THE 



AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 



[FOURTH SERIES.] 



Art. XXXIII. — Ohservatioiis on the Eruptions of 190^ of La 

 Soufriere, St. Vincent, and Mt. Pelee, Martinique '^"^ by 

 Edmund Otis Hovey. 



The chain of islands bounding the Caribbean Sea on the 

 east, and known as the Leeward and Windward Islands, the 

 Lesser Antilles or the Caribbean Islands, are almost wholly of 

 volcanic origin, the most important exception to this rule 

 being Barbados. From Grenada northward the chain of vol- 

 canoes extends in a grand curve for about five hundred miles, 

 with its convex side toward the east, indicating a line of weak- 

 ness in the earth's crust comparable with those which are out- 

 lined by the festoons of volcanoes along the northern and 

 western coasts of the Pacific Ocean. The volcanic nature of 

 these islands has been known ever since they first were explored, 

 but only a few eruptions have been recorded during the past 

 four centuries — the most important being those of La Soufriere 

 on St. Vincent in 1718 and 1812, with Mt. Pelee on Martinique 

 in slight eruption in 1851. Continuous solfataric action, which 

 sometimes has been quite violent, is known in the crater of Mt. 

 Misery on St. Kitts. the " Soufrieres " of Guadeloupe and St. 

 Lucia and the Boiling Lake of Dominica. Hot springs have 

 been a feature of several localities on Martinique, St. Vincent 

 and other of the islands. 



La Soufriere, St. Vincent. 



At least as early as April, 1901, earthquakes became more 

 frequent and noticeable than usual in St. Vincent, but, with 



* The autlior was sent to the islands of Martinique and St. Vincent as the 

 representative of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, to 

 study the phenomena connected with the recent eruptions. The article here 

 published is a condensation of the " Preliminary Report" prepared for the 

 Museum authorities and published in the Bulletin of the Museum, vol. xvi, 

 pp. 333-372, pis. xxxiii-li. The author's field work on the islands covered 

 the period from May 21 to July 6, inclusive, and his Report and this article 

 pertain almost solely to the personal observations made during that time. 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Fourth Series, Vol. XIV, No. 83.— November, 1902. 

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