XXVII. On the rigidity of the earth

Abstract

1. That the earth cannot, as many geologists suppose, be a liquid mass enclosed in only a thin shell of solidified matter, is demonstrated by the phenomena of precession and nutation. Mr. Hopkins, to whom is due the grand idea of thus learning the physical condition of the interior from phenomena of rotatory motion presented by the surface, applied mathematical analysis to investigate the rotation of rigid ellipsoidal shells enclosing liquids, and arrived at the conclusion that the solid crust of the earth must be not less than 800 or 1000 miles thick. Although the mathematical part of the investigation might be objected to, I have not been able to perceive any force in the arguments by which this conclusion has been controverted, and I am happy to find my opinion in this respect confirmed by so eminent an authority as Archdeacon Pratt. 2. It has always appeared to me, indeed, that Mr. Hopkins might have pressed his argument further, and have concluded that no continuous liquid vesicle at all approaching to the dimensions of a spheroid 6000 miles in diameter can possibly exist in the earth’s interior without rendering the phenomena of precession and nutation very sensibly different from what they are.