ÆTNA, a burning mountain of Sicily, situated on the eastern side of the island, and long a subject of curiosity and investigation to philosophic travellers. The district in which it stands is denominated by the inhabitants of the island, Val de Demoné or Demona; from a superstitious notion that it is the resort of dæmons, who have chosen the caverns of this celebrated mountain as their residence. Bochart derives the name of Etna from the Hebrew word Athuna, which signifies a furnace or darkness: in the Itineraries it is written Ethana. The heathen mythology represented Etna as the place where Vulcan superintended the forges of the Cyclops, who were continually engaged in making thunderbolts for Jupiter. Ferrant exercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro Brontesque, Steropesque, et nudus membra Pyracmon. On their eternal anvils here he found The brethren beating, and the blows go round. This idea doubtless originated in observing the volcanic character of the mountain, which furnished a fair opportunity for poetic exaggeration and embellishment. The ancients erected a temple here to Vulcan himself, in which a perpetual fire was preserved. Etna was also considered as the prison to which Jupiter consigned the rebellious giant Enceladus. This mountain is poetically called, by Pindar, the pillar of heaven, an epithet derived from the obscure ideas of the ancients, respecting its real elevation. Δ' κρανία συνέχει Νιφοέσσ' Αἴτια Pyth. Od. i. v. 36. In fact the precise height of the mountain has not even yet been very satisfactorily determined: although in general it is ascertained to be very inferior to the Alps, much more to the magnificent chains of mountains that appear in the western world. Sir Geo. Shuckburgh observes, in the Philosophical Transactions (vol. Ixvii), that Vesuvius placed upon mount Ætna, would not be equal in elevation to mount Blanc. Without regarding the exaggerated statements of other travellers, some of whom affirm it to be six, eight, or even twelve miles in height; it may be proper to furnish the reader with a comparative estimate of some of the most authentic writers. Kircher states the height above the level of the sea, at 4,000 toises.* Sir G. Shuckburgh........... 10,954 feet. Saussure .... 10,963 feet. The circumference has also been estimated very difte and ferently by different authors. M. Houel considers it as no more than forty miles at the base. Some state the circumference at sixty, others at a hundred miles, and ize. ÆTNA. Recupero at a hundred and eighty-three. Mentelle makes the diameter thirty miles, and Buffon gives three hundred square leagues for the superficies. Etna, when viewed at a distance, has been described General apas assuming the appearance of an obtuse truncated pearance. cone, extended at the base, and terminating in a vertex bifurcated, or having two distinct eminences, considerably separated from each other. At a nearer approach, it possesses a singular aspect, its surface being wildly, but pleasingly diversified, with numbers of small conical projections, or hills, adorned with verdure and trees, and scattered with villages, hamlets, and monasteries. A green belt, consisting of oaks and pines, encircles the middle, while the lofty summit is covered with perpetual snow, and pierces the skies. The population of Etna has been thought to amount to not less than a hundred thousand, diffused through seventyseven towns and villages. The toil and difficulty of the ascent have stimulated the ardour of travellers to reach the summit, which is considered as about thirty miles distant from Catania, whence the journey is commonly undertaken. Ætna is divided into three districts or regions, each Divisions. impressed with its characteristic differences. They have distinct climates, corresponding with the gradations of ascent, and obviously enough divisable into the torrid, the temperate, and the frigid. The mountain, however, has been divided usually according to the diversities of its fertility, rather than the variations of its temperature; and accordingly we have three regions, namely, I Regione Culta, or the fertile region; Il Regione Sylvosa, or the woody region; and II Regione Deserta, or the barren region. Some have added a fourth, which they denominate the Region of Snow; but this is properly included in that which takes the name of desert or barren. We shall conduct the reader through each, availing ourselves of the various information of different travellers, and presenting it in a combined and compressed form. Il Regione Culta, or the fertile region, may be con- The fertile sidered as extending fifteen miles from the city of region. Catania, whence, we have already stated, the traveller usually begins his journey, and from which point the ascent commences. The superficies of this region is estimated by Buffon at upwards of two hundred and twenty square leagues. It is encircled by the rivers Semetus and Alcantara, excepting on the south and south-east, where it is bounded by the sea. This part of the mountain has always been celebrated for its extreme fertility, owing chiefly, as both ancient and modern writers agree, to the decomposition of the lava, and perhaps partly to cultivation. It abounds in pasture grounds, orchards and fruit trees, of luxuriant variety, particularly the vine. Where the soil is shallow, sometimes pieces of lava project, and roughen the path; and in