On the eruption at Hawaii.

New Haven, the editors of the American Museum of Science and Arts, 1856. 8vo (23.2 x 14.6 cm). 4 pp. [numbered 240-243]. Original printed wrappers. = An eye-witness account of an eruption at Hilo in January and February 1856, by the reverend Titus Coan. Coan (1801-1881) ".was an American minister from New England who spent most of his life as a Christian missionary to the Hawaiian Islands . The Coans arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii in June 1835. They sailed to Hilo, Hawaii in July, where they stayed most of the rest of their lives. He learned the Hawaiian Language and helped educate the residents of the area and recruit them into Christianity. When the United States Exploring Expedition visited Hilo in 1840-1841, Coan met the geologist James Dwight Dana. Over the next four decades they corresponded, and Coan regularly sent Dana observations of eruptions of volcanoes on Hawaii. These contributed to Dana's development of the Hawaii hotspot theory for the geologic evolution of the island chain. . Coan was known as 'the bishop of Kilauea,' and his observations were invaluable to subsequent scientists" (Wikipedia). Published in the September issue of The American Journal of Science and Arts, second series volume XXII (whole series number 65). The whole volume 152 pp. Wrappers soiled; rear wrapper detached, dampstain to the top outer margin, gradually deminishing. A good copy of a seldom seen issue.