The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-04-07
OF OLD.
Strange Ideas Of the Ancients as
to Their Causes.
WARNING SIGNS OF SHOCKS.
Pliny Says They Were Shown In the
Air, Clouds and Water and by AMI
mails The Two Mountains That
Crashed Together and Then Receded.

mails The Two mountains That
Crashed Together and Then Receded.
IL we search history to find to what
causes the ancients attributed earth
quakes we find that the Babylonians
believed that all occurrences of the
kind were due to the influence of the
stars, especially Of the three to which
they ascribed thunder-namely, Sat
urn, Jupiter and Mars. The seers of
the day believed that these disturb
ances were caused by the stars NOV
ing with the sun or being in conjunc-
tion with 1t. more particularly when
the stars were in the quartile aspect.
Pliny chronicles the report concern
ing one Anaximander. Milesian. who
warned the Lacedaemonians to be-
ware of their city and houses. And
legend has 1t that the city was soon
afterward destroyed
Pliny, who wrote his natural history
in A. d. II, conceived that earth
quakes were caused by the winds, as
"the earth never trembles except
when the sea is quite calm and when
the heavens are so tranquil that the
birds cannot maintain their flight, all
the air which should support them be-
ing withdrawn. Nor does 1t ever hap
pen until after great winds, the gust
being pent up as 1t were, in the fis-
sures and concealed hollows,"
Many scientists have obs64ed that
all great convulsions of nature are
likely to be preceded by calms; also
that birds and animals generally ex
hibit certain presentiments Of the
event, facts which the wise men of
ancient days noted and accounted for
in their different ways.
Pliny says: "When an earthquake
occurs there is often sound without
any motion. When there is motion 1t
is tremulous and vibratory. The clefts
of the earth sometimes remain, dis
playing what has been swallowed up,
sometimes concealing 1t, the mouth
being closed and the soil brought over
1t. the city being as 1t were. engulfed,
devoured. Maritime districts are more
especially subject to shocks. Nor are
mountainous districts exempt. | have
found the Alps and the Apennines fire.
quently shaken by them. The shocks
happen more frequently in the autumn
and the spring. They also happen
more frequently in the night than In
the day. The greatest shocks are in
the morning and the evening, but they
often take place at daybreak. They
also take place during eclipses Of the
moon, because at that time storms are
lulled. They are most frequent when
great heat succeeds to showers or
showers succeed to great heat"
Pliny further says: '"There Is no
doubt that earthquakes are felt by
persons on shipboard. There are many
signs for the mariner beforehand, how
ever. The timbers of the vessel creak
The birds that settle on the vessel are
not without their alarms. There Is
also sign in the heavens, for when
shock is near at hand, either in the
daytime or little after sunset, q
cloud is stretched out in the clear sky
like long, thin line. The water in
wells is more turbid than usual, and 1t
emits disagreeable odor."
In describing the various kinds of
shocks and expanding on his investi-
cations on the subject Pliny remarks
that "arched buildings are the safest:
also the angles of walls and walls
made of bricks suffer least. The earth
movement that resembles the rolling
of waves is the most dangerous, or
when the motion is impelled in one
direction. The tremors cease when
the vapors have burst forth, but II
there be no escape Of vapor Of any
kind then the tremors may continue
for forty DAYS They have been known
to continue for two years"
IT, ii"trri,n raoords the greatest