But observe the
indescribable savagery of the entire scene. It looks as though the
spirit of destruction had gone mad in this spot. The mighty craters
have broken forth one after another, each rending its predecessor; and
when their work was finished, a minor but yet tremendous outbreak
occurred, and the face of the moon was gored and punctured with
thousands of smaller craters. These relatively small craters (small,
however, only in a lunar sense, for many of them would appear gigantic
on the earth) recall once more the theory of meteoric impact. It does
not seem impossible that some of them may have been formed by such an
agency.
One would not wish for our planet such a fate as that which has
overtaken the moon, but we cannot be absolutely sure that something of
the kind may not be in store for it. We really know nothing of the
ultimate causes of volcanic activity, and some have suggested that the
internal energies of the earth may be accumulating instead of dying
out, and may never yet have exhibited their utmost destructive power.
Perhaps the best assurance that we can find that the earth will escape
the catastrophe that has overtaken its satellite is to be found in the
relatively great force of its gravitation. The moon has been the
victim of its weakness; given equal forces, and the earth would be the
better able to withstand them.
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