SUBTERRANEAN CHEMICAL FORCES. 401 



The destruction of the town of Conception in 

 Chili, by an immense wave of the sea, twenty- 

 eight feet in height, which rolled over it, must 

 have been caused by a submarine volcano, as we 

 are informed by Mr. Caldcleugh, that two erup- 

 tions of dense smoke were observed to issue 

 from the sea, with violent ebullition, and the 

 evolution of large quantities of gas. 



About the same time, flame and smoke burst 

 from the sea, near the island of Juan Fernandez, 

 over which the waves rolled to a great height, as 

 at Conception.* (Phil. Trans. 1835.) 



But to return ; it has been shown that the vol- 

 taic fluid, whether thermal or electrical, is dis- 

 engaged from nearly all bodies when in a liquid 

 state from water, acids, saline solutions, from 

 oxides, chlorides, iodides, &c. when in a state of 

 fusion, during their chemical decomposition by 

 the plates of a battery. The resemblance of 

 this process to that of subterranean chemical 

 action is somewhat remarkable. For example, 

 the products of volcanic eruptions render it 

 almost certain, that subterranean caloric is dis- 

 engaged from sea water, which finds its way to 

 the interior through fissures and submarine cra- 

 ters, where its oxygen combines with sulphur, 

 metals, &c. as the oxygen of acids unites with 



* It is singular enough that, while this sheet was in the press, 

 news arrived from South America, that the Island of Selkirk had 

 sunk beneath the ocean. 



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