•Vj, EARTHttUAKBS. 151 
!*'ay f and may occasion a sudden shower, which 
*fit\g ( promote its progress. The whole surface 
*Ve 'unloaded, will, like any otlier conducting sub- 
a concussion, cither on parting with, or on 
^ise quantity of the electric fluid. The itishiiig 
^'kewise 
%,L _ t ; 
sweep over the whole extent of the 
on this supposition also, the fluid, in its 
f''om the 1 ■ ' 
^ sutface of the earth, will naturally' fol- 
''f any of the rivers, and will take the advantage 
^^Sioi-o ®?‘nences to facilitate its a.scent into the higher 
the air. 
. t*is . arguments in favour of the electrical hypo- 
. ttt, since it has been sujiported with so much abi- 
i^Ofi .fgenious writer, Whitehurst, in his In<iuiry into 
^ttd Formation of the Earth, contends, 
ok the fif®' ttttd the steam generated from it, 
1 ^tves, causes of earthquakes. When, he 
* to tbg! **■ considered that the expansive force of steam 
n gonpowder as twenty-eight to one, 'it may be 
tliis expansive force, and the elasticity of 
^L. attributed to these phenomena. 
. .M.- -I 
Of 
ich jj ^ ^he most striking phenomena of earthquakes, 
. 3ir^*t sent a fearful assemblage of tlie combined effects 
v^tttemj^ fire, and water, in a state of unrestrained 
ft be noticed the following: Before the 
the a' ^ '^'^hiling sound is heard, proceeding either 
or from fire, or, perhaps, from bolli in con- 
0 , through the chasms of the 
^ b«ejj ®odeavouring to liberate themselv 
[J^adly likewise happens in volcanii 
«* pfpl^.y'olotit agitation or heaving of the sea, .some- 
tljQ 
'iidly likewise happens in volcanic eruptions 
ec( 
V to , effect 
®gre 
. . > ••qi.vmvav.'Ax 
.^og, and sometimes following the shock ; thus 
effect. Thirdly, a spouting up of the 
height — a phenomena whicti is common 
.•'ted f volcanoes, and which cannot be readily 
^•etially^’^', li'ourtiJy, a rocking of the earth, and, 
■ this may be termed a perpendicular rebound- 
'V supposed by some naturalists to 
tlii ^ terZ the situation of the place, relatively to 
^ th» *'®eus fire, which, when immediately beneath. 
to rise, and when at a distance, to rock. 
