a celebrated volcano of Italy, six miles east from the city of Naples. This mountain has two tops; one of which only goes by the name of Vesuvius, the other being now called Somma; but Sir William Hamilton is of opinion, that the latter is what the ancients called Pervius. The perpendicular height of Vesuvius is only 3700 feet though the ascent from the foot to the top is three Italian miles. One side of the mountain is well cultivated and fertile, producing great plenty of vines, but the south and west sides are entirely covered with cinders and ashes while a sulphureous smoke constantly issues from the top sometimes attended with the most violent explosions of stones, the emission of great streams of lava, and all the other attendants of a most formidable volcano. The first of these eruptions recorded in history took place in the year 79; at which time the two cities of Pompeii and Herculanum were entirely buried under the stones and ash thrown out. Incredible mischief was also done to the neighbouring country, and numbers of people lost their lives, among whom was the elder Pliny.

It is the opinion of the best judges, however, that this eruption was by no means the first that had ever happened. The very streets of those cities which were at that time overwhelmed, are said to be partly paved with lava. Since that time thirty different eruptions have been recorded some of which have been extremely violent. In the year 1538, a mountain, three miles in circumference, and a quarter of a mile in perpendicular height, was thrown up in the course of one night.

The first great eruption taken notice of by Sir William Hamilton was that of 1767, which, though very violent, was mild in comparison with that of 1538. From this time Vesuvius never ceased for ten years to send forth smoke nor were there many months in which it did not throw out stones, scoria, and cinders; which, increasing to a certain degree, were usually followed by lava; so that from the year 1767 to 1779 there were nine eruptions some of them very considerable. In the month of August that year, an eruption took place, which, for its extraordinary and terrible appearance, has been generally reckoned among the most remarkable of any recorded concerning this or any other volcano. We cannot, however, afford room for any description of it here, or of the various eruptions which have since taken place. See GEOLOGY.