| RefNo | MS/603/8/98 |
| Previous numbers | 1436 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Letter from John Milne, Shide Hill House, Newport, I.W. [Isle of Wight], to [Joseph] Larmor |
| Creator | Milne; John (1850-1913); British geologist and seismologist |
| Recipient | Larmor; Sir Joseph (1857-1942); Irish theoretical physicist |
| Date | 11 March 1896 |
| Description | Milne was inclined to think that seiches of lakes were due to rock tilting rather than vice versa. The bowl had received one tilt and the water swung like a pendulum until coming to rest. What he had sent Larmor looked like a natural period of the Earth's surface, but it might be a forced breathing due to some odd tide. Such things happen in October-December. The only odd phenomenon in Autumn that he knows of are the big swells which come in upon Peru and Japan. He wrote to [William James Lloyd] Wharton about them, but he was unable to give information, saying that G. [George] Darwin may know. He wonders what makes the big swells in Autumn. What Larmor says about earthquakes is different, and he sketches waves to illustrate his point about how fast such waves propagate. There has been speculation about effects at depth and 'by refraction you can turn the world into a lens with the result that energy would be found at the antipodes', which he illustrates by another sketch. |
| Extent | 4p. |
| Format | Manuscript |
| PhysicalDescription | Ink on paper |
| AccessStatus | Open |