236 Itarihquafcea in Sicify* 



nearer tke surface. Every one may easily distinguish the 

 difference which subsists between the superficial motion 

 Caused by the rapid passing of a heavy carriage, or by the 

 sudden combustion of a large quantity of confined powder, 

 which would cause the darting of a large accumulation of 

 electric fluid to restore the equilibrium between the earth an^ 

 the atmosphere were it possible for it to collect in the midst 

 of so many conducting bodies which seem designed to re- 

 store the equilibrium instantly ; between this motion and the 

 deep, heavy earthquake, armed with such terrible power, 

 which agitates so violently a great extent of the globe, which 

 sometimes seems ready to tear it from its very foundation, and 

 which has all the characters of an effect sprung from most 

 wonderful degrees of force, and of force which, placed deep 

 in the earth, moves and convulses those great masses lying 

 between it and the surface. 



The idea offerees and effects like these, fills with fear the 

 miserable mortal who creeps upon tht^ face of the earth, and 

 brings his pride down to the dust. When he sees the earth 

 reel, and the great fabrics which he has raised with so much 

 confidence, rushing to ruin, he despairs of finding any where 

 one firm support to his frail existence. 



The chinks and fissures formed in many places, and to 

 which the vulgar attribute much importance, are in conse- 

 quence of the quaking of the soil, and to which the softness 

 of the earth and the loss of its internal support have given 

 place. The country of Bosco about Ogliastro, of which I 

 have already spoken, became furrowed with diverse, long, 

 tortuous, deep clefts, the sides of which in some places sunk 

 down ; in other places, portions of the surface passed down 

 over inclined plains below them, and took new positions ; the 

 olive-trees which some of these carried with them, were 

 much injured by the breaking and displacing of their roots. 

 This land is formed of an immense deposit of argillaceous 

 chalk, more than a hundred feet deep. The water which 

 penetrated it (and the winter there was very rainy) loosened 

 away the earth, and carried a great part of it into the internal 

 cavities below ; the surface, thus wanting solid support, under 

 the shock of the earthquake became filled with depressions, 

 caverns, and inequalities. The same may be said of a great 

 aperture made in the vicinity of Colesano, which dilating it- 

 self day after day threatened to render those places inacces- 

 sible. Copious showers alone produce such effects in the 



