/. W, Judd — On Volcanos. 57 



hitches in the mass, an interesting example of which is represented 

 in Fig. 2, bear witness to tlie violence of the subterranean forces ; 

 and the appearance of chemical action on the materials near these 

 and other vertical fissures indicates that they once served as channels 

 for the escape of gases and vapours (fumaroles). Some of these 

 fractures are occupied by loose materials and constitute pseudo-dylces, 

 like those so frequently seen in the Neapolitan volcanos. 



On the highest summit of the Kammerbiihl there exists a small 

 oval depression, about 15 yards in diameter and 7 feet deep. It has 

 been supposed to represent the " crater " of the volcano ; but this 

 opinion is certainly erroneous, and there is no doubt that the de- 

 pression in question has been occasioned by one or other of the 

 numerous excavations which have been carried on in this hill, either 

 for the purpose of discovering mineral treasures, or of satisfying 

 scientific doubts. It is clear that the volcano of the Kammerbiihl 

 has suffered greatly from denuding causes, and that all its external 

 features have been long destroyed. From what remains I should be 

 led to infer that a series of several cinder cones in close apposition 

 originally existed here, and that the one at the north-west end, 

 which was the largest, was breached by a lava-stream. 



The remains of this lava-stream are very clearly seen on the 

 western side of the highest part of the ridge ; its surface is highly 

 scoriaceous, and only some of the more rugged portions rise above 

 the grass-grown slopes of the hill. The remains of a quarry, from 

 which rock was at one time obtained (it is said for millstones, and 

 certainly for building purposes, as shown by the Roman tower in the 

 old Castle of Eger), are seen in the midst of this lava- stream. By 

 means of it we are enabled to see that the central and more solid 

 parts of the lava constitute a true basalt, with much magnetite and 

 olivine. This lava-stream cannot be traced far, and it appears to 

 have been one of those of very imperfectly liquid character, adhering 

 to the sides of the cone, but not extending itself on the level ground 

 around it. 



From the above brief description of the Kammerbiihl, the reader 

 may perhaps conclude that its true volcanic character is so obvious 

 that no competent observer can ever have entertained a doubt upon 

 its mode of origin. Such, however, is very far from having been the 

 case. Although, as early as 1773, the Ritter von Born, in a series of 

 letters to the Count von Kinsky, described the Kammerbiihl as " an 

 extinct volcano," — yet the mischievous influences of the teachings of 

 Werner subsequently manifested themselves in many attempts to 

 prove that the lava of the Kammerbiihl was, in common with the 

 other patches of basaltic rock in Bohemia, " a floetz-trap rock," and 

 the product of " aqueous precipitation." 



In 1792 F. A. Reuss (the father of the recently deceased dis- 

 tinguished geologist A. E. Reuss) found the evidences of the action 

 of fire in the materials of the Kammerbiihl so overwhelming, as to 

 lead him to put forward a new theory of its mode of origin. He 

 argued that it was really the result of an "Erdbrand," — a pheno- 

 menon of not uncommon occurrence in Bohemia, and resulting from 



