240 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 



October 8th, 12 li. 46 m. — A severe shock at San Francisco. This earth- 

 quake was the most violent of any occurring on this peninsula since the Amer- 

 ican occupancy, but was not sufficiently heavy to do serious damage ; all the 

 injuries sustained to property were of a trivial nature, the principal being the 

 demolition of parts of the parapet walls erected above the roofs, to shield the 

 latter in cases of fire in adjoining buildings ; the fracture of walls in every in- 

 stance occurred in insecure buildings, and heavy buildings erected on the made 

 lauds of the city front. 



At San Jose, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, the earthquake appears to have 

 been equally severe as in this city. At Petaluma, on the north, it was also 

 quite severe. At Sacramento the shock was not marked by the same severity 

 as at the other localities mentioned. At Stockton the shock was heavy, but no 

 damage done, nor was there any damage at Sacramento. The shock was se- 

 vere at Grass Valley. 



The direction of the wave in this earthquake was north fifty degrees west ; 

 the limited area over which it extended has not furnished sufficient data to cal- 

 culate its velocity. 



This earthquake differs from all others that have occurred in this locality in 

 this particular : the earth contiuued to vibrate with increasing and again de- 

 creasing degrees of force for ten hours, at no time entirely ceasing during this 

 period. 



22 h. 1 m., another light shock, consisting of a single vibration. 



23 h. 50 m., another shock. After this shock the vibrations of the earth 

 ceased to be noticeable. 



October 9th, 10 h. 34 m. — Another light shock. 



11 h. 32 m., another shock. After this shock the earth continued to vibrate 

 at intervals till noon of the tenth. 



October 13th, 2 h. 5 m. — A smart shock at San Francisco ; felt at Oakland 

 and Santa Clara ; also at Angel Island. 



October 14th, 23 h. 45 m. — Another shock at San Francisco. 



October 15th, 3 h. 40 m. — Another shock at San Francisco. 



November 24th, 3h. 45 m. — A smart shock at Watsonville, Santa Cruz Co. 



December 7th, 1 h. 15 m. — A light shock at San Francisco. 



Professor Whitney presented the plate published by Mr. Haid- 

 inger, the distinguished Chief of the Austrian Geological Survey, 

 to exhibit the structure of the Carleton meteoric iron. This plate, 

 together with an elaborate article describing the appearance and 

 structure of this meteorite, is published in the proceedings of the 

 Vienna Academy of Science, Vol. XLVIII, page 301. 



Professor Whitney also made some remarks on the nature and 

 distribution of the meteorites which have, up to the present time, 

 been discovered on the Pacific Coast and in Mexico ; of these 

 remarks the following is an abstract. 



