$6 IS T 
however, may be cited, whicTi afford ftrong reafons for 
believing that the production of the lateral mountains is 
owing to partial eruptions, which have no communica¬ 
tion with the principal crater. Sir William Hamilton 
reckons forty-four mountains.of this kind on the fide of 
Catania, with their diftiiuft craters, molt of which are 
now in a ftate of fertility. 
Some have fuppofed, that vulcanic mountains always 
increafe in height by the produfts of fucceffive eruptions, 
till they are e-xtinguifhed. However, it is generally con¬ 
ceived that the height and bulk of Etna are much the 
fame now as they were in former times. The dilapida¬ 
tions, occafioned by the falling in, and abforption of the 
fummit, have produced, for time immemorial, no fenlible 
diminution; as the Ioffes refulting from fome eruptions 
are repaired by others which fucceed. In proof of this, 
it is alleged, that if any confiderable decreafe of the 
mountain had taken place, ice and fnow would not have 
continued, in a climate fo mild, to envelope the top of the 
mountain, as they now do, even during the greateft heats 
of funimer. On the contrary, it is a very old opinion, 
and adopted by M. Houel, that Etna is in a ftate of decay 
and diminution, fo that it cannot be cbferved at fo great 
a diftance as formerly. It is full of excavations; and he 
coufiders the torrents of lava, which overfpread its fides 
from time to time, as infufficient for repairing the vvafte 
occafioned by rains, rivulets, and torrents flowing down 
from the fummit. Hence he concludes that, unlefs the 
eruptions become more frequent than they have been for 
fome time pad, the height of the mountain will be gra¬ 
dually reduced to that of the furrounding beds of lava. 
Over the fides of Etna there are fcattered no fewer than 
feventy-feven cities, towns, and villages; and allowing 
1200 or 1500 perfons to each of thefe, the whole num¬ 
ber of the inhabitants of mount Etna will be 92,400 or 
115,500. 
The afeent of mount Etna is difficult and perilous ; and 
few have had refolution to undertake it. From Catania, 
where the journey ufually commences, to the fummit, 
the diftance is about thirty miles: and the traveller, in 
'the progrefs of his journey, pall'es through three diftindl 
climates, ufually denominated, on account of the variety 
of their temperature, the torrid, the temperate, and the 
frigid, zones. Accordingly the wholejjmountain is divided 
into three diftindt regions, called La Regione Culta, or 
Piedmontefe, the fertile region ; II Regione Sylvofa , or Nemo- 
r.oj'a , the woody region ; and II Regione DeJ'crta, or Scoperta , 
the barren region. Count Borch has added a fourth, 
which he calls the region of fnow ; and he has fubdivided 
thefe four regions into feveral diftridts. The firft or loweft 
region extends through an interval of afeent from twelve 
to eighteen miles, according to the ftatements of different 
writers. Its whole circumference is eftimated by Recu- 
pero at 183 miles, and its furface is fuppofed by Buffon 
to exceed 220 fquare leagues. It is bounded by the fea 
to the fouth and fouth-eaft, and on all its other fides by 
the rivers Semetus and Alcantara, which almoft run round 
it. The city of Catania, and feveral villages, are fituated 
in this firft zone ; and it abounds in paftures, orchards, 
and various kinds of fruit-trees. The fertility of this re¬ 
gion'has been recorded by Strabo, Fazello, Peter Bembo, 
and moll, of the travellers who have vifited Etna; and it 
is juftly aferibed to the decompofition of the lava, and of 
thofe vegetables which have been introduced by the arts 
of agriculture, and the exertions of human induftry. The 
firft ftatiorj in the afeent of the mountain is Nicololi, 
which, according to Brydone’s ftatement, is twelve miles 
up the mountain, and by Houel’s account 2496 feet above 
the level of the fea. The road from Catania to this 
ftation lies over old lavas and the mouths of exringuilhed 
volcanos, which are now converted into corn-fields, vine¬ 
yard , and orchards. The figs of this region, and the 
fruit in general, are reckoned the fineft in Sicily. Not 
far front Nicololi is Monte Roll'd, which was formerly 
a plain ; but in 1669 a new vortex was opened in it, and 
1 
N A. 
