Historical records furnish more positive teaching, as the bay certainly existed fifteen hundred years B.C. It was at this epoch that the islands of the Greek Archipelago were invaded by the Phœnicians. This nation occupied Therasia and Santorini, as the many ruins still to be found testify, and they are built on the top of the pumice-stone. But the great eruption must have been long before that, since thick beds of pebbles and shells, from fifteen to twenty yards deep, lie on the tufa; and geologists know well, from the habitual slowness of this raising of the soil, that it corresponds to many centuries. There was also a population on the islands differing from those who were buried in the ashes, and from the Phœnicians. The latter knew the use of bronze, and introduced it on all the shores of the Mediterranean. Most likely we may place the great event during the early days of Egyptian civilisation, which some historians compute to be four or five thousand years ago. The primitive population present no trace of the influence which that nation exerted, and with which commerce would have placed them in frequent relations. * * * * * The Conductors of CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL beg to direct the attention of CONTRIBUTORS to the following notice: _1st._ All communications should be addressed to the 'Editor, 339 High Street, Edinburgh.' _2d._ To insure the return of papers that may prove ineligible, postage-stamps should in every case accompany them. _3d._ MANUSCRIPTS should bear the author's full _Christian_ name, surname, and address, legibly written. _4th._ MS. should be written on one side of the leaf only. _5th._ Poetical offerings should be accompanied by an envelope, stamped and directed. _Unless Contributors comply with the above rules, the Editor cannot undertake to return ineligible papers._ * * * * * Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON, and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH. * * * * * _All Rights Reserved._ End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art,, by Various