June 27, 1878] 



NATURE 



241 



physiologists, but, considered as a lecture experiment, it is very 

 instructive. 



6. The Sensibility of the Telephone to Feeble Currents. — As an 

 example of this, I may instance the following experiment : — The 

 gastrocnemius muscle of a frog was placed on the non-polari- 

 sable electrodes of Dubois Reymond, so that the transverse 

 section touched the one electrode, and the longitudinal siurface 

 the other ; the current thus obtained, when sent through a re- 

 flecting galvanometer, was sufficient to drive the spot of light 

 from end to end of the scale, placed about three feet in front of 

 the galvanometer ; the galvanometer was then disconnected, and 

 a telephone placed in circuit ; it was then found that on making 

 and breaking the current, a faint but sharp click of the telephone 

 plate was heard. No click could be heard when the muscle was 

 removed and the two electrodes were connected with a bit of 

 moist blotting paper. The muscle current was therefore suffi- 

 cient to act on the telephone. The click was stronger when the 

 muscle was placed in contact with two platinum terminals, and 

 when a small carbon microphone was also placed in circuit. I 

 then tried to ascertain whether any effect on the click could be 

 produced by throwing the muscle into a state of tetanus, and I 

 found that in these circumstances no click could be heard at all. 

 In other words, during the state of muscular contraction the 

 muscle current was so diminished (the negative variation so 

 called) as to be unable so to affect the telephone as to produce 

 audible sounds. The telephone thus was used instead of the 

 galvanometer in a physiological experiment. 



John G. McKexdrick 

 Physiological Laboratory, 



University of Glasgow, June 17 



VOLCANIC PHENOMENA AND EARTH- 

 QUAKES DURING 1Z77 



A LTHOUGH the most important results from the statistics of 

 ■^^ volcanic phenomena and earthquakes are obtained only if 

 the observations and records spread over a period of many years, 

 yet a number of interesting facts are revealed even in the compi- 

 lation of the phenomena which occur during a single year. Prof. 

 C. W. C. Fuchs is most indefatigable in these compilations, and 

 he has recently published his statistical account of eruptions and 

 earthquakes for the year 1877. From this we note the following 

 details : — 



Dm-ing 1877 ^^^ important eruptions of different volcanoes 

 took place. The eruption of the South American volcano 

 Cotopaxi which lasted from June 25 to 28, was of a mast charac- 

 teristic natiure for this mountain. According to the phenomena 

 by which it was accompanied, it must be designated as an erup- 

 tion of ashes and mud. Although Alexander von Humboldt's 

 view, that the South American volcanoes do not produce lava, 

 has been refuted long ago (Cotopaxi sent forth a copious 

 stream of lava in 1853) yet the most frequent eruptions from this 

 mountain are those of ashes only, without a flow of lava. Streams 

 of mud are often combined with eruptions of this kind, and have 

 different causes ; in 1877 they particularly devastated the valleys 

 of Chila and of Tumbaco, and in the former many hundreds of 

 lives were lost through them. The ashes which the volcanos 

 ejected so filled the air that complete darkness reigned every- 

 w^here, and the dust was so fine that it entered even into the 

 interior of houses, although the doors and windows were shut. 



The most violent eruption of 1877 occurred upon the island of 

 Hawaii. Twice interrupted, the lava forced its way to the 

 surface in three different places, and thus furnished the most un- 

 deniable proof that one and the same bed or hearth of lava, may 

 produce eruptions in any of the nimierous craters of Hawaii, 

 according to time and circumstancesi The first part of the 

 eruption occurred on February 14 from a little side crater close 

 to the summit of Mauna Loa ; its duration was six hours, and 

 the height of the column of smoke, which assumed the shape of 

 an Italian pine-tree, was estimated at 5,000 metres. The second 

 part occun-ed on February 24, in the Bay of Kalukeakua, well 

 •known as the place in which Cook, the great discoverer of the 

 Sandwich Islands, was assassinated. This eruption was sub- 

 marine, and lasted two days ; its seat was in the middle of the 

 bay, which is surrounded by numerous prehistoric records of its 

 volcanic nature. On May 4 the lava found its usual way to the 

 surface through the lava lake of Kilauea, which has solidified for 

 some time. Here the wonderful phenomenon of high jets of lava 

 occurred, a phenomenon which is peculiar to this spot only. 