other cases the roots of trees shoot along the surface in a horizontal direction. The traveller here beholds around him a number of Conical conical hills, each of which is frequently two, or even hills. three miles in circumference, and three or four hundred X Nicolosi. Monte Russo. ETNA. feet in height. Their volcanic origin is sufficiently obvious from their proximity to the great gulph, and from some of them having a small crater at the summit. After advancing about twelve miles, the traveller usually halts at Nicolosi, which is considered the first station; and according to M. Houel, is two thousand four hundred and ninety-six feet above the level of the sea. Formerly it was a convent belonging to the Benedictine friars of Catania; at present a solitary individual resides here to take care of the cultivation of the fields in the immediate neighbourhood. The heat is much less intense here than at Catania, and the progress of vegetation proportionably slower. Monte Russo, or the Red Mountain, is one of the great curiosities of this region. Its name is derived from its general colour, which is reddish, not however without considerable intermixtures of other shades. The year 1669 was the period of its formation, when it rose from the midst of a plain, and discharged a torrent of lava, which flowed to the sea and formed a promontory, destroying many vineyards and pastures in its progress. A deep bed of black sand envelopes the bottom, to the breadth of about two miles. The base of the lava is grey coloured horn-stone, of rather a fine grain; the scoria of which the hill is composed, have a similar base, containing shoerls and felspars, having a vitreous appearance, and more friable than the lava. The dimensions of this mountain are variously reported. Spallanzani agrees with Borelli, in considering its circumference at the foot as not exceeding two miles, and its perpendicular elevation 150 paces. It contains a multitude of openings, shaped like a funnel, which the excessive cold prevents being explored to any considerable distance. It forms one of the mouths, through which Ætna has in modern times, discharged its mighty showers of lava and ashes. The next station is that of St. Niccolo dell' Arena, dell' Arena. which, like the preceding, is a decayed building, once in possession of the Benedictine friars; but long ago they were compelled to forsake it in consequence of the devastating effects of the lava, and many monuments and inscriptions are found on the spot, recording the history of its different disasters. The eruption of 1669, has, however, been the means of diffusing around considerable fertility; the black sand thrown up at that period having been converted readily into vegetable earth, and being in consequence covered with vineyards. At a small distance is another of those volcanic hills, peculiar to Etna; in shape it is spherical, in heighth about 300 feet, and a mile in circuit; and on every side richly overspread with verdure. The eruption which occasioned this mountainous production, ruined the ancient region of Hybla, now called in contemptuous commemoration, Mel Passi, and at present chiefly observable on account of a few scattered mounts of vegetable beauty and abundance, rising amidst fields of lava and barrenness. St. Niccolo estimated at from 70 to 80 miles in circumference, with TNA a surface of about 40 or 45 square leagues, forming a girdle round the mountain of vivid green, composed of oaks, beeches, and other trees, in a soil of vegetable earth. The climate has here improved into the most agreeable mildness, the air cool and reviving, and every breeze surcharged with delicious odours. It is in fact a wilderness of sweets, and in many of its retreats realizes the scenes of descriptive poetry: So pure, so fresh, the woods, the sky, the air, It seemed a place where angels might repair; And tune their harps, amidst those tranquil shades, To morning songs, and moonlight serenades. Majestic forest trees presenting themselves on every side, diffuse over the whole landscape an air of the utmost magnificence and grandeur; the effect of which is heightened by the inequalities of the surface. The eastern side abounds particularly in chesnut trees, of the largest dimensions, which become an article of trade, and a very profitable one, by furnishing hoops for casks; on which account the inhabitants very carefully attend to their cultivation. One tree above the Great che rest has long been celebrated for its extraordinary size, nut tree. and has acquired the epithet of Castagno di Cento Cavalli, or the chesnut tree of a hundred horse, from its supposed capacity of containing that number; but particularly from the story which fabulous tradition has transmitted, of the queen of Spain having found shelter, with a hundred attendants, under this tree. Carrera expresses his confidence, that there is wood enough in this tree to build a large palace; and the poet Bagolini has been thought to allude particularly to this tree, in the words Supremos inter montes monstrosior omni, Its position is singularly advantageous to the effect of its general appearance, being surrounded by an open pasture, and standing on a rising ground; woods and vineyards bounding the scene. At the surface of the earth it measures 196 feet, and its height and size would have fully corresponded to its dimensions, but for the practice of lopping off the branches for