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ETNA.
[Illustration: View of Etna from Catania]
ETNA
_A HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND
OF ITS ERUPTIONS._
BY
G. F. RODWELL,
SCIENCE MASTER IN MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
[Illustration]
LONDON
C. KEGAN PAUL & CO., 1, PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1878
[_The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved._]
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK
TO
MY MOTHER.
PREFACE.
While preparing an account of MOUNT ETNA for the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, I was surprised to find that there exists no single work in
the English language devoted to the history of the most famous volcano
in the world. I was consequently induced to considerably enlarge the
Encyclopaedia article, and the following pages are the result. The facts
recorded have been collected from various sources--German, French,
Italian, and English, and from my own observations made during the
summer of 1877. I desire to express my indebtedness to Mr. Frank Rutley,
of H.M. Geological Survey, for his careful examination of the lavas
which were collected during my ascent of the mountain, and for the
account which he has written of them; also to Mr. John Murray for
permission to copy figures from Lyell's "Principles of Geology." My
thanks are also due to Mr. George Dennis, H.M. Consul-General in Sicily;
Mr. Robert O. Franck, Vice-Consul in Catania; and to Prof. Orazio
Silvestri, for information with which they have severally supplied me.
G. F. RODWELL.
MARLBOROUGH,
_September 6th, 1878._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN. 1
Position.--Name.--Mention of Etna by early writers.--Pindar.--
AEschylus.--Thucydides.--Virgil.--Strabo.--Lucretius.--Lucilius
Junior.--Etna the home of early myths.--Cardinal Bembo.--Fazzello.--
Filoteo.--Early Maps of the Mountain.--Hamilton.--Houel.--Brydone.--
Ferrara.--Recupero.--Captain Smyth.--Gemellaro; his Map of Etna.--
Elie de Beaumont.--Abich.--Hoffmann.--Von Waltershausen's _Atlas
des Aetna_.--Lyell.--Map of the Italian Stato Maggiore.--Carlo
Gemellaro.--Orazio Silvestri.
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE MOUNTAIN. 26
Height.--Radius of Vision from the summit.--Boundaries.--Area.--
Population.--General aspect of Etna.--The Val del Bove.--Minor
Cones.--Caverns.--Position and extent of the three Regions.--
Regione Coltivata.--Regione Selvosa.--Regione Deserta.--Botanical
Regions.--Divisions of Rafinesque-Schmaltz, and of Presl.--Animal
life in the upper Regions.
CHAPTER III.
ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN. 43
The most suitable time for ascending Etna.--The Ascent commenced.--
Nicolosi.--Etna mules.--Night journey through the upper Regions of
the mountain.--Brilliancy of the Stars.--Proposed Observatory on
Etna.--The Casa Inglesi.--Summit of the Great Crater.--Sunrise
from the summit.--The Crater.--Descent from the Mountain.--
Effects of Refraction.--Fatigue of the Ascent.
CHAPTER IV.
TOWNS SITUATED ON THE MOUNTAIN. 62
Paterno.--Ste. Maria di Licodia.--The site of the ancient town of
Aetna.--Biancavilla.--Aderno.--Sicilian Inns.--Adranum.--Bronte.--
Randazzo.--Mascali.--Giarre.--Aci Reale.--Its position.--The
Scogli de'Ciclopi.--Catania, its early history, and present
condition.
CHAPTER V.
ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN. 79
Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.--
426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.--
49 B.C.--43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.--
1169.--1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.--
Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537.--1566.--1579.--1603.--
1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.--
1688.--1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.--
1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.--
1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811.--
1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.--
General character of the Eruptions.
CHAPTER VI.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE MOUNTAIN. 114
Elie de Beaumont's classification of the rocks of Etna.--Hoffman's
geological map.--Lyell's researches.--The period of earliest
eruption.--The Val del Bove.--Two craters of eruption.--Antiquity of
Etna.--The lavas of Etna.--Labradorite.--Augite.--Olivine.--
Analcime.--Titaniferous iron.--Mr. Rutley's examination of Etna
lavas under the microscope.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
View of Etna from Catania _To face Title._
Topographical Map of Etna _To face page_ 1
Sections of Etna " 30
Grotto delle Palombe " 36
The Casa Inglesi and Cone of Etna " 52
View of the Val de Bove " 58
View of Etna from Bronte " 66
Island of Columnar Basalt off Trezza " 74
Geological Map of Etna " 114
Map of the Val del Bove (woodcut) 117
Ideal Section of Mount Etna 119
Profile of Etna 121
Sections of Etna Lavas seen under the Microscope, _to face p._ 138
[Illustration: Topographical Map of Etna]
ETNA.
A HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND OF ITS ERUPTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN.
Position.--Name.--Mention of Etna by early writers.--Pindar.--
AEschylus.--Thucydides.--Virgil.--Strabo.--Lucretius.--Lucilius
Junior.--Etna the home of early myths.--Cardinal Bembo.--Fazzello.--
Filoteo.--Early Maps of the Mountain.--Hamilton.--Houel.--Brydone.--
Ferrara.--Recupero.--Captain Smyth.--Gemellaro; his Map of Etna.--
Elie de Beaumont.--Abich.--Hoffmann.--Von Waltershausen's _Atlas
des Aetna_.--Lyell.--Map of the Italian Stato Maggiore.--Carlo
Gemellaro.--Orazio Silvestri.
The principal mountain chain of Sicily skirts the North and a portion of
the North-eastern coast, and would appear to be a prolongation of the
Apennines. An inferior group passes through the centre of the island,
diverging towards the South, as it approaches the East coast. Between
the two ranges, and completely separated from them by the valleys of
the Alcantara and the Simeto, stands the mighty mass of Mount Etna,
which rises in solitary grandeur from the eastern sea-board of the
island. Volcanoes, by the very mode of their formation, are frequently
completely isolated; and, if they are of any magnitude, they thus
acquire an imposing contour and a majesty, which larger mountains,
forming parts of a chain, do not possess. This specially applies to
Etna. "Coelebs degit," says Cardinal Bembo, "et nullius montis dignata
conjugium, caste intra suos terminos continetur." It is not alone the
conspicuous appearance of the mountain which has made it the most famous
volcano either of ancient or modern times:--the number and violence of
its eruptions, the extent of its lava streams, its association with
antiquity, and its history prolonged over more than 2400 years, have all
tended to make it celebrated.
The geographical position of Etna was first accurately determined by
Captain Smyth in 1814. He estimated the latitude of the highest point of
the bifid peak of the great crater at 37 deg. 43' 31" N.; and the longitude
at 15 deg. East of Greenwich. Elie de Beaumont repeated the observations in
1834 with nearly the same result; and these determinations have been
very generally adopted. In the new Italian map recently constructed by
the Stato Maggiore, the latitude of the centre of the crater is stated
to be 37 deg. 44' 55" N., and the longitude 44' 55" E. of the meridian of
Naples, which passes through the Observatory of Capo di Monte.
According to Bochart the name of Etna is derived from the Phoenician
_athana_--a furnace; others derive it from ~aitho~--to burn.
Professor Benfey of Gottingen, a great authority on the subject,
considers that the word was created by one of the early Indo-Germanic
races. He identifies the root _ait_ with the Greek ~aith~ and the
Latin _aed_--to burn, as in _aes_-tu. The Greek name ~Aitna~ was
known to Hesiod. The more modern name, _Mongibello_, by which the
mountain is still commonly known to the Sicilians, is a combination of
the Arabic _Gibel_, and the Italian _Monte_. During the Saracenic
occupation of Sicily, Etna was called _Gibel Uttamat_--the mountain of
fire; and the last syllables of Mongibello are a relic of the Saracenic
name. A mountain near Palermo is still called Gibel Rosso--the red
mountain; and names may not unfrequently be found in the immediate
neighbourhood of Etna which are partly, or sometimes even entirely,
composed of Arabic words; such, for example, as _Alcantara_--the river
of _the bridge_. Etna is also often spoken of distinctively as _Il
Monte_--the mountain _par excellence_; a name which, in its capacity of
the largest mountain in the kingdom of Italy, and the loftiest volcano
in Europe, it fully justifies.
Etna is frequently alluded to by classical writers. By the poets it was
sometimes feigned to be the prison of the giant Enceladus or Typhon,
sometimes the forge of Hephaistos, and the abode of the Cyclops.
It is strange that Homer, who has so minutely described certain portions
of the contiguous Sicilian coast, does not allude to Etna. This has been
thought by some to be a proof that the mountain was in a quiescent state
during the period which preceded and coincided with the time of Homer.
Pindar (B.C. 522-442) is the first writer of antiquity who has described
Etna. In the first of the Pythian Odes for Hieron, of the town of Aitna,
winner in the chariot race in B.C. 474, he exclaims:
... "He (Typhon) is fast bound by a pillar of the sky, even by snowy
Etna, nursing the whole year's length her dazzling snow. Whereout pure
springs of unapproachable fire are vomited from the inmost depths: in
the daytime the lava-streams pour forth a lurid rush of smoke; but in
the darkness a red rolling flame sweepeth rocks with uproar to the wide
deep sea.... That dragon-thing (Typhon) it is that maketh issue from
beneath the terrible fiery flood."[1]
[1] Translated by Ernest Myers, M.A., 1874.
