Note 96 — Chapter X

Professor Quinby, of the University of Rochester, has, at our request, calculated the position of the moon at the late earthquake: "August 16th, 1868, 1 A.M., the moon was on meridian 137° 21' east of that of Quito, or 42° 30' past the lower meridian of Quito, assuming the longitude of Quito west of Greenwich to be 79°, which it is very nearly. This is but little after the vertex of the tidal wave should have passed the meridian of Quito, on the supposition that the interior of the earth is a liquid mass. The age of the moon at that time was 27.36 days, i.e., it was only about two days before new moon." At the time of the earthquake, 8 A.M., March 22, 1859, the moon was on meridian 25° 48' east of that of Quito, and was 17.6 days old. Shocks have since occurred, March 20th at 3 A.M., and April 10th at 8 A.M., 1869.