difeharged a dreadful torrent of lava, which flowed as 
far as the fea, and formed a kind of promontory. It is 
furrounded to the extent of two miles with a black fand, 
which was thrown out in that eruption, and which then 
covered a fpace of fifteen miles, to-fuch a depth as to 
bury the. vines and flirubs that were fcattered over the 
foil. By Borelli’s account, its circumference at the bafe 
does not exceed two,miles, and its perpendicular height 
is not more than 150 paces ; whereas, fir William Hamil¬ 
ton eftimates its height at a mile, and its circuit at three 
miles. Spallanzani prefers the former eftimate. Amonglt 
one hundred or more mountains, which rear their heads 
on the fides of mount Etna, this is the only one with the 
hiftory of the formation of which we are acquainted. 
The bafe of the lava of this mountain is horn-blende, of 
a grey colour, rough to the touch, and of a moderately 
fine grain. It gives fparks with fieel, and founds when 
it is ftruck. It ferves as a matrix to a great number of 
lelt-fpathofe or llioerlaceous cryftallizations. The fcoriae, 
ot which the mountain is principally compofed, have the 
fame kind of bafe, containing Ihoerls and felt-fpars; but 
they are more light and friable than the lava, and have 
a kind of vitreous appearance. Thefe and other dif¬ 
ferences are produced by the mutual coilifion and pul¬ 
verization of thofe fcoriae. The number of detached 
Ihoerls that are found on and near Monte Roffo is very 
great. Dolomieu thought, that they firft entered into 
the body of the lava, and that they were feparated from 
it by means of the fulphur, which had fcorified the lava, 
but had not produced the fame effedt on the Ihoerls, be- 
caufe of the fmall quantity of iron w hich they contain ; 
and confequently they remained free and detached. Spal¬ 
lanzani rejects this hypothefis ; as upon experiments with 
the magnetic needle he found that the martial principle 
was more abundant in the Ihoerls than in their bafe ; and 
he therefore accounts for their reparation from the lava 
in another way. The volcanic fire, which melted the 
lava, was incapable of melting thefe Ihoerls, which are 
not only refradiory to the fire, but of a different fpecific 
gravity from the lava. When this was melted, elevated 
to a great height, and feparated into fmall particles in 
the progrefs of the eruption, a number of Ihoerls were 
detached from it, and fell, ifolated, partly within the 
crater, and partly around it. Accordingly he found, 
that the Ihoerls detached from the lava are infufible in 
the furnace ; but thofe which are incorporated with the 
lava fuftain a peifedl fufion. The mountain derives its 
name Monte Rojfo, or red mountain, from the ferruginous 
hue which fome parts of it exhibit; though other parts 
are white, and others yellow, blue, and green, with dif¬ 
ferent (hades and mixtures. M. Houel went down into 
one of the openings of this mountain with torches, but 
could not reach the bottom, and was obliged foon to 
return on account of the extreme cold. This mountain 
is one of the mouths of Etna, through which it dif- 
charges, from time to time, great quantities of lava, fand, 
allies, See. The fides of the craters are not all of the 
fame height; thofe- to the eaft and weft are confiderably 
higher than the inter mediate fummits, becaufe the cur¬ 
rents of the allies puffed alternately front eaft to weft, and 
and fell upon thefe fides in greater quantities than upon 
the 0fliers ; which circumftance has given to this volcano 
the appearance of two fummits. 
St. Niceolo dell’ Arena, in the neighbourhood of this 
mountain, is an agreeable refting-place for travellers w ho 
vifit Etna. This is an ancient edifice, founded on the 
lava, and was formerly the habitation of a number of 
Benedidtine monks, who, about two hundred years ago, 
were obliged, on account of the devaftations occafioned 
by the lava, to abandon it, and retire to Catania. Here 
are many inferiptions, which record tire ruinous earth¬ 
quakes, torrents of lava, and ftiowers of fand and allies, 
by which it has been damaged and even deftroyed, toge¬ 
ther with the dates of their different repairs. At a Iniall 
diftance there is another mountain, called Mcntpelieri, or 
Monpilcri. 