AEschylus (B.C. 525-456) speaks also of the "mighty Typhon,"
(_Prometheus_ V.):
. . . . . "He lies
A helpless, powerless carcase, near the strait
Of the great sea, fast pressed beneath the roots
Of ancient Etna, where on highest peak
Hephaestos sits and smites his iron red hot,
From whence hereafter streams of fire shall burst,
Devouring with fierce jaws the golden plains
Of fruitful, fair Sikelia."[2]
[2] Translated by E. Myers.
Herein he probably refers to the eruption which had occurred a few years
previously (B.C. 476).
Thucydides (B.C. 471-402) alludes in the last lines of the Third Book to
several early eruptions of the mountain in the following terms: "In the
first days of this spring, the stream of fire issued from Etna, as on
former occasions, and destroyed some land of the Catanians, who live
upon Mount Etna, which is the largest mountain in Sicily. Fifty years,
it is said, had elapsed since the last eruption, there having been three
in all since the Hellenes have inhabited Sicily."[3]
[3] Translated by E. Crawley.
Virgil's oft-quoted description of the mountain (_Eneid_, Bk. 3) we give
in the spirited translation of Conington:
"But Etna with her voice of fear
In weltering chaos thunders near.
Now pitchy clouds she belches forth
Of cinders red, and vapour swarth;
And from her caverns lifts on high
Live balls of flame that lick the sky:
Now with more dire convulsion flings
Disploded rocks, her heart's rent strings,
And lava torrents hurls to-day
A burning gulf of fiery spray."
Many other early writers speak of the mountain, among them Theokritos,
Aristotle, Ovid, Livy, Seneca, Lucretius, Pliny, Lucan, Petronius,
Cornelius Severus, Dion Cassius, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Lucilius
Junior. Seneca makes various allusions to Etna, and mentions the fact
that lightning sometimes proceeded from its smoke.
Strabo has given a very fair description of the mountain. He asserts
that in his time the upper part of it was bare, and covered with ashes,
and in winter with snow, while the lower slopes were clothed with
forests. The summit was a plain about twenty stadia in circumference,
surrounded by a ridge, within which there was a small hillock, the smoke
from which ascended to a considerable height. He further mentions a
second crater. Etna was commonly ascended in Strabo's time from the
south-west.
While the poets on the one hand had invested the mountain with various
supernatural attributes, and had made it the prison-house of a chained
giant, and the workshop of a swart god, Lucretius endeavoured to show
that the eruptions and other phenomena could be easily explained by the
ordinary operations of nature. "And now at last," he writes, "I will
explain in what ways yon flame, roused to fury in a moment, blazes forth
from the huge furnaces of Aetna. And, first, the nature of the whole
mountain is hollow underneath, underpropped throughout with caverns of
basalt rocks. Furthermore, in all caves are wind and air, for wind is
produced when the air has been stirred and put in motion. When this air
has been thoroughly heated, and, raging about, has imparted its heat to
all the rocks around, wherever it comes in contact with them, and to the
earth, and has struck out from them fire burning with swift flames, it
rises up and then forces itself out on high, straight through the
gorges; and so carries its heat far, and scatters far its ashes, and
rolls on smoke of a thick pitchy blackness, and flings out at the same
time stones of prodigious weight--leaving no doubt that this is the
stormy force of air. Again, the sea, to a great extent, breaks its waves
and sucks back its surf at the roots of that mountain. Caverns reach
from this sea as far as the deep gorges of the mountain below. Through
these you must admit [that air mixed up with water passes; and] the
nature of the case compels [this air to enter in from that] open sea,
and pass right within, and then go out in blasts, and so lift up flame,
and throw out stones, and raise clouds of sand; for on the summit are
craters, as they name them in their own language, what we call gorges
and mouths."[4]
[4] _De Natura Rerum_, Book 6, p. 580. Translated by E. Munro 1864.
