Istoria dell'Incendio dell'Etna del Mese Maggio 1819

Mount Etna in Sicily is one of a small number of active volcanoes in the Mediterranean area, where written history survives from more than two millennia: its eruptions are therefore among the best documented in the world. This account of the eruption of 1819 was written by the chemist and vulcanologist Carmelo Maravigna, a professor at the University of Catania, who was commissioned by his colleagues to make scientific observations of the phenomena and to publish them in a clear and methodical format. Maravigna's book opens with the diary of his own observations from 27 May to 5 August 1819; it then describes the physical consequences of the eruption, including the spread and depth of lava flows, and discusses various theories of volcanic activity. The sixth chapter analyses the mineral deposits in the lava, and the last describes the volcano returned to its dormant state.

Introduzione; 1. Giornale dell'incendio; 2. De' prodotti di questo incendio; 3. Esposizione della teoria vulcanica di Patrin. Riflessioni critiche sulla stessa; 4. Idee dell'autore sulla causa delle accensioni dell'Etna, dei Vulcani in generale, e sulla formazione delle lave. Risposta ad alcune obbiezioni; 5. Applicazione dell'antecedente teoria a' vulcani gas idro-argillosi, ed a' fuochi de' terreni e delle fontane ardenti; 6. Origine delle sostanze minerali racchiuse nelle lave dell'Etna, e de' sali che si rinvennero nel cratere o nella corrente di lava terminato l'incendio; 7. Dello stato attuale dell'Etna; Note; Index.

Maravigna's account of the major eruption of Mount Etna from May to August 1819 was commissioned by his colleagues at the University of Catania: it is one of the first published accounts by an eyewitness who was also a trained scientist, and also contains theoretical discussion of volcanic activity.