fuel. Some travellers have dug about it, with the view of ascertaining whether it were in reality a cluster of several, or one individual tree; and the result of their investigation has been the discovery, that although divided, at or near the surface, into five branches, they are all united in one root. From the main stems a multitude of branches spring, each of prodigious size, and distinguished by this peculiarity, that there is no bark in the inside. A hut is built in the hollow of the trunk, for the accommodation of those who are engaged in collecting and preserving the fruit. Their use of ovens for drying the nuts, has been thought sufficiently to account for the destitution of bark in the inner side of the branches. Other vegetable wonders of a similar description are found in the neighbourhood, and one in particular, with an undivided trunk, measuring 57 feet at the height of 15 feet from the surface of the ground. Another object of curiosity is the snow grotto, the Snow access to which lies through a forest of pines. It is grotto. situated in a mount or hill, called Fennochio, amidst rocks and precipices, and consists of a cavity formed by ATVA. the waters carrying away the stratum of pozzolana under the lava. The snow, which is drifted from the superior parts of the mountain, is stopped by a wall erected for the purpose, a little above the grotto in question, whence it is thrown down by two openings, and is protected from the heat of summer by a thick incrustation of the superincumbent lava, which forms a natural ceiling to the cave. It is exported from this receptacle in large bags, into which it is put after being wrapped in leaves. Snow, thus preserved, assumes the appearance of transparent crystal. The knights of Malta hire this, and other grottos of a similar description, for the use of their island; hence snow becomes an important article of trade, the nature of the climate always occasioning a large demand. Grotto of goats. The barren город La Spelania del Capriole, or grotto of goats, so called because of its affording a convenient and frequent refuge to the goats in inclement seasons, is another resort of visitors to this singularly constructed mountain. This grotto is formed in a similar manner with that before mentioned; it is surrounded by magnificent oak trees, whose dry leaves supply the traveller with a comfortable bed, and whose branches afford fuel. It is about 5054 feet above the level of the sea. There are two mountains in the vicinity, whose craters exceed in dimensions that of Vesuvius, now covered with a soil rich and productive, and set with oaks. In the year 1755, part of the Regione Sylvosa was overflowed and desolated by a torrent of boiling water, which issued from the mouth of the great crater, of about a mile and a half broad, the traces of which, however, the vegetative power of nature has since been gradually erasing. As the Regione Deserta, or barren region, is approached, vegetation becomes progressively thin and diminutive. The scene is no longer woody, and such as to afford an agreeable shelter from the intensity of the meridian sun, but wintry blasts sweep along a wild and desert path. Here and there, indeed, clumps of trees and tufts of herbage are to be seen; but even these become more and more scarce, till they entirely disappear and the curious traveller must encounter a frigid zone of from eight to ten miles in extent, overspread with a flat expanse of snow and ice, and abounding in dangerous torrents of melted snow. Pools of water are frequently formed, and the difficulties of proceeding towards the summit of the moun. tain, which rears its portentous looking altitude, pouring out torrents of smoke in the midst of the snowy track, increase at every moment. As the crater approximates, sand and ashes deepen over the surface; but what is still more distressing, sulphureous exhalations issue from the crevices of the mountain, some. times so abundantly as to endanger the adventurer's progress to the final object of his pursuit and curiosity. Nor is he less annoyed by gusts of thick smoke emitted from the volcanic summit, accompanied with alarming sounds, that seem to rise from the very centre, and which have been compared to the discharge of cannon, whose noise spreads with reverberating echo from cavern to cavern. In this part of the ascent, which is generally attempted before day-break, the stars appear to be much increased in number, and the light of each materially enhanced in brightness; the milky way, in particular, seems like a pure flame shot across the heavens. The phenomenon of falling stars is observable, which Mr. TNA. Brydone considers as a proof that these bodies move in regions beyond the limits which philosophers have assigned to our atmosphere. He is also of opinion, that the satellites of Jupiter might be discovered, even with the naked eye, at least with a very small glass, for several clusters of stars attract the eye totally invisible from the inferior regions. tower. At no considerable distance from the foot of the Philosogreat crater is an ancient erection, called Il Torre del pher's Philosopho, or the philosopher's tower, a name which has induced the opinion of its having been constructed by the philosopher Empedocles, at the time when he was engaged in studying the phænomena of Ætna, into whose burning crater, as some authors have asserted, and as many readers, probably more