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 SICILY 21 His son and successor, Ferdinand II. (1830-'59), was the most odious of all the Bourbon rulers from his sanguinary repression of insurrections in Sicily and Naples. His excesses aroused the national spirit and paved the way for liberty. His son Francis II. adhered to his despotic system. In 1860 Garibaldi invaded Sicily, con- quered it, and crossed the strait of Messina. On his approach in September toward Naples Francis fled to Capua. There he rallied an army, which was however compelled to sur- render with the fortress, Nov. 2, the court retiring to Gaiita. The two kingdoms were merged with Victor Emanuel's possessions, and the flight of Francis from Gaeta and the sur- render of that stronghold to Gen. Cialdini, Feb. 13, 1861, removed the last obstacles to national unity, and Victor Emanuel received on Feb. 26 the title of king of Italy. See Giannone, Storia civile del regno di Napoli (4 vols., Naples, 1723 ; new ed., 13 vols., Milan, 1823 et seq.} ; Colletta, Storia del reame di Napoli dal 1734 sino al 1825 (2 vols., Capo- lago, 1834; English translation, 1858); and Reuchlin, Geschichte Neapeh wahrend der lets- ten siebzig Jahre (Nordlingen, 1862). SICILY (anc. Trinacria, from its triangular shape, Sicania, and Sicilia), the largest island of the Mediterranean, forming part of the kingdom of Italy, separated from Calabria by the strait of Messina, between lat. 36 38' and 38 18' N., and Ion. 12 25' and 15 40' E. The northern side is 180, the southwestern 171, and the eastern 113 m. long; area, 11,291 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 2,584,099. The extreme points of the island are Capo di Faro or Cape Peloro (anc. Pelorus) at the northeast, Cape Passaro (Pachynus) at the southeast, and Cape Boeo (Lilybceum) at the northwest. It is divided into the provinces of Caltanisetta, Catania, Girgenti, Messina, Palermo, Syracuse, and Tra- pani. Capital, Palermo. The coast has nu- merous indentations, the largest of which are the gulf of Castellamare on the northwest, the gulf of Patti on the northeast, and the bay of Catania on the east ; the best harbors are those of Palermo, Messina, Agosta, and Syracuse. The tides on the coast are slight and irregular. Of the two principal currents of the Mediterra- nean, that from the Atlantic and that from the Black sea, only the first is felt upon the shores of Sicily, and in its set through the strait of Messina it causes the whirlpool at the N. end called by the ancients Charybdis. Most of the mountains of Sicily are regarded as part of the system of the Apennines. The northern part of the island is generally high, the mountains in several places coming close to the sea ; but in the opposite direction they recede to a con- siderable distance, and the coasts are of mod- erate elevation. The celebrated volcano Mt. Etna rises in solitary grandeur (upward of 10,800 ft.) from the E. coast, midway between the N. and S. extremities of the island. (See ETNA.) A range of mountains runs from Cape Peloro, on the strait of Messina, to the S. "W., following the E. coast to near Taormina, 30 m. from Messina, where it is joined by a chain from the west which keeps much nearer the N. than the S. W. shore, and sends off spurs to the coast in the former direction. The first chain, now called Pelorian, was anciently known as Neptunius Mons ; the second is now called Madonian, and was anciently known as the Nebrodian. No part of this chain rises above 6,300 ft., and in the west it becomes much broken. About half way across the isl- and a chain of great hills breaks off from the Madonian mountains, runs "W. of the high pla- teau of Etna to the southeast, and is cut up by numerous and precipitous ravines, but sinks into a flat country as it approaches the S. E. point of Sicily. The island is watered by nu- merous streams, the most important of which are the Alcantara (anc. Taurominius) and Gia- retta or Simeto (Symcethus) on the E. coast, the Salso (S. Himera), Platani (Halycus), and Belici (ffypsas) on the S. W., and the Termini (N. Himera) on the N. They are nearly all mere torrents, dry or nearly so in summer, but swelling into floods during the seasons of heavy rains; and few of them are navigable even at their mouths. The largest lake is that of Lentini, near the E. coast, between Catania and Syracuse; it is about 12 m. in circumfer- ence, but shallow and stagnant. Sicily contains no strata corresponding to those of the Silu- rian, the old red sandstone, the carboniferous, or the new red sandstone formation; granite and limestone are found in some places, and near Etna a large tract is covered with volca- nic products. Different kinds of fine stone abound, and amber is procured near Catania. Small quantities of argentiferous lead, quick- silver, iron, copper, and antimony are found, but they are seldom worked. The other min- erals include marble, petroleum, emery, alum, rock salt, agates, and sulphur, the most impor- tant of all. The climate is temperate and agree- able. The thermometer rarely rises higher than 92 F. and seldom sinks below 36, and the mean annual temperature at Palermo is about 64. The annual fall of rain is about 26 inch- es, nearly all during the winter months. In summer the weather is settled, but after the autumnal equinox it becomes for a time hazy and boisterous. Thunder storms are violent and frequent ; and the sirocco, or S. E. wind, blowing for three or four days at a time, is very distressing in some parts of the island. There are two kinds of level ground in Sicily. Of the first an example is found in the dreary wastes along the S. shore, where the limestone rock coming near the surface supports a scanty vege- tation ; and of the second in the fertile plains of Palermo, Catania, and Castellamare, filling up the curves of the mountains which recede from the sea. The hilly regions are varied with undulating slopes and bold crags, the former of which are clothed with forests of fine timber, or covered with excellent pastures. In the fertile plains cultivation is general, and