Scientific American magazine, Vol. 2 Issue 1
Book Excerpt
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THE DEERFIELD (N. H.) PHENOMENA.
We have frequently heard of singular and unaccountable reports, as of explosion, in Deerfield, but nothing so definite as the following statement by a correspondent of the Portsmouth Journal.
"Mr Editor,--During the last twelve years, certain curious, not to say alarming phenomena in the town of Deerfield, N. H., have excited the fears of the inhabitants, and we think should, ere this, have attracted the attention of the scientific. These are reports of explosions in the ground, apparently of a volcanic or gaseous nature. When first heard they were attributed to the blasting of rocks in Manchester, a new town some ten miles distant; but from the frequency of the reports at all hours in the night as well as the day, from the consideration that they were so loud, and were heard in all seasons, winter as well as summer, it was soon concluded that they