THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 William B. Vasels


 
 MR. F E R B E R's 
 TRAVELS 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 I T A L Y.
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 ITALY, 
 
 In the Years 1771 and 1772. 
 
 DESCRIBED IN tj^ WM ~] 
 
 A SERIES of LETTERS to BARON BORN^ 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY, 
 
 PARTICULARLY 
 
 The MOUNTAINS and VOLCANOS of that COUNTRY, 
 
 36lAom\ T&Kcb TtYbfY 
 By JOHN JAMES FERBER, 
 
 frofeflbr of NATURAL HISTORY at MIETAVV in CURLAND. 
 and Member of feveral LITERARY SOCIETIES. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN; 
 
 With EXPLANATORY NOTES, and a PREFACE on the prefent 
 State and future Improvement of MINERALOGY. 
 
 By R. E. R AS P E. 
 
 In novafert animus mutatai dicere format. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR L. DAVIS, IN HOLBQURN, 
 
 PRINTER TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 
 M DCC LXXVIt
 
 i ] DGr 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 BY the claffical education received in our 
 infancy we are imperceptibly acquain- 
 ted with Italy ; and, being favoured by na- 
 ture, or infpired by faihion, with a tafte for 
 Arts and Sciences, it is with pleafure and 
 improvement that we afterwards travel over 
 the Alps, and perufe the defcriptions of this 
 beautiful country. Happy in its climate, and 
 diftinguifhed by the ingenuity of its inha- 
 bitants, it has twice, under the Romans and 
 Popes, with an almoft univerfal fway, pre- 
 fided over the better part of the world. At 
 two different periods it has nurfed and im- 
 proved the Arts and Sciences. In former 
 times, it handed them down by the Roman 
 Colonies to difrant barbarous nations. Since 
 the laft Gothic ages, they revived again in 
 the genius of Petrarch, Dante, Boccace, 
 a Raphael, 
 
 892362
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 Raphael, and Leo X. who fpread their glory, 
 light, and influence, over the whole inha- 
 bited world ; never, it is hoped, to be loft 
 again. By a juft return, every Art and Sci- 
 ence, and every civilized nation, have been 
 emulous to embellifh Italy, and to give tef- 
 timony to its highly deferved celebrity. 
 
 Per varies cafus & multa dlfcnmina rerum 
 Tendimus In Latium. 
 
 In confequence, this remarkable part of 
 Europe, having been fo much vifited and 
 examined, and fo amply defcribed by able 
 writers, now affords but few topics for 
 the modern traveller to enlarge upon. 
 There have, however, of late appeared forne 
 defcriptions, which prove, that ingenious 
 men may yet coniider Italy in a new 
 point of view. It would be ungrateful not 
 to acknowledge the obligations we are un- 
 der, to the publications of La Condamine, 
 Richard, La Lande, Groiley, Volckmann, 
 Tozzetti, Fortis, Riedefel, Brydone, and 
 Burney ; and it would be unfair not to rank 
 
 Mr.
 
 PR E F A C E. v 
 
 Mr. Ferber among thofe who found in Italy 
 objects, 
 
 TJnde prius nulli velarunt tempora Mufae. 
 
 This gentleman was born at Carlfcrona in 
 Sweden, and had his education at Upfal, 
 that famous fchool of Natural Hiftory, 
 where Linnaeus, Cronjlcdt, and Walkrius, have 
 fo fuccefsfully fyftematized the different 
 kingdoms of Nature ; and where, of late, fo 
 many eminent Naturalifls have been infpired 
 with their genius. Ferber caught a true 
 fpark of it. Not idly devoting himfelf with 
 many fecond-rate difciples of Linntfits to the 
 collection and claffification of plants, he be- 
 took himlelf rather to the abftrufer fubter- 
 raneous kingdom of Nature ; which, from 
 its being furrounded with darknefs, and at- 
 tended with difficulties, has hitherto been 
 too much neglected. Nor did he cramp his 
 underftanding with the barren nomenclatures 
 of foffils. He thought of fatisfying him- 
 felf; and of improving fcience, for the fcholar 
 and the miner. In this view he examined 
 a 2 the
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 the mines and fmelting-places in Sweden, 
 and travelled, from the year 1768 to 1773* 
 through Germany, Holland, Switzerland, 
 France, England, Bohemia, Hungary, and 
 Italy, in order to enlarge and rectify his 
 ideas, and to gather that various inftruction, 
 from the learned and A the unlearned, from 
 Philofophers, Chemifts, Miners, and Smel- 
 ters, which the improved culture of thofe 
 
 countries offers to the obferver. 
 
 . 
 
 He made at feveral times a long ftay in 
 Germany, the beft as well as the moft an- 
 cient fchool in Europe for miners and me- 
 tallurgifts. The old rich mines of the Hartz- 
 foreft, with its furnaces,, feemcd to him 
 remarkably inftructive in their nature, and 
 in the wife oeconomy by which they are 
 conducted and regulated; and, indeed, there 
 are but few mines, which, on that account, 
 will bear a comparifon with them. 
 
 The very ufeful Academy for Miners ac 
 Freiberg in Saxony fatisfied and inftructed 
 him. The arts of mining, furveying, work- 
 ing, and fmelting, are taught there, by able 
 
 raafters,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 mafters, upon fcientific principles ; and ia 
 that place he feems to have conceived a 
 thought of enlarging upon Baron Pabft v. 
 Ohains idea of a phyfical .or fubterraneous 
 geography, and of collecting on his travels as 
 many fads as might generalife them, and 
 reduce the art of difcovering and purfuing 
 metallic veins to better principles. Hitherto 
 it was entirely left, either to chance, or the fu- 
 perftitious and ignorant practices of common 
 workmen ; perhaps to the perfonal fkill and 
 unfyftematic empirical experience of illite- 
 rate miners, which of courfe is confined to 
 fingle mountains, and fcarce ever outlives 
 the man. I need not dwell on the advantages 
 of this happy idea ; fince, from the prefent 
 publication, and fbrhe' others which I {hall 
 fpeak of afterwards, it is obvious how in- 
 ftructive it mufi prove for the art of Mining ; 
 which, after the Nautical art, feems to be 
 the moil complicate, expeniive, and hazard- 
 ous, of all. 
 
 I was acquainted with him in the year 
 
 1768, when from Saxony and the Hartzforeft 
 
 he went to Holland, France, and England. 
 
 a 3 We
 
 VJll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 We examined together the Habichwald neas 
 Caflel ; and as, till, that moment, he had 
 feen no volcanic mountain, reputed to be 
 fuch, he was not altogether fatisfied with 
 my Syflem of the Earth, which in 1 763 
 had been publifhed at Amfterdam. I was. led 
 to fufpecl:, what farther obfervations have 
 convinced me of, that this huge and uncouth 
 heap of mountains is a monument of an* 
 cient volcanic eruptions. He has certainly 
 in thefe Letters on Italy made me large 
 and liberal amends, fince he has confirmee) 
 me in my own ideas. 
 
