1906-7. TRANSACTIONS. " 143 



trembling down there now, especially in the vicinity of Eboulle- 

 ment, near Murray Bay, than elsewhere. As an earthquake risk 

 for any of our large cities, Quebec would have to pay the highest 

 premium. 



Should an earthquake visit Ottawa, the chance is remote, 

 the Observatory would be more affected than the Parliament 

 Buildings, for the former is within stone's throw of a line of weak- 

 ness in the earth — the so-called Gloucester fault. 



Time does not permit me to speak of earthquake instruments. 

 I will simply say that one can not but marvel at their sensitive- 

 ness. They tell us what is going on in the earth when our senses 

 are wholly unable to detect the slightest disturbance or movement. 

 Whether the old earth heaves a sigh in its long struggle against the 

 inevitable when rigor mortis will set in, be it in Japan or Italy, in 

 Chile or Alaska, these silent observers, that literally have their 

 ear to the ground, note the pulsations as they pass in their journey 

 round the world. How gladly would the seismologist launch his 

 little canoe on the seisniicwave at the hypocentre or starting place, 

 and just see whither and how fast the wave would carry him. 

 There would be no harbor, no resting place, the course followed 

 would be the one prescribed by nature, — following the line of 

 least resistance. The log of such a journey has yet to be written, 

 and when it is written we will know more about the crust of the 

 earth, and of the interior than we do now. 



P.S. — Since the above was written Professor T. J. J. See has 

 sent me a copy of his paper "The Causes of Earthquakes, Moun- 

 tain Formation and kindred Phenom.ena, connected with the 

 Physics of the Earth," read Oct. 19, 1906. 



Professor See is an able investigator. He devotes 140 pages 

 in the Proceedings American Philosophical Society to expounding 

 his theory. He dismisses all other theories and hypotheses as 

 inadequate for the explanation of the phenomena indicated by 

 the title of his paper. His own theory is that we have to turn to 

 the explosive force of steam for satisfactorily answering the ques- 

 tions suggested above. On the last page he writes: "The great 

 layer of water covering the earth which gives life to animals and 

 plants, and in the form of steam is the greatest mechanical agent 

 of m.an, when sunk into the crust becomes also one of his worst 

 destroyers, on account of the explosive vapor generated beneath 

 by the internal heat of the globe. " 



On p. 324 we read: "We thus seem compelled to abandon 



