The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-04-29

whole story, however circumstantial il may
appear, will hardly be accepted by intelligent
and thinking men, and has very suspicious
appearance.
The Great Fire Cone of the nIcditer-
ranean-The Causes OF Its Volcanic
Belchings.
Our kilograms to-day give additional accounts
of the volcanic fires burning in the breast Of
Vesuvius. The great cone Of fire has evidently
been putting forth its deepest and grandest
eruptive energies and thrown of again its
smiling mask. From time immemorial it has
been observed that when either Etna or Vesu-
vius has enjoyed long period of repose the
other volcano has erupted seriously and upon
grand SCALE
There is scarcely spot on the globe moro
full Of interest than Vesuvius, not excepting
the Peak of Tenerife, whose flames illumined
the path of Christopher Columbus on his way
to the New World. Around the crater of the
now blazing Italian pyramid the classic Spar
tacus and his band of gladiators encamped
1t was the subject of historic record for Strabo
and Diodorus Siculus, who mention its earliest
activities. Its greatest outburst was in 70,
when the illustrious Pliny persisted in its
lava, and the cities of Herculaneum and Pom
pei were buried in its ashes. For 267 years.
during which Etna, its sympathetic neighbor.
was scarcely ever quiet, the mountain was con-
tinuously at rest but in 1882 in 1896, and
again in 1861 its slumbers were disturbed by
the subterranean forces but not to tho extent
by which they now seem to be 50 violently
broken up.
From earliest childhood, as Humboldt re-
marks, we have been accustomed to contrast
the mobility of the liquid sea with the immo-
bility of the earth's solid crust But when
the latter illusion is dispelled man is suddenly
overwhelmed with the sense of the mysterious,
and is forced to inquire into the cause Of such
terrific phenomena as those now displayed in
Italy. Of the only two theories yet offered in
explanation Of these phenomena that long
advocated by the HERALD appears now to be
confirmed. Some physicists have strenuously
denied the existence in our planet Of an
internal ''sea Of fire." and substitu ted there
for in theory numerous small and discon-
nected volcanic lakes, or local furnaces,
capable, as they suppose, Of furnishing material
for the largest eruptions This hypothesis
is hardly tenable if we reflect on tho immense
cyclopean forces manifested in Plutonic action
The cities of Stabia, Herculaneum and
Pompeii, submerged to the depth of one hun
dred feet by the ashes Of Vesuvius, are ocular
demonstrations of the vast masses elected from
the crater vent, requiring almost incalculable
tO 1tcpb <1,ay, Nho -
Sangay in Ecuador, in ceassless COM
motion since 1925 has buried thu
surrounding country to a depth Of four hun
dred feet, and a French geologist has recently
shown that the volcano of Bourbon has thrown
out no less than three hundred thousand tons
of volcanic ashes. Such facts, if alone, would
lead us to reject the idea that these lofty fire
domes are mere local phenomena ''each one
springing from its own comparatively small
reservoir Of molten matter" It is acknowl-
edged by all biologists that, no matter how
far distant volcanoes may be from each other,
their fiery products are altogether identical in
their general, mineral and chemical constit,,-
ton, and have no local peculiarities, and the
very odors they emit are nearly the same
wherever perceived. II seems clear that the
enormous furnace heat which characterizes the
elected lava which has been known to remain
hot for ages after eruption could not rage in
any superficial or local reservoir of molten
matter without making itself felt in the most
sensible manner. Added to these considera-
tons is the well known fact that volcanic rocks
are encountered in every part and latitude Of
the globe frequently continuous over vast
areas of country, and everywhere preserving
the same character. The only sound infer
ence is that the phenomena so extended and
conterminous with the terrestrial surface are
due to Plutonic ocean everywhere beneath
mans feet.
II anything were needed to certify this con-
clusion 1t is found in the astonishing and long
observed connection between the earthquakes
and the Volcano The guiverings and crum-
blin9s of the solid crust, and the numerous
European shocks which commenced A. d.
GO, and inspired the early Christians with the
hope of the return Of Christ and the millenniaf
of all things, were but the
efforts Of vesuvus and her sister danes in the
Mediterranean to relieve themselves of the in
ternal pressure, and had their brilliant and
awful catastrophe in the great eruption of 70.
The ssme shocks in Mexico preceded, in 1850,
the upheaval in single night, of the lofty
volcano Of Jorullo. The earthquake in Chile.
in 1884, ended in the outbreak of Osorno and
three other Andean volcanoes; while, in 1868,
The CONFUSION of the Peruvian coast received
It's quietus in the outblaze of Isluga-at last
accounts still smoking. In what has been
said we have not alluded to the cooperative
action Of great atmospheric and meteoro-
ogic causes in tho production of earthquakes
md volcanic eruptions. When we remember
hat the aerial ocean presses on every square
mile OF our globe with weight of over mil
ion tons and that The ,ansnocao onroaa n mol