i9o6.] SEE— THE CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES. 407. 



ranges relatively to the sea, the slopes of the ranges, and the side 

 spurs, and the relation of mountains to earthquake and volcanic 

 phenomena, should have a strong claim to acceptance. This theory 

 was partially foreshadowed by the Arabian astronomer Avicenna, in 

 the tenth century of our era. 



24. The theory of the penetration of sea water into the crust 

 of the earth and its connection with volcanoes and earthquakes 

 dates back to Lucretius and Aristotle, while the upheaval of the land 

 is distinctly announced by Strabo. We have, therefore, been simply 

 verifying and extending the impressions of the ancients formed 

 from the general aspects of nature long before the sciences had 

 become exact.^ 



§ 63. General considerations. 



^ Since finishing this paper the writer has been much impressed with the 

 following passage in the article Poseidon, Encyclopedia Britannica, ninth 

 edition : 



" Poseidon, the ancient Greek god of the sea and of water generally. . . . 

 He was the god of navigation, adored by all who sailed the sea. His temples 

 stood especially on headlands and isthmuses. As god of the sea he disputed 

 with other deities for the possession of the land — with Athene for Athens 

 and Troezen, with Helios for Corinth, with Hera for Argos, with Zeus for 

 Aegina, etc. Earthquakes were thought to be produced by Poseidon shaking 

 the earth, — hence his epithet of * Earth-shaker,' and hence he was worshipped 

 even in inland places, like Apamea in Phrygia, which had suffered from 

 earthquakes. Hence also may have arisen the custom in some places of 

 sacrificing moles to him. The great sea-wave which often accompanies an 

 earthquake was also his work; the destruction of Helice in Achaia by such 

 a wave (373 B. C.) was attributed to his wrath. Once when an earthquake 

 shook the ground where a Spartan army was encamped, the whole army 

 sung a hymn to Poseidon. The island of Delos was thought to have been 

 raised by him from the bottom of the sea, and in 237 B. C, when a new 

 island appeared between Thera and Therasia, the Rhodians founded a temple 

 of Poseidon on it. Thessaly was said to have been a lake until this god 

 opened a way for the waters through the Vale of Tempe. Poseidon was also 

 the god of springs, which he produced by striking the rock with his trident, 

 as he did on the acropolis of Athens when he was disputing with Athene for 

 the sovereignty of Athens. This dispute was represented on the western pedi- 

 ment of the Parthenon. . . . There were collossal statues of him at Helice 

 in Achaia, on the Isthmus of Corinth (set up by the Greeks after the Persian 

 wars) and at Tenos." 



It is very remarkable to find that at an early age the Greeks had so 

 directly connected earthquakes with the sea, probably through the seismic 

 sea waves, which they often observed in this part of the Mediterranean. 

 (Note added December 17, 1906.) 



PROC. AMER. PHIL. SOC, XLV. 184 Z, PRINTED FEBRUARY 25, I9Q7. 