These ideas were developed by Lucilius Junior in a poem consisting of
644 hexameters entitled _Aetna_. The authorship of this poem has long
been a disputed point; it has been attributed to Virgil, Claudian,
Quintilius Varus, Manilius, and, by Joseph Scaliger[5] and others, to
Cornelius Severus. Wensdorff was the first to adduce reasons for
attributing the poem to Lucilius Junior, and his views are generally
adopted. Lucilius Junior was Procurator of Sicily under Nero, and, while
resident in the Island, he ascended Etna; and it is said that he
proposed writing a detailed history of the mountain. He adopted the
scientific opinions of Epicurus, as established in Rome by Lucretius,
and was more immediately a disciple of Seneca. The latter dedicated to
him his _Quaestiones Naturales_, in which he alludes more than once to
Etna. M. Chenu speaks of the poem of Lucilius Junior as "sans doute
tres-poetique, mais assez souvent dur, heurte, concis, et parcela meme,
d'une obscurite parfois desesperante."[6] At the commencement of the
poem, Lucilius ridicules the ideas of the poets as regards the
connection of Etna with Vulcan and the Cyclops. He has no belief in the
practice, which apparently prevailed in his time, of ascending to the
edge of the crater and there offering incense to the tutelary gods of
the mountain. He adopts to a great extent the tone and style of
Lucretius, in his explanation of the phenomena of the mountain. Water
filters through the crevices and cracks in the rocks, until it comes
into contact with the internal fires, when it is converted into vapour
and expelled with violence. The internal fires are nourished by the
winds which penetrate into the mountain. He traces some curious
connection between the plants which grow upon the mountain, and the
supply of sulphur and bitumen to the interior, which is, at best, but
partly intelligible.
[5] See Lucilius Junioris AETNA. Recensuit notasque Jos. Scaligeri,
Frid. Lindenbruchii et suas addidit Fridericus Jacob. Lipsiae, 1826.
[6] L'Etna de Lucilius Junior. Traduction nouvelle par Jules Chenu.
Paris, 1843.
"Nunc superant, quacunque regant incendia silvae
Quae flammis alimenta vacent, quid nutriat Aetnam.
Incendi patiens illis vernacula caulis
Materia, appositumque igni genus utile terrae est,
Uritur assidue calidus nunc sulfuris humor,
Nunc spissus crebro praebetur flumine succus,
Pingue bitumen adest, et quidquid cominus acres
Irritat flammas; illius corporis AEtna est.
Atque hanc materiam penitus discurrere fontes
Infectae erumpunt et aquae radice sub ipsa."
Many of the myths developed by the earlier poets had their home in the
immediate neighbourhood, sometimes upon the very sides, of Etna--Demeter
seeking Persephone; Acis and Galatea; Polyphemus and the Cyclops. Mr.
Symonds tells us that the one-eyed giant Polyphemus was Etna itself,
with its one great crater, while the Cyclops were the many minor cones.
"Persephone was the patroness of Sicily, because amid the billowy
corn-fields of her mother Demeter, and the meadow-flowers she loved in
girlhood, are ever found sulphurous ravines, and chasms breathing vapour
from the pit of Hades."[7]
[7] Sketches in Italy and Greece, p. 201.
It is said that both Plato and the Emperor Hadrian ascended Etna in
order to witness the sunrise from its summit. The story of
"He who to be deemed
A god, leaped fondly into Etna flames,
Empedokles"
is too trite to need repetition. A ruined tower near the head of the Val
del Bove, 9,570 feet above the sea, has from time immemorial been called
the _Torre del Filosofo_, and is asserted to have been the observatory
of Empedokles. Others regard it as the remains of a Roman tower, which
was possibly erected on the occasion of Hadrian's ascent of the
mountain.
During the Middle Ages Etna is frequently alluded to, among others by
Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Cardinal Bembo. The latter gives a
description of the mountain in the form of a dialogue, which Ferrara
characterises as "_erudito, e grecizzante, ma sensa nervi_." He
describes its general appearance, its well-wooded sides, and sterile
summit. When he visited the mountain it had two craters about a stone's
throw apart; the larger of the two was said to be about three miles in
circumference, and it stood somewhat above the other.[8]
[8] Petri Bembi DE AETNA. Ad Angelum Chabrielem Liber Impressum Venetiis
Aedibus Aldi Romani. Mense Februario anno M.V.D. (1495).
In 1541 Fazzello made an ascent of the mountain, which he briefly
describes in the fourth chapter of his bulky volume _De Rebus
Siculis_.[9] This chapter is entitled "_De Aetna monte et ejus
ignibus_;" it contains a short history of the mountain, and some mention
of the principal towns which he enumerates in the following order:
Catana, Tauromenium, Caltabianco, Linguagrossa, Castroleone,
Francavilla, Rocella, Randatio (Randazzo), Bronte, Adrano, Paterno, and
Motta. Fazzello speaks of only one crater.
