E T N A .
E T N A
A HISTORY OF THE MOUNTAIN AND
OF ITS ERUPTIONS.
BY
G. F. RODWELL,
SCIENCE MASTER IN MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
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 theEncyclopædia Britannica, I was surprised to find thatthere exists no single work in the English languagedevoted to the history of the most famous volcano inthe world. I was consequently induced to considerablyenlarge the Encyclopædia article, and the followingpages are the result. The facts recorded have beencollected from various sources—German, French, Italian,and English, and from my own observations madeduring the summer of 1877. I desire to express myindebtedness to Mr. Frank Rutley, of H.M. GeologicalSurvey, for his careful examination of the lavas whichwere collected during my ascent of the mountain, andfor the account which he has written of them; also to[Pg viii]Mr. John Murray for permission to copy figures fromLyell's "Principles of Geology." My thanks are alsodue to Mr. George Dennis, H.M. Consul-General inSicily; Mr. Robert O. Franck, Vice-Consul in Catania;and to Prof. Orazio Silvestri, for information with whichthey 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.—Æschylus.—Thucydides.—Virgil.—Strabo.—Lucretius.—Lucilius Junior.—Etna the home of earlymyths.—Cardinal Bembo.—Fazzello.—Filoteo.—EarlyMaps 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.—CarloGemellaro.—Orazio Silvestri.