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When arsenick with soap gives a regulus, and with mercury sublimate a volatile fusible salt, like butter of antimony; doth not this show that arsenick, which is a substance totally volatile, is compounded of fixed and

volatile parts.

Newton.

Spirituous liquors are so far from attenuating, volutilizing, and rendering perspirable the animal fluids, that they rather condense them.

Arbuthnot.

VOLATILE, in physics, is commonly used to denote a mixed body whose integrant parts are easily dissipated by fire or heat; but it is more properly used for bodies whose parts are easily separated from each other and dispersed in air.

VOLATILE ALKALI, called in the new French nomenclature ammonia, one of the three alkaline

salts. See ALKALI. VOLCANO, n. s. ing mountain.

Ital. from Vulcan. A burn

Navigators tell us there is a burning mountain in an island, and many volcanos and fiery hills. Browne. Subterraneous minerals ferment, and cause earthquakes, and cause furious eruptions of volcanos, tumble down broken rocks.

Bentley.

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noes all occupy the tops of mountains; we find none of them in plains; some of them, indeed, which are situated in the ocean, do not rise much above the surface; but even these volcanoes seem to be the apices of mountains, the greater part of which are covered by the sea. The substances ejected by volcanoes are fixed and inflammable air, water, ashes, pumice-stones, stones that have undergone no fusion, and lava. The phenomena which take place during the eruptions of volcanoes have been so fully described under the articles ETNA, HECLA, ICELAND, and VESUVIUS, that a repetition of this kind here will not be expected. All that remains, therefore, is to mention some of the opinions of philosophers concerning the causes of volcanoes. The most elaborate theory, perhaps, that has yet appeared is that of M. Houel.

According to him water is necessary for the formation of volcanoes. All volcanoes are near the sea; they are even extinguished when the sea retires from them; for we can still perceive the craters of volcanoes in several lofty inland mountains, which discover what they have been formerly. He supposes that a long series of ages was necessary for the formation of a volcano, and that they were all formed under the surface of the sea. The first explosion which laid open the foundations of the deep would possibly be preceded by an earthquake. The waters would be parted by a vast globe of burning air, which would issue forth with a trẻmendous noise, opening at the same time a large and wide vent for the immense flame that was to follow; and which, as it issued from the bottom of the sea, would be spread over its surface by the first gusts of wind which followed. A fire which was to burn through thousands of years could not be faint or feeble when it was first lighted up. Its first eruptions therefore have undoubtedly been very violent, and the ejected matter very copious. For a long series of ages it would continue to discharge torrents of lava from the bosom of its native earth, and its first crater would be composed of the fragments of the same earth. Thus, according to our author, the foundations of the burning mountain would be laid in the bottom of the sea; and even then it would have a hollow cup or crater on the top, similar to that which is to be found on all volcanoes at present. But the question now very naturally occurs, by what means was the internal fire preserved from extinction by the waters of the ocean, which must thus have been incumbent upon it? the substances in fusion to make an eruption, next To this he replies that the fire, having disposed laid open the earth, and emitted as much matter as it could discharge, with force sufficient to overcome the resistance of the column of water which would oppose its ascent; but, as the strength of the fire diminished, the matter discharged was no longer expelled beyond the mouth, but, by accumulating there, soon closed up the orifice. Thus only small orifices would be left, sufficient for giving vent to the vapors of the volcano, and from which only small bubbles of air could ascend to the surface of the water, until new circumstances, such as originally gave occasion to the eruption of the volcano, again took place in the bowels of the earth, and produced new eruptions either through the same or other mouths. The appearance of the sea over the new formed volcano, in its state of tranquillity, would then be similar to what it is betwixt the islands of Basilizzo and Pariaria. Columns of air

