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Show Science in a New Field MR. T. A. JAGGAR, Jr., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes to the Na- H tion of New York, his theme being chiefly M the urging of earth observatories, to study the M movements of the restless planet on which wo M dwell, in the hope of acquiring such knowledge m as may enable the accurate prediction of impend- B ing earthquakes. M He states one fact which not many people H stop to consider, namely, by the storm of Gal- H veston and Mobile, by the earthquakes at Mar- H tinique, St. Vincent, San Francisco, Valparaiso, H Jamaica, Katayhon, India, Calabria, Vesuvius B and Messina, 300,000 lives have been lost, or an H average of about 100 per day since January 1, M H He thinks that on such a planet, charged with H irresistible forces, there should be a study of H these forces and their methods. H He looks upon geology as yet but a half-fln- H ished science, says geologists are studying merely H the history of the making of the world, and do not protend to make a study of the work now going on within the earth's crust. The weather bureau gave ample notice of the coming of the storms that smote Galveston and Mobile. It has become a beneficent agency to warn men of what may be looked for in the at mosphere, to men on shore, to mariners about to proceed to sea, but while costly observatories are erected through which to study the heavens, save in Japan, no observatory has been erected through which to study the pulse-beats of this old planet, through which to have notice of impending danger. dan-ger. He thinks between geodesy, which has for its object the determination of the figure of the earth, and geology, which aims to decipher earth's history, there should be an intervening science, which might be called geonomy, the science of the laws which govern the earth. He wants observatories in the earth, with delicate instruments to record when the shrinking shrink-ing earth-crust or rising lava or pent-up gasses, or any other of the furious and merciless forces within the earth, threaten an outward upheaval or explosion. He cites the fact that Mr. Perrel, who was decorated by the Crown of Italy for his magnificent magnifi-cent service to science and to humanity on Vesuvius Ve-suvius in 190G, wrote to the World's Work of November, No-vember, 1907, that: "By the rational methods of scientific research, re-search, we know that a great eruption of Mount Etna is impending, the only uncertainty at present pres-ent being which side of the mountain will .break open." He says, furthei. that Mr. Perret actually platted in advance, December 28th, as the earthquake earth-quake date (terrestial maximum of gravitational stress). This writer wants the government to establish estab-lish ten earthly observatories, to equip them, and have them communicate with each other, and thus make conclusions as do the experts who, knowing what is going on in the air over a great area, determine where storms are to concentrate concen-trate and when. It would not be much for every large city to establish and equip an observatory of this kind. We are sure that had one been established near San Francisco, three months before the coming of the last quake; its daily messages would-have presaged a cataclysm drawing near and inevitable. And no spot is secure. ";... Charleston, in 188G, felt just as secure as New York can possibly feel today, but what greater assurances has it, than Charleston had an houi before that disaster smote it? There have been great upheavals and great j foretellings in thiq region in the past. We suggest sug-gest to the students of the University that they excavate a room on the hill, put a cover upon it, and equip it with all the Instruments that the faculty can suggest, and see if any responses can be obtained from day to day, of what this restless old planet is doing in this region; what mes- ' sages, if any, are brought through this new wireless wire-less from afar. It ought to be a study to them of absorbing interest, and it is not impossible that they might make fame for themselves by pursuing pursu-ing it. Surely something that exacts 100 lives per day from the children of men, represents forces which men may well Eeek to investigate, and if possible, pos-sible, understand, at least enough to know when they are about to take up their sinister march. |
