Washington telegraph., 1855-12-05
GENERAL PHYSICS,
Theories of Earthquake Phenomena.


There is an interesting paper 'On the
cause of Earthquakes. " in the 22d number
''Comptes Rendus,'' by NJ Fred Hoefer, of
which the following is the substance
Earthquakes and their accompanying
phenomena have never yet been explained
satisfactorily by any theory They, as well
as volcanoes have been made dependent on
the earth's central heat and also it has
been attempted to explain their effects by
the action of gases, or of combustible ma
tcrials within the earth But the existence
of central heat is a mere hypothesis. and,
if it actually exists, it would not account for
the recurrence of earthquakes at irregular
intervals. The large masses of primitive
rock which have been supposed to choke mp
the interior of volcanoes, so as to interrupt
for time the communication with the SUBJ
terranean fire, would be comparatively as
a sheet of thin paper stretched over crack
in furnace under full blast Gases in
the bosom of the earth cannot explain iby
their explosion) earthquake shocks felt at
the same instant of time in places very
widely differing in latitude and longitude.
How, NJ. Hoefer asks. can steam or the
explosion of gases, giving mechanical mo-
ton to the earth's crust. or the interior heat
account for the twisting and capricious
movement of the soil and rocks, the destruc-
ton of fish in the open sea, the melting of
ships chain Iles, the tossing about of arti-
cles Of furniture, wave ike oscillations, the
terror of animals in advance of the shock,
&c? But all these Continues NJ. Hoefer)
can be explaiaed in chasing earthquakes
with electric phenomena. He affirms that
earthquakes are of the same character as
atmospheric storms, distinguished only by
the passage of electricity being through
solid medium. while in storms proper its
action is in air medium. He divides the
action of electricity into earth storms,
(ear;bquakes,) air-s;orms, (storms proper,)
and into mixed storms. in which elec-
tricity passes from the earth into the at
mosphere, or from the latter into the for
mer.
The electric theory Of earthquakes is not
new. 1t was advocated by Stukely, (soon
after Franklin's discovery of the electric
character of thunder-storms,) and by a very
similar course of argument. He used for
the support of his views, the great extent or
area of earthquakes; the suddcnness of their
action; the absence of smoke, &c; the pc
culiar shock given to ships on the ocean,
like the blow of stone the destruction of
fish the previous terror of animals, and
vertigo, nausea. &c-, Of men and also the
accompanying phenomena. such as meteors.
the aurora, &c. Vivenzio, in 1854, ex-
pressed his conviction that earthquakes
were of electric origin Perceval, Becca-
ria, Priestly. and other eminent men have
expressed the same opinion.
NJ. Hoefer has justly stated that there is
now no accepted theory which is fully salts
factory. This viii be shown to any one who
Will read the elaborate report on earth
quakes by Mr.. Aiallet. in the proceedings
Of the British Association for 1850, in
which it is said The true observation of
acknowledgements is yet TO be COM
menced, and The required facts are yet to
be collected
The prevailing hypothesis is that earth
Guakes, volcanoes. &c . owe their origin to
coSinical or the central heat Earthquakes.
according TO the theory OF Prof Rogers, are
caused by an actual pulsation-of the molten
matter within the earth l. e., from actual
billows or waves therein, which (waveS) are
engendcred by linear disruption of the
crust of the Garth by reason of tension, or
by the explosive escape Of highly compress
ed steam and gaseous matter. This emf
nent geologist believes that the characters
tic feature Of earthquake motion is of the na-
ture of actual b!llows or waves in the earth
crust of the amplitude of several miles,
moving at the rate of from twenty-five to
thirty miles minute, and caused by the
wave-!ike motion of the enclosed molten
matter of the fiery furnace within the
earth
This is. probably. the prevailing hypoth-
esis ; and those learned men who do not re-
ceive the details this explanation, nevertbe-
less regard the central heat, acting in some
other manner. as the cause of earthquakes
The difficulty IS, and it is frankly acanow-
ledged, that while the central heat is suppos-
Cd to give good explanation for many Of
the most prominent phenomena, there are
circumstances attending these earth convu-
sions which cannot be explained by the by
pothesis.
THE SUPrOSED CENTRAL HEAT OF THE