"These gases and vapors (alluding to emanations given off
from the ground during earthquakes) exert an influence
on the barometer, which does appear to be indirectly
affected by the earthquake. Then, similar properties
also may occasion that uneasiness which animals are said
to evince before any such event. Thus, according to the
accounts of some writers, rats and mice leave their holes,
alligators seek the dry land, quadrupeds snuff the ground,
and manifest such signs of the impending calamity that in
countries where earthquakes are common, the inhabitants
take the alarm in consequence, and escape from their
houses. It is right, however, to add, that more recent
authorities dispute altogether the correctness of these
statements."