SC/EIVCE-GOSS/P. 



2l)\ 



Urt'at number of houses iind all the mosc|ucs wore 

 down; nnil the- dnnin(;c- extended loiill the towns and 

 villages as far as Aldin. The area in which damage 

 to iiulldin|{s occurred was ab<ml i,6oo square miles, 

 and it is estimated from 8oo to 1,000 human lives 

 were lost. I have recently revisited this region and 

 thoroughly examined the elTects of the earthi|uakes. 



The Maeaniter valley runs east and west, and one 

 consei|uence of the earlhijuakes is that many fissures 

 were formed in the grounii, running in the same 

 general direction parallel with the mountains. The 

 chief one extends along the slope of the foot hills on 

 the north side, for a distance of about forty miles, 

 but with interruptions here and there. It varies in 

 width from a couple of feet to a mere crack, and its 

 depth when formed must in many places have been 

 considerable. During the two months which have 

 elapsed since the event it has been cimsiderably 

 tilled with rain-washed earth, still I found it to be 

 about 12 feet deep in one place. The ground on the 

 south— that is, the plain side of this tissure^has sunk 

 from 2 to to feet below its former level. Other 

 smaller fi.ssures and cracks were also opened in many 

 parts of the plain, some being noted over too miles 



distant from the centre of disturbance. Kroni most 

 of these fissures water, Iwaring sand and mud, gushed 

 out, which in some cases ceased to How in the course 

 of a few minutes, and in others continue<l for 

 several days. The water in many wells rose to the 

 surface and overflowed, then subsided to its former 

 level. It is nolewDrlhy that only those buildings 

 which were situate<l in the plain were damaged ; 

 those standing on the mountains escaped injury. 



I am told that many of the hot springs already 

 mentioned ceased to flow for a number of days, and 

 then gradually regained their volume. I vi.sited one 

 hot spring at Kizil Dere, about six miles from 

 Orlakchai, and the volume there was apparently the 

 same as in previous years, the temperature being also 

 as fonnerly, that of boiling water. 



My opinion is that, either as the actual cause of 

 the enrlli(|uake or as the result of it, the ground of 

 the whole plain from some few miles east of Laodicea 

 to near the sea, a distance of over 1 10 miles, has 

 sunk ; but to what cxteni I have no means of ascer- 

 taining. 



The Tarlah, 



Smyrna, Novemlur 27M, 1899. 



1.1 F1-: UNM)ER OTHER CONDITIONS. 



Kv C.KOri-REY Maki'in. 



T)E1'< IRE discussing the possibility of life under 

 conditions other than those now existing upon 

 the earth, we may ask : What is life? Ere the dawn 

 of history this i|uestion was taxing the intellect of 

 man, and even now the more deeply we investigate 

 the problem the further oft" appears the solution. 



It may be said, more especiall)' from a biological 

 standpoint, that life is "organised motion." The 

 essential condition appears to be the formation of 

 vastly complex compounds that break up continually, 

 giving birth to new complexes, which in turn break 

 up themselves. In fact the primordial nioiion of the 

 atoms is so regulated, that there is created a 

 " balance " of motion, complex compounds continu- 

 ally appearing and breaking down again. Before life 

 can exist the external conditions must be such that 

 this balance of motion is capable of attainment. 



( )f all the terrestrial elements there appears to be but 

 one which, under the I'RKsknt thermal conditions, is 

 capable of generating these everchanging complexes 

 in which this necessary " balance " of motion is at- 

 tained. This element is carbon, and this is why, \'r 

 ORDINARY TEMI'ERATtiRlvS, it forms the basis of 

 life. .\t ordinary temperatures the carbon atom 

 is tetravalent. In other words, an atom of car- 

 bon has suflicient attractive power to control or 

 r( gulate the motion of lour other atoms like hydrogen, 

 or two atoms like oxygen. If the temperature be 



raised, although the attractive power of the carbon 

 remains, yet the relative motion of the attached 

 atoms is increased and the carbon no longer appears 

 able to keep them together. On the other hand, if 

 we reduce the motion of the attached atoms by lower- 

 ing the temperature, we get one system of atoms con- 

 tinually combining with other systems of atoms, and 

 thus the compounds grow more and more complex. 



Now, conceive of an enormously complex body, 

 whose molecules, if such a compound has molecules 

 in the ordinary sense of the word, consist of system 

 within system of atoms, all in motion, atom circulating 

 about atom and system about system — a molecule so 

 vast and so complex as to be in itself a kingdom. 

 Then imagine the temperature to be very slowly 

 raised ; the motion of the intricate streams of atoms 

 in the molecule becomes more and more vehement, 

 until a point is reached where the controlling force is 

 just unable to keep captive the whirling systems, but 

 yet sufficient to maintain and direct an harmonious 

 .system of atomic movement within the molecule. 

 Consequently the molecule is continually breaking 

 down. As fast as it breaks down, materials con- 

 tinually stream into the sphere of this molecular 

 motion, circulate in its system, and stream out again. 

 Thus the molecule is constantly replenished. Hence 

 its molecular existence is a continual metathesis, and, 

 as in a vortex ring, the motion when once created 



I. 2 



