Geographic Notes 



453 



ciently severe to cause loss of life or 

 serious damage to property. In Octo- 

 ber, 1 89 1, took place the Great Nuno- 

 Owari earthquake, in which 7,000 peo- 

 ple were killed, over 17,000 injured, and 

 nearly 20,000 buildings destroyed. In 

 1875 the imperial government com- 

 menced the systematic observation of 

 earthquakes. Of the 223 large shocks 

 recorded since the earliest times 47 had 

 their origin in the Pacific, 17 in the 

 Japan sea, 2 in the Inland sea, 114 in- 

 land, and 43 are obscure. 



Baron Kikuchi believes that ' ' the 

 distribution of the earthquake origins 

 in Japan seems to have a close connec- 

 tion with the curvilinear form of the 

 country. They are arranged approxi- 

 mately in two systems, which are re- 

 spectively parallel and normal to the arc 

 formed by the Japanese islands. ' ' Al- 

 most all recent earthquakes in Japan, 

 extending over a large area, seem to be 

 "tectonic" — i. e., due to mountain- 

 forming agencies — while in earthquakes 

 accompanying volcanic eruptions the 

 shaking is confined to a comparatively 

 small area. 



The Imperial Earthquake Commis- 

 sion, which was founded in 1892, has 

 been watching with special care mag- 

 netic disturbances in connection with 

 earthquakes, and has found that such 

 disturbances usually attend or preceded 

 earthquakes. Continuous magnetic ob- 

 servations are now being made in five 

 different places distributed over Japan 

 as evenly as circumstances will allow. 

 As Baron Kikuchi remarks, "this in- 

 vestigation is one of the few means at 

 present available for diagnosing the state 

 of underground stress, and it is a promis- 

 ing one." Other investigations have 

 been undertaken to determine the rela- 

 tion of earthquakes to latitude variation. 

 Determinations of gravity are also being 

 made at properly chosen spots with a 

 view of obtaining more knowledge of 

 the internal structure of the land. 



The commission is investigating into 

 the existence of periodic oscillations 



in bays, gulfs, straits, etc., which 

 oscillations may be the cause of the 

 "tsunami" (tidal waves). If these 

 oscillations are proven and their occur- 

 rence understood, it may be possible to 

 predict " tsunami," which have so fre- 

 quently devastated the east coast of 

 Japan. The commission is also investi- 

 gating earthquake-proof structures, the 

 best forms for chimneys, piers, columns, 

 bridges, etc. 



PROSPERITY IN ARGENTINA 



ARGENTINA is now entering upon 

 a period of general progress and 

 legitimate development. The day of 

 revolutions seems to have passed and 

 permanent stability of government to 

 have been established. The State De- 

 partment has recently published a report 

 by John Barrett, formerly U. S. minis- 

 ter to the Republic, which contains a 

 number of interesting facts about the 

 country. 



Argentina has an area of 1,120,000 

 square miles, nearly one-third the area 

 of the United States and Alaska. This 

 area, except a very small portion, is 

 located in the south temperate zone. It 

 is, therefore, strictly suited to white 

 labor. In this vast extent, however, 

 there are as yet only 5,000,000 inhab- 

 itants, while it can easily support 

 75,000,000. Buenos Ayres, the capital, 

 is one of the most prosperous and beau- 

 tiful cities in the world, and has a popu- 

 lation of nearly 1,000,000. Neither in 

 this city nor in the interior is there any 

 considerable Indian or negro element, 

 such as is found in other South Ameri- 

 can countries. The population is 99 

 per cent of white extraction. 



The signs of prosperity and progress 

 on every side, not only in Buenos Ayres, 

 but in the provinces, impress the stu- 

 dent of economic conditions. Money is 

 abundant, and the banks are overbur- 

 dened with deposits. The population 

 is growing, but immigration is slow, 

 because of reports of unfavorable con- 

 ditions of taxes and land purchase or 



