the one whirling and
agitated; and the other upwards, terminating in an explosion
like a short clap of thunder. Immediately before the explosion
occurred, the lava appeared _inflated_, and _large bubbles_,
some several feet in diameter, rose and burst, the detonation
followed and the lava sunk. During the rising, _a sound
issued from the crater like that produced by a liquid boiling
violently in a caldron_. In this case we have every evidence of
an _aëriform agent acting from beneath_.
An aëriform agent is detected also by examining the
_structure_ of volcanic products, which have been ejected in
a melted state. They are found to be _vesicular_, _cellular_,
and _porous_. This structure proves, incontestibly, that these
cavities and cells were filled with an aëriform body, which
escaped upon cooling.
This position might be sustained by other proofs, but it
is unnecessary. It remains only to ask, _whether these elastic
agents are sufficient to produce the astonishing amount and
products of volcanic action and earthquakes_?
The force which elastic agents are known to possess, when
generated suddenly, and raised to a high temperature, answers
this question promptly in the _affirmative_. A very few grains
of gunpowder, when converted into gas by sudden ignition in
a gun-barrel, by their expansive force drive a bullet with
astonishing power and velocity. A few cubic feet of water
converted into steam, will burst the strongest metallic barrier
which man can construct, unless it find vent.
As we have seen sufficiently clearly that aëriform bodies,
as steam and gases, are the elastic agents in producing
earthquakes and volcanos, it remains to inquire into the
_production_ and _action_ of those agents.
As it regards their production, the present state of
geological and chemical science suggests _three_ theories,
each of which would be adequate to the object.
It is necessary to premise that _water_ is a common agent
in each of the three theories.
1. The splendid discoveries of Sir H. Davy, in regard to
the _bases_ of the earths, demonstrating them to be _metallic_,
and the earths merely _oxides_ of those metals, have led to the
conjecture, _that these metals exist in nearly a pure state in
the interior of the earth_; of course the _crust_ of the earth
is composed of the various metallic oxides.
It is well known that many of these metals _take fire on
coming into contact with water, as potassium, sodium, &c_; and
_all of them oxidize rapidly on meeting with water and air_,
and thus _large quantities of hydrogen gas would be evolved_.
This theory is so reasonable, in view of the
_combustibility_ of metals, and so conformable to science, that
we almost decide it is true, without further examination.
But, in order that its demonstration should be clear, it
must first be shown, _that the metals do exist in nearly a pure
state in the interior of the earth_: and then, _that they are
accessible by water, or air, or both_.
The first point can only be rendered _probable by analogy_.
We _know_ that the earths which are found in the crust of our
planet are _metallic oxides_. It is very natural to suppose
these metals existed in a pure _metallic state at the creation,
as well at the surface as at the centre_; as all other bodies
most probably existed in an elementary and uncombined state
when God first produced them. From this supposition it is
easy to see, that when water and air came into action, which
would be at the earth’s surface, these metals would be rapidly
oxidized, thus forming the earths. But as this process would
commence at the _surface_ of the earth, and _tend towards the
centre_, it is evident its _progress would be arrested by its
own action_.
For the _accumulation of the earths_, by the oxidation of
the metals, would gradually form the _superincumbent crust_,
which would act as a _barrier_ to the water and air, preventing
their contact with the metals in the interior, _which_, of
course, _would not be oxidized_.
