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UUEEJrSBOltUUGII, .V. C;-IV ED AUGUST 23. 1826.
NO. 19
' l . .- .
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TH PATRIOT,
Is jjrinC.i and published weekly by
r. EAIil.V S'M.WGE,
Ai Two Ik'iurj .cr annum p,iy
o within 1 li r - t tit out lis (Void the
receipt of ti n II r t number, or Three
Dollars after i ; expiration of that
time.
No paper fn le discontinued until
all arrearages are paid, unless at the
bize f the polar opening is ascribed
to Mie fad Ilia l t lie north. r fVere is
bounded I) land!), particularly nu its
IngVst or Euiopeu:i ide, while the
southern verge is mostly id au opeu iea.
(J pt vtinn-H contend thif all
planeiury bodies winch h ve a otnto
i y .notion on their axis, mutt nteessa-
4-
ADVERTISEMENTS
Not exceeding io lines, neatly in"
serted threo times for one dollar, and
5 cents for every succeeding puhli-
A.llV.O.Ju,.UIAXreater length in the
tor must he post paid
The following notice of. Capt.
Symmes, and his riw Theory of (he
Earth, is from I he Kennebeck Journal,
a well edited p iper in the State oi
Maine. As it is probable, that a ma
jority of our readers know very little
about his theorv, the following sketch
wi!l gtYe them some idea of t; .
CAPTAIN SYMMES '-THEORY.
On rnday. the 14th, and Monday
rily he hollow from the ucKuowledg
ed principles of gruvily und motion. euCO between the climate of I5urp
Tin principle of gravitation, which -anil this'eotiotry, in tho same lali-
govern all the material world, is on tudej bealtribuies to a like cause,
i t'.e tendeucf which itartieles of fatulatine that it is the distance
option of the Editor;. and a failure to j "'.sitter have to attract each other, from hu poles, .which secures a mild
ut: arcuuracinj lowarus.me centre ciimt.- w iwun rue nne wuere ne
of the earth by alf the matter thaj U ir;itltyif jgefC is a r-gi n without
beneath us, even to the opposite side , wed md wbere Ihesun hining Con
or our aotipndey. It is not mo with rtinualjy fiir six months, does not melt
the particles of matter above them, the snow and ice of a suulm wiotcr.
h well as that below; and near the Ovtr this region the wind is blowing
e'-ntre, (supposing the earth solid,) almost continually upon climates
particles of matter would be attracted nVarer" tho equator. - I'asidncc ibis
every way alike, arid therefore grnvi j vprgeiowards the inturnr ho con
notify a dicontluance will be consi.
dered a' tiew engagement. 1
lthasbetn iibjected by writers In11
ibu north ward thut in passing over
tlie curve of the verge, the degrees' of
latitude will be apparqutly shunened,
by observationsof the heavens. To
tins we understood Capt. 8y mines" to
rep?y that these observations do not
agreo with log'reckoniuz; that Hudson
and others have mentioned this, but
v
jiia ivuicg in i ma iunu, uu ijia u 'm
theory of the earth. Ail his lectures
were well attended.' Capt. Sjmmes
is a man of plain and simple, yet a
gref ob-e manner, wilh nothing arr
gant or dieCatorial ,ebut him, and
wi'h no pretensions to seho las tit-
learn jug, nor to ihegraceH of orator?.
The weight of the arguments he uses
is all that can carry conviction iu Iim
favor. Wherever he has explained
his theory, it has been satisfied that
it may be true; and no one, 'perhaps,
capable of comprehetidingit. has been
disposed to treat it with rid; cute,
however he may hav' regarded" it.
ini ils drawn from fads well known,
and from the observation of voyagers:
and.ht? explains many pdenonienu
which remained inexplicable o'ridcr
theod heory. The variation of the
needle he aictihet to the oblwjuily ol
the hortheru p.lur opening, nndbe
Hiafces'that vergp correipn(l with
tht magnetic equator. I be differ
ignorant of the true eaupe, atlriinned
the difference to currents, presuming:
their celestial observations must, bo"
correct. Another objection in flu
Thotnaeton paper is that the siiude of
the earth, iu an cJipst of the mood,
woulij not appear-round hul flattened"
on ivf sides. ' To this it was replied
that the earth was rarely in a posi
tion to throw any." other than a circu
lar shado on the moon. Very littlo
inclination from the equator, with re
gard to the moon, woold mak' tho
eArfli'a shmlniv ftntiPflr iMfpiilnr. hn.
