74 Sir William Hamilton's Accowit of 
naturally produce nearly the same phenomena, and in Serao’s 
book almost all the phasnomena vve have been witness to dur- 
ing the late eruption of Vesuvius, are there admirably de- 
scribed, and well accounted for. The classical accounts of the 
eruption of Vesuvius, which destroyed the towns of Hercu- 
laneum and Pompeii, and many of the existing printed ac- 
counts of its great eruption in 1631 (although the latter are 
mixed with puerilities) might pass for an account of the late 
eruption by only changing the date, and omitting that circum- 
stance of the retreat of the sea from the coast, which happened 
in both those great eruptions, and not in this ; and I might 
content myself by referring to those accounts, and assuring 
you at the same time, that the late eruption, after those two, 
appears to have been the most violent recorded by history, and 
infinitely more alarming than either the eruption of 1767, or 
that of 1779, of both of which I had the honour of giving a 
particular account to the Royal Society. However, I think it 
my duty rather to hazard being guilty ©f repetition than to 
neglect the giving you every satisfaction in my power, relative 
to the late formidable operation of nature. 
You know, Sir, that with the kind assistance of the Father 
Antonio Piaggi, of the order of the Scole Pie, who has re- 
sided many years at Resina, on the very foot of Mount Vesu- 
vius, and in the full view of it, I am in possession of an exact 
diary of that volcano, from the year 177 9 to this day, and 
which is also accompanied with drawings. It is plain, from 
some remarks in that diary, previous to this eruption, that a 
great one was expected,, and that we were apprehensive of the 
mischief that might probably attend the falling in of the cra- 
ter, which had been much contracted within these two years 
