Sir Robert S. Ball says, in this connection: “Let us take, for instance, that primary question in terrestrial physics, as to whether the interior of the earth is liquid or solid. If we were to judge merely from the temperatures reasonably believed to exist at a depth of some twenty miles, and if we might overlook the question of pressure, we should certainly say that the earth’s interior must be in a fluid state. It seems at least certain that the temperatures to be found at depths of two score miles, and still more at greater depths, must be so high that the most refractory solids, whether metals or minerals, would at once yield if we could subject them to such temperatures in our laboratories. But none of our laboratory experiments can tell us whether, under the pressure of thousands of tons on the square inch, the application of any heat whatever would be adequate to transform solids into liquids. It may, indeed, be reasonably doubted whether the terms solid and liquid are applicable, in the sense in which we understand them, to the materials forming the interior of the earth.
“A principle, already well known in the arts, is that many, if not all, solids may be made to flow like liquids if only adequate pressure be applied. The making of lead tubes is a well-known practical illustration of this principle, for these tubes are formed simply by forcing solid lead by the hydraulic press through a mould which imparts the desired shape.
“If then a solid can be made to behave like a liquid, even with such pressures as are within our control, how are we to suppose that the solids would behave with such pressures as those to which they are subjected in the interior of the earth? The fact is that the terms solid and liquid, at least as we understand them, appear to have no physical meaning with regard to bodies subjected to these stupendous pressures, and this must be carefully borne in mind when we are discussing the nature of the interior of the earth.”
THE VOLCANO A SAFETY VALVE
Whatever be the state of affairs in the depths of the earth’s crust, we may look upon the volcano as a sort of safety-valve, opening a passage for the pent-up forces to the surface, and thus relieving the earth from the terrible effects of the earthquake, through which these imprisoned powers so often make themselves felt. Without the volcanic vent there might be no safety for man on the earth’s unquiet face.
Professor J. C. Russell, of Michigan University, presents the following views concerning the status and action of volcanoes:—
“When reduced to its simplest terms, a volcano may be defined as a tube, or conduit, in the earth’s crust, through which the molten rock is forced to the surface. The conduit penetrates the cool and rigid rocks forming the superficial portion of the earth, and reaches its highly heated interior.