rtiiinfhpf. lit . . .. . . r:: T". -rr v -
JUagkLypoti the authority of va the moon, a part of the edge of ilia
would prevent the contrilual lofce ot rfjus persons who have exI..red"m
me earin, us rotatory or Uauy revn- nortnern sea, tiiti tuero are currents i Hut St. 1'ierre mentions an 'eclipse ol
luii'tis, irom torowtngtbe-eim'-tictes setting continually south,- and that
from the centre, and thus leaving a these currents from tho north waft
concavity in the interior Sueh an great quantities of large timber npon
opening once formed therpririeiple of the shores of fpitzbergen. ami other
gravity would -operate to attract ho- lands of the northern seas, where "no
dies towards the concave surface, and timber grows; that great flocks of
tho' the priociple might he weuke-, bird come from 'the north n the
beeauso more neutralized, by opposite Spring and regularly returiiin (he
und lateral attractions; ihaii on the Fall; that the sealand black whale
e nvex surface yet .this deficiency migrate in the i&ie uaj; tliat the
inigi t be fully made up by the cerrtri1 wihrreindeer on (his coiitiuent also
I uttl or projectile motion of the earth, utsappear when inter sets io, and
t v on the concave, instead of agaiDSt'go to the north for a warmer
it as on thd convex or outer surface, that persons w ho have w intered some
The difficulty iu accounting for a j t-Istanco beyond where he places the
ulliciencv of liht and heat to render verge, state that the cold was much
t e interior hubilable, is thouclit-tojlesM intense thau it is farther south;
Capt. Symmes, himself, we have: no
douht, is most thorooghly eonviiced
of the truth of Iii theory. He listens
to all ohjecti- ns against it with great
patience, and answers them without
any apparent dpsire to avoid just coo
elusions' He may congratulate bin
self that thore are no religious pre
judices against bis theory Gallifeo
was imprisoned for maintaining the
iopernican sysiern out in itie pre
w the strongest objection to the the
y. info fcuch lopenijis ..e.s arc nut)
posed to exist,-the sun mav shiuo to a
e.unsiuerabie extent, in a direct line; i the frozen Ocoeti tube lilied with
hut it is coatendedlhat sun's rays arejislauds Major Dixon, an intelligent
refracted or bent inwards so as to bejSeotehman, for many years in the
carried at least as far as the equator, service of the Hudson s li v Compuny,
and (nr ;a considerable part of the year 'stated that some tribes o' Indians on
the sun, being so much lafcer than 'the Northwest Coast, nrmnallv o to
! the north and west on the approach
of Winter, sayiug that they find a
warmer country
Dixon also state
the earth, inav shirir in at both noles.
Rays tif light are well known to be
refracted when they pass from one
medium Joto another or thro' the
same
lum, from a ! sser to a srea-
tor destiny; but Capt. Sy mines con
tends that they are refracted when
passing thro' mediums of equal densi
ty With a succession of prisni6,
carried over the top of a house, the
line of vision may be carried through
tnem so that
(be. moon. when such a flat side of the
earth's shadow did appear, and ho"
port of the theory of an oblong
sphere. But ' Capt. tiymmos sup
used this fact as an argument iu sup
poses this shadow was caused by tho
shining directly across the south pole
of the earth-' Thesnn's ruys which,
strike the polar openings,' being re
fracted inwards, are therefore inter
cepted, do not reach the eye. and- con
genuenily the true edere of the dine is
elimatejl Capt Svmtnes Cuds in all the pla
nets something to coin firm this theory:
the ring audbeltii of Saturn, the belts
of Jupiter and some appenrences on
Mars and Venus, hitho to uu ccount
ed t'or.arj' explained on the pinciplo
of hollow spheres: but we '"have not
room for in uute explanations, nor did,
we directly comprehend all his ideas
on this subject
There siems to-be an objection to
the southern verge w!k re Capt.
8'ymme pl&c s it; for it would srenj
thut the sun must shine upou it con
stantly l'nrsii months during the an
tarctic summer, and this we presume
y in that direction. (is not the case either at Patagonia,
d the Indians of that the Cape of Good Hopo or New Hoi.
and the Uussiuu whalemen and otber
have severul tiuies found au open sea
in a very hii'h l.ttitude, and renrcicnl
a person may see dis
sent day, any theorist may give to the ' ?bJe(,U ,he PPe side,
aanh what Hinn I. !.. . . A naher ol facts were stated to
f. .......... .. . n. , , . v . .
ma. i reiracieu so as io j'iaicu, auu icn iiu uie ouisuie, con
country have u common tradition that
their ancestors came from the north.
This is mentioned, if we mistake not
by Hearne and Mackenzie. The
north winds, beyond where the. verge
is supposed to be comparatively warm,
even in Winter and the currents
which set from the north are nearly
fresh. It is supposed that more wa
ter falls in the interior than is eva-
ineurrini?eeelesia.iii.iil wnn. nr Fr,,ve ,,,tu "S"1 r
disturbing the faith even of the most deceive he eJe n poking in a hori- sequently clouds and vapor must pass
bigoted.
According to Capt. -Symmes' theo
ry, the earth is a hollow sphere, open
at the poles, the Southern Verge being
upwards of 5000 miles in diameter,
and the northern more than 4000.