In this state they would remain buried deep under the
superincumbent oxidated crust of the earth, until water and
air should find access to them. When this should take place
a rapid, and extensive _chemical action_ would commence,
generating immense quantities of hydrogen gas, the metals
_decomposing_ the air and water, in the process of oxidation,
and setting the _hydrogen_ of the water, and _nitrogen_ of the
air _free_. Thus a large amount of the most inflammable of all
gases would be disengaged. The rapid chemical action would
_raise the temperature_ of these gases, and thus _increase
their bulk_ immensely, which would produce an irresistible
_expansive force_, which would _increase the pressure_ against
the sides of the cavern in which the gases were generated,
_and the_ IGNITION _of the hydrogen would be a necessary
consequence_. Such an immense volume of gas being ignited, and
confined, would produce such a degree of heat, as rapidly to
_decompose_ or _melt_ the substances in its neighborhood, and
set at liberty a vast quantity of other gases; all of which
being _ignited_, and of course _expanded_ immeasurably, would
not only shake a given section of the earth, but, if placed
in its centre, would shake the solid globe throughout, and
rend it into ten thousand pieces, if it did not find means to
escape. If it found means of escape by some opening forced from
its seat to the surface of the earth, _that opening would_
CONSTITUTE A VOLCANO; from which the gases would escape, and
throw out before them the vast amount of volcanic products
which are known to come forth of the craters.
It now remains to inquire, _whether a sufficient quantity
of water can be supposed to have access to these metals_?
From what we know of the distribution of water generally
in the bowels of the earth, we should have no difficulty in
admitting the _affirmative_. But this question may be clearly
answered by two circumstances.
First: Large quantities of boiling water and mud, are
frequently ejected from volcanos. This proves an _excess_
of water at, or near the seat of action, which could not be
decomposed, before the amount of gases generated, and acting
with incredible force, drove it out of the crater. This fact is
true in some measure of all volcanos, but eminently so of those
in South America. “Bouguer and Condamine saw these formidable
torrents tear up the surface of a whole country. Six hours
after an explosion of Cotopaxi, a village nearly eighty miles
distant in a straight line, and probably one hundred and forty
by the winding channel, was entirely swept away by the flood.”
_Ure’s New Sys. Geol._ p. 386.
Secondly: The position of volcanos, _always near the
sea_, together with the _agitations of the sea_, previous to,
and during an eruption, as well as the _saline_ matter in
the ejected substances, render it very clear, _that the sea,
by subterranean communication, supplies water at the seat
of volcanic action_. “The sea seems to sympathise with the
agitations of the adjoining volcanos, rising and falling with
rapid alternation--_caused by the sudden deflux of a great body
of water into the vast volcanic caverns_.” _Ure’s New Sys.
Geol._ p. 388.
This fact is so well known in the history of volcanos,
that it needs no further proof. It has, however, led to the
remark, that volcanos are generally situated in islands, or
near the sea coast. Indeed many of them are _submarine_, and
have actually been seen in operation, throwing up vast columns
of water to an immense height, until the edge of the crater
appeared above the surface of the sea, and increased into
islands, which have become permanent. At such times the water
of the sea for a great distance round became _hot_, fishes
died; and even the pitch melted from the hulks of the vessels
in the neighborhood.
2. Another theory has been proposed which does not differ
from the first, in regard to the _materials_ employed at the
seat of volcanic action, nor in the _manner_ of the process;
but in regard to the _condition_ of those materials when they
_begin_ to operate in the production of the elastic agents.
These materials may be in a state of _igneous fusion_ in the
interior of the earth. This state is supposed to have resulted
thus:
When God created the substances of the earth, they were
in an _elementary_ and _uncombined_ state, promiscuously
mixed through each other from the surface to the centre. By
his _Spirit brooding over the great deep_, caloric and light,
which were in a _latent_ state, were called into action,
which gave impulse and motion to every particle of matter,
thus quickening the whole mass by producing _intense heat_.
This would cause the _aqueous_ and _gaseous_ particles to
rise through the mass, and collect at the surface. This would
bring them in contact with the metals in a pure state, which
would of course _oxidize_, and become _earths_. This action
would go on until it arrested its own progress, by forming and
consolidating the oxidated crust of the earth inclosing all
the interior substances in a state of igneous fusion, which
have been gradually cooling ever since. The _primitive_ rocks,
which have a crystalline structure, are supposed to have been
deposited during this process, as it is evident they could not
have crystallized under any other circumstances, and they are
well known to be composed of the earths which are only metals
in a state of oxidation. It is now only necessary to introduce
the water to this mass of melted matter, or any part of it, as
in the first theory to the metals in their pure state, _and we
have the same results in all respects_.
