It has been said when treating of the earth as being solid to the centre, that it is not easy to comprehend what may be the nature of the rocks we are acquainted with, when compressed to one-fourth or one-fifth of their volume, and we do not find ourselves much better off when we contemplate them as reduced to one-third or one-fourth of their bulk, that is, when a cube of one foot is reduced to three or four inches in height, as would be the case with it at a maximum density of 8·8 times that of water when placed at a depth of 817 miles from the surface of the earth. We find, therefore, the idea thrust upon us that there may be a limit to density, perhaps not an absolute limit, but a practical one; in which case, the greatest density of the earth may not greatly exceed 5·66 times that of water. For, if we conceive that it increases to its maximum at 100 miles from the surface, and continues nearly uniform thereafter, a little calculation will show that the greatest density of the outer half of the shell need not much exceed 6 times that of water; and, of course, the same will be the case with the inner half should its density be almost uniform till 100 miles from the inner surface is reached. It might even so happen that at a depth of 25 to 30 miles the practical limit might be reached; for a column of granite of one foot square and 25 miles high would weigh, and exert a pressure upon its base of 10,000 tons, a pressure equal to nearly fifteen times what would be sufficient to crush it into powder; in which case the greatest density of the earth might not much exceed the 5·66 that we are accustomed to think of--without thinking.
It may be deemed absurd to think that there is even a practical limit to the density of matter, but on the other hand it is much more absurd to suppose that there is not an absolute limit to it. We cannot conceive of density being other than the result of compression, and we cannot believe that matter can be compressed more and more continually for ever. There must be some end to compression. Perhaps it was the difficulty in conceiving of rock being compressed to so small a fraction of its volume as would enable it to take its place at the centre of the earth--where it has been said that, "it must weigh like lead"--that originated the idea of its centre being occupied by the metals, arranged as they would be in a rack in a store, the heaviest pieces at the bottom of the rack, and the lighter ones higher up.