378 Mr D. Milne on Ear (hjuake- Shocks felt in Great Britain, 



undulations could not have been caused by tillage. More- 

 over, the furrows of the plough were quite distinguish- 

 able from the undulations, and ran in a direction nearly at 

 right angles to them. Mr Shepherd immediately made the 

 circumstance known to Mr Rutherfurd, who communicated 

 them to the author. It was then suggested, that inquiry 

 should be made of any persons employed who had been work- 

 ing in the field during that season or the preceding one, so as 

 to ascertain whether the undulations w^ere new to them. This 

 was done ; and a precognition of several persons was sent to 

 the author, from which it distinctly appeared that the field 

 had not been ploughed for three or fouryei^rs previously ; and 

 that the furrows of the plough ran in an east and west di- 

 rection, whilst the undulations ran in a north and south direc- 

 tion (by compass). Farther, these persons, or some of them, 

 stated that they had mowed the grass in 1837, and were sure 

 that no undulations existed then. It had been in 1838 and 

 1839 pastured with sheep. These undulations were nine or 

 ten in number, and occupied about one-half of the field. They 

 consisted of alternate elevations and depressions on the sur- 

 face of the ground, parallel to each other. The hollows be- 

 tween the ridges varied in depth from two to eight inches ; 

 the deepest being in the middle. The distance between each 

 ridge varied from nineteen to thirty-one feet ; the widest 

 being also about the middle of the undulations. 



When the author visited the field in 1842 there were still 

 three or four of the undulation^ perceptible, though it had 

 been ploughed since 1839. He observed that the soil was a 

 stiff, tenacious, and flexible clay, apparently capable of retain- 

 ing any shape or form impressed on it. 



The undulations are at right angles to the general direction 

 of the valley of the Spey, in this part of its course ; the river 

 here running nearly due east, by compass. 



Whilst the circumstances above noticed, as well as the 

 opinions of the inhabitants connected with the local itj^ strongly 

 favour the supposition, that the undulations just described were 

 produced by the earthquake of 23d October 1839, it is difficult 

 to understand how such an effect could have been produced. 

 That the vibrations transmitted upwards from the subterranean 



