THE SEVEEE JAPAN EAETHQÜAKE OF THE Ioth OF JANUAEY, 1887. 319 



The houses which suffered most were the composite structures 

 of wood and stone. They are built of wooden frames encased with 

 stone blocks, each of the latter measuring 2 ft. 9 in. long, 9 in. wide 

 and 6 in. thick, and being clamped to the wooden planks inside by 

 three iron-nails, Plate XXIV shows one of these houses that was 

 affected by the recent shocks, together with the details of the stone 

 attachments. The nail, called Kasugai, is 5 in. long and ^ in square, 

 and bent at right angles at its two ends. The stone is soft and 

 brittle, being volcanic rock of the worst quality. In time the iron- 

 nails get rusty, and the stones are so acted on by rain and frost as to 

 be easily cracked, or detached from the wooden frames, even by 

 moderate shakings. These buildings, erroneously called European 

 houses, already exist in abundance, and unfortunately increase each 

 year in number. They are generally constructed with bad materials 

 and on faulty principles; the object of the builders being to attain 

 fiiir protection from fire, along with the appearance of a stone build- 

 ing, at the least practicable cost. 



Two brick structures received serious damage (Plate XXIII, Fig. 

 3), cracks having been formed, as usual, at the corners of the buildings 

 and over the windows. The seismic vibrations, however, left no 

 traces on the Town Plall, the Custom House, Prefectural Office, and 

 other well-built structures of brick or stone. 



In Yokohama, wooden houses sustained no damage worth 

 mentioning. Joints were more or less loosened and tiles occasionally 

 fell down from the roofs. The tiles that are fastened to the framework 

 of wooden houses, to form walls, were in some case detached in large 

 quantities. There are decidedly many improvements which might 

 be made in the present wooden buildings, both of Japanese and so- 

 called European styles, especially in the arrangements of their joints, 

 the scientific distribution of materials, etc. If these and other defects 



