Copy 1, Volume 1
A history of the earth, and animated nature / By Oliver Goldsmith.
- Oliver Goldsmith
- Date:
- [between 1800 and 1899?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A history of the earth, and animated nature / By Oliver Goldsmith. Source: Wellcome Collection.
65/436 page 57
![11 Eat if we regard this astonishing scene of terror with a I more tranquil and inquisitive eye, we shall find that these ; conflagrations are produced by very obvious and natural causes. We have already been apprised of the various j mineral substances in the bosom of the earth, and tlieir aptness to burst out into flames. Marcasites and pyrites, in particular, by being humified with water or air, con- ! tract tliis heat, and often endeavour to expand w ith irre- sistible explosion. These, therefore, being lodged in the depths of the earth, or in the bosom of mountains, and being either washed by the accidental influx of waters below, or fanned by air, insinuating itself through per- pendicular fissures from above, take fire at first by only heaving in earthquakes, but at length by bursting through every obstacle, and making their dreadful discharge in a volcano. These volcanoes are found in all parts of the earth: In I Europe there are three that are very remarkable; jEtna ■ in Sicily, Vesuvius in Italy, and Heclain Iceland. JEtna I has been a volcano for ages immemorial. Its eruptions I are very violent, and its discharge has been known to cover the earth eighty-six feet deep. In the year 1537, , an eruption of this mountain produced an earthquake I through the whole island for twelve days, overturned many houses, and at last formed a new aperture, which overwhelmed all within five leagues round. The cinders j thrown up were driven even into Italy, and its burnings were seen at Malta, at the distance of sixty leagues. “ There is nothing more awful,” says Kircher, “ than the ’ eruptions of this mountain, nor nothing more dangerous than attempting to examine its appearances, even long after the eruption has ceased. As we attempt to clamber up its steepy sides^, every step we take upward, the feet sink back half way. Upon arriving near the summit, ashes and snow, with an ill-assorted conjunction, present nothing but objects of desolation. ]Vor is this the worst, for, as all places are covered over, many caverns are en- ; tirely hidden from the sight, into which, if the inquirer happens to fall, he sinks to the bottom, and meets inevita- ble destruction. Upon coming to the edge of the great crater, nothing can sufficiently represent the tremendous magnificence of the scene. A gulph two miles over, and so voE. I.—2. H](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28776094_0001_0065.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
