EARTHQUAKES. 



203 



ing-nets ; linen, with the texture perfect ; vessels 

 full of almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, &c. ; also loaves 

 of bread, with the baker's name stamped on them ; 

 a jar containing medicinal herbs ; moist olives in 

 glass cases ; caviare, or roe of a fish, in a fine state 

 of preservation : boxes of pills on the counter of an 

 apothecary ; and, lastly, an abundance of papyri or 

 manuscripts, mostly written in Greek. 



Earthquakes. — We have only space for a brief 

 notice of the phenomena connected with earth- 

 quakes ; but as they are the result of the same 

 causes which occasion volcanic action, it is proper 

 to notice them more in detail than we shall be able 

 to do. We have already seen that earthquakes are 

 most frequent and violent in volcanic districts and 

 countries immediately adjacent; indeed, they may 

 be said to form an inseparable attendant upon vol- 

 canic excitements, though they often happen where 

 volcanic fires are dormant or extinct. " It is in 

 volcanic countries," says Philips, " that proofs have 

 been found of the real displacement and positive 

 elevation of land on particular days and during par- 

 ticular earthquakes ; while, at points far remote from 

 Vesuvius and Hecla, the land is slowly rising in 

 Scandinavia ; perhaps slowly sinking in Greenland ; 

 perhaps alternately elevated and depressed on some 

 parts of the shores of Britain." 



In the year 1822, the Chilian coast (South Ameri- 

 ca) for the space of 1200 miles was agitated by a 

 convulsive movement, and elevated, for the distance 

 of 100 miles, from two to seven feet ; the shock of 

 the earthquake having extended over an area of 

 100,000 square miles. In 1835, another shock was 

 experienced on the same coast, attended with an 

 eruption of the volcanic cones on the Andes. An 

 enormous wave, 28 feet high, destroyed Talcaguano ; 

 columns of smoke rose in the sea, followed by 

 whirlwinds, and the land was elevated in different 

 places from one to ten feet ! 



