& 
4 J. Trowbridge—Electrical Condition of Gas Flames. 
1 Pp. M. March 28. These may have been part of the Inyo 
earthqu uake, 
7. On April 8, at 8 o'clock a. M., a severe earthquake 
apap Bee a large part of the ancient city of Antioch in Syria. 
ock lasted over 40 seconds, and the wave travelled from 
east . west. It was accompanied by a noise “like distant 
thunder or artillery.” Lighter shocks continued to be felt at 
irregular intervals for at least a week after the first one. Very 
many buildings were shaken down, filling the narrow streets 
with the débris and burying hundreds of the inhabitants 
beneath the ruins. “The number of killed is estimated at 1,000 
many more were left without shelter. The old 
villages south of the Orontes river were also much an 
but comparatively little harm was done north of the cit 
Noy A despatch from Copenhagen, aang 14, gives the follow- 
- lenge at which arrived here to-da ay from Iceland, 
pa ries of violent earthquake souk at Hasvick on the 
16th, 17th ‘and 18th of April. Twenty houses were destroyed, 
and several persons were injured, but no lives were lost.” 
9. The recent grand eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is interesting, 
as tee possibly connected with the phenomena recorded above. 
This eruption first assumed noticeable proportions on the night 
of April 24, 1872, when a flow of lava was added to the flames 
and smoke which had for months adorned the summit of the 
mountain. _ On the night of the 25th, a chasm opened in the 
side of the cone, from which issued a torrent of lava; the whole 
occurring so suddenly as to overtake and destroy a number of 
the spectators who were vs oe eruption. The 
lava continued two or three day rwhelmed two villages, 
and buried a considerable extent “ot ite»: ese land. The eru 
co finally ended with a shower of stones and volcanic san 
which fell in the streets of Naples to the depth of several inches. 
gi eruption was attended with the cuba local tremblings of 
e eart 
Brunswick, Me., May 31, 1872. 
Art. IL.— Contributions from the Physical ee of Harvard 
College ; No. III. On the Electrical Condition of Gas Flames ; 
by Fr OHN TROWBRIDGE, Assistant sean of Physics. 
Pror. H. Burr, of the University of Giessen, has published 
in the Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie, vol. lxxx, 1, anc 
in the Phil. Mag. of Feb., 1852, an investigation of the electri 
cal properties of flames. He reviews at first the different 
