390 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 14. 



THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT ETNA.^ 



The last eruption of Mount Etna, although 

 slight, has some interest, in that it was at a 

 point farther clown the mountain than any other 

 in recent times, and the onlj' one which has 

 occurred on the southern side in this century. 



The first warnings of the threatening erup- 

 tion came from a series of earthquake shocks 

 on the morning of March 20. Low under- 

 ground sounds were heard, the reports suc- 



foot of the mountain, announced the appear- 

 ance of lava. Eleven cracks formed during 

 the night ; and from them were thrown scoriae, 

 which formed three heaps forty to fifty feet 

 high. One jet of scoriae was thrown out with 

 such violence that the shock caused the bells 

 in the villages of Nieolosi and Pedara to ring. 

 The consternation of the people was the 

 greater, as the locality was the same as that of 

 the great eruption of 16(39. This point com- 

 mands a sloping plain which is highly culti- 



Eruption of Mount Etna, March 22, 1883. View taicbn fbom Catania. 

 1. The point of eruption ; 2. Monti Ro6si; 3. Village of Nieolosi. 



ceeding one another at intervals of a few 

 minutes. It was not until evening that it 

 became evident where the eruption was to take 

 place. At tliat time flames broke forth on 

 the lower pait of the southern side, about 

 on the edge of the cultivated zone, and four 

 kilometres north of the village of Nieolosi. 

 Large clouds of vapor and gases escaped from 

 cracks in the earth, and enveloped the moun- 

 tain in a dense fog. Bj' night-time a veiy red 

 and bright light, which, viewed from Catania, 

 appeared to plaj- in large waves around the 



^ Reproduced, with some modifieatlons, fro 

 April 14, together with the illustration. 



La Nature of 



\'ated, and on which are living, within a short 

 distance of the centre of the eruption, a popu- 

 lation of twenty thousand. 



The second daj' the character of the erup- 

 tion became decidedly alarming. Some new 

 fissures opened near Nieolosi, and the lava 

 spread out in large waves over the neighboring 

 countiy. This made the outlook very threat- 

 ening ; but, to the great surprise of all versed 

 in the histoiy of volcanic action, the eruptive 

 movement began to abate, and during the 

 night stopped entirely. This was fortunate, 

 as the overflow of lava was from a point which 

 might have caused great injurj-. 