bubbles are there ascending at the depth of more than thirty feet, and burst on their arriving at the surface. This air would continue to disengage itself with little disturbance as long as it issued forth only in small quantity, until, at the very instant of explosion, when prodigious quantities, generated in the burning focus, would make their way all at once; and the same phenomena which originally took place would again make their appearance.' A volcano, while under water, cannot act precisely as it does in the open air. Its eruptions, though equally strong, cannot extend to so great a distance. The lava accumulates in greater quantity round the crater; the sands, ashes, and pozzolano, are not carried away by the winds, but are deposited around its edges, and prevent the marine substances which are driven that way by the waters from entering. Thus they agglomerate with these bodies, and thus a pyramidal mount is formed of all the materials together. In this manner Mr. Houel supposes that the mountain was gradually raised out of the sea by the accumulation of lava, &c., at every eruption, and that the cavern of the volcano was gradually enlarged, being driven down into the bottom of the cavern by the continued action of the stones which the volcano is constantly throwing up; that it was there fused, and at last thrown out at the top of the mountain to accumulate on its sides. Mr. Houel's opinion about the volcanic fire we shall give in his own words: We cannot form any idea of fire subsisting alone, without any pabulum, and unconnected with any other principle. We never behold it but in conjunction with some other body, which nourishes and is consumed by it. The matter in fusion, which issues from the focus, is but the incombustible part of that which nourishes the fire, and into the bosom of which that active principle penetrates in search of pabulum. But, as the fire acts only in proportion to the facility with which it can dissolve and evaporate, I am of opinion that it is only the bottom of the volcano on which it acts; and that its action extends no farther than to keep these substances which it has melted in a constant state of ebullition. That fusible matter being discharged from the mouth of the volcano, and hardening as it is gradually cooled by the action of the air, produces that species of stones which are distinguished by the name of lavas. This lava, even when in the focus, and in a state of fluidity, must also possess a certain degree of solidity, on account of the gravity and density of its particles. It therefore opposes the fire with a degree of resistance which irritates it, and requires, to put it into a state of ebullition, a power proportioned to the bulk of the mass. That quantity of matter, when dissolved by the action of the fire, must constantly resemble any other thick substance in a state of ebullition. Small explosions are produced in various parts over the surface of every such substance while in a state of ebullition; and, by the bursting of these bubbles, a great number of small particles are scattered around. This is the very process carried on in the focus of a volcano, though on a scale immensely more large; and the vast explosions there produced expel every body which lies in their way with the utmost violence; nor is there any piece of lava which falls down from the upper part of the arch of weight sufficient to resist this violent centrifugal force. No estimate can be made of the power of these explosions but by observing the obstacles they overcome, and what

enormous bodies are raised up and thrown to an immense height and distance. Such vast pieces of lava are to be seen on the top of Vesuvius and Lipari, that the projectile force by which they have been thrown out appears altogether incredible. No person can harbour the least suspicion of their having been laid there by any human power; and the appearance of them demonstrates that they have been ejected from the bottom of the volcano not in a state of fusion, but coherent and solid. A piece of lava lies on the top of Etna of more than a cubic fathom in bulk, and whose weight therefore cannot be less than sixteen tons. What an amazing force then must it have required not only to raise this enormous mass from the volcanic focus, but to make it describe a parabola of about a league in diameter after it had come out of the crater! When we consider how much the volcanic focus is sunk below the base of the mountain, that the mountain itself is 10,000 feet high, and that consequently there must have been a power sufficient to raise such a mass 12,000 feet perpendicular, the boldest imagination must be lost in amazement. This may serve to give us some idea of the nature of that power which operates in the foci of volcanoes; a power which is unknown and inconceivable, and may justly be reckoned among the mysteries of nature.' The pabulum, by which the internal life is supported, Mr. Houel thinks to be substances contained in the mountain itself, together with bitumen, sulphur, and other inflammable materials, which may from time to time flow into the focus of the volcano in a melted state through subterranean ducts, and the explosions he ascribes to water making its way in the same manner. The water is converted into steam, which fills the cavern and pushes the melted lava out at the crater: this opinion is corroborated by the copious smoke which always precedes an eruption. But, combined with the water, there is always a quantity of other substances whose effects precede, accompany, or follow the eruptions, and produce all the various phenomena which they display. The eruption of water from Etna in the year 1775 proceeded undoubtedly from this cause. The sea, or some of the reservoirs in Etna or the adjacent mountains, by some means discharged a vast quantity of water into the focus of the volcano. That water was instantly resolved into vapor, which presently filled the whole cavern, and issued from the mouth of the crater. As soon as it made its way into the open atmosphere it was condensed again into water, which streamed down the sides of the mountain in a dreadful and destructive torrent. Thus we have given a view of Mr. Houel's theory, according to which volcanoes originally began at the bottom of the sea; and not only the mountain, but all the adjoining country was formed by successive eruptions. It is rather a theory of mountains raised by subterranean heat than of volcanoes, and does not attempt to explain the origin of the fire, which is the principal difficulty; neither does his theory account for the immense height to which matters are sometimes thrown during eruptions. This indeed it is impossible to account for without supposing that the resistance of the air is diminished. The excessive opposition of the atmosphere to bodies moving with very great degrees of velocity has been taken notice of under the article PROJEC TILES. If it has so much effect then upon solid and round globes of iron, what ought it to be on irregular masses of rock, or streams of liquid lava?

