1891-92}. ELEVENTH MEETING. ile 
in circumference! This monster volcano has not been active within the 
memory of man. The summit is crowned with immense walls of scoria- 
ceous lava and basalt, and there are two discharge ways, a mile anda 
half wide, which pass between rock walls over 2,000 feet in height. The 
interior is a large cinder field, containing cones 400 to 900 feet high. 
Mauna Kea (the “White Mountain’), on the island of Hawaii, is the 
highest point of land in the group; it is 13,805 feet above the sea. 
This has been an extinct volcano for centuries, but its ignipotent sister 
Mauna Loa (the “Long Mountain”), 20 miles to the south, has been 
very active within the last few years. Mauna Loa is 13,650 feet in height; 
and on a “shoulder,” 20 miles to the east, is the active crater of Hale- 
mau-mau (the “ House of Everlasting Fire”), or, as it is usually called, 
the volcano of Kilauea. There have been many eruptions of Mauna Loa 
from 1832 to 1887, but perhaps the most-destructive was in 1868—the 
famous “mud-flow.” The earthquake destroyed nearly all the villages 
in the district ; the tidal wave, 20 feet high, washed along the shore, doing 
immense damage, and the flow from the mountain carried away cattle, 
horses, sheep, and human beings ; 81 lives were lost. In 1881 there was 
another great eruption, and the fiery lava travelled for 30 miles (in nine 
months), and stopped within three-quarters of a mile of the town of Hilo, 
‘a place of about 6,000 inhabitants! Property was very cheap there at 
that time. During the eruptions of January, 1887, “618 earthquake 
shocks were counted” in two days. Prof. Dana, in his “ Characteristics 
of Volcanoes,” tells us that “the origin of Volcanic heat, the source of 
lava columns beneath the volcano, the cause of the ascensive force in the 
lava column, are subjects on which science has various opinions and no 
positive knowledge.” Volcanoes may be “explosive,” either when water 
gains access to the interior (z.e., liquid lava) and generates enormous pro- 
jectile force, or they may be subordinate or “lateral,” coming from the 
side of a mountain; there may be earthquakes in connection with the 
eruptions or the vibrations may scarcely be felt. Volcanoes eject lava 
(melted rock) ; projectile discharges which become cinders, ashes, and, if 
very large, they are called “lava bombs”; and gaseous discharges. But 
the pictures which show flames issuing from a crater are misrepresenta- 
tions ; the fiery glow is the reflection on the vapour from the liquid lava 
within the crater. Around the Hawaiian volcanoes are large deposits of 
sulphur ; the natives place carved boxes, trays, etc., beside the fissures 
until they become encrusted a bright yellow. 
After giving numerous quotations from authorities on the subject of 
volcanic phenomena, Mr. Howell described his visit to the crater of 
Kilauea, and his descent into the crater of Hale-mau-mau, in October of 
2 
