490 v DOMAIN XII. VOLCANIC. 



aspect, and were enriched with every kind of 

 fruit, assumed a similar appearance to what 

 would have been occasioned by the sharpest 

 fertile w i nter Happily hope, looking forward to the 

 future, found consolation ; for these ashes are 

 excellent compost : and though the husbandman 

 lamented the destruction of the fruits and the 

 vintage of the year, he already reckoned for 

 recompense in the promised abundance of suc- 

 ceeding seasons. As these ashes contain no 

 element injurious to vegetation, their bad effects 

 are purely of a mechanical nature. Mingled 

 with rain water, as is their condition on an erup- 

 tion, they form a paste which, collected on ve- 

 getables in great abundance, destroys by its 

 weight their more tender organs, and bends 

 down their branches, which either sink or break 

 under the weight, according to the nature of 

 their fibres. They moreover form, especially on 

 leaves and fruit, a crust which absorbs a greater 

 degree of caloric than them, and retains it a 

 longer time, thus preventing the transpiration 

 of the plant, and destroying its economy. 

 Term ashes j merely use the word ashes to accommo- 



impropcr. 



date myself to the general custom. The impro- 

 priety of the term is evident, as the substance 

 has not the slightest affinity to the ashes of ve- 

 getables. It will therefore be better for the 



