Littell's Living Age/Volume 169/Issue 2192/Collection of Hairs after Earthquakes in China

In Dr. Macgowan’s "Note on Earthquakes in China," republished in Nature for May 6, I find the following passage: —

"The tremors that are experienced in Chehkiang, Kiangsu, and coterminous regions to the west, are sometimes followed by the appearance on the ground of substances that in Chinese books are styled ‘white hairs.’ When I first called attention to records of that kind that are found in local gazetteers, I suggested that they might be crystals precipitated by gaseous emissions, such as were once reported as occurring after an earthquake in the south-west of the United States; from later descriptions of these 'horsetail-like' substances I incline to the opinion that they are organic, perhaps mycelium."

I think there can be little doubt that Dr. Macgowan’s conclusion is well founded, and that the "white hairs" have no real connection with the earthquake. In 1852, during one of the late Mr. Fortune’s visits to China, he experienced the shock of an earthquake at Shanghai. He gives the following curious account in "A Residence among the Chinese" (pp. 4, 5), of the subsequent search for the hairs: —

"Groups of Chinese were seen in the gardens, roadsides, and fields, engaged in gathering hairs which are said to make their appearance on the surface of the ground after an earthquake takes place. This proceeding attracted a great deal of attention from some of the foreign residents in Shanghai, and the Chinese were closely examined upon the subject. Most of them fully believed that these hairs made their appearance only after an earthquake had occurred, but could give no satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, while some, more wise than their neighbors, did not hesitate to affirm that they belonged to some huge subterraneous animal whose slightest shake was sufficient to move the world. "I must confess, at the risk of being laughed at, that I was one of those who took an interest in this curious subject, and that I joined several groups who were searching for these hairs. In the course of my travels I have ever found it unwise to laugh at what I conceived to be the prejudices of a people simply because I could not understand them. In this instance, however, I must confess the results were not worth the trouble I took. The hairs, such as I picked up, and such as were shown me by the Chinese, had certainly been produced above the earth and not below it. In some instances they might readily be traced to horses, dogs, and cats, while in others they were evidently of vegetable origin. The north-eastern part of China produces a very valuable tree known by the name of the hemp palm [Gharnærops Fortunei, see Kew Report, 1880, p. 31], from the quantity of fibrous bracts it produces just under its blossoms. Many of these fibres were shown to me by the Chinese as a portion of the hairs in question; and when I pointed out the source from which such had come, and which it was impossible to dispute, my friends laughed, and, with true Chinese politeness, acknowledged I was right, and yet I have no doubt they still held their former opinions concerning the origin of such hairs. The whole matter simply resolves itself into this; if the hairs pointed out to me were the true ones, then such things may be gathered not only after earthquakes, but at any other time. But if, after all, these were not the real things, and if some vegetable (I shall not say animal) production was formed, owing to the peculiar condition of the atmosphere and from other causes, I can only say that such production did not come under my observation."^[1]

Notes

1. "During a recent visit to the North-West Provinces of India, where earthquakes are not unfrequent, I could find no traditions such as that I have alluded to."