184 
more firongly does the argument make 
againft them, when Mount Vefavius, in 
its great eruptions, covers the circum - 
jacent country with afhes and fad vq for 
many miles round! The profuhon with! 
which burning fubftances are then ejected, 
in a great degree, juftifies the opinion of 
thofe who contend that the magazine of 
combuftibles extends as far as the Sol- 
fatara™. 
_. The Solfatara, called pie: Phlegraet 
by the ancients, isa place which has every 
appearance of an eet volcano. 
‘The middle is a circular and level {pot of 
ground, refembling the arena of an an- 
cient theatre, and is furrounded by a 
range of hills of moderate height, com- 
pofed of tufa, and other volcanic matter. 
In the paflages between them, if you 
ftrike ever fo gentle a ftroke upon the 
bank with your cane, it retuyns a hollow 
fqund, and when s man who fhows the 
cyriofities of the place, lets fall a large 
ftone upon the fiat {pace within, the re- 
verberation is fo firong, that you canner 
help perfuading yourfelf, you are walking 
upon a fhell of earth of a foot cr two in 
thicknefs, with a vaft void underneath. 
In feveral parts there are large chafms, 
which emit a fiery vapour of a falphu- 
reous kind, 
The perfons who maintain that there 
is a2 communication between Vetuvius, 
and the Solfatara, groynd their hypo- 
thefis upon a curious fact, which I do 
not recolleé to have feen recarded by any 
traveller. ° They affirm, that the fery 
vapours at the Solfatara rife ina trong 
and abundant ffream, whe n the mountain 
is at refi, and fubfide as (aon as it refumes 
its a¢tivitv. From thi apparent corre{- 
pondence, they conclude that Naples, 
which lies between them, is undermined 
by the fubterraneous fire ; and make no 
doubt, that the day will come when that 
fuperb city, 
‘* ‘Yea, all which it inherit, fhall diffolve, 
€¢ And like the bafelefs fabric of a vifion 
<¢ Leave not a wreck behind.’— 
But to me it fecems.inm much lefs danger 
of finking into a lake of fire underneath, 
than of being overwhelmed by fome new 
eruption of the mountain. In 1767, the 
fava came as iar as the bridge of the 
Magdalen, clofe adjoining to ‘the city 3 
and there it flopped ; but it does not fol- 
low that. it wall always’ have the com- 
laifance to turn back, as is did then, at 
the bidding of St. Januvarius. 

* The Solfatarais ten or eleven miles diftant 
som Mount Welvvius. 

Eruption of Mount Vefuvius.. . 
-bufinefs tock air 
[ Sept. 
Some little time before, the Principe 
San Severino, a man of an unprejudiced 
mind, and great chemical knowledge, 
made fome experiments analogous to the 
liquefaGtion of the blood of the faint, 
and at laft fucceeded in performjyg a mi- 
racle-much like that of the monk. This 
, and excited great in; 
dignation among. the fanatical vulgar. 
4 i heir anger, how wever, did not manifett 
itfelf in a dangerous manner, till the 
very exiftence of Naples feemed at flake. 
Thee they, became furious, attributed 
their misfortunes to the nobleman’s im. 
Plety, and threatened his life. The 
Prince, aware of his danger, immedi, 
ately fet feveral ftatuaries to work, who, 
in an incredible fhort {pace of time, pro- 
duced an excellent St. Januarius, with 
his hand heid out in the attitude of com- 
mand, as if faying to the mountain, 
<6 arte far fhalt thou go, and no far- 
ther.” He was inftantly placed at the 
extremity of the bridge, and, as might 
naturally be expected, “the mountain te~ 
tracted its menace, the /ava no longer 
advanced, and the fhower of afhes re. 
ceded from the city. In fuch defperate 
circumfiances, the Neapclitans would 
have been glad of the interference of any 
faint in the Calendar ; but to be faved by 
their own patron prr guefle caro San Gen= 
nara, was the perfection of happiuefs. H 
need not fay, that the report of the m1- 
racle circulated like lightning through 
the city ; that all their refentment was 
forgotten ; ; and that a plenary indulgence 
was granted to the Prince, the fuccefs of 
whofe latter experiment was an ample 
compenfation far his having fueceeded 
bur too we!l in the firf. 
Lava, hewn into a preper fize and 
form, is the principal material emploved 
in building in the vicinity “of Naples. 
The conlequence 18, chat whenever 2 
haul is invefted by a flood tof that matter, 
ery part of the foundation and bafe- 
ment, that is of kindred quality, enters 
into fufion, and the edifice, after totter- 
ing for a few momenis, falls into the 
midtt of the liquid fre. This faét, add- 
ed to feveral other confiderations, con- 
vinces me cf the falfity of the generally 
received opinion, that Herculaneum was 
overwhelmed by a torrent of /ava. 
That. material lying as near:to the 
hands of. the Romans, as to thofe of the 
prefent inhabitants of the Campagua Fe- 
lice, it 1s probable that they built with it 
in like mannev. The foundations of 
Herculaneum would confequently have 
been fapped by an inundation of fluid 
fire, 
