450 



NA TURE 



[Ski'Tic.mukr lo, iS^d 



this suljmarine slope, which forms one of the longest and sharpest 

 contours on the surface of the earth, earthquakes are frequent. 

 Some opinions have been expressed that the disturbance had its 

 origin in a sudden collapse of the sides of the subterranean crater 

 known as the Tuscarora Deep, a triangle-like depression off the 

 north-east coast of Jajian, which has a depth of 4665 fathoms, or 

 over five and a half statute miles. This deep, however, lies too 

 far away from the supposed site of the generation of the wave. 

 The kind of disturbance that probably occurred in the bed of the 

 ocean may be illustrated by what happened on land at Bandai- 

 San in 1886. Here millions of tons of earth and rocks were 

 hurled in a given direction with such force that an enormous 

 wave of solid material traversed a distance of many miles at 

 great velocity. Any similar disturbance happening at the bot- 

 tom of the ocean might fully account for what took place on the 

 coast of Japan in June last. The earthquake which took place 

 in Japan in 1891, the shock of which was so great as to be sensible 

 in Europe, resulted in a fracture upon the surface of the earth 

 for a distance of from forty to sixty miles. The ground, which 

 on one side rises from 4000 to 6000 feet, was lowered rela- 

 tively to that on the other side from 20 to 30 feet ; river-beds 

 were compressed, and valleys narrowed by the lateral movement. 

 That great submarine earthquakes result in the change of the 

 ocean I'cd, is well known to those who have charge of cables 

 near volcanic regions. It has been ascertained that when a cable 

 has been broken at two points, the soundings have shown that 

 there has been so great an increase in the depth that it has been 

 necessary to select a fresh line for the cable in order to avoid the 

 site of the disturbance. That the movement originated in the 

 bed of the ocean, is evidenced by the fact that deep-sea .shell- 

 fish were found stranded on the high ground swept by the waves ; 

 and that in one place the fishermen found their nets floating on 

 the surface upside down, they evidently having been cast up by 

 the submarine disturbance. 



Ever since the ninth century records exi.st of earthquake- 

 waves which have devastated these coasts, but in no case have 

 the results been so disastrous as on this occasion. The great 

 earthquake- wave of 1891 caused the loss of life of over 7000 

 persons. 



The exact locality of the disaster extends from the island of 

 Kinkwa-San on the south (N. lat. 38° 15', E. long. 141° 30') to 

 Hachinohe on the north (N. lat. 40" 30', E. long. 131° 30'), the 

 coast here assuming a convex shape. Between these points 

 nearly every town and village were visited by the wave. The 

 general direction of the w ave appears to have been north by east. 

 Of previous examples of earthquake-waves, that due to the 

 Lisbon earthquake of 1755 is matter of history. This wave 

 rose to a height of forty feet in the Tagus, leaving the bed of the 

 river dry as it rolled inwards. It was experienced at sea 120 

 miles west of St. Vincent, shaking vessels .so violently that men 

 were thrown from the deck ; and its effect reached as far as 

 this country, the water rising Irom eight to ten feet on the coast 

 of Cornwall. 



In 1868, and again in 1877, earthquake-waves rolled over the 

 coasts of Peru, causing great devastation and loss of life. On 

 the former occasion the U.S. warship Watterec was thrown up 

 on the coast and carried inland one and a half miles ; the second 

 wave, in 1877, carrying it inland a still further distance. 

 These waves, originating at a distance of about 9000 miles, off 

 the South American coast, took nearly twenty-four hours before 

 their effect reached the coast of Japan, where they rose and fell 

 at intervals varying from ten minutes to half an hour, alarming 

 the inhabitants and causing them to fly to the high land. 



The volcanic upheaval at Krakatoa, in 1883, shook the 

 whole of Java, and the sea-wave inundated the coasts of that 

 country and Sumatra, causing a loss of 36,000 lives. The lava, 

 mud, and ashes from this eruption darkened the air for fifty 

 miles, and reddened the light of the sun for months after the 

 catastrophe. The coast-lines were altered, and peaks on which 

 lighthouses had been erected disappeared. 



Several instances were given in Nature of March 7, 1895, of 

 earthquake-waves having been encountered by vessels at sea ; 

 and again, in November 10, 1895, of an earthquake-wave which 

 burst on the shores of Madeira in 1S91. 



