A Treatise On Earthquake Dangers Causes And Palliatives PDF Download

Excerpt from A Treatise on Earthquake Dangers Causes and Palliatives The preface now submitted will be chiefly occupied with apologetic explanations for total omissions, and sparseness of details, which, if elaborated at greater length, were calculated to explain many of the mysterious phenomena of earthquakes. It is doubtful, however, whether sufficient interest exists amidst the California public to have mode it probable that even the cost of publication would have been realized had a work of larger pretensions and more expensive charge been submitted to its notice. Even as it is, the writer docs not anticipate realizing more than cost out of pocket of printing the present brochure, unless, as may happen, another earthquake shock sufficiently severe as to cause general alarm should occur within a brief period, and thus again attract fresh interest to the subject. As will be seen on a perusal of the first portions of the body of the work, the illustrations are almost wholly confined to incidents related by Mr. Mallet of the Neapolitan earthquake of 1857. It may be explained that this is attributable to the following circumstances: The last general meeting of the Joint Committee on Earthquake Topics was held on the 11th of March last. At that meeting certain reports were read, and discussions thereon took place. The chief one, however, related to one special topic, viz: the advisability of an early publication of the information obtained by the Committee, such a course being advocated by one party as duo to the public and the credit of the Committee, and another who strongly contended for an indefinite delay - one of the stoutest advocates for such delay advancing the novel plea that, individually, they had not yet learned the science of seismology, and, by inference, the cognate sciences alluded to that branch of physics. A compromise was effected by the adoption of a resolution that the Chairmen of the various sub-committees should forward at a day conveniently early and generally understood, which has now passed, reports on the various branches of this subject, on the receipt of which the Chairman was to assemble, by summons, the members of the Joint Committee. For reasons not yet explained, this has not taken place, awaiting, probably, the time when these amateur architects, chemists, geologists and general scientists, shall have, to their own satisfaction, mastered the alphabets of the particular sciences on which they have undertaken to treat. A portion of the resolution adopted at the same time embraced the dismissal of the Secretary, on the ground of economy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.