Founders of Seismology.—II. Robert Mallet

WHILE Michell's interest in geology lasted until at least 1788, he made no further known contribution to the study of earthquakes. He must have been aware of the disastrous Calabrian earthquakes of 1783, but he would no doubt regard them as timely illustrations of his theory. The eighty years which followed 1760 were, indeed, somewhat barren as regards the progress of seismology. Among the more important contributions during this period were Dolomieu's report on the Calabrian earthquakes of 1783, Darwin's memoir on the connexion of certain volcanic phenomena in South America (1838), and the well-known chapters in Lyell's Principles of Geology (1830).