300 Supposed Connection of Meteoric Phenomena, 



of dense smoke proceeded from the two rents specified above 

 [in his account], which, raised to a considerable height in the 

 atmosphere, before serene, was dilated, and formed a black 

 cloud above 2000 paces in diameter, which presently dis- 

 charged a copious shower of large hailstones upon the red-hot 

 lava." The noise occasioned by the contact is described to 

 have been " as violent as that from the discharge of a cannon 

 of large calibre ; " and an English officer, stationed at La Sea- 

 letta, 30 miles from Etna, " compared it there to a brisk 

 fire from numerous batteries." (Notes to the First Part of 

 Two last Pleadings of Cicero against Verres, p. 143, 14<4.) 



During the eruption of Scaptaar Yokul in Iceland, in 1793, 

 not only did rain fall in torrents, but also hail in showers, and 

 snow in great abundance. Sir W. Hamilton informs us, " that 

 during the earthquakes at Naples, on July 19. 1794, cold was 

 sensibly felt, and ascribed to the electrical phenomena in 

 activity. His servant, he tells us, felt an exceeding cold wind 

 issue from a fissure very near the hot fumaroli ; " but it did 

 not surprise me, as before, on Mount Vesuvius, on the moun- 

 tain of Somma, on Mount Etna, and in the Island of Ischia, 

 I had met with, in particular spots, the like currents of ex- 

 tremely cold air issuing from beneath the ancient lavas ; and, 

 which, being constant to those spots, are known by the name 

 of ventaroli." {Phil. Trans., 1795.) 



It is not now my intention to pursue the enquiry respecting 

 cold, suddenly or permanently produced, on a large scale; 

 as I intend to consider, in the next Number, together with 

 hurricanes, some remarkable cases of unseasonable cold in 

 certain years, with a view of showing that the terrestrial heat, 

 affecting the ice of the polar regions, indirectly produces 

 cold, as in the years 1816 to 1818 [see Q. 22.]: but I shall 

 state here, on the authority of Malte-Brun (liv. 107.)> that 

 in 1797, on Feb. 4., the whole province of Quito was over- 

 thrown by earthquakes, since which time, earthquakes have 

 been continual, the sky is dull and heavy, the temperature 

 altogether altered, and the cold excessive. 



I have now to state some other cases of meteoric phenomena 

 equally interesting with those of Nov. 12. 1833. 



The year 1750 is celebrated for shocks of earthquakes 

 throughout the earth. The Rev. Mr. Sedden of Warrington 

 has recorded that, at the moment of the shock there (April 2.), 

 he saw an infinite number of rays of light, proceeding from 

 all parts of the shy, to one point near the zenith. The rays 

 were at first yellow, afterwards blood-red, and were visible for 

 twenty minutes. Dr. Doddridge of Northampton relates 

 that, at 4 a.m. of Sept. 30 {the day of the shock at that place), 



