READINGS IN i 



301 





In this rarthquuko a remarkable proof won offered of the fact 

 above alluded to, that tho wave is moro readily propagated in 

 HOIDO strata than in <.t li.-r-. Tin- <limtructivo effect was confined 

 to those houses which were built on thu Tertiary strata. Tho 

 lower part of the city, which rest* on blue clay, was moat 

 Bororely shattered ; whereas that part of the city which was 

 built on tho limestone or basalt escaped. Tho undulatory 

 movement passed along tho earth's surface at tho rate of 

 twenty mile* HI. hour. Tho sea-wave rolled about four miloa in 

 that tim<>. This wave is generally tho cause of at) much loss of 

 life as tho actual violence of tho shock. This may well bo sup- 

 posed from tho fact that at Cadiz the wave was sixty feet high. 

 This wave is largest when tho point of disturbance u under the 

 sea; then tho sea-bound towns are subject to a double inunda- 

 tion. Tho undulatory movement, when it reaches the shore, 

 causes a groat commotion, as, when a basin of water it moved, 

 the water does not at once participate in the motion, and there- 

 fore washes up the sides of tho vessel. This disturbance no 

 sooner subsides than tho sea-wave, which haa followed tho 

 " ground " wave at a slower pace, rushes in upon tho shore, its 

 waters black with tho sediment of the ocean-bed. 



South America has for centuries been the scene of repeated 

 earthquakes. A few years after Lima was first built, in 1582, the 

 city was ruined, and since then the catastrophe has been re- 

 peated some twenty times. In all the cities of that neighbourhood 

 tho ecclesiastical year is full of anniversaries commemorating 

 terrible overthrows or marvellous escapes. But none of these 

 calamities seem comparable to that which paralysed the country 

 a few years ago. Two shocks, on the 13th and 16th of August, 

 1868, passed over Peru and Ecuador, ruining every town and 

 city, and leaving between two and three hundred thousand dead 

 to putrify in the tropical sun. Arica, a seaport town, was com- 

 pletely covered by the wave. The writer of these pages hears 

 from one who survived that, upon tho first shock, at 5.15 in the 

 afternoon, he, with some others, jumped upon a barge, when tho 

 great wave carried them on its crest completely over the town 

 above the spire of the church, and left them unharmed nearly a 

 mile inland. 



The chief geological effect of earthquakes is shown in the 

 permanent alteration of the level of the land. In 1822 the coast 

 of Chili was raised some two feet, while further inland the ele- 

 vation was more than double this quantity. In 1855 the coast 

 of New Zealand for ninety miles evidenced a rise of nine feet. 

 (For many other facts illustrative of the alteration of level a 

 result of an earthquake in all parts of the world, chap, xxviii. 

 of Vol. II. of Lyell's " Principles " may bo consulted.) 



But that gradual alteration of level which is not accompanied 

 by convulsive movements is more important than these local 

 variations. It is difficult to establish these facts, because we 

 have no standard which is not itself subject to alteration. Care- 

 ful investigation of the coast of Sweden has shown that most of 

 the Scandinavian peninsula is rising at the rate of four feet a 

 century. The coast is favourable for the observation. There 

 are no tides in the Baltic, and the cliffs descend perpendicularly 

 into the sea ; the water-level has been repeatedly marked, and 

 the rise judged by its change. In few other places arc the 

 same advantages. Mr. Darwin has suggested an ingenious 

 proof of tho sinking of the ocean-bed in the Pacific. It is known 

 that the coral insect cannot live below twenty fathoms, the 

 pressure of the water beyond that depth being too great for its 

 existence. How, then, can the fact be accounted for that many 

 of tho coral structures have their foundations resting on the 

 ocean-bed at profound depths ? There is only one reasonable 

 solution of the difficulty, that they build upon a sinking founda- 

 tion, and this very fact impels their labour and increases the 

 domains they conquer from the sea. 



We have reserved one well-known proef of this repeated 

 oscillation of the earth's crust, that of the Temple of Serapis, 

 near Pnzznoli, in the Bay of Naples. 



Tho ruins of this temple consist of three pillars of marble 

 hewn out of solid blocks. They are rather more than forty feet 

 high. 



The history of this remarkable temple seems to be this : 

 From certain inscriptions discovered in tho neighbourhood we 

 learn that, in 105 B.C., a temple dedicated to Serapis existed 

 on the sea-shore. In 1828 the handsome mosaic pavement 

 of this temple was discovered five feet beneath that from 

 which tho pillars rise. The existence of this pavement indicates 



that the land most hare dunk, and the prevent floor hare 

 raised above tho level of the water. In the early part of the 

 third century, the Emperor Alexander Severn* beautified the 

 temple, of which thews are the pillar*. 



