Vesuvius during an
eruption.

_Solfatara._--The Solfatara, near Puzzuoli, which may be considered as a
nearly extinguished crater, appears, by the accounts of Strabo and
others, to have been before the Christian era in very much the same
state as at present, giving vent continually to aqueous vapor, together
with sulphureous and muriatic acid gases, like those evolved by
Vesuvius.

_Ancient history of Vesuvius._--Such, then, were the points where the
subterranean fires obtained vent, from the earliest period to which
tradition reaches back, down to the first century of the Christian era;
but we then arrive at a crisis in the volcanic action of this
district--one of the most interesting events witnessed by man during the
brief period throughout which he has observed the physical changes on
the earth's surface. From the first colonization of Southern Italy by
the Greeks, Vesuvius afforded no other indications of its volcanic
character than such as the naturalist might infer, from the analogy of
its structure to other volcanoes. These were recognized by Strabo, but
Pliny did not include the mountain in his list of active vents. The
ancient cone was of a very regular form, terminating not as at present
in two peaks, but with a summit which presented, when seen from a
distance, the even outline of an abruptly truncated cone. On the summit,
as we learn from Plutarch, there was a crater with steep cliffs, and
having its interior overgrown with wild vines, and with a sterile plain
at the bottom. On the exterior, the flanks of the mountain were clothed
with fertile fields richly cultivated, and at its base were the populous
cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. But the scene of repose was at length
doomed to cease, and the volcanic fire was recalled to the main channel,
which at some former unknown period had given passage to repeated
streams of melted lava, sand, and scoriae.

_Renewal of its eruptions._--The first symptom of the revival of the
energies of this volcano was the occurrence of an earthquake in the year
63 after Christ, which did considerable injury to the cities in its
vicinity. From that time to the year 79 slight shocks were frequent; and
in the month of August of that year they became more numerous and
violent, till they ended at length in an eruption. The elder Pliny, who
commanded the Roman fleet, was then stationed at Misenum; and in his
anxiety to obtain a near view of the phenomena, he lost his life, bein