yet unlightning-like in color and action, and unaccompanied by thunder. There was apparently something born in that cloud after meeting the outer air which, notwithstanding its superheated condition within the crater, did not ignite until it left it. That something was the Secret of Pelée. terrible enon. These lower clouds of lapilli were not only hot and heavy, but after they had reached the outer air and become well mixed with it another terrible phenomenon occurred. This Another floated on southwest in the direction of the phenomtrade-winds toward the fated city, and, when almost upon it, several seconds after having emerged from the vent, it ignited and exploded, and at that moment, within the radius of its action, all nature cried: "Death has struck, and nature, quaking, To its judgment answer making." While we who were spared from participation in such a catastrophe might well say, "Deliver me, O Lord, from that eternal wrath on that awful day when the heavens and earth shall be shaken and Thou shalt come to judge the world by fire." flame. There was no thunderous noise or detonation, but with terrific force sheets of flame Sheets of ignited within this cloud and, as seen by Father Altaroche, travelled from north to south over the city with lightning quickness, The two gases. The Secret of Pelée. setting fire to it. Merely a blinding flash of fire within the cloud, and in a moment the whole of the great fireproof city built of stone, with roofs of iron and tile, was on fire. That something in that awful cloud, which had fallen instead of risen and had exploded over the northern end of the city-the terrible Secret-was probably an invisible gas fired from the crater that united with another in the air. All the phenomena of the catastrophe tell us that the latter of these gases could only have been the oxygen of the air. The nature of the other gas (if there was one) which was belched from the crater and contained within the dark cloud of lapilli that rolled down from Le Tang Sec was a heavy gas the composition of which is still unknown. It was a gas which would not ignite within the oxygenless crater even under the intense heat there present, but which exploded with fatal force upon mixing with the oxygen of the cool air a mile from the crater. The first explosion within the crater was more than a steam puff. The upward-shooting flame which followed it was most probably hydrogen gas, accompanied by the sodium colors derived from sea waters. The Secret of Pelée, according to our present working hypothesis, now resolves itself into a question of the determination of the gases. Of these there were probably at least two kinds, if not more. The great volume of water, the meeting of which with the hot magma of rock is the fundamental cause of volcanic explosions within the crater, was probably resolved into oxygen and hydrogen, and the latter burned after the projectile cloud had shot forth. But what of the gas in the projectile cloud which did not burn within the fiery crater, but shot forth into the air, combined with the oxygen of the air? It is well known that some volcanoes emit carbon monoxide, which has an affinity for free oxygen of the air, but this is a lighter gas than air and would not have floated downward. Again, there is the wholly explosive marsh gas (CH4), and this Professor Landes of the St. Pierre College reported he had detected in the mud of the Rivière Blanche several days before the great Secret enveloped him: but this gas is also lighter than air. At present we have in view but one other explosive gas which might have caused this damage, sulphuretted hydrogen (HS). This gas has a specific gravity of 17, which is much heavier than that of air (14.5), and is the only one of the gases mentioned which could have floated downward upon the city. There is much evidence to this effect. Should Science, with data in hand, write an epitaph over St. Pierre, it would be a cryptogram as follows: H2S+O. retted hydrogen. Various theories. But there are alternative hypotheses concerning the nature of the Secret, and one of these is that the destruction came from a blast of intensely hot steam and cinders. The data thus far collected tend strongly to uphold the gas explosion theory. Yet the evidence must all be in before the final verdict can be given. THE AUTOMOBILE (A.D. 1902) ROBERT CRAWFORD F RANCE is the paradise of the motor car, and is likely to remain so a few home of the this new form of locomotion is but a short chapter in the history of modern industry, but it is a fascinating one. Builders and buy- France the ers alike were enthusiasts and poets in their auto-car. way. The former can boast of a record of steadfast faith, of dogged struggles with all manner of difficulty and disappointment, of plunges into seemingly wildcat ventures, which, in defiance of all reasonable expectations, have turned out well; the latter may claim to rank as sheer enthusiasts with the Dutch tulip-fanciers of old. The whole history of automobilism in France is colored by the spirit of enthusiasm of its founders-of those who made the first auto-cars, and of those who bought them. Those motorists, in bearskin jackets (in July!) and with yachting-caps and smoked spectacles, are legion, who dash along the roads of France, and cheerfully swallow dust for hours because they believe that they are |