Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 68.djvu/545

 Rh There are, however, some lessons of immediate practical importance which have been learnt by seismological study; we may again quote from Professor Milne's Bakerian lecture:

At the Imperial University of Tokio a platform was constructed which by means of powerful machinery could be made to reproduce earthquake motion of varying intensity. On this table large models of masonry, wood, and metal designed to resist expected seismic accelerations were tested. This table has been to the builders in Japan what a testing tank in a dockyard has been to constructors of large vessels. The ultimate result of these and other investigations has been to modify and extend the rules and formulæ of ordinary construction, and now in Japan, as opportunity presents itself, new types of structure are springing up. These have withstood violent shakings which have materially damaged ordinary types in the neighborhood. While much has thus been done to reduce the loss of life and property, the Japanese government, stimulated by the results of this experience, has been encouraged to extend its support to seismological investigations in general.

In 1886 the chair of seismology was established at the Imperial University, and since 1892 there has been in existence a seismological investigation committee, which has already issued 70 quarto volumes. At the Central Meteorological Observatory in Tokio records are received from nearly 1,500 observing centers.

From these paragraphs it will be seen that there are questions which merit the close study of engineers and architects whose work lies in the dangerous regions, though but little attention has been paid to them except by that wonderful little people who have already taught us more than they learnt from us. It is some consolation, doubtless, to reflect that modern seismology owed its origin to Englishmen. It was the little community of Englishmen who were invited in 1880 to 'pitch their tents on the trembling soil of Japan,' in order to teach the Japanese something of western civilization, who began to study these earthquakes, and enlisted the sympathy of the Japanese government in the matter. The sequel in this case as in others suggests comparison, not perhaps between the disciple and his master, but between the treatments which they have received at the hands of the world in general and governments in particular. While seismological research has been stimulated and rewarded in Japan in the manner above indicated, Professor Milne's heroic exertions in England have met with very little recognition. Practically single-handed he has organized forty stations all over the world, where records are obtained, and has carried on the correspondence and clerical work necessary to keep them in communication and coordinate the records. Until recently the only assistance accorded him of any kind was a small grant of about £20 a year made by the British Association—all they could afford in view of the numerous claims on their small funds—which barely sufficed to buy the paper and chemicals for his own recording station at Shide.