 He was taken great notice of in England 
 by Dr. Franklin ; and every where elie, by 
 men of liberal minds, who confider not 
 fcience as a job, nor the active friends of 
 knowledge as encroaching intruders upon 
 their literary reputation. Mr. Whitehurfl 
 at Derby, with hofpitable politenefs and an 
 extenfive folid knowledge of his country s 
 enabled him to examine the mountains and 
 mines of that county, and to draw up a 
 memoir for the prefs, which hitherto has 
 jipt appeared, 
 
 to
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 In 1770 he returned to Sweden, and was 
 received Afleffor in the Royal Department of 
 Mines ; but foon after fet out again for 
 Germany on the fame errand as before, 
 and which afterwards led him to Italy. 
 
 Baron Inigo v. Born, Counfellor of the 
 Royal and Imperial Mines in Bohemia, then 
 Jiving at Prague, had been acquainted with 
 him in his firft journey to Germany, and 
 feized the opportunity of this fecond excur- 
 fion with that generous warmth which has 
 made him one of the moft learned and moft 
 liberal promoters of Mineralogy. Having 
 formerly communicated to his friend very 
 mftructive and entertaining accounts of his 
 own mineralogical travels to the Hungarian 
 and Tranfylvanian mines, he now prevailed 
 on Mr. Ferber to make him a fuitable return 
 for them by accounts from Italy, whither he 
 went in the latter end of 1771, after having 
 made repeated and very interefring examina- 
 tions of the Bohemian mines. 
 
 This occaiional acquaintance of our au- 
 thor with Baron Bom proved a great advan- 
 a 4 tage;
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 tage to Ory&ology and Mineralogy; fince we 
 are indebted to it for fome of the moft 
 valuable and fcientific accounts hitherto 
 written in any language. Baron Born 
 published Mr. Ferber's Letters on Italy at 
 Prague^ 1773. Mr. Ferber publifhed not 
 only his own obfervations on the quickiilver^ 
 mines at Idria and on the Bohemian mines, 
 but alfo the Baron's Travels to Hungary and 
 Tranfylvania. 
 
 They have been received abroad with jufl 
 applaufe ; and, as it is prefumed that they 
 will meet with a fimilar reception in Eng- 
 land, I have undertaken to lay them before 
 the public, ever indulgent to the improvement 
 of ufeful fcience. As the latter are fhortly 
 to appear, I mall here give fome remarks 
 merely on the prefent publication. 
 
 It is obvious, that, hitherto, no traveller 
 has examined Italy in a general mineralogical 
 view ; and that the object of thefe Letters, 
 on this account, is entirely new. 
 
 Interefting in itfelf, for the improvement 
 of Phyfical Geography, and the Natural Hif- 
 tory of the Earth, it is the more fo, as 
 
 Italy
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 Italy offers many inftructlve phenomena to 
 that purpofe, and as the writer of thefe Let- 
 ters was eminently qualified to treat of them 
 with propriety. I mall not enlarge upon 
 the vicinity of the Alps, the nature of the 
 Apennine mountains, the many marble quar- 
 ries, the great variety of foreign marbles 
 employed by the Ancients, the alum- works 
 at Tolfa and in the Solfatara, nor the increafe 
 of the fea, which Mr. Ferber has taken no- 
 tice of. The volcanos of this country, how- 
 ever, and efpecially Vefuvius, claim particular 
 attention. 
 
 Being iituated in the neighbourhood of a 
 large and populous city, this mountain had 
 ft ruck the fancy, and engaged the curiofity, 
 of philofophers and travellers ever fince the 
 time of Pliny. However, the many defcrip- 
 tions of thefe great laboratories of Nature, 
 which hitherto have been given to the pub- 
 lic, are far from being fatisfaclory to 
 Naturalifts. Entirely taken up withhiftori- 
 cal accounts of their various eruptions, and of 
 the horrors and devastations which have at- 
 tended them, they indulged themfelves either 
 
 in
 
 xii P R E F A C E. 
 
 in fentimental and poetical flights, or in 
 marvellous tales of wonders performed, 
 or rather not performed, by the noftrums of 
 St. Januarius, and the ceremonies of crafty 
 priefts. They noticed only the apparent 
 de vacations ; and did not fo much as ima- 
 gine that the volcanic and Veluvian horrors 
 are concomitant majeftic effects of the moft 
 active power of Nature, creating new foffils 
 and land by the greateft of all chemical 
 operations. But very few of them, and thofe 
 only of late, advifed the applying thefe 
 phaenomena, and the new-raifed volcanic 
 iilands, to fome general hypothecs of the 
 earth : although the Greeks, about two thou- 
 fand years ago, had fet the fairefr. example, 
 in tracing Nature's fyflem by fimilar facts. 
 I do not allude to Father Kirchers Subterra- 
 neous World, in which that credulous man 
 dreamed of a central and fubterraneous fire ; 
 appearing no where except in his own chi- 
 merical fedtions of the earth. I mean to 
 fpeak of the better fyftems of Ray J , Hooke 1 ^ 
 
 1 Phyiico -Theological Difcourfes. 
 * Treatife on Earthquakes, in his Pofthumous 
 Works. 
 
 and
 
 P R E F'A C E. xiii 
 
 and Ant. Lazaro Moro 3 ; which, in- a hypo- 
 thetical manner, by earthquakes, volcanos, 
 ai d the a&ion of the Tea, explain, or might 
 explain, phenomena .in the furface of 
 the earth, that hitherto riad been fo many 
 ftumbling-fiones in other orological fyfteras, 
 Eftablilhei 1 . upon facts, and evidenced by ex- 
 perience and hift-pry, theie are undoubtedly 
 in a higher fcale than thofe of Whiflon, 
 Burnet, Woodward, and Maillet, in which, 
 facts are ibppofed, and powers and errors 
 aicribed to Nature, with which Nature ap- 
 pears to be unacquainted. Indeed, they 
 are deficient in many points, and very far 
 from having received from the hands of their 
 authors that latitude and evidence they arc 
 capable of, as well in refpect of hiftorical 
 truth, as of the nature .and fituation of fof- 
 fils and mineral bodies. This, I am perfuaded, 
 frauds clearly proved in my Syftem of 
 the Earth ; which, for the honour of Hooke* 
 and the improvement of fcience,was published 
 at Amfterdam in 1763. It will farther 
 evidently appear, from an improved edition 
 
 Sopraacroftacei; Vcn. 1740. 
 
 which
 
 XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 which I am preparing, and from what I fub- 
 mit here to the judgement of the reader. 
 
 That a variety of parallel and horizontal 
 ilrata are produced, by various caufes, at the 
 bottom of the fea ; that earthquakes have 
 broken, difordered,' and faifed large parts of 
 them above its level; that volcanos work 
 both under and above the fea; and, that 
 many foffils are daily produced and accumu- 
 lated by them into hills, high-towering over 
 the former plains till rain and water level 
 them again to the ground ; thefe are unde- 
 niable fails, and, when properly attended to, 
 with a due refpect to fome other phaenome- 
 na, not only fupport the orological hypo- 
 thelis now under coniideration, but moft cer- 
 tainly give ftrongly marked out-lines of Na- 
 ture's own fyflem. 
 
