152 J. HOPKINSON 



investigations in our ' Transactions ' (Vol. V, pp. 33-62) with 

 a map showing the area affected. The shock or sound, or 

 both, resulting from the explosion of the meteorite, occurred at 

 8.20 a.m., and one or the other was rept)rted from forty places in 

 our county. Several persons mentioned " other shocks both 

 prior to, and lat^r than, 8.20 a.m.," and Mr. Fordham remarks : 

 " These reports cannot be disregarded, although they can have 

 no possible explanation in connection with the meteorite." He 

 hints at the possibility of other meteorites having reached the 

 earth on that morning, but leaves the explanation an open 

 question. They must, however, be regarded as records of an 

 earthquake the cause of which will probably never be known, 

 but it is a curious fact which may possibly have some bearing 

 on this phenomenon, that luminous meteors — " fiery dragons " 

 they were at one time called — have frequently been observed at 

 or about the time of occurrence of earthquakes. 



Several shocks recorded as earthquakes in former times, which 

 have been accompanied by a noise likened to an explosion in the 

 air, may have been caused by the disruption of a bolide from the 

 heat generated by friction in its passage through our atmosphere, 

 as in the principal shock on this date. 



I7tli December, 1896. 



The great Hereford earthquake of the 17th of December, 1896, 

 was felt all over Hertfordshire and recorded from a far larger 

 number of places in the county than the greater Essex earthquake 

 of 1884. The shock was propagated from Hereford as its centre 

 over almost the whole of England and Wales and part of Ireland, 

 reaching Kent on the east, Cornwall on the south-west, and the 

 Isle of Man and Durham on the north, structural damage being 

 done so far north as Hartlepool. It was thoi'oughly investigated 

 by Dr. C. Davison, and a very complete and detailed report 

 of its effects in Hertfordshire was given to our Society by 

 Mr. Fordham, with a map showing the localities in the coiinty 

 where the shock was felt. 



Ihth March, 1905. 



The next earthquake recorded as having been felt in Hertford- 

 shire, and the last one to be noticed, occurred so recently as the 

 15th of March, 1905. The Rev. Canon H. Trotter, o'f Christ 

 Church Vicarage, Barnet, wrote in a letter of that date to ' The 

 Times ' : " A sharp shock of earthquake was felt by us to-day at 

 1.59 p.m. We were at lunch, and some friends from India and 

 Ceylon who were used to it were with us, confirming a fact which 

 was plain to me. The windows and house shook, and a loud 

 noise was heard. It lasted two or three seconds. I have since 

 been visiting in the pai-ish, and two persons had wondered what 

 it was, ' as it was quite unlike the thunder, and shook the 

 windows and floor.' My wife tells me that a lady at Hadley 

 spoke to her of it." 