 During a period of six hours, now here, now there, vast jets 



liquid lava rose from the ground, and their number was so great 

 that at one time more than fifty simultaneous ones were counted, 

 some reaching an altitude of thirty metres. 



The third eruption was that of the small Japanese island- 

 volcano, Ooshima, and lasted from January 4 to February 6 or 7. 

 Violent subterranean noise and disastrous earthquakes accom- 

 panied the volcanic phenomena, particularly on January 20 and 

 on February 4 and 5, 



On June 1 1 an eruption occurred in a volcanic district almost 

 unkno\vn hitherto, viz., near the Colorado River in Southern 

 California, at some sixty miles' distance from Fort Yuma. The 

 last eruption was a submarine one, and happened on June 15, 

 near the Peruvian coast. 



The number of earthquakes during 1877, of which Prof. 

 Fuchs was able to obtain reliable accounts, amounts to 109, and 

 he remarks that this is very nearly the average number per year, 

 if compared to his annual compilations, which now extend over a 

 period of thirteen years. They were distributed over the seasons 

 of the year as follows : — 



December, January, February ... 33 earthquakes. 



March, April, May 31 ,, 



June, July, August II ,, 



September, October, November ... 34 ,, 



On fifteen days several earthquakes occurred simultaneously 

 in different places. Certain district?, such as Peru, Bolivia, 

 Tokio (Japan), the Island of Ooshima, Hawaii, &c., were visited 

 by real earthquake periods, consisting of a large number of more 

 or less violent shocks and detonations, while in others several 

 earthquakes, separated by long periods of tranquillity, were 

 observed. Among the latter we note — 



Judenburg (Styria) : January 4, December 27 and 28. 



Western Odenwald : January 2 and 10. 



Wald (Styria) : January 12, September 5. 



Rattenberg (Tyrol) : April 8, October 1 1. 



Bad Tiiffer (Styria) : April 4, 7, 24, 25, September 12. 



Callao : April 22, May 14, October 9. 



Western Switzerland : May 2, October 8, November 30. 



Lisbon : November i and 4, December 22. 



The earthquakes in Switzerland spread over a very consider- 

 able area. The first shocks on May 2 began near the Lake of 

 Zurich and proceeded in three directions, viz., as far as Glarus 

 and St. Gallen in the east, Miihlhausen in Alsace in the west, 

 and the Black Forest in the north. They were followed by 

 others more violent, and even more widely spread, on October 8. 

 These were felt most severely at Geneva, where many chimneys 

 were thrown to the ground ; but they were distinctly noticed in 

 the whole canton of Geneva, as well as in the Vaud, the Valais, 

 Neufchatel, Berne, Freiburg, and Basel, and also in the French 

 departments of Drome, Isere, Rhone, Savois, Aix, Jura, Doubs, 

 and even at Miihlhausen in Alsace. The extent of this earth- 

 quake towards the west was therefore a far more considerable 

 one than towards the east, where the Alps seem to have hindered 

 its progress ; only in the broad Rhone Valley it was felt as far 

 as Sitten. This is all the more remarkable since the Jura Moun- 

 tains seem to have been without influence regarding its progress 

 in the west. The greatest breadth of the area where the pheno- 

 menon was noticed, i.e. from Lyons to Sitten, measures some 

 200 kilometres, while its greatest length, i.e. from Valence to 

 Miihlhausen, is 337 kilometres. 



Another earthquake of large extension was the one felt "on 

 April 4 in the Eastern Alps ; it was observed from Lower Styria 

 as far as the junction of the Save with the Danube. 



The most violent earthquake of all was the one which occurred 

 on the South American coast on May 9, and in its whole 

 course, as well as with regard to the minor phenomena which 

 accompanied it, it can be compared only to the earthquake 

 which occurred in the same region on August 13, 1868. We 

 gave at the time details concerning this disastrous occurrence. , 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE 



At the distribution of prizes at the Yorkshire College last 

 Friday the reports were, on the whole, satisfactory, though the 

 institution has yet much to struggle against. Its great want is 

 want of funds, for, though it has had many generous givers, it 

 takes a great deal of money to start an institution of such mag- 

 nitude. The college, however, seems extending its influence. 



