Oct. 16, 1885.] 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



331 



up the nitric acid, the first rains wash it all away ; then, 

 again, all the winter through, if it is mild and wet, there 

 is a constant loss, which is reduced when the weather 

 hardens, and the ground temperature falls to 0° C. The 

 natural remedy is always to keep something growing on 

 the land ; but this is not advisable on some classes of soil ; 

 and as other and great benefits accrue from a bare fallow, 

 the advantages may, perhaps, more than balance the dis- 

 advantages ; more than this I shall not say, as I might 

 enter within the bounds of a controversy unacceptable to 

 the readers of Knowledge. 



EARTHQUAKE REGIONS. 

 Bt Richaed a. Proctoe. 



EARTHQUAKES occur in all regions adjacent to active 

 volcanoes. Thus the neighbourhood of Vesuvius, 

 Etna, and Teneriffe is infested by subterranean convulsions, 

 which also are frequent over the neighbourhood of the 

 Greek Archipelago, and in Syria. In fact it seems pro- 

 bable that the whole of the Mediterranean basin and the 

 surrounding lands for a distance of many miles from 

 its shores form a single earthquake district, whereof 

 Teneriffe, Vesuvius, Etna, StromboH, the Archipelagic 

 and the Syrian volcanoes are the safety-valves. Then 

 there is another earthquake region surrounding Hecla 

 or — some say — extending in a long line from the Jan 

 Mayen volcano, through Hecla, the Azores, and the 

 Cape Verde Islands, to St. Helena and Tristan d'Acimha. 

 Japan, Sumatra, Java, and the islands of the East 

 Indian Archipelago are liable to fearful earthqiiakes, — 

 some of the most destructive of which have occurred 

 within the past few years. In the West Indies there is 

 another earthquake region, to which must be referred 

 those which have recently taken jjlace. Probably this 

 district belongs to the great earthi|iiukf i-tgiou in 

 Columbia and Peru, around the celcliratiil vnlcinioes 

 Cotopaxi and Chimborazo. The .south- west irn district 

 of the United States is also liable to earthquake 

 shocks, apparently referable to the great Mexican 

 volcanoes. There is one region of the earth in which 

 subterranean shocks occur which cannot be referred to 

 the neighbourhood of volcanic vents. Upper India and 

 parts of Western India are liable to frequent earthquakes, 

 insomuch that between the years 1800 and 1842 no less 

 than 162 earthquakes were recorded in these places. 

 Undoubtedly we may trace these disturbances to the 

 great mountain chains which traverse this part of Asia. 

 The subterranean forces which upheaved the great 

 Hiniahiyan range, for instance, may be assumed to be 

 still ixisttiil, though now for a while dormant, or 

 " pi iIi;l| >, " s;i\ s Sir John Herschel, " expended in main- 

 tai?iini;- till' liiiiiiilnyas at their present elevation." 



On the othur hand there are some regions wholly fi-ee 

 from earthquake shocks. Among such may be mentioned 

 the great alluvial plains of America east of the Andes, 

 the plains on the north-ea.st of Eurojie, and the northern 

 parts of Asia. There are monuments, natural and arti- 

 ficial, which prove the absolute fixity of some regions. 

 The slightest shock would have flung down that strange 

 mass which is perched upon the .summit of the Peter 

 Dot to mountain, 1,500 feet above the sea-level. Pompcy's. 

 Pillar justifies the assertion of Strabo that Egypt has 

 long been free from earthquakes ; thougli nothing short 

 of subterranean convulsion could have flung down the 

 more ancient obelisks which lie prostrate amidst tlic 

 sands of Western I^ower Egypt. Even that masterpiico 



of Egyptian labour, the Great Pyramid, though sur- 

 passing all other human erections in stability, shows un- 

 mistakable evidence of the slow action of subterranean 

 forces*. In Mexico, again, in the very centre seemingly 

 of earth-rocking forces, there is a region in which rocks 

 of grotesque figure attest the perfect immunity which 

 the region has enjoyed even from inconsiderable shocks. 

 The Cheese-ring in Devonshire is another instance of the 

 kind of evidence we are considering. 



And as there are instances of regions near to a dis- 

 turbed district which yet are free from shocks, so there 

 are spots liable to frequent shocks though the neigh- 

 bouring country for miles on every side is seldom (if 

 ever) disturbed. Such is the district — very limited in 

 extent — near Comrie, in Perth, where a year scarcely 

 ever passes without a shock being experienced. 



It would seem also as if regions free from subterranean 

 disturbance for many centuries must not count upon 

 permanent immunitj'. For a violent earthquake will 

 often open out, as it were, a passage for subterranean 

 impulses to new regions. " The circles of concussion 

 enlarge," says Humboldt, "in cfmsequence of a single 

 extremely violent shock." Since Cumana was destroyed 

 (December 14, 1797) every shock of the southern coast 

 is felt in the peninsula of Maniguarez, which before 

 suffered no disturbance. Again, in the successive 

 earthquakes which traversed (in ISll-l.'i) the valley 

 of the Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oliin rivt rs, it was 

 noteworthy how the motion travelled furtlur and farther 

 northward on each occasion. It seemed as if the subter- 

 ranean forces were gradually breaking a way through 

 successive barriers. 



THE COLOSSAL ELEPHANT OF CONEY 

 ISLAND.t 



THE reputation that the American people have long 

 had of always doing everything on the grandest 

 possible scale has lately received a very substantial con- 

 firmation in the two monuments that have recently been 

 bestowed upon this country. The Washington Monu- 

 ment and the statue of Liberty are the greatest works of 

 art in height and magnitude that have been raised by 

 the hands of man since the Tower of Babe). In addition 

 to these there is a third monument, facetiously styled 

 the eighth wonder of the world, that has recently been 

 raised in the neighbourhood of New York, that for one 

 I'eason deserves to be named in the same connection witii 

 the foregoing — namely, on account of its size. The 

 Colossal Elephant at Coney Island has not been favoured 



been 



unique design and origina 



aM,ckc'o.npany, 

 tmv that uould 



niliul artistically, 

 (111- noted fore- 



\ .liiae from the' 

 gi-otesque ■ 



^,•1 



ed i 

 il.'is should 

 ig of such 

 called into 



of the post-pyramid <»ft," says Professo: 

 bo ;ibont thirty-seven seconds," as given 

 ■ (heat ryramid. 



