Excerpt from A Treatise on Earthquake Dangers Causes and Palliatives A question has often been put to the writer, and that very frequently of late, whether, in his opinion, the severest earthquake shocks felt in this city approach in severity those which have occurred and been so destructive in South America. The reports of those who were present during the earth quakes of South America last fall, are to the effect that the shocks were not sensibly more severe, but were more continuous, the shocks recurring over comparatively lengthened periods, as compared with those at San Francisco. It ought not to be overlooked in reviewing this phase of the question, that the damage that occurred at the South American cities - like that of Lisbon, in December, 1755 - was largely in consequence of the earthquake wave, and the buildings destroyed were almost wholly situated on flat lying alluvium. Not withstanding the faulty mode of building for an earthquake country adopted in the Iberian peninsula, no damage of consequence took place on that memorable occasion with such as were erected in the upper portion of Lisbon, whose foundations were on limestone. Yet it has been calculated that the great Lisbon shock was felt over more than one-fourth of the earth's surface. The great loss of life which accompanied that disastrous event was principally attributable to the falling in of arched and domed ecclesiastical buildings when densely occupied by devotees. This form of architecture is one totally unfit for a country subjected to earthquakes, unless such vaulted or dome-adorned edifices have these architectural forms constructed of iron framing. In the Kingdom of Naples, the style of building is described as presenting loftiness and thickness of walls; apertures few, but large; square-headed windows and arched doors and gateways, with heavy tiled roofs, of low pitch, and with deeply Overhanging eaves, characterize the outside. The style of architecture, Roman, with cinque cento, along with later and more debased styles of orna mentation. The usually grandiose effect very generally conceals building workmanship of a very inferior quality. Materials: lava, tufa, limestone and brick, usually. Lime is abundant, but the mortar is of very slender cohesion, from too great a proportion of lime and the want of a proper quality of sharp sand. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.