fond of the marvellous than of truth, have believed, he precipitated himself, in order to throw a splendour over his name by the concealment of his mode of dissolution. The mountain, however, is reported to have thrown up his brazen sandals, and thus exposed his folly. So Horace, By some the philosopher's tower is considered to be the remains of a temple of Vulcan; while others suppose it to have been a watch-tower of the Normans, constructed to watch their enemies, and to give notice to the island, by means of signals, of their movements. M. de Non supposes it to have been erected on occasion of the emperor Adrian's visit to Etna. Spallanzani examined the materials of this building, and found that they consisted of a cement of lime, which had become a carbonate of lime, and two species of lava, whose base was hornstone, and emitting an argilla ceous smell from the fractures. Houel denies the antiquity of this construction, upon the ground of its bearing no kind of resemblance to the Greek or Roman mode of architecture. It is now neither watch-tower nor temple, but a desirable place of shelter and of rest to the traveller, who, having performed some of the previous journey during the night, usually waits on this spot for the earliest dawn, of which he avails himself to hasten to the contemplation of that scene of majesty and magnificence which opens to the eye from the summit. Every writer upon Etna has attempted View from the description of this scene, and remarked its upon sublime peculiarities; and each, perhaps, has added some circumstance, before unnoticed, to heighten the picture, and to impress the reader with the conviction, of what is indeed the truth, that the prospect which stretches far away in every direction is one of the most enchanting and magnificent throughout the realms of nature. The writer of this article will adopt the description of Brydone, which happened first to have attracted his attention in earlier life, and still possesses the power of enchanting his imagination. "In about an hour's climbing we arrived at a place where there was no snow; and where a warm and comfortable vapour issued from the mountain, which induced us to make another halt. Here I found the mercury at 19° 6. The thermometer was fallen three degrees below the point of congelation; and before we left the summit of Etna, it fell two degrees more, namely, to 27. From this spot it was only about 300 the summit. ETNA. yards to the highest summit of the mountain, where we arrived in full time to see the most wonderful and most sublime sight in nature. "But here description must ever fall short; for no imagination has dared to form an idea of so glorious and so magnificent a scene. Neither is there, on the surface of this globe, any one point that unites so many awful and sublime objects. The immense elevation from the surface of the earth, drawn as it were to a single point, without any neighbouring mountain for the senses and imagination to rest upon and recover from their astonishment in their way down to the world. This point or pinnacle, raised on the brink of a bottomless gulph, as old as the world, often discharging rivers of fire, and throwing out burning rocks, with a noise that shakes the whole island. Add to this the unbounded extent of the prospect, comprehending the greatest diversity and the most beautiful scenery in nature, with the rising sun advancing in the east to illuminate the wondrous scene. "The whole atmosphere by degrees kindled up, and shewed dimly and faintly the boundless prospect around. Both sea and land looked dark and confused, as if only emerging from their original chaos, and light and darkness seemed still undivided; till the morning by degrees advancing completed the separation. The stars are extinguished and the shades disappear. The forests, which but now seemed black and bottomless gulphs, from whence no ray was reflected to shew their form or colours, appear a new creation rising to sight, catching life and beauty from every increasing beam. The scene still enlarges, and the horizon seems to widen and expand itself on all sides; till the sun, like the great Creator, appears in the east, and with his plastic ray completes the mighty scene. All appears enchantment; and it is with difficulty we can believe we are still on earth. The senses, unaccustomed to the sublimity of such a scene, are bewildered and confounded; and it is not till after some time that they are capable of separating and judging of the objects that compose it. The body of the sun is seen rising from the ocean, immense tracts both of sea and land intervening: the islands of Lipari, Panari, Alicudi, Strombolo, and Volcano, with their smoking summits, appear under your feet; and you look down on the whole of Sicily as on a map; and can trace every river through all its windings from its source to its mouth. The view is absolutely boundless on every side; nor is there any one object within the circle of vision to interrupt it, so that the sight is every where lost in the immensity; and I am persuaded it is only from the imperfection of our organs, that the coasts of Africa, and even of Greece, are not discovered, as. they are certainly above the horizon. The circumference of the visible horizon on the top of Etna cannot be less than 2000 miles. At Malta, which is near 200 miles distant, they perceive all the eruptions from the second region; and that