Chapter X
A short Biographical sketch of Captain Symmes; with some observations on the treatment which he has met with in the advancement of his Theory.
John Cleves Symmes, the author of the Theory of Concentric Spheres, is the son of Timothy Symmes, of the state of New-Jersey, whose father’s name was also Timothy, and who was the son of the Rev. Thomas Symmes, of Bradford, who graduated at Harvard college, in 1698. Mr. Elliot, publisher of the New-England Biographical Dictionary, at Boston, in the year 1809, makes honourable mention of his name. Timothy Symmes, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, had but two sons; the one, John Cleves Symmes, well known as the father and founder of the first settlements in the Miami country; and the other, Timothy, the father of our Theorist, and from whom the present family of Symmes, in the Miami country, are descended.
Captain Symmes is now about forty-six years of age. He is of middle stature, and tolerably proportioned; with scarcely any thing in his exterior to characterize the secret operations of his mind, except an abstraction, which, from attentive inspection, is found seated on a slightly contracted brow; and the glances of a bright blue eye, that often seems fixed on something beyond immediate surrounding objects. His head is round, and his face rather small and oval. His voice is somewhat nasal, and he speaks hesitatingly and with apparent labour. His manners are plain, and remarkable for native simplicity. He is a native of the state of New-Jersey. During the early part of his life, he received, what was then considered, a common English education, which in after life he improved by having access to tolerably well selected libraries; and being endued, by nature, with an insatiable desire for knowledge of all kinds, he thus had, during the greater part of his life, ample opportunities to indulge it.
In the year 1802, and at the age of about twenty-two years, Mr. Symmes entered the army of the United States, in the office of ensign; from which he afterwards rose to that of captain. He continued in service until after the close of the late war with Great-Britain. While attached to the army he was universally esteemed a brave soldier, and a zealous and faithful officer. He was in the memorable battle of Bridgewater; and was senior Captain in the regiment to which he belonged. The company under his immediate command, that day, discharged seventy rounds of cartridges, and repelled three desperate charges of the bayonet.
Afterwards, in the sortie from Fort Erie, Captain Symmes, with his command, captured the enemy’s battery number two; and with his own hand spiked the cannon it contained: yet, owing to the want of correct information, or from some other cause, the honour and the reward of this achievement, were alike bestowed upon others. And, it is a fact not less to be regretted, that the official report of the battle of Bridgewater, has represented the regiment, to which Captain Symmes was attached, as almost the only one that retreated at Lunday’s lane; when, in truth, it was nearly the only one which uniformly maintained the positions it was ordered to maintain, throughout the action. Captain Symmes, has since, however, substantiated the correctness of its conduct, by obtaining the necessary acknowledgments; some of the particulars of which were communicated to the Historical Society of New-York, and published, in the newspapers of the day. The truth of this statement, has also been confirmed to me, by a respectable Officer, who was in the action, and witnessed the occurrence.
During the period of about three years, immediately after the close of the war, and after Captain Symmes had left the army, he was engaged in the difficult and laborious task of furnishing supplies to the troops stationed on the upper Mississippi. How he succeeded in this business I am not informed; but, I conclude from his present circumstances, that he could not have realized any very considerable pecuniary advantage from the enterprise. Since that time he has resided at Newport, Kentucky; devoting, almost exclusively, the whole of his time and attention to the investigation and perfection of his favourite Theory of Concentric Spheres.
In a short circular, dated at St. Louis, in 1818, Captain Symmes first promulgated the fundamental principles of his theory to the world. He addressed a copy to every learned institution, and to every considerable town and village, as well as distinguished individuals, of which he could gain any intelligence, throughout the United States, and to several learned societies in Europe.
