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seen to shine with a splendid light. Such a 

 light, which is believed to be owing to the hy- 

 drogen gas, was observed from Chillo on the top 

 of Cotopaxi, at a time when the mountain 

 seemed in the greatest repose. I am aware 

 that, according to the report of the ancients, 

 the Mons Albanus, near Rome, known at pre- 

 sent under the name of Monte Cavo, appeared 

 at times on fire during the night ; but the Mons 

 Albanus is a volcano recently extinguished, 

 which, in the time of Cato, threw out rapilii* ; 

 while the Cuchivano is a calcareous mountain, 

 and without any trap formation near. Can 

 these flames be attributed to the decomposition 

 of water, entering into contact with the pyrites 

 dispersed through the schistose marl ? Is it 

 inflamed hydrogen, that issues from the cavern 

 of Cuchivano? The marls, as the smell indi- 

 cates, are pyritous, and bituminous at the same 

 time; and the petroleum springs at the Buen 

 Pastor, and in the Island of Trinidad, proceed 

 probably from these same beds of alpine lime- 

 stone. It would be easy to suppose some con- 

 nexion between the waters filtering through 

 this calcareous stone, and decomposed by py- 

 rites, and the earthquakes of Cumana, the 

 springs of sulphuretted hydrogen in New Bar- 



* Albano monte biduum continenter lapidibus pluit. Livy { , 

 lib. x*v,Cap. 7. (tteyne, Opuscula acad., t. iii, p. 261.) 



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