island is often discovered from about one half the elevation of the mountain: so that at the whole elevation the horizon must extend to near double that distance, or 400 miles, which makes 800 miles for the diameter of the circle, and 2400 for the circumference. But this is by much too vast for our senses, not intended to grasp so boundless a scene..... But the most beautiful part of the scene is certainly the mountain itself, the island of Sicily, and the numerous islands lying round it. All these, by a kind of magic ETNA in vision, that I am at a loss to account for, seem as if they were brought close round the skirts of Etna; the distances appearing reduced to nothing. Perhaps this singular effect is produced by the rays of light passing from a rarer medium into a denser, which (from a well known law in optics) to an observer in the rare medium appears to lift up objects that are at the bottom of the dense one, as a piece of money placed in a bason appears lifted up as soon as the bason is filled with water. "The Regione Deserta, or the frigid zone of Ætna, is the first object that calls your attention. It is marked out by a circle of snow and ice, which extends on all sides to the distance of about eight miles. In the centre of this circle, the great crater of the mountain rears its burning head, and the regions of intense cold and of intense heat seem for ever to be united in the same point.....The Regione Deserta is immediately succeeded by the Sylvosa, or the woody region, which forms a circle or girdle of the most beautiful green, which surrounds the mountain on all sides, and is certainly one of the most delightful spots on earth. This presents a remarkable contrast with the desert region. It is not smooth and even, like the greatest part of the latter; but is finely variegated by an infinite number of those beautiful little mountains that have heen formed by the different eruptions of Etna. All these have now acquired a wonderful degree of fertility, except a very few that are but newly formed, that is within these five or six hundred years; for it certainly requires some thousands to bring them to their greatest degree of perfection. We looked down into the craters of these, and attempted, but in vain, to number them. "This zone is every where succeeded by the vineyards, orchards, and corn-fields that compose the Regione Culta, or the fertile region. This zone makes a delightful contrast with the other two regions. It is bounded by the sea to the south and south-east, and on all its other sides by the rivers Semetus and Alcantara, which run almost round it. The whole course of these rivers is seen at once, and all their beautiful windings through these fertile vallies, looked upon as the favourite possession of Ceres herself, and the very scene of the rape of her daughter Proserpine. "Cast your eyes a little further, and you embrace the whole island; all its cities, rivers, and mountains, delineated in the great chart of nature; all the adjacent islands, the whole coast of Italy, as far as your eye can reach; for it is no where bounded, but every where lost in the space. On the sun's first rising, the shadow of the mountain extends across the whole island, and makes a large track visible even in the sea and in the air. By degrees this is shortened, and in a little time is confined only to the neighbourhood of Etna." crater. The great crater may be described as a cup, or The great hollow, at the top of a hill of a conical figure, rising equally on all sides, composed chiefly of ashes and sand which have been emitted from the mouth at different periods when eruptions occurred, which, accumulating from time to time, it has at length acquired its present dimensions. It is besides covered with frozen snow, and the gusts of wind are so intensely cold and violent as to render it extremely difficult to preserve one's station. The south wind is most prevalent. The conical hill, to which we have alluded, is ETV about ten miles in circumference, and a quarter of a mile in height, to which the depth of the crater pretty nearly corresponds. The opinion of travellers is somewhat various respecting the dimensions of the opening, which may be accounted for in two ways: the one, the extreme annoyance of the clouds of smoke, which issue forth so as to prevent very accurate observations; and the other, the real variations of extent to which it is probably liable, from the greater or less degrees of accumulation of ashes and stones of which it is composed, proportionably to the quantities of volcanic matter forced up at different eruptions. Sir William Hamilton calculates it, in 1769, at two miles and a half in circumference; Mr. Brydone, in 1770, at three miles and a half; M. D'Orville, in 1727, at three or four miles. The crater presents the appearance of an inverted cone, shelving down from the aperture, and the inside is encrusted with variously coloured salts and sulphur. The upper edges of the crater are much broken and indented; its general figure is oval; and its greatest diameter, from east to west. Spallanzani, who visited Ætna in 1788, represents the inner sides as terminating in a plain of more than half a mile in circumference, in the centre of which is a circular aperture, of the diameter of five poles; from which issued a large column of smoke, ascending perpendicularly, and of a white colour. He observed within the cavity a liquid