The New York herald., 1872-04-04

| The great earthquake in California Is one of
the most remarkable Of its kind on record.
The telegraphic intelligence Of its persistent
and protracted shocks-more than thousand
in number-reveal no ordinary disturbance In
the rocks on which nature has built one Of the
farest sections of our country. Without re-
| peating the details of the force and magnitude
of the great terrestrial convulsion, which
have been given in our numerous kilograms,
it is of the highest interest and moment to
point out some of the instructive and signifl-
cant facts and inferences they suggest.
| The whole subject Of earthquakes has long
baflled philosophic inquiry, and as yet we are
but cropping our way into the obscure mysteries
of their phenomena. Difficult and occult as
the subject may be, it is of profound mpor-
tance; for, as Darwin has we'll said, and as
our California experience should teach us, 'the
time will come when geologists will consider
| the quIescence of the terrestrial crust through
| a long period of its history as improbable as
an absolute calm in the atmosphere during a
whole season of the year." The great physi-
cist might have added that the human family
is almost as much concerned in divining the
| great earthquake phenomena as in foreseeing
those of the weather.. 1t is clearly proven by
the statistics bearing on this subject that at
least forty earthquakes per annum, or one In
every nine days, are felt on the Continent of
Europe and the islands Immediately adjacent.
California, with its splendid climatic advan-
tages, is peculiarly exposed to the more gentle
and moderate convulsons. 1t lies in the
northeastern quadrant of that great ''circe of
fire" which girdes the entire Pacific with Its
volcanic lights and furnaces. Coming up
from Chile, along the western coast of South
America, in the Andes, these lofty natural
| lighthouses serve the purposes of the mariner
| by night. They run through Central America
and reappear in Mexico, all along the axial
lines of the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada and
the Rocky Mountains their evidences appear
also in the Aleu!ian Islands and in Japan, and
extend southward into the East Indies, Aus
traia, and thence to the South Shetland
Islands and Patagonia, completing the circuit
If many of these great laboratories of nature
seem extinct we must remember they may
only resemble Vesuvius, which, when it woke
|
been resting for many years and was regarded
by the Romans as a lifeless pyramid.
| But the most important problem of earth
! quakes recently propoupded is the cause and
origin of the disastrous commissions. The old
theory that they were due to Plutonic forces
solely, or to agtations of the sea of liquid fire
supposed to be rolling its incandescent pillows
hon naofh fo how 1ato
broken down, and this is not to be
| regretted, since we can never afford to
pierce the bowels of the earth and gauge
or weigh these subterranean powers. The
more probable and plausible solution Of the
mystery is that the earthquake is intimately
associated with atmospheric and cyclonic
disturbances. In the great hurricane at Bar
bados, in 1880, an earthquake ragged in con-
junction with the tempest and obtained Its
greatest severity after the gale had partially
passed away. In the Tobago hurricane Of
lSf7 the earthquake preceded the storm but
80 common is the coincidence between cy-
clones and earthquakes in tropical countries
that the almost universal belief exists that
they are causally connected. 1t Is certainly
evidence that no phlosophic mind can ignore
that from time immemorial the natives of
| earthquake-ravaged countries assert that the
connections are simultaneous with certain
meteorological conditions, such as the rainy
seasons, numerous storms, and warm, damp
winds. In 1884 Professor Merian, of France,
having classified, according to their sea-
sonal occurrences, one hundred and
eighteen earthquakes which took place at
Basle and In the surrounding country, ascer-
tanned, to the surprise of the whole scientific
frequent in winter than In summer. This
fact, which was at first rejected by many sa-
vans, has since been indubitably confirmed by
the researches Of other distinguish ed physicists
such as Alexis Percy and Otto Volger. BY
comparing the four months of May, June
July and August with December, January,
February and March, it is shown that the
shocks are three times as numerous In the
second or winter period as in the first. We
have also another link of causality in the
additional fact that the shocks are felt moro
frequently at night than in the day, and this
holds good in all parts of the year, and in all
the centres and regions of earthquakes In
Switzerland, out Of five hundred and two
earth shocks, the date and hour of which were
recorded, only one hundred and eighty-two
occurred between six o'clock A. NJ and six
p. NJ, while between sunset and sunrise three
hundred and twenty disturbances convused
the earth-a result not to be wondered at
when we reflect that every day or period Of
diurnal rotation of the globe, in Its rains,
storms and other meteorological features, is to
be regarded as condensed history or eptome
of the whole year.
The inference to be drawn in favor of the
| view here aasartad wiz that aarfhnnakaa a nra