the Catanians in 415 B.C. There are also remains of a Roman amphitheatre, bath, and tombs. Of more modern structures, the cathedral is the first to claim our notice. It was commenced by Roger I. in 1091, but in less than a century was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. At one corner of the building you descend through a narrow passage cut in the lava, to a crypt in which some ancient Roman arches are shown, partly filled up with lava. Here also is seen a small stream of very clear water flowing through the lava. The cathedral contains several interesting tombs, and in the chapel of S. Agata, her body is preserved in a silver sarcophagus, which during certain fetes is carried through the town in procession, attended by all the authorities. S. Agata was martyred by the Prætor Quintianus in the reign of Decius, and is the patron saint of the city. Whenever Catania has been in trouble from the approach of lava streams, or from earthquakes, the veil of S. Agata has been used as a charm to avert the evil. The University of Catania is the most celebrated in Sicily. It was founded in 1445 by Alfonso of Arragon, and has produced several men of eminence. The city also possesses one of the finest monasteries in the world, now converted into schools and barracks. Formerly the monastery of S. Nicola was occupied by 40 monks, all members of noble families; it is sufficiently large to hold 400. CHAPTER V. ERUPTIONS OF THE MOUNTAIN. Their frequency within the historical period.--525 B.C.--477 B.C.-- 426 B.C.--396 B.C.--140 B.C.--134 B.C.--126 B.C.--122 B.C.--49 B.C. --43 B.C.--38 B.C.--32 B.C.--40 A.D.--72.--253.--420.--812.--1169. --1181.--1285.--1329.--1333.--1371.--1408.--1444.--1446.--1447.-- Close of the Fifteenth Century.--1536.--1537--1566.--1579.--1603.-- 1607.--1610.--1614.--1619.--1633.--1646.--1651.--1669.--1682.--1688. --1689.--1693.--1694.--1702.--1723.--1732.--1735.--1744.--1747.-- 1755.--Flood of 1755.--1759.--1763.--1766.--1780.--1781.--1787.-- 1792.--1797.--1798.--1799.--1800.--1802.--1805.--1808.--1809.--1811. --1819.--1831.--1832.--1838.--1842.--1843.--1852.--1865.--1874.-- General character of the Eruptions. A list of all the eruptions of Etna from the earliest times has been given by several writers, notably by Ferrara in his _Descrizione dell' Etna_, and by Gemellaro. The latter places the first eruption in 1226 B.C. in the time of the Sicani; the second in 1170 B.C.; and of the third he says, "In 1149 B.C. there was an eruption, and Hercules in consequence fled from the island." Of course these dates are worthless, and the statements are no doubt based upon the assertion of Diodorus, that before the Trojan war the Sicani were driven from the east side of Sicily by the eruptions of the volcano. 1. The first eruption appears to have occurred in the time of Pythagoras; we have no details as to its nature.