322 Mr. Lohley's Lecture on Vesuvius, 



valley, to whicli the name of the Atrio del Cavallo is given. A de- 

 scription of the various parts of tBe mountain followed, and re- 

 ference was made to the populousness of the numerous towns and 

 villages lying around the base of the volcano. 



The history of Vesuvius is extremely interesting, as it was an 

 active volcano in prehistoric times ; then an apparently extinct one, 

 and now, in our own times, it has been, and is still, one of the most 

 active volcanos known. 



The eruptions, too, have been attended with the most disastrous 

 results ; and, situated as Vesuvius is, near one of the principal cities 

 of Europe, and on the attractive and accessible coast of Italy, they 

 have excited the greatest attention among mankind. The eruption 

 of the year 79 of our era, was the first of which we have any record, 

 for during the whole of the historic period previous to that date, 

 Vesuvius was dormant. 



At this period the mountain was a single truncated cone, of great 

 width and comparatively low elevation, with a very large and deep 

 crater. 



Strabo was the first to notice that this crater was walled in by 

 rocks, which were igneous and volcanic in character, and he, followed 

 by other early observers, concluded the mountain to be of volcanic 

 origin. The earliest eruption of the historic period, that of 79, re- 

 sulted in half of the enclosing wall of the great crater being blown 

 away, leaving merely the semi-circular ridge, now called Monte 

 Somma, and a small elevation on the opposite side of the cone, to 

 which the Italians give the name of "La Pedamentina." This 

 terrible outbreak destroyed, as is well known, the three cities of 

 Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabia, and quite altered the appearance 

 of the mountain. The death of Pliny the elder, and the account 

 given of the eruption by his nephew, Pliny the younger, in the two 

 celebrated letters to Tacitus, tend also to make this fearful catas- 

 trophe a most memorable event in the history of the world. The 

 modern great cone of Vesuvius then began to be formed around the 

 vent of the volcano, and subsequent eruptions accumulated material 

 upon it, until it at length attained a greater elevation than the old 

 summit of the mountain. 



Many eruptions, no fewer than fifty-eight, have been recorded 

 since the volcano renewed its activity, all more or less remarkable, 

 but those of 1036, 1631, 1793-4, and 1822, are especially worthy of 

 notice. Of the historic eruptions, those whicli occurred previous to 

 1036 do not appear to have produced any fluid lava, and were merely 

 eruptions of ashes, stones, lapilli, and mud, attended with discharges 

 of vapours. In 1036, however, a stream of lava is said to have 

 flowed down the sides of the mountain, and to have reached the sea. 

 The eruption of 1631 is remarkable for the extraordinary quantity of 

 lava which Vesuvius emitted, no fewer than seven great rivers of 

 the fiery fluid having poured down its sides. For several centuries 

 previous to the great outbreak of 1631, the eruptions of the volcano 

 were of little violence, and were separated by long intervals of 

 repose. During this period of comparative rest on the part of 