At what time the temple was deserted we cannot conjecture ; 

 but in 1740 the following facts were brought to light by exca- 

 vating : That when tho sea broke in, the salt-water oaued a hot- 

 spring which existed to throw down a dark calcareous deposit, 

 two feet thick ; above this a layer of volcanic tufa reposed, which 

 must have been ejected from a neighbouring volcano; this deposit 

 is not regular, varying from five to nine feet in thickness. The 

 eruption seems to have formed a barrier which kept out the 

 waters of the sea, so that the hot-spring continued to deposit it* 

 carbonate of lime, but without any marine admixture ; thus 

 about two feet more were added to the matter which embedded 

 the bottom of tho columns. More volcanic tufa was now placed 

 upon the lime deposits, either by a storm or another eruption, 

 making a total deposit of eleven feet. All this time the land had 

 been sinking. Tho sea now surrounded tho pillars, which finally 

 sank nine feet moro; thus half their height was above the water, 

 and of that which was beneath the surface eleven feet was 

 embedded and nine exposed to tho water ; in this apace the 

 pillars were perforated by a bivalve, Lithodomus, which is indi- 

 cated in the figure by the dotted parts. Thus, if we include the 

 lower pavement, the hind must have sunk twenty-five feet from 

 the commencement of the Christian era. When the upheaval 

 began we cannot say, but we know it was in progress in 1530, 

 and in 1838 the pavement was again above the sea-level. The 

 downward movement has again commenced at the rate of about 

 one inch annually. 



Here, then, wo have an evidence of a structure which has 

 undergone an upheaval and subsidence of at least twenty feet, 

 and still stands to attest the quietness and regularity of the 

 movement. 



From the cases cited, seeing the difficulty of proof on account 

 of the peculiar circumstances of position requisite for such proof, 

 we may consider that this motion of the earth's crust is far 

 more general than we suppose, and may fairly be required to 

 account for the successive upheaval and depression necessary 

 for bringing the aqueous rocks to form the surface of continents. 



READINGS IN FRENCH. IX. 



F (E D O E A. 



SECTION I. 



C'ETAIT en mil huit cent douze ; ! Napoleon, a la tete de ses 

 troupes victorieuses dans les plaines de la Moskowa, etait entro 

 dans 1'antiquo capitale de 1'empire des czars, et de la meuacait 

 la nouvelle ville fondee par Pierre-le-Grand. 2 Pousse par nn 

 patriotismo fanatique, 3 le gonverneur do Moscon, Rostopchin. 

 prit alors cette resolution qui a porte un coup si fuueste au 

 succes de nos armes, celle d'incendier 4 la ville, dont 1'emperenr 

 Alexandre lui avait confie la garde. Nous ne raconterons pas 

 toutes les circonstances de cet cpouvantable drame. Chasaes de 

 leurs demeures 5 en feu, croulant sous les efforts des flammes, 

 c'etait un spectacle affreux que de voir tons les habitants mele* 

 a nos soldats, forces de fnir en emportant ce qu'ils pouvoient 

 derober a la violence de 1'incendie. 6 



La petite fille d'un negociant, a peine ogee de six ans, se 

 trouva perdue dans le tumulto. 7 Abandonnee, transie de froid, 

 elle errait <;a et (a) la 8 a travers les rues que le feu epargnait 

 encore. Son pere et sa mere avaient disparu, 9 et pereonne no 

 semblait vonloir la recueillir. La nnit se passa oinsi touto 

 entiere ; et quand le jour commenqa a poindre, Foedoro, extenuee 

 de fatigue et de faim, s'affaissa devant la porte d'une eglise 10 et 

 st prit (6) a dormir. 



Sans donte elle ne se serait plus reVeillee, 11 la mort seroit 

 venue la snrprendre, si une vivandiere, qui par hasard vint (c) 

 etablir son petit marche de vivres 1 * pres de cette eglise, ne 1'ent 

 apercue et ne se fut sentio touchee de compassion 11 pour la 

 malhenreuse enfant. Elle anssi avait des enfants! 14 C'est 

 ponrqnoi elle s'empressa de prodiguw ses soins a la petite 

 orpheline. 15 Fcedora ne savait comment lui temoigner sa 

 reconnaissance. 16 Elle devint bientot pour sa seoonde mere une 

 aide fort intelligente. Pen a pen, elle apprit (d) a comprendre 

 sa bienfaitrice 1 " et put (e) lui exprimer tout oe quo son coeur 

 renfermait de reconnaissance et d'amour. 