 This fyftem we cannot be thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with, if thefe out-lines are not 
 filled up with variety of obfervations ; 
 they alone can give it life, and make it a 
 true picture of the fubterranean kingdom. 
 Left xvhere philofophers have left it hi- 
 therto, it is but a faint conjectural fketch ; 
 thus finimed, it will get the exactnefs of a 
 
 picture,
 
 PREFACE. xv 
 
 pi&ure, drawn and coloured after Nature; 
 and prove of nearly the fame advantage to 
 miners and philofophers, as well-delineated 
 anatomical tables are of to furgeons and 
 phyficians. 
 
 I (hall point out where this fyftem was 
 deficient, and by that means flate where it 
 remains fo (till. 
 
 The problem to be refolded was, in ge- 
 neral, laid down upon too narrow princi-* 
 pies. It was only to explain the origin of 
 the inequalities, and of the fea-mells con- 
 tained in their various parallel ftrata. This, 
 indeed, is but part of the queftion. The 
 higher metallic and Jimple mountains ; their 
 fiflures and veins ; their rocks, which never 
 contain any adventitious organic body ; their 
 different relative fituation, in refpedl to them- 
 felves, and to the many marine or other 
 beds which are incumbent on them ; have 
 not been properly attended to : till very 
 lately, we were entirely deftitute of fcien- 
 tific and intelligible defcriptions of moun- 
 tains and mines, and the refpective natural 
 iituation of their beds and rocks. This de- 
 ficiency has been, of late, perceived and fup- 
 6 plied
 
 *vi PREP A'd-fe 
 
 plied by fome ingenious writers, of different 
 nations, as will appear from the books already 
 mentioned. The profpect has widened, and 
 \ve cannot poffibly, henceforth, afcribe the 
 origin of the many rock and ftone beds to a 
 iingle caufe; whether our favourite iyftem 
 be an-immediate creation, or a general flood, 
 or a general and fucceffive conflagration ; 
 nor are we to liften to philofophers, who 
 boldly could tell us, fome years ago, that 
 porphyry is a red mafs, filled with petrified 
 points of echinites; that columnar balalt- 
 mafles are tubular corals ; that angels and 
 devils have been the iubaltern architects of 
 the mountains, and many other fuch ab 
 furdities, 
 
 $u* Ipfe mlfernma vidl. 
 
 The hitherto-neglecled native place of 
 g& 'foffils, to ufe the phrafe of Shake* 
 fpeare, gives the lie direEt to fuch magifterial 
 nonfenfe, and tells aloud to every one> 
 who is willing and able to hear, that Na*- 
 
 ture,
 
 PREFACE. xvii 
 
 ture, in different times, and under different 
 circumftances, by the folvents of water and 
 fire, uniformly produces, and has produced, 
 that variety of foffils, which caps the furface 
 of the earth and fills our mineralogies. The 
 determination of thefe various circumftances, 
 under which Nature produced and depofited 
 them, is, in refpect to the foffils, what the 
 Linnaean Sexual Syftem is to the plants; 
 and {hews not what every foffil is good 
 for, or compofed of but a probable rule, by 
 which to find and to purfue them under 
 ground, and by which we may judge of their 
 origin and antiquity ; advantages, which can 
 never be expected from our mineralogical 
 fyftems, eftablimed merely upon form, co- 
 lour, and chemical aflays j and which will, 
 perhaps, fome day or other, make thefe en- 
 quiries more acceptable and famionable. 
 Much has been done that way, but much is 
 ilill left for pofterity ; for which I refer the 
 reader to Baron Bern's and Ferber's accounts 
 of the Hungarian and Bohemian mines, 
 to my Preface added to them, and to the 
 vaft book of Nature, which lies before us. 
 
 2. The
 
 xviii PREFACE. 
 
 2. The earthquakes and volcanos, being 
 the chief vifible and powerful caufes of the 
 inequalities and fhattered condition of the 
 furface of the earth, fhould long ago have 
 engaged the philofophers to enquire into 
 their nature and effects. Hypothetical theo- 
 ries we have in abundance ; nay, we may 
 at leifure hours in our clofets very eafily 
 invent new ones, without improving fci- 
 ence. But have we facls enough, well exa- 
 mined and well defcribed? Have we clofely 
 attended to their various effects and circum^ 
 frances? Did we make fair allowances for* 
 them, when we attempted to apply them to 
 our orological fyftems ? Had we from juft ob- 
 fervations abftracted infallible characters, by 
 which we were enabled to difcover their for- 
 mer deftructions and creations, in thofe parts 
 where hiftory left us in darknefs? Surely 
 not! 
 
 Mr. La Con&amlne fairly acknowledges, 
 that he and his fellow academicians were un- " 
 acquainted with the volcanic productions, 
 when they were fent to Peru, and frequently 
 encamped for weeks and months on Pi- 
 
 chincha,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 xix 
 
 chlncha, Cotopaxi, and Chimborafo ; which 
 are, perhaps, the moft remarkable and in- 
 ftruclive volcanos in the whole world. 
 
 Ant. Lazaro Moro ventured in 1 740 to 
 afcribe all the ^ratified fecondary mountains 
 to volcanic eruptions ; but he did not prove 
 his aflertion ; and thus convinced nobody ; 
 nor ever will, in refpect of thofe beds, 
 which vifibly are produced and depofited by 
 the fea. 
 
 Count Buff on ' in 1749 prefumed to fay of 
 all the volcanic mountains, and the new- 
 raifed iflands, that " they are without 
 '* parallel beds, and that their materials and 
 " fubftances are deftitute of any regular 
 " pofition, prefenting only the difcrder of 
 '* irregular eruptions." But what volcano, 
 or what new-raifed ifland, had he or other 
 Naturalifts examined ? None. 
 
 Mr. La Condamine, after having feen Italy 
 in 1755, feems to have been the firft who. 
 obferved, and told the public, that all tha 
 environs of Naples are volcanic ; and that 
 
 1 Hift. Naturelle, Edit, de Paris, 
 
 b the
 
 xx. P Pv E F A C E. 
 
 the volcanic grounds reach from thence to the 
 very gates of Rome, mid its neighbourhood, 
 at Frafcati, Grotta Ferrata, Caftel-Gandolfo, 
 Albano, Tivoli, Caprarola, Viterbo, . and 
 Loretto ; thefe have never been noticed 
 by hiftorJans as being at all fubject to vol- 
 canic eruptions x . In this particular he 
 may, perhaps, have been improved by the 
 Learned in Italy, fuch as P. la Torre % Giov. 
 'Targioni Tozzetti 3 , and Giov. drdumi, who, 
 about that time, publifhed their mine*- 
 ralogical obfervations on feveral parts of 
 Italy: " but he was certainly the firft, who, 
 * on this fide of the Alps, in Dauphine, 
 " Provence, and feveral other places, found 
 marks of ancient volcanos ; fo evident, 
 " that his only aftonifhment was, that thefe 
 " his conjectures (hould appear new, and 
 be thought whimiical, in a country, where, 
 *' according to his opinion, in order to form 
 " the like conjectures, it is fufficient merely 
 6 to open one's eyes 4 ." 
 
