ON THE FACTS AND THEORY OF EARTHQUAKE PHENOMENA. 105. 
Date 
A.D. 
Oxford and Cambridge Universities—First book.—Alfred the Great .......s..s0ccsees 900 
Arabic notation in Europe.—Wheel clocks in use.—The first crusade ..........00e.000 1100 
The three last crusades.—The sugar cane in Sicily.—Coal as fuel_—The corporation 
of London.—The Popish inquisition Saladin ............cccceeeeecceeeeneeeeeeeeee eens 1200 
English parliaments.—English in our law courts.—Gunpowder.—Cannon.— Mari- 
ners’ compass.—Printing.—Engraving.—Oil painting.—Coaches.—Roger Bacon. 
eNO ATR CT IMD Sn tartposrentsctsceritrrsechcsst te snspgntaeceloseaae co sncdavartecaeeigs 1400 
America.—Columbus's four voyages, from 1492-1504.—Cape of Good Hope.— 
Indian Sea.—Vasco di Gama, 1499.—John and Sebastian Cabot, 1497.—Publice 
road and bridges through Western and Southern Hwrope.—Luther.—The Re- 
MONEE TPOM UDR E RG tro easier ove Sees sens. aaraanalescawaesttyeses scot ecneserbo tiene chose osasaths 1500 
Logarithms.—W atches.— Barometer.— Telescope.— Mercator.—Italian book-keep- 
ing.—Jupiter’s satellites discovered. — Copernicus. — Galileo. — Magelhaen’s 
VEER PT DLO TAKES YOYHEE, LOSO oo... .cveccenseveescossccesceceasenecenresctestone sence 1600 
Royal Society. — Newton. —Sextant.— Chronometers. — Greenwich Observatory.— 
ea into Europe.— Clive.—Penn.—South Sea Company.— Cod and herring 
fisheries —Semaphore.—New style calendar 
MRC (UPSD one, forte esh tess cc cecsccate deerese tes sncastrasg scnutimaneiecsereinem 
Cook’s last voyage (1779) 
La Perouse (1788) 
MIPS ION Dee ahs cto ce cass toast asin etc (thane seh c teens cts cap sumnduals ve scangys sae 
STERRIETNTG (LTO) necr scce tate c sec cr cerecantattb nosing <ttessetansiapeesmecascn asap 
Napoleon.—Nelson.—Embassies to China and Japan.—Vaccination.—Gas lights. 
— Life-boats. — Public docks. — Public coaches and diligences.—Newspapers | 1800 
Acer eet ee deme eee e renee tases an sens eet nas eeeeeseeseeteeserssesseseeseesesees 
SUEROR Sry Petra tat Seve warccrtaterer create shone sadscesr tects e pte nstcs srcecchenet sey ttine to 
Steam navigation.—First steam-ship ‘Savana’ crosses the Atlantic, 1819.—Rail- { present 
way system, 1820.— Electric telegraph, 1830.— Law of tides—of storms.— | date. 
Gold in California—in Australia 
eee eee eee eee eee eee eee eee ee ee eee eee eee eee eee es 
No. II. 
(P. 57.) From the interest that belongs to observations of earthquakes in 
the Southern Hemisphere, hitherto so seldom recorded, I append the following 
extracts from the letter of an intelligent friend, referring to the New 
Zealand shock of 1854-55, written very soon after the event. The writer is 
a civil engineer. 
The New Zealand Earthquake. 
j 7 i “ Wellington, 23rd January, 1855. 
“Whilst sitting reading and talking at 8.50 p.m., I felt the house (which had been shaking 
with the occasional N.H. gusts so usual at Wellington) give a very extraordinary shake, 
which seemed to continue, and was accompanied by a fearful noise. I at once jumped up, 
rushed, as well as the violent motion would permit me, into the front garden, the motion 
increasing in violence, accompanied by a roaring as if a large number of cannon were being 
fired near together, and by a great dust caused by the falling chimneys. The motion at first 
_ was a sharp jerk back and forwards in a N.E. and 8.W. direction, increasing in extent and 
_ rapidity, until I got into the garden—say 25 seconds; it was then succeeded by a shorter 
and quicker motion at right angles, for nearly the same time, still increasing, but appearing 
to be perfectly in the plane of the horizon, This was followed by a continuation of both, 
asort of vorticose motion, exactly like the motion felt in an ill-adjusted railway carriage 
on a badly-laid railway at a very high speed, where one is swayed rapidly from side to side. 
This was accompanied by a sensible elevatory impulse; it gradually subsided; and the 
_ above, constituting the first and greatest shock, lasted altogether, I should say, 1/ 20” or 1} 
at Wellington. The earth continued to vibrate all night like the panting of a tired horse, 
_ with occasional shocks of some violence, decreasing in frequency and violence towards 
_ morning, and nearly all in the N.E. 8.W. direction, some of them a single jerk back and 
_ forwards like that of one railway carriage touching another, but generally they were 
followed by a vibration gradually decreasing. These lasted, with increasing intervals, until 
IT left Wellington on the ilth April. For the first week after the first shock, the vibration 
% ‘never wholly ceased. All the brick buildings in Wellington were overthrown, or so injured, 
_ 88 to necessitate their removal; the Hutt Bridge was thrown down; the hill-sides opposite 
‘ Wellington were very much shaken, as evidenced by the many bare patches with which 
_ they were chequered fully to the extent of one-third of their surface, whence trees had been 
Ft es ce 
