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In 1852, after approximately seven months of investigation in the area affected by the earthquake, Luigi Palmieri and Arcangelo Scacchi published an interesting report titled: “Della regione vulcanica del Monte Vulture e del tremuoto ivi avvenuto nel dì 14 agosto 1851”, commissioned by the Royal Academy of Sciences of Naples. Having found no evidence on site that the event was attributable, as had been feared, to the volcanic nature of the area, they devoted themselves to extensive geological and mineralogical research in order to understand the relationship between the nature of the territory and the distribution of the catastrophic effects observed. Furthermore, using instruments brought there from Naples, they monitored possible connections between the tremors - which were still being felt in those areas - and the data on atmospheric electricity, atmospheric pressure, and terrestrial magnetism provided by those instruments. In their view, these were to be considered the indispensable physical elements for understanding the causes of the phenomena underway. Among the figures in the engravings accompanying the report is a fine drawing illustrating how Palmieri used a Bohnemberger electroscope to “promptly ascertain the nature of atmospheric electricity” and a needle electrometer that served to measure voltages. It is evident that at that moment Palmieri - who would soon go on to invent the electromagnetic seismograph - still hoped to refine these devices so that they could instrumentally detect the signs of impending earthquakes, which animals, on the other hand, sensed by “instinct.”