The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1877-03-07


FAR beneath the surface Such sudden lerma.
ton Of fsSare. either with or wi,hou, diaplaee-
meat or fault, woald Of necessity produce eon.
custom or jar which would propagate itself until
II reached The surface, aud then spread outward
on the surface,
THIS Is va believe, by FAR the more probable
cause Of earthquakes. When WI remember that
assures onen extend many thousands OF feet.
aud even many miles inIo the earth, va easily
perceive that the sudden rupture Of zach thick.
ee>s Of rick woald produce eenenSaaen fully
adequate 10 produce the dreadful elects Hearth
qaakes
As 10 the cause Of tho elevation and dep,es-
siea, the discussion vi this point w0ald carry us
epurcS too FAR, Suffice to say that IL Is most
probably due to slew secular contraction OF the
eer.a sill going on more IN the interior than Tue
exterior, by which the crust, by lateral pressure
is thrown Into great wrinkles.
rSoSINAre ckrSS.
But whatev,r b. tho true or ultimate CAUSE
whatever 1t DO that pro,laeos the original con.
enssien-whelhcr II loo ia the nature ct M ox.
plosiou, or, more probably, sudden rup,ure Of
the earIhs crust this original Concession pro
paasles itsal from the origin or focus in every
direction as an elastic spherical wave, or Ms u
series of such waves, precisely in the nianner at
sound waves until It reaches and e:ner,os gu the
surface. From this point ~ FIST eniergeaco II
then spreads IN every drcetiou, reaching moro
and more dis,ant points successfully. Ii Is tins
progressive earth jar or tEcm0r this series o,
elastic earih.waves, successfully emerging aud
spreading nn the Sar,ace. Which is tho Immediate
cause Of tho observed phenomeua Of earthquakes
which IN iaet constitutes the earthquake il.
self.
N,SCrRlCAL ruGoeY,
There has arisen in the last lew years aud
become quite prevalent in California u theosy,
o. rather uol,on--an opinion, that earthquakes
are in some way due to eleotricity The argu.
,nput, as We have heard it, goes somewhat as
follows Thunder aud lightning ar, rars in Cali.
forlia, while earthquakes arr not nnfrequont /;
therefore earthquakes in California take tho
place OF thunder storms aud Summer rains ;
therefore since thunder storms ara attended
With electric discharges. earthquakes must be
produced by electric discharges therefore earth
quakeS are sort OF snbterranean thuGder storms
they are produced by sub,erranean lightning,
Let us examine this so-called theory.
There is strong Tendency In the intelligent
popular mind, and even IN many scientific minds
not thoroughly imhued with the true spirit nor
thoroughly trained IN the true methods OF science,
10 attribute whatever in nature IN mysterious or
lmperfeetly understood, TO electricity. Vital
phenomeua, especially those connected with the
nervous system are attributed to electricity
certain curious physiological phenomena are at
trib lied to animal magnetism thought feeling
will. ara the product Of electricity So also IN
geology. slaty cleavase-mIneral veins, collation.
I of mstamorphic rocks etc, have heen attributed
/ TO electric currents. Thus electricity is made
The scaps-goat for the sins aud shortcomings Of
other sciences. Now, it Is true that our know
ledge OF electricity is sill very imperfect yet
there Is certainly much that We do know about
electrieity-ihere is large body OF ascertained
. facts aud well established laws. Electricity has
! already assumed the fora Of positive science,
as is sufficiently shown by the varied applications
OF this wonderful agent. Ii Is in tie highest de-
gree unphilOsOphical aud irrational, therefore TO
attribute any phenomena 10 electricity unless
they are similar TO the known phenomena. or
subject to the known laws OF electricity. Now
suppose the earth charged 10 any extent with
observation-disclosures gigantic electric machine
into the earth until it Is charged like great
leyden jar. Ii now it eau be shown how this
electricity can produce conclusion, giving ori-
gin elastic earth waves then it viii be time to
consider seriously this theOry-then it will begin
to deserve the title of theory. Currents OF
electricity doubtless there are within the
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES, chemco-slectric, magnetic
electric but electric currents cannot produce
conclusion. concession such ~ gives origin
10 earthquake waves. if produced hy electricity
at all. could be produced only by descriptive dis
charge bat discharge within good con-
duetOr, in the present state of science, must be
regarded impossible.