THE PRIME RESULTANT 105 



Thus we learn that the earth's general form, its topog- 

 raphy, and its continental distribution and configura- 

 tion, are determined by a tri-dimensional gravitational 

 scheme, namely, (1) by the point of attraction connoted 

 by its own center of gravity, whose endeavor it is to 

 mould the planet into a perfect sphere; (2) by the plane 

 of attraction, to-wit, the influence of the other members of 

 the solar system, whose function it is to produce the tides 

 in atmosphere and ocean, etc., and (3) by the third 

 dynamical dimension, completing the "solid", being the 

 joint or composite attraction of the outside universe that 

 compels the earth, under the fundamental law of equili- 

 brium, to keep lowering her center of gravity more and 

 more by precipitating her heavier surface substances 

 north-pole-ward. These three influences, then, all op- 

 erating simultaneously, cannot but result in a deforma- 

 tion of the general contour of the earth ; producing, as the 

 most important effects besides those mentioned: (1) the 

 squashing or flattening of the globe between the poles 

 (much as a lump of soft putty behaves when set upon a 

 shelf), an operation which, of course, implies (2) a cor- 

 responding enlargement of the planet's equatorial pro- 

 tuberance, heretofore erroneously ascribed to the running 

 effect of the earth's axial rotation, (3) the special flatten- 

 ing of the northern hemisphere as compared with the 

 southern, (4) the subsidence and partial submergence of 

 the Antarctic continent, and (5) the "countersinking" of 

 an arctic ocean bed by the shouldering of the continents 

 against each other and the hunching up, as it were, of 

 their backs. 



In earlier eons, the migration of the continents 

 northwardly w^as doubtless much faster, relatively, than 

 it is to-day, for now they have become jammed, and hence 

 much longer accumulations of depositions must precede 

 every infinitesimal advance. Have you ever wondered 

 how the Esquimaux came to settle in the Arctic wilds f 

 Have you never marveled at the highly organized forms 

 of life that inhabit those inhospitable regions? Do you 

 think such life as that can have evolved there from prim- 



