Page:Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857.djvu/37



the 16th December, 1857, an earthquake of great violence visited several of the southern provinces of the Neapolitan kingdom. Accounts of the formidable extent of the disaster, accompanied by a few imperfect details as to some of its physical phenomena, began to arrive in England, through correspondence and the public press, about the 24th December. The occasion appeared to the author to present an opportunity of observation of the highest value for the advancement of our knowledge of earthquakes, considered as a branch of cosmical science.

On the 28th of the same month he accordingly addressed a letter to Lord Wrottesley, President of the Royal Society, suggesting the importance to science of sending a competent observer, without loss of time, to the convulsed region, and offering, with the approval and assistance of the Society, to undertake the duty. The suggestion was promptly laid before the Council by the President, met its approval, and on the 21st January, 1858, the author received the authority of the Royal Society to proceed.