The reception this circular met with, was that of ridicule; it being looked upon as the production of a distempered imagination, or the ravings of partial insanity. Indeed, it became a fruitful source of jest and levity, to publishers of the public prints of the day generally, all over the Union. The Academy of Sciences in Paris, before which it was laid by Count Volney, decided that it was unworthy of their consideration; and the editor of the London Morning Chronicle, could not be induced to credit the statements of respectable men, who declared that Symmes was not a madman. But in this, his fate is not peculiar. The experience of the world has taught us, that the authors of new doctrines, have mostly shared a similar lot. An excellent contemporary writer has remarked, that, “the fate of many projectors have been so melancholy, that it requires, at this day, the daring spirit, and the enthusiasm which are naturally allied to genius, in any man to announce himself as the inventor of any thing new and extraordinary. The patience and perseverance of a Galileo, and the adventurous spirit of a Fulton, are necessary to him who would benefit his species by the results of original plans and forms, or that of new combinations of old and tried ones. Hence we cannot but respect and admire the man, who, regardless of the hard fate of so many who have trod before him, in the thorny path of improvement, still has the fortitude and philosophy of mind to spend years in toil and study—to labour by day with persevering industry—and trim the midnight lamp with the vigilance ascribed to the ancient vestals, in bringing to perfection an idea, from which he hopes to reap fame and benefit to himself, and to reflect credit, at the same time, on the genius of his country.”
Captain Symmes published two other numbers at St. Louis, in the year 1818; the one went to prove, by geometrical principles, that matter must necessarily form itself into concentric spheres, and the other treated of geological principles. His two next numbers, marked four and five, (the one treating of the original formation of the Allegheny mountains, and the other claiming the discovery of open poles,) I have never had an opportunity of seeing. His sixth number appeared, dated at Cincinnati, in January, 1819, which contains a number of items and principles that he proposes treating of in subsequent numbers. His seventh number, entitled “Arctic Memoir,” is dated at Cincinnati, in February, 1819; and another number, entitled “Light between the Spheres,” dated at Cincinnati, in August, 1819, was published in the National Intelligencer. From that time to the present, numerous pieces from the pen of Captain Symmes have appeared in different newspapers; but the most prominent and grand doctrines, on which his theory is based, are contained in the papers above enumerated. Independent of his written publications, he has delivered a number of lectures on the theory,—first at Cincinnati, in 1820, and afterwards at Lexington and Frankfort, in Kentucky, and at Hamilton and Zanesville, in the state of Ohio. Several of these lectures I had the pleasure of hearing; and the respectable number of auditors, and the profound stillness that reigned, evinced in the strongest manner the interest felt by all present in the subject. In addition to the various facts and phenomena, to which he adverts in support of his positions, he delineates in his lectures, upon a wooden sphere, constructed on the principles of his theory, the cause of the winding meridians, the icy hoop or verge, and the course which ought to be pursued to reach the interior regions, with the confidence of mathematical certainty.
Captain Symmes’s want of a classical education, and philosophic attainments, perhaps, unfits him for the office of a lecturer. But, his arguments being presented in confused array, and clothed in homely phraseology, can furnish no objection to the soundness of his doctrines. The imperfection of his style, and the inelegance of his manner, may be deplored; but, certainly, constitute no proof of the inadequacy of his reasoning, or the absurdity of his deductions. There is scarcely a single individual, with whom I have conversed, who does not confess that, if the facts which he adduces, and the arguments he uses, were handled by an able orator, they would produce a powerful effect. In short, those who attend to his lectures, without regarding his peculiarities of style and manner; who reflect alone on their substantial parts, without regarding the want of eloquence in the lecturer; who presume to think for themselves, and are able to comprehend the naked facts, and unadorned arguments, which he advances, will not fail to discover in them many particulars well worthy of their consideration; and many arguments calculated to stagger their faith in pre-conceived opinions.
In the year 1822, Captain Symmes petitioned the Congress of the United States, setting forth, in the first place, his belief of the existence of a habitable and accessible concave to this globe; his desire to embark on a voyage of discovery to one or other of the polar regions; his belief in the great profit and honour his country would derive from such discovery;—and prayed that Congress would equip and fit out for the expedition, two vessels of two hundred and fifty, or three hundred, tons burthen; and grant such other aid as government might deem necessary to promote the object. This petition was presented in the Senate by Col. Richard M. Johnston, a member from Kentucky, on the 7th day of March, 1822; when, (a motion to refer it to the committee of Foreign Relations having failed,) after a few remarks it was laid on the table.—Ayes, 25.
In December, 1823, he forwarded similar petitions to both houses of Congress, which met with a similar fate.