 1 LaCondamire'sTour to Italy, 1763, 9.125. 
 
 a Stcriadel Vefuvio, 1756. 
 
 3 Viaggi di Tofcana. Firenze, 1751 54, 6vol. 8vo, 
 
 La Condamine's Tour, p. 134, 135. 
 
 About
 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 About the fame time, and during Mr. La 
 Condamine's abfence in Italy (1755 or 1756), 
 Mr. Guettard prefented to the Royal Aca- 
 demy at Paris *, a Memoir on the perfeft 
 refemblance between the Vefuvian volcanic 
 productions, and thofe which he had found 
 in Auvergne and on the Mont d' Or. 
 Similar difcoveries have iince been made 
 in many other parts of the world ; in which, 
 except thefe unnoticed monuments, no hifto- 
 rical records were left, as memorials of for- 
 mer volcanic conflagrations. 
 
 Father La Torre s Hiftory of Vefuvius, 
 and fome modern defcriptions of ./Etna and 
 Vefuvius, though jufily confidered as claffi^ 
 cal performances, and written with much 
 hiftorical learning, candour, elegance, and 
 ingenuity, did not enlarge the views of phi- 
 lofophers, nor fpread any remarkable new 
 light on the fubject. They were highly de- 
 ficient in a mineralogical refpecl; nor had 
 their authors ever troubled themfelves about 
 the fcientific and intelligible denominations 
 of the volcanic productions, or their various 
 1 Mem. de 1' Academic Royale de Paris, 1756. 
 
 b 3 fate,
 
 sxii P R E.FA.C E- 
 
 :,!i -J \ U 
 
 flate, nature, fituation, ground, principles, 
 and connection with other foffils. Of courfq 
 they left us in the dark on all thefe fubjects; 
 told us many a pretty tale of marcafite, bi- 
 tumen, and precious flones; and were fair 
 game for the fubtle lava-dealers at Naples, 
 who, like their kindred Italian antiquity- 
 fellers, cannot be fuppofed to be remarkably - 
 confcientious, I have feen dear-bought 
 pretended Vefuvian precious ftones, which, 
 upon nearer examination, were found to be 
 artinciarglaffes ; and fome tables, inlaid with 
 pretended Vefuvian and Sicilian lavas ? which, 
 for the greater part, were extremely apocry- 
 phal, or confided of marbles. 
 
 Mr. 'Defmare/tj an eminent mineralogift, 
 who was employed for fome time to examine 
 the natural productions of France, obferved 
 that fome mafies of prifmatical bafakes in 
 Auvergne are immediately connected with the 
 larva's "and other volcanic foflils of that coun- 
 try -/and, being in their fubftance and colour 
 lb.~ nearly related to them, he ventured in 
 1768 the hypothecs, " that this fort of 
 
 <' ftonc is belonging to, and produced by, 

 
 PREFACE. xxiii 
 
 st the volcanic lava-currents V I had ever 
 isrfto rniv/ noij^nnoo rme 
 fince the year 1767, or ever fince my exa- 
 mination of the volcanic productions in 
 / i i ^-1 V133V? B ynnrn cU oloJ 
 Hefle, obferved the fame phenomenon ; and 
 
 being convinced, by a variety of facts, that, 
 betides the falts and metals, many other fof- 
 fils receive a determined form by fufion and 
 cooling, as well as by their folution in aque- 
 
 b' J T 
 
 ous folvents; I was the more ilruck by this 
 
 coinciding obfervation, and faw no reafon 
 
 s<A n\ fcoHoi 11 -i \ /i -^l i; ? fl f ?fl y 
 
 why thefe problematical rocks fhould not be 
 
 . 'EpniifK 
 henceforth confidered as cryftallized lavas. 
 
 Accordingly I communicated in 1769 an"acV 
 count of the prifmatical bafaltes at Felfoerg, 
 and other places in Hefie, to the Royal So- 
 ciety *; and, with fome further particulars, 
 
 to Sir William Hamilton, and to the Royal 
 
 j8r '^ 
 
 3 
 
 O ^ I 
 
 Society m Gottingen 3 . 
 
 If it deferves any praife, to have firft hit 
 upon a lucky hypothecs, it cannot poffibly 
 
 be denied to Mr. Defmarejl ; and I may be 
 
 ..onn ; pi 
 
 1 Explicat. des Planches de 1'Encyclop. liv:^VJt 
 Par. 1768. 
 
 1 Philof. Tranf. TO!. LXI. and Ferber's Letter V. 
 3 German Memoirs of the Royal Society at Got- 
 i, Vol. I, 
 
 b 3 allowed
 
 xxiv PREFACE. 
 
 allowed to have fome fhare in it, for being, 
 in point of time, anterior to fo many late 
 difcoverers of Volcanos and volcanic Bafaltes; 
 for having confirmed it by fair observations ; 
 and, finally, for having improved it by fome 
 new fafts and views; which, in my late Ac- 
 count of the German Volcanos, I have laid 
 before the public. Their chief purpofe and 
 tendency is, the conjecture, " that the prif- 
 " mat teal bafaltes, being, in thofe places 
 " where I obferved them, and in many 
 " others, near or below the level of the fea, 
 " are to be confidered either as lava- cur- 
 " rents, cooled in fea- water, or cooled in 
 " themfelves under ground without any 
 " eruption V The fame reafons will fland 
 for Meff. Ferber* and Defmsireft 3 , and for 
 me % in refpect to the firft fcientific de- 
 fcriptions of the various volcanic, or volca- 
 nico-marine, or volcanic-paraiitical foffils, 
 
 - jv 
 
 1 Account of fome Gennan Volcanos, 
 
 a Letters from Italy. , 
 
 3 Memoire fur les Volcans en Auvergne. . 
 
 4 See Account of German Volcanos, and tlic Notes 
 and Index to this tranflation. 
 
 found
 
 PREFACE. xxv 
 
 found " in the feveral volcanos of Italy, 
 France, and Germany; by which the purfuit 
 of tllefe enquiries and enlarged views, for the 
 improvement of fcience and fome of the me- 
 chanical arts, is made eafy and popular. 
 
 Mr. Ferbers account of the Vefuvian lavas 
 alone would give this publication credit. 
 It is not only the firft of that kind, bu 
 may juftly be confidered as a tefl and direc- 
 tion for other countries* which are dellitute 
 of dill-burning volcanos. Probably it will 
 be foon confirmed by the mineralogical ac- 
 counts of Italy of Mr. Guettard, who tra- 
 velled with Perber through a great part of 
 that country ; and, though in fome points 
 he did not entirely agree with him, the 
 public will be the better enabled by his ac- 
 counts to judge of the truth and merit of 
 their refpe&ive opinions. 
 
