140 EAKTHQUAKES IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY. 



[Ch. XXIX. 



We must make 



Mr. E. Mallet 



com 



fc? 



more 



probable conjecture as to the distance from the surface from 



movements 



ceeded. 



matter 



may 



Mallet deduces from 



movements 



facts at present known to him 



nean points where the shocks originate are never very deep, 



perhaps never 



mile 



im 



a very 



conclusion should it hereafter be confirmed by 



observation and theory. 



Number of 



>/ 



1783. — The number of persons who perished during the 

 earthquake in the two Calabrias and Sicily, is estimated bj 

 Hamilton at about 40,000 ; and about 20,000 more died bv 



new stagnant lakes and pools. 



y insufficient 

 malaria, ari^ 



number 



)ut many were burnt t 

 almost invariably foUo^ 

 more violentlv in some 



These 



Many 



maorazines of oil which were consumed 



peasants when flying across the open country^ and their 

 skeletons may perhaps be buried at various depths in the 

 earth to this day. 



When Dolomieu visited Messina after the shock of Febru- 

 ary 6, he describes the city as still presenting, at least at a 



Every 



house was injured, but the walls were standing : the whole 

 population had taken refuge in wooden huts in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and all was solitude and silence in the streets : it 



seem 



the impression made upon his feelings was that of melancholy 

 and sadness. ' But when I passed over to Calabria, and first 

 beheld Polistena, the scene of horror almost deprived me of 



1 



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7 



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