Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1853-04-02
Che polpnesian.
From the Portsmouth Journal
Observations on Earthquakes.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, ] A. NJ, ]
Dec. DO. 1852

Dec. %, 1852.
1t Is not unfrequently the case in the nie ht
time, in the absence of solar influence, thai
the thermometers having a southern expo
sure show difference of temperature o.
from two to SIX degrees higher than those
north. We have at this moment a cloudeC
atmosphere, and the south thermometers are
at 30 and 81 degrees, and the north at 81
and 30 degrees, rising gradually during the
night from 30 at sunset. All sudden and
great changes of temperature, l have as
certainea TO my own satisfaction from long
and carefully recorded observations, are pro-
duced by earthquakes, and the elevation o
the shock above the level Of the ocean, OF
its distance from the equator, varies the tenn
perature of the air. Thunder-storms result
from the same cause and from volcanic dis
charges. The ocean covers a vast number
of craters, the volcanoes of which send forth
volumes Of electricity. 1t is very remarka-
bic that so little consideration has been given
to the influences which volcanic discharges
Of various gases exert upon the quality of
the air we breathe. 1t is the earth itself
which produces all the great and sudden
cold weather in summer, and warm weather
mornng of the first day Of January was
warmer than the first day of June of that
year; so says the FraHconia record Sudden
and great changes of temperature are not
always injurious to health. In southern cit
les, where the yellow fever prevails in sum-
ner, white frost extinguishes the epidemic.
In your Franconia they have sudden, great,
and frequent changes of temperature, and
yet there is no town in New Hampshire
more healthy. The number of persons res
ident in that town who have attained the age
of seventy years and upwards, compared
with the population and longevity of inhabi-
tants of other towns of your State, evidence
this fact.
Severe shocks of earthquakes in your sec
tion OF the globe seem to exert a powerful
magnetic and electric force; for in the rec
ord of the great earthquake of Nov. 1855, l
fRd that the iron vane of a church steeple in
the town of Newburyport, Mass. was bent,
and the iron vane on a church steeple in Bos-
ton was thrown down. An earthquake in
the Island Of Java, some few years since,
broke in pieces an iron cross. Earthquakes
at Valparaiso, and also in the Island of ia
maica, have had such an effect upon clocks,
watches and chronometers as to stop them.
Your vicinity is frequently visited by
shocks of earthquakes. ! keep record of
the phenomena, which covers long series
of years. The crust of the earth in New
Hampshire is very solid, and it would require
a most fearful shock to produce rent IN its
gigantic covering; but further north and
east, beneath the gypsum and bituminous
coal-felds of Nova Scotia, there are pent up
gases that supply the material for frequent
shocks, the force of which find ready and
good conductor in your granite rocks. L
reckon the loose earth-covering of the sur
face Of the State Of New Hampshire at less
than thirty feet; beneath this is solid crys-
ltalized mass Of unmeasured thickness. In
New Hampshire, at points from which the
surface waters run different courses, reach
ing the ocean at distant points, the rock stra-
ia is coarse, and the mica, feldspar, and
quartz in larger masses and more distinct.
At least such is the case in all these points
in that State which have examined.
| The shock of an earthquake recently felt
at Portsmouth, Newburyport, &C., was not
alone in its labors At Polt au Prince (Hayti)
a severe shock OF earthquake was experience
ed on the 25ih Nov; the day following, the
26th, Santiago (Cuba) was again visited by
earthquakes there the cholera, small pox,
and fevers are decimating the lving.) On
the 9th, in New Hampshire and Massachu-
sets. in the vicinity Of the Mcrrimac river, a
shock of earthquake was felt late in the eve
ming. The earthquake at Port au Prince
commenced our warm term; that of Nov 25,
1850, was commenced by an earthquake in
the Island of Porto Rico. At 2 O'Clock on
the morning of the 9th Nov the day of the
earthquake at your place, the temperature at
my place Of observation rose to 50 degrees
the highest for the last thirty days-and this
high temperature was in the absence of the
sun from the field of vision. White frosts,
believe, in every instance are the immediate
result OF earthquakes.
/ In the early part of November, shocks of
earthquake were frequent. On the record
of that month, the shock Of an earthquake
was felt at Richmond, Petersburg and other
towns in Virginia, at h. 35 m p. NJ. A
thunder storm passed over Long Island the
afternoon of that day and also visited Ben
nington, VT. On the night of the 9th, San
tiago, Cuba, was visited by an earthquake.
Snow fell the same day at Milwaukee, Wis
consin, and also on the Catskill Mountains,
and the day following there was much light
ming at Abingdon, Va. and snow fell at Len
OK, Mass, and there was great gale on
| lake Erie. On the Sth there was severe
frost in South Carolina, and two shocks of
earthquake at Reggie, Sicily. On the 9th
a great white frost on Long Island; a
shock of earthquake at Liverpool, England,
which extended over large district in that
vicinity, and also over great portion of Ire
land, and two shocks of earthquake at Go
senza, Sicily. The Aurora Borealis lighted
up the north, and two inches of snow fell that
night on the Green Mountains. VT. Thus,
we see, by carefully recording the occur
renee of terrestrial tenures, that these con-