258 Sosman — Work of the Geophysical Laboratory. 



Stromboli, Vulcano, and (through the courtesy of the 

 directors of the National Geographic Society) Katmai in 

 Alaska. The great importance of gases in volcanicity is 

 emphasized by all the studies. The active gases include 

 hydrogen and water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon 

 dioxide, and sulphur and its oxides, as well as a variety 

 of other compounds of lesser importance. The crater of 

 Kilauea proves to be an active natural gas-furnace, in 

 which reactions are continuously occurring among the 

 gases, often resulting in making the lava basin hotter at 

 the surface than it is at some depth. These reactions 

 are being studied in the laboratory on mixtures of the 

 pure constituent gases in known proportions, in order to 

 lay the foundation for accurate interpretation and pre- 

 diction concerning the gases as actually collected from 

 the volcanoes themselves. 