 From thefe late defcriptions of the Italian 
 and other volcanos, it appears, that there is 
 an unthought-of variety of lavas and volca- 
 nic productions, different in their form, mix- 
 ture, contents^ folidity, nature, ufe, and iitu- 
 ation* We are far, however, from being 
 b 4 acquainted
 
 xxvi PREFACE. 
 
 acquainted with all their varieties. In re- 
 fp'et to the whole furface of the earth, but 
 few volcanos have been examined ; and it is 
 obvious, that different pre-exifting rocks and 
 mixtures, under various circumftances and 
 degrees of fuiion, conflagration, and cooling, 
 muft have produced as many different mafles. 
 Common loam, mixed as ufual with a 
 little iron and fand, produces, by an intenfe 
 heat -of fife in every kiln, a fpecies of 
 {tone and vitrification, which bears a great 
 refemblanee to common lavas. Let us alter 
 the mixturcj and add fome more fand .or 
 falts, the produce -will undoubtedly prove 
 very different. Let us think of Meff. Wedg* 
 ivwd's 'and Reniley s, or other china and 
 glufs teahufa&ories ; of the metallic- furnaces, 
 and of that infinite- number of 'poiFible^com-r 
 Binat-ions-; -and we '^Vail- not winder if, in 
 futu-re~ times, the greal^chemical fire, of Na- 
 ture ihotrld be fouiicl'to hav^e produced many 
 ifpe&es'^&f rocks, which -hitherto -we have 
 little-thoiight to be of a volcanic kindito oi 
 This leads me, 3, S.Qjhej'ub-iuarJne-V.okartas 
 the ncw-raifed ijlands. The former, 
 
 though
 
 PREFACE. xxvii 
 
 though the moft fmgular inftance of warring 
 elements, have been fcarce fo much as fpo- 
 ken of, and we know very little of them ; 
 but what we know is fufficient to recom- 
 mend them to our attention. They are 
 very frequent, as appears by the banks of 
 floating pumice- {tones, met with and noticed 
 by fo many navigators. They have fpent 
 and exerted their power in many places, 
 where new iflands have been accumulated 
 and raifed by their eruptions j and may be. 
 nearer examined in the ocean and on the 
 fhores of thefe iflands by fuch navigators as 
 are Naturalifts ; nay, they may be traced even 
 on the continent, where ancient volcanos are 
 capped by marine ftrata ; which is the cafe in 
 Hefle and in thofe hills of Italy, which Mr. 
 Ferber has noticed as being compofed of 
 alternate volcanic and marine beds. They 
 muft of courfe produce modifications of 
 foflils, which the common volcanic erup- 
 tions above the level of the fea feem never 
 to offer to the obferver. The officinal pu- 
 m ice -(tones, floating in the fea, are un- 
 2 doubtedlv
 
 xxviii PREFACE. 
 
 doubtedly their production. The regular 
 prifmatical bafaltes feem to be their work ; 
 and it is highly probable, that the petrified 
 fifties are monuments of their heat, which 
 very often has been cbferved to make the 
 troubled ocean boil with violence in thofe 
 places, where Pluto and Neptune ftrove for 
 their kingdoms 
 
 Quicquid dellrant reges, pkEluntur Achivl. 
 
 The nimble motion and known voracity of 
 fifties when alive; their eafy putrefaction 
 and floating on the furface of the water 
 when dead ; and many other circumftances 
 coincide to indicate not a flood, which 
 certainly would neither have drowned nor 
 buried them under the water; but fome 
 fudden unnatural revolution in their own 
 element, which muft have killed and in- 
 volved them at once in the fediments of the 
 troubled ocean. On this account, many ar- 
 gillaceous flate-rocks, filled with petrified 
 fifties, are to be confidered as Tub-marine or
 
 PREFACE. xxix 
 
 as fub-aqueous volcanic productions *, nay, 
 many calcareous flates, fuch as thofe at 
 Bolca, Pappenheim, Eichftaedt, Altheim, 
 and Mount Libanon, are, for the fame rea- 
 fon, to be ranked amongft them a circum- 
 ftance not highly favourable to thofe Mine- 
 ralogifts, who, without having made pro- 
 per obfervations, tell us too confidently, 
 that the flratified limeftone, without excep- 
 tion, confifts of decayed and diilolved corals 
 and fea-mells. In refpect to the limeftone, 
 I mall not -for the prefent launch into Che- 
 mi dry, by enlarging upon the hypothecs ; 
 nor mall I dwell on the faltnefs and bitter- 
 nefs of the fea, which may partly be afcribed 
 to limilar fub-marine events ; meaning only 
 to recommend the above enquiries. Thefe, 
 it is matter of fome furprize, to fee hitherto 
 neglected equally with the examination of 
 thofe new i (lands, which, by earthquakes, or 
 by volcanic eruptions, have been raifed from 
 the bottom of the fea. 
 
 I had 
 

 
 xxx P R E F A C E. 
 
 I hud frankly recommended thefe enqui- 
 ries to the Royal Society of London, fo long 
 iiBfctt^Elh&jrEarejTfl^ Brir Lovers of fcience 
 
 might have therefore .expected that greater 
 attention would have been paid to them in 
 this inquiiitive age, : aiid' in an enlightened 
 kingdom, fo powerful at fea, and which fends 
 many fhips every- ye&H^into the Archipe- 
 lago and the Mediterranean; and which 
 has generoufly employed, of late, expert na- 
 vigators and able philofophers, at the pub- 
 lic expence, to make difcoveries in the re- 
 moteft parrs of the world. 
 
 Have thefe enquiries been poftponed as 
 trifling and uninterefling ? The inatten- 
 tion of the leading philofophers might 
 {tart fuch an idea, and feems to imply fome 
 public prejudice agamft them. But this 
 ,lon . an qTi IkrQ I 
 
 1 Spsciir.cn hiftoriae naturalis giobi tcrraquei denovis e 
 mari natis infulis & ex his exaflius obrervatis confir- 
 
 mancla Grxcorum & Hcokiana hypothtfi de montium & 
 corporum petrifaclorum origine. Auifrelodami, 1763, 
 8vo. dedicated to tlie late arl of Macclesiield, Freii- 
 clent of the Royal Society. ibfli 3d 13V3f| 
 
 inatteu-
 
 PREFACE. xxxi 
 
 inattention proves, at. moft, that (cientific 
 Mineralogy and Ory<5tology have not been, 
 hitherto, fo much and fo generally attended 
 to in England as in other parts of Europe. 
 I am perfuaded that they require only to be 
 exhibited to the public, to engage in their 
 behalf that generous encouragement which 
 has rendered the Englifh Aftronomers, Ma- 
 thematicians, and Naturalifts, every way fu- 
 perior to thofe of other countries. Upon a 
 prefiunptioD., that the time for their better 
 cultivation in England cannot be far 
 diltant, I have recommended fome of the 
 enquiries, here fppken of, to Captain Cooke, 
 who is again to go on difcoveries; and I 
 recommend them to the public in general, 
 with the fame warmth, wherewith J made : 
 fimilar propoials many years ago. Whether; 
 I mail reap any advantage from them or not, 
 may be indifferent to me ; but in whatever 
 proper manner thev (hall be attended fo, I ' 
 
 r r ' ' ..1 . Q3,TtJliDnm 
 
 am fure they will reward their Protectors, . 
 and enlarge fcience, which, it is hoped, can 
 riever be indifferent to them. 
 
