14 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



as their adherents Sir Charles Lyell, Poulett Scrope, 

 and others. 



In figs. 13 & 14 are diagrammatic representations 

 of the two tlieories. 



The upheavalists believed that the eartli-crust 

 actually surrounding the vent was bodily lifted up by 

 the subterranean igneous forces into a dome-shaped 

 or bubble-like mass, thus forming the main mass of 

 the cone, of which the centre was the point of 

 fracture, and therefore the vent. The ejecta were 

 therefore considered to form only a thin superficial 

 crust covering this. The subjacent rock which had 

 been elevated would thus have a quaquaversal or 

 periclinal dip away on all sides from the chimney, 

 fig. 14. 



The opponents to this view attribute the entire 

 bulk of the mountain to the ejecta, as seen in fig. 13, 

 the only change in the basement beds being those 

 produced by pressure and excavation, both of which 

 tend to make them dip towards the vent, thus pro- 

 ducing quite a converse effect to the former. 



This latter view certainly seems the most feasible, 

 and after a careful examination of many of the old 

 craters brought forward by the upheavalists as 

 evidence, one becomes satisfied that they have 

 wrongly interpreted facts, which the more advanced 

 state of knowledge at the present day and the 

 collected experience of subsequent observers make 

 easy to our perception. On the other hand, it would 

 be undoubtedly rash to conclude that all craters were 

 formed entirely on one or the other model. Jorullo 

 in Mexico, for instance, has many points about it to 

 support the upheaval theory. David Forbes, that 

 clear observer, mentions many facts about South 

 American volcanoes that should deter us from 

 admitting the formation of cones and craters by the 

 deposition of ejecta only. 



The rapidity with which a volcanic cone may be 

 raised is a point of great interest. We hear every 

 now and then of some small island appearing and 

 again disappearing below the sea almost as rapidly as 

 it rose. Probably, however, the best illustration is 

 that of Monte Nuovo, 456 feet high, situated in the 

 Campi Phlegraci, about eight miles west of Naples. 

 This was raised from a marshy plain almost level 

 with the sea in about four days, commencing on 

 September 30th, 1538. 



The whole hill is therefore the product of one 

 eruption. It is an interesting fact no stream of lava 

 was developed. It would seem that the explosions 

 were so intense that the fluid rock was entirely broken 

 up and ejected in a fragmentary condition, of which 

 there are great quantities forming the slopes. 



The cone of Vesuvius proper, 1500 feet high above 

 the lowest edge of the crater of Somma, has entirely 

 been built up of the ejecta thrown out at the time 

 of and since the memorable eruption of a.d. 79, in 

 which Herculaneum, Pomj^eii, Stabia, &c., were de- 

 stroyed. Besides the bulk of the mountain now seen. 



we must not forget the vast quantity that has been 

 required to fill up the crater of Somma, much 

 enlarged by the eruption spoken of. It is said that 

 no lava ran from Vesuvius till the tenth century, 

 this probably would be explained by the fact that all 

 the earlier streams were occupied in filling up the 

 great crater. See fig. 11. 



URSINE FOLKLORE. 

 By John Wager. 



" A grype and grimlie beast." 



TPIE bear, the largest beast of prey in Europe, 

 is king of the northern forest, a mighty poten- 

 tate in his dusky realm. Like some other despotic 

 rulers who have existed in the world, honoured in 

 proportion to the evil they were prone to inflict, he, 

 though less cruel and brutal than they, has been 

 held in divine regard, and has received the worship 

 of those who would not scruple to take his life. 

 Castren (" Forelasningar i Finsk Mytologi'') informs 

 us that the bear was thus regarded by the Ostiaks 

 and Yakuts, who sought to win his favour and for- 

 bearance by styling him "Father" and "Grand- 

 father." The Finns, also, in early times, similarly 

 honoured and flattered the surly monarch, hoping to 

 conciliate him and avert his depredations from their 

 herds by the use of endearing epithets, such as, " The 

 beautiful honey-paw," "the forest's apple," "the 

 pride of the wilderness," and " the old man who had 

 descended from the regions of the sun and moon ;" 

 They also addressed him coaxingly in song, " My dear 

 old man," "My little bird," "My beautiful golden 

 friend." A sacred regard and respectful epithets were 

 also applied to the bear by the pagan Laplanders ; 

 and both these related peoples formerly observed 

 peculiar festive ceremonies on the occasion of hunting 

 and killing the bear. The Lapps, when they had 

 eaten a bear, used also to bury its bones with 

 singing and other rites. The Buratos and other 

 Mongolian races worshipped the bear ; a bear's heart 

 was offered to the sun by the Karagus, a nomadic 

 race of Siberian Tartars ; and we learn from Tylor's 

 " Primitive Culture " that the Ostiaks at the present 

 day swear in the Russian courts on a bear's head, 

 believing that the bear will know and slay them if 

 they tell a lie ; and yet with strange apparent in- 

 consistency, they not only kill the bear, but before 

 setting up its stuffed skin as an object of worship will 

 kick and spit upon it. According to the same work 

 the North American Indians offered a similar gro- 

 tesque mixture of worship and mockery to the bear 

 while feasting upon its flesh, with its head set up 

 before them ; the Kamtchadals also worshipj^ed it 

 and other powerful and cunning animals, refraining 

 from the mention of their j^roper names, and using 



