VESUVIUS. 227 



which the dissector of the human subject so soon learns to observe 

 almost without concern, and certainly without any thing more than 

 commonplace curiosity as the devastations incident to alcoholic in- 

 dulgence. Condensed from the Popular Science Review. 



-v- 



YESUYIUS. 



aEOGRAPHERS say there are some two hundred volcanoes on the 

 surface of the earth ; of these one is situated on the continent 

 of Europe Vesuvius. This mountain has had a remarkable history, 

 and is now an object of renewed interest, as it has been again in pro- 

 found convulsion. 



Vesuvius stands about 10 miles southeast of Naples, in Southern 

 Italy. Seen from the city it is a mountain with two summits. That 

 on the left is the peak of Somma, 3,747 feet above the sea ; the peak on 

 the right being the volcano itself, about 200 feet higher. Between the 

 two summits is a valley at the entrance to which, on a plateau, is sit- 

 uated the Hermitage and the Observatory. The mountain stands on the 

 plain of Campania, and has a base of some 30 miles in circumference. 



Vesuvius was an active volcano in very ancient times, and then was 

 in a state of repose for a long period. This is inferred from the fact 

 that writers before the Christian era never alluded to it as in eruption, 

 but do refer to the igneous character of its rocks, and to its " many 

 signs of having been burning in ancient times." It awoke to great ac- 

 tivity a. d. 79, and from that time to the present has been the scene 

 of about sixty grand eruptions. 



The sides of the mountain, as described by Strabo, were clothed 

 with gardens and vineyards filled with luxuriant vegetation ; beautiful 

 farms and rich woods extended to its top, which was flat, barren, and 

 slaggy. Its dangerous character was hot suspected : villas were scat- 

 tered over the sloping landscape ; the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, 

 and Stabias, were planted at its base, and were fashionable resorts for 

 wealthy Romans. 



A premonition of what was coming occurred in the year A. D. 63, 

 in the form of a violent earthquake, which overthrew many houses ; 

 but its significance was of course not understood, and the houses were 

 rebuilt. 



The first great recorded eruption of Mt. Vesuvius occurred August 

 24th, in the year 79, and has been described by the younger Pliny in 

 a letter to Tacitus. His uncle, the elder Pliny, was at the time in com- 

 mand of the Roman fleet at Misenum, and his nephew was Avith him. 

 From this point they first descried the eruption. Rising from the top 

 of the mountain they saw what appeared like a column of dense, black 



