EARTHQUAKE.
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hopes were entertained of her recovery, Fut the anxious careof her physicians and relations perfectly succeeded ; she wasrestored to health and spirits, was soon after married, and in1807, I saw her at Naples , the interesting, happy, lovelymother of two beautiful children.
This earthquake of Molise, or as some call it of Isernia ,was more or less felt, all over the kingdom of Naples , andextended itself to the islands of Ischia, Procida , and Capri.I have described the effects produced on the city of Naples .An eruption of Vesuvius likewise accompanied it. On thecause and nature of earthquakes, and of the volcanicphenomena, I shall speak hereafter, when giving an outlineof my Galvano-electric theory of the universe ; and I flattermyself it will be made apparent, that the electro-galvanicfluid, that is, the expansive emanations (or ascendingelectricity) from the actively incandescent interiors of allglobes, are the immediate cause of all such agitations,including volcanic eruptions, whirlwinds, waterspouts,metaliferous veins, vegetable and animal life, and, in fine,that in our universe there is but one substance, the solar,which is identical with the magnetic, galvanic, electric,and caloric fluids as well as all other modi we call mineral,animal, and vegetable. Further, that there is but one causeof action, the electro-motive, which we can in many casesimitate by means of our electro-motive contrivances, such asthe magnet bar, galvanic battery, and electrical machine. *
I have just promised to give to my readers such par-ticulars of the great Calabrian earthquake of 1783, as arebut little, if at all, known in this country. To some, such
* I find that being compelled to condense my work into two volumes,I shall not have room for the philosophical and scientific matter withwhich I had intended to intersperse it. These I must all reserve foranother work to be called my Opusctili, which will treat on a greatvariety of important subjects.