256 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
XVII. — The Ochil Earthquakes of the Years 1900-1914. By 
Charles Davison, Sc.D., F.G.S. Communicated by The 
General Secretary. 
(MS. received January 10, 1916, destroyed by fire. Second copy received July 26, 1916. 
Read March 20, 1916.) 
I. Introduction. 
The earthquakes of Scotland, as compared with those of England and 
Wales, are notable on several accounts : — (i) They are more numerous. 
During the twenty-six years from 1889 to 1914, 857 earthquakes origi- 
nated within the area of Great Britain — 51 in England, 27 in Wales, and 
279 in Scotland. If area be taken into account, the inequality is still 
greater. For every shock occurring in England, there were during this 
period four in Wales and nine in Scotland, (ii) They are invariably 
simple earthquakes, twin earthquakes (which include the strongest of 
all British earthquakes) being confined to England and Wales, (iii) As 
simple earthquakes, they are due to movements along strike-faults, and, 
for the most part, along well-known faults, the majority of which belong 
to the Caledonian system, the only exceptions known to me being those 
connected with the Loch Broom earthquake of 1892 and the two Glasgow 
earthquakes of 1910. (iv) They occur usually in groups or series. For 
instance, most, if not all, of the Inverness earthquakes of 1890, and seven- 
teen of the nineteen Inverness earthquakes of 1901, were due to slips 
along the great northern boundary-fault of the Highland district, which 
traverses Scotland in a south-westerly direction from Tar bat Ness ; the 
well-known Comrie earthquakes, of which only three occurred between 
1889 and 1914, are associated with the southern boundary-fault of the 
same district, which crosses Scotland from Stonehaven to the southern end 
of Loch Lomond; while as many as 186 shocks originated between 1900 
and 1914 along the southern boundary-fault of the Ochil Hills. 
Little is known with regard to the earthquakes of the last-mentioned 
district before the year 1900. So far as I know, only five shocks are 
recorded. On April 30 and May 1, 1736, there were earthquakes strong 
enough to damage houses; on July 10, 1842, a slight shock occurred; on 
August 8, 1872, there was an earthquake which, in intensity and extent 
of disturbed area, closely resembled the three strongest earthquakes of 
the present century; and lastly, on January 12, 1881, a smart shock was 
felt at Bridge of Allan and Menstrie. If we may judge from the recent 
