THE 
GHOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 
No. XII._JUNE 1865. 
ORIGINAL ARTICIES. 
a 
I. On tHe Historica EvipencE or Voucanic Eruptions IN 
CENTRAL FRANCE IN THE FirtH CEnTUuRY, 
By the Rey. T. G. Bonney, M.A., F.G.S. 
een Bishop Colenso and the volcanoes of Central France, 
and between these and ‘ Rogation Days,’ there would at first 
sight seem to be but little connection. Nevertheless, a statement made 
by the Bishop was the cause of some curious information, which had 
previously been known to but few, being generally circulated; and as 
it then appeared only in one or two newspapers, and at different times, 
it may be useful to give a résumé of the controversy in a more per- 
manent form. The Bishop, referring to Lyell (‘ Elementary Geo- 
logy,’ pp. 197, 198), adduced the existence of cones of loose scorizx 
and pumice in Auvergne and Languedoc as an argument against 
the Noachian Deluge; because these, which ‘must have been formed 
ages before’ that happened, did not show the slightest sign of having 
ever been disturbed. In the course of the endless controversy which 
has arisen from the Bishop’s works, a Mr. E. L. Garbett addressed a 
rather angry letter to the ‘ Guardian’ newspaper (Aug. 24, 1864), 
taxing the Bishop with wilfully shutting his eyes to the fact that 
there had been eruptions in these districts in the fifth century, which 
had given rise to the ecclesiastical fasts commonly called ‘ Rogation 
Days.’ The Bishop replied in a letter, which was refused by the 
‘Guardian’ on account of its length, and was afterwards published 
in the ‘Daily News.’ However, in the ‘Guardian’ of Sept. 14, a 
summary of it is given, in which the following statements are made: 
(1) that voleanic cones do exist as above described ; (2) that, accord- 
ing to Hoffman’s ‘ Lexicon,’ Rogations were instituted owing to 
earthquakes and to the irruption of wild beasts into Vienne; (8) that 
there are no volcanoes near Vienne; (4) that the authors who are 
supposed to describe volcanic eruptions, only speak of earthquakes 
and ordinary fires, or perhaps of lightning. In the ‘ Guardian’ of 
VOL. II.—NO. XII. R 
