Washington — Submarine Eruptions of 1831 and 1891. 133 



boat of some sponger or fisherman) that they are heard of. 

 As Mercalli points out, also, onr knowledge of the eruptions 

 of Vesuvius and Etna prior to modern times, situated on land 

 and in populous districts, is so fragmentary and incomplete 

 that our ignorance of the many possible submarine eruptions 

 is to be expected. 



Graham* Island, 1831. 

 Bibliography. 



The number of papers dealing with this eruption is fairly 

 long. Johnston -Lavisf gives 28 titles and several others can 

 be added to the list. The great majority date from the year 

 of the eruption and those immediately succeeding, only one or 

 two belonging to the latter half of the last century. The more 

 important papers are those by H. and J. Davy, J H. Foerstner,§ 

 C. Gemmellaro,|j F. Hoffmann, ^\ C. Prevost** and H.Abich;ff 

 while general accounts are to be found in standard works deal- 

 ing with vulcanology, as those of Landgrebe,^ Fuchs,§§ Mer- 

 calli, || || Lyell,TfT and Bonney.*** 



The Eruption. 



The site of the eruption of 1831 was in lat. 37° V 30" IS". 

 and long. 12° 42' 15" E., about 30 miles southwest of Sciacca, 

 on the coast of Sicily, and 33 miles northeast of Pantelleria. 



The first signs of activity were shocks felt on board a vessel 

 sailing over the spot on June 28, earthquake shocks being also 

 felt in Sicily about the same time. During the first few days 

 of July a fetid odor was perceived at Sciacca, and fishermen 

 reported that the sea at the JNerita Bank appeared to be boil- 

 ing and was covered with floating matter and dead fish. On 



* This small and ephemeral island has received seven names : Corrao, Fer- 

 dinandea, Giulia (Julie), Graham, Hotham, Nerita, and Sciacca. That 

 adopted here seems to be the best founded, as it was that bestowed by the 

 first person who landed on it, Capt Senhouse, and is that used by English 

 and many American writers. The Italians use either Giulia or Ferdinandea, 

 and the Germans mostly the latter. 



fH. J. Johnston -Lavis, The South Italian Volcanoes, Naples, 1891, p. 105. 



X H. and J. Daw, various papers in Phil. Trans, for 1832 and 1833. 



§H. Foerstner, Tsch. Min. Petr. Mitth., vol. v, p. 388, 1883. 



|| C. Gemmellaro, Atti Ace. Gioen., vol. viii, p. 271, 1834. 



If F. Hoffmann, Pogg. Ann., vol. xxiv, p. 65, 1832. 



**C. Prevost, Mem. Soc. Geol. France, vol. ii, p. 91, 1832. 



f \ H. Abich, Vulkanische Erscheinungen etc., Braunschweig, p. 72, 1841. 



\%Gc. Landgrebe, Naturgeschichte der Vulkane, Gotha, p. 50, 1855. 



£§K. Fuchs. Vulkane und Erdbeben, Liepzig, p. 22, 1875. 



HI G. Mercalli, Vulcani in Italia, Milano, p. 116, 1883 ; and Vulcani Attivi 

 della Terra, Milano. p. 264, 1907. 



•H^C. Lyell, Principles of Geology, 11th ed., vol. ii, p. 58, 1892. 



*** T. G. Bonney, Volcanoes, p. 46, 1899. 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Fourth Series, Vol. XXVII, No. 158. — February, 1909. 

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