NATURAL HISTORY. A Narrative of the Earthquake felt in Bart. P. R. S. From the Philofophical Tranfa&tions for Dear Sir, 1792. fitting with his back against an old mafly ftack of chimnies, which gave him a fenfible fhove; he at the fame time faw the chairs of other perfons in the rooms move very vifibly. Thomas Barker, Efq. in a Letter to Mr. Turner. An earthquake was felt all over WHEN I heard of the earth- Rutlandfhire. What I felt, and it quake of the 25th of February laft, which was felt in Lincolnshire, and fome of the neighbouring counties, about a quarter before nine in the evening, I immediately wrote to my friend Captain Pennyman, at Little Paunton, near Grantham, defiring him to inform me of the duration and extent of the fhock, the direction it came in, and the ftate of the weather before and after it was perceived. His remarks, together with the fubfequent information I have obtained, great part of which I derive from your obliging communication, may ferve to record this recent inftance of a phenomenon, to the terrors of which this country is but little expofed. Lard Rawdon's Information to Sir Jofeph Banks. At Donnington Castle, Leicesterfhire, Lord Rawdon's steward was was the general defcription given of it, was, that it came with a rattling noise, fomething like wheels running over a pavement, and a trembling fhake, which thofe who were leaning against a wall feit more than thofe who were standing, or fitting upright. It lasted a confiderable time; different people estimated it from a quarter of a minute to a minute. Several thought the noife and shake came from the north or the north-eait; and indeed, I think I heard more of it from the northward than the fouthward of us. Some thought they heard a thump, as of a heavy thing falling down; but the rattling and fhaking were much more taken notice of. Several perfons at first suspected it might be a ball of fire, but no fuch thing was feen; and many were immediately fenfible it must be an earthquake, especially those who had felt one before. No ma terial hurt was done by it; fome who were standing were feen to reel, and one who was walking was thrown against a wall by it, but not hurt; a fiack of wood was thrown down, and fome faid a chimney. I heard of it as far as Newark, in Nottinghamshire; and it was faid to be felt at Biggleswade, in Bedfordfhire. The feafon was at the conclufion of a froft; there had been a little rain, and a thaw was beginning. The barometer gradually fell from the 23d to the 26th-the thermometer was as under: 21ft, morn. 16.5; 22d, 27.3; 23d, 22.3 aftern. 28.0; 326; 33.2 24th, morn. 24.0; 25th, 34 9; 26th, 39.8 aftern. 39.0; 38.05 45.5 27th, morn. 40.2. aftern. 52.2. I felt the earthquake of September 30th, 1750, as I did this, and heard the fame rattling noife, and my feat fhook under me. Many others heard and felt the fame; but fome defcribed it as the falling down of a weight. September 1750, was almost all a calm, dry, and hot feafon, fcarce a breath of wind, or a glimpfe of fun. The end was cooler; but dry and calm, as before. The 30th was cloudy and calm, but there was a gentle wind for fome time after the earthquake. The Rev. Edw. Gregory's Information to Mr. Turner. The earthquake at Nottingham, as felt by Dr. White, was undulatory in both fhocks; but, in the fecond, he perceived the direction of the fhock to be a little inclined to the horizon, towards tie fouth-eaft. At Langar, its noife was like that of a heavy carriage driving rapidly along. Here the fhock was felt by one or more perfons, but not by all in the fame room. Its direction was from weft to eaft. It was felt at Derby very flightly; and was of no great extent from north to fouth in thefe parts, as it was not felt at Harborough to the fouth, nor at Chesterfield to the north. It was fharply felt at Stamford and Wan desford, but not at Alconbury. Mr. King's Information At Belvoir Caftle the flock feem ed to be perpendicular, up and down, as if part of the caftle had given way; no noise was perceived, but wind. Captain Pennyman, in a Letter to Mr. Turner. At Little Paunton, Lincolnshire, the morning prefented a thick fog, which continued all the day; the air extremely heavy and clofe. About half paft eight in the evening, a noife came on resembling thunder, which lafted nearly half a minute, when two undulatory motions, in the quickest fucceffion, were felt; a guft of wind, for some feconds, inftantaneoufly fucceeded, and in about five minutes it rained heavy and large drops, which continued fome time. The windows, window-bells, pewter upon ihelves, &c. gave ample evidence of the agitation. Its direction was from north-west to fouth-eaft. It was flightly felt at Branfton, though not at Lincoln. Chr. Driffield, in a