Abstract
THE statistical review of volcanic phenomena during 1878, which Prof. Fuchs has recently published, and which forms the continuation of many previous statistical accounts of the same nature (see NATURE, vol. xv. p. 557, and vol. xviii. p. 241) shows the unusually large number of twelve eruptions in the course of the year. Most of them occurred in remote localities and gave evidence of the activity of volcanoes which were generally but little known, and which are all difficult of access. It is true, however, that Mount Vesuvius also, the last eruption of which had taken place in 1872, but which already during 1877 had shown symptoms of the re-awakening of the volcanic process, again entered into a period of activity on April 20, 1878. The mountain ejected ashes, frequent slight shocks occurred, a thick column of smoke ascended, and at the end of September a scanty flow of lava took place. This increased during the night of September 22–23 and the lava descended as far as the Atrio del Cavallo; but afterwards the volcanic activity sank down into the ordinary solfatara-state, which was only interrupted by little periodical explosions on October 11, and by the flow of little streams of lava from November 1 to November 9.
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Volcanic Phenomena and Earthquakes during 1878. Nature 20, 378–379 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/020378a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/020378a0