258 SEE— Ti;MPERATURE, SECULAR COOLING [Apr.l 20. 



Meligunis. It was possessed of a fleet, and for a considerable time repelled 

 the incursions of the Tyrrheni. The islands now called Liparaean were sub- 

 ject to it, some call them the islands of ^olus. The citizens were so suc- 

 cessful as to make frequent offerings of the spoils taken in war to the temple 

 of Apollo at Delphi. It possesses a fertile soil, and mines of alum easy to 

 be wrought, hot springs, and craters. (Thermessa) is, as it were, situated 

 between this and Sicily; it is now designated as Hiera, or sacred to Vulcan; 

 it is entirely rocky, and desert, and volcanic. In it are three craters, and the 

 flames which issue from the largest are accompanied with burning masses 

 of lava, which have already obstructed a considerable portion of the strait 

 (between Thermessa and the island Lipari) ; repeated observations have led 

 to the belief that the flames of the volcanoes, both in this island and at 

 Mont ^tna, are stimulated by the winds as they rise; and when the winds 

 are lulled, the flames also subside; nor is this without reason, for if the 

 winds are both originally produced and kept up by the vapours arising from 

 the sea, those who witness these phenomena will not be surprised, if the fife 

 should be excited in some such way, by the like aliment and circumstances. 

 Polybius tells us that one of the three craters of the island has partly fallen 

 down, while the larger of the two that remain has a lip, the circumference 

 of which is five stadia, and the diameter nearly fifty feet, and its elevation 

 about a stadium from the level of the sea, whch may be seen at the base in 

 calm weather; but if we are to credit this, we may as well attend to 

 what has been reported concerning Empedocles. (Polybius) also says, that 

 when the south wind is to blow, a thick cloud lies stretched round the 

 island, so that one cannot see even as far as Sicily in the distance ; but when 

 there is to be a north wind, the clear flames ascend to a great height above 

 the said crater, and great rumblings are heard; while for the west wind 

 effects are produced about half way between these two. The other craters 

 are similarly affecte(;J, but their exhalations are not so violent. Indeed, it 

 is possible to foretell what wind will blow three days beforehand, from the 

 degree of intensity of the rumbling, and also from the part whence the ex- 

 halations, flames, and smoky blazes issue." 



Strabo describes the Aeloian Islands, and includes this account 



of one of them (Lib. VL, cap. 2, § 11 ; pp. 420-421) : 



"The seventh (island) is called Euonymus ; it is the fartherest in the 

 sea and barren. It is called Euonymus because it lies the most to the left 

 when you sail from the island of Lipari to Sicily, and many times flames of 

 fire have been seen to rise to the surface, and play upon the sea round the 

 islands : these flames rush with violence from the cavities at the bottom of 

 the sea, and force for themselves a passage to the open air. Posodinius 

 says, that at a time so recent as to be almost within his recollection, about 

 the summer solstice and at break of day, between Hiera and Euonymus, 

 the sea was observed to be suddenly raised aloft, and to abide sometime 

 raised in a compact mass and then to subside. Some ventured to approach 

 that part in their ships ; they observed the dead fish driven by the current, 

 and being distressed by the heat and foul smell, were compelled to turn 

 back. One of the boats which approached the nearest lost some of her crew, 



