64 FROM NEBULA TO NEBULA 



The connection of sun-spot periods with the re- 

 markable terrestrial magnetic disturbances that accom- 

 pany them is owing to the tremendous solar explosions 

 at such times, wbich temporarily throw the sun off bal- 

 ance and so derange that of every body, earth included, 

 of his entire family. Such a jolt would sensibly affect 

 us by causing, as a secondary result, a dislocation of our 

 planet's internal economy, and might even suffice to 

 change the position of its center of mass. Were such a 

 thing to happen, as perhaps it has happened in pre- 

 historic ages when the globe was still soft, it could pos- 

 sibly cau^e a shift of the earth's axis, the fall of an 

 Altantis, a glacial age, or a Noachian flood. That such 

 solar cataclysms should in our day have the compara- 

 tively mild effects of magnetic pyrotechnics, earth- 

 quakes, and "tidal waves" is therefore not surprising. 



The question may be asked, What becomes of the 

 earth's excess heat? Were it not for it the oceans 

 would undoubtedly have frozen solid, for the solar heat 

 does not penetrate the surface deeper than but a few 

 feet, and cannot possibly be responsible for the oceans 

 remaining above freezing point. The waters of the 

 ocean circulate, I opine, through a labyrinth of pass- 

 ages, kept open by explosions of its steam, perhaps clear 

 to the earth's center, and thence convey the gravistatic 

 heat to the surface and so on out into space. Only thus 

 have the seas been maintained throughout the eons, and 

 can they be, at the uniformity of temperature essential 

 to the very existence, not to mention the well-being, of 

 marine life. 



That the ocean depths are very cold is no valid 

 argument against this, but only goes to show the great 

 need for a submarine source of heat. Besides, as all 

 know, the warmed water flies to the surface, hence its 



