SEISMOLOGY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 141, 15 June 1886, Page 3

SEISMOLOGY.

To the Editor of the " Evening Mail. 1 Sib.—ln the interests of Seismology I think the predictions of Mr Delaunay of Paris, who has made the seismic laws his special study, should not be lost sight of. I enclose you an extract from " Iron" of September or August, of last year. I had another extract giving more definite information, but unfortunately I have mislaid it. —Yours &c, E. I. KiNGSLEY. Nelson. [exteact.] The earthquake shocks which were felt last ■week over a wide area in Yorkshire reminds us that an authority on the subject of these phenomena, M. Delaunay, of Paris, is of opinion that next year will see the recurrence of upheavals of the earth's crust in an intensified form. M. Delaunay is a prophet of evil, but, unfortunately, all his prophecies have hitherto come true. His specialty is earthquakes, and he predicts them only too purely. In 1877 he announced that that year would not conclude without violent disturbances of the earth, and as a matter of fact the frightful catastrophes on the coasts of South America followed. In 1883, M. Delaunay .again pointed to approaching earthquakes,'an<f soon after the volcanic eruptions in the Indian Archipelago occurred, by which thousands of human beings lost their lives, and hundreds of square miles of terra fir ma were engulphed by the sea. Towards the end of last year M. Delaunay once more raised his warning voice, and the earthquakes in Spain proved how well founded were his warnings. Quite recently he has prophesied very severe volcanic disturbances for 1886. Having acquired a well merited notoriety in foretelling earthquakes, some weight ought to be attached to M. Delaunay's utterances. He affirms that next year these natural phenomena -will be of a very intense character, and that they will show themselves either wber. the earth is under the direct influence of t planet of th» first rank, such as Jupiter, 01 under that of a group of asteroids, or at t time when the sun and moon are nearest t( our planet at the same time.