l899-'00 TRANSACTIONS 121 



Kamtcliatka had a god called Tuil, who like themselves lived 

 amongst the ice and snow, and when he wanted exercise went 

 out with his dogs. These dogs were, it is supposed, infested 

 with insects, and when now and then they stopped to scratch 

 themselves, their movements produced shakings called earth- 

 quakes. In Scandinavia, which is essentially the land of 

 mythology, there was an evil genius named lyoki who, having 

 killed his brother Baldwin, was bound to a rock face upwards so 

 that the poison of a serpent should drop on his face. Loki's wife, 

 however, intercepted the poison in a vessel ; and it was only when 

 she had to go away to empty the dish that a few drops reached 

 the prostrate deity, and caused him to writhe in agony and shake 

 the earth. 



Referring again to Sir Charles lyyell, I find that in 1750 the 

 Rev. John Mitchell observes that earthquakes occur chiefly in vol- 

 canic regions, and many other writers of the last century concurred 

 with him that it is to volcanic action that earthquakes are due. 

 Later on Humboldt tells us that earthquakes and volcanoes result 

 from a common cause, which is ' ' the reaction of the fiery interior 

 of the earth on its rigid crust." Professor Hull, Professor of 

 Geology in the University of London, writing as late as 1892, 

 says : "The connection between earthquake shocks and volcanic 

 eruptions is now so generally recognised that it is unnecessary to 

 insist upon it here. All volcanic districts over the globe are 

 specially liable to vibrations of the crust : but at the same time it 

 is to be recollected that these movements visit countries occasion- 

 ally from which volcanoes, either recent or extinct, are absent ; in 

 which cases we may consider earthquake shocks to be abortive 

 attempts to originate volcanic action." We shall see later how- 

 ever that many geologists and seismologists do not altogether 

 agree with this opinion. Professor Milne says : 



" We know from observation that before a volcano bursts 

 into eruption there may be many ineffectual efforts to establish 

 a vent and each of these is announced by a sudden shaking 

 of the ground. The final and successful effort is usually 

 accompanied by movements more pronounced ; and from 

 these observations alone it is reasonable to suppose that 

 at least certain earthquakes are the immediate outcome of 

 subterraneous volcanic action. Should the effort be un- 



