294 Mr D. Milne on Earthquake- Shocks in Great Britain, 



and chemical nature of tho ash seems also rather against this view; but 

 the siliceous particles may be in part adventitious. Yours sincerely, 



" Arthur Connell." 

 I J' I7th A2>nl 1840." 



11. Fain appears to be a frequent co7icomitant of earthquake- 

 shocks in this country, though indiscriminately before and after 

 them, as well as during the time of their occurrence. 



For examples of excessive vdin^ preceding strong shocks, see 

 the dates December 1797, August 1816, and January 1834. 



For an example of excessive rain during the occurrence as 

 well as before a shock, see the account of the earthquake of 

 August 1786. 



For examples of excessive rains after shocks^ reference may 

 be made to Mr Gilfillan''s account of the one on 7th Septem- 

 ber 1801. He remarks, that though the weather had been 

 previously good, it has become wet since, as generally hap- 

 pens after earthquakes. Sir Thomas Lauder, in his account 

 of the Inverness earthquake of August 1816, mentions, that 

 though the summer of that year had been very wet and stormy, 

 the weather on the day preceding the shock was fine and still ; 

 but on the day succeeding it, a thick rain came on, which con- 

 tinued to fall incessantly for above sixty hours ; and, indeed, 

 during the whole of the ensuing month, " there was hardly 

 any fair weather." 



An author, who, under the name of Philotheus, published, 

 in 1748, a history of Earthquakes, referring to one felt at Ox- 

 ford (England) on 17th September 1683 (noticed in the regis- 

 ter), says, that " the latter part of the first week of September 

 was so rainy, that some apprehended a deluge." 



The same observation, that earthquake-shocks generally ac- 

 company rainy weather, and are most frequently preceded by 

 it, has been made in foreign countries, which shews that the 

 coincidence is not accidental. Thus Dolemieu, in describing 

 the Calabrian earthquakes of February 1783, mentions, that 

 " the autumn of 1782 and the winter of 1783 were very rainy."* 

 Drake, in his account of the Cincinnati (United States) earth- 

 quakes, which continued from December 1811 for nearly a 



• Pinkerton's Voyagos, vol. v. p. 296, 



