登陆注册
5302100000051

第51章 BOOK II.(27)

"If anything could reconcile me,"said Bearwarden,"to exchange my active utilitarian life for a rustic poetical existence,it would be this place,for it is far more beautiful than anything Ihave seen on earth.It needs but a Maud Muller and a few cows to complete the picture,since Nature gives us a vision of eternal peace and repose."Somehow the mention of Maud Muller,and the delicate and refined flowers,whose perfume he inhaled,brought up thoughts that were never far below the surface in Ayrault's mind."The place is heavenly enough,"said he,"to make one wish to live and remain here forever,but to me it would be Hamlet with Hamlet left out.""Ah!poor chap,"said Cortlandt,"you are in love,but you are not to be pitied,for though the thrusts at the heart are sharp,they may be the sweetest that mortals know."The following morning they reluctantly left the picturesque shores of Lake Serenity,with their beautiful tints and foliage,and resumed the journey,to explore a number of islands in the ocean in the west,which were recorded on their negatives.

Ascending to rarefied air,they saw great chains of mountains,which they imagined ran parallel to the coast,rising to considerable altitudes in the east.The tops of all glistened with a mantle of snow in the sunlight,while between the ridges they saw darker and evidently fertile valleys.They passed,moving northwest,over large and small lakes,all evidently part of the same great system,and continued to sweep along for several days with a beautiful panorama,as varying as a kaleidoscope,spread beneath their eyes.They observed that the character of the country gradually changed.The symmetrically rounded mountains and hills began to show angles,while great slabs of rock were split from the faces.The sides also became less vertical,and there was an accumulation of detrital fragments about their bases.These heaps of fractured stone had in some cases begun to disintegrate and form soil,on which there was a scant growth of vegetation;but the sides and summits,whose jaggedness increased with their height,were absolutely bare.

"Here,"said Cortlandt,"we have unmistakable evidence of frost and ice action.The next interesting question is,How recently has denudation occurred?The absence of plant life at the exposed places,"he continued,as if lecturing to a class,"can be accounted for here,as nearer the equator,by the violence of the wind;but I greatly doubt whether water will now freeze in this latitude at any season of the year,for,even should the Northern hemisphere's very insignificant winter coincide with the planet's aphelion,the necessary drop from the present temperature would be too great to be at all probable.If,then,it is granted that ice does not form here now,notwithstanding the fact that it has done so,the most plausible conclusion is that the inclination of Jupiter's axis is automatically changing,as we know the earth's has often done.There being nothing incompatible in this view with the evidence at hand,we can safely assume it correct for the time being at least.When farther south,you remember,we found no trace of ice action,notwithstanding the comparative slowness with which we decided that the ridges in the crust had been upheaved on account of the resisting power of gravity,and,as I see now,also on account of Jupiter's great mass,which must prevent its losing its heat anything like as fast as the earth has,in which I think also we have the explanation of the comparatively low elevation of the mountains that we found we could not account for by the power of gravitation alone.[2]From the fact that the exposed surface farther south must be old,on account of the slow upheaval and the slight wear to which it is exposed,about the only wearing agent being the wind,which would be powerless to erase ice-scratches,especially since,on account of gravity's power,it cannot,like our desert winds,carry much sand--which,as we know,has cut away the base of the Sphinx--I think it is logical to conclude that,though Jupiter's axis is changing naturally as the earth's has been,it has never varied as much as twenty-three and a half degrees,and certainly to nothing like the extent to which we see Venus and Uranus tilted to-day."[2]It is well known that mountain chains are but ridges or foldings in the crust upheaved as the interior cools and shrinks.

This is proved by reason and by experiments with viscous clay or other material placed upon a sheet of stretched rubber,which is afterwards allowed to contract,whereupon the analogues of mountain ridges are thrown up.

同类推荐
  • 佛说治意经

    佛说治意经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Diary of an Old Soul

    The Diary of an Old Soul

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 东山经

    东山经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 入布萨堂说偈文等

    入布萨堂说偈文等

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 辽阳州志

    辽阳州志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 写给孩子的世界历史

    写给孩子的世界历史

    这本书以幽默、睿智的语言讲述了从人类起源到一战结束近六千年的历史,分为若干个短小精炼的故事,每个故事以时间的顺序发展下去,就像作者开篇画的时间楼梯,一级一级地向上,十年、一百年……人类的文明和进步,缓慢而坚定地前行。看着后面的故事,对照时间楼梯,可以很容易地知道这件事在整个人类历史上发生于哪个阶段或是占据着怎样重要的位置。
  • 菩提

    菩提

    我跟你说的,是个故事。故事有两层意思,一层意思是过去的事情——故,就是过去;事,就是事情、事件,合起来就是过去的事情——也就是说,它是真的,千真万确,真正发生过的,就像在此时此刻此地,我跟你讲这个故事一样,也像庙门口那尊石佛,只不过隔了几堵墙,几道门,你肉眼看不见而已;另一层意思,就是它可能是真的,也可能是假的,真真假假,假假真真,无人能辨,人们口耳相传,就成了故事。大和尚对小和尚说。那它到底是真的,还是假的?小和尚刨根问底。真的怎样,假的又如何?大和尚反问。
  • 大乘阿毗达磨集论

    大乘阿毗达磨集论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 赤手屠龙

    赤手屠龙

    穿越到美蒂达尔大陆上的李天河发现自己虽然拥有强悍的身体素质,但是却同样拥有了一个致命的弱点,协调能力极差。但即使这样,他要做到这个世界上没有任何人做到的事情。他要用自己的双手,杀死一头巨龙!在欢笑当中打败这个世界最可怕的敌人。
  • 大宋的最强纨绔子弟

    大宋的最强纨绔子弟

    重生为奸臣高太尉的儿子。原以为向往的生活要开始,但是一问,得,水浒林冲都被害下狱了。立志洗心革面的败家子还有更多超级崩坏的事需要处理。(新书无敌文《我真的是宰相儿子》已经上传,请大家支持一下新书)
  • 爱你彻骨灼心

    爱你彻骨灼心

    "简汐从未想到,会在会所遇到两年未见的慕南风。更没想到的是,他居然点她!"
  • 唐末藩镇演义

    唐末藩镇演义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 留守的天空

    留守的天空

    小说讲述的是贵州苗家山寨一群留守儿童的生活与学习的故事。以贵州一个偏远的苗寨小学六年级学生阳晓月、孔祥兵和李家明的视角,展现了农村留守儿童的生活与学习状况,以及他们在面对困难时的勇敢与坚强,还有对生活不灭的美好与向往。
  • 时空守卫者前传之不为天下只为民

    时空守卫者前传之不为天下只为民

    善与恶,正与邪。是与非,光与影。本就双生,虽互斥互憎,却又无法分离。亦如天秤的两端,此消则彼长,此弱则彼强。她,游走与天秤的之上,亦善亦恶,亦正亦邪。亦是亦非,亦光亦影。对善者,她是神。对恶者,她却是魔。只是,这一切,又有谁能懂?千里黄河万里沙,孤叶一片落谁家。不为天下不为民,断情弃爱只为他。这个“他”,又真的只是他吗?而她口口声声说的:“不为天下不为民”,可最终,却还是为天下万民牺牲了所有……
  • 感悟父爱母爱(下)

    感悟父爱母爱(下)

    人首先要认识自己,才可以认清世界。这些已经被中外智慧人士不断印证过了。他们的成功,正是因为有着矢志不移的追求;有着不可摧毁的意志;有着对痛苦等闲视之的心境。在一次次生活的坎坷与磨难中自我提升与超越,才使他们成就了自己,丰富了自己。