76 NATURAL SCIENCE. February, 



disturbed area embraces all the rest of England, the Isle of Wight, 

 the Isle of Man, the whole of Wales, and overlaps the eastern counties 

 of Ireland. The exact extent is at present undetermined, but it is 

 clear that in this respect hardly any known British earthquake can 

 surpass it. 



The damage to property, though in no place of great consequence, 

 is far from inconsiderable, being spread over rather a wide area. The 

 city of Hereford appears to have suffered most. Several of the 

 pinnacles of St. Martin's Church were broken, aud one of the pinnacles 

 of the Cathedral was displaced. The chimneys of many houses were 

 thrown down, and the walls of others cracked. At Gloucester a few 

 chimneys were overthrown, and reports of similar slight damage come 

 from Worcester, Dursley, Ross, Cinderford, and other places in the 

 surrounding country. 



The strongest shock occurred about 5.32 a.m., but it was pre- 

 ceded and followed by several slighter ones, of which unfortunately 

 there are very few observations, owing to the early hours at which 

 they occurred. 



Professor Milne states that two of his delicate seismometers in 

 the Isle of Wight show shght but certain traces of the earthquake, 

 the movements continuing for one or two hours. At the Kew Obser- 

 vatory, a faint record is exhibited by the declination curve, and a 

 more distinct one by the horizontal force curve ; but the magneto- 

 graphs at Greenwich and Stonyhurst were not affected. All of these 

 places, however, lie within the disturbed area, and no record has 

 apparently been obtained from any instruments outside it ; the 

 nearest one capable of affording any evidence is the horizontal pen- 

 dulum erected a few years ago at Strassburg. 



It seems very probable, as suggested by Dr. C. Davison, in Nature 

 (vol. Iv., p. 179), that the recent shocks may be connected with 

 an earthquake which occurred about ' thirty-three years ago, on 

 October 6th, 1863. The latter was carefully studied by Mr. E. J. 

 Lowe, F.R.S., and was but little inferior in intensity and extent of 

 disturbed area to the shock of December 17th. The part of the 

 country where it was most severely felt is bounded by a line passing 

 a short distance from Worcester, Leominster, Brecon, Newport, Mon- 

 mouth, and Ross. It "was felt throughout Wales and the central 

 counties of England, extending north as far as Doncaster, Hudders- 

 field, and Clitheroe ; east to Market Rasen, Peterborough, and 

 Bedford; south to London, Dorchester and Plymouth; and in the 

 west crossing St. George's Channel to Dublin and Wexford : " 

 though it was also perceptible at several isolated places beyond these 

 limits, such as Lancaster, Ulverston, Harrogate, Malton, Scar- 

 borough, Bury St. Edmund's, Brighton, and the Isle of Wight. 



Dr. Davison is investigating our latest earthquake, and would be 

 glad to have details of any observations sent to him at 373 Gillott 

 Road, Birmingham. 