This theory has two advantages over the first. It agrees
best with the crystalline structure which primitive rocks are
known to possess, and which must result from chemical action on
the materials in a state of solution. It also seems to accord
best with the Mosaic account of the action of heat and light,
in assimilating, arranging and settling the materials of the
earth.
Moreover, it is confirmed by experiments made on the
_temperature_ of the earth at different depths. The following
tables are extracted from Mr. Ure’s New System of Geology, pp.
426-7. They accord, in their tendency, with the opinions of
other eminent philosophers than those whose names appear in the
tables.
_Observations on the temperature of the earth._
In the mines of Giro-Magny, three leagues from Befort,
M. Gensanne found:
At 333 feet, 54½ Fahr.
680 “ 62
1016 “ 66½
1429 “ 73
In the mines of Freyberg, M. D’Aubuisson found
External air 41
In the galleries 50
528 feet, water pool 52
858 water of a spring 57
At Junghohebirke,
external thermometer 32
1040 feet, water was 63
Observations by Captain Lean in the mines of
Cornwall.
At surface, in June, 59
118 feet deep 64½
480 “ 68
840 “ 69½
1144 “ 79
_December._
At the surface air 50
120 feet air 57
600 “ air 66
---- “ water 64
962 “ air 70
---- “ water 74
1200 “ air 78
---- “ water 78
M. Humboldt obtained analogous results in many mines
in South America. The evidence in favor of a _perpetually
increasing temperature as you descend into the earth_, and a
_higher temperature formerly at the surface of the earth_, is
increasing daily. _See the conclusion of this paper._
3. There is yet a third theory, founded on _voltaic
energy_, or _galvanism_ and _electricity_.
The application of these agents to the production of
volcanic action, had occurred to me, before I met with the
“Outline of the course of Geological Lectures, given in Yale
College,” by Professor Silliman, from which the following
extract is made. I had not regarded their application in
the same manner as he has explained it. Indeed, my thoughts
on the subject had not assumed any definite direction. I
shall transcribe from his “Outline,” pp. 118-19, inserted in
“Bakewell’s Introduction to Geology, first American Edition.”
“Whatever we may think of the hypothesis now detailed, may
we not suppose, with sufficient probability, that those voltaic
powers which we _know_ to exist--whose action we can command,
and whose effects having been first observed within the memory
of the present generation, now fill us with astonishment, are
constantly active in producing the phenomena of earthquakes and
volcanos?
“Arrangements of metals and fluids are the common means
by which we evolve this wonderful power, in our laboratories;
and it would seem that nothing more than juxta-position, in
a certain order, is necessary to the effect. Even substances
apparently dry and inert, with respect to each other, will
produce a permanent, and in proportion to the means employed,
a powerful effect, as in the columns of De Luc and Zamboui. It
would seem indeed that metals and fluids are not _necessary_
to the effect. Arrangements of almost any substances that are
of different natures, will cause the evolution of this power.
Whoever has witnessed the overwhelming brilliancy and intense
energy of the great galvanic combinations, especially the
deflagrator of Dr. Hare, and considers how very trifling, in
extent, are our largest combinations of apparatus, compared
with those natural arrangements of earths, salts, metals, and
fluids, which we know to exist in the earth, in circumstances
similar to those which, in our laboratories, are effectual in
causing this power to appear, will not be slow to believe that
it may be in the earth perpetually evolved, and perpetually
renewed; and now mitigated, suppressed, or revived, according
to circumstances influencing the particular state of things at
particular places.
“In our laboratories we see emanating from this source,
intense light, irresistible heat, magnetism in great energy,
and above all, a decomposing power, which commands equally
all the elements, and the proximate principles in all their
combinations.
