See also:

• ETNA
• ETNA (Gr. AZ-rvn, from aZOw, burn; Lat. Aetna)

ETNA (Gr. AZ-rvn, from aZOw, See also:

• BURN, RICHARD (1709-1785)

burn; See also:

• LAT

Lat. Aetna)  , a See also:

• VOLCANO

volcano on the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

east See also:

• COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast of See also:

• SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily, the See also:

• SUMMIT

summit of which is 18 m . N. by W. of See also:

• CATANIA (Gr. Katane, Rom. Catinal)

Catania . Its height was ascertained to be 10,758 ft. in 1900, having decreased from 10,870 ft. in 1861 . It covers about 46o sq. m., and by See also:

• RAIL

rail the distance See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round the See also:

• BASE

base of the See also:

• MOUNTAIN (0. Fr. montaigne; popular Lat. montanea, an adjectival form from the classical mons, montis, whence Eng. " mount," a form usually used along with the name of an individual mountain, e.g. Mt Everest)
• MOUNTAIN, THE (La Montagne)

mountain is 86 m., though, as the railway in some places travels high, the correct measurement is about 91 m . The height cannot havebeen very different in See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient times, for the so-called Torre del Filosofo, which is only 1188 ft. below the See also:

• PRESENT

present summit, is a See also:

• BUILDING

building of See also:

• ROMAN

Roman date . The shape is that of a truncated See also:

• CONE (Gr. Kwvos)

cone, interrupted on the See also:

• WEST
• WEST, BENJAMIN (1738-1820)
• WEST, NICHOLAS (1461-1533)

west by the See also:

• VALLE, PIETRO DELLA (1586–1652)

Valle del Bove, a huge sterile See also:

• ABYSS (Gr. as, privative, ,6u6QOs, bottom)

abyss, 3 M. wide, bounded on three sides by perpendicular cliffs (2000 to 4000 ft.) . Its See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

south-west portion, which is the deepest, was perhaps the See also:

• ORIGINAL

original See also:

• CRATER

crater . There are also some 200 subsidiary cones, some of them over 3000 ft. high, which have risen over lateral fissures . On the slopes of the mountain there are three distinct zones of vegetation, distinguished by See also:

• STRABO (born c. 63 n.c.)

Strabo (vi. p . 273 ff.) . The lowest, up to about 3000 ft., is the See also:

• ZONE (Gr. 'WV77, a girdle, from 'wvvLvay to gird)

zone of cultivation, where vegetables, and above them where See also:

• WATER

water is more scanty, vines and See also:

• OLIVES, MOUNT OF, or MOUNT OLIVET ("Opus 'EXc uwos or riov 'EXauav; mod. Jebel-et-Tur)

olives flourish . Owing to its extraordinary fertility it is dense y populated, having 930 inhabitants per sq. m. below 2600 ft., and 3056 inhabitants per sq. m. in the triangle between Catania, Nicolosi and See also:

• ACIREALE

Acireale .

The next zone is the wooded zone, and is hardly inhabited, only a few isolated houses occurring . The See also:

• LOWER

lower See also:

• PART

part of it (up to about 6000 ft.) consists chiefly of forests of See also:

• EVERGREEN

evergreen pines (Pinus nigricans) , the upper (up to about 6800 ft.) of birchwoods (Betula See also:

• ALBA

alba) . A few oaks and red beeches occur, while See also:

• CHESTNUT (nux Castanea)

chestnut trees grow anywhere between r000 and 5300 ft . In the third and highest zone the vegetation is stunted, and there is a narrow zone of sub-Alpine shrubs, but no Alpine See also:

• FLORA

flora . In the last 2000 ft. five phanerogamous See also:

• SPECIES

species only are to be found, the first three of which are See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar to the mountain: Senecio Etnensis (which is found quite See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close to the crater), Anthemis Etnensis, Robertsia taraxacoides, Tanacetum vulgare and Astragalus siculus . No trace of See also:

• ANIMAL
• ANIMAL (Lat. animalis, from anima, breath, soul)

animal See also:

• LIFE

life is to be found in this zone; for the greater part of the See also:

• YEAR

year it is covered with See also:

• SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow, but by the end of summer this has almost all melted, except for that preserved in the covered pits in which it is stored for use for cooling liquids, &c., in Catania and elsewhere . The ascent is best undertaken in summer or autumn . From the See also:

• VILLAGE

village of Nicolosi, 9 M. to the N.W. of Catania, about 7 or 8 See also:

• HOURS, CANONICAL

hours are required to reach the summit . See also:

• THUCYDIDES (OovavMns)

Thucydides mentions eruptions in the 8th and 5th centuries B.e., and others are mentioned by See also:

• LIVY [Thus L1v1us] (59 B.C.—A.D: 17)

Livy in 125, 121 and 43 B.C . Catania was overwhelmed in 1169, and many other serious eruptions are recorded, notably in 1669, 1830, 1852, 1865, 18i9, 1886, 1892, 1899 and See also:

• MARCH
• MARCH (1) (from Fr. marcher, to walk; the earliest sense in French appears to be " to trample," and the origin has usually been found in the Lat. marcus, hammer; Low Lat. marcare, to hammer; hence to beat the road with the regular tread of a soldier: cf.
• MARCH, AUZIAS (c. "1395-1458)
• MARCH, EARLS OF
• MARCH, FRANCIS ANDREW (1825– )

March 1910 . According to See also:

• LYELL, SIR CHARLES (1797-1875)

Lyell, See also:

• ETNA
• ETNA (Gr. AZ-rvn, from aZOw, burn; Lat. Aetna)

Etna is rather older than See also:

• VESUVIUS (also Vesevus in ancient poets)

Vesuvius—perhaps of the same See also:

• GEOLOGICAL

geological See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age as the See also:

• NORWICH
• NORWICH, GEORGE GORING, EARL OF (1583?-1663)

Norwich See also:

• CRAG (a Celtic word, cf. Gael. creag, Manx creg, and Welsh and modern Scots craig)

Crag . At Trezza, on the eastern base of the mountain, basaltic rocks occur associated with fossiliferous See also:

• PLIOCENE (from the Gr. sr?eiov, mere, and xatvbs, recent)

Pliocene See also:

• CLAYS, PAUL JEAN (1819-1900)

clays .

The earliest eruptions of Etna are older than the Glacial See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period in Central and See also:

• NORTHERN

Northern See also:

• EUROPE

Europe . If all the See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

minor cones and monticules could be stripped from the mountain, the diminution of bulk would be extremely slight . Lyell concluded that, although no approximation can be given of the age of Etna, " its See also:

• FOUNDATIONS

foundations were laid in the See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea in the newer Pliocene period." From the slope of the strata from one central point in the Val del Bue he further concluded that there once existed a second See also:

• GREAT

great crater of permanent eruption . The rocks erupted by Etna have always been very See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant in See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition, viz. varieties of basaltic See also:

• LAVA

lava and See also:

• TUFF (Ital. tufo)

tuff containing little or no See also:

• OLIVINE

olivine—the See also:

• ROCK
• ROCK (O.Fr. rake, Sp. rota, Ital. rocca; possibly from a Lat. form rupica, from rupes, rock)
• ROCK, DANIEL (1799–187t)

rock type known as See also:

• LABRADORITE, or LABRADOR SPAR

labradorite . At Acireale the lava has assumed the prismatic or columnar See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form in a striking manner; at the rock of Aci it is in parts spheroidal . The Grotte See also:

• DES

des Chevres has been regarded as an enormous See also:

• GAS

gas-bubble in the lava . The remarkable stability of the mountain appears to be due to the innumerable dikes which penetrate the lava flows and tuff beds in all directions and thus bind the whole See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass together . From the earliest times the mountain has naturally been the subject of legends . The Greeks believed it to be either the mountain with which See also:

• ZEUS

Zeus had crushed the See also:

• GIANT (O.E. geant, through Fr. giant, O.Fr. gaiant, jaiant, jeant, med. pop. Lat. gagante—cf. Ital. gigante—by assimilation from gigantem, ace. of Lat. gigas, Gr. yiyas)

giant See also:

• TYPHON (TYPHAON, TYPHOEUS)

Typhon (so See also:

• PINDAR (Gr. HivSapos, c. 522–443 B.c.)

Pindar, Pyth. i . 34 seq.; See also:

• AESCHYLUS (525–456 B.c.)

Aeschylus, See also:

• PROMETHEUS

Prometheus Vinctus, 351 seq.; Strabo xiii. p . 626), or Enceladus (See also:

• VIRGIL (PUBLIUS VERGILIUS MARC)
• VIRGIL, POLYDORE (c. 1470-1555)

Virgil, Georg. i . 471; See also:

• OPPIAN (Gr. 'Oaacavos)

Oppian, Gyn. i .

273), or the workshop of See also:

• HEPHAESTUS

Hephaestus and the See also:

• CYCLOPES (KUKXW9rer, the round-eyed, plural of Cyclops)

Cyclopes (Cic . De divin. ii . 19; cf . Lucil., Aetna, 41 seq., Solin, II) . Several Roman writers, on the other See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, attempted to explain the phenomena which it presented by natural causes (e.g . See also:

• LUCRETIUS (TITUS LUCRETIUS CARUS) (c. 98–55 B.C.)

Lucretius vi . 639 seq.; See also:

• LUCILIUS, GAIUS (c. 18o–ro3 B.C.)

Lucilius, Aetna, 511 seq.) . Ascents of the mountain were not infrequent in those days—one was made by See also:

• HADRIAN (PUBLICS AELIUS HADRIANUS)

Hadrian . See Sartorius von See also:

• WALTERSHAUSEN, WOLFGANG SARTORIUS, BARON VON (1809-1876)

Waltershausen, See also:

• ATLAS

Atlas des Atna (See also:

• LEIPZIG

Leipzig, r88o); E . Chaix, Carta Volcanologica e topographica dell'Etna (showing lava streams up to 1892) ; G. de Lorenzo, L'Etna (See also:

• BERGAMO
• BERGAMO (anc. Bergomum)

Bergamo, 1907) .