In January 1894, the Norinaiiia (of the Hamburg-American 

 line), when 750 miles out from New York, encountered one of 

 ihe.se waves. A .stiff gale which had been blowing had 

 moderated, and, while the vessel was running at full speed, an 

 enormous wave was observed " masthead high " coming forward 

 like a .solid wall, and reaching as high as the bridge, wrecking 



NO. 1402, VOL. 54] 



the upper-deck-hou.se, containing the music-room, ladies' room, 

 and ofiicers' quarters, and injuring several of the crew. 



Numerous other instances could lie quoted of these waves, 

 which are frequently erroneously called "tidal waves," but 

 which no doubt have their origin in some volcanic disturbance in 

 the bed of the sea. 



THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION 

 MEETING, 1896. 

 T^HE forty-fifth annual meeting of the American Association 

 •'■ took place from .\ugust 24 to 29, at Bufifalo, at which 

 town it has now- met four times, and although one of the smallest 

 attended of recent meetings, seems tn have been a very pleasant 

 gathering. In most of the Sections full complements of com- 

 munications were presented, notaljly so in those devoted to 

 Chemi.stry, Botany, Geology, Anthropology, and Physics. The 

 arrangements, a programme of which has reached us, appear to 

 have been made with great care, and evidently no pains were 

 spared to ensure the success of the meeting. Space will not 

 permit us to print the addresses of the retiring President and 

 Vice-Presidents ; suflice it to say that they well sustain the 

 standard of merit fixed by previous deliverances. 



The retiring President, Mr. Edward W. Morley, took as the 

 subject of his address "A Closed Chapter in Science." He 

 spoke of the investigations into atomic weights of elements, in 

 reference to their mutual relation so long supposed to be 

 expressed in integrals in accordance with Prout's hypothe.sis. 

 This hypothesis is now seen to be erroneous, so that it marks a 

 closed chapter. The careful and repeated investigations of 

 Morley himself and of others for many years, but mainly during 

 the decade since the last Bufl'alo meeting, have proved that the 

 ratio of atomic weights of hydrogen and oxygen, for instance, 

 can only be expressed by a fraction, and is very nearly that of 

 I lo I5'88 : it cannot possibly be that of i to 16. The same 

 result has been found for many other elements with sufficient 

 accuracy to establish the conclusions finally, and beyond the 

 possible limits of error. 



Mr. Carl Leo Mees, Vice-President of Section B (Physics), 

 spoke on " Electrolysis and some associated Problems in 

 Molecular Dynamics." In Section C (Chemistry), Mr. W. A. 

 Noyes took as the subject of his address ' ' The Achievements of 

 Physical Chemistry." Mr. F. O. Marvin, in Section D 

 (Mechanical Science and Engineering), discoursed on "The 

 Artistic Element in Engineering." The subject of the address 

 of Mr. B. K. Emerson, before Section E (Geology and 

 Geography), was "Geological Myths." Section F (Zoology) 

 was addressed by Mr. Theodore Gill on "Some (Questions of 

 Nomenclature." In Section G (Botany) the address was 

 by Mr N. L. Britton on "Botanical Gardens." Miss Alice 

 C. Fletcher spoke to Section H (Anthropology), on "The 

 Emblematic Use of the Tree in the Dakotan Group " ; and 

 Section I (Social and Economic Science) was addressed by Mr. 

 Wm. R. Lazenby, on " Horticulture and Health." 



It will have been noticed that no mention is made in the fore- 

 going list of Section \ (Mathematics and .\stronomy) ; but we 

 are informed that Mr. Wm. E. Story, the \ice-President of the 

 Section, was not p^resent at the meeting, and his proposed 

 address was not received, and could not therefore be delivered. 

 The Vice-President of Section F (Zoology), instead of speaking, 

 as he intended, on " .\nimals as Chronometers for Geology," 

 spoke on nomenclature. 



A commemorative meeting was held in recognition of the 

 sixty years of professional work of Pr.if. James Hall. Prof. 

 Hall was present at the meeting of the Association, as was 

 another founder of the Association, Dr. Charles E. West, of 

 Brooklyn. 



Three founders of the Association have died within a few- 

 months, viz. Bela Hubbard, Thomas T. Bouve, and Josiah D. 

 Whitney. 



The nominating Committee have presented the name of 

 Wolcott Gibbs for President, and they recommend that the next 

 meeting be a merely formal one, to be held at Toronto, August 

 17, 1897, to welcome the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science. 



Among the business transacted was a resolution deprecating 

 legislation against vivisection ; while another favoured the metric 

 standard of weights and measures, and recommended further 

 legislation to secure its adoption. 



