ILLUSTRATIONS.
| Fig. 1. | [Eruption of Vesuvius, 1872-73] | Frontispiece |
| " 2. | [Cotopaxi] | Page 16 |
| " 3. | [Volcanic Cone of Orizaba] | " 21 |
| [Map of the World, showing Active and Extinct Volcanoes] | " 23 |
| " 4. | [Teneriffe, seen from the Ocean] | " 31 |
| " 5. | [View of the Summit of Teneriffe] | " 35 |
| " 6. | [Probable Aspect of Vesuvius at Beginning of Christian Era] | " 43 |
| " 7. | [View of Vesuvius before 1767] | " 50 |
| " 8. | [Map of District bordering Bay of Naples] | " 52 |
| " 9. | [View of Vesuvius in 1872] | " 53 |
| " 10. | [Ideal Section through Etna] | " 63 |
| " 11. | [Map of the Lipari Islands] | " 70 |
| " 12. | [The Island of Vulcano in Eruption] | " 71 |
| " 13. | [Ideal Section through Gulf of Santorin] | " 76 |
| " 14. | [Bird's-eye View of Gulf of Santorin] | " 79 |
| " 15. | [Ground Plan of Rocca Monfina] | " 80 |
| " 16. | [Geological Section of Tiber Valley at Rome] | " 88 |
| " 17. | [Generalised Section Through the Vale of Clermont] | " 93 |
| Fig. 18. | [View of Puy de Dôme and Neighbouring Volcanoes] | Page 95 |
| " 19. | [Mont Demise, seen from the S.E.] | " 103 |
| " 20. | [Sketch Map of Rhenish Area in the Miocene Epoch] | " 114 |
| " 21. | [The Volcanic Range of the Siebengebirge] | " 117 |
| " 22. | [Section of Extinct Crater of the Roderberg] | " 120 |
| " 23. | [Plan and Section of the Laacher See] | " 122 |
| " 24. | [Extinct Craters in the Jaulân] | " 130 |
| " 25. | [Mount Shasta] | " 139 |
| " 26. | [Forms of Volcanic Tuff-Cones, Auckland] | " 148 |
| " 27. | ["The White Rocks," Portrush, Co. Antrim] | " 157 |
| " 28. | [Section across the Volcanic Plateau of Antrim] | " 159 |
| " 29. | [Section at Templepatrick] | " 161 |
| " 30. | [Cliff above the Giant's Causeway] | " 163 |
| " 31. | [The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim] | " 165 |
| " 32. | ["The Chimneys," North Coast of Antrim] | " 166 |
| " 33. | [Section at Alt na Searmoin, Mull] | " 175 |
| " 34. | [View of the Scuir of Eigg from the East] | " 181 |
| [Map of Volcanic Band of the Moluccas] | " 200 |
| " 35. | [Map of the Krakatoa Group of Islands] | " 203 |
| " 36. | [Section from Verlaten Island through Krakatoa] | " 204 |
| Fig. 37. | [Isoseismals of the Charleston Earthquake] | Page 223 |
| " 38. | [Photograph of the Moon's Surface] | " 241 |
| " 39. | [Portion of the Moon's Surface] | " 243 |
| PLATES. |
| I. & II. | [Magnified Sections of Vesuvian Lavas.] |
| III. & IV. | [Magnified Sections of Volcanic Rocks.] |
Volcanoes: Past and Present.
PART I.
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORIC NOTICES OF VOLCANIC ACTION.
There are no manifestations of the forces of Nature more calculated to inspire us with feelings of awe and admiration than volcanic eruptions preceded or accompanied, as they generally are, by earthquake shocks. Few agents have been so destructive in their effects; and to the real dangers which follow such terrestrial convulsions are to be added the feelings of uncertainty and revulsion which arise from the fact that the earth upon which we tread, and which we have been accustomed to regard as the emblem of stability, may become at any moment the agent of our destruction. It is, therefore, not surprising that the ancient Greeks, who, as well as the Romans, were close observers of the phenomena of Nature, should have investigated the causes of terrestrial disturbances, and should have come to some conclusions upon them in accordance with the light they possessed. These terrible forces presented to the Greeks, who clothed all the operations of Nature in poetic imagery and deified her forces, their poetical and mystical side; and as there was a deity for every natural force, so there was one for earthquakes and volcanoes. Vulcan, the deformed son of Juno (whose name bears so strange a resemblance to that of "the first artificer in iron" of the Bible, Tubal Cain), is condemned to pass his days under Mount Etna, fabricating the thunderbolts of Jove, and arms for the gods and great heroes of antiquity.