matter, apparently in a state of ebullition, without spreading itself over the bottom, which he considered to be melted lava. To ascertain, however, the reality of this appearance, several stones were thrown into it, which seemed to fall flat as into a thick paste or pitch; but those which did not descend into the boiling matter rebounded, with quite a different sound, which led to the conclusion that the bottom must be compact, and possess great solidity. Baron Reidsdel, on the contrary, whose visit preceded that of Spallanzani by twenty years, states, that no sound whatever was returned on throwing stones into the crater, but that he heard a noise from the gulph resembling that of the sea when agitated by a tempest. He gives no intimation of the bottom to which the former traveller refers; but the crater was then extended towards the east, with an opening which no longer exists. Sir William Hamilton and Brydone were unable to explore this curious hollow, from the intensity of the heat; but D'Orville and his companion were more adventurous. Having fastened themselves to ropes, which were each held at their extremities by two or three men, to prevent accidents, they descended to the very brink of the awful abyss, but they were prevented from a very close inspection by the sulphureous flames and smoke that issued from the burning aperture. They beheld, however, a mass of matter in the middle, which rose in the shape of a cone to the height of about sixty feet, with a circumference of from six to eight hundred feet at the base, or as far down as they could trace it. Small lambent flames, and offensive vapour and smoke, issued forth in every direction. They were soon, however, induced to hasten back to a less precarious standing, from perceiving on the northern side, opposite to that where they were making their observations, a considerable commotion and a fresh issue of smoke and ashes, accompanied with a portentous noise. Though these were of temporary duration, they were sufficient to warn them against indulging curiosity at such a risk ÆTNA. of personal safety. This was in 1727. Travellers differ considerably respecting the state of State of the the air on the summit of Etna; some complaining of air. a difficulty of respiration, others being insensible to any such change. Undoubted experiments have indeed demonstrated that, in consequence of the great rarefaction of the air in the elevated regions, this effect must ensue; but since this mountain is inferior in height above the level of the sea to the lowest point at which such a sensation has been found to occur in other places, it may be imputed, perhaps, to the different constitutional temperament of men. The barometer, however, indicates some considerable alteration of weight and rarity. summit. Differences also occur with regard to the appear- Eminences ances from the summit. Strabo represents the top of at the Etna as a level plain, with a smoking hill in the centre. Spallanzani's account implies that it is bifurcated, as he saw another eminence from that on which he stood to the northward, about a quarter of a mile distant, with a much smaller crater and an inferior issue of smoke. M. Houel, in 1782, speaks of three eminences, which are placed as in an isosceles triangle, only two of which are visible at any considerable distance; and in the midst of these is the principal mouth, having a diameter of sixty feet, and lying somewhat to the northward. Fazello describes a little hill which had been produced in 1444, and appeared in the mouth of the crater in his time, of a conical shape, which fell into the crater after a tremendous eruption, and was absorbed. Borelli also relates, that the summit of Ætna rose like a tower, but was engulphed in the crater in the conflagration of 1669. These, and other accounts, tend to prove the changes to which the top of the mountain is perpetually exposed, and which might be naturally expected from its containing such an immense caldron of boiling matter, so often driven about with eruptic violence. Etna is extremely productive in vegetable variety. Vegetable We have already spoken of its large species of trees, producparticularly the oak and the chesnut. It furnishes tions. also an abundant botanical garden, consisting of plants and flowers, the cinnamon, sarsaparilla, sassafras, and others. Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch, and Aristotle celebrate its odoriferous productions; the latter declares the smell of the plants was so strong as to render hunting impracticable. Its animals are considerably reduced. Wild beasts Animals. at one time pervaded the woody regions, but they are much degenerated; the wild boar, the goat, and the roebuck remain, but stags are no longer to be found. The horses of Etna were once esteemed the best in Sicily, but they cannot now boast of such a pre-eminence: the other cattle are, however, still valued highly. Spallanzani mentions that he found no other animals in the more elevated regions than a few lion-ants (Myrmelion formicarum), which made their pit-falls in the dust of the lava; in the upper part of the middle region he met with partridges, jays, thrushes, kites, ravens, and crows. There exists considerable disagreement upon the Springs. subject of the scarcity of water in Etna, and it is not easy to reconcile these contradictions. Some assert that this mountain has always been extremely deficient |
