Reviews — Dr. H. J. Johnston-Lavis — Vesuvius. 281 



II. — The Eruption of Vesuvius in April, 1906. By H. J. Johnston- 

 Lavis, M.D., etc. Reprinted from the Scientific Transactions of 

 the Royal Dublin Society, vol. ix, pt. viii, January, 1909. 



THE 1906 eruption of Vesuvius attracted a great deal of attention, 

 as it presented manj'' novel features of interest, and a large 

 number of reports have been written on it by the members of that 

 band of scientific men which gathered in Naples in the spring of 

 that year. Its most important characteristics are now well known, 

 but there was certainly room for an account of it from the pen of 

 Professor Johnston-Lavis. In this paper he gives a brief account 

 of the activity of the volcano up to the end of April, 1906, with 

 a description of the petrographical character of the lava and the 

 ashes emitted. This leads to a consideration of the sequence of 

 volcanic processes within the crater, a subject on which the author 

 has already formulated his views on several occasions. Great changes 

 took place in the configuration of the cone of Vesuvius, and, when 

 the dust-cloud of the eruption cleared away, a remarkable series of 

 deep radial furrows or ' basancos ' became visible, traversing the 

 ash-covered slopes which descend from the crater. These were 

 produced by small landslips of the fine dry ash, which initiated 

 avalanches of volcanic sand and stones. As they flowed downward 

 they carved deep narrow valleys, not only in the new ash but also 

 in the older tuffs. Some beautiful views of these are given, and 

 with a couple of excellent maps they add considerably to the 

 interest of the paper. 



III. — International Geological Congress : Eleventh Session, to be 

 HELD IN Stockholm, 1910. 



At the tenth meeting of the International Geological Congress in 

 Mexico, 1906, the Swedish geologists invited the Congress to hold 

 its next session in Stockholm, an invitation that was unanimously 

 accepted. In view of the extensive preliminary work occasioned 

 by the projected excursions, a wish was expressed by the Swedes 

 that the meeting in question, which should really have taken place 

 in three years' time, might be postponed until 1910. The decision 

 was left to the Swedish geologists, and subsequently 1910 was fixed 

 upon by the Swedish Organizing Convocation for the meeting in 

 Stockholm. 



A general meeting of the Swedish geologists was held in Stockholm 

 on March 5, 1907, for the purposes of drawing up a general pro- 

 gramme for the work of organization and instructing the Executive 

 Committee. On the retirement of the former Director of the Geological 

 Survey of Sweden, Professor A. E. Tornebohm, his place as President 

 of the Committee was taken by Professor G. de Geer ; the Treasurer 

 of the Committee is Professor H. Backstrom ; while Professor J. G. 

 Andersson, the present Director of the Geological Survey of Sweden, 

 officiates as General Secretary. 



The Swedish Executive Committee considers it advisable that 

 preference should be given to the discussion of such questions at the 

 meeting of the Congress in Stockholm as the actual geological 



