--"Yes," went on Barbican, as serenely as a judge, "comets, they said,
had fallen on the surface in meteoric showers and crushed in the crater
cavities; comets had dried up the water; comets had whisked off the
atmosphere; comets had done everything. All pure assumption! In your
case, however, friend Michael, no comet whatever is necessary. The shock
that gave rise to your great 'star' may have come from the interior
rather than the exterior. A violent contraction of the lunar crust in
the process of cooling may have given birth to your gigantic 'star'
formation."
"I accept the amendment," said Ardan, now in the best of humor and
looking triumphantly at M'Nicholl.
"An English scientist," continued Barbican, "Nasmyth by name, is
decidedly of your opinion, especially ever since a little experiment of
his own has confirmed him in it. He filled a glass globe with water,
hermetically sealed it, and then plunged it into a hot bath. The
enclosed water, expanding at a greater rate than the glass, burst the
latter, but, in doing so, it made a vast number of cracks all diverging
in every direction from the focus of disruption. Something like this he
conceives to have taken place around _Tycho_.
Pages:
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338