19797°] 
fire, and the buildings would have fallen, 
inftead of remaining ereét and entire, as 
they do to this day. Befides, how could 
houfes, fo flightly confiruéted as thofe of 
the Romans, refift the lateral preffure of 
a mafs of ponderous matter, which has 
rifen, in fome places, to more than a 
hundred feet above the fite of the an- 
cient city? To this it may be objected, 
that the /ava flowed in by fuch flow de- 
grees, as to render it incapable of fweep- 
ing away the edifices. Bat had its pro- 
grefs been fo very gradual, the inhabi- 
tants would have had time to remove 
their property ; nor would feveral tkele- 
tons, and many valuable effecis, have 
been difcovered in the fmall portion of 
the place that, as yet, has been explored. 
Admitting, however, that the ancients 
either ufed no /ava in the conftruction of 
their houfes, or not enough to endanger 
their ftability, another argument remains 
behind, which, to me, appears decifive : 
if melted /ava had flowed into the place 
in fufficient quantities to fill up all the 
apartments, it muft have diffufed a de- 
gree of heat utterly deftructive of a 
variety of fubftances, which have been 
dug out in perfect prefervation. Not 
enly the famous manufcripts, but nuts, 
coffee, bird-feed, corn, and even loaves of 
bread, of elegant form, with the baker’s 
name fiamped upon them at full length, 
are among the curiofities found at Her- 
cnuianeum,, and depofted in the mufeum 
at Portici. , 
Hence I conclude that Herculaneum, 
inftead of being overflowed by a ftream 
of lava, was buricd beneath a fhower of 
afhes, earth, vitrified fubftances, and 
bituminous matter, which a fucceffion of 
ages has confolidated into a mals, of a 
eonfiftency jittle inferior to that of lava 
itfelf. At Pompeia, indeed, thofe feve- 
ral fubftunces falling more diftinéily did 
not fubfide intothe fame uniform folidity. 
When that miferable town was over- 
whelmed, it is generally fuppofed that 
an‘immenfe quantity of water, abforbed 
from the fea, came into contaét with the 
fubterraneous fire; and that the fhock 
of the two elements occafioned fo violent 
an explofion, that not only the ufual. pro- 
dudétions of the volcano were {fcattered 
ever the furrounding country, bur alfoa 
portion of the earth, of which the 
mountain, and fubjacent region, were 
~ compofed. 
_ Before I abandon the prefent fubjeét, 
I cannot help noticing the fyftem of an 
Mgenidus traveller, who endeavours to 
mrove the antiquity of the globe, by 
A 
~ 
Eruption of Mount Vofuvius. 
195 
computing the number of different /avas 
at the fuot of Mount Etna, and the 
terth of years that muft have elapfed 
before their furfaces could feverally 
refolve into earth. But he was not aware 
that fome forts of lava, fuch as pumice, 
for inftance, oppofe but little refiftance 
_to the aétion of the air, in comparifon of 
others, which are almoft as refraétory as 
the hardeft kind of ftones., 
During the time of my refidence at 
Naples, a little work fell into my hands, 
which, befides an accurate account of the 
phenomena exhibited by Mount Etna; in 
1787, contained fome excellent obferva- 
tions analogous to the above’ Among 
them, was one which feems to have been > 
written with the direct view of contro~ 
verting the opinions of Mr. BRYDONE: 
La lava del 1766 é la pit recente da quella 
parte del monte, [Etna] e mi fu d’uopo 
traverfarlo, Ivi motte lave che s’incrocciano 
offrono un evidente pruova contra colore, che 
hanno creduto ftabilire Vepoche della loro 
deftruzione, allorche fi conofce, che alcune di 
date anteriori,oppongono aile injurie del tempo 
una pili folida vitrificazione di altre pofteriori 
che fi refolvono piu facilmente, fopra le quali 
comminciano a icorgerfi i principi della vege- 
tazione. 
Relazione della eruzione dell’ Etna nel mefe 
di Luglio, 1787, {critta da D. C. G. G. abitante 
della prima regione del monte. 
\ 
The /uva of 1766 is the moft recent on that 
fide of Mount Etna, and over this it was necef- 
fary for me to pafs. There a number of /avas 
crofling each other, give evident proof of the 
error of thofe who have pretended to eftablif: 
fhe epoch of their deftruétion; for it is certaifa 
that tome of the earjier oppofe a more folid 
vitrification to the injuries of time, than others 
of later date, which refolve more eafily inte 
earth, and on which the principles of vegetatian - 
are already to be feen. 
Relation of the eruption of Mount Etna, in 
the month of july, 1737, written by D. C. G. 
G. inhabitant of the firft region of the moun- 
tain, 
It muf{ be confeffed, however, that 
thefe obfervations rather affeét the regu- 
larity of Mr. Brypone’s calculations, 
than their general refule. 
London, May 1797- S. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
1X the Analytical Review for Auguft, 
there is an examination of Mr. Noaw 
WeEBSTER’s Works on the Englith. 
language, &c. on which I hall beg 
leave to make a few obfervations. Inaa 
appendix to ‘ Differtations: on the 
Englith Language,’ Mr. Wereaster 
frates 
>= 
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