year, AEtna does not reach the limit of perpetual snow, and the heat
which is emitted from its sides prevents the formation of glaciers in
the hollows. One might expect that the quantities of snow and rain which
fall on the summit would give rise to numerous streams. But the small
stones and cinders absorb the moisture, and springs are found only on
the lower slopes. The cinders, however, retain sufficient moisture to
support a rich vegetation wherever the surface of the lava is not too
compact to be penetrated by roots. The surface of the more recent lava
streams is not, as might be supposed, smooth and level, but full of
yawning holes and rents.

The regularity of the gradual slopes is broken on the eastern side by
the Valle del Bove, a vast amphitheater more than three thousand feet in
depth, three miles in width, and covering an area of ten square miles.
The bottom of the valley is dotted with craters which rise in gigantic
steps; and, when AEtna is in a state of eruption, these craters pour
forth fiery cascades of lava. The Monte Centenari rise from the Valle
del Bove to an elevation of 6,026 feet. At the head of the valley is the
Torre del Filosofo at an altitude of 9,570 feet. This is the reputed
site of the observatory of Empedocles, the poet and philosopher, who is
fabled to have thrown himself into the crater of AEtna to immortalize his
name.

The lower slopes of AEtna--after the basin of Palermo--include the most
densely populated parts of Sicily. More than half a million people live
on the slopes of a mountain that might be expected to inspire terror.
"Towns succeed towns along its base like pearls in a necklace, and when
a stream of lava effects a breach in the chain of human habitations, it
is closed up again as soon as the lava has had time to cool." As soon as
the lava has decomposed, the soil produces an excellent yield and this
tempts the farmer and the fruit grower to take chances. Speaking of the
dual effect of AEtna, Freeman says: "He has been mighty to destroy, but
he has also been mighty to create and render fruitful. If his fiery
streams have swept away cities and covered fields, they have given the
cities a new material for their buildings and the fields a new soil rich
above all others."

SYRACUSE[40]

BY RUFUS B. RICHARDSON

The ruins of Syracuse are not to the casual observer very imposing. But
even these ruins have great interest for the archeologist. There is, for
example, an