 So
 
 xxxii PREFACE. 
 
 So much for the prefent, of the progrcfs, 
 prefent ftate, and future improvement, of Na- 
 tural Geography and Mineralogy. More 
 might have been faid on this iubject, but it 
 is fufficient to have pointed out the view, -iii T 
 which the prefent publication is to be confi- 
 dered by candid readers. I cannot finim with- 
 out adding, that Mr. Berbers ftyle might 
 have been more lively, and that my tranflation 
 might have been more correct. I am fen^ 
 fible of this; but could not poffibly, in 
 the quality of tranflator, alter the ftyle of 
 a book, which is to fland by its contents, 
 and was never meant to be a piece of elo~ 
 quence. It was my chief attention, and my 
 duty, to make it intelligible and ufeful. I 
 have accordingly taken great pains to give 
 the true fenfe ; and have added explanatory 
 Notes and an Index, which, it is prefumed, will 
 be acceptable. Nor have I been inattentive to 
 language, and the correction of the prefs, 
 If, however, any trace of incorreclnefs mould 
 remain, as it is juftly to be apprehended there 
 may ; I requefr. from my readers a part of 
 
 that
 
 PREFACE. xxxiii 
 
 that indulgence for myfelf, which my cor- 
 rectors may have had for thefe faults ; and 
 this I dare flatter myfelf to be favoured with, 
 as / have no caufe to fufpeft or to fear, nat 
 reafonable Indulgence is Jled from the. breaft of 
 humanity * oJ c\ 
 
 
 
 rii? v^rrrtBiil bnc . 
 
 r fli% I -J VJifl 
 
 R. E. RASPE. 
 
 to al^ft 3fb iOv^JHsifp 3 
 
 ,2Jrt3inoo eii ' . 
 
 to soaiq 
 nn bflB ,fjoi3' 
 1. .lu^aUf: bns sldigill 
 ovig ot 
 
 liw C b9fxiul3 'q 2; 
 
 : '/3v/oil <il 
 iqqn sd - .vs tiiscridt 
 
 R-
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 The firft flieet, from p. i 16, having been rather too haflily 
 corre&ed, the following grofs errors fhould be taken no- 
 tice of. 
 
 P. I. Vienna, Sept. 23. read Fence. 
 
 P. 15. Cryfolite lafalt- columns read cryftallizeel. 
 
 LET-
 
 t i ] 
 
 ' 
 
 RAVEL 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 I T A L Y: 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Vienna , Sepf. 23, 1771* 
 
 1H A V E at laft the pleafure of writing to you 
 from that charming country which I was al- 
 ways fo defirous to fee. Even the fmall tract 
 which I have travelled over, between Goerts and this 
 place, convinces me it deferves the praifes given by 
 travellers, of its foft climate, natural productions, 
 and beauty, wherein it certainly furpafies almoft 
 every part of Europe. I am yet a ftranger at 
 Venice. However, at the expence of my curiofity, 
 I facrificefome hours to the pleafure of converfing 
 with you. I (hall be more than rewarded, if the 
 remarks on my journey from Vienna hither mould 
 afford to you a part of that fatisfaction, which the 
 B- con-
 
 2 TRAVELSTHROU6H 
 
 contemplation of nature yielded to me as 1 wrote 
 them down ; and, according to your defire, I will, 
 as I proceed in my journey through Italy, defcribe 
 to you its natural curiofities, efpecially thofe which 
 belong to Oryctography and phyfical Geography. 
 The many other curiofities of this admirable coun- 
 try have been defcribed by others. But I fhall 
 ufe the freedom which you have allowed me, and 
 write without fpending much time in an attention 
 to elegance. You will kindly forgive me if I mould 
 now and then involuntarily be wrong. You know, 
 by your own experience, that a crowding multi- 
 tude of objects very often diftracls and weakens 
 the attention of the beft Naturalifts, and that tra- 
 velling leaves neither time nor opportunity for ex- 
 periments and methodical difiertations. I write to 
 a friend, whofe kindnefs I have experienced ; and 
 as you intend to travel in Italy, you will eafity cor- 
 rect my errors ; my purpofe is, to tell you what I 
 have feen j and what probably will be left unfeen 
 by me, or infufficiently examined. 
 
 When you have fet out from Vienna, you fee, 
 on both fides, in Hungary, Auftria, and Steyer- 
 marckj long chains of connected and calcareous 
 hills, formed like waves, which, all the way from 
 Vienna to Wippach, I paflfed or had near me. Now 
 and then they rife remarkably high, or ftretch into 
 the country, divided by great valleys and wide-ex- 
 tended plains, which are watered and interfered by 
 
 rivers.
 
 ITALY. LETTER I. 3 
 
 rivers. The excellent Imperial-road is made over 
 thefe hills. 
 
 At Wifflack) two ftages diftant from Gnertz, the 
 mild climate of Italy begins ; and the above men- 
 tioned hills run to the left through the Friual, 
 along the Adriatic Sea, Iftria 9 Dalmatia, and the 
 Archipelago ; but on the right they join the Tyrol- 
 AlpSy connected with the Tridentine and Veronefe 
 mountains. Between thefe diverging hills there is 
 a flat plain country all the way to Venice, planted 
 with vines, maize, buck-wheat, millet, and Helens 
 Sorghum. There appears hardly any corn. 
 
 The lime-ftone of thefe hills is, for the mod 
 part, light-grey, now and then changing to a dar- 
 ker colour, either in the whole mafs, or in blackifa 
 nodules and rnaffes interfperfed with it. There 
 are fome hills of an entirely black limeftone ; its 
 hardnefs is very different from that in Auftria^ 
 Steyermarck, and Crayn. There are different forts 
 of good marble dug out of thefe hills. Its grain 
 is commonly fine, compaft, and found ; rarely 
 fcaly, never faline* It contains petrifactions of 
 greater and lefler fea-fhells, but in fmall numbers. 
 
 Thefe hills are in Aufiria up to the limits of 
 Steyermarck, uncovered by forefts, and for the 
 moft part planted with vines and corn ; but in Up- 
 fet '-Steyermarck they rife to a remarkable elevation, 
 covered with fir-wood, and feparated by dales, over- 
 grown by deciduous trees. In Under'Steyer and 
 B 2 Crayn
 
 4 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Crayn I faw them cloathed by birch, beech, ancf 
 chefnut trees, a few excepted, which were cloathed 
 by firs. 
 
 They confift more or lefs of horizontal and large 
 beds or ftrata ; and they are truly fuper incumbent 
 mountains, fet in all thefe parts upon a foundation 
 of fchiftus or flate, which constantly runs under 
 ground. This fchiftus is either a true clay- flate, 
 of a blue or black colour, or a horn-flate, com- 
 pofed of quartz and glimmer, how and then offer- 
 ing fome clayifh mixture. 
 
