"To my mind," said Battell, "these evidences of intense internal heat do not conflict with the Hollow Globe Theory. Assuming that the shell is one thousand miles thick; at the center, between the outer and inner crust, there would be a pressure of five hundred miles of solid matter, more than sufficient to generate a heat that would melt every known rock, and this of itself will account for every evidence of internal heat. Scientists have taught us that heat is a form of motion, or rather that it is the result of motion when arrested. Now pressure is only arrested motion, or in other words heat. Hence it has been estimated that the weight of a column of steel blocks, sixty-five thousand feet in height, would generate sufficient heat to melt the lower tier of blocks. These well-known laws, to my mind, offer a more plausible explanation of the existence of intense heat at great depths, than the assumption that this heat is the residue, that was left over from the heat of an original planetary nebula. Well known laws of physics, force us to the conclusion that this earth can never become a cold body and that the igneous condition at great depths, will continue as long as the centripetal and centrifugal forces continue to press the outer and inner surfaces toward each other. Or in other words, as long as the surface continues to press down upon the materials below, as they do now, there will be intense heat at great depths."
"Your theory," I replied, "if true, will force scientists to abandon the wonderful history of creation which they have evolved from long and persistent research."
"Nothing but their opinions will need to be revised," said Battell. "Every fact they have discovered will continue to be a fact. We are here on this expedition to discover facts of scientific importance, and it now looks as if we are making a most wonderful discovery that will force scientists to abandon some of their long cherished opinions and revise others. If we find that this earth is actually a hollow shell, it will be a fact, that must in the very nature of things harmonize with every other fact that has been, or will be discovered. Facts are facts, and while they may not be understood, they cannot be set aside. It was to discover facts that might benefit the entire human race by increasing their knowledge that I sacrificed a whaling business that was paying a handsome profit, to join Captain Ganoe on this expedition, in which I might lose the accumulations of years, and possibly life itself. I certainly did not join this expedition in order to either confirm, or disprove, any of the theories which scientists have given to the world."