298 B. KOTO: CAUSE OF THE GREAT 



The cause.'i of mrtlKiiiah's. — A popular subject with the men of 

 science of all a^'es has lieen the causes of earthquakes, upon which 

 much has been written, Imt of whi(;li little is yet known. As earth- 

 quakes are, in one place or another, of daily occurrence, especially in 

 the nijiiiinul circle which sej)arates the northern from the southern 

 hemisphere, and as the dejjths of curiosity are stirred up in the minds 

 of people who have unhapj)ily experienced the st;'.rtling treml)lings of 

 what is usually looked upon as the symbol of fixity — all sorts of ex- 

 planation have been offered as to their origin; and hence the world 

 has had, both in past and recent times, the misfortune to see the 

 sporadic a])])earance of monstrous theories on the subject. It lies, 

 howe\'er, beyond my present limits to give here the various views as 

 to the causes of earthquakes. This has been already done by Franz 

 Toula in his " Ueher deft (ie(jemrärii(jen Strnul der Erdhehenfra(ie,'' and 

 readers are referred for details to that small treatise. 



One of tliem is, however, ^\■(^rthy of mention, as it was for a time 

 held in much favour in Europe. Rudolf Falb, the editor of the ]io])ular 

 astronomical j(3urnal, " *S'//7?/.s," is the chief su ])porter of this sideric 

 hypothesis.* A cosmic Ixxly, esjiecially the moon, is, according to him, 

 able to exert its influence upon the imcJevs of the terrestrial globe in 

 causing a, tide in the interioi- and simultaneous contracti(Mi of the earth, 

 and by so acting may induce a subterranean volcanic ex])losion which 

 results in a shake on the surface. 



AVhile the Austi'ian joiu'nalist is engaged witli his favourite idea, 

 but more in popularizing it than in establishing it on a firm scientific 

 basis, we see in another direction an endeavour inade to inquire into 

 the causes of seismic phenomena through researches on the formation 

 of mountains. The study in this direction is an effort to bring 

 together into scientific shape the facts ascertained through detail- 



* Gnindz'Uje zu einer Theorie iler Erdbeben uml l'ulkiinmisbriielu', i'S'6'.9. 



