November 13, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



G33 



SHORTER ARTICLES. 

 MONT PELE FROM MAY TO OCTOBER, 1903. 



The changes which have taken place in the 

 new cone of Mont Pele within the last few 

 months have been very considerable, and are 

 worthy of record. The wonderful growth of 

 the spine upon the top of the cone has been 

 fully described by Professors Lacroix, Heil- 

 prin and Sapper and the author. The author's 

 article in the American Journal of Science 

 for October brought the detailed history of the 

 cone down to the month of April last. There 

 was at that time a tremendous spine or tooth 

 more than 1,000 feet in height, rising from the 

 side of a cone-shaped base, the top of which 

 was higher than the old altitude of ilorne 

 Lacroix. The tip of the spine was about 

 600 feet above the highest part of the new 

 cone. Since the first of May there have 

 been considerable variations in the activity of 

 the volcano and in the form and altitude of 

 the cone and spine. It is the purpose of the 

 present note to give the readers of Science 

 a condensed statement of the facts as they 

 have been observed by the French commis- 

 sioners during the past six months and re- 

 ported by Professor Giraud and Captain Per- 

 ney in the Journal Officiel de la Martinique 

 published at Fort de France. 



During the month of May the apex of the 

 spine rose slowly until the thirtieth, when 

 there occurred a loss of about fifty meters. 

 Considerable incandescence was observed at 

 night, when the condition of the clouds per- 

 mitted observations to be made, and there 

 were several eruptions of steam to an altitude 

 of from 3,000 to 4,500 meters. Most of the 

 dust clouds thrown out by the mountain pur- 

 sued the familiar course down the valley of 

 the Riviere Blanche. There was marked in- 

 crease in the energy of action during the last 

 week of the month, which diminished, however, 

 during the first week of June. During June 

 the spine rose again with varying degrees of 

 rapidity, until it seems to have regained much 

 of the altitude lost at the end of May. Minor 

 eruptions were numerous during the month, 

 and the dust-flows, of ' Nuages Denses ' of 

 Lacroix, rushed with violence and great ve- 

 locity down the valley of the Precheur, as well 



as that of the Kiviere Blanche. The latter 

 fact is of interest in connection with observa- 

 tions made in February and March, that the 

 northwestern side of the new cone had become 

 continuous in slope with the exterior of the 

 old cone of the mountain.* The V-shaped gash 

 in the old crater has long ceased to be the 

 sole exit for the flows of dust-laden steam, or 

 the principal factor in guiding their course. 

 The records show that the western side of the 

 spine kept losing material constantly, so that 

 late in June and early in July it was even 

 more pointed and blade-like than in Jfarch. 

 Between July 5 and 7, however, there was a 

 loss of altitude amounting to fifty meters, and 

 another fifty meters was lost in the succeeding 

 week. On the 18th it was observed that 

 eighteen meters more had disappeared. This 

 diminution continued into August, a measured 

 loss amounting to twenty-five meters having 

 occurred by August 6. 



On August 17 Professor Giraud saw the 

 mountain free from clouds for the first time 

 in several days, and perceived that the dome 

 of the cone surmounting the crater had under- 

 gone profound modification, the central por- 

 tion having risen twenty-seven meters within 

 ten days. Reddish-brown clouds frequently 

 appeared in the midst of the blue and white 

 vapors which were continually rising from the 

 crater. During the night the dome sometimes 

 showed itself incandescent ; some of the lumi- 

 nous points persisted throughout the whole 

 night, and there were frequent discharges of 

 incandescent blocks. The increase of activity 

 continued in marked degree for several days, 

 and the main mass of the dome, as distin- 

 guished from the spine, continued to rise. 

 There were numerous dust-flows down the val- 

 ley of the Precheur and of the Blanche, and 

 on the 22d, in the direction of the Lac des 

 Palmistes and Grand' Riviere as well. Night 

 after night the top and slopes of the new 

 cone or dome were incandescent, and often 

 sufficiently so to east a strong illumination 

 upon the clouds. Fumaroles were active in 

 the valley of the Seche, as well as in the 

 valley of the Blanche. The growth of the 

 great dome continued rapid, one hundred and 



• Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XVI., p. 277, October, 1903. 



