Citation

No Author(s) Listed. The Independent practitioner 1882; 3(6): e420.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1882)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

37825703

PMCID

PMC10063117

Abstract

Anaxagoras, the Rhodian, held that earthquakes are nothing but a sort
of cosmic flatulence--winds which have strayed into caverns, where they
•cannot find an outlet. Aristotle ascribes them to vapors generated by
the infiltration of water through the fissures of a rocky sea-bottom ; and
Pliny, to the pressure of air confined in deep caves, and reacting against
the collapse of superincumbent rock-strata. But the most ingenious ex
planation is offered by St. Thomas of Aquinas. Earthquakes, he sug
gests, may be caused by the struggles of defunct misbelievers, trying (by
a simultaneous stampede, perhaps) to escape from the pit of torment.--
Popular Science Monthly.

Language: en