368 Revieics — Seismological Society of Japan. 



examination made by him of a very large number of brick tenements 

 of similar construction in the capital shows that the faces of such as 

 are situated in streets running S.W. to N.W. have been much more 

 cracked than those in streets at right angles to this direction. His 

 tabulation of the earthquakes also shows that the S.E. to N.W. 

 direction is the one most frequently followed by seisms, which, again, 

 are of greater intensity on this than on any other line of their travel. 



Our author has devoted special study to the cracks which earth- 

 quakes have made in the houses in Tokiyo. He is sufficiently pains- 

 taking and enthusiastic in his investigations to have marked and 

 dated the ends of some of the chinks and watched their progress, 

 earthquake by earthquake, even as the husbandman watches the 

 growth of his crops. Sometimes they would not " grow," however ; 

 but our ingenious seismologist set them to work vertically. In other 

 words he placed " indicators " across them, thus discovering that, 

 when they did not increase in length they vibrated — opened and 

 shut their mouths as it were, and told the tale of their own undoing. 

 Following a very fair line of induction, the Professor asks whether 

 it would not be admissible to erect buildings with cracks or joints 

 in them ready made, so that the portions of a structure which are 

 likely to have different periods of vibration may oscillate freely, and 

 independently of each other. Some such plan is already followed, 

 we believe, in the construction of many chimneys in Yokohama, 

 which are built clear of the roof, and thus, it is thought, will not be 

 overturned by the movement of the walls acting on the stacks. If 

 we are not mistaken, some such sj'stem as that suggested by Mr. 

 Milne has already been adopted by a French architect, who has done 

 a good deal of work in Japan, building among other places the new 

 offices and godowns of the Mitsu Bishi Company in Yokohama. 

 Much of Mr. Milne's paper should be valuable to those who are 

 concerned in the erection of tenements, of whatever kind, in Japan. 

 For instance, he points out that archways which join their abutments 

 at an angle are more likely to crack than such as curve into the 

 supports. 



The second paper of the series is a very short one by Professor 

 Mendenhall on pendulum experiments on the summit of Fujiyama 

 for the purpose of ascertaining the force of gravity at that point. 

 It is, we believe, an abstract of a long treatise published in the 

 scientific memoirs of the Kobu Dai Gakko. Although, at first sight, 

 the subject may appear to be foreign to seismology, yet closer exami- 

 nation shows that it is one of considerable interest to the followers 

 of Palmieri, inasmuch as it deals directly with the internal nature of 

 one of the most famous of volcanos — Mount Fuji. Taking the 

 density of the earth, as established by the work of other observers, 

 Professor Mendenhall shows us how it is possible to calculate back- 

 ward, and determine the density of Fujiyama, on the top of which 

 by the swinging of a pendulum the scientist determined the force of 

 gravity at that point. From the results of the work, it would 

 appear that the body of the mountain has about the same density as 

 is suggested by observation of the rocks which are found on its 