“Sir Humphrey Davy, after discovering that the supporters
of combustion and the acids, were all evolved at the
positive pole, and the combustibles and metals, and their
oxidated products, at the negative--proved that even the
firmest rocks and stones could not resist this power; their
immediate principles and elements being separated by its
energy. The decomposition of the alkalies, earths, and other
metallic oxides being a direct and now familiar effect of
voltaic energy--their metals being set at liberty, and being
combustible both in air and water--elastic agents produced
by this power, and rarified by heat, being also attendant on
these decompositions, it would seem that the first principles
are fully established by experiment, and that nothing is
hypothetical, but the application to the phenomena of
earthquakes and volcanos.”
The reader will perceive that all of the above theories
agree in one respect, viz; in the agency of _elastic bodies_,
as steam and gases, produced by the decomposition of
substances; and that the same substances are supposed to be
employed, though not precisely in the same manner, nor in the
same condition. Further Geological and Chemical experiments
may, hereafter, settle the question between these theories.
They are all scientific in their principles, and fully
competent to the object, and it is not impossible but that they
may all be true in part or in whole, acting separately in some
instances, and combined in others.
Under the agency of either of them the products would be
the same. Dr. Kennedy has made experiments on the composition
of volcanic products, and found, Silex, 51--Alumina, 19--Lime,
9.5--Oxide of iron, 14.5--Soda, 4--Muriatic acid, 1--in 100
parts.
As it regards the extent of volcanic action and
earthquakes, the two first theories agree best with actual
appearances. They would lead us to conclude that volcanic
action was necessarily more extensive in the earlier ages of
the world than now. Because, every action would oxidize the
crust of the earth deeper, and increase the superincumbent
strata, and render the access of water and air more difficult.
_This is found to be the fact by observation in different
countries._
In some parts of France, in which kingdom there is not,
and has not been for the last two thousand years, any active
volcano, _there are ranges of extinct volcanos, in which may
be counted from seventy to one hundred craters_. They are so
close their bases touch in many instances. The same fact is
observed along the Rhine, and in Hungary, and other countries.
_See Ure’s New Syst. Geol. and Bakewell’s Geology._
Mr. Ure reckons up two hundred and five _active_
volcanos at this time. One hundred and seven in islands, and
ninety-eight on continents.
It is very evident that the _seat_ of volcanic action is
vastly below the surface of the earth. The _extent_ of country
which is shaken by the effort of the gases to escape, will
prove this. The agitations have been felt over all Europe, and
even _across the Atlantic_!
Again: If the action were not situated far below the
surface of the earth, the mountains, which only serve as
_chimnies_, and which have been formed by the action of the
volcanos, _would sink in_. This has been the case in a few
instances. This will appear more clearly if we consider
the _amount_ of matter ejected. Did it not come from an
immeasurable distance beneath, the accumulated mass at the
surface of the earth would break down the _substrata_ which
lie over the immense caverns formed by the ejection. The
_dimensions_ of those caverns, situated under the volcanic
mountains, are far greater than one would suppose at first
consideration. _The internal caverns must be as large as the
ejected masses, which came out of them._ Ætna is known to have
thrown out matter sufficient to form twenty such mountains as
it is. It is strongly probable that the whole island of Sicily
is of volcanic origin. Humboldt says the dome-shaped craters
of volcanos rise from six hundred to eighteen thousand feet in
height. He considers the _whole mountainous district of Quito
as one immense volcano_.
Indeed, from a close survey of the geological features of
the earth, there is reason to believe, that at very remote
periods almost the whole surface of our globe has been the
theatre of volcanic action. It is a matter of gratitude
that its amount is growing less every year, of course the
destructions by earthquakes are more limited. In process
of time, it may be hoped, the earth may become permanently
tranquil, nor flame, nor shake, until the final catastrophe,
which God has ordained to destroy our planet, by a general and
simultaneous action of all the fires of the earth.
P.S. It may be of advantage to recollect, that the
_expansive force of steam is to that of gunpowder as 140 to
5_. According to Vauban, 140 pounds of water converted into
vapor would produce an explosion capable of blowing up 77,000
pounds, while 140 pounds of gunpowder could only blow up a mass
of 30,000. _See the text under the head_, “SALUTARY EFFECTS OF
WATER.”