In January, 1824, he petitioned the General Assembly of the state of Ohio, praying that body to pass a resolution approbatory of his theory; and to recommend him to Congress for an outfit suitable to the enterprise. This memorial was presented by Micajah T. Williams; and, on motion, the further consideration thereof was indefinitely postponed.48
That Captain Symmes is a highminded, honorable man, is attested by all who know him. He has devised a theory whereby to account for various singular and interesting phenomena; and more satisfactorily to explain a great variety of acknowledged facts.
He argues from the effect to the cause, in many of his positions, with great perspicuity. And the circumstance that few of the learned have yet attempted to show that his principles are founded in absurdity, should at least entitle him to the respect, and his theory to the attention, of every candid man. Notwithstanding he has been buffeted by the ridicule and sarcasm of an opposing world for seven years, under great pecuniary embarrassments; he still labours with unshaken faith, and unbroken perseverance; with a willingness at any time to test the truth of his speculations amid the icy mountains of the polar seas.
Already has he passed the meridian of life; and should he be called from time, without establishing his theory by actual discovery; the science he has embodied, and the facts he has collected and arranged in support of it, together with his undeviating and indefatigable industry, in the face of
“The world’s dread laugh, which scarce
The firm philosopher can scorn,”
will bear a testimonial to his talents and worth, that the best of his species will ever delight to acknowledge. And though he may not have accounted for every particular, or brought forward every argument that might possibly be advanced in support of his positions; he has, nevertheless, collected a greater number of peculiarly interesting facts, and embodied a stronger phalanx of proof, than could well have been expected on a subject so new, and in the hands of the original discoverer.
If, hereafter, it should be ascertained that Symmes’s Theory of the Earth is true, impartial posterity will not withhold the honour and fame due to the name of the discoverer.
It is hoped, however, that the present age will not so far forfeit to posterity the high character it now sustains in scientific discovery, as to remain deaf to his solicitations; but, that the citizens of our own country in particular, if not the whole world, will unite in testing the truth of his principles; and in doing justice to the merits of this extraordinary man.
FINIS
Footnotes
1 National Intelligencer of June 10th, 1824.
2 A tolerably correct representation of the sphere might be made by taking a hollow terrestrial globe, such as are used in colleges, and insert a saw at north latitude sixty-eight degrees in Lapland, sawing obliquely through, so as to come out at latitude fifty degrees in the Pacific ocean. The aperture thus produced, will show the general dimensions and slope of the north polar opening. And in the southern hemisphere, commencing with the saw at south latitude thirty four degrees, in longitude between fifty and fifty-five degrees east, in the Indian ocean, and sawing obliquely through, in the same manner, so as to come out at south latitude forty-six degrees, and longitude one hundred and thirty degrees west, in the South Pacific ocean, you will represent the appearance of the south polar opening; and the whole will exhibit a general representation of the sphere, according to the new theory.
3 The solidity of the earth is easily calculated by the measure of a meridional degree; but the result will be different according to the measurement assumed, as the length of a degree differs in different latitudes. “Notwithstanding all the admeasurements that have hitherto been made, it has never been demonstrated, in a satisfactory manner, that the earth is strictly a spheroid; indeed, from observations made in different parts of the earth, it appears that its figure is by no means that of a regular spheroid, nor that of any other known regular mathematical figure; and the only certain conclusions that can be drawn from the works of the several gentlemen employed to measure the earth is, that the earth is something more flat at the poles than at the equator.” [Keith on globes p. 56. New-York, 1811.]
According to Mott’s translation of Newton’s Principia, book 3, page 243, the equatorial diameter of the earth is 7964 English miles, and the polar diameter 7929, for as 230:229::7964:7929 miles, the polar axis.
Cassini, who adopted Picard’s measure of a degree, makes the diameter of the earth 7967 statute miles; others have estimated it at 7917, and some at 7910 miles. But the estimate which is now esteemed most correct, I believe, is, that the equatorial diameter is 7977 English miles, and the polar diameter 7940. From this we may ascertain the solid contents of the earth. The axis of the earth then assumed to be 7940 and 7977 miles respectively, the area of the generating eclipse is (7940 × 7977 × 0,7854=) 49745178,252: and its area multiplied by two thirds of the longer axis, gives the solidity equal to (49745178,252 × 2/3 × 7977=) 264544857944,136 cubic miles.
