Yet neither of these seem incredible, for the mountain may
possibly be consumed by being daily devoured, and the fire not be so large
as formerly, since it is not self-generated here, but is kindled in the
distant bowels of the earth, and there rages, being fed with continual fuel,
not with that of the mountain, through which it only makes its passage."
The subterranean communication, "by galleries," between the volcanoes of
Sicily, Lipari, Pithecusa (Ischia), and Vesuvius, "of the last of which we
may conjecture that it formerly burned and presented a fiery circle," seems
fully understood by Strabl (lib. i., p. 247 and 248). He terms the whole
district "sub-igneous."
In the Mexican highlands a mutual dependence is
p 240
also observed to exist among the volcanic mountains Orizaba, Popocatepel,
Jorullo, and Colima; and I have shown* that they all lie in one direction
between 18 degrees 59' and 19 degrees 12' north latitude, and are situated
in a transverse fissure running from sea to sea.
[footnote] *Humboldt, 'Essai Politique sur la Nouv. Espagne', t. ii., p.
173-175.
The volcano of Jorullo broke forth on the 29th of September, 1759, exactly
in this direction, and over the same transverse fissure, being elevated to a
height of 1604 feet above the level of the surrounding plain.
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