VOL. LXXIII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 385 



that night and of the succeeding day, but all the others which have taken place 

 since that time. At the time of the earthquake, during the night, flames were 

 seen to issue from the ground in the neighbourhood of this city towards the sea, 

 where the explosion extended, so that many countrymen ran away for fear ; these 

 flames issued exactly from a place where some days before an extraordinary heat 

 had been perceived. After the great concussion there appeared in the air, to- 

 wards the east, a whitish flame, in a slanting direction ; it had the appearance of 

 electric fire, and was seen for the space of 1 hours. 



In consequence of the terrible shock, many countries and cities, especially 

 those situated in the neighbourhood and neck of our peninsula as you go from 

 Tiriolo to the river Angitola, and which had suffered nothing before, were over- 

 turned. Curinga, Maida, Cortale, Girifalco, Borgia, St. Floro, Settingiano, 

 Marcellinara, Tiriolo, and other countries of less importance, were almost en- 

 tirely destroyed, but with the loss of very few people. Many hundreds however 

 perished in Maida, Cortale, and Borgia. Many hills were divided or laid level ; 

 many apertures were made in the surface of the earth throughout the whole sur- 

 face which lies between the two vallies occupied by the rivers Corace and Lameto, 

 towards Angitola. Out of many of these apertures a great quantity of water, 

 coming either from the subterraneous concentrations, or the rivers themselves 

 in the neighbourhood of which the ground broke up, spouted during several 

 hours. From one of these openings in the territory of Borgia, about a mile 

 from the sea, there came out a large quantity of salt water which imitated the 

 motions of the sea itself for several days. Warm water likewise issued from the 

 apertures made in the plains of Maida. In all the sandy parts, where the ex- 

 plosion took place, there were observed, from distance to distance, apertures in 

 the form of an inverted cone, out of which likewise came water. This seems 

 to prove that from thence escaped a flake of electric fire. Fissures of this kind 

 are particularly met with along the banks of the Lameto. 



Amidst the various phenomena, which either preceded or followed the earth- 

 quake, the two following are remarkable. On the very day of the earthquake 

 the water of a well in Maida, which heretofore people used to drink, was in- 

 fected with so disgustful a sulphureous taste, that it was impossible even to smell 

 to it. On the other hand, at Catanzaro the water of a well, which before could 

 not be used because of a smell of calcination that it had, became so pure as to 

 be drunk extremely well. In Maida itself many fountains were dried up by the 

 earthquake of the 28th. This likewise happened at other places ; but many also 

 broke out in several spots where there had been none before, as did also several 

 mineral springs, of which before there was not a vestige. Commonly, however, 

 the fountains became more swelled and more copious, and emitted a larger volume 

 of water than usual. The waters of some fountains were also observed to be 



vol. xv. 3 D 