 I had almoft at every ftep an opportunity of 
 being convinced that this fchiftus conftantly ran 
 under the vifible lime-ftone hills. Sometimes it 
 rifes bare above ground, and continues fo for fome 
 diftance -, but foon after it is hid again under its 
 calcareous covering. The lead- mines in Steyer- 
 marck, and the mercury-mines at Hydria, are funk 
 into this fchiftus, through the fuperior lime-ftone- 
 ftrata. I fee by fome accounts and foflils from 
 Tyrol, which you have communicated to me, that 
 this adjacent country is of the fame conftrudtion ; 
 and though the ore in the Steyrifh iron-mines near 
 Eifenaerzt is found in limeftone, there is no doubc 
 but fchiftus would be found in a greater depth. 
 I (hall give you a particular account of thofe places 
 in Auftria, Steyer, and Crayn, in which I obferved 
 that quality of thefe hills and other objects worth 
 
 your attention. 
 
 At
 
 ITALY. LETTER I. 5 
 
 At Feyftriz on the Moor near Pegau, in Steyer- 
 there are fome lead-mines belonging to 
 Baron von HeipeL The mines are the following : 
 
 1 . The Pauls Haupt-Forder and Weather-Shaft. 
 
 2. S. Martins, Haupt-Shaft. 
 
 3. S. Nepomues-Tunnel. 
 
 4. Mary and Melchior Tunnel. 
 
 5. Elifabeth Tunnel -, and 
 
 6. New-Barbara-Schaft. 
 
 They yield, according to what I was told, every 
 year from 4 to 5000 tun of lead-ore, containing 
 from three-quarters of an ounce to one ounce of 
 filver. The ore is a fine cryftalifed galena or 
 glance, found in a vein of quartz and calcareous- 
 fpar, running through a clayifti blue flate-rock, 
 by the higher calcareous and fir-grown mountains. 
 The mines or the fhafts and tunnels are funk in the 
 valley fcarce above the level of the Moor, which 
 river is very near. They are funk in the fame 
 horizontal line in which the limeftone ends, and 
 the inferior flate begins. The Pauls-fhaft is 
 worked down in this flate to a depth of fifty-two 
 fathom. This (haft is drawn and emptied by 
 horfes ; even its water and pump-engine are ma- 
 naged by horfes, till an engine-wheel, which is pre- 
 paring, be ready and fet to work. The fuperior 
 limeftone expofed to day is without any veins, 
 of a compact and found grain, and containing 
 fome petrifactions. 
 
 B 3 At
 
 6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 At Votjlrberg, five or fix leagues diflant 
 Feiftriz, are coal mines ; but there are better ones 
 at Luim in Upper-Sieyer, ten miles further. 
 
 The river Moor accompanied me in my road 
 from Kriglocb to Merzhofeft, Brugg, Radelftein, 
 Pegau, Graetz, and flill further. The valley, 
 wherein it runs, feems to have been excavated by 
 its violently breaking through the adjacent calca- 
 reous hills, or by their fucceflive corrofion. 
 
 At Graetz I examined a fine collection of natu- 
 ral curiofities in the college of Jefuits. It is richly 
 provided with Minerals and Infects. The acquaint- 
 ance of P. Riwaldy a good botanift, was very 
 agreeable to me. 
 
 Between Ernhaufen and Marburg I defcended on 
 the Hoping of a high grey-limeftone hill. The 
 detached flones on and near the road contained 
 fome marks of petrified (hells, and nodules of black 
 limeftone. The following valley continued beyond 
 Marburg and Faiftriz, which place is different 
 from the above Fciftriz near Pegau. All along 
 this valley there was no limeftone to be feen ; but 
 the bare places and the detached ftones heaped on 
 both fides of the road {hewed a blackifii and blueifh 
 flate, together with a horn-flate compofed of 
 quartz and glimmer. 
 
 On this fide of Faiflriz I afccnded again, and 
 found at the fummit of the hill the grey limeftone 
 continuing. It contained fome, though but few, 
 jea-fhells, as oftracites, pectiniles, and the like. It 
 
 was
 
 ITALY. LETTER I. J 
 
 was of a compact grain ; but part of the upper- 
 moft beds was fpungy and porous like tophus, 
 and ferruminated with blunt pebbles and other 
 loofe ftones. In other places thefe fuperior beds 
 offered oblong fcaly pifolites cemented together. 
 Now and then black limeftone was found inclofed 
 in the grey, and, partly indurated, had got the 
 nature of hornftone-rock. I faw likewife black 
 limeftone with white veins. Near Faijlriz and 
 between Ernhaufen and Marburg, I obferved dif- 
 ferent detached pieces (gefcbiebe] of a blueim grey 
 trapp, containing quadrangular fherl-cryftals, of a 
 remarkable length and bignefs. 
 
 Between Faijlriz and Cornuwiz the following 
 ftones offered on the road. i. Large red garnets 
 in green fparry fherl, and among them feveral 
 fcaley ones of a micaceous or glimmery contexture. 
 2. Black feather, or ftrahl-fherl, in large pieces in- 
 clofed in white quartz. 3. Green jafper. I know 
 very well that detached ftones give no great evi- 
 dence ; but they give fome hints of the nature of 
 the neighbouring hills ; and if heaped near the roads 
 as repairing materials, there is good reafon to 
 fuppofe their quarries very near, efpecially if they 
 do not appear under a blunt form, but pointed and 
 frelh- broken. 
 
 The limeftone appeared here to be covered by 
 a thin bed of breccia or pudding-ftone, compofed of 
 blunt pebbles cemented by lime. 
 
 B 4 Between
 
 8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Between Zila and France I found near the road 
 horny indurated red iron-clay or Bolus, with quar- 
 zy veins. 
 
 Between France and Ufwold, near to the limit 
 . pyramid of Steyermarck and Crayn, and the trium- 
 phal-arch, rifes from under ground a black table- 
 flate hill. It is of a remarkable elevation, and con- 
 tinues till near Lanbacb; however the limeflone, 
 which covered it, appears on both fides. 
 
 Similar flate- hills rife above their calcareous roof, 
 between Laubacb and Upper Laubach. In the 
 foreft near Laubach I found, on the furface of 
 the hill, a fmall bed of reddilh fea-fand, dug out 
 as materials for repairing the road. 
 
 Between Upper-Laubacb and Hydria, the flate- 
 hills are covered by common limeftone, which 
 here, for a long way, was light-grey, and after- 
 wards changed to a black colour. 
 
