440 



SCIEN'CE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 197 



with the locality, the track at the point shown 

 was previously straight and level : the sharp 

 double curve in the foreground, and the abrupt 

 change of grade in the rtiiddle distance, being 

 wholly due to the sudden movement of the 

 earth's surface. A press despatch from Charles- 

 ton on Sept. 3, in relation to a railroad accident 

 at a point near that shown in the engraving, 

 states, that, at the moment the shock was felt, it 

 seemed to those on the train that the earth had 

 suddenly given way ; that the train plunged with 

 frightful velocity down a steep declivity, was 

 then raised by a terrestrial undulation, and, 

 having reached the top of the wave, was hurled 

 down an embankment by a sudden swerving of 

 the earth to the right and left. 



In many places along the lines of the railroads 

 near the centre of disturbance, the track had 

 the appearance of having been alternately raised 

 and depressed, like a line of frozen waves. The 

 movement of the earth had also been from east to 

 west, bending the tracks in reverse curves, many 

 of the curves taking the shape of a single, others 

 of a double letter S. 



A train near Jedburg was running along at the 

 usual speed, at the time of the earthquake, when 

 it suddenly seemed to leave the track and go up 

 into the air. This was the upward wave. It de- 

 scended with equal suddenness, and as it came 

 down it was flung violently over to the east, the 

 wheels apparently being raised some distance from 

 the rail on the west side of the track. Then there 

 was a reflex action : the traiu righted, and was 

 hurled violently to the west, finally subsiding to 

 the track and taking a downward plunge, evident- 

 ly the descending wave. It was afterwards found 

 that the train had passed over one of these ser- 

 pentine curves with undulating surface, and very 

 probably at the instant the movement of the earth 

 was taking place. 



THE TIMBER OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 



On Oct. 8 a large number of colonial visitors, 

 together with some of the leading civil engineers, 

 builders, timber merchants, and others interested 

 in the employment of timber, assembled by in- 

 vitation at the Chelsea works of Messrs. A. Ran- 

 some & Co., London, in order to witness a series 

 of practical experiments with different varieties 

 of colonial timber at present commercially un- 

 known in England. 



After the experiments, which were conducted 

 with more than forty different varieties of timber 

 from India and the colonies, and comprised tree- 

 felling, cross-cutting, sawing, planing, moulding, 

 morticing, tenoning, and boring, while the manu- 



facture of such things as casks, doors, pick- 

 handles, carriage-spokes, and railway-sleepers, was 

 carried to its completion, and the articles ex- 

 hibited to the assembled guests, Mr. Allan Ran- 

 some opened the proceedings by announcing the 

 conclusions at which the recent experiments had 

 enabled him to arrive in respect to the qualities of 

 the different varieties of colonial tim^r submitted 

 to his notice. He said, that, among the forty dif- 

 ferent species, some stood out as pre-eminently 

 suitable for the English market. There were iron 

 bark and mountain ash, from New South Wales, 

 both suitable for wheelwrights' work, and the 

 former, owing to its peculiar hardness, for piles 

 and railway-sleepers as well ; black-wood, from 

 Victoria, suitable for carriage-building, cabinet- 

 work, and case-making ; Karri-wood and Jarrah, 

 from western Australia, both useful for joiners' 

 work, sleepers, furniture, and piles, of which he 

 could say that there was no fault to be found ; 

 black-pine, red-pine, totara, and kauri, from New 

 Zealand, which could be employed for furniture, 

 cabinet-work, house-building, and general pur- 

 poses, kauri being especially useful ; Douglas fir 

 and the swamp ash, from Canada, both suitable 

 for building, joiners' work, etc., the latter being 

 particularly sound, strong, tough, and cheap ; 

 yellow-wood, stink-wood, and sneeze-wood, from 

 the Cape of Good Hope, the two former species 

 suitable for furniture, building, and joiners' work, 

 and the latter, from its unusual durability, for 

 piles, posts, telegraph-poles, etc. ; Billian and 

 Serayah, from British North Borneo, the former 

 suitable for beams, piles, and every purpose where 

 durability was necessary, and the latter for fur- 

 niture, veneers, etc. ; and, lastly, Padouk-wood, 

 from India, which was suitable for joinery, car- 

 riage-building, and furniture, was exceedingly 

 plentiful, and was grown near the coast. Many 

 samples of wood sent had unfortunately been too 

 small for experiment ; but of those operated upon 

 he could say that they had all been found suitable, 

 so far as quality was concerned, for their various 

 purposes. 



The Hon. Malcolm Frazer (western Australia) 

 said, that, of the Karri and Jarrah timbers, there 

 was a considerable supply in London at the pres- 

 ent moment. Large quantities of several hun- 

 dred loads of these species might be obtained at 

 £7 per load, or in smaller quantities at a slightly 

 higher price. Their cost was only half that of 

 teak. 



Prof. P. L. Simmonds (New Zealand) said that 

 New Zealand produced a vast number of orna- 

 mental woods, as well as many useful ones. In 

 the latter line,! however, the colonists of New^ 

 Zealand would not be able to compete with other 



