148 J. HOPKINSON 



on record. In the British Isles shocks were actually felt only in 

 the counties of Berks, Oxford, Derby, and Cork, at one place 

 in each county, the most violent being in the mines at Eyam 

 Edge in Derbyshire, where they were accompanied by a loud 

 noise in the interior of the earth, and pieces of rock fell and 

 a long fissure was made in the ground. The sea rapidly ebbed 

 and flowed around our coasts ; the lakes of Cumberland, 

 Westmoreland, and Central Scotland were disturbed ; and ponds 

 nearly all over England were affected. (Mallet, loc. cit.) * 



The following " Account of the extraordinary Agitations of 

 the Waters in several Ponds in Hertfordshire," by the Kev. T. 

 Eutherford, Kector of Barley, was read before the Eoyal Society 

 on the 1st of July, 1756 : — 



" I have lately had the opportunity of making some enquiries 

 about an unusual motion of the water in a pond at Patmer-hall 

 [Patmore Hall], which is a farm in the parish of Albury, and 

 county of Hertford. Mr. Thomas Mott who is the occupier 

 of the farm, tells me, that there are two ponds in his yard, which 

 are parted from one another only by a causey, which is just wide 

 enough to allow of a convenient passage for a waggon and 

 driver ; so that one of the ponds is to the west, and the other 

 is to the east of it. At the western end of the former, which is 

 the head of it, are two drains, one higher than the other, to carry 

 off the waste water ; and on each side, at the other end, close to 

 the causeway, is a mouth, or opening, where his cattle go to 

 drink. The pond itself is about eight roods over, and twelve 

 roods long. The other pond is of the same size ; except, that 

 there is a dove-house in the middle of it, which stands upon 

 a small island. On the first of November last, between ten and 

 eleven o'clock in the forenoon, his servants, who were then close 

 to these ponds, heard a rumbling noise, like the wind ; and took 

 notice that three ducks, which were then in the western pond, 

 immediately flew out of it into the other, as if they were 

 affrighted. At the same instant the water in the western pond 

 arose at the head of it, so as to run out of the lower drain, which 

 was ten or twelve inches above the level. He did not see this 

 swell of the water himself ; but his servants who saw it, called 

 him immediately ; and he found, that the water was then in 

 motion ; and that it had run out of the drain. It continued to 

 move l)ackwards and forwards for some time ; but he observed, 

 that it did not swell any more at the head, but only arose and 

 fell at the two mouths ; so that the motion was from north 

 to south. When it arose at either of the mouths, it flowed 

 about six feet beyond what was then the water-mark. The other 

 pond, during the whole time, was as calm and still, as he ever 

 saw it, unless what was occasioned by the alighting of the ducks. 



* The accounts of shocks ha\int>- heen fi>U in Britain are disputed, it being 

 considered doubtful whether tlie Ijisl)oii eurtlujuake produced any effect in this 

 country except in agitating the sea, hikes, and ponds. 



