Note 266 — LIFE OF SULLA.

This phenomenon is mentioned by Strabo (p. 316), Dion Cassius (41, c. 45), and Ælian (Various History, 13, c. 16). I do not know if this spot has been examined by any modern traveller. It is a matter of some interest to ascertain how long a phenomenon of this kind has lasted. The pitch-springs of Zante (Zakynthus), which Herodotus visited and describes (iv. 195), still produce the native pitch. Strabo, who had not seen the Nymphæum, describes it thus after the account of Poseidonius: "In the territory of Apollonia is a place called the Nymphæum; it is a rock which sends forth fire, and at the base of it are springs of warm asphaltus, the asphaltic earth, as it appears, being in a state of combustion: and there is a mine of it near on a hill. Whatever is cut out, is filled up again in course of time, as the earth which is thrown into the excavations changes into asphaltus, as Poseidonius says." We cannot conclude from this confused description what the real nature of the phenomenon was. Probably the asphaltus or bitumen was occasionally set on fire by the neighbouring people. (See the art. "Asphaltum," Penny Cyclopædia.)