The verges of these openings are not
parniiei wim lue equator, Uut uulli
project farther on "one side than the
other, particularly the northern,
wnich is marked nearly in the follow
ing latitudes-the high side at about
lat. 08, at some meridian between the
Waeis'roin and Novo Zemhla, & the
line of its acme crosses Iceland near
Mount Hecla, Bafliirs Bay not far
north of 60: through the midst of Hud a
son's Bay, and near Lake Winnipeg,
crossing the Northwest coast at about
IH, and Kampschatka, di 5 i," und" so
sloping to the place f commencement.
Tbe Sourthern verge commences the
low side at or near the Cape of Good
Hope in the Atlantic, crrssmg Pata
gonia 'between .'lat.' 42 and 45, a6d
crossing near the middle of New
Zculand, and between New-llolljlfii!
v - 1 nd Ytin Hiemorrs Land, to -ho jdace
!&Z! The differenee in the
y.ontal line, one of which we will
meutiou, for it is highly important to
those who measure altitudes or falls
of rivers, by water levels A Ijouse
was built on a promontory, with the
sea on both side, a level was taken
on the top of the house, from which
level Ihe line of vision struck the wa
ter at no great distance, viewed ei
ther way. Particles of air are sup
posed to be wedge sharped; insomuch
os they are so, like prisms they re
fract the light which passes thro'
mat Ihe polar openings, and currents
of water How out over the verges, and
it is said such currents do exist from
both poles. It is thought by Captain
Symmes that the opposite sire of the
verge was seen by Parry. During
the Winter, while Parry remained in
thoe seas, a reddish cloudly bank;
Gvo decrees above the horizon, . nod
extending two thirds around tho hor
izon, wus altvnys to be seen in cleur
weather; above it wus the dark blue
, iky. The Indians xiiid this cloud was
litem; and owing to the' convexity of j perpetual. The Magellanic clouds
the earth's outer surface, a mojorityiat the south polo are account d for in
of these particles will have their the . san;o way. These rlonds nro
points downwards and hence the IJiiie said by navigators to have :n revolu
of vision, is bent with the earth's tion i:i the heavens and i.'iey cannot
curve, and it Would eetn jmreh more, be seen from nny part of therlndiau
from the .Experiments mentioned. Ocean: it i therefore supposed that
Around the veiget, where the curve thec clouds are islands of iVcw Ilol-
the
the
of the earth is sliot, the refraction, land and New Zealand, seen .on
upon these principles is propurlidna- 'oppasile jtide of lite verge in
bly greater; anil vrUun tljie coneavity night. M
the larger etds of the panicles of air'; Tb rays. of light being refneted
.heinir...l'twar.tl,,4iie'. rarth,. the e'JFect into I he verges, the eye of an M-scver
......1.1 I. . 4--. .. . i .. .. .1 . i. . L . . . " ... ! I. i . ' i i i
i wwiu uc iu la -1 -uu uie rays ino iiiuiti-..r,l0'' concave wouiu iolluw ent
tenor.
a
.To sntniorl 1 .'is
f-fv mntr sr ad d u ets a e r e a t
X t Iiese lient rays. nnd see eelestr.'il ho 'repu!di
theory Captain dn;! apparently w il their ! ?
eat' mo.nv rsv b.lin.-i:i , rush t line.
land. It strikes us, too. that the va-
tar would reeede from the liighrst
point of the northern verge.
Thp theory is entirely novel, but it
is not without converts both in Eu
rope and this country Tho late
Count Komanzoff, a Russian minister
of stale, end great patron of the arts
and sciences, sometime before his ,
death, wrote to Capt. Sytmnes, i lfer-.;"
ing to lit out a discovery ship and;
place it at his disposal. The offer 1
was accepted, but the death of the
Count and Emperor i uterr iipted tho
scheme- Capt symmes intends to go
to Russia iu hopes of getting asistane9
and wihes the American government'
would oflVr a bourry for discoveries)
within the southern verge
THE FINE ARTS.
Another great cause Ihal precipi :
tales the downfall of every fine art is
despotism. The reason is obvious;
and there is u dismal example of it in
Rome particularly w ith regard to el
oquence. We learn from n diwloguo
accounting for the corruption of ihe
Roman eloquence, that iu the, decline
f t t lie art, it became fashionable to
stuff harangues with impertinent po
etical quotations, wi:hput any view
but ornament merely; and. t'tis, uho,
was'lotig lash iuiiublr m Fniiiee. it
happened unluckily lor the Roman,
ivud for the norld, that the fn?s arts
wer.e ut their height in Rome, nod not
m:teh upon ihe 'decline, fit Gffee,
whfiu Ci'snatitin put an end to Mo
AuguxtiM, it a ft ne, re
.-h-j -ai'ed their full, partictiUrly ' that of
r .-
. I,