NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES. 
205 
Chili in 1822 and 1823 ; and when they act uniformly, and lift 
up large tracts of land, as the coast of Sweden is now being 
raised, with a slow and tranquil, upward movement ; and the 
west coast of Greenland depressed, without any of those 
paroxysmal effects which we behold in the volcano, and the 
earthquake shock. 
No less than five centres of volcanic action exist within the 
Atlantic Ocean. In Europe, the centres of existing volcanic 
action are Sicily, Naples, Stromboli, the Archipelago, and 
Iceland; while in Auvergne, Bohemia, Saxony, and other 
European localities, we have examples of volcanos which have 
become extinct since the period of the older Tertiary deposits. 
In the region of the Andes active and extinct volcanos alternate 
for many hundreds of miles, and tremendous earthquakes fre- 
quently precede the different outbursts. Five active volcanos 
traverse Mexico from west to east, among which is the famed 
Jorullo, which is said to have been elevated to a height of 
I, 600 feet above the level of the plain of the Malpais in June, 
1759. There is an active volcanic region from the Aleutian 
Isles, through the Indian Archipelago, of greater extent than 
even that of the Andes. In Java alone there are said to be 
thirty-eight volcanos, several of which are more than 10,000 
feet high; while Berapi, in Sumatra, is more than 12,000 feet 
above the sea. Teneriffe is also 12,000 feet, and Etna nearly 
II, 000 feet in height. 
To enumerate the different volcanic regions of the globe 
would be impossible in a mere sketch of the subject, and it 
must suffice here to say that several hundreds of volcanos, in 
different stages of activity, are known throughout the globe. 
The effect of volcanic eruptions in those regions which are the 
centres of volcanic action is scarcely less important as regards 
human life and safety than are earthquakes. The destruction 
of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii by vast masses of 
volcanic matter erupted from Vesuvius is an example ; as are 
also the overwhelming of the town of Stabise in the time of 
Pliny, and the destruction of the town of Torre del Greco by 
torrents of burning lava in 1794. But these are not the most 
striking examples of volcanic eruptions to be met with. The 
volcano Coseguina, which is situated on the Gulf of Fonseca, 
in Central America, poured forth, in January, 1835, such a 
mass of volcanic ashes and other matter that it covered the 
surrounding country for the distance of twenty-five miles 
to the depth of ten feet, destroying the woods and dwellings. 
Sir Charles Lyell records of this eruption, that thousands of 
cattle perished, their bodies being, in many instances, one 
mass of scorched flesh; that many birds and wild animals 
were found suffocated in the ashes ; and that the neighbouring 
VOL. iit. — no. x. p 
