8 



PACIFIC SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



has had a beginning, It is not the 

 enormous quantity of heat the sun is 

 giving off, but the fact that it is giving 

 it off, which proves that it is going 



out. The clock is runing down, some- 

 body wound it once. Somebody made 

 it and wound it. If he made it so 

 that it would run 6,000 years, this is 

 wonderful. If he made it so that it 

 would run 6,000 times the length of 

 all geologic time— this is almost infin- 

 itely more wonderful. If he made it 

 so that it would run well -ill this time, 

 so we nee it is still running well, so 

 much the more wonderful his power, 

 wisdom, goodness and righteousness. 

 Now, if Darwin's development hy- 

 pothesis, shall prove true, (as I have no 

 idea it will.) Vet, if we shall find that 

 in making and endowing the nebulous 

 mist the Creator planned it so skillfully 

 that not only the physical part of the 

 solar system should run smoothly to 

 the end, hut that when the world be- 

 came fitted for vegetable and animal 



life, these appeared in their untold 

 variety, each perfect after its kind, 

 without his immediate hand ; and not 

 only vegetable and animal life, but al- 

 so the mind, and especially the heart 

 of man with his conscience and free 

 will, how much more utterly lost we 

 shall he to express the greatness, wis- 

 dom and goodness of the great first 

 cause, a personal God. 



The Effect of Tobacco. 



Science has scrutinized boy smokers 

 in France, and has discovered 

 that the majority of them suffer from 

 disturbed circulation, palpitation of 

 the heart, "sluggishness of the intel- 

 lect," and craving for alcoholic stimu- 

 lants, while the rest were troubled 

 with intermittent pulse, sleeplessness 

 nose-bleeding, chronic nightmare and 



all other ills, all of which disappeared 

 where the boys were induced to give 

 up smoking. The investigation, says 

 the San Diego Union, but confirmsthe 

 results of many Other inquiries. The 

 cigarette seems harmless, because it is 

 so small and dainty, and even fragile 

 in appearance. But its smoke of min- 

 gled tobacco and paper, drawn in upon 

 the lungs, will unucrmine the strength 

 of manhood; to youth it is deadly. 

 The habit of cigarette smoking is in- 

 creasing among the hoys of the land 

 at an alarming rate, and threatens to 

 endanger the manhood of the coming 

 generations. There is need of a good 

 deal of educational work in this direc- 

 tion among the voting and it is a work 

 distinctively for parents to undertake. 



Oauern Near Ventura. 

 JN company with I). H. Bailey we vis- 

 J ited a spot about two miles up the 

 coast, where it was sa ; d a cave had 

 been discovered some years ago. In 

 ascending the ridge of the Coast Range 

 mountains about two hundred feet 

 above the ocean, we came 'o a descent 

 to this subterranean vault, but found it 

 surrounded by perpendicular walls 

 from thirty to fifty feet high. We 

 traced the cavern about one hundred 

 yards further where we reached another 

 opening surrounded by perpendicular 

 walls, but that on the west was but ten 

 or twelve feet in height. Fastening 

 a rope to some bushes we let ourselves 

 down and were enabled to penetrate 

 the opening about 100 feet into the 

 mountain. We found the passage 

 narrow at the bottom, but widening 

 toward the top toa dozen feet, or more. 

 The roof or ceiling is nearly thirty 

 feet high. Both walls and ceiling are 

 of indurated clay, and with the side 

 excavations seem to be a resort foi 



