664 



THE UNIVERSE. 



moment and sink again some time after. Dwellings, with 

 the persons they contained, were transported from one 

 place to another Avithout the least damage; some were 

 moved to higher places than they had previously occupied; 

 others descended quietly into the valleys. The earth 

 cracked from place to place, and engulfed men and beasts 

 in its great fissures. At the time of such a disaster it has 

 been sometimes remarked that objects were carried l»y a 

 rotatory movement which is cpiite inexplicable. The 

 upper layers of the stone pyramids in front of the gate 



301. The Great Gej'ser, Iceland. 



of the monastery of St. Stephen del Bosco were twisted 

 round upon their axis by a circular impulsion, whilst their 

 bases remained fixed. M. A. Boscovitz, in his remark- 

 able work on volcanoes, also relates that during the con- 

 Aorlsion of the island of Majorca, in 1851, the shocks im- 

 pressed a horizontal rotatory movement on a tower, and 

 that in the interval they lasted it was displaced about 60' 

 on its axis. 



We cannot terminate this rapid sketch of volcanic 