[9] Fazzellus T. DE REBUS SICULIS. Panormi, 1558; folio.
In 1591 Antonio Filoteo, who was born on Etna, published a work in
Venice in which he describes the general features of the mountain, and
gives a special account of an eruption which he witnessed in 1536.[10]
The mountain was then, as now, divided into three _Regions_. The first
and uppermost of these, he asserts, is very arid, rugged, and uneven,
and full of broken rocks; the second is covered with forests; and the
third is cultivated in the ordinary manner. Of the height he remarks,
"Ascensum triginta circiter millia passuum ad plus habet." In regard to
the name, _Mongibello_, he makes a curious error, deriving it from
_Mulciber_, one of the names of Vulcan, who, as we have seen, was
feigned by the earlier poets to have had his forge within the mountain.
[10] Antonii Philothei de Homodeis Siculi, AETNAE TOPOGRAPHIA,
incendiorum Aetnaeorum Historia. Venetiis. 1591. Preface dated September,
1590.
In 1636 Carrera gave an account of Etna, followed by that of the Jesuit
Kircher, in 1638. The great eruption of 1669 was described at length by
various eye-witnesses, and furnished the subject of the first detailed
description of the eruptive phenomena of the mountain. Public attention
was now very generally drawn to the subject in all civilised countries.
It was described by the naturalist, Borelli, and in our own
_Philosophical Transactions_. Lord Winchelsea, our ambassador at
Constantinople, was returning to England by way of the Straits of
Messina at the time of the eruption, and he forwarded to Charles II "A
true and exact relation of the late prodigious earthquake and eruption
of Mount AEtna, or Monte Gibello."
The first map of the mountain which we have been able to meet with,
was published in reference to the eruption of 1669; it is entitled,
"Plan du Mont Etna communenent dit Mount Gibel en l'Isle de Scicille
et de t'incedie arrive par un treblement de terre le 8me Mars dernier
1669." This plan is in the Bibliotheque Nationale, in Paris; it was
probably drawn from a simple description, or perhaps altogether from
the imagination, as it is utterly unlike the mountain, the sides of
which possess an impossible steepness. Another very inaccurate map was
published in Nuremberg about 1680, annexed to a map of Sicily, which
is entitled, "_Regnorum Siciliae et Sardiniae, Nova Tabula_." Again, in
1714 H. Moll, "geographer in Devereux Street, Strand," published a new
map of Italy, in which there is a representation of Etna during the
eruption of 1669. This also was probably drawn from the imagination;
no one who has ever seen the mountain would recognise it, for it has
a small base, and sides which rival the Matterhorn in abruptness.
Over against the coast of Sicily, and near the mountain, is
written:--"Mount Etna, or Mount Gibello. This mountain sometimes
issues out pure flame, and at other times a thick smoak with ashes;
streams of fire run down with great quantities of burning stones, and
has made many eruptions."
During the eighteenth century Etna was frequently ascended, and as
frequently described. We have the accounts of Massa (1703), Count
D'Orville (1727), Riedesel (1767), Sir William Hamilton (1769), Brydone
(1776), Houel (1786), Dolomieu (1788), Spallanzani (1790), and many
minor writers, such as Borch, Brocchi, Swinburne, Denon, and Faujas de
Saint Fond. There is great sameness in all of these narratives, and much
repetition of the same facts; some of them, however, merit a passing
notice.
Sir William Hamilton's _Campi Phlegraei_ relates mainly to Vesuvius and
the surrounding neighbourhood; but one of the letters "addressed to the
Secretary of the Royal Society on October 17th, 1769," describes an
ascent of Etna. Hamilton ascended on June 24th with the Canon Recupero
and other companions; the few observations of any value which he made
have been alluded to elsewhere under the head of the special subjects to
which they refer. The illustrations of the _Campi Phlegraei_, specially
the original water-colours which are contained in one of the British
Museum copies, are magnificent, and convey a better idea of volcanic
phenomena than any amount of simple reading. From them we can well
realise the opening of a long rift extending down the sides of a
mountain during its eruption, and the formation of subsidiary craters
along the line of fire thus opened. Various volcanic products are also
admirably painted. In the picture of Etna, however, which was drawn by
Antonio Fabris, the artist has scarcely been more successful than his
predecessors, and the slope of the sides of the mountain has been
greatly exaggerated.
M. Houel, in his _Voyage pittoresque dans les Deux Siciles_, 1781-1786,
has given a fairly good account of Etna, accompanied by some really
excellent engravings.
