angle of 20°. The waters in the great basin of the Botanical Garden, as was told me by an eye witness, were urged up in the same direction by the second shock; and a palm tree, thirty feet high, in the same garden, was seen to bow its long leafless branches alternately to the northeast and southwest, almost to the ground. The clocks in the observatory, which vibrated from north to south, and from east to west, were stopt, because the direction of the shock cut obliquely the plane of their respective vibrations; and the weight of one of them broke its crystal. But two small clocks in my chamber kept their motion, as their vibrations were in the direction of the shock. The mercury in the sismometer* preserved in the observatory, was put into violent motion, and at the fifth shock, it seemed as much agitated as if it were boiling.

To the west of Palermo, within the mountains, the earthquake retained little of its power; since at Morreale, four miles distant, trifling injury only was sustained by the (benedictine) Monastery of S. Castrense, the house of the P. P. Conviventi and the Seminary dei Cherici. At Parco, six miles distant, Mary's College, the Monastery, the parish Church, and a few peasants' cottages, were all that suffered. At Piana, the battlements of the tower were thrown down. But more of its power was felt in places on the sea-coast, as appears from its effects at Capaci, four miles distant, where the Cathedral and several houses were ruined, and at Torretta, fourteen miles, where the cathedral, two storehouses and some dwellinghouses were destroyed. Beyond, its power continued to diminish; and at Castellamare, twenty-four miles, the statehouse alone had the cleft, which was made in 1819, enlarged. In maritime places east of Palermo, the shock was immense. At Altavilla, fourteen miles from Palermo, the bridge was shaken. At Trabia, twenty-one miles, the castle, and at Godiano, the cathedral and some houses were destroyed,― enormous masses from Bisambra, a neighbouring mount, were loosened, and fell. At Termini, twenty-four miles, the shocks were very violent, exceeding all that had happened within the memory of its inhabitants. Those of 1818-19 were very strong, but the city received at those times no injury; now, the convent of St Antonio, Mary's College, and various private houses felt its effects.

The warm waters, as well those of the baths as those from the neighbouring wells, which proceed from the same subter

*An instrument, apparently, for the purpose of showing the violence of the shock of an earthquake.-Tr.

ranean source in the mountains along the coast of Termini, increased in quantity and warmth, and became turbid; consequences that always succeed convulsions of the earth, by which their internal streams are disordered. The clay tinged the fluid with its own colour, and equal volumes of the water yielded a greater quantity of the clay than before, when the colour was deeper.* Most of the houses in the little new town of Sarcari, two miles from the shore, and consisting of less than a hundred houses, were rendered uninhabitable; the walls were thrown down, and the more lofty buildings were all damaged. The effects of the earthquake are found to be greater in proportion to its advance eastward.

Forty-eight miles from Palermo, at Cefalu, a large city on the shore of a promontory, the effects were various and injurious. Without the walls, two convents, a storehouse, and some country houses, were injured, but no lives were lost. The sea made a violent and sudden rush to the shore, carrying with it a large ship laden with oil; and when the wave retired, she was left quite dry; but a second wave returned with such in mense force, that the ship was dashed in pieces, and the oil lost. Boats, which were approaching the shore, were borne rapidly forward to the land, but at the return of the water, they were carried as rapidly back, far beyond their first situation. The same motion of the sea, but less violent, was observed all along the shore, as far even as Palermo. Pollina, a town with nine hundred inhabitants, occupying an elevated position at a little distance from the sea, was injured in almost every building; particularly in the church of St Peter and Nunciata, in the castle, the tower, and in other places. Nor did Finale, a little nearer the shore, suffer less; five of its houses fell in consequence, on the eleventh of March.

Beyond the towns which have been mentioned, towards the interior of the island, the shock was vigorous to a certain extent; but kept decreasing as it proceeded, throughout the whole surface. At Ciminna, south of Termini, a statue was shaken from its place on the top of a belfrey in front of the great church, and a part of the clock tower, falling, killed one person, and badly wounded another. In Cerda, the shock affected the great church, some houses, and half of one of the three forts, placed near the city to support the earth on the side of a great declivity.

*The warm and mineral waters of St Euphemia. in Calabria, which sprung up after the memorable earthquakes in 1638, presented the same phenomena in those of 1783. Grimaldi descr. dei trem. del. 1783.

The only church in Roccapalomba, which is situated at the top of an acclivity, was ruined. The parish church, and some private houses in the little town of Scillato, were overthrown. In Gratteri, a large town south of Cephalu, injury was sustained by the church of St James and other houses. Considerable damage was sustained by various churches, and many private houses in Colesano, a town containing two thousand inhabitants, and situated on an inclined plain, on the eastern side of the mountains of Madonie. One of the Colleges de Maria was rendered uninhabitable. The hospital, a grand fabric, was made a heap of ruins. The loss is calculated at about thirty thousand onze. In the vicinity of Pozzillo and St Agata, through a large extent of land, many long fissures and caverns were made. Similar caverns and fissures in argillaceous chalk, were opened near the little town of Ogliastro, sixteen miles southeast of Palermo. At Isnello, at the foot of the Madonie mountains, the injuries which were received in 1819, were increased; Geraci, among the same mountains, suffered a like fortune in the ruin of the cathedral; Castelbuono, and St. Mauro, within the same regions, were damaged, both by the former, and by the last convulsions; by the last, the cathedral, the church of St Mauro, and five private houses suffered much. The damage done to Castelbuono is reckoned at twenty-two thousand onze.

