VOLCANIC CRATERS AND EXPLOSIONS—DISCUSSION. 
131 
which have come under my notice in Japan. A good many people are 
inclined to look upon the subject of volcanoes with a kind of mild contempt. 
Not an hour ago I heard a gentleman describe the crater of Kilauea, which Dr 
Tempest Anderson showed us just now, as a “ cesspool,” adding that he 
certainly never wanted to see another. Similarly, the famous Fujiyama, in 
Japan, has been irreverently described as an “ ash-heap : ” but it is difficult to 
understand how any one who has looked into the crater of an active volcano 
can fail to feel a profound respect, not only for the volcano itself, but for the 
subject as a whole. Several years ago, I believe, Dr. Tempest Anderson 
published a most interesting book entitled ‘Volcanic Studies in Many Lands.’ 
I read that book in Japan with much appreciation ; but I could not help 
reflecting, as I realized what very extensive journeys Dr. Anderson had to 
make to collect those very valuable studies, that, had he been resident in 
Japan, he could have found as many volcanic subjects, and certainly a greater 
number of active volcanoes, within a day’s journey of Tokio. I understand, how¬ 
ever, that Dr. Anderson finds himself unable to resist any longer the “ call of the 
East.” Japan is said to possess a special fascination for the visitor, and when 
that visitor is a vulcanologist, I am afraid the consequences might be so serious 
that we must reconcile ourselves to not seeing Dr. Anderson again for a con¬ 
siderable time. 
I think it may be said that the science of vulcanology has suffered by being 
unduly localized. It has centred itself, to a large extent, about two particular 
volcanoes—Stromboli and Vesuvius—presumably because these are the most 
accessible. The literature that has accumulated itself about Vesuvius is 
enormous. I dare say some one with a genius for statistics would succeed in 
showing that it approximates in bulk to the volcano itself. Obviously this must 
have involved a considerable amount of repetition, and the science of vulcan¬ 
ology would have been richer if some of this energy in research had been 
expended on volcanoes in other parts of the world. Dr. Anderson is doing 
a good work in this direction, for he has shown us splendid subjects from a great 
many different lands. With regard to types of volcanoes, Prof. Mercalli of the 
Vesuvian Observatory, as you have heard, divides them into two classes, accord¬ 
ing as they resemble the action of Stromboli and Vesuvius respectively. How¬ 
ever, any one visiting Japan, for example, would find volcanoes which could 
scarcely be brought under either of these headings. He would find a volcano 
like Bandaisan, which in a few seconds blew away an adjoining peak of the size 
of Snowdon, destroying four villages with their inhabitants, and covering with 
debris an area of 27 square miles, but without leaving behind a single trace 
of scoriae, volcanic ash, or lava. Then, again, there is the volcano which is 
performing, in a very literal sense, the function of “terrestrial respiration”— 
such a volcano, for example, as that of Osliima, off the Gulf of Tokio, which 
seems merely to “ breathe,” in a series of gasps. Each gasp is a cloud of steam : 
nothing else happens, and this goes on incessantly. Then, again, you will 
find a volcano which emits a continuous torrent of steam from huge fumaroles 
in the floor of its crater without any explosive action; and, finally, you have a 
volcano like Asama, which seems to combine all these functions in itself. This 
volcano, for the last three years running, has signalized the approach of winter in 
a startling way. In the first week in December each year, almost to the day, a 
violent explosion has taken place within its crater, which was heard and felt in 
Tokio, 100 miles away, and suggested to most people an earthquake of unusual 
character, or an explosion of gunpowder at some factory near by. Curiously enough, 
when the volcano was subsequently examined, few, if any, traces of the outburst 
