Présentation de l'éditeur
That such is the case is proved by the two great facts: First, that the latitudes of places on the earth, or their geographical situation with respect to the poles, have undergone no perceptible change from the earliest ages. Secondly, that the sea maintains its level, which could not be the case if the motion of the axis were not accompanied with a motion of the whole mass of the earth. As a matter of course other works on Astronomy contain similar explanations in regard to the stability of the earths axis. But now we are suddenly surprised with the startling news, that the axis of old mother earth is somewhat loose, in fact that theN orth pole is wabbling slightly. The annual movement is said to be only 4feet. Investigations by Prof. Chandler, of Harvard University, have developed the fact that the axis of the earth revolves in a circle, having a diameter of 30 feet, and that the time of revolution around the circle is 427 days. The consequence of this curious phenomenon is a slight change in the geographical position or latitude of places on the earth. It appears that almost simultaneously with Prof Chandler, this fact was also discovered in 1889 at the observatories at. Berlin, Potsdam, Prague andS trassburg. To further investigate this remarkable circumstance an expedition was sent to Honolulu, where the surmised changes in latitude found confirmation. At the Fall meeting 1896 of theN ational Academy of Sciences at New York, Prof. Simon Newcomb spoke of the physical causes of the periodic variations of latitude. A propos, it is interesting to note here, that forty-five years previously the celebrated Astronomer Bessel at Koenigsberg appears to have suspected something to the above effect. In a letter toG auss, the eminent director of the observatory at Gottingen, the celebrated Humboldt wrote in 1846, after the death of Bessel: With Bessel sdeath a quee
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