[ 26 ] 
“ them : and as all thefe efFeds were produced .by^ 
“ the fame caufe that produces earthquakes j let us 
“ firfl; enquire how earthquakes are produced, and 
‘‘ from thence we may eafily comprehend the caufe 
“ of the abovementioned events.” Then follows a 
dilfertation on earthquakes, and fome curious con- 
jedures relative to the phrenomena which attended 
this eruption, clearly and w^ell expreffed, confidering, 
as the author himfelf apologizes, that at that time the 
Italian language had been little employed on fuch 
fubjeds. •' . ’ - 
The account of the formation of the monte 
Nuovo, by Pietro Giacomo di Toledo, is given in a 
dialogue between the feigned perfonages of Peregrino 
and SvelTano; the former of which fays, “ It is now 
“ two years that this province of Campagna has been 
“ afflided with earthquakes, the country about 
“ Pozzuolo much more fo than any other parts, but 
** the 27th and the 28th of the month of September 
“ laft, the earthquakes did not ceafe day or night, in 
“ the abovementioned city of Pozzuolo j that plain 
“ which lies between the lake of Averno, the monte 
“ Barbaro, and the fea, was raifed a little, and many 
“ cracks were made in in it, from fome of which 
iffued watery and at the lame time the fea, which 
“ was very near the plain, dried up about two hun- 
“ dred paces, fo that the fifli were left on the fand, 
“ a prey to the inhabitants of Pozzuolo. At laft, on 
“ the 29th of the faid month, about two hours in 
the night, the earth opened near the lake, and dif- 
“ covered a horrid mouth, from which were vomited 
’ furioufly, fmoke, fire, hones, and mud compofed 
“ of allies j making, at the time of its opening, a 
“ noife 