Nevertheless in the great eruption of Vesuvius, in 1779, Sir William Hamilton informs us that a vast stream of lava was projected to the height of at least 10,000 feet above the top of the mountain. Had the air resisted this liquid matter as it does a cannon-ball, it must have been dashed in pieces almost as soon as it issued from the crater. Either the extreme heat of the lava, therefore, or some other cause, must have contributed very much to diminish, or rather in a manner to annihilate, the resistance of the atmosphere at that time. As for the lighter materials, though they may be supposed to be carried to a vast distance by the wind, after being projected to a great height in the air, it is inconceivable how their motion was not suddenly stopped, and they scattered all around the top of the volcano by the violence of the blast. Substances of this kind, when quietly carried up with smoke, will indeed fly to a great distance; for we are assured that the ashes of the great fire at London, in 1666, were carried by the wind to the distance of sixteen miles. It is therefore the less incredible that those of the great eruption of Vesuvius, in 1779, should be carried to the distance of 100 miles, as we are informed was the case. To account for the volcanic fire Dr. Woodward and others have had recourse to the hypothesis of a central fire, to which the volcanoes are only so many chimneys or spiracles. Dr. Hutton, in his theory of the earth, adopts the same opinion; but, as it did not immediately concern the subject of which he treated, he evades any question concerning its origin by declaring himself satisfied of its existence without any enquiry into its origin. Others, as Dr. Lister, have had recourse to the well known experiment of the fermentation of sulphur and iron, which will take fire when mixed in considerable quantity and moistened with water. Pyrites, therefore, which are a natural mixture of these two substances, it is supposed, may naturally give rise to volcanoes. Instances are indeed adduced which undeniably prove that these substances will spontaneously take fire when thrown together in large heaps. Beds of pyrites, therefore, taking fire in the earth by means of a fermentation occasioned by water, are now generally supposed to be the cause of volcanoes; and the observation that volcanoes are generally near the sea is thought to confirm this hypothesis. When the matter is properly considered, however, it must be evident that neither of these hypotheses can answer the purpose. The central fire of Dr. Woodward and others is a cause too magnificent even for volcanoes. If any such fire is supposed, we must imagine a burning globe in the centre of the earth, whose heat is sufficient to vitrify the most solid and refractory terrestrial substances. But of what dimensions are we to suppose this globe? Is it one, two, three, four, or more thousands of miles in diameter? Very large indeed it must be; for we could scarcely suppose that stones could be projected even from the depth of 500 miles into the air. But even this supposition is inadmissible; for, as the fire of volcanoes is at times exceedingly augmented from some cause or other, were this cause general, as it must be in case of a burning central globe, the whole number of volcanoes existing on earth would be in a state of eruption at once. Besides if we were to suppose a burning globe of 7000 miles in diameter to suffer the least dilatation throughout its vast bulk, which must be the undoubted consequence of an

