40 OLDHAM: THE CACIIAIt EARTHQUAKE OF IOtH JANUARY 1869. 



which, even under favourable circumstances, such waves of sound appear 

 to come up in exactly the opposite direction from that which indicates their 

 true motion, we shall certainly hesitate to admit as evidence this belief 

 of the man as to the direction in which the rumbling- passed. But this 

 hesitation will be strengthened into full conviction, I think, when the only 

 real fact of observation is taken into account. The position of the man is 

 stated to have been facing eastwards; the shock came and seizing hold of 

 the heliotrope, he and it were thrown backwards, that is, he was thrown to 

 the west. The shock therefore must really have come from the west, not 

 from the east. It would seem to have been supposed that he was projected 

 with the shock, but this could not have been the case. His feet were 

 moved forward with the shock, his body remaining comparatively station- 

 ary, until the line from the centre of gravity of his body fell beyond 

 the base of support and he fell, as is always the case with unsup- 

 ported bodies, towards the point from which the wave of motion 

 came, in this case towards the west. It is necessary to notice this 

 here, because the fact renders it unnecessary to notice further the dis- 

 cussion regarding the origin of the motion which is based on this supposed 

 divergence of the waves from a line between Assaloo and Sherfaisip. 

 I would also notice the absence of any attempt to fix the true direction 

 of the motion by careful observation of any fact. Very possibly no such 

 observations were practicable, but in questions of this nature the mere 

 statement of the wave-motion being east or west is far too lax to yield 

 any satisfactory result, the more especially as the places of observation 

 were in reality at a considerable distance from the seismic focus. 



Captain Godwin-Austen adds some interesting speculations as to the 

 connection between the present form of the ground, the deep gorges of 

 the rivers, and their coincidence with some very marked geological 

 features of contortion and disturbance ; and closes his notice by a detailed 

 statement of the several shocks noticed at Assaloo from the 10th January 

 up to the 2nd of February. He alludes also to the effect produced on 

 streams by. this earthquake, stating that a rise was caused in them. To 

 these observations we may have to refer again. 

 ( 40 ) 



