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ON THE FACTS AND THEORY OF EARTHQUAKE PHENOMENA, 133 
earthquake was very sensibly felt in Glasgow and its neighbourhood. Whether or 
not at either of these places any fissures were observed, into which the streams 
flowed for a time, we have been unable to learn. That there are fissures, or slips 
(as the geologists call them), which everywhere intersect the crust of the earth, is well 
known to every collier and miner ; and that there are such fissures in that part of the 
channel of the Clyde, where its waters have repeatedly disappeared (namely, between 
the uppermost fall and Corra Linn), is extremely probable. It might be thought, 
however, that, if a crack was produced, sufficient to allow the waters of a large 
river to escape, it would soon be discovered. But it is quite possible, that, after the 
lapse of a few hours, the crack might close again, and leave scarcely any external 
traces of its existence. Still, we cannot help thinking that some traces should be 
discoverable ; and this is just one of the points on which our provincial readers may 
be able to afford information. 
“* We shall conclude by suggesting one or two points, to which, if any of our readers 
would be so obliging as to investigate the subject, their attention may be directed ; 
and we doubt not, other points will occur to themselves :— 
“1, Have phenomena, similar to those which occurred in the Teviot, the Clyde, 
and the Nith, on the 27th of November last, been observed, on the same day, or 
about the same time, in any other rivers in Great Britain? 
«9. If so, at what hour were they first observed, and how long did they continue? 
“3, Where is the highest place, in the course of the river, where its waters dis- 
appeared ? 
««4, Was any crack, or fissure, or sinking, or disturbance of the ground, visible at 
that place ? 
“5. Was the shock of an earthquake felt, anywhere, about the period above 
mentioned ? 
«6. Was there much or any ice on the river, or its tributaries, where the aforesaid 
phenomenon occurred ? 
«<7, When the water began to flow again, did it rise to a higher level than it had 
been at previously? 
“8, Is there any appearance of a slip, fault, dyke, or trouble in the strata, at or 
near the place where the waters began to disappear? 
“©9. Has this phenomenon, or anything similar to it, been observed in former 
years—and when? 
«© We may also repeat the queries 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, with regard to the stoppage 
of the Teviot, Clyde, and Nith; for on the subjects of those queries with regard to 
the phenomenon of the 27th of November, we are as yet uninformed.” 
See also some analogous facts mentioned by Perrey in his memoir ‘‘ On the Earth- 
quakes of Europe, and adjacent parts of Africa and Asia, from 1801 to 1843” 
(Comptes Rendus, Sept. 1843, last page but one of the memoir). Most of these phe- 
nomena have occurred in the winter and in higher latitudes ; and although there are 
considerable difficulties in the way of the frost theory of accounting for them, and I 
incline to the view that it will hereafter be found to be the true one, yet there is 
sufficient to induce the question—Can it be possible that partial or local elevations, 
with or without fractures or earthquake, take place occasionally, and to such an 
extent as to change the levels of portions of the earth’s surface, and for a time 
derange the flow of rivers, or other such main channels of drainage ? 
Those who embrace the views of Von Buch and Humboldt, &c., and admit the 
possibility of bowrsouffié domes of trachyte, will be prepared to find no difficulty in 
imagining such comparatively small surfaces elevated and swollen up, by the assumed 
elastic forces beneath, so as to produce new and extemporaneous water-sheds ; and 
although I cannot join in such views, the subject appears to me worthy of more exa- 
mination at the hands of Vulcanologists and Seismologists. 
Nausea at the moment of shock.—This curious effect of earthquake shock upon 
human beings, and if accounts are to be credited, also upon some domestic animals, 
is deserving of more attention than it has yet received. 
The fact itself, as respects buman beings, admits of no doubt. I have direct 
testimony of the boys of a large boarding-school being suddenly awakened at night 
by one of the North American shocks, and the greater number suffering from imme- 