4 Physical World, p. 42.—Adam’s Philosophy, vol. 4, p. 206; Philadelphia, 1807.
5 “Dr. Herschel has observed a faint illumination in the unlighted part of the planet Venus, which he ascribes to some phosphoric quality of its atmosphere.” Editor’s note to Adams’ Philosophy, vol. 4, p. 204, Philadelphia, 1807.
Quere—Might not such an appearance be accounted for as rationally, by supposing the rays of the sun to shine or be reflected, through one of her polar openings, and fall on the verge of the sphere at the opposite polar opening?
6 Hearne’s Journal, pp. 357, 368.
7 Hearne’s Journal, pp. 364, 365.
8 Hearne’s Journal, p. 442.
9 Hearne’s Journal, p. 442, 443, 444, 445, 446.
10 Ibid, p. 445.
11 Barrington and Beaufoy, pp. 21, 51.
12 Ibid, pp. 25, 61.
13 Ibid, pp 25, 32, 37, 61.
14 From the National Intelligencer of Sept. 30, 1824.
“Polar Seas.—The fact that there are open seas round both the earth’s poles, has received strong corroboration within the last few months. We have now a letter on our table from a naval officer at Drontheim, who notices the fact that Captain Sabine had good weather, and reached eighty degrees and thirty-one minutes north latitude, without obstruction from the ice; so that the expedition might easily have proceeded farther had its object so required. We have also had the pleasure to meet recently with a British officer who, with two vessels under his command, last season penetrated to seventy-four degrees twenty-five minutes south latitude, in the antarctic circle, which is about three degrees beyond Cook’s utmost limit. There he found the sea perfectly clear of ice, and might have prosecuted his voyage towards the pole, if other considerations had permitted. There was no field ice in sight towards the south; and the water was inhabited by many finned and hump-backed whales; the longitude was between the south Shetland Islands, lately discovered, and Sandwich land: this proves the former to be an Archipelago (as was supposed) and not a continent. The voyage is remarkable as being the utmost south upon record; and we hope to be favoured with other particulars of it. At present we have only to add, that the variation of the needle was extraordinary, and the more important as they could not readily be explained by the philosophical principles at present maintained on the subject.”
Literary Gazette.
15 Barrington and Beaufoy, p. 74.
16 Purchas, vol. 1, p. 479.
17 Hearne’s Journal, p. 7.
18 Barrington and Beaufoy, p. 36.—Dr. Birch’s history of the Royal Society, vol. et seq.
19 Bar. p. 101.
20 Barrington and Beaufoy, pp. 25, 124.
21 At the mouth of St. Peter’s river, in winter, it is as much colder than at Sacket’s Harbour, as Sacket’s Harbour is colder than Mobile, although St. Peter’s is west and Mobile south of Sacket’s Harbour, at nearly equal distances.
22 Barrington and Beaufoy, p. 74.—Ross’ Voyage, vol. 1, p. 52, London, 1819.
23 Darwin’s Botanic Garden.
24 Ross’ Voyage, v. 1, p. 175.
25 Ross’ Voyage, v. 1, p. 110.
26 Ross’ Voyages, v. 1, pp. 71, 135, 199, 206.
27 Mackenzie states, “that sometimes the land looms, so that there may be a great deception in the distances.”—Mackenzie’s Voyage, p. 11, New-York, 1802.
