748 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. IV. No. 99. 



THE EARTHQUAKE WAVE IN JAPAN. 



The recent earthquake wave on the 

 northern coast of Hondo, the chief island 

 of Japan, is vividly described with illustra- 

 tions by E. H. Scidinore (:N'at. Geogr. 

 Mag., yil., 1896, 289). The wave reached 

 the coast in the evening of June 15th, last. 

 Most of the people were indoors on account 

 of rain then fallingj '^ when, with a rum- 

 bling as of heavy cannonnading out at sea, 

 a roar, and the crash and crackling of 

 timbers, they were suddenly engulfed in 

 the swirling waters . ' ' Only a few survivors 

 on all that length of coast saw the advan- 

 cing wave, one of them telling that the 

 water first receded some 600 yards before 

 the wave rose like a black wall 80 feet in 

 height, with phosphorescent lights gleam- 

 ing along its crest. " Ships and junks 

 were carried one or two miles inland, left 

 on hilltops, treetops, and in the midst of 

 fields uninjured or mixed up with the ruins 

 of houses." Where the coast was low and 

 faced the open ocean, the wave washed in 

 and, retreating, carried everything back 

 with it. Where the wave entered a fiord 

 or bay it bore everything along to the head 

 of the ravine or valley and left the mass of 

 debris in a heap at the end. On the open 

 coast the wave came and withdrew within 

 five minutes, while in long inlets the water 

 boiled and surged for nearly half an hour 

 before subsiding. Groves of large pines 

 were cut down to short stumps ; thick 

 granite posts of temple gates were snapped 

 off, and the stone cross-beams were carried 

 300 yards away. 



GEOGRAPHICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR 1895. 



A GEOGRAPHICAL bibliography for suc- 

 cessive years constitutes a supplement 

 (5 fr.) to the five regular numbers of the 

 Annales de Geographic (Colin, Paris, 25 

 fr.). The bibliography for 1895 is just 

 issued with 1087 titles, the work of 49 co- 

 laborers. It is arranged under the follow- 



ing chief headings: history of geography, 

 mathematical, physical, political geography 

 and regional geography; this last being 

 much further divided under subheadings of 

 different countries. Brief notices are given 

 of more important work, but with less 

 detail than in Petermann's Mitteilungen. 

 An index of authors cited occupies 23 

 columns. A three-hour cursory examina- 

 tion of such a work as this will guide most 

 librarians to all the geographical works 

 that they need order. A somewhat more 

 careful examination will disclose many out- 

 of-the-way essays to the scientific reader; 

 for example, an article by Carton on ^ Oasis 

 Disparues^ (Eev. Tunis, 1895, 201), main- 

 taining that the climate of Tunis has not 

 changed since Eoman times, that careless 

 waste of water to-day contrasts with care- 

 ful economy in ancient times, when reser- 

 voirs and canals fertilized the oases. 



NOTES. 



The testimony of ' old residents ' as to 

 the reputed change in the range of vision in 

 the Swiss Jura, supposed to be the result of 

 earth movements, and given some credence 

 by extended quotation in recent years, has 

 been carefully examined on the ground by 

 Jegerlehner, who doubts its sufficiency. 

 He does not find the memory of untrained 

 observers a sufficient argument to so 

 remarkable a conclusion, and recommends 

 the establishment of accurate measure- 

 ments, which are probably now in progress 

 (Jahresber. Geogr. Ges. Bern, XIII., 1894, 

 15-22). 



Fruh discusses the terminology of val- 

 leys in the Jura and Swiss Alps (Zur 

 Kritik einiger Thalformen und Thalnamen 

 der Schweiz, Viertelj. Naturf. Gesellsch., 

 Zurich, XLI., 1896, 318-339). Combe applies 

 to various forms, and is variously defined 

 by such writers as Sonklar, Sievers and 

 Eeclus ; and hence it does not deserve the 

 specific meaning given to it by Desor. 



