126 proceedings of the geological society. [feb. 5, 



February 5, 1862. 



Captain William Henry Mackesy (79th Highlanders), Waterford ; 

 Harry Seeley, Esq., Woodwardian Museum, Cambridge ; and Thomas 

 Francis Jamieson, Esq., Ellon, Aberdeenshire, were elected Fellows. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. On some Yolcanic Phenomena lately observed at Torre del Greco 

 and Eesina. By Signer Luigi Palmieri, Director of the Eoyal 

 Observatory on Vesuvius . 



[In Letters addressed to H.M. Consul at Naples, and dated December 17, 1861, 

 and January 3, 1862. Sent from the Foreign Office, by order of Earl Eussell.] 



(Abstract.) 



The evolution of gases, the outburst of springs of acidulous and hot 

 water, and particularly the upheaval of the ground at Torre del 

 Greco to a height of 1*12 metre above the sea-level, are mentioned 

 in this communication. 



2. On the recent Eruption o/ Yesuvitjs in December 1861. 



By M. Pierre de Tchihatchefp. 



[Communicated by Sir E. I. Murchison, Y.P.G.S.] 



(Abstract.) 



On the 8th of December the ground in the neighbourhood of Torre del 

 Greco was shaken by repeated earthquakes from dawn up to 3 o'clock 

 in the afternoon. As many as twenty-one distinct shocks were counted 

 there, but only one of them was felt at Naples. At the hour above 

 mentioned the atmosphere over Torre was wrapt in complete darkness, 

 clouds of ashes having been projected from several mouths which 

 had opened on the slope of Yesuvius, a short distance above the town. 

 Early on the next day (the 9th) I visited Torre del Greco, and leaving 

 the town below, mounted towards the stream of lava which had in 

 the preceding night poured forth from the apertures already men- 

 tioned. It had cooled so rapidly that I was enabled to walk upon 

 the scoriaceous crust, though the interior was so hot that my stick 

 took fire on being thrust into its cracks. 



After proceeding about 600 metres to the N.E., I came to the 

 smoking hills, which were still vomiting glowing scoriae and ashes so 

 abundantly as to prevent a near approach. The white steam and 

 black ashes, ejected from them with violent shocks resembling the 

 intermittent puffs of a steam-engine, rose in globular masses so as to 

 form a columnar shaft, which, spreading laterally at a great height, 

 reproduced the "^ pine " of Pliny. On my return to Torre del Greco I 

 saw two new mouths open before me. About this time the central cone 

 of Yesuvius, which had been tranquil hitherto, began to eject steam 

 and ashes in thick clouds, attended by frequent flashes of lightning. 

 The explosions of the new craters, as well as the flow of the lava, 

 ceased almost wholly about the third day, viz. by the 1 2th of December. 