In 1776 Patrick Brydone, a clever Irishman with a good deal of native
shrewdness and humour, published two volumes of a _Tour in Sicily and
Malta_, in which he devoted several chapters to Mount Etna. He made the
ascent of the mountain, and collected from the Canon Recupero, and from
others, many facts concerning its then present, and its past history. He
also made observations as to the height, temperature of the air at
various elevations, brightness of the stars, and so on. Sir William
Hamilton calls Brydone "a very ingenious and accurate observer," and
adds that he was well acquainted with Alpine measurements. M. Elie de
Beaumont, writing in 1836, speaks of him as _le celebre Brydone_; while,
on the other hand, the Abbe Spallanzani, displeased at certain remarks
which he made concerning Roman Catholicism in Sicily, never fails to
deprecate his work, and deplores "his trivial and insipid pleasantries."
Albeit Brydone's chapters on Etna furnished a more complete account of
the volcano than any which had appeared in English up to that time; his
remarks are frequently very sound and just, and we shall have occasion
more than once to quote him.
It was reserved, however, for the Abate Francesco Ferrara, Professor of
Physical Science in the University of Catania, to furnish the first
history of Etna and of its eruptions, which had any just claim to
completeness. It is entitled, _Descrizione dell' Etna, con la Storia
delle Eruzioni e il Catalogo del prodotti_. The first edition appeared
in 1793, and a second was printed in Palermo in 1818. The author had an
enthusiastic love for his subject:--"Nato sopra l'Etna," he writes, "che
io conobbi ben presto palmo a palmo la mia passione per lo studio fisso
la mia attenzione sul bello, e terribile fenomeno che avea avanti agli
occhi." The work commences with a general description of the
mountain--its height, the temperature of the different regions, the view
from the summit, the mass, the water-springs, the vegetable and animal
life, and the internal fires. This extends over sixty-nine octavo pages.
The second part of the book--eighty pages--gives a history of the
eruptions from the earliest times to the year 1811; the third
part--sixty-seven pages--treats of the nature of the volcanic products;
and the fourth part--thirty-four pages--discusses certain geological and
physical considerations concerning the mountain. At the end there are a
few badly drawn and engraved woodcuts, and a map which, although the
trend of the coast-line is quite wrong, is otherwise fairly good. The
engravings represent the mountain as seen from Catania; the Isole dei
Ciclopi, and the neighbouring coast; the Montagna della Motta; and a
view from Catania of the eruption of 1787. This work has evidently to a
great extent been a labour of love; it is full of personal observations,
and also embodies the results of many other observers. It has furnished
the foundation of much that has since been written concerning Etna.
The Canon Recupero has been alluded to above; he accompanied Hamilton,
Brydone, and others to the summit of the mountain, and he was employed
by the Government to report on the flood which, in 1755, descended with
extraordinary violence through the Val del Bove. Beyond this, Recupero
does not appear to have published anything concerning Etna, although it
was well known that he had plenty of materials. He died in 1778, and it
was not till the year 1815 that his results were published under the
title of _Storia Naturale et Generale dell' Etna, del Canonico Giuseppe
Recupero.--Opera Postuma_. This work consists of two bulky quarto
volumes, the first of which is devoted to a general description of the
mountain, the second to a history of the eruptions, and an account of
the products of eruptions. Some idea may be formed of the extreme
prolixity of the author if we mention that two chapters, together
containing twelve quarto pages, are devoted to the discussion of the
height of Etna, while the first volume is terminated by sixty-three
closely printed pages of annotations. A few rough woodcuts accompany the
volumes; a view of the mountain which, as usual, is out of all reason
as regards abruptness of ascent, and a _carta oryctographia di
Mongibello_ in which the trend of the coast-line between Catania and
Taormina is altogether inexact, complete the illustrations of this most
detailed of histories.
During the years 1814-1816 Captain Smyth, acting under orders from the
Admiralty, made a survey of the coast of Sicily, and of the adjacent
islands. At this time the Mediterranean charts were very defective; some
places on the coast of Sicily were mapped as much as twenty miles out of
their true position, and even the exact positions of the observatories
at Naples, Palermo, and Malta were not known. Among other results, Smyth
carefully determined the latitude and longitude of Etna, accurately
measured its height, and examined the surroundings of the mountain. His
results were published in 1824, and are often regarded as the most
accurate that we possess.
