1823.] Climate of the Antediluvian World. 103 



It is well known that the sensible heat of our atmosphere 

 varies with the latitude, longitude, and the elevation of" the place 

 where the observation is made, and that the temperature on the 

 surface of the earth corresponds in a great degree with that of 

 the atmosphere ; but the ancient temperature of the earth 

 appears to have been equal and permanent in every spot, at least 

 for a very long period. 



Observations made in mines prove that the heat of the earth 

 increases with the depth. Several well-authenticated facts will 

 immediately be brought forward to substantiate this position ; 

 but before doing so, it may be remarked that we have another 

 series of observations which have not been investigated with all 

 the attention they merit, leading to the same conclusion, and 

 which it is highly interesting to examine under this point of 

 view, — I mean the temperature of springs as they rise at different 

 depths, or under particular strata. 



As connected with the present subject of inquiry, springs 

 exhibit two distinct set of phenomena; first, the constancy of 

 their temperature under all varieties of seasons; and, secondly, 

 the difference of their respective temperatui'es as they rise from 

 different depths. Some interesting papers on the constancy of 

 temperature in a great number of springs, are to be found dis- 

 persed in the Transactions of learned societies. To such an 

 extent does the central cause of heat counteract the agency of 

 the seasons, that mineral springs which rise at no great depth 

 remain of an almost uniform temperature throughout the year. 

 The temperature of one near Berlin similarly situated was exa- 

 mined at different periods by two very accurate observers, Wah- 

 lenberg and Erman. The former found that the heat of the 

 source did not vary more than U-25 of Reaumur from August to 

 the mouth of April following. Krman, in a subsequent series of 

 observations, aid not find it to vary more than U'Oo, and he 

 ascribes the difference of the results to the greater accuracy of 

 his instruments. — (See the Abliandltnigeii der Kouiglichen Alctt- 

 demie dcr Wisaemchajtcn von Ber/in fur 1819.) 



'i'he deeper the sources of tepid and hot springs are, so much 

 hotter in general is the water which rises from tliera. The tepid 

 springs of Matlock and Buxton rise in the immediate -vicinity of 

 amygdaloid and basaltic rocks, and hotter springs seem to come 

 from still greater depths.* The celebrated and learned Hum- 

 boldt says, that the hot springs ia various parts of Soutii 



* j\Ir Corilier found the teiiijieraturc of a mineral spring at C'antul, which takes its 

 rise from the granite, to he a little above the iieut of boiling water ( + !()() of the centi- 

 grade thermometer). 15ut a more astonisliing fact is related by Ulr. I>ink, who states, 

 that tlic heat of the mineral source at (laldas was + 130 of the centigrade thcrmonsetev. 

 The hot baths of Montiegas at the foot of Sierra de Estrella, and all the hot springs iti 

 Portugal ; those of Vals near Aubenas, in the Department of Ardeshe ; those of AVcld- 

 band, near Salzburg, are thrown up cither by granite or gneiss. — (^See Brogniart's 

 Mineralogy, vol. i. Article, ^^ate^.) 



