288 Baron Humboldt oti Volcanoes. 



by palms and strange forms of vegetation, and no longer sees 

 the same stars, in the individualities of the landscape, he still 

 traces the characters of Vesuvius, the dome-shaped summit of 

 Auvergne, the crater of elevation of the Canaries and Azores, 

 the fissures of eruption of Iceland repeated and reflected. A 

 glance at the attendant of our planet, the moon, generalizes still 

 farther the analogy of formation here adverted to. In maps 

 of the moon, we observe in our satellite, without atmosphere 

 and withou.t water, vast craters of elevation, which surround 

 conical mountains, or support them on their circular walls ; 

 unquestionable effects of the reaction of the interior of the 

 moon upon her exterior, aided by the influence of diminished 

 gravity. 



If, in many languages, volcanoes are properly designated 

 Burning Mountains, it would still be a great mistake to sup- 

 pose that they were produced by any gradual accumulation of 

 the streams of lava that have flowed from them : their origin 

 appears to be much more generally the consequence of a sud- 

 den upheaval of tenacious masses of trachyte or augitic rock, 

 including polychromatic [Labrador] felspar. The measui-e of 

 the upheaving force reveals itself in the height of the volcano ; 

 and this is so different, that in one case it is a mere hillock (as 

 in Cosima, one of the Japanese Kuriles*) ; in another, it is a 

 cone that rises to an elevation of 18,000 feet. It has seemed 

 to me as if the relative height had a great influence upon the 

 frequency of the eruptions ; as if these were much more com- 

 mon in the lower than the loftier volcanoes. I will call atten- 

 tion to the following series : — Stromboli (2175 feet high), 

 Guacamayo, in the province of Quiros, which thunders almost 

 every day (I have frequently heard it in Chilo, near Quito, at a 

 distance of 22 German miles), Vesuvius (3637 feet high), ^tna 

 (10,200 feet high), the Peak of Tenerifi'e (11,424 feet high), 

 and Cotopaxi (17,892 feet high). If the focus of these several 

 volcanoes be at the same depth below the surface, a greater 

 force will be requii'ed to raise the molten masses to a six or 

 eight times higher level. Whilst the low Stromboli (Strongyle) 



* Vide Jameson's Edin. Phil. Journal for an interesting account of 

 Cosima, communicated by Tilesius. 



