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X. Further Notice of the New Volcano in the Mediterranean. By John Davy, 
M.D. F.R.S., Assistant Inspector of Army Hospitals. 
Read March 15, 1832. 
The last communication I had the honour to make to the Royal Society on 
this subject was dated the 25th October, Since that time the crater of the 
volcano, from the operation of various causes, has undergone several changes 
of form, and now it has disappeared entirely. Of these mere changes of form 
I shall not attempt to give any description, as they have not been minutely 
observed, and as no inference of any importance, that I am aware of, is to be 
drawn from them, excepting that the crater was one of “ eruption,” composed 
entirely of loose materials thrown up by volcanic action. 
I notice this inference, because, in some accounts of the volcano which have 
appeared in the newspapers, it has been asserted that the crater was decidedly 
one of “ elevation,” that is, formed of rock once composing the bed of the sea, 
which had been elevated by volcanic force acting from below previous to the 
eruption. How such an opinion could have arisen, it is not easy to conjec- 
ture ; I am not acquainted with a single circumstance connected with the 
crater that is favourable to it. 
From the reports of masters of vessels, which seem deserving of credit, the 
crater disappeared in the latter end of December. About that time there were 
strong gales, a tempestuous sea, and very heavy rains ; and, considering its 
composition, these causes seem adequate to account for its destruction. Its 
situation is now only marked by a dangerous shoal, on which from the latest 
accounts there are only a few feet of water. 
In reply to some queries which a gentlemen of Malta was so obliging as to 
take with him to Sicily on a visit to the southern part of the island nearest to 
the volcano, I have been informed that its smoke or vapour was first seen from 
