240 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
rienced and shortly afterwards Monte Gemellaro 
recommenced action. The great lava stream 
which has been flowing from this cone during the 
last three weeks increased in volume and on the 
7th inst. it divided into two great branch streams, 
both of which flowed in the direction of Serra 
Pizulta covering en route the lavas of 1886. 
The mountain is still in labour, but the lava is 
now issuing so slowly that instead of making 
progress, it is cooling and heaping itself on the 
streams that have been formed during the past 
few weeks. 
The damage that has been wrought in the vine 
growing districts on the southern slopes is enor- 
mous, aud much anxiety is being felt for the 
welfare of the “ contadini ” during the forth- 
coming winter. Nicolosi and Belpasso are now 
out of danger, and the inhabitants are becoming 
more tranquil, though great distress prevails in 
both districts. The general appearance of Etna 
has not been greatly affected by the present pro- 
longed outbreak. Several of the smaller cones as 
Gemellaro and Montanaro have been surrounded 
by new lava sheets, and several new excrude- 
scences have been formed, but otherwise from 
Catania, or Crifeo, no change is noticeable. 
Alluding to the eruptive powers of this volcano 
a writer in the “Morning Post" observes that 
Etna may lay claim to a long established reputa- 
tation for its volcanic tendencies, as historic me- 
mory does not extend to a time when the fires of 
Etna did not exist. Of this there can be no doubt 
as the mountain was in a state of activity before 
the Trojan War, and three eruptions are recorded 
in the period covering the eighth and fourth cen- 
turies before the Christian era. Five more erup- 
tions are stated to have taken place in the next 
three hundred years, a very violent one occuring in 
the year 44 B.C. Since that time eruptions innume- 
rable have been recorded. To the geologist, 
indeed, the story of Etna is written in its forma- 
tion. It rests on a floor of stratified marine vol- 
canic matter with clays, sand, and limestones of 
Newer Pliocene age. 
It will have been observed that the recent erup- 
tion of Etna has been synchronous with a display 
of activity in Vesuvius, and with a violent volca- 
nic disturbance in Saugir. Can we trace all to 
the same cause? Last year Professor Alfred Kireh- 
hof, oL. the University of Halle, propounded a 
theory that excesses of volcanic action and the 
uncertain weather of last summer were alike due 
to oscillations of the earth's axis. This is not the 
place to discuss so abstruse a question, but assum- 
ing Professor Kirchhofs theory to have any foun- 
dation, it may possibly explain the exceptional 
volcanic activity of the last two months. — 
J. H. C. 
A marketable commodity. 
Some curious instances of the restrictions that 
are placed upon the use of sea water in some parts 
of the Mediterranean, are given in the Scient>ic 
American , among which the writer tells us that 
some years ago while on a visit to the shores of the 
Mediterranean a member of his family was ordered 
by the doctor to take a salt water daily, at his 
hotel. But before the attendant dare to dip even 
a pail of water from the sea a permit from the 
prefect of the police had to be obtained, and to 
get his permission it required the physician s 
certificate. 
Another equally ludicrous incident is related by 
a writer to the X w York Tribune in the course 
of which he tells us that a well known English 
public man, member ofa former administration, 
staring in one of the many quiet and pretty 
villages on the Riviera, the garden of his tem- 
porary home running down to the sea, on a recent 
morning, wished to vary his usual bedroom bath 
by substituting salt water for fresh, he asked 
that a pailful be fetched for him. To his in- 
tense amazement he was informed that this 
could not be done without special permission 
from the civil power. There was the Mediterra- 
nean stretching broadly before his bedroom 
window, countless miles from east to west, and 
away again toward Corsica in the south as 
far as the eye could reach, and at the end of 
the garden, mind you, and yfet as much of it 
as would fill an ordinary pail must not be taken 
from it. It was too absurd for belief. It turned 
out to be quite true, however. Not a servant 
nor a villager could be induced to draw a few 
quarts out of the sea for fear of the penalties 
which would follow, aud in the end the official 
