VOLCANOS. 177 



those places there hath not bin fire sometimes, or volcanos. LlB - m - 

 But there is some difficultie to beleeve it should be so in 

 all volcanos, considering the matter they cast out is almost 

 infinite, and that being gathered together it could not be 

 contained in the same concavitie from whence it goes. 

 Moreover, there are some volcanos, that in hundreds, yea, 

 thousands of yeeres, are alwaies of one fashion, casting out 

 continually smoke, fire, and ashes. Plinie the Historiogra 

 pher of naturall things (as the other Pliuie his nephew 

 reports) searching out the secret how this should passe, 

 and approching too neere th exhalation of fire of one of 

 these volcanos, died, and thinking by his diligence to find an 

 end thereof, had an end of his life. For my parte, vpon 

 this consideration I think, that as ther are places in th 

 earth whose vertue is to draw vaporous matter and to con 

 vert it into water, which be the fountaines that alwayes 

 runne, and have alwayes matter to make them ruiine, 1 for 

 that they drawe vnto them the substance of water : in like 

 sorte there are places that have the propertie to draw 

 vnto them note exhalations, and to convert them into fire 

 and smoke which, by their force and violence, cast out 

 other thicke matter which dissolves into ashes, into pumico 

 stone, or such like substance. For a sufficient argument 

 to prove it to be so in these volcanos, they sometimes cast 

 smoke, and not alwaies, and sometimes fire, and not alwaies, 

 which is according to what it can drawe vnto it, and digest, 

 as the fountaines which in winter abound and in summer 

 decrease; yea, some are quite dried vp, according to the 

 force and vigour they have and the matter that is presented : 

 even so it is of these volcanos, which cast fire more or lesse 

 at certaine seasons. Others say that it is hell fire which 

 issueth there, to serve as a warning, thereby to consider 

 what is in the other life : but if hell (as Divines holde) be 

 in the centre of the earth, the which containes in diameter 

 1 &quot; Que siempre manan, y siempre tieneu de que manar.&quot; 



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