From Chambers' Journal.
ERUPTIONS OF VOLCANIC ASH.

of volcanic mountains. But an eruption, such as that of the Grande Soufrière in January, which does not escape by the old vent, but forces a passage otherwise, carrying away, perhaps, a large portion of the ridge surrounding the mouth of the crater, sends into the air an enormous quantity of the ash which may have been accumulating for centuries. This it frequently does with tremendous force, expelling the ash and débris to such a height as, aided by the wind, will suffice to spread it over hundreds of miles of sea and land. It was under a shower of this kind that the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried; and its occurrence appears to be much more injurious to the districts affected, and on a vastly wider scale, than that of an eruption which is chiefly accompanied by an outflow of lava.

ON the morning of Sunday, the 4th of January this year, as we learn from the proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, a rare occurrence took place at the Grande Soufrière, in the island of Dominica, in the West Indies. This was an eruption of volcanic ash from one of the dormant vents in the interior of that mountainous and rugged island. The president of Dominica, Mr. Eldridge, says: "The morning was cloudy, with heavy and continuous showers. A few minutes past eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and during a heavy rainfall, one or two vivid flashes of red lightning were observed; thunder was heard, but not following in quick succession the electric discharges; it was deep-toned, rolling, and distant. All at once there was a Such an outburst as that of the Grande great darkness. A few minutes before Soufrière is a rare event, and more so, it the darkness, the attention of many per- seems, in these western islands. On an sons was attracted to the milk-white ap- other of this same group of islands, St. pearance of the rain, which was succeeded Vincent, about a hundred miles south by a downfall of inky blackness. This from Dominica, is another volcanic mounsingular phenomenon lasted some fifteen tain known as the Soufrière, and in conminutes; and on the return of light, it nection with which there was a similar was discovered that the ground was coveruption of volcanic ash in 1812. Of this ered with the scoriæ from a volcano. event we have an account written some The rainfall was highly charged with lead." Mr. G. B. Blane, C.E., the surveyor-general of the island, gives some other interesting details of the event. He says the rain at first was "thick and of a grayish-white hue, and the gutters were running with water almost as white as milk." For some time after the 4th January, the mountain, which is two thou sand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, was covered with a dense mist, till dispersed by a heavy gale of wind. It was then discovered that one of the mountain ridges had almost disappeared, and that the trees on the outlying spurs were completely blasted and burned. The mountain was, before this, the locality of many geysers in active operation, and Mr. Blane supposes that the deluge of rain had choked the subterranean fissures connected therewith, the resulting steam and pent-up internal forces causing the violent eruption that followed.

years ago, by a correspondent, who, when the eruption took place, was living on the island of Barbadoes, about sixty miles east of St. Vincent. This correspondent says: "On the morning of May-day of that year, I awoke as usual; but finding it still dark, went to sleep again. A second time I awoke, and asked: 'Could it still be dark? Surely it must be morn ing.' It was too intensely still and dark for a tropical night, which is often any thing but a season of repose. I felt some alarm, not only at the unusual stillness, but at the darkness, which, like the Egyptian darkness of old, was not only evident, but I may say palpable. A ser vant at length came, in a state of great fear and trepidation, declaring that something awful was going to happen, as it was six o'clock, and the sun should have been high in the heavens by this time. Part of our property stretched along the shore; and on looking across the sea, I The emission of volcanic ash in all perceived one spot of light which was cases accompanies eruption, this ash be- gradually closing in; and when that was ing the molten matter, which is blown gone out, no ray of light was visible in into a finer or coarser powder by the force the whole heavens. The low, hollow of the explosions. In general, it only murmur of distant thunder was now to falls round the centre of eruption, thus be heard, but unaccompanied by light in course of time building, up to the ning; and a close, sandy grit, at times height of several thousand feet, those converted into fine ashes, was silently cone-shaped piles which are characteristic falling. My mother, with whom I lived,

now joined us, and stated that darkness
had set in about half past one, since which
time the dust had continued to fall. No
one could account for the phenomenon,
which was productive of the greatest
alarm to all of us, who naturally consid-
ered it the forerunner of some awful ca-
lamity; and we spent an hour in a state
of mind very nearly bordering on anguish.
To our own distress were added the
groans and frantic cries of our negroes,
who were fast gathering round us, the
flickering glare of the torches which they
carried, making the unnatural darkness
all the more horrible.