APPENDIX.
_On the temperature of the earth anciently._
That the temperature of the earth’s surface was much higher
in the first ages of its existence, than since the period of
authentic history, seems now to be nearly established, in the
opinion of the learned, and only requires time to have the
weight of evidence produce its proper effect on the great mass
of community.
Though this fact would be apprehended from what is said
above, it may be desirable to the reader to see a concise view
of the reasons which induce this opinion.
1. _It may be inferred from the original constitution of
the globe, and the chemical action consequent upon it._ It
has been seen above that the _natural_ condition of matter
is _cold_, _frozen_, _inactive_, and _solid_: and that the
elements of this globe were created in a _simple, uncombined
state_. If this mass of elements received a quickening impulse,
the chemical laws of _affinity_ and _attraction_, and also the
natural law of _gravitation_, would commence exerting their
influence. This we know would create a rise in the temperature
of the whole mass, in proportion to the _amount_ of matter
acted on, and the _force_ of the different principles and
agents which were in operation. Upon consideration of these
points in regard to our earth, no one can doubt but that they
would raise the temperature to an inconceivable height.
_Refrigeration_ would commence at the surface as soon
as the first violent action was abated, and the water and
air began to assume their relative places, through which the
heat would escape into celestial space. This refrigeration
would be increased by the oxidation of the metals forming the
crust of the earth, which would confine the interior heat
more effectually, because, the earths are almost complete
_non-conductors_ of caloric. Thus the crust of the earth would
continue to cool, and the oxidation would thicken it, and, of
course, contribute to the reduction of its temperature.
From this natural process it is very evident that the earth
was much warmer during its first periods; earthquakes, and
volcanos much more common than now, and a general instability
in the condition of our globe. The deluge was the climax of its
alternations, and settled, in some measure, its constitution by
a sudden and great reduction of temperature.
2. _It may be inferred from the vast extent of volcanic
action, as indicated by the remains of extinct volcanos, and
their effects on the earth._ This argument is merely _called up
here_, not to be discussed at length, but to be _referred_ to,
as it has been mentioned in a preceding part of this paper.
It is almost impossible for the ordinary reader, who has
not closely studied the geological phenomena which present
themselves to the close observer, to conceive of the extent
to which volcanic action operated anciently. It would not be
exaggeration to say, there was a remote period _when our globe
was a single volcano_: the whole surface of it being subject to
its action.
Though we may ascribe something of the formation of hills
and vallies to the action of water, yet, doubtless, the
most effectual agent in upheaving the mountains, and even
continents, possibly, was volcanic force.
“Those ranges of volcanos,” says the celebrated Humboldt,
“those eruptions through vast chasms, those subterranean
thunders, that roll under the transition rocks of porphyry and
slate in the new world, remind us of the present activity of
subterranean fire, of the power, which in remote ages, _has
raised up chains of mountains, broke the surface of the globe,
and poured torrents of liquid earth in the midst of the most
ancient strata_.”
From this constant and extensive volcanic action we may
safely infer the high temperature of our earth anciently.
3. _It may be inferred from the origin of primitive,
trapean, and basaltic rocks._ The primitive rocks, as granite,
gneiss, mica slate, &c, give evidence on this consideration;
they must have been deposited when their substance was in
solution, admitting of _chemical mobility_, in order that they
might assume a crystalline form which they are known to have.
It is not easy to conceive _how_ the substances of the
primitive rocks could be solved, except by _heat_, as a
_principal solvent_. The acids, and water also, may have
contributed to their solution, but would not be competent of
themselves. This consideration would give a high temperature
for the earth anciently.
It is now generally admitted that the trap, and basaltic
rocks are of _igneous_ origin. When we consider the _magnitude_
of the trap and basalt formations, the extent of surface which
they cover, the hills, and even elevated and lofty mountains
which they form, we shall not hesitate to assign a higher
temperature to our earth at the period when fires, so immense
as to effect the upheaving and ejection of all these, actually
burned in the bowels of the earth.