THE RECENT ERUPTIONS OF COLIMA. 



The Volcdn de Colima with the Nevada de Colima together 

 form a magnificent mountain mass at the extremity of a branch 

 of the Sierra Madre, known, at no great distance from the 

 volcano, by the name Sierra de Tapalpa (Fig. i). Colima lies in 

 latitude 19° 30' 25" N., and longitude 4° 37' 55" W. from 

 Mexico. Its altitude is 3,960.90"", while that of the Nevada is 

 4,334.57™. The two peaks are seven kilometers apart. The 

 volcano is thirty-three kilometers from the city of Colima and 

 twenty-five kilometers from Zapotlan. Both Volcdn and Nevada 

 are in Canton 9 of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. 



From Zapotlan the volcano presents the form of an elegant 

 cone with slopes of 45°; the Nevada, seen from there, appears 

 upon the west flank of the cone and a little to the north (Fig. 2). 

 The volcano has long been active, and during the last century 

 made notable eruptions in 1804, 1806, 1808-18, 1869, etc. 



(Fig. 3)- 



The above description is condensed from a paper by Padre 

 Jose Maria Arreola which was printed in the monthly bulletin 

 of the Mexican meteorological observatory in 1896.^ In this 

 article Father Arreola described the work of observation being 

 conducted by himself at Colima and his colleague Castellanos at 

 Zapotlan. Rarely has any volcano been subjected to such care- 

 ful scrutiny and record as has Colima by these two devoted 

 observers. Three times daily, from 1893 through a period of 

 seven or eight years, the conditions of the volcano were care- 

 fully recorded and sketches made, if there were any signs of 

 activity. Precise terms were employed in description. Vapor 

 was "dense" or "thin; " "dense," when emitted rapidly, as if in 

 eruption, and in volutes; "thin," when issuing slowly, con- 

 tinuously, as if filtered out. For force, degrees from to 10 

 were recognized, running parallel with the verbal terms — "little," 



'J. M. Arreola, "El VolcAn de Colima," Bolelin mensual del Observatorio 

 nieteorolbgico central de iMexico, 1896, p. 10. 



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