The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-05-23

What appears at distance as a cloud
Of smoke issuing from the crater, is simply
the vapOr Of water, impreguated with the
fumes of sulphur. No smoke such as that
produced by the combustion of any carbon
substances ever issues from the mountain.
The seeming "smoke is always steam or
aqueous yapor, more or less dark as it
happens to he charged with ashes. When
this yapor condenses in the atmosphere, it
descends in the form of rain and, If much
mixed with ashes, it falls in a paste or
muddy shower During great eruptions,
when enormous quantities of ashes are
elected, with thick clouds of yapor, they
fall in torrents of mud and water. This is
exactly what happened one thousand eight
hundred years ago, when Pompeii, Hercu-
luneum, Stabi@, aud several other towns
were destroyed by that awful eruption of
A, ID. 10 The tremendous heat in the
bowels of the mountain, coming in contact
with great body of water from the
Mediterranean Sea, which had percolated
through the assures Of the stratifed lime
stone and other rocks, which the internal
fires, instantly acting on it like furnace
heat, conycrtedit il into steam. The sudden
conversion Of millions of cubic feet of
water into high steam by the subterranean
fires produced the phenomena of exploding
steam on vast scale. The sudden and
resistless expansion of water into one
thousand seven hundred times its original
bulk tore great rents aud assures in the
sides of the mountain, through which, as
the lowest points of exit, flowed heavy
streams of fluid lava aud from the crater
itself, being the highest part of the noun
tain, and acting ike a chimney, issued
forth vast clouds Of steam, mixed with
sulphur-vapor and enormous quantities of
ashes and showers of stones, which were
flung out by the explosions of the water
into steam. The FIRE that is seen above
the crater during an eruption is not fame,
but is the reflection Of the molten lava
within the crater upon the clouds of
aqueous vapor and ashes suspended over
it. The lightning, which is seen darting
from the edges of the black cloud is
produced BY the electricity which Is
produced by the rapid condensation Of
vapor into water, and of water into steam,
under the effect Of the heat radiated from
the crater.
After refreshing my memory of that
eventful eruption by reading Pliny's and
other accounts Of it, visited the buried
city with feelings somewhat akin to those
which an eye witness of the dreadful
occurrence might have who returned to
Pompeii some years afterward to see how
it looked. In the first place, something
more than half the original limits of the
city within the walls are exhumed-say
one hundred acres of the one hundred and
and sixty which it covered. Pompeii was
a Greco-Roman city of the third class, and
contained perhaps thirty thousand inhabit-
ants at the date Of its destruction. Her
culaneum was not more than half as large.
Pompeii was in no danger of destruction
from au eruption Of lava, as it was built
on an oblong-shaped piecc of rising
ground, which was considerably higher
than the plain between it and the noun
tain, distant several miles to the north
west. 1t was submerged at the time to
about the depth of twenty-five feet, as l
observed by the excavations still going on;
and subsequently, in A. D., 472, there
was another fall of ashes of about foot.
Several lighter falls of ashes can be
traced, in all to the depth of two or three
feet, in addition to the great deluge and
the whole is covered by foot deep of rich
vegetable mold.
The reason that Pompeii was buried out
of sight is, that the houses were nearly all
only one story high; few were two sto-
ries, and some of the temples and public
buildings little higher but none to ex-
coed three stories The general height of
the walls rs they stand is eighteen to twen.
ty feet; saw none to exceed thirty-fiye
feet but they are exceedingly thick, and
bound with a cement as strong as the lava
rock itself, of which they are built.
The gcneralappeannce of Pompeii bears
a striking similarity to the cities and towns
of Southern Italy Of the present day. One
sees everywhere the same narrow, crooked
strcet-six to twelve feet wide (there are
only two streets in Pompeii wider than
that y the same very thick walls of stone
and brick, covered with stucco outside as
well as in; the same kind of irregular or
octagonalshaped flag pavement; the same
little plaz1s, or public squares-mere wi
denings of the street; the same style of
courtyards, or areas in the middle of houses,
connected by an archway with the street.
These courts, of which hundreds may be
seen in Pompcii, were called dir'ass and
in the centre of each was an inapiu-
rum, or square aperature for catching and
holding water. This in,plurium is not in
use in modern Italian towns. Often there
is fountain in the oirium, with water
god and other statuary. The same may
be seen still in the cities Of Italy.
The iavorite and prevailing colors Of
the stuceo walls were red aud yellow, or
rather orange and lemon--the former for
the dining-rooms, and the latter for the
parlors. Pictures Of NEUROLOGICAL subjects
of every conceivable kind. were nainted