A Particular Accompt of Divers Minerals, Cast up and Burned by the Late Fire of Mount Aetna; Mentioning the Several Specimina, Expected in Nu nb. 51, p. 1031. from Some Ingenious Marchants of England, Being upon th Place, and Since Come to the Hands of the Publisher, for the Repository of the R. Society

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. October 17. 1669. The Contents. A particular Accompt of divers Minerals, sent from the lately burning Mount Aetna. Some Observations touching some of the Organs of Generation. Extracts of two Letters, giving an Accompt of a very sudden and excessive Swelling of a Woman's Breasts. Some Reflections made on the enlarged Accompt of Dr Witty's Answer to Hydrologia Chymica; chiefly concerning the Cause of the sudden Loss of the virtues of some Mineral Waters. An Accompt of two Books: I. GUGAGING EPITOMISED by MICHAEL DARY. II. HISTOIRE NATURELLE DES ANIMAUX, PLANTES ET MINERAUX, qui entrent dans la Composition de la THERIAQUE d'ANDROMACHUS, par M. CHARAS. A particular Accompt Of divers Minerals, cast up and burned by the late Fire of Mount Aetna; mentioning the several Specimens, expected in Numb. 51, p. 1031, from some ingenious Merchants of England, being upon th place, and since come to the hands of the Publisher, for the Repository of the R. Society. Since it cannot but considerably conduce to the rendering a rational accompt of the Cause of such Fiery Eruptions, as are frequently made by divers Mountains, if the matters, by them cast up, be well examined, in regard that if they are found to be of an easily inflammable nature, they may quickly be kindled by some falling stones, which breaking in pieces may strike sparks into and so set on fire such combustible matter, they light upon; It was thought, it would not be amiss, by the favour of our friends in Sicily, to procure from the lately flaming Mount there, what Minerals they should be able to get upon the place. And accordingly we received by a ship lately arrived from Messina; First, a good quantity of Ashes, taken up in divers parts of and about Etna; some at the top or mouth of the new made Mountain; some a mile off, some four, some ten miles, some but half a mile distant, and others on the skirts of the said Mount; whereof the four first were found to agree well enough with their distances, but the two last to differ much both from the former and from one another; the former 4 sorts having been found very dry like dust, but the two latter being still very moist, though in Sicily (as we are informed) they have lain exposed a good while to the hot Sun; besides that the two last differ from one another, in that one sort of them consists of hard and small lumps, the other, of very soft dirty grains, yet both moist and of a vitriolate taste. Secondly, Some of the Cinders, which the people of Sicily call Sciarri, whereof some are coarser, taken up at some distance from the Mouth, and of these some black, with a crust of Brimstone, some of red hew; others finer, fit to be got out of the gutters of fire at the very Mouth. Both these kinds are light; but then there is a third sort of Stone, very solid and ponderous, which seems to be made up of a conflux of divers Minerals, melted together. Thirdly, A piece of Sal Armonick, and several pieces of Sandever, besides those moist Vitriolate Ashes abovementioned. All which was accompanied with a Mapp of that part of the Country, where the Fire hath run; in which Mapp the annexed Scale of a Mile shows, that the Fire spread about 3 miles in breadth, and 17 miles in length; the same being now quite extinct, but that only in the cliffs or hollowness's of the rocks of Sciarri some fire still remains glowing.