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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0167.PDF
FLIGHT, FEBRUARV 22, 1934 SUPPRESSED NATURE: A near view of Vesuvius which shows the observation hut on the lip of the large old crater and the point to the right where the lava has broken through the wall of the 0nter cone and is flowing down the side. could not be determined, how- ever, whether any of these homes were in occupation or not, at the present time. As one views the country south of the mount, bear- ing in mind all one has seen at Vesuvius and on the journey from Rome, one gets an appreciation and understanding of the ways of Nature and the stages in the " Creation " or subsequent evolu- tion of this earth as one could never hope to obtain by reading. As we flew southwards the country changed its character- istics, and soil was observed to come more and more scarce (bare rocks more and more predominant in the landscape) ; water-courses cease to hold water and are ob- viously only rushing torrents after rain. What was once countryside with abundance of soil is now an irregular area of small, almost bare, plateaux intersected by bare deep rock channels almost devoid of soil. In southern Sicily and Malta similar methods are adopted in an endeavour to preserve or retain the diminishing soil. As the depths of soil are reduced, so more and more loose stones abound, and the farmer is obliged to move them. He therefore builds loose stone walls round the, various plots of his land which are being cultivated—these walls have several purposes ; they keep cattle out of growing crops, but principally they serve to retain the little soil that remains and prevent the formation of rushing torrents which would wash away the soil during rainy weather. Vast numbers of heaps of stones are visible in the sparse soil areas of South Sicily, all collected from the soil to make it cultivatable. One can only assume that past generations of people in these parts have failed to realise what was happening or to take any measures for conserv- ing the soil, and, owing to extensive and finally complete deafEorestation, it has washed away steadily into the sea, down the ever-increasing number of bare rocky water- courses. It would appear that these southern portions ofSicily have nearly completed a cycle of evolution and are back again almost to a condition correspondingto the first stage in the formation of this earth, when the molten masses commenced to cool downand waters of the seas to form ; only that in the present stage the earth is cooler. As a result of all one can seefrom the air, it requires no effort of mind to picture the probable subsequent stages of development—" Biblicalstages of creation." As the outer layers cooled and formed rock, stresses were set up and volcanic disturbancesoccurred which forced up the mountain ranges and at weak spots volcanoes broke out to act as pressure vents.In the action of releasing internal pressures lava was thrown up and spread over the surrounding rock massesand later became soil to produce the vast forests and undergrowths which still later supported the prehistoricmonsters of that period, when these were created. Our present coal deposits being formed by subsequentavalanches and landslips burying vast forests, the storms and deluges of rain in the ages of time continuing the(Concluded on page 183) BIRTHPLACE OF ARCHIMEDES: Although Syracuse was founded in 732 B.C. by Archias many of the Greek remains, like this Theatre, are still well preserved. 167 B
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