OMPHALOS:
AN ATTEMPT TO UNTIE THE GEOLOGICAL KNOT.
BY
PHILIP HENRY GOSSE, F.R.S.
WITH FIFTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS ON WOOD.
Αυξἁνεται δε τα ζωα παντα οσα εχει ομφαλον, δια του ομφαλου.
ARIST.; Hist. Anim. vii. 8.
LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST; PATERNOSTER ROW.
1857.
LONDON:
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.
PREFACE.
"You have not allowed for the wind, Hubert," said Locksley, in"Ivanhoe;" "or that had been a better shot."
I remember, when I was in Newfoundland, some five-and-twenty years ago,the disastrous wreck of the brig Elizabeth, which belonged to the firmin which I was a clerk. The master had made a good observation the daybefore, which had determined his latitude some miles north of Cape St.Francis. A thick fog coming on, he sailed boldly by compass, knowingthat, according to his latitude, he could well weather that promontory.But lo! about midnight the ship plunged right against the cliffs ofFerryland, thirty miles[Pg iv] to the south, crushing in her bows to thewindlass; and presently went down, the crew barely saving their lives.The captain had not allowed for the polar current, which was setting,like a sluice, to the southward, between the Grand Bank and the land.
When it was satisfactorily ascertained that the heavenly body, now knownas Uranus, was a planet, its normal path was soon laid down according tothe recognised law of gravitation. But it would not take this path.There were deviations and anomalies in its observed course, which couldin nowise be referred to the operation of any known principle.Astronomers were sorely puzzled to explain the irregularities, and toreconcile facts with laws. Various hypotheses were proposed: some deniedthe facts; that is, the observed places of the planet, boldly assumingthat the observers had been in error: others suggested that perhaps thephysical laws, which had been supposed to govern the whole celestialmachinery, did not reach so far as Uranus's orbit.[Pg v] The secret is nowknown: they had not allowed for the disturbances produced by Neptune.
In each of these cases the conclusions were legitimately deduced fromthe recognised premises. Hubert's skilled eye had calculated thedistance; his experience had taught him the requisite angle at which toshoot, the exact amount of force necessary, and every other elementproper to insure the desired result, except one. There was an elementwhich he had overlooked; and it spoiled his calculations. He hadforgotten the wind.
The master of the ill-fated brig had calculated his latitude correctly;he knew the rate of his vessel's speed; the compass had showed him theparallel on which to steer. These premises ought to have secured a safeconclusion; and so they would, but for an unrecognised power thatvitiated all; he was not aware of the silent and secret current, thatwas every hour setting him to the south of his supposed latitude.
The path of Uranus had been calculated by the astronomers withscrupulous care, and every known element of disturbance had beenconsidered;[Pg vi] not by one, but by many. But for the fact that the planethad been previously seen in positions quite inconsistent with such apath, it would have been set down as beyond controversy correct.Stub