Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1Humboldt, Alexander von
History
Cosmos: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1
Humboldt, Alexander von
Astronomy; Cosmography; Physical geography; Science -- History
p 234
Rocks which are merely broken through by the volcanic action are often
inclosed in the igneous products. Thus i have found angular fragments of
feldspathic syenite imbedded in the black augitic lava of the volcano of
Jorullo, in Mexico; but the masses of dolomite and granular limestone, which
contain magnificent clusters of crystalling fossils (vesuvian and garnets,
covered with mejonite, nepheline, and sodalite), are not the ejected
products of Vesuvius, these belonging rather to very generally distributed
formations, viz., strata of tufa, which are more ancient than the elevation
of the Somma and of Vesuvius, and are probably the products of a deep-seated
and concealed submarine volcanic action.*
[footnote] *Leop. von Buch, in Poggend., 'Annalen', bd. xxxvii., s. 179.
We find five metals among the products of existing volcanoes, iron, copper,
lead, arsenic, and selenium, discovered by Stromeyer in the crater of
Volcano.*
[footnote] *[The little island of Volcano is separated from Lipari by a
narrow channel. It appears to have exhibited strong signs of volcanic
activity long before the Christian era, and still emits gaseous exhalations.
Stromeyer detected the presence of selenium in a mixture of sal ammoniac
and sulphur. Another product, supposed to be peculiar to this volcano, is
boracic acid, which lines the sides of the cavities in beautiful white silky
crystals. Daubeney, op. cit., p. 257.] -- Tr.
The vapors that rise from the 'fumarolles' cause the sublimation of the
chlorids of iron, copper, lead, and ammonium; iron glanceI and chlorid of
sodium (the latter often in large quantities) fill the cavities of recent
lava streams and the fissures of the margin of the crater.
[footnote] *Regarding the chemical origin of iron glance in volcanic
masses, see Mitscherlich, in Poggend., 'Annalen', bd. xv., s. 630; and on
the liberation of hydrochloric acid in the crater, see Gay-Lussac, in the
'Annals de Chimique et de Physique', t. xxii., p. 423.
The mineral composition of lava differs according to the nature of the
crystalline rock of which the volcano is formed, the height of the point
where the eruption occurs, whether at the foot of the mountain or in the
neighborhood of the crater, and the condition of temperature of the
interior. Vitreous volcanic formations, obsidian, pearl-stone, and pumice,
are entirely wanting in some volcanoes, while in the case of others they
only proceed from the crater, or, at any rate, from very considerable
heights. These important and involved relations can only be explained by
very accurate crystallographic and chemical investigations. My
fellow-traveler in Siberia, Gustav Rose, and subsequently Hermann Abich,
have already been able, by their fortunate and ingenious researches, to
throw much light on the structural relations of the various kinds of
volcanic rocks.
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