144 Mr Rooke on remarkable Agitations of the Sea. 



woman and child were drowned ; at Kauwale one woman lost 

 her life. The amomit of damage done has not yet been ascer- 

 tained, nor is it known how many times the sea rose and fell. 

 There was no shock of an eai'thquake felt at Hilo, or elsewhere, 

 although it is ascertained that the volcano of Kilauea was un- 

 usually distm'bed the previous evening, — the fires were sud- 

 denly quenched, and yavraing chasms were burst open in pre- 

 viously tranquil places, accompanied with violent explosions. 

 Inquiries have been made of masters of vessels who were to 

 the north and to the east of the islands on the 7th, at various 

 distances, but none of them noticed any thing unusual in the 

 sea or atmosphere. That this apparent submarine volcanic 

 action has taken place at some distance from the islands, is 

 proved by the wave striking the different islands simultane- 

 ously, and apparently in the same direction ; but at what dis- 

 tance we have no means at present to determine. Perhaps 

 the internal fires have found a new vent, which may be lay- 

 ing the foundation of a new gi'oup of islands in our neighbour- 

 hood. It is now 19^ years since a similar phenomenon oc- 

 curred here, but not so violently as the last, nor was it attend- 

 ed with any loss of life. On the second day after an affect- 

 ing scene was mtnessed at Wailuku (Maui) : the bodies that 

 had been recovered from the sea were conveyed together to 

 the church, followed by a great multitude : a funeral sermon 

 was preached on the occasion ; — this solemn warning made a 

 deep, and, it is to be hoped, a lasting impression on those who 

 witnessed it, of the uncertain tenure by which we hold our 

 lives." — Copied from the Ceylon Chronicle in the Literary Ga- 

 zette of 26th Jan. 1839. 



Oh Fhotograpliy, by Andrew Fyfe, M.D., F.R.S.E, Vice-Pre- 

 sident of the Society of Arts, Edinburgh.* Communicated 

 by the Society of Arts. 



When silver is dissolved in nitric acid, a colourless solution 

 of lunar caustic is produced, which, when evaporated to dry- 

 ness and exposed to light, becomes dark ; the colour depend- 



* Bead before the Society of Arts, on the 27th March and 10th and l/th 

 April 1839. 



