the Great Lakes of America. ^97 



round stones of the size of a pigeon's egg. The western 

 country abounds with what are called burning springs, con- 

 sisting of volumes of hydrogen gas, issuing from spiracula in 

 the earth, and it is underlaid with sulphur, coal, bitumen, 

 and other inflammable substances. In boring for salt at 

 Rocky Hill, in Ohio, about a mile and a half from Lake Erie, 

 after proceeding to the depth of one hundred and ninety-seven 

 feet, the auger fell, and salt water spouted out for several 

 hours. After the exhaustion of this water great volumes of 

 inflammable air issued through the aperture for a long time, 

 and formed a cloud ; and by ignition by the fire in the shops 

 of the workmen, consumed and destroyed every thing in the 

 vicinity. 



Whether the country round the Great Lakes is volcanic or 

 not, is not material to the present inquiry. We know that the 

 bowels of the earth are stored with inflammable materials, and 

 that there exist strong indications of subterranean communica^ 

 tions at enormous distances. Indeed everything in earth- 

 quakes seems to indicate the action of elastic fluids seeking an 

 outlet to spread themselves in the atmosphere. At the period 

 of the last and the preceding destruction of Lisbon, according 

 to Humboldt, the sea was violently agitated as far as America. 

 For instance, at the Island of Barbadoes, more than twelve 

 hundred leagues from Portugal, and on Lake Ontario, strong 

 agitations of the water were observed in October 1755. The 

 first destruction of Lisbon took place on the first day of No- 

 vember 1755, and the last on the 31st day of March 1764', 

 the very year in which the sudden swelling of Lake Erie over- 

 whelmed some of Colonel Bradstreet's vessels. 



Bakewell, in his Geology, states that " during the earth- 

 quake at Lisbon, in 1 775, almost all the springs and lakes in 

 Great Britain, and in every part of Europe, were violently 

 agitated, many of them throwing up mud and sand, and emit- 

 ting a fetid odour. The morning of the earthquake the hot 

 springs at Toplitz, in Bohemia, suddenly ceased to flow for a 

 minute, and then burst forth with prodigious violence, throw- 

 ing up turbid water, the temperature of which was higher 

 than before. The hot-wells at Bristol were coloured red, 

 and rendered unfit for use for some months afterwards. Even 



VOL. VII. NO. I). OCT. 1827. u 



