THE 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
JANUARY, 1884. 
I. EARTHQUAKES AND ELECTRICITY. 
By Colonel Arthur Parnell, late Royal Engineers. 
(Concluded from vol. v., page 706.) 
BA 
* N “ A Praftical Treatise on Lightning Protection,” by 
Henry W. Spang (Philadelphia, 1877), it is stated that 
Mr. Cromwell Varley, F.R.S. (whose lamented death 
has recently taken place), was of opinion that some earth- 
quakes are due to subterraneous eleCtrical discharges. He 
had found that powerful positive currents rushed through 
the Anglo-American cables towards England a few minutes 
before and a few minutes after the shocks of March 17th, 
1871 (p. 29). 
In “ Nature ” (No. 247, vol. x., 1874) Mr._H._H. Howorth 
expresses his opinion that the earth is shrinking about its 
equatorial region, and is being thrust out in the direction of 
•the Poles ; and he thinks that the distribution of this force 
may correspond with that of terrestrial magnetism. He 
.quotes from Dr. Zollner’s paper in the “ Philosophical 
.'Magazine,” wherein it is stated that Kriel has given many 
instances of the coincidence of earthquakes with magnetic 
ddisturbances. Volcanoes are, according to Mr. Howorth, 
tthe mediate results of the shrinking of the earth ; “ earth- 
quakes, on the contrary, are its immediate results, and go 
far to prove that terrestrial magnetism is to be correlated 
with the force which is shrinking the earth.” 
The article in the “ Quarterly Review ” for July, 1881, 
already mentioned, states that the most certain characters 
.and accompaniments of earthquakes appear to be their 
VOL. VI. (THIRD SERIES). I B 
