If the
sun stood still, the earth, owing to the inclination of its axis to
the plane of its orbit, around the sun, would encounter the resistance
of the ether principally on its northern hemisphere from summer to
winter, and on its southern hemisphere from winter to summer. But in
consequence of the motion of the sun shared by the earth, this law of
distribution is changed, and from summer to winter the earth plows
through the ether with its north pole foremost, while from winter to
summer, although the resistance of the ether is encountered more
evenly by the two hemispheres, yet it is still felt principally in the
northern hemisphere, and the south pole remains practically protected.
It follows that the southern hemisphere, and particularly the south
polar regions are more or less completely sheltered the whole year
around. It might then be supposed that the impact of the particles of
the ether shouldered aside by the earth in its swift flight and the
compression produced in front of the advancing globe would tend to
raise the temperature of the northern hemisphere as compared with the
southern hemisphere, while the south pole, being more or less directly
in the wake of the earth, and in a region of rarefaction of the ether,
would constantly possess a remarkably low temperature.
Now, it is known that the south polar regions are more covered with
ice and snow than those of the north, and that the temperature there
the year around is lower. Whether this difference is owing to the
effects of the earth's journey through the ether, is a question.
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