VULCANOLOGY AND SEISxMOLOGY. 29T 



The Norwegiau savaut, Dr. Rauscb, quakes, in the Norwegian press,. 

 an appeal for more careful observation au<l report of earthquakes oc- 

 curring in that region, with a view to preserving a record of their dura- 

 tion, extent, etc. (Nature, xxxiii, 424 ) 



In his twenty-first annual report (Min, u. petrog. Mitt., Viii, 28) Dr. 

 0. W. C. Fuchs has collected the statistics of vulcanology and seis- 

 mology for 1885. The volcanic activitj'^ of the year is regarded as un- 

 important and is dismissed with brief references to the eruption of Ve- 

 suvius in May; of Cotopaxi in July, by which one hundred and two 

 houses weie destroyed ; and of Smeru (Java) in April, by which a few 

 lives were lost. His account of the earthquakes of the year includes two 

 hundred and thirty items, which are distributed in time as follows: Win- 

 ter, ro (December, 20; January, 40; February, 30); spring, 61 (March. 

 27; April, 23; May, 11); sun5mer, 40 (June, 18; July,10; August, 12); au- 

 tumn, 39 (September, 15; October, 14; November, 10). On twenty-six 

 days earthquakes were reported at two or more places. Of these earth- 

 quakes the following receive more special mention : The series of shocks 

 in southern Spain, which were a sequel to the great earthquakes of 

 December, 1884, and continued to be felt at intervals far into 1885 ; an 

 earthquake in Switzerland April 13, which affected an area of 20,000 

 square kilometers, and had an estimated intensity at the epicentrum of 

 VIII, Eossi-Forel scale ; in Steiermark May 1 and September 22, with 

 limits well defined ; in Cashmere May 24, by which 3,081 lives were lost 

 and 70,000 houses injured ; and in Algeria December 3 to 13, where vil- 

 lages were destroyed and numerous persons jierished in the ruins. The 

 list contains only seven American earthquakes, the deficiency being no 

 doubt due to the same cause as noted in reference to the previous re- 

 port. The one reported under date of January probably should be 

 January 2, Maryland, and January 3, New Hampshire. In an appendix 

 he adds seventy-three items for 1883, nearly every one relating to Ital- 

 ian stations, and one hundred and twenty-one for 1884, of which many 

 are Italian and forty-six are American, derived from Eockwood's lists 

 for that year. In regard to these latter it must be noted that the geo- 

 graphical names and details have suffered seriously in the transfer to 

 a foreign language, so that it is in some cases difficult to recognize for 

 what they are intended. 



Professor Eockwood's fifteenth Annual Notes on American Earth- 

 quakes (Am. Jour. Sci., xxxii, 7) gives a summary for the year 1885. It 

 is almost wholly occupied with North America, containing only five 

 references to places south of the Isthmus of Panama. It gives 71 

 items classified in time, as follows: Winter, 24 (December, 8; Jan- 

 uary, 9; February, 7); spring, 22 (March, 8; April, 11; May, 3); sum- 

 mer, 14 (June, 3; July, 6; August, 5); autumn, 11 (September, 2; Octo- 

 ber, 7; November, 2). In geographical distribution they were: Cana- 

 dian provinces, 8; New England, 5; Atlantic States, 9; Mississippi 

 Valley, 3; Pacific coast of United States, 34; Alaska, 2; Mexico, 1; 



