60 REPORT— 190U. 



cutta, Madras, Bombay, San Fernando (Spain), Cairo, Mauritius, Batavia, 

 Cape of Good Hope, and Tokio, have been printed and issued as a circular 

 to all co-operating statious, to those who have assisted this committee in 

 their work, and to persons expressing a wish to possess the same. With 

 the object of finding permanent quarters at which a central observing 

 station might be established in England, at the suggestion of this Com- 

 mittee its Secretary, in company with Mr. Horace Darwin, visited the 

 Office of Works, the Treasury, and the Admiralty, and, with Major 

 Leonard Darwin, the Horse Guards. Many sites were discussed, and 

 through the kindness of Colonel Hildebrand, R.E., and commanding 

 officers of the Royal Engineers facilities were given to visit forts and 

 other buildings at Chatham, Folkestone, Porchester, and in the Isle of 

 Wight, 



A report on these visits and on those to other places, together with a 

 reference to steps generally which have been taken to find the required 

 site, has been drawn up for the Council of the British Association. 



In consequence of the generosity of Mr. M. H. Gray, an instrument 

 room is now being built at Shide. 



II. Analyses of Large Earthquakes recorded in \%^'d. By John Milne. 

 1. Nature and Object of these Analyses. 



In 1S97 the Seisraological Investigation Committee of the British 

 Association issued to the directors of observatories and other persons in 

 various parts of the world a circular in which they called attention to the 

 desirability of observing earthquake waves which had travelled great 

 distances. It was pointed out that similar instruments should be used at 

 all stations, and the type recommended as being simple to work, and one 

 that yielded results sufficiently accurate for the main objects in view, was 

 described by the Committee in a report (see Reports of the British 

 Association, 1897, p. 137 et seq.). 



The result of this appeal is that instruments have been forwarded to 

 the following twenty-six stations : — Shide, Kew, Toronto, Victoria, B.C., 

 San Fernando (Spain), Madras, Bombay, Calcutta, Mauritius, Cairo, Cape 

 of Good Hope, Tokio, Batavia, Arequipa, Swarthmore College (Phila- 

 delphia), Cordova (Argentina), New Zealand (two instruments). Paisley, 

 Mexico, Beyrut, Honolulu, Trinidad, Melbourne, Sydney, Johns Hopkins 

 University (Baltimore). 



For the year 1899 registers were received from the first thirteen of 

 these stations. With the exception of those relating to Toronto and 

 Victoria, these have been communicated to observers by the (Jonnnittee 

 as a circular. This circular is independent of the present report, but 

 continuous with registers contained in corresponding reports subsequent 

 to 1895. 



A glance at these registers, or tables based upon them (see pp. 80-87), 

 shows that while certain earthquakes have evidently shaken the whole 

 surface of our globe, and have probably disturbed the .same throughout its 

 mass, there are others of less intensity which have only affected certain 

 parts of the same. For example, one set of earthquakes were only 

 recorded at stations in Western Europe, whilst another set were appa- 

 rently confined to the Indian Ocean. In the following paper the earth- 

 ;]uakes referred to are only those which were recorded in England, from 



ci 



