Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other volcanos: in a series of letters, addressed to the Royal Society / from the Honourable Sir W. Hamilton ... To which are added, explanatory notes by the author, hitherto unpublished.
- William Hamilton
- Date:
- 1772
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other volcanos: in a series of letters, addressed to the Royal Society / from the Honourable Sir W. Hamilton ... To which are added, explanatory notes by the author, hitherto unpublished. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![the. 24th, dnd pafled the next morning in ce with ffones of the fame compofition, and cinders all ‘red hot, fiwitnthing upon the fire of a great magni- * tude; ftom this river of fire doth proceed under the *¢ oreat mafs of the ftones, which are generally three « fathoms high all over the country, where it burns, « and if other places much more, There are fecret * conduits or rivulets of this liquid matter, which com- * municates fire and heat into all parts more or lefs, s¢ and melts the ftones and cinders by fits in thofe places ** where it toucheth them, over and over again ; where s it meets with rocks or houfes of the fame matter (as s¢'many are), they melt and go away with the fire ; « where they find other compofitions, they turn them « ¢9 lime or afhes (as Iam informed). The compo- s¢ ftion of this fire, ftonés and cinders, are fulphur, et nitre, quickfilver, fal ammoniac, lead, iron, brafs, and s¢ al] other metals. It moves not regularly, nor con- « tantly down hill * ; in fome places it hath made the * Having heard the fame remark with refpeét to the Java’s of Vefuvius, I determined, during an eruption of that Volcano, to watch the progrefs of a current of Java, and I was foon enabled to comprehend this feeming phz- nomenon ; though it is, I fear, very difficult to explain. Certain it is, that the Java’s, whilft in their moft fluid ftate, follow always the law of other fluids; but when at a great diftance from their fource, and confequently in- cumbered with {Corie and cinders, the air likewife havinz =— their cutward coat tough, they will fometimes obferving](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b32996676_0078.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