In 1824 Dr. Joseph Gemellaro, who lived all his life on the mountain,
and made it his constant study, published an "Historical and
Topographical Map of the Eruptions of Etna from the era of the Sicani to
the year 1824." In it he delineates the extent of the three Regions,
_Coltivata_, _Selvosa_, and _Deserta_; he places the minor cones, to the
number of seventy-four, in their proper places, and he traces the course
of the various lava-streams which have flowed from them and from the
great crater. This map is the result of much patient labour and study,
and it is a great improvement upon those of Ferrara and Recupero, but of
course it is impossible for one man to survey with much accuracy an area
of nearly 500 square miles, and to trace the tortuous course of a large
number of lava-streams. Hence we must be prepared for inaccuracies, and
they are not uncommon--the coast line is altogether wrong as to its
bearings, some of the small towns on the sides of the mountain are
misplaced, and but little attention has been paid to scale. Still the
map is very useful, as it is the only one which shows the course of the
lava-streams.
Mario Gemellaro, brother of the preceding, made almost daily
observations of the condition of Etna, between the years 1803 and 1832.
These results were tabulated, and they are given in the _Vulcanologia
dell' Etna_ of his brother, Professor Carlo Gemellaro, under the title of
_Registro di Osservazioni del Sigr. Mario Gemellaro_.
Carlo Gemellaro contributed many memoirs on subjects connected with the
mountain. They are chiefly to be found in the _Atti dell' Accademia
Gioenia_ of Catania, and they extend over a number of years. Perhaps the
most important is the treatise entitled "_La Vulcanologia dell' Etna che
comprende la Topographia, la Geologia, la Storia, delle sue Eruzioni_."
It was published in Catania in 1858, and is dedicated to Sir Charles
Lyell, who ascended the mountain under the guidance of the author. The
latter also published a _Breve Raggualio della Eruzione dell' Etna, del
21 Agosto 1852_, which contains the most authentic account of this
important eruption, accompanied by some graphic sketches made on the
spot. The last contribution of Carlo Gemellaro to the history of Etna,
is fitly entitled _Un Addio al Maggior Vulcano di Europa_. It was
published in 1866, and with pardonable vanity the author reviews his
work in connection with the mountain, extending over a period of more
than forty years. He commences his somewhat florid farewell with the
following apostrophe:--"O Etna! splendida e perenne manifestazione della
esistenza dei Fuochi sotteranei massimo fra quanti altri monti, dalle
coste meridionali di Europa, dalle orientali dell' Asia e delle
settentrionali dell' Africa si specchiano nel Mediterraneo: tremendo pei
tuoi incendii: benigno per la fertilita del vulcanico tuo terreno
ridotto a prospera coltivazione ... io, nato appie del vasto tuo cono,
in quella Citta che hai minacciato piu d'una volta di sepellire sotto le
tue infocate correnti: allogato, nella mia prima eta, in una stanza
della casa paterna, che signoreggiava in allora piu basse abizioni
vicine, ed intiera godeva la veduta della estesa parte meridionale della
tua mole, io non potera non averti di continuo sotto gli occhi, e non
essere spettatore dei tuoi visibili fenomeni!"
In 1834, M. Elie de Beaumont commenced a minute geological examination
of the mountain. His results were published in 1838, under the title of
_Recherches sur la structure et sur l'origine du Mont Etna_, and they
extend over 225 pages.[11] He re-determined the latitude and longitude
of the mountain, measured the slope of the cone, and the diameter of the
great crater, and minutely examined the structure of the rocks at the
base of the mountain. He also gives a good sectional view, elevations
taken from each quarter of the compass, and a geological map, which
although accurate in its general details, can scarcely be considered
very satisfactory. A relief map of Etna, a copy of which is in the Royal
School of Mines, was afterwards constructed from the flat map, and this
was, we believe, at the same time, the first geological map, and the
first map in relief, which had been made of the mountain. Elie de
Beaumont considers granite as the basis of the mountain, because it is
sometimes ejected from the crater; old basaltic rocks appear in the
Isole dei Ciclopi, and near Paterno, Licodia, and Aderno; _cailloux
roules_ near Motta; ancient lavas on each side of the Val del Bove;
modern lavas in every part of the mountain, and calcareous and
arenaceous rocks in the surrounding mountains.
[11] Printed in vol. IV. of _Memoires pour servir a une description
Geologique de la France_. Par M.M. Dufrenoy et Elie de Beaumont.
In 1836, Abich published some excellent sections of Etna, and an
accurate view of the interior of the crater, in a work entitled _Vues
illustratives de quelques Phenomenes Geologiques prises sur le Vesuve et
l'Etna pendant les annees 1833 and 1834_.