augmentation of heat from any unknown cause, all the volcanoes in the world would not be sufficient to give vent to it, though they should spout forth incessant cataracts of lava for centuries together. A dissolution of the whole globe must therefore undoubtedly take place; and, though we should lessen the diameter of our burning globe by 1000 miles, our difficulties will be as far from being removed as before. We must have recourse then to some operation by which we know that nature can kindle and extinguish fires occasionally; and, if we can suppose such an operation to take place in the bowels of the earth, we may then reasonably conclude that we have discovered a cause adequate to the production of volcanoes. Such a cause, however, cannot be pyrites, sulphur, or nitre, in any quantity, under the surface of the earth. It is impossible that beds of pyrites can remain for thousands of years under the same part of the surface of the earth, be occasionally inflamed and ejected, and afterwards undergo a renovation, to enable them to go through a similar operation. Nitre is never found in a fossil state; nor can it be inflamed in such a manner as to make any considerable explosion without a thorough mixture with sulphur and charcoal; neither would all the quantity which we can suppose to exist under the base of any mountain in the world, be sufficient to give force to one of those dreadful volleys which are discharged by volcanoes a hundred times in a day. Besides, neither pyrites nor sulphur can be inflamed without access of air; which cannot take place in the bowels of the earth; for it must be remembered, that the first question is concerning the means by which the fire was originally kindled. Most writers, however, seem to overlook this difficulty, and to be solicitous only about the immediate cause of the explosive force, which is generally ascribed to a steam of one kind or other. Mr. Houel in general calls it the force of fire, or of steam; though he does not enter very particularly into its nature. Mr. Whitehurst says that it is the force of fire and water, which is the primary agent in all such opcrations of nature. He also gives a figure, showing how, by means of confined steam, a jet, either of hot water or of liquid fire, may be produced. But this applies only to a particular case, which we cannot suppose always to happen; but volcanoes are constantly attended with explosions; nay, so great is the tendency of volcanic matters to this violent operation, that many stones have been observed to burst in the air like bombs, after they were thrown out of the volcano; and Mr. Houel even informs us that such have burst three times during their flight. Water therefore cannot be always the cause of volcanic explosions. When thrown upon melted lead, salts, or especially copper, it explodes indeed with vast force. With the last mentioned metal it is peculiarly and incredibly violent; insomuch, that it is said that furnaces have been burst, and buildings thrown down, by the mere circumstance of some of the workmen spitting among the melted metal; and Mr. Whitehurst calculates the force of aqueous steam, when thus suddenly and violently heated, to be no less than twenty-eight times stronger than inflamed gunpowder. Many philosophers attempt to account for the origin and continuance of volcanoes by the agency of the electric fluid; but their theory is so ill supported by facts, that we think it superfluous to take up room with

it. It is certain that volcanoes exhibit many electrical appearances, and that great quantities of the electrical fluid are discharged at every eruption. But our knowledge of electricity is still too limited to draw any certain conclusion from these appear

ances.

Naturalists contend that all the southern islands have been volcanised; and they are seen daily to be formed by the action of these subterraneous fires. The black color of the stones, their spongy texture, the other products of fire, and the identity of these substances with those of the volcanoes at present burning, are all in favor of the opinion that their origin was the same. When the decomposition of the pyrites is advanced, and the vapors and elastic fluids can no longer be contained in the bowels of the earth, the ground is shaken, and exhibits the phenomenon of earthquakes. Mephitic vapors are multiplied on the surface of the ground, and dreadful bollow noises are heard. In Iceland the rivers and springs are swallowed up; a thick smoke, mixed with sparks and lightning, is then disengaged from the crater; and naturalists have observed, when the smoke of Vesuvius takes the form of a pine, the eruption is near at hand.

To these preludes, which show the internal agitation to be great, and that obstacles oppose the issue of the volcanic matters, succeeds an eruption of stones and other products, which the lava drives before it; and, lastly, appears a river of lava, which flows out, and spreads itself down the side of the mountain. At this period the calm is restored in the bowels of the earth, and the eruption continues without earthquakes. The violent efforts of the included matter sometimes cause the sides of the mountain to open; and this is the cause which has successively formed the smaller mountains that surround volcanoes. Montenuevo, which is 180 feet high, and 3000 in breadth, was formed in a night. This crisis is sometimes succeeded by an eruption of ashes, which darkens the air. These ashes are the last result of the alteration of the coals; and the matter which is first thrown out is that which the heat has half vitrified. In the year 1767 the ashes of Vesuvius were carried twenty leagues out to sea, and the streets of Naples were covered with them. The report of Dion, concern ing the eruption of Vesuvius in the reign of Titus, wherein the ashes were carried into Africa, Egypt, and Syria, seems to be fabulous.

M. de Saussure observes that the soil of Rome is of this character, and that the famous catacombs are all made in the volcanic ashes. It must be admitted, however, that the force with which all these products are thrown is astonishing. In the year 1769 a stone twelve feet high, and four in circumference, was thrown to the distance of a quarter of a mile from the crater: and in the year 1771 Sir William Hamilton observed stones of an enormous size, which employed eleven seconds in falling. This indicates an elevation of nearly 2000 feet.

