178 
The Irish Naturalist. 
August, 
to which the term " stagnant ditch " would be equally appli- 
cable, was nearly a mile awa)'. Sitting on the dry edge of a 
turf cutting in the centre of the "explosion," enjoying our 
lunches, we heard from one of the heroes of the tragedy his 
account of the affair. What had actually happened was this. 
The turf was cut along a long face, in benches about twenty feet 
wide. The top three feet, which was no use as fuel, was thrown 
into a deep trench cut at the back of the working. No cross 
drains were dug to drain the bog in front of the advance of the 
cutters. Therefore very naturally the front gave way. The bog 
slid quickl}^ forward, filling the trenches excavated below the 
general level of the cut-away portion, causing a horizontal 
bulging of the general line of the cuttings to an extent of 
perhaps thirty feet, and a vertical bulgingof the edge of the cut- 
away part which received the pressure of the slipping portion 
to the extent of about five feet. All was over in ten minutes, and 
some of the men engaged in turf-cutting did not even leave 
their work. The effect of the slide on the bog itself is seen 
over about two acres, the level being lowered a few feet, and 
the surface fissured. Similar slight slips are bound to occur on 
every bog where cutting is carried on — as it often is — with so 
complete a disregard to drainage. 
My reason for dealing with so insignificant an occurrence at 
such length is this: that in many cases, the only accounts of 
bog-slides which are published at all are those in the daily 
pres3 ; and the man of science, seeking information, is 
naturally inclined to use what material he can find in news- 
papers. This is exemplified in the report^ by Prof. Sollasand 
myself on the Kerry bog-slide of Christmas, 1896. But if local 
reporters in general possess the lively imagination which 
appeals to be the inheritance of those of King's County, the 
value of these press reports from the scientific point of view 
appears somewhat dubious. 
Dublin. 
J Sci. Proc. R. Dtiblin Soc, viii., no. 57, 1897. 
