A Description of Active and Extinct Volcanos, of Earthquakes, and of Thermal Springs: (Cambridge Library Collection - Earth Science)

Charles Daubeny (1795–1867) first published Active and Extinct Volcanos in 1826. This reissue is of the second, augmented edition of 1848, which the author explains was significantly updated in the light of the work of Charles Darwin. Part I contains geological descriptions of most of the world's known volcanos, arranged by region, many of them based on Daubeny's own observations. Part II contains descriptions of earthquake-prone regions, thermal springs, and thermal waters. In Part III Daubeny introduces his influential theory of the causes of volcanic action, proposing that it results from contact between water and metals beneath the earth's surface. He also discusses the factors that give volcanos particular characteristics, and the impact of volcanos on their environments. This pioneering work of Victorian geology provided the scientific community with some of the first descriptions and data sets on previously unstudied volcanic regions, and is still referred to today.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Part I. Descriptive Portion: 1. Introductory remarks; 2. General nature of volcanic action; 3. On the volcanos of France; 4. On the volcanos of Germany; 5. Volcanic rocks of Hungary; 6. Volcanic rocks of Transylvania; 7. Volcanic rocks of Stryia; 8. Volcanic rocks of northern Italy; 9. Central Italy; 10. Southern Italy; 11. Volcanos of Southern Italy (continued); 12. Southern Italy (continued); 13. Islands of Procida and Ischia; 14. Lipari group of islands; 15. Volcanic rocks of Sicily, etc.; 16. Sardinia, Spain, Portugal; 17. Volcanos of Iceland; 18. Grecian archipelago; 19. Asia Minor; 20. Syria, the Holy Land, and Arabia; 21. Volcanic phaenomena of Persia and the adjoining countries; 22. Volcanos of Central Asia; 23. Volcanos of Kamtschatka and the Chinese Seas; 24. Indian archipelago; 25. Islands in the Pacific Ocean; 26. Islands on the Eastern Coast of Africa; 27. African continent; 28. Islands lying to the west of Africa; 29. West Indian archipelago; 30. Volcanos of North America, or above the Isthmus of Darien; 31. Volcanos of South America, or south of the Isthmus of Darien; Part II. On Phaenomena Not Immediately Arising from Volcanos, but Supposed to Be Connected with them: 32. On earthquakes; 33. On earthquakes; 34. Thermal springs, their geological position; 35. Thermal waters, their gaseous impregnation, etc.; Part III. Deductions from the Foregoing Facts, with Reference to the Causes of Volcanos, the Circumstances that Influence the Character of their Product, and the Uses They Fulfil in the Economy of Nature: 36. General statement of the various theories by means of which the operations of volcanos have been accounted for; 37. General inferences respecting the laws or conditions of volcanic action; 38. Comparative estimate of the mechanical and chemical theories; 39. Statement of the chemical theory of volcanos; 40. On the rocks attributed to volcanic agency taking place under circumstances different from those before considered; 41. Final causes of volcanos; Appendix; Bibliography.