The eruption of volcanoes is frequently aqueous; the water which is confined, and favors the decomposition of the pyrites, is sometimes strongly thrown out. Sea salt is found among the ejected matter, and likewise sal ammoniac. In the year 1630 a torrent of boiling water, mixed with lava, destroyed Portici and Torre del Greco. Sir W. Hamilton saw boiling water ejected. The springs of boiling water in Iceland, and all the hot springs which abound at the surface of the globe, owe their heat

only to the decomposition of pyrites. Some eruptions are of a muddy substance; and these form the tuffa and the pouzzolano. The eruption which buried Herculaneum is of this kind. Sir W. Hamilton found an antique head, the impression of which was well enough preserved to answer the purpose of a mould. Herculaneum, at the least depth, is seventy feet under the surface of the ground, and in many places 120.

The pouzzolano is of various colors. It is usually reddish, sometimes gray, white, or green: it frequently consists of pumice-stone in powder; but sometimes it is formed of oxided clay. 100 parts of red pouzzolano afforded Bergmann silex 55, alumina 20, lime 5, iron 20. When the lava is once thrown out of the crater, it rolls in large rivers down the side of the mountain to a certain distance, which forms the currents of lava, the volcanic causeways, &c. The surface of the lava cools, and forms a solid crust, under which the liquid lava flows. After the eruption, this crust sometimes remains, and forms hollow galleries, which Messrs. Hamilton and Ferber have visited: it is in these hollow places that the sal ammoniac, the muriate of soda, and other substances, sublime. A lava may be turned out of its course by opposing banks or dykes against it: this was done in 1669 to save Catania; and Sir William Hamilton proposed it to the king of Naples to preserve Portici.

The currents of lava sometimes remain several years in cooling. Sir William Hamilton observed, in 1769, that the lava which flowed in 1766 was still smoking in some places. Lava is sometimes swelled up and porous. The lightest is called pumice-stone.

The substances thrown out by volcanoes are not altered by fire. They eject native substances, such as quartz, crystals of amethyst, agate, gypsum, amianthus, felspar, mica, shells, schorl, &c. The fire of volcanoes is seldom strong enough to vitrify the matters it throws out. We know only of the yellowish capillary and flexible glass thrown out by the volcanoes of the island of Bourbon, on the 14th of May 1766 (M. Commerson), and the lapis gallinaceus ejected by Hecla. Mr. Egolfrigouson, who is employed by the observatory at Copenhagen, has settled in Iceland, where he uses a mirror of a telescope which he has made out of the black agate of Iceland. The slow operation of time decomposes lavas, and their remains are very proper for vegetation. The fertile island of Sicily has been every where volcanised. Chaptal observed several ancient volcanoes at present cultivated; and the line which separates the other earths from the volcanic earth constitutes the limit of vegetation. The ground over the ruins of Pompeii is highly cultivated. Sir William Hamilton considers subterranean fires as the great vehicle used by nature to extract virgin earth out of the bowels of the globe, and repair the exhausted surface.

The decomposition of lava is very slow. Strata of vegetable earth, and pure lava, are occasionally found applied one over the other; which denote eruptions made at distances of time very remote from each other, since in some instances it appears to have required nearly 2000 years before lava was fit to receive the plough. In this respect, however, lavas differ very widely, so that our reasoning from them must at best be very vague. An argument has been drawn from this phenomenon to prove the antiquity of the globe; but the silence of the most

ancient authors concerning the volcanoes of the kingdom of France, of which we find such frequent traces, indicates that these volcanoes have been extinguished from time immemorial; a circumstance which carries their existence to a very distant period. Beside this, several thousand years of connected observations have not afforded any remarkable change in Vesuvius or Etna: nevertheless these enormous mountains are all volcanised, and consequently formed of strata applied one upon the other. The prodigy becomes much more striking, when we observe that all the surrounding country, to very great distances, has been thrown out of the bowels

of the earth.

The height of Vesuvius above the level of the sea is 3659 feet; its circumference 34,444. The height of Etna is 10,036 feet; and its circumference 180,000.

