258 THE ENGLISH EARTHQUAKE OF DECEMBER 17TH, l896.
work of protecting certain groups, while game-preservers and game-
keepers are at full liberty to "wipe out" other families of birds
which are assuredly not less interesting, and which have places in
the economy of Nature equally important with those occupied by
the species scheduled in the Wild Bird Acts. This artificial dis-
tinction in the law is satisfying neither to the lover of birds nor to
the lover of justice. We hope to witness a public feeling arise for
the protection of all ferae naturae, no group being unduly favoured
to the detriment of the others. We firmly believe that this would
be ultimately beneficial to all, and that even the gamekeeper would
find it to his true interest to leave his gun at home.
Protect one, protect all, say we, and let "Nature be our
teacher."—Ed.
THE ENGLISH EARTHQUAKE OF
DECEMBER 17th, 1896.
THE earthquake felt in many parts of England between 5.30 and 5.40 a.m.
on Thursday, December 17th, has aroused considerable interest from the
wide area over which the disturbance extended, although the damage to buildings,
even at the points of greatest intensity of the vibrations, was far less than that
effected by the East Anglian earthquake of April 22nd, 1884. The maxima of
disturbance were at Hereford, Ross, Gloucester, Stroud, and Bristol, but shocks of
varying intensity were experienced as far north as Leeds, on the west at Cardigan
and Aberystwyth, east at Chelmsford, in many parts of the London district, and
south as at Bridport and Dorchester, and S.W. at Exeter. At many of the
places noted in the newspaper reports (over 100 in number) the disturbance was
exceedingly feeble, and was in most cases only recognised as something unusual
by observers who happened to be lying awake in bed at the time. The only-
serious damage was at Hereford and Gloucester. At the former town the
pinnacles of St. Nicholas' Church fell, and St. Peter's Cathedral was slightly
injured ; at Gloucester several chimney stacks were thrown down. At other
places the damage appears to have been of a very trifling nature.
Several points of scientific interest will doubtless come out when the records
have been duly collated and studied ; such as a possible identification of the line
of maximum extension of vibration with the theoretical extension of the palaeozoic
rocks from the south by London to Bristol, the determining effect of faults in
these rocks in restricting the area of seismic, disturbance, etc. Dr. C. Davison,
Secretary to the British Association Seismological Committee (whose address is
373, Gillott Road, Birmingham), has announced his intention of collecting and
collating the available evidence and of producing a memoir on the "Hereford and
Gloucester Earthquake" ; for correct scientific appreciation of the phenomena we
must await the appearance of this work. Dr. Davison asks all who have had any
experiences of the shock to send him particulars, and he adds that "no careful
account, however scanty the information given, can fail to possess some value, or
to help in throwing light on the nature and origin of the shocks."