Letter to Lord Brownlow. We were all much alarmed by a violent and fudden fhock of an earthquake; it made the house at Belton fhake, and was followed by a violent guft of wind, and a noife like thunder, which lafted about fix or seven feconds. I really thought my chair was finking into the ground, and, after I had recovered myfelf, I was not convinced that one of the fronts of the house, or a chimney, had not given way, till I had been in all the rooms, where I found every thing in its place. All the other fervants felt it as I did; and the neighbours in the village thought their houfes were going to fall upon them. It was felt at Grantham, Manthorpe, and other towns in the neighbourhood. The Rev. Archdeacon Brown, in a Letter to Mr. Turner. An uncommon rumbling noise was heard round my premifes at Peterborough, 110 yards, refembling that occafioned by drawing a large garden-roller flowly over the pavement. The found did not appear like thunder over the head, but upon or near the ground. The like, in every respect, happened October 27th, 1776, about a quarter before ten at night. Mr. Fydel's Information The earthquake was felt and heard by a lady at Bofton, who declared fo at the time it happened, and faid, fhe was fure it was fomething extraordinary, though no one elfe in the town obferved it, or paid any attention to her, till the news of its having been felt at other places arrived. The Tranfactions of the Royal Society give an account of the earthquakes in the northern parts of England, in the years 1703 and 1750. That of the latter year is defcribed as "beginning in Derby fhire, and paffing off the island, through Lincolnshire and part of Cambridgeshire, its direction being from weft to eaft*." From the preceding narrative it appears, that nearly the fame tract of country was affected by the late concuffion, and that it came in the fame direction from weft to eaft; circumftances which correfpond with the obfervations of Mr. Meche!: 1ft, "That the fame places are fubject to returns of earthquakes at different intervals of time;"-2dly, "That earthquakes generally come to the fame place from one and the fame point of the compass." These, and other facts, that ingenious philofopher adduces in fupport of his hypothefis, that earthquakes are caufed by the fteam raised by waters contained in the cavities of the earth, fuddenly rufhing in upon fubterraneous fires; which fteam, the moment it is generated, infinuates itself between the ftrata of the earth, and produces the undulatory motion before mentioned. It may, however, be remarked that the state of the air, before the fhock, was calm, clofe, and gloomy, fuch as is defcribed by Dr. Stukely as neceffary to prepare the earth to receive an electrical stroke; and the circumftance of its having been partially felt in the fame room, may be fuppofed to favour that hypothesis; but yet the concuffion feems not to have been fo ftrong on the eminence at Belvoir Caftle as it was in the neighbouring vile. I have the honour to be, &c. March 10th, 1792. Phil. Tranf. vol. xL, p. 722. The From the Annals of Agriculture, Vol. 18. IT will not be denied, that the tafte for luxury is become more than ever general and prevalent in this country; that partly the indolence which is its common attendant, and partly the extreme mutability of the climate, prevent multitudes from taking proportioned exercife in open air; and that many of the most painful and dangerous difeafes proceed from weakness and diforders in the ftomach and bowels, always increased by intemperance. It will, therefore, be allowed, that if a fimple or plant, poffciling powers to correct thofe diforders and ftrengthen that weaknefs, could be propagated amongst ourselves at an eafy rate, fo as to be purchafed at a final expence, it would be a circumftance highly grateful to every friend of humanity. Such a plant, we have the happinefs to know, has been provided by the beneficence of nature; I mean rhubarb, or rheum palmatum of the London Difpenfatory 1788, fo juftly celebrated by the beft phyficians, both at home and abroad. We cannot however but regret, that hitherto it has not been cultivated in Britain with the care or skill requifite for producing any quantity worth a name, far lefs fuch a fupply as could either fave the country altogether its prefent expenfive importation, or render the article fo cheap as to be attainable by the great numbers who have not now the benefit of fharing in its falutary effects. The late Sir Alexander Dick, Baronet, Prefident of the College of Phyficians at Edinburgh, being acquainted with thefe particulars, and prompted by a zeal for the public good that ftrongly marked his character, was folicitous to try whether the culture of this falutary