Earthquake felt in Lincolnshire. 2 87 
sure it was something extraordinary, though no one else in 
the town observed it, or paid any attention to her, till the 
news of its having been felt at other places arrived. 
Mr. Fydel’s information to Sir Joseph Banks. 
The Transactions of the Royal Society give an account of 
the earthquakes in the northern parts of England, in the years 
1703 and 1750. That of the latter year is described as “ begin- 
“ ning in Derbyshire, and passing off the island, through Lin- 
“ colnshire and part of Cambridgeshire, its direction being from 
“ west to east/' * From the preceding narrative it appears, that 
nearly the same tract of country was affected by the late con- 
cussion, and that it came in the same direction from west to 
east ; circumstances which correspond with the observations of 
Mr. Mechel ; 1st. “ That the same places are subject to re- 
“ turns of earthquakes at different intervals of time — 2dly, 
“ That earthquakes generally come to the same place from 
“ one and the same point of the compass.” These, and other 
facts, that ingenious philosopher adduces in support of his hy- 
pothesis, that earthquakes are caused by the steam raised by 
waters, contained in the cavities of the earth, suddenly rush- 
ing in upon subterraneous fires ; which steam, the moment it 
is generated, insinuates itself between the strata of the earth, 
and produces the undulatory motion beforementioned. It 
may, however, be remarked that the state of the air, before 
the shock, was calm, close, and gloomy, such as is described 
by Dr. Stukeley as necessary to prepare the earth to re- 
ceive an electrical stroke, and the circumstance of its having 
* Phil. Trans. Vol. XL. p. 722. 
