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Zitierempfehlung
Alexander von Humboldt: „Phenomena connected with an Eruption of Vesuvius“, in: ders., Sämtliche Schriften digital, herausgegeben von Oliver Lubrich und Thomas Nehrlich, Universität Bern 2021. URL: <https://humboldt.unibe.ch/text/1823-Ueber_den_Bau-13-neu> [abgerufen am 26.04.2024].
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| Titel | Phenomena connected with an Eruption of Vesuvius | ||||
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| Jahr | 1850 | ||||
| Ort | London | ||||
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Nachweis in: The Globe and Traveller 15116 (4. März 1850), [o. S.].
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| Sprache | Englisch | ||||
| Typografischer Befund | Antiqua; Spaltensatz; Auszeichnung: Kursivierung. | ||||
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|Seitenumbruch|
In the last eruption, in the night of the23d to the 24th of October,
twenty-four hours after thefalling in of the great cone of scoriæ
which has beenmentioned, and when the small but numerous currentsof
lava had already flowed off, the fiery eruption ofashes and rapilli
commenced; it continued withoutintermission for twelve days, but was greateat in thefirst four days. During
this period the detonations inthe interior of the volcano were so violent
that the mereconcussion of the air, (for no earthquake movement
wasperceived,) rent the ceilings of the rooms in the palaceof Portici.
In the neighbouring villages of Resina,Torre del Greco, Torre del
Annunziata, and BoscheTre Case, a remarkable phenomenon was
witnessed.Throughout the whole of that part of the country theair was
so filled with ashes as to cause in the middleof the day profound darkness,
lasting for severalhours. Lanterns were carried in the streets, as
hasso often been done at Quito during the eruptions ofPichincha. The flight of the inhabitants had neverbeen more general. Lava
currents are regarded bythose who dwell near Vesuvius with less dread
thanan eruption of ashes—a phenomenon which had neverbeen known
to such a degree in modern times; andthe obscure tradition of the manner in
which thedestruction of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiæ
tookplace filled the imagination of men with appallingimages. The hot
aqueous vapours which rose fromthe crater during the eruption, and spread
themselvesin the atmosphere, formed, in cooling, a dense
cloud,surrounding the column of fire and ashes, which roseto a height
of between nine and ten thousand feet. Sosudden a condensation of vapour,
and even, as Gay-Lussac has shown, the formation of the
cloud itself,augmented the electric tension. Flashes of
forkedlightning, issuing from the column of ashes, dartedin every
direction; and the rolling thunders weredistinctly heard and distinguished
from the soundswhich proceeded from the interior of the volcano.In no
other eruption had the play of the electricforces formed so striking a
feature. On the morningof the 26th of October a surprising rumour
prevailed,to the effect that a torrent of boiling water was gush-ing
from the crater, and pouring down the slope of thecone of ashes. The
learned and zealous observerof the volcano, Monticelli, soon discovered
thatthis erroneous rumour had arisen from an opticalillusion. The
supposed torrent of water was inreality a flow of dry ashes, which, being
as looseand moveable as shifting sands, issued in large quan-tities
from a crevice in the upper margin of thecrater. The cultivated fields had
suffered muchfrom a long-continued drought which had precededthe
eruption: towards its close the “volcanic thun-derstorm”
which has been described produced anexceedingly violent and abundant fall
of rain. Thisphenomenon is associated in all climates with theclose of
a volcanio eruption. As during the eruptionthe cone of ashes is generally
enveloped in cloud, andas it is in its immediate vicinity that the rain is
mostviolent, torrents of mud are seen to descend from it inall
directions, which the terrified husbandman ima-gines to consist of waters
which have risen from theinterior of the volcano and overflowed the crater.—
Humboldt’s Aspects of Nature.
Phenomena connected with an Eruption ofVesuvius.—