"About a quarter past twelve P M., to our intense relief, and infinite thankfulness and delight, there appeared above our heads a small space as of light breaking through; and in another quarter of an hour we could trace the form of the sun in the same spot, though still much obscured. At no period of the day did light amount to more than a dull twilight; and at five o'clock the day closed altogether, and darkness succeeded until next morning. During all this time the dust continued to fall. For the first two hours it fell in comparatively small quantities; but during the next ten hours the ashes "About eight o'clock meteors, resem- came down thickly, and in the form of bling globes of fire about the size of a an impalpable powder. From one to six thirteen-inch shell, appeared in the north- the fall of ashes began to decrease, and east, crossing each other in every direc- at six it ceased altogether. Next morntion, and accompanied by so incessant a ing, to our great joy, daylight broke as downfall of ashes that it was quite impos- usual, though we were still in complete sible to look out. My grandfather, who ignorance as to the cause of the phenomwas a peculiar old man, collected at this enon. And it was not till the arrival of time a handful of the dust, and brought a vessel in Carlisle Bay on the 6th of it into the house, to see whether it was, May, that we learned that what we had as he supposed by the smell, charged with experienced was due to a terrific eruption sulphur; but on throwing a small quan- of Mount Soufrière, in the island of St. tity into the fire, we were glad to observe Vincent. This volcano, which had been that there was nothing inflammable in its dormant or inactive for nearly a century, composition. At nine o'clock, the sky to began to burst forth on the 27th April; the north assumed a purple and lurid on the 30th it had reached a state of high appearance, as of a vast town on fire in eruption; and on the morning of the Ist the distance, accompanied by a tremulous of May the lava began to pour from its motion something resembling that of the sides, accompanied by loud explosions aurora borealis. The horrid and unnat- like thunder, and great outbursts of smoke ural glare of the sky lent a more ghastly and flame. The previous discharge of aspect to the prevailing darkness; and ashes had been carried by a wind setting explosions were now heard to the north-in our direction, over the Barbadoes; and west, as of two frigates exchanging hence our period of painful alarm and broadsides. Many people, expecting an consternation." earthquake, left their houses, and took refuge in the low-walled huts of the negroes; for though not prevalent in Barbadoes, yet earthquakes, and severe ones, had been experienced in the adjacent islands. This fear added much to the misery of these hours. About ten o'clock, THE manufacturing district of the we became aware of large flights of birds Austrian Empire lies in the north of passing over the island, flying so low that Bohemia, where miniature Birminghams we could distinctly hear the flapping of and Manchesters are congregated totheir wings. As was afterwards found, gether by the dozen, and hundreds of they were large sea-birds called "men-of-thousands of "hands are actively and war" and "cobblers," and were unable to ceaselessly employed. For miles the rise high owing to the weight of ashes, high-road is bordered by houses, chiefly which accumulated upon them as they one-storied wooden buildings with roofs flew, and which in many instances bore of thatch or shingle, where the rattle of them down to the ground altogether. During this time of painful suspense, there came through the darkness, soft and clear, the sound of church bells, and we knew that a call to devotions was being made, in view of the mysterious calamity that seemed impending over us.

