iSir C. Lyell, on the Changes of the Temple of Strapis. 21 1 



natural and historical events connected with the temple and the 

 surrounding region ; comprising the volcanic eruptions of Ischia, 

 Monte Nuovo, and Vesuvius ; the date of the first and second tem- 

 ples, and their original height above the sea ; the periods of the 

 submergence and emergence of the second temple ; the nature of 

 the submarine and supramarine formations, in which it was found 

 buried in 1750 ; and, lastly, allusion was made to a bird's-eye view 

 of this region, published at Rome in 1652, and cited by Mr. Smith, 

 in which the three columns are represented as standing in a garden, 

 at a considerable distance from the sea, and between them and the 

 sea two churches, occupying ground which has since disappeared. 

 The history of the sinking and burying of the temple in the dark 

 ages, respecting which no human records are extant, has been 

 deduced from minute investigations made by Mr. Babbage and 

 Sir pjdmund Head, in 1828, respecting the nature and contents of 

 certain deposits formed round the columns, below the zone of 

 lithodomous perforations. 



Fig 1. 



A 



Temple op Skrapis at its period of greatest depression, between a,d.-|1000 and a.d. 1500,* 



a, b. Ancient mosaic movement, c c, Dark marine incrustation, d d. First filling up, sliower of ashes. 

 e e. Fresh water calcareous deposit. //, Second filling up. A, Stadium. 



The unequal amount of movement in the land and bed of the 

 sea, and its different directions in adjoining areas in and around the 

 Bay of Baias, were then pointed out ; and the fact that the Temples 

 of Neptune and the Nymplis are now under water, as well as some 



Fig.'2. 



a. Remains of Cicero's villa, N. side of Puzzuoli. 6, Ancient clilT, now 



c. Terrace (called La Starza) composed of recent submarine deposits. 

 d. Temple of Serapis in 1846, 2 ft. 4 in. below sea-level. 



* A detailed accoant of the several up-fillings of the Temple represented 

 in this cut will be found in the 9th Edition of The Principles of Geology (\S53), 



p. 514. 



