256 Vesuvius. 



Art. XXIX. — Miscellaneous Notes^ from Europe; by 



B. SiLLiMAN; Jr. 



1. Present condition of Vesuvius. 



The eruption of Vesuvius in February, 1850, and that of the year 

 previous, entirely changed the summit features of this ancient mountain 

 of fire. The former crater disappeared, being filled with scoria and 

 ashes, while two craters now occupy the summit of the cone. The 

 deepest and most active of these is that of February, 1850, which is 

 situated on the side of the cone nearest to Pompeii. It is somewhat 

 lower and has a much greater depth than its immediate neighbor, which 

 is on the side of the bay of Naples. We had no means of measuring its 

 depth accurately, but judging from the time required for the returning 

 sound of a stone cast into its mouth, as well as from inspection and 

 comparison, we assumed the depth of the new crater to be from 800 to 

 1000 feet. It is acutely funnel-shaped at an angle of not less than 60*^. 

 It is impossible, because of the steam and vapors of sulphurous acid, to 

 see its bottom, even if not prevented by the danger of the descent to a 

 po'sition where one might hope to catch a glimpse of its bottom. Its ac- 



• tivily at present is confined to the emission of vapor, and even this seems 

 at times, when viewed from the sea, to be wanting. On the summit, 



. however, these vapors appear dense enough and are sufficient to prevent 

 the possibility of making the entire circuit of the crater. From this 

 cause we were unable to examine the lip dividing the crater of 1850 from 

 its neighbor. The observer is much struck not only with the change of 

 form in the summit as shown by the drawings of Prof. Scacchi,but also 

 with the sharpness of the lip of both craters, which is such that it is 



hardly possible for more than two persons to stand abreast upon it 

 During the late eruption, the lava found vent from the base of the cone 

 on a level with the sand plain which fills the ancient crater of Somma. 

 It here poured out a torrent of scoriaceous red lava through a well de- 

 fined canal. This is now entirely cold, and we collected from its sides 

 abundant specimens of aphthitalite, which frosted over the rugged cav- 

 ern like snow. Near this spot also are two fumeroles formed during 

 the last eruption ; the largest about 25 feet high, with an aperture of 

 near ten feet, its outer walls black, rugged and forbidding. The flow 

 of lava from the eruption of 1849 was in the direction of the ancient 

 Pompeii, and it was copious enough to destroy a small village with 

 its vineyards, at the distance of several miles. The king of Naples has 

 since erected a new village for the unfortunate inhabitants near the site 

 of the former one. 



During the past six years the king of Naples has also constructed a 

 carriage road up the side of Vesuvius as far as the Hermitage, where 

 he has a Royal Meteorological Observatory, under the direction of the 

 celebrated Melloni. This road follows in a very serpentine path over 

 and around the hill of ashes, which all who have seen Vesuvius will 

 remember as forming a remarkable feature in its topography. In this 

 manner, sections have been opened in the bill for a distance of three or 

 four miles, and were these viewed without reference to the immediate 



