re the Congress that the Creator has left no such flaw
in His mechanism of the globe. The truth is, that molten lava can
only rise about 21,000 feet above the level of the sea, owing to
the balance-wheel of terrestrial gravitation, which counteracts
at that height all centrifugal energy. Were this not so, the
entire contents of the globe would gush from the incandescent
center and fly off into surrounding space."

M. Gassiot replied, "that true volcanoes were supplied by nature
with _circumvalvular lips_, and hence, after filling their
craters, they ceased to flow. But in the instance before us no
such provision existed, and the only protection which he could
conceive of consisted in the smallness of the orifice; and he
would therefore recommend his Majesty King Leopold to direct all
his efforts to confine the aperture to its present size."

Palmieri again responded, "that he had no doubt but that the
crater at Dudzeele would continue to flow until it had built up
around itself basaltic walls to the height of many hundreds,
perhaps thousands, of feet, and that the idea of setting bounds
to the size of the mouth of the excavation was simply
ridiculous."

Gassiot interrupted, and was about to answer in a very excited
tone, when Prof. Palmieri "disclaimed any intention of personal
insult, but spoke from a scientific standpoint." He then
proceeded: "The lava bed of Mount AEtna maintains a normal level
of 7000 feet, while Vesuvius calmly reposes at a little more than
one half that altitude. On the other hand, according to Prof.
Whitney, of the Pacific Survey, Mount Kilauea, in the Sandwich
Islands, bubbles up to the enormous height of 17,000 feet. It
cannot be contended that the crater of Vesuvius is not a true
nucleatic orifice, because I have demonstrated that the molten
bed regularly rises and falls like the tides of the ocean when
controlled by the moon." It was seen at once that the scientists
present were totally unprepared to discuss the question in its
novel and most important aspects; and on taking a vote, at the
close of the session, the members were equally divided between
the opinions of Gassiot and Palmieri. A further session will take
place on the arrival of Prof. Tyndall, who has been telegraphed
for from New York, and of the great Russian geologist and
astronomer, Tugenieff.

In conclusio