From Cassell's Family Magazine. THE ART OF WOOD-WEAVING.

looms may be heard without intermission from early dawn till late at night. In some of the towns numberless chimneys pour forth volumes of black smoke by day, while by night the windows of the large factories glow with light as if there were a general illumination. One of the

and in Ehrenberg little creatures of four years old and upwards are employed at it, and earn fourpence a day. The weaving is done chiefly by women, and in looms which differ considerably from those in ordinary use, the fibre being as before mentioned not more than from thirty-nine to fifty inches in length. The longer fibres form the warp, the shorter (twentyeight to thirty-two inches), the woof, which is passed in and out by means of a

Until within the last few years this concluded the whole process the "foundations," as they are called, were complete and nothing more was done, except that a few hats and caps were made of them; but these were of the very simplest de scription and anything but becoming. Moreover, they were glued together, which made them very unpleasant to wear in hot or wet weather, and accordingly they fetched but fifteen-pence or two shillings fourpence per dozen, and were worn only by the very lowest classes. Within the last few years, however, a great change for the better has taken place, thanks probably in part to the interest shown by the government in the manufacture, in part to the establishment of an enterprising firm, and in part, perhaps, to the fact that the Ehrenbergers have at last become alive to their own interests. At present Ehrenberg sends out not only the raw material, but ready-made goods

busiest of these little towns and villages | fibres, being now ready, must be tied in is Ehrenberg, which lies close to the couples at one end before they can be Saxon frontier, and is distinguished from woven. This work is done by children, the rest by a peculiar industry which appears to be carried on in only two other places besides. The peculiar industry for which Old Ehrenberg is distinguished is wood-weaving-sparterie-work, as it is called — which was introduced something more than a century ago by a carpenter named Anton Menzel. The threads used for weaving are no thicker than writingpaper, and vary in width from the fifth to the twenty-fifth part of an inch. The aspen is the only tree whose wood is suf-little instrument with an eye like a needle. ficiently tough and pliable to supply these threads in the required lengths. The aspen was formerly indigenous in Bohemia, but has now almost entirely disappeared or at all events does not exist in sufficient quantities to supply the demand in any degree. Consequently the raw material for the sparterie work has to be brought from Russian Poland, which is both a laborious and expensive process. The wood-merchants go to Poland twice every year in the early spring and in the autumn, the only times at which the wood can be cut with advantage, as none can be used at once but that in which the sap has not yet risen or from which it has departed. Wood cut during the summer has to lie in water for a year, otherwise it is red and useless. It must be quite free from knots, as the smallest defect or irregularity, such as ordinary persons would hardly notice, makes the fibres quite unfit for weaving purposes. Arrived in Ehrenberg, the wood is planed and divided into pieces nearly 2.5 inches wide. When these have been made perfectly smooth they are divided again by an instrument resembling a plane, but furnished with a number of fine knife-blades which mark the wood at regular distances according as the strips are to be 04 or 2 of an inch in width. This process requires the utmost dexterity and nicety, as it is absolutely essential that the divider should exactly follow the direction of the fibre; and for this reason among others it must always be done by hand. The divider makes incisions 2 of an inch deep; the wood is then carefully planed, and comes off in thin, paper-like strips, some of which are not wider than a stout thread. They are gathered up as they fall by women, who examine them and pick out any defective pieces; and in spite of all the care taken in the selection and manipulation of the wood, there is a good deal of waste in the process. The threads or

fashionable hats of all kinds, and a variety of fancy articles skilfully concocted out of the wood fabric; ladies' hats of every possible description and the latest fashion, such as no one need be ashamed to wear, are made entirely of wood, and sold at astonishingly low prices. Men's hats are to be had of all shapes, from the Panama hat- not a whit inferior to that bought in Paris-to the common hats exported in large quantities to China, and the linings or founda tions which give stiffness to the fez of the Turkish soldier. The export trade embraces all Europe, from Spain to Russia, extends beyond the Caucasus to India and China, and maintains active relations with North and South America, as well as Australia. The manufacturers are in direct communication with the four quarters of the world, and their goods are being introduced into Africa by French and English traders.

For EIGHT DOLLARS, remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage.

An extra copy of THE LIVING AGE is sent gratis to any one getting up a club of Five New Subscribers. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & Co.

Single Numbers of THE LIVING AGE, 18 cents.

Through flowerless fields, thick-sown with A thousand charms where Towy's waters rove,