INSIGNIFICANCE OF MAN

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have decayed in brilliancy-and eventually, after billions of years, become dark-throughout the ages of the infinite past; and that the same processes will continue throughout the ages of the infinite future. It may also be safely inferred that our solar system is but a very small type of many millions of others in this universe.

Infinite matter, connected by the imponderable ether, spread over infinite space, existing from an infinite past, and destined to exist throughout an infinite future, is the condition of this and other universes. Systems of matter will pass away, but others will arise upon their ruins. The most reasonable view to take of Space, Time, and Matter is that they neither have, nor ever had, limits of any kind; and that only one-Matter-contains the element of change.

If only compared with the matter which occupies the known universe, it may be asserted with mathematical accuracy that our earth is infinitely small. Man and his puny works are of infinitely little account in the Everlasting Scheme.

CHAPTER II.

THE EARTH AND SOME ASPECTS OF

EVOLUTION

Interior of the earth-The outburst in the Straits of Sunda-Crust of the earth-History contained in the stratified rocks-Highest mountains, and the greatest depth of the ocean-Age of the earth as a solid body—Origin of life—Variation-Wholesale destruction of animals and of man-Rigid necessity for checking the increase of population-Consanguinity of the people of true English descent -Anglo-Saxons-The term inapplicable to the people of the United States-Proofs of the lowly ancestry of man-Evolution of mindAnimals possess reason-Cases from personal knowledge-Ants— Limited capacity of man-The missing link-Advance of intellect in man-Gaps in his knowledge of ethereal vibrations-His inability to truly realise the greatness of the universe, or the - smallness of a gamete-M. Flammarion-His researches in telepathy-Second sight-Examples in the highlands of Scotland— The prophecy of a gipsy-An instance of telepathy-Fakirs of India -Deaths of four officers foretold-Magnetism at present but feebly understood-Magnetic focus off Western Australia-The tides not utilised-No use made at present of the force of the eagre or boreImprovements in means of communication, and optical appliancesIgnorance in the first half of the nineteenth century of hygiene and sanitation-Discoveries in the nineteenth century in anatomy, physiology, and medicine-Unsatisfactory increase of the population in England compared with that of Germany-Methods of education improving-Great intellectual advance probable during the twentieth century-Existing man only a step to a more perfect being.

As stated in the last chapter, the earth has a diameter of 7,926 miles, and is of nearly spherical shape, being slightly flattened at the poles and bulged towards the equator. Three-fourths of its crust is covered with water; and it is surrounded by an

atmosphere composed principally of hydrogen and nitrogen, and extending to a height of at least 120 miles. Its mean distance from the sun is nearly 93 millions of miles, and its average density about 5 times that of pure water. Of every 100 parts of its crust 99 are made up of about 16 out of 70 elementary substances; and of these 16 the larger number exist in small proportion (The Story of Creation, by Edward Clodd).

What the inside of the earth is like we do not know. Possibly it is solid throughout, the denser materials being at the centre. That it is in a state of intense heat at no very great depth is manifest in volcanic outbursts and allied phenomena. The recent eruptions in Martinique and St. Vincent were notable calamities; but no volcanic phenomenon in modern times has been so remarkable in its violence or so destructive in its effects as the explosion in the Straits of Sunda from the ancient crater of Krakatoa, which occurred in 1883.

The Dutch East India Islands are as conspicuous for the great height, number, and activity of their volcanoes as they are for their universal beauty. In Java alone there are no less than 49 great volcanoes, some of which are over 12,000 feet high. Off the lovely island of Ternate 12 active volcanoes can be seen from the same spot. A voyage through the Archipelago is a pleasure never to be forgotten. No one who has sailed, for instance, through the Lombok Strait on a clear day can ever forget the scene: volcanic mountains over 10,000 feet are on either hand, clothed with verdure to the summit. So common an event is an eruption in this region that alarm was not felt on account of a revival of activity

in the Straits of Sunda in May, 1883. No one had the smallest anticipation of the catastrophe which was impending.

Comparatively small outbursts of steam and pumice began in May, and continued spasmodically till August. They caused no particular damage, and were not heard at a greater distance than Singapore, which is 522 English miles from Krakatoa. The first serious intimation of what was to come occurred early in the afternoon of August 26th, when a black mass like smoke was seen to rise from Krakatoa to a height of 17 miles, where it spread itself out laterally in a huge black cloud from which a rain of dust fell over a large radius of the surrounding country. After this detonations were frequently heard and darkness overspread the sky, causing alarm even at Batavia, 94 miles distant from the volcano. When the first explosion took place, the sea rushed in to the gaping cavity formed in the crust of the earth, and temporarily checked the ejection of the volcanic matter, only, however, to eventuate in a series of terrific explosions between five o'clock and ten o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 27th. The most violent was the last, at ten o'clock, when, by one great final effort, a column of steam, pumice, scoriæ, and dust was shot into the air to an elevation of 35 miles: the quantity of matter ejected is supposed to have measured over one cubic mile.

The heavier particles descended gradually upon the islands and sea throughout a radius of some hundreds of miles; the finer dust remained in a condition of extreme tenuity at an altitude of between 20 and 12 miles, where it was carried along to the westward in the upper regions of the atmosphere at a

speed of 70 miles an hour, engirdling the earth several times and spreading to the north and south, giving rise sporadically during 2 years to exhibitions of extraordinary colours of the sun and moon, and to deeply tinged glorious sunsets, which were the wonder of all beholders.

Several huge waves were created at the scene of the outburst, which rushed on to the coasts of the Straits of Sunda, and, attaining a height in places of 100 feet, swept over the shore, and for a distance of two or three miles inland, destroying whole towns and causing the destruction of 40,000 people. Blocks of coral weighing over 20 tons were torn from the foreshore and carried a mile inshore. A solidly built lighthouse was washed away, and a house at Merak, situated 100 feet above the sea, was razed to the ground. The towns of Merak and Anjer were entirely swept away. So complete was their destruction that people who escaped death, when they returned to the spot, were unable to point out the locality where their houses had once stood; not a trace of road remained where the water had been.

A Dutch pilot of Anjer gave the following account to the Rev. Philip Neale, who wrote in The Leisure Hour, 1885, a graphic account of the disaster:

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Although Krakatoa was 25 miles away, the concussion and vibration from the constantly repeated shocks were most terrifying. Many of the houses shook so much that we feared every minute would bring them down. There was little sleep for any of us that dreadful night. Before daybreak on Monday, on going out of doors, I found the shower of ashes had commenced, and this gradually increased in force until at length large pieces of pumice kept falling