Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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M. Cordier Found Several Crevices, The Heat Of
Which Was That Of Boiling Water.
It might be thought that these
vapours, which are emitted in gusts, contain muriatic or sulphurous
acid; but when condensed, they have no particular taste; and
experiments, which have been made with re-agents, prove that the
chimneys of the peak exhale only pure water.
This phenomenon,
analogous to that which I observed in the crater of Jorullo,
deserves the more attention, as muriatic acid abounds in the
greater part of volcanoes, and as M. Vauquelin has discovered it
even in the porphyritic lavas of Sarcouy in Auvergne.
I sketched on the spot a view of the interior edge of the crater,
as it presented itself in the descent by the eastern break. Nothing
is more striking than the manner in which these strata of lava are
piled on one another, exhibiting the sinuosities of the calcareous
rock of the higher Alps. These enormous ledges, sometimes
horizontal, sometimes inclined and undulating, are indicative of
the ancient fluidity of the whole mass, and of the combination of
several deranging causes, which have determined the direction of
each flow. The top of the circular wall exhibits those curious
ramifications which we find in coke. The northern edge is most
elevated. Towards the south-west the enclosure is considerably sunk
and an enormous mass of scorious lava seems glued to the extremity
of the brink. On the west the rock is perforated; and a large
opening gives a view of the horizon of the sea.
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