150 REPORT — 1895. 



the area which had been shaken and the approximate centre from whicli 

 each disturbance had originated. To render the observations more com- 

 plete, one or two watches were given to telegraph operators (a few of the 

 more enthusiastic observers provided themselves with good time-keepers), 

 and seismographs were sent to the following stations : — 



Nagasaki ..... 



Kobe 



Yokokama ..... 



Chiba ...... 



Kisararlza ..... 



Kamaishi ..... 



Hakodate 



Sapporo ..... 



From these observations it was definitely shown 

 number of earthquakes had their origin along the seaboard or beneath the 

 ocean, that the volcanic and mountainous regions of Japan are singularly 

 free from shakings, and that the country might be ilivided into seismic 

 regions (' Trans. Seis. Soc.,' vol. vii. Part II.). The establishment of these 

 and other important results in 1884 led the Imperial Meteorological 

 Department, then under the direction t>f Mr. Arai Ikunosuke, to under- 

 take the continuation and extension of investigations, the labour and 

 expense attending which were altogether too great to be borne by an 

 individual. On the retirement of Mr. Arai the work was continued by 

 Mr. K. Kobayashi, the present Director of the Bureau, and it is to his 

 kindness that I am indebted for access to the vast amount of anaterial 

 that has been accumulated. The observing stations from which this mate- 

 rial is being derived, and wliich for the last two years h.as been pouring in 

 at a rate too fast for analysis, are as follows : — 



Giiiiyakusbo (district oflices). (As several of tlie smaller of 

 tliese are controlled b}- their larger neighbours, postcards 



and letters are only forwarded from 527) .... 804 



Keiie.ho (oflices at the cajjitals of provinces) . . . .43 



Ell (I'lrge cities), Tokio, Kj-oto, and Osaka .... 3 



Ligln-liouses .......... Co 



Light -ships .......... 3 



Meteorological Observatories (of these 31) have instruments). 52 



Total number of reporting stations . . 908 



The information derived from these stations, which are distributed 

 over the Empire, an area of 140,000 square miles, is from time to time 

 supplemented by records obtained from stations under the control of the 

 Imperial University and those of private observers. 



When an earthquake is felt, according to the area over which it has 

 extended, the number of postcards, letters, and diagrams which may be 

 received at the central station Aary between three or four and several 

 hundreds. From the catalogue it will be seen that between 1885 and 

 1892 more than 8,331 shocks have been recorded, and for each of 

 these a separate map has been drawn. To draw these maps, which has 

 been entirely the work of the Meteorological Department, it is possible 

 that 80,000 to 100,000 documents were examined. For reducing this 

 bulky mass of matter into the comparatively small and accessible form in 

 which it has been jDublished, my thanks are due to Mr. M. Suzuki, a former 



