CHAPTER XIX.
THE PHYSICAL AND GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY SHAKEN.
Before proceeding to Part II. some remarks are required upon the general physical and geological features of the earthquake region of December, 1857, in order that the references as to their modifying effects, upon the directions, local variation of intensity, reflection, &c. of the shock, to be made in Part III. may be understood.
The notion commonly formed, from our books of geography and maps, of the physical configuration of the surface of Italy, is that of a long strip of land, separating into two at the south, and divided right down the midst of each strip, by the ridge of the Apennines, with a steep watershed to either shore.
This is but a very inadequate representation of the facts, and only to a limited extent true. Confining ourselves to the kingdom of Naples—i.e., starting on the north, with a line reaching from the mouth of the Tronto on the east, to that of the Tiber on the western shore; from Monte Pennino (in Roman territory) down through the summits of Monte Como and the Majella, to near Monte Acuto, south of Melfi—the highest ridges of the southern Apennine chain, are found following a wavy line, at about one-third
