432 Volcanoes* 



another, except that some of them better account for the 

 phenomena which have been observed than others. This state 

 of uncertainty has given every student liberty to form a theory 

 for himself, or to modify that which pleased him best. The 

 pages of our scientific journals and works on volcanoes abound, 

 therefore, in explanations of volcanic action; and we might 

 almost have been excused if we had passed over the subject. 

 But, as there is no probability of ascertaining truth while the 

 mind is cherishing error, there will be some advantage in 

 exposing false opinions, and in breaking the fetters which 

 prevent the intellect from healthy and vigorous activity. We 

 shall therefore enumerate some of the most remarkable 

 theories which have at various times engaged the attention of 

 the learned, and state some of our objections to those which 

 may appear the most plausible. 



There is reason to believe that much of ancient fable de- 

 rived its origin from an erroneous estimate of natural pheno- 

 mena. The history of astronomy affords abundant proof of 

 this statement ; and we believe that, in every country where 

 the inhabitants have been accustomed to the sight of volcanic 

 phenomena, they have ascribed them to occult deified agency. 



The Egyptians attributed all physical evil to the demon 

 Typhon ; and the Greeks, who adopted the superstitions 

 and science of the Egyptians, have evidently symbolised the 

 volcanic phenomena in their description of this personage. 

 Typhon, they tell us, was a giant more powerful than all the 

 children of the earth ; his head reached to the stars, and his 

 arms embraced the rising and the setting sun ; with his hands 

 he hurled the rocks to the highest heavens ; fire gleamed from 

 his eyes, and liquid fire boiled in his mouth. He is said to 

 have been born in Cilicia, which is known to be a volcanic 

 district ; and having, shortly after his birth, frightened the gods 

 from heaven, he was pursued by Jupiter to the borders of 

 the Lake Serbonis, another volcanic district, and was at last 

 imprisoned in the Island of Sicily, where he still continues to 

 rave, shaking the earth with his groans and ejecting liquid fire. 



The philosophical opinion, if such we may call it, of the 

 ancient Greeks and Romans, as standing in opposition to the 

 fable by which the uninitiated were imposed upon, is stated 

 by the Roman poet Lucretius, in his De Rerum NaturL 

 Volcanoes were supposed to derive their origin from the con- 

 version of the confined air in the cavities of the earth into 

 violent winds by heat. By this process, it was said, caloric 

 was generated, and the combustible bodies in the bowels of 

 the earth were inflamed. 



This is certainly the meanest theory of volcanic action that 



