Nov. 9, 1 888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



475 



ago chambers for condensing these vapours were erected 

 on the floor of the crater at a cost of several thousand 

 pounds, and a road, shown in fig. 4, was constructed, 

 leading down to them, but a slight eruption of the moun- 

 tain destroyed them utterly in one day. In May, 1888, 

 no attempt was being made to utilise these vapours, but 

 sulphur was still extracted from above the Forgio Vecchio. 

 The workmen live in caves excavated in the Faraglione, 



shown in fig. 2, gives a most graphic account of the 

 recent eruption : — 



" Lipari, Aug. 30th, 188S. 



" My dear Dr. Johnston-Lavis,— I have your kind note of 

 the 22nd inst., and will give you a short account of the strange 

 doings of our old friend the crater of Vulcanus. 



" On the 3rd inst. we had an outburst in the crater, with 

 stones, flames, thunder (regular lightnings). It was strong 

 enough to throw stones of considerable size to the sides of 



Fig. i.— Vulcano from the North-West. 



the detached mass ol rock shown in fig. 2, just behind 

 the white villa of Mr. Narlian. Some of these caves are 

 of great antiquity, and were the source from which the 

 ancient Romans obtained much of their alum. Though 

 affording, according to our notions, only very limited 

 accommodation, they are preferred by the natives to 

 houses, as being warmer in winter and cooler in summer, 



Fig. 2.— Vulcano. Mr. Narlian's House in the 

 foreground ; the faraglione behind it ; the 

 Forgio Vecchio and Obsidian Lava Current 

 on the Slopes. 



the mountain. This lasted perhaps 10-15 minutes, and then 

 ended. After some time we began to have, at the interval of 

 every 20-30 minutes, a great rush of thick smoke, lasting 

 some 10-12 minutes at a time. We had often seen such erup- 

 tions during 12-13 years I have been on the island, and I 

 hoped it would end like former eruptions. Towards evening, 

 however, these rushes of smoke, steam, and ashes (which 



Fig. 3.— Vulcano. The Crater. 



and also, it appears, as being safer abodes than those of 

 their more pretentious neighbours'. The dark lava-stream 

 shown in fig. 2, to the right of the picture, consists of 

 obsidian, and was probably erupted in 1775. ^ * s 

 remarkable for its steep slope, and the manner in which 

 the materials forming its lower part have been piled up 

 on reaching more level ground, thus showing the 

 extremely imperfect state of fluidity in which it was 

 poured forth. 

 The following letter of Mr. Narlian, whose villa is 



Fig. 4.— Vulcano. The Road into the Crater. 



used to be projected into the air to about twice the height of 

 the mountain) had completely ceased. As the night ap- 

 proached, the leading fumarole (which was very active, giving 

 off an offensive smell for months before the event) had begun 

 to show a clear high flame, much paler than the flames pro- 

 duced by the burning of wood, and somewhat greenish or 

 bluish. This phenomenon, together with the sudden stopping 

 of the smoke, was not evidently a good omen. Consequently, 

 I spent all the night dressed on a sofa in the drawing-room. 

 Towards morning I was overpowered by sleep, and went to 

 the little bed-room which looks towards the mountain, rested 

 on the bed, and soon was evidently sound asleep. Soon 



