shifting and sliding in an effort to accommodate themselves to the
new position. Other scientists scout this idea, saying that
earthquakes are not caused by the adjustment of the surface of the
earth, but by jar and strain as the earth makes an effort to regain
its true axis.

As regards the possible connection between volcanoes and earthquakes,
it is known that a violent earthquake, whose shocks lasted several
days, accompanied the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, when
Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed. In 1755 thousands upon
thousands of people lost their lives in the memorable earthquake at
Lisbon, in Portugal. At the same time the warm springs of Teplitz,
Bohemia, disappeared, later spouting forth again. In the same year an
Iceland volcano broke forth, followed by an uprising and subsidence of
the water of Loch Lomond in Scotland. The eruption of Vesuvius in 1872
was followed soon after by a serious earthquake in California.

Coming to the present year, it is noticed that the earthquake in the
island of Formosa, in which 1,000 people lost their lives, was
followed by the eruption of Vesuvius on April 8. Soon after came the
second great shock in Formosa, in which there was an even greater loss
of life.

Later there were two earthquake shocks in Caucasia. At the same time
the news of this appeared there was a report of renewed activity on
the part of a volcano in the Canary Isles, which had long been
dormant. In the United States two volcanoes which have been regarded
as extinct for more than a century--Mount Tacoma and Mount
Rainier--began to emit smoke. In regard to Tacoma, Dr. W. J. Holland,
head of the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburg, says: "There is no doubt
that there has been a breakdown and shifting of strata, perhaps at a
very great depth, in the region of San Francisco. There certainly is
great connection between this earthquake and recent private reports
which have come to me of intense volcanic activity on the part of
Mount Tacoma."

On the other hand, leading scientists contend that these instances are
mere coincidences. "If there is any connection between Vesuvius and
the Caucasus and Canary Isles earthquakes other places would have
suffered too; New York, for instance, is on the same parallel," says
Prof. J. F. Kemp, of Columbia University.

Although each of these scientists has the most absolute faith in his
theory, he really knows no more about the facts than any boy on the
street. No