mid especially in Scotland. 83 



an inch ; the Comrie House one was inclined to the north 

 half an inch. The severest shock was at ten minutes to 

 twelve, the next a quarter past two, and the third at half-past 

 four. The first, I have marked in the register, 5 ; the second, 

 3 ; and the third, 1. No damage that I have heard of has 

 been done. The weather, for the two preceding days, was 

 remarkably wet and close, much resembling that in which 

 the shocks occurred in 1839, — so much so was the sky the 

 evening previous, that I was remarking to some folks, that it 

 looked very like an earthquake night. But I have more than 

 once observed the same misty and lurid sky, without any 

 shock, — so that, after all, the thing may be a mere coinci- 

 dence." 



\2th September 1841. — On the day here mentioned, a phe- 

 nomenon occurred on the south coast of Ireland, which was 

 most probably caused by an earthquake in the ocean. The 

 account to be now given, is extracted from a paragraph published 

 at the time in a Wexford newspaper. It is interesting to ob- 

 serve that the sea retired in the first instance, — just as hap- 

 pened on the occasion of the Lisbon earthquakes in 1755 and 

 1761, — and that a few minutes before the reflux of the sea, 

 there were " a number of short, loud, but rather smothered re- 

 ports like cannons.'* It is not difficult to understand how 

 submarine eruptions should produce, where they occurred, a 

 momentary elevation of the sea, whereby the waters would be 

 drawn from all the adjoining parts. The reports which oc- 

 curred simultaneously with these eruptions, are strongly cor- 

 roborative of the electrical theory. 



Si?2gular reflux in the Sea. — Sunday, the 12th (September 

 1841) inst. was a misty dark day, with wind S.SW. to S. 

 About noon, the low growl of distant thunder was heard, and 

 the wind lulled, which rendered the fog more dense. At Kil- 

 more, ten miles south of Wexford, and directly opposite the 

 Saltee Islands, the attention of the inhabitants was attracted 

 about noon-time, to a number of short, loud, but rather smo- 

 thered reports, like cannons, and it was supposed that they 

 proceeded from some ship bewildered by the fog. The tide 

 had flowed pretty well at the time, and the fishing boats in 

 the pier were all afloat, when, in the space of two or three 



