THE VOLCANOES OF GUATEMALA—DISCUSSION. 
485 
of Finca Helvetia, as well as other planters too numerous to mention, 
for their kind assistance and hospitality. Their local knowledge in 
a country like this was simply invaluable. 
Colonel Church : It is with much regret that I have to announce that our 
President is unable to be present this evening owing to a slight illness. Our 
lecturer this evening is already known to you, and about four years ago he 
entertained us with his experiences, his studies, and his wonderful photographic 
plates of the volcanic eruptions in Martinique and Mont Pelee. I may mention 
that not only did he greatly distinguish himself by his analysis of those eruptions, 
but that he is also familiar with many parts of the world where he has done 
good work in the same direction, work always characterized by a thoroughness 
which is worthy of admiration. He has taken care to possess himself of everything 
in the shape of mechanical appliances known to photography, and consequently what 
he does is perfectly reliable. He was accompanied in his examination of Mont 
Pelee and Martinique by Dr. Flett, of the Geological Survey. The country from 
which he now returns with so much valuable information is one of the great volcanic 
centres of the world. I will now call upon Dr. Tempest Anderson to read his paper. 
Dr. Flett : Listening to Dr. Anderson’s descriptions to-night, and seeing on 
the screen the beautiful series of photographs of Guatemalan scenery and volcanoes, 
I could not help being struck very greatly with the similarity which exists between 
the volcanic phenomena in Guatemala and those with which Dr. Anderson and 
I became acquainted in the year 1902, when we had the opportunity of visiting 
together the volcanoes of the West Indies. There is some connection between the 
volcanoes of St. Vincent, Martinique, and those of Guatemala, because in May, 
1902, when Montagne Pelee in Martinique and the Soufriere in St. Vincent burst into 
eruption, there were earthquakes in Guatemala; and six months later, while the 
volcanic activity was still going on in the West Indies, this great eruption took 
- place of which Dr. Anderson has shown photographs to-night. One feature of the 
outbursts in both these districts was that the products were principally ashes, sand, 
and dust, so that the scenery of the Guatemalan volcano is very like that of the 
volcanoes in Martinique, where the whole surface of the ground was covered over 
with thick layers of ashes and sand. 
Equally striking to us, perhaps, who are accustomed to temperate climates is the 
extraordinary rapidity with which these great masses of ashes are swept away from 
the bare surface of the ground in tropical climates. The photographs, for example, 
shown us to-night, when compared with the photographs taken in 1902 and 1903 
by Prof. Karl Sapper, show that, vast as was the quantity of material ejected, the 
greater part of it has been swept away from the higher ground by the rivers, and 
transported to the sea. In the same way, in the West Indies, the larger part of the 
material which wrought devastation there was very soon removed, and with it 
part of the underlying soil, which had been, of course, left bare and unprotected by 
the destruction of the vegetation. I think you will agree with me that the year 
1902 is one which will be marked with a red letter in the history of volcanic 
activity. In that year we had three volcanic outbursts of great magnitude: these 
were, the eruptions at Montagne Pelee, at the Soufriere in St. Vincent, and at 
Santa Maria in Guatemala. It is a curious fact that the greatest of these three in 
physical magnitude, namely, the Guatemalan eruption, is one which has been least 
known hitherto to English and American geologists, whereas the one which was 
least in point of mere magnitude has, on account of its fatal action on the town of 
St. Pierre and the loss of nearly thirty thousand lives, and the extraordinary nature 
