192 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL socrETy. [Dec. 15, 
covered with short green weeds resembling 
moss, clearly indicatmmg the water-mark of 
the ordinary tide. A dark dry mark without 
weed reached about 6 inches higher, seeming 
to point out the water-mark in high tides; 
and similar marks corresponded with these 
on every other part of the building reached 
by the sea-water. I returned on the 6th of 
June at five o’clock p.m., and found the water 
reaching about half an inch above the point 
(6), and therefore entirely covering the first 
or lowest rmg (a6). I placed the end of my 
foot-rule on the upper surface of the angular 
base (a), and found the depth of water above it (expressed by a 
dotted line) to measure exactly 61 inches. 
I therefore presume that the water now reaches 6 inches higher 
on the column than when measured by Mr. Smith of Jordan Hill*. 
The shape of this part of the column must be noticed: there are, 
it will be perceived, two rings, which are 6 inches in diametrical thick- 
ness, separated by a double concave ornament (see sketch). 
The bay was quite smooth on the 27th of May; on the 6th of 
June a slight north-westerly breeze was blowing ; but that part of the 
bay was still and smooth, and is seldom rough, unless the wind is 
strong from the south. 
It is very difficult to obtain correct information respecting the 
tides at Naples. I applied to the superintending officer at the 
Ammiragliato, as it is called, who stated that their variation is so 
trifling as not to affect navigation, and that therefore no tide-tables 
are kept. He said the ordinary tide was about a palm—nearly 10 
inches—and that the state of the wind causes more variation than the 
state of the moon. 
On the Naples side of Pozzuoli, just below its entrance, there are, 
I think, more marked appearances of the sinking of the land than 
on the opposite side, where the Temple of Serapis stands. The spot 
I allude to is at the Convent, or rather Hospice of Capuchins (for 
their principal habitation stands higher up in the direction of the 
Solfatara). They inhabit the Hospice durimg the warm months 
only ; and the oldest monk, a man of about sixty, showed me over 
the premises. The water stands so high as frequently to enter 
the lower story of the building, covering the floor. The refectory, 
kitchens, &c., which were there, are therefore entirely abandoned, 
and the monks reside altogether m the upper story, and have done 
so for some time. The side of the convent next the sea (now under 
water) was a vineyard; and the old monk informed me that he had 
for many years eaten grapes grown on a spot which he pointed out, 
and which I then saw covered with about three feet of water, and tra- 
* Colonel Macintosh does not mention the exact state of the tide when he 
made his observation, but merely that the tide was still ebbing. The level ob- 
served by him is intermediate between the high and low water observations of 
Mr. Smith of Jordan Hill.—See Journal, vol. iii. p. 234. J.C. M. 
