On the Caufe of Earthqualet* 343 



40. In the north-eatt part of St. Domingo It is obfcrved 

 that tlie calcareous ftones of the mountains are very hard, 

 and exhibit no traces of their origin : they muft be polifhed 

 before it is poffible to diftinguifli in them, as in other mar- 

 bles of the fame kind, corals, the polypiers of madrepores, 

 iiud the other chara<fleri(tic marks of calcareous ftones, 



41, The diftrids which front the well are thofe where 

 volcanoes manifeft thenifclves in preference to others. 



4Z. Next to the diitrids which front the weft, thofe which 

 Jock towards the fouth are thofe where fubterranean fires 

 ofteneft produce volcanoes. 



43. Extenfue diilrifils which look direflly to the eaft have 

 no volcanoes, unlefs a continent or large ifland be to the eaft 

 of tlie place where they might manifelt themlelves. 



44. The volcanoes of Sicily, according to feveral obferva- 

 tions made on different eruptions, feem to be only ramifica- 

 tions of Vefuvius fituated to the north-eaft of ^ina, Lipari, 

 and the other fpiracles in the wefterx:! part of the kingdom of 

 Naples. 



45. There are only two or three volcanoes in all thofe 

 pac|§ of the globe which are known, that incline towards the 

 iV)utn-eaft: they are thofe of the ifland of Bourbon and of 

 Kamtfchatka. 



46. In no part of the known world is there a volcano in a 

 fituation that looks towards the north. 



47. Of the great number of volcanoes found in fituations 

 looking to the weft, there are 42 in the courfe of 400 leagues 



cxpenfc, that pofterity niiglit know it in a pofitive manner; but, being in 

 iiafte to fct out for France, in cnnfequence of my being appointed a de- 

 puty of the colony, and as my c<jn(liiuentj pretended that the affembly oF 

 tlic ftates-general would be ended before my arrival if I did not fpeedily 

 depart, I was obliged to Itave tiiis machine in May \^^|), without being; 

 able to finilh it. It confifted chiefly of various movements which turned 

 four lari^o topper cylinders, caeh iix feet in height, with rheir floats and 

 other apparatus, accordin;; to the form of my irueceorographs, in order to 

 mark the height of the tides each day, every month, and every lunar year 

 for a century. 



The rifin^ and fallin^^ of the fca was to make the water enter and flow 

 out by a canal a foor in breadth : a fniall aperture of fix lines (jnly in dia- 

 meter placvd at the bottom of ihe well w;!S to receive the water of this 

 canal lio as to lujfer it to rife »nd f.ill only in a very (jentle manner. A 

 Jargc tjoat of copper hcrmcticaliy fcaled was to ferve as a moving power 

 10 wind Up tins clock each tide by means of a kind of feai>ement. 



But unfnrtunatily at the time the Cape was burnt my noufc was plun- 

 dered, and all the copper, iron, ami fteel work of this machine were car- 

 ried away ; fo that I have been told no vcftiges of it are left. A large 

 chcA full of manitleripis, the fruit of thirty years iubour in the arts and 

 fcicnc(;s, ufcful tg \\vi colony, lliarcd the fame facCi 



Y 4 in 



