CORRESP ONDENCE. 



697 



Yeddo (now Tokyo); the great part of the 

 city was laid in ruins, and the loss of life 

 amounted to several tens of thousands, in- 

 cluding those who were actually crushed to 

 death by the falling houses and those who, 

 imprisoned in the debris, were burned in nu- 

 merous fires which broke out in various parts 

 of the city ; for, as the earthquake occurred 

 at about eleven o'clock at night, the inhabit- 

 ants were asleep and unprepared to escape 

 from their houses. 



On the 28th of last October another part 

 of Japan was visited by a similar catastro- 

 phe, of which more details are available than 

 of the above-mentioned earthquake of 1855. 

 The center of this latter seems to have been 

 the valley of Neo, north of the city of Gifu, 

 in the province of Mino. In this city and in 

 the neighboring town of Ogaki the destruc- 

 tion is terrible and the loss of life appalling. 

 Gifu is the seat of government of Gifu pre- 

 fecture. In Gifu and Aichi prefectures the 

 killed numbered 7,522, the wounded 9,983 ; 

 the number of buildings wholly destroyed 

 is 88,705; partly destroyed, 28,011; while 

 throughout the entire region over which the 

 disturbance was most seriously felt the to- 

 tals are: Killed, 7,566; wounded, 10,121; 

 buildings wholly destroyed, 89,629 ; partly 

 destroyed, 28,626. 



Great changes in the geographical feat- 

 ures of the provinces of Hchizen, Mino, and 

 Owari, at the head of Owari Bay, will evi- 

 dently result. Land-slips have occurred which 

 completely changed the appearance of the 

 mountain-sides ; river channels are dammed 

 by the debris, causing inundations of agri- 

 cultural lands, and large lakes where were 

 cultivated farms. 



The total area throughout which the 

 earthquake was felt is stated to have been 

 39,375 square miles. No serious damage was 

 done in Tokyo or Yokohama. Asama-Yama, 

 the volcano in the provinces of Kodzuke- 

 Shinano, far to the north of the center of the 

 disturbance, was thrown into a state of un- 

 usual activity, large quantities of scoria? hav- 

 ing been ejected. Fuji-Yama has also suf- 

 fered. It appears that, ten miautes after 

 the most violent sliock, a noise like a hun- 

 dred peals of thunder was heard to proceed 

 from the side of the mountain. Some peo- 

 ple declare that an immense land-slip, visible 

 soon after the earthquake, has occurred ; but 

 before their statements could be verified by 

 careful, scientific investigation, snow fell and 

 obscured the topography. 



One of the Japanese newspapers states 

 that at the Okumstama Shrine, in the Naga- 

 jima district of Aichi prefecture, Mino prov- 

 ince, several fissures were opened from which 

 mud and water were ejected. After the wa- 

 ter had drained off, a number of wooden 

 swords, stone axes, and maga-tama (beads) 

 were discovered. If this be true, it is a re- 

 markable archaeological fnd. 



The trembling of earth continues up to 

 the present time, although the shocks arc no 



longer of destructive force. Prof. Milne, of 

 the Imperial University, compares the rum- 

 bling sound that accompanies the shocks to 

 that which would be produced by the escape 

 of a great volume of steam through narrow 

 fissures — a colossal steam-horn, in short, 

 roaring and bellowing underground, each of 

 its thunders indicating the explosion of a 

 more or less destructive force. 



J. King Goodrich. 

 Yokohama, Japan, yovember 16, 1S91. 



COLORS OF LETTERS. 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



Sir : I was greatly interested in the ar- 

 ticle by President Jordan, on the colors of 

 letters, which appeared recently in your 

 magazine. From my earliest recollections I 

 had always associated various colors with 

 the letters, but never before have I heard of 

 any one else who did so. 



Thinking that statistics on this subject 

 might be of interest, I send you my list of 

 alphabet colors: 



A. Dull yellow. N. Tin color. 



B. Dark. 0. 



C. Like kerosene-flame. P. Nearly like H. 



D. Black. Q. Red. 



E. Like A. R. Black. 



F. Dark. S. Silver color. 



G. Gray. T. Dark, 

 H. Slate color. U. 



L Black. V. Like J. 



J. Dirty brown. W. 



K. BlaJk. X. Red. 



L. Black. Y. 



M. Dark red. Z. Red. 



Those left blank are associated in my 

 mind with a color, but I am unable to define 

 it ; and certain of the descriptions used do 

 not fully convey the idea. 



It has been suggested to me that my con- 

 necting color with the letters arose from the 

 colors on the blocks from which I learned 

 them. This might account for red, black, 

 and white, but certainly would not account 

 for the other shades. 



My own explanation of the matter is 

 this : When we are learning to spell we as- 

 sociate certain letters with certain words, and 

 those words give us the idea of color. These 

 words may be said to be chronwpoetic, and 

 this property, if it may be so called, can not 

 be dissociated from them. For illustration, 

 D is associated in my mind with dog, and 

 when I think of dog it never is a white dog, 

 but always a black one ; hence, D is black. 

 I brings up ink and black ink ; J, a jug of 

 brown color ; V is a vulture, which I always 

 think of as brown. 



In many cases I am unable to trace the 

 connection between the letter and the color, 

 but I feel sure it exists somewhere in my 

 mind. If this possesses sufficient interest to 

 your readers to warrant its publication, you 

 are at liberty to do so. 



James S. Stevens, Professor of Physics. 

 Maine State College, Orono, Me., Aug. 15, 1891. 