The various volcanic products are applicable to several uses. 1. Pouzzolano is of admirable use for building in the water: when mixed with lime it speedily fixes itself; and water does not soften it, for it becomes continually harder and harder. Chaptal has proved that oxided ochres afford the same advantage for this purpose: they are made into balls, and baked in a potter's furnace in the usual manner. The experiments made at Sette, by the commissary of the province, prove that they may be substituted with the greatest advantage instead of the pouzzolano of Italy. 2. Lava is likewise susceptible of vitrification; and in this state it may be blown into opaque bottles of the greatest lightness, which Chaptal says he has done at Erepian and at Alais. The very hard lava, mixed in equal parts with wood-ashes and soda, produced, he says, an excellent green glass. The bottles made of it were only half the weight of common bottles, and much stronger, as was proved by Chaptal's experiments, and those which M. Joly de Fleury ordered to be made under his administration. 3. Pumice stone likewise has its uses; it is more especially used to polish most bodies which are somewhat hard. It is employed in the mass or in powder, according to the intended purpose. Some times, after levigation, it is mixed with water to render it softer.

VOLCANO, an island of the Mediterranean, belonging to Sicily, the most southern of the Lipari group, lies between Lipari and the Sicilian coast, being separated from the former by a narrow channel. It consists of a single volcanic mountain, of rather more than half a mile in height, which descends by successive gradations till its circumference at the base is about twelve miles. A bright cloud seems to rest on it at night, produced by the smoke and vapor emitted from all parts of it.

is oval.

It

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VOL'ERY, n. s. Į Fr. volerie; Lat. volito. A VOLITA'TION. flight of birds: the act or power of flight.

An old boy, at his first appearance, is sure to draw on him the eyes and chirping of the whole town colery; amongst which, there will not be wanting some birds of prey, that will presently be on the wing for him. Locke. Birds and flying animals are almost erect, advancing the head and breast in their progression, and only prone Browne.

in the act of volitation.

VOLHYNIA, an extensive government of Russia, lying to the east of the kingdom of Poland, between the governments of Grodno and Podolia. Its ter ritorial extent is 29,300 square miles, and its popu lation about 1,200,000, little more than half the number of Scotland on a surface of equal extent. While Poland was entire, Volhynia formed a piovince of that kingdom, which bordered with the Ukraine on the south-east. The soil is generally chalky, but in some places marshy, and in many a rich vegetable mould. The climate is in general temperate. Its produce consists in wheat, mullet, and rye. Its pasturages are extensive.

Volhynia has often been exposed to the evils of invasion. In 1618 the Tartars made an incursion into it, carried off a great booty in cattle and other property, and led a number of the inhabitants into slavery. Since 1793 it has been in the possession of Russia. Its chief town Zytomiers.

VOLITION, n. s. Į Lat. volitio. The act of VOL'ITIVE, adj. willing; the power of choice exerted having the power to will.

To say that we cannot tell whether we have liberty, because we do not understand the manner of colition, is all one as to say that we cannot tell whether we see or hear, because we do not understand the manner of sensation. Wilkins.

volitive, making the man not only more knowing, but They not only perfect the intellectual faculty, but the

more wise and better.

Hale.

There is as much difference between the approbation of the judgment, and the actual volitions of the will, as between a man's viewing a desirable thing with his eye, and reaching after it with his hand.

South,

VOLKAMERIA, in botany, a genus of plants, in the class of didynamia, and order of angiosper mia; ranking according to the natural method in the fortieth order, personatæ.

VOLKOF (Theodore), a Russian actor, born at Jaroslaf, in 1729. By frequenting the German theatre, he became fond of the stage. He set up a

private one, wherein he performed with his bro thers; which coming to the ears of the empress, Elizabeth, she invited him to Petersburgh, and took him and his company into her service, whereby he soon made a fortune, and left a large estate. He died in 1763, aged only thirty-four.

VOLLEY, n. s. & v. n. Fr. volée. A flight of VOL'LIED, adj. shot; a burst; sudden emission to throw out: vollied is discharged in a volley.

A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off. Shakspeare. The holding every man shall beat as loud As his strong sides can volley.

pany.

Id. From the wood a volley of shot slew two of his comRaleigh. I stood Thy fiercest, when in battle to thy aid The blasting vollied thunder made all speed. Miltas. Distrustful sense with modest caution speaks; It still looks home, and short excursions makes; But rattling nonsense in full vollies breaks.

Pope.

VOLNEY (Constantine Francis Chassebœuf, count de, a modern French writer, was born at Craon in Britanny, in 1755. He no sooner became master of a small patrimonial estate than he conHe travelled through various parts of Egypt and verted it into money, and embarked for the Levant. Syria; and, after a residence for some time in a Maronite convent on Mount Libanus, returned to France in about three years. The fruits of his enquiries appeared in his Voyage en Syrie et en Egypte,

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