The northern coast of Sicily, towards Cape Cefalu, after bending to form the eastern part of the great bay, included on the west by the mountains to the left of Palermo, extends into the sea towards Eolie, (the Lipari islands) and presents, towards them, a hollow front, the western part of which is formed by cape Orlando, and the eastern by cape Calava. Places situated about this bay, suffered the most violent convulsions. Nato, containing four thousand souls, and situated on an elevation, was almost entirely laid waste, and a great number of private houses destroyed; the monastery, hospital, the churches of St Peter, anime del purgatorio, St Demetrius, and the cathedral, were in a great measure overthrown. The Quartiere del Salvadore suffered less. A transverse cleft was made in the earth, and fears were entertained, lest the whole elevation upon which the city is built, should be overthrown. Only two persons lost their lives; for the people, warned by a slight shock which was felt some hours before, had all fled into the country. Directly in front of Vulcano, one of the isles of Eolie, Patti, a city built on the declivity of a mountain, and at the distance of half a mile from the eastern extremity of Cape Calava, had its cathedral, bishop's palace, convents, and many pri

vate houses injured. With the copious showers of the fifth, fell some roofs; various houses in the country were ruined. Pozzodigotto, Meri, and Barcellona, were injured a little. At Barcellona, a wide cleft was made in the belfry of the church, and threatened its ruin. The shock at Milazzo, on the sea, was violent, as also at St Lucia, six miles from it, situated on an eminence; but without any bad consequences. Some damage was done to the hospital, several churches, and private houses at Messina. In the interior of Sicily, the motion was communicated as if it were far from the centre of force; in some places towards the south, some buildings which were old and out of repair, felt the effects; particularly at Caltauturo; and at Alimena, in the cathedral and convent of the reformed. The shock gradually wasted itself as it advanced; and at Catania so slight was the impression made on the people, that they went to the theatre the same evening. It was perceived by a few persons only in Syracuse, and in some of the neighbouring towns. In the district of Modica, towards Cape Passaro, scarcely one felt it. No bad effects were produced by it in the southern parts of the island; in the western it was felt, but without injury. It was pretty strong at Alcamo, but slight at Trapani.

Injuries at Palermo.-The ancient city of Palermo was founded upon a rocky tongue of land, between two large and deep bays. The extremity of this point constitutes at this day the centre of the modern city. Matter, transported thither by the water from the interior, and thrown up by the sea, together with the labour of men, has gradually filled up the lateral spaces, and extended the peninsula with this transported and alluvial earth, and formed the present soil. It is now composed in part of calcareous rock, and in part of mud or alluvial earth; both are traversed by canals and large conduits for the circulation of water for common use, and by common sewers communicating with the neighbouring shore. The adjacent parts present a surface composed of calcareous tufa, and an earthy aggregate, tender and friable; but deeper down, it is more durable, and partly siliceous. The facility of cutting, and the cheapness of the tufa, have caused its adoption as a building-stone, contrary to the custom of our ancestors, as appears from the immense excavations and pits about Syracuse, Girgenti, and some others of the ancient cities of Sicily. Till lately, the common cement was composed of a fat earth, to which ashes were sometimes added; it was called tajo. Within a few years, lime and sand have been used. But they do not always employ for lime, that stone

which is hardest and most proper; nor that which requires an equal degree of heat in calcination; nor are all the pieces white. It is not slaked methodically, nor mingled with that patience which caused the ancients to say, that lime should be tempered by the sweat of the brow. And here, indeed, this labour is the more indispensable, as Palermo is destitute of puzzolana, and of those ferruginous earths, which render such valuable service to those volcanic towns of the island, which can obtain a cement so adhesive and durable.

The soft rock of the surface, serves in large masses for a foundation upon the clay. But the brittleness of the rock, and the instability of the earth, its readiness to change from a level at the least motion, or by the action of moisture, which the air and soil of Palermo make permanent, render the foundation very far from firm. I have seen pieces of the foundation of large edifices, so entirely reduced to earth, as to be removed with a spade. This inconvenience exists even when the rock in its natural situation serves as the base. Where a building is raised upon a soil, the parts of which are of different natures, it must suffer much from the unequal resistance of this soil. The right side of the royal palace, has for several years been inclining from a perpendicular, in consequence of its having been placed on the ancient alluvial formation, while the remainder of the building rests on a rock. Sometimes we see buildings raised on an inclined plane, with one part of the base more elevated than the other; in this case, it is evident that the oblique pressure is compounded of two forces; one, perpendicular to the resistance, and which is overcome by it; the other, parallel with the resistance, but which, not entering into the action, operates in its own direction. The equilibrium is thus destroyed, and the stability of such buildings cannot be of long duration.

Our author goes on to speak of the necessity of having acute angles to many of the streets on account of their crookedness, and how liable buildings are, from this circumstance, to be thrown down; that regular foundations are not very much used; and even when used, are soon destroyed by the action of the atmosphere, by water, and other many He finds fault with the forms of the stones used in building, with the cement, its want of adhesion; and compares houses constructed in this manner with those of ancient Tyndaris, many of the walls of which, standing on the top of some of the highest mountains, were so well balanced, the pieces so nicely

causes.