IX. Some account of the eruption of Vesuvius, which occurred in the month of August 1834, extracted from the manuscript notes of the Cavaliere Monticelli, foreign member of the Geological Society, and from other sources; together with a state­ment of the products of the eruption, and of the condition of the volcano sub­sequently to it

Abstract

The eruption of Vesuvius which occurred in the month of August of last year, excited on the spot an unusual share of interest, from the largeness of the volume of lava at the time discharged, and the extent of the damage it occasioned in its progress down the mountain; whilst in a scientific point of view it attracted the greater attention, since it was regarded by many as the concluding link in a series of volcanic operations, which had been going on up to that period with only occasional intermissions from the year 1831. It was therefore natural, that on my arrival at Naples shortly after the mountain had subsided into a state of comparative repose, I should seize upon the opportunity which appeared to offer of increasing my acquaintance with volcanic phenomena; first, by collecting on the spot such information as could be best relied on, with respect to the leading features of the past eruption; and secondly, by ascertaining from personal examination the actual condition of the volcano, and the products re­sulting either from its late operations, or from those in actual progress.