28 Ross’ Voyage, v. 2, p. 4, London, 1819.
29 Ross’ Voyage, v. 2, p. 119.
30 Physical World, p. 72.
31 Earthquakes.—M. Biot, after detailing the phenomena of the earthquake, on the 22d of February, 1822, concludes an interesting paper with these observations:—
In the infancy of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, it was imagined that earthquakes might be easily explained; in proportion as these sciences have become more correct and more profound, this confidence has decreased. But by a propensity, for which the character of the human mind sufficiently accounts, all the new physical agents which have been successively discovered, such as electricity, magnetism, the inflammation of gases, the decomposition and recomposition of water, have been maintained in theories as the causes of the great phenomena of nature. Now all these conjectures seem to be insufficient to explain convulsions so extensive, produced at the same time over such large portions of the earth, as those which take place during earthquakes. The most probable opinion, the only one which seems to us to reconcile, in a certain degree, the energy, the extent of these phenomena, and often their frightful correspondence in the most distant countries of the globe, would be to suppose, conformably to many other physical indications, that the solid surface on which we live is but of inconsiderable thickness in comparison with the semi-diameter of the terrestrial globe; is in some measure only a recent shell, covering a liquid nucleus, perhaps still in a state of ignition, in which great chemical or physical phenomena operating at intervals cause those agitations which are transmitted to us. The countries where the superficial crust is less thick or less strong, or more recently or more imperfectly consolidated, would agreeably to this hypothesis, be those the most liable to be convulsed and broken by the violence of these internal explosions. Now if we compare together the experiments on the length of the pendulum, which have been made for some years past with great accuracy, from the north of Scotland to the south of Spain, we readily perceive that the intensity of gravitation decreases on this space, as we go from the Pole towards the Equator, more rapidly than it ought to do upon an ellipsoid, the concentric and similar strata of which should have equal densities at equal depths; and the deviation is especially sensible about the middle of France, where too there has been observed a striking irregularity in the length of the degrees of the earth. This local decrease of gravity in these countries should seem to indicate, with some probability, that the strata near the surface must be less dense there than elsewhere, and perhaps have in their interior immense cavities. This would account for the existence of the numerous volcanos of which these strata show the traces, and explain why they are even now, at intervals, the focus of subterraneous convulsions.
32 Cook’s Geography, v. 2, p. 250—Also Rees’ Cyclopedia, article Lake.
33 Rees’ Cyclopedia, article Lake Geneva.
34 Rees’ Cyclopedia, article Lake.
35 Ross’ Voyage, v. 1, p. 225.
36 Ibid, v. 1, p. 144.
37 Humboldt.
38 Physical World, p. 105.
39 Barrington and Beaufoy, p. 106, and Purchas, v. 3, pp. 499, 500.
40 The late George Adams, in his Philosophy, treating of refraction, states, that “at the horizon, in this climate, (England) it is found to be about thirty-three minutes. In climates near the equator, where the air is pure, the refraction is less; and in the colder climates, nearer the pole, it increases exceedingly, and is a happy provision for lengthening the appearance of the light at those regions so remote from the sun. Gassendees relates, that some Hollanders, who wintered in Nova-Zembla, in latitude seventy-five degrees, were agreeably surprised with a sight of the sun seventeen days before they expected him in the horizon. This difference was owing to the refraction of the atmosphere in that latitude.”—Adams’ Philosophy, v. 4, p. 112, Philadelphia, 1807.
41 Keith on Globes, p. 144.—
42 Ibid, p. 149.
43 Sir Isaac Newton, in his Principia, under prop. 16, book 3, lays down the following proposition, viz: that “the heat of the sun is as the density of his rays, that is reciprocally as the squares of the distances from the sun.” From this principle, it has been assumed by some of our modern astronomers, that but few of the planets can be inhabited, as if the effect of light and heat are reciprocally proportionate to the squares of the distances from the centre of their propagation; and if you divide the square of the earth’s distance from the sun, the quotient will show, that the light and heat, which Mercury receives, are about seven times greater, making it more than twice as hot as boiling water. The light and heat communicated to Saturn, being only the one hundredth part of that of the earth, the difference is more than seven times as great as that between our summer heat and red hot iron, if the light and heat of the sun are only in proportion to the density of his rays. Such extremes of heat and cold, we would naturally conclude must totally preclude all material being, if in the least degree resembling those we are acquainted with; nor could any of the vegetable world, known to us, germinate in either extreme; nay, even the matter of our globe would scarcely withstand it, our oceans would be dissipated in vapour, on Mercury, and frozen to the bottom on Saturn. Considerations like these must induce us to conclude, that light and heat cannot be communicated exactly on the plan laid down by Newton, viz: that the heat of the sun is simply as the density of his rays: for though the sun’s rays may be the sine qua non, without which no light or heat would be communicated, yet the quantum of heat may depend on the density and co-operation of the medium through which it passes, or upon some other circumstance not known to us, and perhaps impossible for us to know.
44 I am indebted to an excellent Hebrew scholar for the following:
Note. The words תהו ובהו Theoo and Beoo, (Genesis, chapter 1, verse 2,) which has been rendered by the translators of our bible, “Without form and void,” might perhaps, with equal propriety, have been translated “without form and hollow.”
