THE 



AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 



[FOURTH SERIES.] 



Aet. XXYI. — The New Cone of Mont Pele and the Gorge 

 of the Himere Blanche. Martinique ^"^ by Edmund Otis 

 HovEY. (With Plates XI-XIY.) 



The Avorld-wide interest which was aroused in the eruptions 

 of Mont Pele on the island of Martinique and La Soufriere 

 on the island of St. Vincent, which devastated lar^e portions 

 of those islands in May, 1902, and succeeding months, has led 

 to a large amount of study being devoted to these volcanoes 

 by geological commissions and independent geologists from 

 the United States, England, Francef and G-ermany, The 

 purpose of the present article is to record some of the changes 

 which have occurred in and on Mont Pele since the obser- 

 vations made directly after the eruptions began were published. 



Undoubtedly the most striking change which has taken 

 place in either volcano, after the first devastation had been 

 accomplished, is the complete alteration of the sky-line of 



* In May, 1902, the author was sent by the American Museum of Natural 

 History to study the eruptions on Martinique and St. Vincent (see Bull. 

 Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., xvi, pp. 333-372, October, 1902, this Journal, IV, xiv, 

 pp. 319-358, November, 1902, and the Nat. Geogr. Mag., xiii, pp. 444- 

 459, December, 1902). In February, 1903, the same institution sent the 

 author on a second expedition to the region to note what changes had taken 

 place in the volcanoes since the previous visit, make additional observations 

 under the more favorable conditions incident to the dry season, and extend 

 his studies to the other recent volcanoes of the Caribbean chain. 



f In the fall of 1902 the French government established two observing 

 stations on Martinique, one of which (Morne des Cadets) was provided with 

 seismographs and all other needful apparatus, and systematic and continuous 

 observations have been maintained ever since. The commission has con- 

 sisted of Professors A. Lacroix, J. Giraud and Eollet de I'Isle with the 

 assistance of Captain L. Perney at Morne des Cadets on the west side, and 

 Adjutant L. Guinoiseau at Assier on the east side of the island. Some of 

 the results obtained by the commission have been utilized in preparing the 

 historical part of this communication. 



Am. Jour. Sct.— Fourth Series, Vol. XVI, No. 94.— October, 1903. 

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