ANOTHER LOST CONTINENT
The Theory of Antipodes Which Is Supposed to be Sunk In tho Antarctic Sea.
An interesting discussion has been going on of late concerning a supposed lost continent in the Antarctic sea. Mr. H. O. Forbes, to whom the theory of the former existence of this continent is due, proposes to call it Antipedea. Tie bases his belief in this ancient, and now sunken, land upon the existence of allied forms of wingless birds in the Mauritius and in the Chatham islands.
When geologists find upon distant islands forms of animals peculiar to continental lands, or to other far removed islands, they are sometimes driven to the conclusion that in former times a land connection must have existed between the continents and islands in question. But the idea, though new in this particular application, is not new in itself.
Two other supposed lost continents have become famous. The first is Atlantis, the story of which was known to Plato, a land of fertility, wealth and civilization, now lying, according to the legend, at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.
The other lost continent is an invention, or a deduction, of modern science. It is called Lemuria, and is supposed to have existed in the Indian ocean. The islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, Bourbon, Rodriguez, and the Se3’chclles are believed to be remnants of this lost continent still projecting above the waters. According to some German savants, man himself probably originated in Lemuria instead of in Asia.
Antipodea, if it ever existed, was separated from Lemuria by almost half the circumference of the globe, and the Chatham islands are remnants of it. Across the great stretch of water between the Chatham islands and the Mauritius, it is argued, the flightless birds, whose bones are found in both places, could not have made their way. There are other peculiarities in the distribution of life in the southern hemisphere which, it is asserted by some, can only be accounted for on the supposition that such a continent as Antipodea once rose above tho Waters of the Antarctic sea.
(The Wichita Daily Eagle, November 18, 1893)