286 ANNUAL REPOBT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



During the present generation the normal activity of this volcano 

 has, until the events herem described, consisted of a moderate but 

 almost contmuous form of eruption with jets, at frequent intervals, 

 of incandescent fragments of lava yielding an illumination so regular 

 and brilliant as to have earned for Stromboli the title of ''Lighthouse 

 of the Mediterranean." There was no crater, properly so called, but 

 a shallow depression where a crater should have been — that is, 

 undoubtedly a filled-up former crater — with a number of small 

 eruptive mouths generally arranged along the edge of the depression 

 toward the sea. It will be seen that I do not claim that the present 

 great crater, as described below, is a new thing in the life of the 

 volcano, but that it is new to the present generation. 



In the spring of 1907 the normal activity was broken by an erup- 

 tion of great violence, which tln*ew the inhabitants into a state of 

 panic. The explosions were so sharp that the air concussion broke 

 nearly every window on the island. The lava was tlirown out in 

 large masses so hot as to retain its plasticity and be conformed to 

 the surface upon which. the mass fell, as shown in plate 1, figure 2. 

 The eruption lasted several weeks and produced a true crater 200 

 meters in diameter, and the eruptive mouths, with no exception, 

 were sunk to the bottom of this abyss. 



That they still existed and acted as separate mouths was proven 

 by the varied character of the explosions and the different time 

 intervals. There was also a most interesting rhythmic change from 

 a type of explosion with the lava high in the conduit and m free 

 contact with the atmosphere, when the cloud of ejected materials 

 consisted of incandescent lava fragments (bombs) and clear vapors, 

 to the opposite type of dense black volutes of ash from the coUapscd 

 wall material as the lava column sank below its former level. The 

 difference between the two forms of explosion, known technically 

 as "Strombolian and Vulcanian," was even more clearly defined in 

 the eruption of 1912 and is clearly shown in plate 2. A considerable 

 emission of ash having a strongly acid reaction ruined the grape 

 crop for that year (1907) and the unfortunate inhabitants besought 

 the Government, through the local municipal delegate, Signor 

 Famularo, to send ships in case it seemed necessary to abandon the 

 island. A cruiser, the Fiemonte, and several destroyers were sent 

 and it fell to me to assume the grave responsibility of assuring Com- 

 mander Presbitero that the culmination of the eruption was passed 

 and that, although some minor revivals of activity were to be expected, 

 there was no further cause for alarm. Upon the strength of this 

 he received permission from the Government to withdraw his ships. 



A brief account of this eruption was published in the Bulletm of 

 the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences. This eruption of 1907 

 left, as I have stated, a deep crater 200 meters in diameter and was 



