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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 rapilli* ; 

 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. xxv, cap. 7. (Heyne, Opuscala acad., t. iii, p. 261.) 



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