( 34 )
All this time there was not the ſmalleſt appearance of fire or ſmoke from the crater on the ſummit Veſuvius; but the black ſmoke and aſhes ⟨iſſued⟩ continually from ſo many new mouths, or ⟨craters⟩ formed an enormous and denſe body of clouds ⟨over⟩ the whole mountain, and which began to give ⟨ſigns⟩ of being replete with the electric fluid, by ⟨exhilerating⟩ flaſhes of that ſort of zig zag lightning, ⟨which⟩ in the volcanic language of the country is ⟨called⟩ ferilli, and which is the conſtant attendant on ⟨the⟩ moſt violent eruptions.
Sir William Hamilton proceeds to remark, ⟨that⟩ during thirty years that he had reſided at ⟨Naples⟩ and in which ſpace of time he had been witneſs ⟨to⟩ many eruptions of Veſuvius, of one ſort or ⟨other,⟩ he never ſaw the cloud of ſmoke replete with ⟨an⟩ electric fire, except in the two great eruptions ⟨of⟩ 1767, that of 1779, and during this more ⟨formidable⟩ one. The electric fire, in the year 17(illegible text) that played conſtantly within the enormous ⟨black⟩ cloud over the crater of Veſuvius, and ſeldom ⟨quitted⟩ it, was exactly ſimilar to that which is produced, on a very ſmall ſcale, by the conductor of ⟨a⟩ electrical machine communicating with an ⟨inſulted⟩ plate of glaſs, thinly ſpread over with metallic ⟨fillings⟩, &c. when the electric matter continues to pl(illegible text) over it in zig zag lines without quitting it. Не ⟨was⟩ not ſenſible of any noiſe attending that operation in 1779; whereas the diſcharge of the electric matter from the volcanic clouds during this eruption, and particularly the ſecond and third day cauſed exploſions like thoſe of the loudeſt thunder and indeed the forms raiſed evidently by the ⟨ſole⟩ power of the volcano, reſembled in every reſpect all other thunder-forms; the lightning falling and deſtroying everything in its courſe. The houſe of the Marquis of Berio at S. Jorio, ſituated at the
