The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-20
AScRIBE QUAKE TO sun SPOTS
SANE CAUSE ASSIGNED TO THE
ERUPTION OF TESUVIUS.

Cir Norman LOckNer supports Eroi. Nutues
yle~-German Scientist Agrees-Flam.
marion Says Immediate Cause Was
Lateral Pressure OF steam Pockets.
spr-'al ccb', Despatch 10 THE sun.
IoyroN, !! rril 19.-sir Norman Lookyer
director If solar physics at the South Ken
sjnetcn Observatory, agrees with the theory
advanced BY Prof. Milne to account for the
San Francisoo earthquake-that is, that It
vas caused by the earth failing to swing per-
fectly true on it's axis, which 10 bound up
With the recognized theory regarding u
srots Sir Norman says:
More energy is coming to the earth this
wear than at any time during the sun spot
reriod Of thirty-fve years. As IL IA con-
isctured that the topping over, 90 to speak
Of the earth is caused by the formation Of a
great mass Of ice Of tremendous weight
A, one role or the other through the great
difference in temperatures caused by sun
spots. the greatest seismic disturbances
during the present year strengthen the
theory advanced by Prof. Milne.
Further confirmation Is also found
in the fac, that during the last three maxi
mum years Of the eleven year sun spot
perio4 there has been more activity in
Mount TesuNus than at any other time.
Thus ite present state is only what wac to
have been expected
Sir Norman is Of the opinion that the
eruption Of Mount vesuvius and the earth
quake az San Francisco were due to the same
ause.
Prof. %A!rchenbold, a German scientist,
supports Sir Norman's view. He is of the
opinion that the sun spots are causing
terrific electrical discharges, which are
affecting the interior of the earth. %
The we'll known French astronomer,
Camille Flammarion, thinks there probably
was close connection between the eruption
Of vesuvius and the earthquake. He also
thinks it quite possible that the earthquake
was caused by Popocatepetl, the Mexican
volcano, whose distance from San Francisco,
geologically speaking, is not great.
N. Flammarion, however, ascribes It
Immediately to the tension Of superheated
steam which exists in pockets several miles
below the surface of the earth. Through
out geological history, he says, there are
evidences Of extreme lateral pressure, the
pressure which has broken the crust of the
earth into mountains and valleys, and it lie
known that these lateral motions are still
going on to-day,
Although the surface of the earth appar-
emily remains calm, there is no real equi-
ibrium in the strata Of the earth, and the
earthquake Of Wednesday, in his opinion,
vas the outcome of an explosion Of gases
and the movement of superheated steam
several miles below San Francisco. .
N. Lapparent of the French Institute, on
the other hand, laughs at the idea Of there
being any connection between the earth
quake and volcanic disturbances. He is
convinced the earth movement was merely
Aside Of the geological strata.
PROF. MINES rHEoRr.
PHILADELPHIA. April 1s.-Prof. John
Milne Of London ~propounded his theory re-
garding the origin Of earthquakes at the
franklin bi-centennial to-day. Prof. Milne
laid that earthquakes are not caused by
the adjustment Of the surface of the earth
to meet a gradual reduction of size, but are
caused By a jar as the earth swings back
to get true upon its axis.
Prof Milne said it has been scientifically
demonstrated that the earth does not swing
trls and that in getting back a tremendous
strain upon the earth crust results.
Prof Simon Newcomh of the United
States Geological Survey, who is soon
going To Weigh the earth, said; Earth
quakes are due to a shifting of the earth's
strata, but what causes that shifting ia
not positively known. 1 can conceive,
as Prof. Milne says, that a shifting of the
earth's axis even to the slightest degree
would impose a great strain up on some
parts Of the earth's crust and this might
explain earthquakes. although the general
theory is that the shifting is due to the
RradlaI lesseninp ~ the "a rth,s s1Irface.S