384 WASHINGTON AND DAY— VOLCANOES OF SOUTHERN ITALY 



up and sometimes sent high into the air, always accompanied by a loud 

 noise, as of hissing steam, which was nearly constant in volume. The 

 sound from this crater was never paroxysmal in character, though the 

 smoke puffs frequently appeared so and Avere often of great volume. The 

 character of this noise and the forms of the cloud jniffs led us to believe 

 that there \yas more tlian one orifice below. The smoke was hot, very 

 acid, and suffocating, and field tests revealed the presence of H^O, HCl, 

 SO,, and H2S. 



From the observations made it was evident that Etna is now sliow- 

 ing Ijoth solfataric and strombolian phases at intervals witliout marked 

 activity. It was the ojiinion of various observers of the volcano, espe- 

 cially Professors Platania and Ponte, Custodian Barbagallo and the guide 

 Caruso, that the activity of June and July, of Vhich we were witnesses, 

 was distinctly greater than it had ])een during the previous six months or 

 so, and it was regarded as probable that a renewal of more intense activity 

 is not far off. At the rate at which the outer "l)occa" is cutting into the 

 cone, it seems certain that within a short time it must break througli into 

 the main crater and may precipitate a more serious disturbance fheii, 

 tliough an eruption from the main crater has been in recent times a 

 somewhat rare occurrence at Etna. 



VULCANO 



Since the last eruption of Yulcano, in 1888-1S89, the volcano lias been 

 in an almost continuous state of solfataric activity and lias attracted little 

 attention. Of tJie papers which deal with this aspect of the volcano may 

 be cited those by Bergeat,^^ Ponte,^" and de Fiore,^^ the latter describing 

 the fumaroles in considerable detail. The general relations of the present 

 crater, the crater walls of the early phase, and Vulcanello are shown in 

 plate 20, taken from the south end of Lipari. 



The walls of the crater — the so-called Fossa di Yulcano — are conijiosed 

 of fragmentary andesitic material, much of which was thrown out by flic 

 last eruption, which raised the rim considerably. This material is a 

 coarse agglomerate, more or less consolidated and cemented by the abun- 

 dant salts and by the decomposition products formed by the action of the 

 acid vapors. Large angular bombs, one of wliich is reported to have liad 

 a volume of 45 cubic meters, are scattered over the slopes. On the crater 

 slopes and rim these bombs, even the largest, are gradually disintegrating, 

 traversed by fissures due originally to internal strains and intensified by 

 the action of the acid vapors, so that they eventually break doA\T.i into a 

 heap of angular fragments. 



>i A. Bergeat : Die Aolischen Inselu, Abh. nay. Ak. Wiss., vol. xx. ISDO. 

 ^G. Ponte: Attl. Ace. Gioen.. vol. iii. ISOI. 

 'SQ. de Fiore : Zeits. vulk., vol. i (2), 1!)14, p. .57. 



