t)2 isLAvns wjiicn have risen from the sea- 
can only be conjectured by the effects produced. Nof || 
more astonishing that inflammable substances shooj“ v 
found beneath the bottom of the sea, than at similar drP^ 
on land, and that there also the impetuous force ot^^^ 
should cause iho imprisoned air and elastic gasses to exp-'^^ 
and, by its mighty force, should drive the e;irth at the y 
tom of the sea above its surface. These marine volc-’^< 
are perhaps more frequent, though they do not so ® y 
come 'Aithin the reach of liuman observation, than 
on land ; and stupendous must be th.e operations carrit’“ ,; 
when matter is thrown up to a:t extent which the 
nuity of man does not enable him to reach by fathorn"’ri' 
Many instances have occurred, as well in ancient ‘.j; 
modern times, of islands having been formed in the f 
of the sea ; and their sudden appearance has consy^.,.; 
been prece;led by violent agitations of the surroui^jj. 
waters, accompanied b)^ dreadful noises, and, in 
stances, by lierj'’ eruptions from the ncwly-fonued ' •/ 
which are composed of various substances, freqat-n*'!,; 
termixed with a considerable quantity of volcanic 
Such islands remain for ages barren, but in a long cpCry 
time become abundantly fruitful. It is a matter ot 
inquiry, whether springs are found on such newly-ct^'^j^t 
spots, when the convulsions which gave them biith‘|,(l 
subsided ; but on this point It would seem that we ar ^ 
possessed of any certain information, as it does not 
that they have been visited by any naturalist with r’ 
press view of recording their properties. j(if 
■ Among the writers of antiquity who have trausdi^.j# 
accounts of ishinds which have thus started up to 
of the astoiiisited spectator, Seneca asserts that, in hi> 
the island ot'Therasea, in tlie Egean sea, was seen 
this manner, by several mttriners who were sai'ing .5/ 
])o:nt of its ascent. Pliny’s relation is still more 
dinaiy ; for he says tha;, in the Mediterranean, 
islands emerged at once from the sea, the cause of "'b‘ 
ascribes rather to tl;e retiring of the waters, than ,1)* 
subterraneous operation of nature ; but he speaks 
same time of t!ic island of Hiera, in the vicinity ot t .rf 
sea, as havittg been formed by subterraneous .jv? 
ai'.d enumerates several others said to have been ‘ 
from a similar origin, on one of which, he says, 
