98 Prof. Ferrara's Account of the Earthquakes 



At Messina, in 1783, all the buildings upon a plain, and upon 

 eardi thrown up by the sea, wei'e destroyed ; while those on 

 the neighbouring hills wei'e not moved. The same happened 

 at Calabria, and in ] 805 in the district of Molise. In this 

 account we should notice the cavities made in the earth. They 

 were esteemed by the ancients as preservatives against earth- 

 quakes, — not by affording an outlet to the subterranean vapours, 

 as some have thought, but by interrupting or diminishing the 

 course of the shock. 



The houses were rebuilt in the same situation, and after the 

 same mode ; the fissures of those which were damaged were, 

 as we now observe them, only covered over on the outside by 

 a slight coating of lime. These very places, and precisely the 

 same houses, were this year laid waste ; and so they will al- 

 ways be in future, imless a more prudent and more reasonable 

 method shall regulate new buildings and new repairs. 



Professor Ferrara proceeds to give a very particular account 

 of the effects of the shock upon buildings in different situations, 

 which it would be hardly interesting to repeat here. Most of 

 the injury, he says, was done by the second impulse of the 

 shock, when the spear of the vane on the new gate was bent, 

 and the water in the basin in the botanical garden was forced 

 violently up one side. Immediately after the shock, he re- 

 marks, the apparent injuries were not very great : but the 

 blow was given, and the long and abundant showers of rain 

 which succeeded continued to develop and increase the in- 

 juries ; and now, though not very many buildings are entirely 

 destroyed, yet there is scarcely one which has not received 

 some damage. Here follow some notices of the dreadful con- 

 sequences which befel many of the inhabitants, from the falling 

 of the timbers and stones and walls ; of the vases from the 

 piazzas into the streets; and many other things which it is un- 

 necessary to mention more particularly. Nineteen persons 

 were killed and twenty-five wounded. In the earthquake of 

 Sept. 1, 1726, four hundred were killed and very many 

 wounded. 



In the close of this chapter he remarks, Do not these sad 

 facts impress us with the necessity of every attention in the 

 construction of new edifices? Already have the zeal of the 

 governor, the facilities offered by the senate, and the concern 

 of the active citizens, given a strong impulse to the repara- 

 tion of the disasters. Soon will the shadow of the past ca- 

 lamity pass away, and the grand city of Palermo will be still 

 more beautiful. When we reflect upon the immense list of 

 cartliquakes which Sicily has suflfered, a7id the possibility of 



its 



