I S C 



317 



I S C 



which u situated in the middle of the street. The 

 harbour of Irvine, formed by the estuary of the river, 

 i$ commodious, but will in a great degree be super. 

 ceded by the new harbour at Troon. There is from 

 nine to eleven feet of water on the bar at spring 

 tides, which is increased to Ili feet in high storms, 

 with a wind from the south or south-west. Seve- 

 ral busaes for the herring fishery formerly belonged 

 to this port, but the coal trade is now the principal 

 one, and is carried on by a number of brigs, which 

 export 24,000 tons of coals annually. The articles of 

 import are iron, hemp, flax, wood, and grain. Besides 

 the grain brought coastwise from Galloway, about 

 10,000 quarters have been imported in one year from 

 Ireland. Iti principal manufactures were those of 

 carpets, muslins, silk*, lawns, which were exported in 

 considerable quantities. There is also at Irvine a dock- 

 yard for shipbuilding, a Urge tannery, a rope-yard, 

 and a bleachfield. A public library was established in 



It 11 not known at what time Irvine was erected in- 

 to a royal burgh, but a charter from Alexander II. is 

 extant, confirming the grants of other sovereigns. The 

 magistrates have a good revenue arising from the cus- 

 toms, and from a large tract of land, which was rented 

 at i. 500 per annum. In the town of Irvine are branches 

 of the Old Paisley Bank and the Ayr Bank. Irvine is 

 1 i miles east from the Iile of Arran, and Gl from Ldin- 

 burgh. 



The following is the population abstract of the town 

 and parish for 181 1 : 



' tnber of inhabited houses ..... 69 1 



Ditto of families ......... 1414 



:o employed in trade and manufactures . 1353 



Males . ." ........... "170 



Females ............ 3280 



Total population in 1811 ...... 5750 



1 1 1 A is an Uland of the Mediterranean, about 18 

 miles in circuit, situated at the eastern entrance of the 

 Bay >f Naples, which U supposed to have been produ- 

 ced from the sea by tolcanic eruption*. This island U 

 situated in an agreeable climate : the sky is seldom ob. 

 scured by clouds ; the summer is temperate, and the 

 winter mild. Its aspect it greatly diversified, presenting 

 a mountainous and irregular surface in general, inter- 

 spened with some portions of fertile noil, under good 

 cultivation, and abounding with grain and fruit ; while 

 other part* coiui*t of nothing but dark and arid rock*, 

 marked by sterility. Ischia, however, is principally 

 interring to the mineralogist, from the various volca- 

 nic products dispersed in every spot, both of the island 

 and surrounding rocks. Lava, of the hormtone base, 

 and tufa, are the component parts of the Castle Rock, 

 somewhat exceeding a quarter of a mile in circuit. 

 The same appearances are exhibited by a neighbouring 

 mountain, from which this rock is divided by a narrow 

 channel, which has probably been made by the action 

 of the waves. Other mountains consist of similar sub- 

 stance*, as the Kotaro, between Casamicciola and the 

 f Ischia, formed of tufa, pumice, and enamels, 

 which last are found in no other place. Monte Zaro 

 has been produced by a stream of lava, a mile in length 

 and two in breadth, the consequence of successive 

 erutions. It* base, on one side, is washed by the sea, 



covered by a vitreous sand, which under the mi- 

 croscope seems to consist of particles of feldspar ; and 

 towards the land there is a spacious tract, almost 

 entire!/ tulkceous, scattered with fragments of pu- 



mice. Besides the mountainous parts of the island, 

 great rocks of lava protrude through the ground in 

 different places. The various lavas are distinguished 

 by colour and consistence, and by the proportion of 

 feldspar, and other characteristics. In that of Monte 

 Imperatore, feldspar seems to constitute its entire sub- 

 stance. At the Calce de Panza there are clusters of a 

 yellowish white species, some of it two inches long; 

 and many hundreds are grouped together, into round- 

 ish masses of half a foot or even two feet thick, having 

 the lower extremity in the lava. Independent of these 

 volcanic substances, ferruginous sand is found in many 

 parts of the island, and in particular abundance on the 

 sea shore. This at first sight apparently consists of 

 very minute, irregularly shaped iron particles, but, 

 with the aid of a powerful magnifier, each grain is 

 discovered to be the fragment of a crystal, or a crystal 

 complete ; but of the latter there is not the proportion 

 of above three or four in a hundred grains. These 

 minute crystals are formed of two pyramids, united at 

 the base ; though for the most part they are only in- 

 complete fragments, the defective parts having been 

 destroyed by the action of the waves. Alum was for- 

 merly obtained for commercial purposes at Catrico, a 

 place on the higher eminences of the Mount San Ni- 

 cola ; but some observers were subsequently unable 

 to find any indications of it. The Abbe Spallanzani, 

 however, collected numerous specimens of lava there, 

 and in the environs. After remaining for months in 

 his cabinet at Pavia, those which had been affected by 

 acids were wholly encrusted by a whitish thin coating 

 of alum, others exhibited none ; whence he concluded 

 there are two species of lava, and that the fabrication 

 of this salt might be profitably renewed in Ischia. 



M. Dolomieu affirms, that notwithstanding the re- 

 mote period when the last eruption took place, namely 

 in 1308, the lava of a tract called Arso still smokes in 

 many places. I-atcr naturalists have been unable to 

 confirm this observation, nor does he say that he him- 

 self witnessed the fact. Nevertheless aqueous vapours 

 are constantly escaping from fissures in the lava, which 

 are converted to medicinal purposes, under the name 

 of ttovtt. The vapour is collected and conveyed by 

 tubes into apartments, whereby a steam bath is obtained, 

 and the patient brought within its sphere is covered by 

 profuse perspiration. Many such baths are seen here, 

 and known by different names, some of which are re- 

 lative to the disorders in which they are believed 

 to be roost efficacious. About a mile south of the town 

 there are wells impregnated with saline and sulphu- 

 reous matter, which are also resorted to for various dis- 

 tempers. 



Notwithstanding the volcanic origin of this island, 

 many parts are extremely fertile, and numerous plant* 

 flourish luxuriantly upon it. Various fruits attain great 

 perfection. The inhabitants have pleasant gardens ; 

 and the level grounds abound in groves, which, how- 

 ever, are said to be frequently cut down, perhaps from 

 the shallowness of the soil. 



Ischia, the capital of the island, is situated on an in- 

 sulated rock on the north coast, and connected to it 

 by mean* of a bridge and a subterraneous passage, which 

 was wont to be closed by an iron gate. It ha* a castle 

 and an hospital, which latter was erected by a benevo- 

 lent society of Naples, and it is an episcopal see. Some 

 hundreds of invalids repair from the neighbouring con- 

 tinent to the hospital during the bathing season ; and 

 in their conveyance and return, several barks are al- 

 ways employed. Those who are cured leave votive 



K-hii, 



