CHAPTER XXII. SCENES IN FRIGHTENED NAPLES. Blistering Showers of Hot Ashes--The People Frantic--Cry Everywhere "When Will It End?"--Atmosphere Charged with Electricity and Poisonous Fumes 279 CHAPTER XXIII. VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES EXPLAINED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. The Theories of Science on Seismic Convulsions--Volcanoes Likened to Boils on the Human Body, Through Which the Fires and Impurities of the Blood Manifest Themselves--Seepage of Ocean Waters Through Crevices in the Rocks Reaches the Internal Fires of the Earth--Steam Is Generated and an Explosion Follows--Geysers and Steam Boilers as Illustrations--Views of the World's Most Eminent Scientists Concerning the Causes of the Eruptions of Mount Pelee and La Soufriere 285 CHAPTER XXIV. TERRIBLE VOLCANIC DISASTERS OF THE PAST. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and the Other Cities of the Plain--The Bible Account a Graphic Description of the Event--Ancient Writers Tell of Earthquakes and Volcanoes of Antiquity--Discovery of Buried Cities of Which No Records Remain--Formation of the Dead Sea--The Valley of the Jordan and Its Physical Characteristics 303 CHAPTER XXV. VESUVIUS AND THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Most Famous Volcanic Eruption in History--Roman Cities Overwhelmed--Scenes of Horror Described by Pliny, the Great Classic Writer, an Eye-Witness of the Disaster--Buried in Ashes and Lava--The Stricken Towns Preserved for Centuries Excavated in Modern Times as a Wonderful Museum of the Life of 1,800 Years Ago 309 CHAPTER XXVI. MOUNT AETNA AND THE SICILIAN HORRORS. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. A Volcano with a Record of Twenty-five Centuries--Seventy-eight Recorded Eruptions--Three Hundred Thousand Inhabitants Dwelling on the Slopes of the Mountain and in the Valleys at Its Base--Stories of Earthquake Shocks and Lava Flows--Tales of Destruction--Described by Ancient and Modern Writers and Eye-Witnesses 321 CHAPTER XXVII. LISBON EARTHQUAKE SCOURGED. BY TRUMBULL WHITE. Sixty Thousand Lives Lost in a Few Moments--An Opulent and Populous Capital Destroyed--Graphic Account by an English Merchant Who Resided in the Stricken City--Tidal Waves Drown Thousands in the City Streets--Ships Engulfed in the Harbor--Criminals Rob and Burn--Terrible Desolation and Suffering 334 CHAPTER XXVIII. JAPAN AND ITS DISASTROUS EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES. BY TRUMBULL WHITE.