Earthquake. 01 



Society the first sketch of a generic character. The name 

 proposed for this new genus was Hahydrus, (from a\$ the 

 sea, and J^o; a water- snake) ; and as it evidently appeared 

 to be the Soe-Oi'men described above half a century ago, by 

 Pontoppidan, in his Natural History of Norway, it was sug- 

 gested that its specific name should be H. Pontoppidani. 



XVI. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



EARTHQUAKE. 



X he following account of a shock of an earthquake felt at 

 Dunning, in Perthshire, on the 18th of January, about two 

 o'clock A- M. is given by Mr. Peter Martin, surgeon, in 

 Dunning. — He was coming home at the time on horseback, 

 when his attention was suddenly attracted by a seemingly 

 subterraneous noise, and' his horse immediately stopping, he- 

 perceived the sound to proceed from the north-west. After 

 continuing the space of half a minute, it became louder and 

 louder, and apparently nearer, when, all on a sudden, the 

 earth gave a perpendicular heave, and with a tremulous wav- 

 ing motion seemed to roll or move in a south-east direction. 

 The noise was greater during the shock than before it, and 

 for some seconds after it was so loud, that it made the cir- 

 cumjacent mountains reeclio with the sound ; after which, 

 in the course of about half a minute, it gradually died away. 

 At this time the atmosphere was calm, dense, and cloudy, 

 and for some hours before and after there was not the least 

 motion in the air. Fahrenheit's thermometer, when examined 

 (about half an hour after the shock), indicated a temperature 

 of 15 degrees below the freezing point of water. The pre- 

 ceding day was calm and cloudy ; thermometer, eight A. M. 

 14, eight P.M. 13. The morning of the 18th was calm and 

 cloudy, but the day broke up to sunshine ; thermometer, 

 eight A.M. 19, eight P. M. 16. This was a greater shock 

 than that felt at the same place on the 9th of September, 

 about s'.x A. M. several years ago]; and if it had been suc- 

 ceeded by another equally violent, it must have damaged the 

 houses : but fortunately we have heard of no harm being done. 



Natural 



