1864.] MISCELLANEOUS. 157 



were noted by some observers. The reports do not give much 

 information as to the direction of the vibration, but it was pro- 

 bably, as in the earthquake of 1860, from east to west, or from 

 southeast to northwest. 



The only remarkable point in relation to this earthquake is its 

 occurrence at a season when seismic energy in this region seems 

 from past experience, to manifest itself less frequently than at 

 most other times. Only four out of eighty-three recorded earth- 

 quakes in Canada and its vicinity have occurred in April; the 

 autumn and winter being the seasons of greatest seismic activity. 



The following extracts from Quebec newspapers give some 

 details of interest : — 



The Mercury says : — " The earth trembled violently ; every 

 house was shaken as if an explosion of gas or gunpowder, or an 

 eboulement of the rock had taken place — only no noise was 

 heard. Some fancied that a heavy weight had fallen upon the 

 floors above them, and, indeed, that was our own sensation. The 

 walls of the house rocked ; the windows rattled ; and we rocked 

 ourselves. To make sure that the power-press had not fallen to 

 pieces, we examined the press-room, but found all right there. 

 The inmates of the rooms above us, horror-stricken, came down 

 stairs to enquire what the matter was ; people from the street 

 came tumbling in to ask us if we had felt any unusual sensation : 

 the people over the way felt it ; the cruet stands were overset, 

 plates broken, and the whole dinner-table service at Russell's set 

 in motion ; the soldiers rushed out of their bomb-proofs on the 

 citadel, where the shock was, we are informed, the most severe ; 

 in St. John street without, people ran from their houses, and 

 hosts of people besieged the gates of the gas-works. In the streets, 

 however, the shock was not sensibly felt, and by some persons not 

 felt at all. It is fully believed that the concussory effect upon 

 the houses was greater than when the laboratory blew up. A 

 gentleman informs us that at Mount Pleasant the shock appeared 

 to come from the southwest with a gradually increasing rumbling 

 noise, and ended with a report as of a distant explosion. At the 

 house of Mr. Mainguy, in Scott street, near the Lewis Road, the 

 earth has opened in two places in a passage leading to the yard, 

 and a quantity of earth was thrown down from the siding of the 

 cellar. 



The Chronicle states : — '' About ten minutes or a quarter past 