root might not be introduced into Britain fo effectually, as to answer the purpofes of general utility before fuggefted. Full of the benevolent idea, he applied to a medical friend of his own, the late Dr. Mounley, at the court of Petersburg, with whom he correfponded, and who was fortunately in fuch high favour with the late Czar Peter, as to procure, by the intervention of his Imperial Majefty, an order for fome of the best rhubarb-feeds to be fent to the imperial gardens at Petersburg. There it profpered exceedingly, often producing feed within two or three years, and growing fo faft as to gain not feldom, in the fpace of less than three weeks, the height of twelve or fourteen feet. It is in truth a very hardy plant; and, where it is thriving, fhoots up in ftems of great fize and beauty. After the Czar's death, Dr. Mounfey brought home with him, to Britain, fome of its feeds, and gave a part of them to Sir Alexander Dick, who took the most fedulous pains to raife the plant in his own gardens at Preftonfield, and to dry its roots. Nor did he fail to diftribute the feeds among fuch of his noble and learned friends as he thought would be best disposed and qualified to cherish his favourite ob ject. Among the reft, he imported them to the late Duke of Athol, the Earl of Bute, and the late Dr. Hope of Edinburgh, my old fellow-ftudent there; of whom I cannot forbear faying, that whether regarded as a botanift, a phyfician, or a man, he he was an ornament to his country. About feven years after the period to which I refer, I found plenty of the true palmated rhubarb in the botanical garden at Edinburgh, as well as in that of the amiable Baronet above named. From him I brought fome, both of the roots and of the feeds, into England. Whence it happens, that cultivation of this root, as an article of public utility, is ftill generally ne glected, I know not; unless it be the fuppofed difficulty attending the drying of it. I have been told, that not lefs than 200,000l. is paid annually for rhubarb imported into this country and it is likely to cost yet more, if not propagated by our felves, as modern luxury daily increases. It is certain that the enormous quantity of butter, in all its different forms and ufes, conftantly devoured by vaft numbers of both fexes; with every fpecies of fat foods and heavy ales, befides porter; want of due exercife, and the pernicious custom of late hours, and jading attendance on gay affemblies and card-tables, infinitely hurtful to health; it is certain, I fay, that all thefe, with other caufes that might be named, concur in rendering extraordinary aids to digeftion necef, fary. But what aids fonatural, fafe, or efficacious, as vegetable bitters, as well as vegetable acids? Convinced that the former are peculiarly calculated, when properly combined with other ingredients, to fupply the deficiency of bile, and of the pancreatic juice, I was led to beftow particular attention upon the culture of rhubarb, after the Lights I had received concerning it; and a fample of its roots, which grew in my own garden on Putney heath, I took the liberty of exhi biting to the Society, encouraged by a certificate from the druggifts in the city, that they had found it of fuperior goodness, as well as the first English fpecimen which they had feen of true marketable rhubarb, or the rheum palmatum of the Difpenfatory. For this the Society honoured me with aletter of thanks, and afterwards with a gold medal. To this attempt, I am emboldencd, by having laft fummer raised more than three hundred plants, and afterwards tranfplanted them in a thriving condition, according to the rules and orders of the Society, with the proper certificates. As foon as I had feed enough for the purpose of making experiments, I fowed it in a hot-bed, and when it had fhot up with three or four feed-leaves, I planted it out in an eaft and fouth-east expofure, where ground unmanured, or not too rich, is leaft apt to breed the fly; to which indeed this plant is more fubject than even the turnip. On the whole, it has answered beft when fown in the fituation now mentioned, during the last half of the month of March, or in April, or even as far as the end of May; or yet later, if the fpring has proved cold and dry. It may be alfo tranfplanted during the whole courte of the fummer. Sets likewife, from the more abundant items, will often fucceed very well; and even the tap-root, in the deepest mould, and where the upper part is already fit to be cut into flices of two inches in depth and three in breadth, before the plant has pufhed out its rapid stems. With regard to the time of taking up the roots, that may be done with fafety when it fhews its first growth, or as foon as it has feeded, or when the |