The whole of the thirteenth volume (1839) of the Berlin _Archiv fuer
Mineralogie, Geognosie, Berghau und Huettenkunde_, is occupied by an
elaborate memoir on the geology of Sicily[12] by Friedrich Hoffmann,
accompanied by an excellent geological map. A long account of the
geology of Etna is given, and an enlarged map of the mountain was
afterwards constructed and published in the _Vulkanen Atlas_ of Dr.
Leonhard in 1850.[13]
[12] Entitled _Geognostiche Beobachtungen Gesammelt auf einer Reise
durch Italian und Sicilien, in den jahren 1830 bis 1832, von Friedrich
Hoffmann_.
[13] _Vulkanen Atlas zur naturgeschichte der Erde von K. G. Von
Leonhard._ Stuttgardt. 1850.
In 1836 Baron Sartorius Von Waltershausen commenced a minute survey of
Etna, preparatory to a complete description of the mountain, both
geological and otherwise. He was assisted by Professor Cavallari of
Palermo, Professor Peters of Hensbourg, and Professor Roos of Mayence.
The survey occupied six years, (1836-1842), and the results of direct
observation in the form of maps and drawings, occupied a hundred sheets
160 millimetres (6-1/4 inches) long, by 133 m.m. (5-1/4 inches) broad.
Twenty-nine separate points were made use of in the triangulation; and
the scale chosen was 1 in 50,000. The results were published in a large
folio atlas, which appeared in eight parts; the first in 1845 and the
last in 1861, when the death of Von Waltershausen put an end to the
further publication. There are 26 fine coloured maps, and 31 engravings.
The cost of the atlas is L12. The maps are both geological and
topographical, and they are accompanied by outline engravings of various
details of special interest. The _Atlas des Aetna_ furnishes the most
exhaustive history of any one mountain on the face of the earth, and
Sartorius Von Waltershausen will always be the principal authority on
the subject of Etna.
Sir Charles Lyell visited Etna in 1824, 1857, and again in 1858. He
embodied his researches in a paper presented to the Royal Society in
1859, and in a lengthy chapter in the _Principles of Geology_. His
investigations have added much to our knowledge of the formation and
geological characteristics of the mountain, especially of that part of
it called the Val del Bove.
Later writers usually quote Von Waltershausen and Lyell, and do not add
much original matter. The facts of all subsequent writers are taken more
or less directly from these authors. The latest addition to the
literature of the mountain, is the _Wanderungen am Aetna_ of Dr.
Baltzer, in the journal of the Swiss Alpine Club for 1874.[14]
[14] Jahrbuch des Schweizer Alpen Club. Neunter Jahrgang, 1873-1874.
Bern 1874.
A fine map of Sicily, on the unusually large scale of 1 in 50,000, or
1.266 inch to a mile, was constructed by the Stato Maggiore of the
Italian government, between 1864 and 1868. The portion relating to Etna,
and its immediate surroundings occupies four sheets. All the small roads
and rivulets are introduced; the minor cones and monticules are placed
in their proper positions, and the elevation of the ground is given at
short intervals of space over the entire map. An examination of this map
shows us that distances, areas, and heights, have been repeatedly
misstated, the minor cones misplaced, and the trend of the coast line
misrepresented. For example, if we draw a line due north and south
through Catania, and a second line from the Capo di Taormina, (the
north-eastern limit of the base of Etna), until it meets the first line
at Catania, the lines, will be found to enclose an angle of 26 deg.. If we
adopt the same plan with Gemellaro's map, the included angle is found to
be 53 deg., and in the case of the maps of Ferrara and Recupero more than
60 deg.. Again, it has been stated on good authority, that the lava of 396
B.C. which enters the sea at Capo di Schiso flowed for a distance of
nearly 30 miles; the map shows us that its true course was less than 16
miles. Lyell in 1858 gives a section of the mountain from West 20 deg. N.,
to East 20 deg. S., but a comparison with the new map proves that the
section is really taken from West 35 deg. N. to East 35 deg. S., an error which
at a radius of ten miles from the crater would amount to a difference of
nearly three miles.
The mantle of Carlo Gemellaro appears to have fallen upon Cav. Orazio
Silvestri, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Catania. He has
devoted himself with unwearying vigour to the study of the mountain, and
his memoirs have done much to elucidate its past and present history.
His most recent work of importance on the subject is entitled _I
Fenomeni Vulcanici presentati dall'Etna nel 1863-64-65-66_. It was
published in Catania in 1867, and contains an account of some very
elaborate chemico-geological researches.