1. Theoo, the root, agreeably to the Hebrew grammar, is found as a noun תה or תהה The or Thee, and, is rendered confusion, loose, unconnected, without form, order, or the like; and so well understood.
2. Be-oo, the root, is, according to the same rule, found in בה—Be, (Bethhey) hollow; it occurs not only in this form but—
1. As a noun בהו Beoo—Hollow, empty, having nothing in it but air, filled only vacuo aere, with empty air, as Lucan calls it, Lib. 5, line 94.
2. As a noun fem: in reg: בת, בת עין Bet, Bethoin, the apparent hollow, or pupil of the eye, &c. Comp. בבת Bebath, under, בב Beb.
3. As a noun fem: תבה Thebe in Reg: תבת Thebeth, an ark, a hollow vessel, under 2d head of בב Beb. occurs not as a verb in kab, but
1. As a participial noun, or participle in Nipth נבוב Neboob, hollow, made hollow, &c.
2. It is applied spiritually, hollow, empty, vain.
3. To the sight, or pupil of the eye; that part of the eye which appears hollow, and admits the light. See Parkhurst’s Hebrew Lexicon. Had the learned translators of our bible possessed a knowledge of the theory of concentric spheres, it is probable they would have given the English reader the most correct meaning of the words, תהו ובהו “without form and hollow,” or “shapeless and hollow.”
45 The application which the Dr. makes of this structure of the earth is this: that the concave sides of the spheres are made up of magnetic matter; that they revolve about their diurnal axes in about twenty-four hours; that the outer sphere moves either a little faster or a little slower than the internal ball; that the magnetic pole, both of the external shell and included globe, are distant from the poles of rotation; and that the variation arises from a change of the relative distances of the external and internal poles in consequence of the difference of their revolutions. [See life of Dr. Halley.]
In Rees’ Cyclopedia, under the article ‘ring,’ is the following sentence; by which it appears that Kepler first suggested the earth to be composed of concentric crusts. “Kepler, in his Epitom. Astron. Copern. (as after him Dr. Halley, in his enquiry into the causes of the variation of the needle, Phil. Trans. No. 195.) supposes our earth may be composed of several crusts or shells, one within another, and concentric to each other. If this be the case, it is possible the ring of Saturn may be the fragment or remaining ruin of his former exterior shell, the rest of which is broken or fallen down upon the body of the planet.”
46 Maclaurin, in his fourteenth chapter of the second volume on Fluxions, investigates the theory of Dr. Halley at considerable length; and in conclusion, appears to consider the existence of a hollow globe as very possible.
47 From a London paper, under the head of
“Russian Discoveries.—In the year 1820, a journey of discovery, by land, was ordered by the government, to explore the extreme north and north-east of Asia.—Lieutenants Wrangle and Anjou, of the navy, were chosen for this expedition. After having made the necessary preparations, they departed from Neukolyma, in the north-eastern part of Siberia, on the 19th of Feb. 1821, in sledges drawn by dogs, when the cold was thirty-two degrees Reaumur, in order to ascertain the position of Schehaladshoi-Noss, which captain Burney conjectured might be an isthmus, joining Asia with the continent of America. The travellers succeeded in determining the whole coast astronomically, going themselves entirely round the coast, and proceeding a day’s journey farther to the west; thus convincing themselves that Asia and America are not united there by an isthmus. On the 13th of March, the expedition returned to Neukolyma. On the 22d of March, Mr. Wrangle undertook another journey, likewise on sledges drawn by dogs, with ten companions, in the direction to the North Pole, in order to look for the great continent which is supposed to exist there. The principal obstacle they met with, was thin ice, which being broken to pieces by continued storms, was piled up in mountains, and rendered farther progress impossible. At a bear hunt, which the company undertook, they observed a sudden bursting of the ice, accompanied with a dreadful noise resembling thunder. On their journey back, which the travellers were obliged to make without accomplishing their object, they surveyed the bear islands, and after an absence of thirty-eight days, arrived safely at Neukolyma on the 28th April, where they are to remain for the year 1822, and then to continue their researches.”
48 Journal of the House of Representatives of Ohio; session of 1823, ’24—p. 224.