NOME Til. VOLCANIC INTRITE. 493 



vius in 1794 seemed as if about to engulf all na* 

 ture ; the earth shook ; horrible roarings threat- 

 ened the destruction of the country; a dark 

 night overshadowed the land; ashes fell to a 

 considerable depth; flames and smoke rose to 

 an elevation seven times as great as that of the 

 mountain, that is to say, to a twelfth part of the 

 height of the atmosphere ; vivid lightnings flash- 

 ed in every direction, and the atmosphere denoted 

 an abundance of negative electricity, never ob* 

 served during the reign of tranquillity ; torrents 

 of rain committed dreadful ravages on the fruits 

 of the industry of man ; and every meteorologi- 

 cal instrument underwent the greatest alteration, 

 the barometer alone excepted; this, like the sage 

 mong worldlings, took no part in the confusion 

 )y which it was surrounded, but on the contrary 

 seemed as steady as its partners were wavering, 

 agitated, and unquiet. It required the most 

 practised eye to distinguish throughout ten days, 

 n which nature experienced the most dreadful 

 convulsion, the slightest imaginable variation of 

 this instrument.' 



" At length the rain of volcanic sand having 

 ceased on the 20th, and that which was spread 

 through the atmosphere being dispersed, Vesuvius 

 again became apparent; but its appearance with 



