Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 79 



ON THE WAVE OF HIGH WATER, WITH HINTS TOWARDS A NEW 

 THEORY OF THE TIDES. BY THOMAS CARRICK, ESQ. 



The author, starting from a new hypothesis on the relations of 

 terrestrial matter to cosmical force, has arrived at the conclusion 

 that the tidal motions of ocean surfaces are caused by a differential 

 action of force centring on land areas. The nature of this hypo- 

 thesis, and its relation to those motions, were briefly illustrated from 

 the point of view of an assumed nebulous origin of the solar system. 

 The author nevertheless declined to endorse the. received "nebular 

 hypothesis " as a genetic theory, and adopted its ideas and phraseo- 

 logy in his paper solely from considerations of brevity in this inci- 

 dental portion of his subject. 



Assuming the existence of a diffused nebula, composed of ultimate 

 atoms of matter each having a normal rotation on a fixed axis in 

 a uniform direction, and with simple forces of attraction and repul- 

 sion arising thereout, then, from causes arising out of diverse 

 molecular groupings of these atoms and their poles, the nebulous 

 matter in condensing upon a centre might take up three successive 

 states, constituting the normal types of the solid, liquid, and gaseous 

 states of terrestrial science, — the solid matter forming a spherical 

 nucleus, everywhere covered with a concentric layer of fluid, and 

 this overlaid with a gaseous envelope; these varying layers of matter 

 being in stable equilibrium at the respective surfaces of contact. 

 The force exerted upon such a sphere by another of like origin would 

 therefore act by and through the intermediation of these three states, 

 — each successive stage of condensation, alike with a residual uncon- 

 densed nebulous matter of space, thus forming an essential link in 

 the chain of gravitative action. But so soon as any portions of the 

 solid nucleus emerge above the surface of the fluid covering, into 

 abnormal contact with the gaseous envelope, a differential action of 

 enormous magnitude, centring upon these upheaved land areas, would 

 be at once originated, the first measure of which would be the 

 cosmical value of the latent forces by which the fluid state of matter 

 was constituted an essential intermediate link between the solid 

 and gaseous states. In the view of the author, terrestrial matter in 

 all its phases is now related to space, and to bodies in space, in a 

 manner analogous to that which might have resulted from such a 

 hypothetical origin. Not only does this matter exist in the three 

 leading states of earth, water, and air, but each of the simpler forms 

 of inorganic matter can, under given conditions, successively assume 

 the solid, liquid, or gaseous state without undergoing any chemical 

 change. This universal threefold relation of terrestrial matter points 

 strongly towards the simple hypothesis, that the causal laws which 

 now regulate these interchanges of state are the reflex of fundamental 

 laws underlying the entire constitution of matter in the solar system. 



Passing over the possible relation of the first land-upheaval to the 

 early changes recorded by geology, and to the formation of hetero- 

 geneous solids, liquids, and gases, the differential force arising there- 

 from would be the initiating cause in the formation of the envelope 

 of comminuted water or vapour which now encircles the whole globe. 



