198 LIGHT SCIENCE FOR LEISURE HOURS. 



sometimes in the environs; that stones and smoke 

 were thrown out, the sun was hidden, and then the 

 giants seemed to rise again, while the sounds of trum- 

 pets were heard " with much other matter of a simi- 

 lar sort. 



In the great eruption of 79, Yesuvius poured forth 

 lapilli, sand, cinders, and fragments of old lava, but no 

 ne^fe. lava flowed from the crater. Nor does it appear 

 that any lava-stream was ejected during the six erup- 

 tions which took place during the following ten cen- 

 turies. In the year 1036, for the -first time, Yesuvius 

 was observed to pour forth a stream of molten lava. 

 Thirteen years later, another eruption took place; 

 then 90 years passed without disturbance, and after 

 that a long pause of 168 years. During this in- 

 terval, however, the volcanic system of which Yesu- 

 vius is the main but not the only vent, had been 

 disturbed twice. For it is related that in 1198 the 

 Solfatara Lake crater was in eruption; and in 1302, 

 Ischia, dormant for at least 1,400 years, showed signs 

 of new activity. For more than a year earthquakes 

 had convulsed this island from time to time, and at 

 length the disturbed region was relieved by the out- 

 burst of a lava-stream from a new vent on the south- 

 east of Ischia. The lava-stream flowed right down to 

 the sea, a distance of two miles. For two months, 

 this dreadful outburst continued to rage ; many houses 

 were destroyed ; and although the inhabitants of Ischia 



