South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1835-04-04

ture OF gun-powder depend upon it,
Heather superstition has connected
wonderful things with burning moun-
tains, as in the fables OF Vulcan and
the giant Typhon 10 ancient times, and
in that of the modern Pele in one of the
Sandwich Islands.
Volcanoes act as safety valves 10 the
earth, and must not be closed. There
is good evidence to believe that Pom.
peii and Herculaneum, before their
destruction, were as wicked as sSodom
and Gomorrah. Vesuvius had lain
dormant for ages. After an earth
quake, the inhabitants recovered from
their CONSERVATION, only to be buried
beneath the burning lava. The Young
er PIiny, whose uncle, the elder PlinyS
persisted in that eruption, gives the best
account ofthe event.
A similar destruction OF a city in the
Island of Teneriffe 1907, was described
in most thrilling manner.
The learned lecturer proceeds 10
mention the different theories that have
been devised respecting volcanoes
One is the action produced by the com.
bination Of sulphur with iron. Such
combination in large quantities will
produce great effects. A man, by bu-
rying fifty pounds ofeach ofthese sub
stances in his garden, when the tem-
perature is high, can have little vol-
cano. The objections to this theory
are, that the same gases are not evolv.
ed by the fermentation of the sulphate
of iron, as in the burning mountains
and likewise the action in them takes
place beneath the beds of coal, which
the theory supposes to ferment on &C.
count of the sulphur combined with il.
Another theory is, that the infam.
nation Of putreolum or naptha produ-
ces the volcanic eruption. The diff
Guilty with this was said to be, the scar
city of the infammable substances
There is not enough oft to melt the
rocks, and tear mountains asunder.--
The products Of such Inflammation
would also be different from those Of
volcanoes.
Sir Humphrey Davy, by the dis
covery Of potassium and sodium, the
former of which blazes and explodes BY
contact with water, and the latter ex-
plodes and decomposes by similar
connection though in slower and less
powerful manner, for time supposed
that these bases OF metals and earths
we're the cause Of volcanic eruptions.--
He however abandoned this hypothe-
sis, on perceiving that only hydrogen
gas would be disengaged by the decom-
position of these bases which is not
the case in the volcanic laboratory.
Guy Lusac took better course, and
went to the craters and analysed the
gases there produced. He ascertained
there was muriatic acid, vapor Of wa
ter, muriate Of ammonia, and chloride
of iron discharged from the volcano.
Hence he inferred that it was the de.
composition Of the chIorides Of the met
ais, especially Of iron, which makes the
eruption. This goes somewhat to ex,
plain the cause but it is not altoge,
Their satisfactory.
The deepest mine is little more than
mile. The highest mountains are a.
bout three miles. We can therefore
have but very limited view Of the o.
perations going on in the earth. The
temperature is found to increase one de-
gree for every fifty or sixty feet of de-
scent into the globe. IF this increase
is in regular proportion, two miles in-
TO the interior would give the tempsra-
ture Of boiling water, and two hundred
miles would give a temperature that
would melt every substance known
and the centre must be hot beyond all
conception. Behring'S into the earth
confirm this ratio Of increase. It diff.
fers from degree in 40 feet to in 70,
in different parts Of the world, accord.
ing to the thickness Of the outward |
crust. In this country it is 10 20
Here therefore the crust is thicker, and
the climate colder than in the same
latitude 10 other countries.
DR.. Jackson concluded his most ia.
teresting lecture with description of |
his ascent to the crater of Vesuvius ia
1882, when there was an eruption Of |
that mountain. He assembled even TO
the very lip Of the cone, in company
with three Englishmen and one Ameri-
can. They did, as he remarked, what
had never before been done, to the no
small peril Of their lives.
Salem Landmark.
Saccessfu l Hunting. On Wednes-