DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61277#0036
14
VESUVIUS,
such as Portici, Torre del Greco, Torre del An-
nonciata, &c. on the sea coast; and Ottaiano,
Somma, Massa, &c. on the inland side. Below,
the sea presents a new spectacle; numberless
ships and barks plough its waves in every direc-
tion, and white sails ‘ glance and glitter, like joy-
ous sea-birds on the wing.’ At the bottom of the
mountain, all is bright and smiling ; for luxury,
opulence, industry, and activity, reign there ; but
at its top, lava,* pumice-stones,j- ashes, and
scoria,are piled one upon another; and every
* Lava, when first ejected at the time of an eruption, is a red-
hot liquid matter, like that in the furnace of a glasshouse; it
runs down the sides of the mountain with irresistible fury, forming
rivers of liquid fire, sometimes two hundred feet in depth, and half
a mile in breadth; consuming in its course whatever may ob-
struct its progress, and dividing into different channels, according
to the inequalities of the mountain. As it cools and hardens, it
changes colour, and becomes greenish grey, greyish black, or
greenish black, and is internally spotted reddish, yellowish, brown,
or grey.-— Phil. Trans, vol. ii.
f Pumice-stone is another volcanic production. It is extremely
porous, of a spongy, fibrous texture, and harsh to the touch; its
colour is grey, tinged with brown or yellow; it has a shining,
pearly lustre, and is translucent on the edges, very light, some-
times so light as to swim on water.—Phillips’s Mineralogy.
| Scoria, or dross, is that mass which is produced by melting
metals and ores; and when cold, it is brittle, rough, and uneven,
somewhat like broken glass, and of a very dark colour. It is, of
course, the usual accompaniment of volcanic eruptions.
VESUVIUS,
such as Portici, Torre del Greco, Torre del An-
nonciata, &c. on the sea coast; and Ottaiano,
Somma, Massa, &c. on the inland side. Below,
the sea presents a new spectacle; numberless
ships and barks plough its waves in every direc-
tion, and white sails ‘ glance and glitter, like joy-
ous sea-birds on the wing.’ At the bottom of the
mountain, all is bright and smiling ; for luxury,
opulence, industry, and activity, reign there ; but
at its top, lava,* pumice-stones,j- ashes, and
scoria,are piled one upon another; and every
* Lava, when first ejected at the time of an eruption, is a red-
hot liquid matter, like that in the furnace of a glasshouse; it
runs down the sides of the mountain with irresistible fury, forming
rivers of liquid fire, sometimes two hundred feet in depth, and half
a mile in breadth; consuming in its course whatever may ob-
struct its progress, and dividing into different channels, according
to the inequalities of the mountain. As it cools and hardens, it
changes colour, and becomes greenish grey, greyish black, or
greenish black, and is internally spotted reddish, yellowish, brown,
or grey.-— Phil. Trans, vol. ii.
f Pumice-stone is another volcanic production. It is extremely
porous, of a spongy, fibrous texture, and harsh to the touch; its
colour is grey, tinged with brown or yellow; it has a shining,
pearly lustre, and is translucent on the edges, very light, some-
times so light as to swim on water.—Phillips’s Mineralogy.
| Scoria, or dross, is that mass which is produced by melting
metals and ores; and when cold, it is brittle, rough, and uneven,
somewhat like broken glass, and of a very dark colour. It is, of
course, the usual accompaniment of volcanic eruptions.