Not indeed until near the close of the seventeenth century is there any evidence that the central cone of Vesuvius was in existence; but in October 1685 an eruption occurred which is recorded by Sorrentino, during which was erected "a new mountain within, and higher than the old one, and visible from Naples," a statement evidently referable to the existing cone--so that it is little more than two centuries since this famous volcanic mountain assumed its present form. (_h._) _Eruptions between the years 1500 and 1800._--Since A.D. 1500 there have been fifty-six recorded eruptions of Vesuvius; one of these in 1767 was of terrific violence and destructiveness, and is represented by Sir William Hamilton in views taken both before and during the eruption. A pen-and-ink drawing of the appearance of the crater before the eruption is here reproduced from Hamilton's picture, from which it will be seen that the central crater contained within itself a second crater-cone, from whence steam, lava, and stones were being erupted (Fig. 7). Thus it will be seen that Vesuvius at this epoch consisted of three crater-cones within each other. The first, Monte di Somma; the second, the cone of Vesuvius; and the third, the little crater-cone within the second. During this eruption, vast lava-sheets invaded the fields and vineyards on the flanks of the mountain. A vivid account of this eruption, as witnessed by Padre Torre, is given by Professor Phillips.[8] We shall pass over others without further reference until we come down to our own times, in which Vesuvius has resumed its old character, and in one grand exhibition of volcanic energy, which took place in 1872, has evinced to the world that it still contains within its deep-seated laboratory all the elements of destructive force which it exhibited at the commencement of our era. [Illustration: Fig. 7.--View of the crater of Vesuvius before the eruption of 1767, showing an interior crater-cone rising from the centre of the exterior crater.--(After Sir W. Hamilton.)]