Blogs using the British Newspaper Archive
Blog #7
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Volcanoes: 18th
century reports in newspapers
Volcanoes have such a powerful impact upon our minds and on
the environment around us. Reports are numerous in the British Newspaper Archive.
One of the earliest mentions of volcano in the BNA recounts how a very large
bird was suffocated by the ‘sulphurous vapours’ emitted by Etna. “…’tis conjectur’d that the sulphurous vapours
of that volcano suffocated him…”
Newcastle Courant - Saturday 08 July 1721
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BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/17210708/007/0003
‘A short account of the causes of
earthquakes’ was printed in the Sussex
Advertiser of February 1749. It provides a convincing explanation for the
origin of a volcano, even if we know much more today.
Sussex Advertiser - Sunday 19 February 1749 page 2
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BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000260/17490219/003/0002
The eruption of Vesuvius in 1737
was described in some detail in the Newcastle Courant in June 1737. The
procession of the people of Naples towards the volcano, carrying the Head of
St. Januarius and a piece of the Holy Cross, did not appear to make any
difference to the eruption.
Newcastle Courant - Saturday 25 June 1737 page 1
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http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/17370625/005/0001
The eruption of Vesuvius again in 1759 was reported in the London papers, and a synopsis
printed in the Caledonian Mercury in
January 1760. The lava flows ceased and local people had some respite.
Caledonian Mercury - Wednesday 16 January 1760
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http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000045/17600116/002/0001
Vesuvius attracted the attention of many. As British
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples from 1766 to 1800, Sir William Hamilton
became an expert on volcanoes. (He is often known as the husband of Emma
Hamilton, who became the mistress of Lord Nelson.) In October 1780, the Scots
Magazine published: ‘An account of the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August 1779’. In a letter from Sir William
Hamilton, K.B. F.R.S, to Joseph Banks, Esq; P.R.S., we can read some six pages of Hamilton’s
detailed work. In addition to the many observations about
the eruptions, made at a distance,
Hamilton experienced the volcano many times himself and says of this particular
occasion: “We then went up to the crater
of the volcano; in which we found, as usual, a little mountain throwing scoriae
and red-hot matter with loud explosions; but the smoke and smell of sulphur was
so intolerable, that we were under the necessity of quitting that curious spot
with the utmost precipitation.”
The Scots Magazine - Sunday 01 October 1780
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BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000545/17801001/001/0001?browse=true
In the latter half of the 18th century, the trend
towards a more analytical response to volcanoes and their eruptions is
apparent. The Scots Magazine
published a long article in February 1787, signed by Theophrastus, on: ‘Observations
on volcanoes, and the formation of basaltic rocks, with a collection of curious
recent phenomena.’ A summary of
earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural phenomena in the 1780s is given. The
article ends: “The knowledge of facts is the only foundation of true
philosophy.”
The Scots Magazine - Thursday 01 February 1787
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BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000545/17870201/001/0001?browse=true
Early in the 18th century, the sense of awe and
wonder at volcanic eruptions was strongly in evidence. This gave way to a
spirit of rational enquiry and fact gathering, as exemplified by Sir William
Hamilton. At the start of the 19th
century, understanding of volcanoes was increasing greatly, as part of the
growth of rational thinking about natural events, with explanations for their
behaviour being sought through
scientific study.
Ed King
January 2013
Further reading
Sir William Hamilton - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hamilton_%28diplomat%29
Volcanoes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano
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