it is frequently a query how the distribution of fish is so general even in the most obscure lakes and springs rising and running from points so isolated as to apparently preclude such specimens from getting there. it seems strange that some species would exist at the head of a stream and not inhabit it throughout. seas and lakes may, and do exist, without any visible outlets to the ocean, and yet are plentifully supplied with varieties of fish. now what may be a rational explanation of how they got there. it cannot seem right to say that they originally existed in an adjacent sea or the nearest approach to the ocean, as they are not found in any adjacent waters and are entirely peculiar to their locality, having no neighbors akin. it does not seem as if such would be the case if they became isolated by some remote upheaval and change of surrounding earth’s surface, as this would only[74] divide up the family and spread the species like immigration from the eastern to the western states.
as asked before, where do these blind fish come from in caves where streams do not seem to have any connection with surface waters? where do the many specimens come from in the island lakes all over the world? to all these questions there seems a simple answer when we accept the idea that the center of the earth is the womb that is developing and sending out through every pore, seam, crevice and crack some new seed and form of life to develop a new and strange existence to us on the outside.
it is a scriptural idea that “we are born of water.”
creatures that have their inception in the bowels of the earth cast their eggs as the fish and reptile spawn in our rivers. these eggs or spawn or seeds of life in whatever form are taken in the currents that course through the different strata of the earth by centrifugal force and pressure, taking almost any amount of time in their hermetically sealed transit before they reach an atmosphere in which to develop into a new existence. any lake, spring, or fountain of water that is a living stream fed by the inexhaustible sources within, may have from that[75] varied storehouse and laboratory of nature any specimen of fish, scale, skin, shell or reptile of any form, that no adjoining or neighboring water may develop.
the spawn or egg may be destroyed on its outward passage or held back by influences preventing its maturity; or landed on the surface under unfavorable conditions of climate, air, and properties in the water.
why do shad not exist anywhere in similar coast waters? where do they come from and is the gulf stream to be credited with their origin? where do the different schools of blue fish, mackerel, herring and numerous other fish find their headquarters to breed, and why after seeking other waters for a season, return to some place that seems to be their “sweet home”?
was seth green the pioneer in transportation of spawn to distant waters for their incubation? it is more than likely that he was not; with all credit due to the great service his genius has rendered.
what is said of the dissemination of fish, shells, and reptiles may be consistently said of vegetation.
the earth is filled with the seed of every plant and tree and shrub that ever sprang into life in any place, clime or time. dig to whatever depth[76] you will, the substance you throw out, whether earth or stone, when exposed to the air, will produce some growth of vegetation. frequently something entirely new and different from the surrounding vegetation. to assume that streams, winds, and birds carry and distribute all the seeds to their different localities where found in an isolated condition, is too much for human credulity. on the tops of mountains, where streams do not run uphill on the surface, where the birds seldom fly, and on spaces impossible for seeds to be carried by winds, you find species peculiar to their altitude, atmosphere and soil.
through the channels that eternally pour from never ending supplies, and in which storehouse are mingled the seeds from every valley, plain and mountain top of our earth; from this source they can be scattered and mixed in every inch of the soil which composes our earth from center to surface, and when brought into contact with our atmosphere start into new and varied existences.
the question may be reasonably asked if many of the reptilian specimens attributed to remote antiquity as belonging to our earth’s surface, may not be specimens from an interior world, and even now have representatives of their existence there?
[77]certain plants and growths require specific treatment and conditions. wherever pond lilies, peppermint, cattails, flag-root, cresses, and moss in wells are found is unfailing proof of living fountains of water.
the ocean furnishes every facility of transportation through the co-operative system without and within. the millions of seed that mature in different climes on the surface are dropped and carried by floods and currents into the main ocean. some sink and lie buried for ages, retaining their germs of life, for the outer ocean has its regular currents and motions to such an extent, it would not make a general distribution of seed in countless years.
through this avenue passing under the ice belt, every variety is more or less drawn into this general receptacle which, in turn carries them inward and outward, and in course of time filters them in their course into every inch of the earth through which the water passes; which is in this way the medium of transportation.
by this means every spoonful of earth is in time prepared to give growth of new life to any plant or tree that has ever existed when exposed to the influence of air and heat or even cold, to revive its species.
in passing to the surface, like the spawn of[78] fish, they may pass through localities of such excessive heat as to destroy their life germs, as is undoubtedly the case with the spawn that should travel through waters like geysers of iceland or the yellowstone park or waters similar to these, whose streams that flow away always show a dearth of fish.
with the earth formed like this, the writer claims it to be on the principle of a globe for a gas jet, open on both sides and presenting as it turns inward a funnel shaped entrance, which is without doubt over 1,500 miles across; this passage would be just as vast to the eye as the size of, or distance to, the fixed stars, the eye losing all conception of measure, and a thousand miles is just as much beyond our scope of vision as a million.
in almost any position you can imagine the earth to revolve around the sun, one of these sides or ends must be partially and at times wholly exposed to the sun’s rays, and the effect, it seems natural to suppose, would make the interior horizons light as the exterior. the water, it is believed, on any body acts as a reflector and is a giver of light from every planetary body in some degree.
it is all gas, to talk about the gaseous condition and nature of the sun, and “other worlds[79] than ours.” they would at best be a very poor investment and not worth the labor and genius of a power able to create; 160 acres of good land in any productive locality would be worth more than 1,000 such whirling pyrotechnics of space.
it is altogether too presumptive to suppose that our little earth with all its boasted cities, and boroughs thrown in, can be the only habitation for poor, vain and sinful man.
