The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1855-05-02


."Peparetus, there was retreat Of the sea,
though no inundation folluwed." s.-rs
Inscriptions have been found in temples
both in Herculsneum and Pompeii commem-
Grating the rebuilding Of these ediices after
they had been thrown down by an earth.
quake, which happened in the reign of Nero;
sixteen years before the destruction of the
cities themselves by the eruption of of Ve-
suvlus. Yet there is no other account Of
such an event extant; and the Indifference
Of the ancients in recording them is shown
in the fact that even the appalling fate Of
these cities was only accidentally alluded to
till Dion Cassius wrote his fabulous and ex-
aggerated description, about one hundred
and City years after their destruction had ia.
en- place. ....
We are constantly reminded, however,
ofthe frequency of such phenomena. The
route through Italy, for instance. from Sien-
ma to Rome, is marked throughout by great
volcRhic changes; and it is not difficult to be-
lieve thet tradition that the whole Of the Bay
of Naples is formed by one extensive cra-
ter. .-.
In many instances the ingenuity Of man
has converted even these fearful ruins into
sources of wealth. Without speaking of
the well-known commerce IN sulphur and
other articles, from Naples and Sicily,
may mention that, amongst the mountains
of Tuscany, the Count de Larderal has ap.
piled process to the preparation of bora.
cic acid, which is described in the Jurors,
Reports of the Great Exhibition of 1851, as
amongst "thehtghes achis0ments of the useful
arts" The vapor issuing from a volcanic
soil is oondenced; and the minute propor-
ton of boracic acid which it contains is re-
covered by evaporation in district without
fuel, by the application Of volcanic vapor It,
self as a source of heat. The substance
thus obtained greatly exceeds in quantity
the old and limited supply of borax from
British India, and has extended its use in
improving the manufacture Of . porcelain
and of crystal.
In every country where organic changes
SO violent and extensive have occurred, there
must have been earthquak les equally violent;
for though it is possibV THAT some of these
phenomena have been Produced by electricity
alone, yet we are so often able to connect
them with volcanic action that we must con-
slider this as the most frequent, if not the on
ly cause with which we are at pre- sent ac-
quainteu. We are reminded also by an en-
Inent writer, to whose "PrincipIes OF Geoi.
ogy" shall elsewhere refer, that in volcanic
regionsI though the points Of eruption ure but
thinly misunderstanding mere spots on
he surface of these districts--yet the sub.
terraneous movements extend smu taneous
ly over immense areas. Those mere trem-
blings of the earth 80 common in South A.
merica are probably connected with erup-
tons in mountain-ranges that have never yet
been explored It does not advance us very
far in our knowledge of the subject to assume
that both volcanoes and earthquakes have
common origin; which often produces
movements of the earth even unattended
by volcanic eruption. AS far as we can
trace their connection. this 10 most pro.
badly the fact; but there may be other caus-
es which have still TO be discovered.
An able writer in onS OF the early vol
umes Of the Edinburg Re,iew--while deny.
ing the theory that volcanic explosions are
caused by ''the erutations Of central fire,
occup ing the interior of the earth," and
while showing that the lava thrown out by
these convulsions coul not be 80 produced
adults that substances in state of fusion
may exist which by the action Of water pour
ing from above, or by the rruption of the
sea, ''might produce earthquakes, with furi.
Gus emissions OF gases and steam" LyelI
gives his reasons, based upon electrochemi-
cal influences, for attributing them to sim
liar cause, In his Geology of the couh-
tries visited during the voyage of HIM. s.
Beagle round the World" Darwin supposes
that, in Chill, there is subterranean lake
of lava of nearly double the area of the
Black Sea, and "that the frequent quaking
of the earth along this line Of coast are caus-
ed by the rending of the starta, which is
necessarily consequent on the tension Of the
land when upraised, and their injection by
huidified rock" But is useless to theor-
ize. In the present state of human knowl-
edge, earthquakes are description of phen-
omens of which we cen merely record the
facts. a ,t rs.s9 5ea
One ofth most remarkable earthquakes
of antiquity Of which we have any account
was contemporaneou with the battle ol
Thrasimene, and was alluded to, incidentally
by Livy as showing the ardor Of the fight
The passage Is translated by Lord Byron.
"Such Che says) was their mutual animosity,
so intent were they upon the 5attle, that
the earthquake which overthrew in great
part manyxof the cities Of Italy, which turn
ed the course offapid streams, poured back
the sea upon the rivers, and tore down the
very mountains, was not felt by any of the
combotsnts." We may repeat the descrip-
ton in Lord Byron's verse: ~ s n
And such the storms ofbattle on this day,
and such Tho phrensv whose commissions blinds
"a To all save carnage, that, beneath the fray, I
An earthquake rolled unheededly awayl s
None felt stern nature rocking At his feet,
And yawnihg forth grave for those who lay
n Upon their buckiers for winding sheet;
Suchis the absorbing hate wnen warring nations