Some Account of the Sinking down of a Piece of Ground, at Horseford, in Norfolk; Communicated by Mr. Arderon, of Norwich, to Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S.

VIII. Some Account of the Sinking down of a Piece of Ground, at Horseford, in Norfolk; communicated by Mr. Arderon, of Norwich, to Mr. Henry Baker, F. R. S. Read Nov. 14. In the Night-time, between the 24th and 25th of June last past, a violent Storm of Thunder and Lightning happened at the City of Norwich, and the Places adjacent; tho' at the City of Norwich it seemed extraordinary only for the Loudness of its Claps, and the Length of several of the Flashes; some whereof continued near half a Minute, and were so extremely bright, that they caused some thin Deal Shutters to the Windows of my Bed-Room (which then happened to be unpainted) to appear almost quite transparent. But at Horseford, a small Country Village, about four Miles North-west of this City, a remarkable Phenomenon Some for Seed, he opened one of the Pods, and was surprised to see one blue Pea at the End next the Stalk, with six white Pease: But after having examined several other Shells very carefully, he found a great Variety of Intermixtures of the white and blue Pease in the same Shells; sometimes one white (or blue) only at one End, sometimes at each End; sometimes two white (or blue) with one of the other Colour interchangeably; and thus the whole Parcel that was rubbed out for Seed was intermixt white and blue. The next Year, he says, not having Plotts of white and blue Pease standing near one another, he did not find any such Mixture in the several Parcels then saved for Seed. But it is pity he did not pick out a sufficient Number of the blue Pease from among the white, and sow them by themselves, in order to see what colour'd Pease this mixt Breed would have produced. C. M. Phænomenon appeared the next Day, the like whereof has not been observed in this County, since that communicated to the Royal Society by Mr. P. Le Neve, as in the Phil. Trans. No. 355. A sudden Lapsus, or Sinking down of the Earth, happened at this Village, in the Night above-mentioned, and left a Hole twelve Feet deep, and twelve and half in Diameter, in Form almost exactly round. Its Sides are nearly perpendicular; and what seems most strange, no Ruffles, Cracks, or Chasms, are to be found nigh it, but the Ground appears intirely firm and solid; and for Miles about is a fine Champaign Country, of a dry sandy Soil, but not hilly; neither is there any Watercourse above Ground near it. The first Yard from the Surface downwards is Corn-mould Earth; the other three are composed of brown and yellow Sand, disposed in several different Strata. I shall not pretend to account for this Accident; but might it not possibly be occasioned by some subterraneous Current washing away the sandy Matter by little and little, until it had left only a Crust, which the Tremor of this terrible Thunder had thrown down from the very Surface; though on this Conjecture, one would expect some Overflow or Appearance of Water; whereas I could not perceive here the Remains of a single Drop.