 Hydria is a fmall irregular place, fituated in a 
 deep valley, on both fides of a river, which bears 
 the fame name j it is furrounded every where with 
 : high towering mountains of black limeftone. In 
 this valley the black flate rifes naked from under 
 ground, between forty-five and feventy-five de- 
 grees, having limeflone both in its hanging and in 
 its hading fide. The famous rich mercurial mines 
 are funk in it ; and the flate, more or lefs pene- 
 trated by mercury and cinnabar, is nearly twenty 
 Jrlydrian fathoms deep, extending into the field 
 
 about
 
 ITALY. LETTER I. 9 
 
 about two or three hundred fathoms. The dip- 
 ping of this rich flat- work is variable, and often 
 irregular. The perpendicular depth of the prin- 
 cipal mafts is about one hundred fathoms. I for- 
 bear to fpeak of the ores to be found here, becaufe 
 you have them in your colle&ion, having been 
 befides defcribed already by Mr. Scopoli, in his 
 treatife de Hydrargyro Idrienjl. I have but a 
 fingle remark, and that is, that I have feen the 
 halotrictrum of Mr. Scopoli, adherent to the fides of 
 the mines, and fairly reddened by cinnabar. They 
 confider here their common melting and uftula- 
 tion of the mercurial-ores as an arcanum, and ac- 
 cordingly do not allow any ftranger to examine 
 their fublimation-houfe, though even its exterior 
 form undoubtedly, and at firft fight, proves their 
 method being the very fame as that which is ufed 
 at Almaden in Spain; and has been very minutely de- 
 fcribed by Mr. Jujfieu, in the memoires of the 
 royal fociety at Paris. This method is far from 
 being perfect, and above any improvements. But 
 probably they do not think fo ; elfe there could be 
 no poffible reafon for their myftery in fo com- 
 mon a manipulation. Nothing is more oppofite 
 to the progrefs of the fciences, and even to the in- 
 tereft of ftates, than fo fingular a myfterioufnefs. 
 The example of the French Academy, pub- 
 lifhing the, till now unknown, manipulations of 
 Artifts and Manufacturers, Ihould be to other 
 
 nations
 
 IO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 nations an inducement of praife-worthy and pub- 
 lic-fpirited imitation ; and this the more Co, as 
 that Academy acts by generous principles, ex- 
 plained in the Preface to the S-pettack dcs Arts\ 
 and as fuch, an imitation would certainly prove 
 equally fuccefsful and ferviceable to the imita- 
 tors, and to the generality of mankind. The 
 quick filver being befides fo very plenty at 
 Hydria, and, except Zweybrutken and the Palati- 
 nate, fcarce any where elfe to be found in Eu- 
 rope, I do not conceive for what good reafons 
 they treat its melting with fo much fecrecy in 
 refpect to ftrangers who are deftitute of that 
 commodity. Nature gave it to Hydria in fo 
 aftonifhing a quantity, that it would be fufficient 
 to the wants of Europe, and even to the demands 
 of America, if, to keep a certain price, they did 
 not put its meltings and fales under certain regu- 
 lated reftridions. They might, if they pleafed, 
 at Hydria, even underfell every competitor. We 
 have long fince given in Sweden a confiderable 
 premium on the abridgement of our ufual copper- 
 melting, and accordingly we have invited to it all 
 the Swedim and foreign chemifts; yea, we have 
 given patents of nobility, and other great rewards, 
 to the celebrated Kuxckel, though his propofals of 
 a new procefs did not entirely anfwer our expecta- 
 tions. Neverthelefs, our copper is the belt in 
 Europe; and we do not apprehend at all to 
 
 learn
 
 ITALY. LETTER I. II 
 
 learn its melting and parting in Hungary, or other 
 countries abroad. Every improvement of fuch g, 
 nature is to be expected from chemiftry and me- 
 tallurgy ; but how can that be obtained, if even 
 a fight of the common manipulation is forbid to 
 thofe who might be perhaps pofiefied of the con- 
 venient knowledge ? I have feen the mercurial- 
 mines in the Palatinate and Zweybrucken ; I have 
 obferved the ufual melting; I am acquainted 
 with the procefs pradtifed at Almaden ; and, what 
 is above all that, chemiftry and metallurgy have 
 taught me the principles of this operation. I 
 could wifti only that we might happen to difco- 
 ver in my country mercurial-mines as rich as thofe 
 at Hydria. I am pretty well convinced our theo- 
 retical melters would not be at a lofs how to part 
 them. 
 
 The limeftone hills near Panina and Alderjberg 
 offer feveral fubterraneous grottoes incruftated by 
 figured ftalaclites. Some of them run and ex- 
 tend feveral miles under ground, and receive 
 the waters of different rivers. To give an 
 inflance of that, I ought to tell you, that the 
 P0/g--river falls, and is loft, in the cavern near 
 Adlerjberg. The famous Cz/r/w/y-lake, two hours 
 journey diftant from Planina, is in one year's time 
 navigable, fifhed, planted, and reaped ; and more- 
 over it is faid to empty its water into fuch ca- 
 verns. 
 
 Between
 
 12 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Between Wip-pach and Meftre, where I embarked 
 for Venice, I paffed through fertile plains, richly 
 planted with vine, fig, and mulberry-trees, maize, 
 and feveral other plants of wanner climates. In 
 proportion as they were unufual, they feemed the 
 more charming to me. The famenefs of their 
 afpect, fo difagreeable in other flat countries, was 
 not at all tirefome, fmce every fpot of ground 
 was tilled to a triple harveft, being planted with 
 wheat, or maize, and with mulberry and Lom- 
 bardy poplar-trees, in regular rows, to fupport 
 the grapes and their pidturefque feftoons, cluf- 
 tering from tree to tree. Italy will certainly pre- 
 fent many more profpefts of that kind; and I 
 fhould enjoy them better in your company. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER II. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Padua, Sept.%0, 1775: 
 
 I Arrived at Venice when moft of the gentle- 
 men whofe acquaintance is defirable to me 
 Were in the country. Therefore I have made a 
 trip to Padua, Vicenza, and Verona. It is three 
 days fmce I arrived here, and, as far as my oppor- 
 tunities will permit, I will give you an account of 
 the principal curiofities of this place, which lie in 
 our way, and have not been defcribed before. 
 
 The Botanic Garden is one of the finefl and 
 richeft I ever faw. Its plan is convenient, proper, 
 and elegant. The late profeflbr of botany, Pon- 
 tedera, has greatly improved it, under the direc- 
 tion of the Riformatori dello Studio di Padova ; 
 and the prefent learned profeflbr, Giovanni Mar- 
 fill, auchor of a treatife de fungo Carrarienji vel 
 crepitu Lupi, has a great correfpondence with the 
 chief botanifts of Europe. To keep plants of 
 warmer climates in the beds of the garden, they 
 have contrived wainfcot flmtters with glafs win- 
 dows?
 
 *4 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 dows, which, in wintertime, are laid over the 
 fields, and fupported by moveable poles fix feet 
 high. 
 
 The bujbandry 'or eecmomhal Garden is an ex- 
 cellent ufeful modern eftablifhment, directed by 
 the celebrated Mr. Pietro Arduini, now Profejfir 
 Oeconomia rurnlis. The main object: of this gar- 
 den is> to have at hand, for experiments in agri- 
 culture, ceconomy, dying, &c. convenient quan- 
 tities of ceconomical plants and trees. Mr. Ar- 
 duini has "publimed already a volume of his obfer- 
 vations. It is a very promifing eftablifhment. 
 Mr. Ardulni follows the Linnean fyftem. 
 
 The academical collection of natural curiofities 
 contains the old cabinet of the immortal Antonio 
 Valifneri> late profeflbr of natural hiftory at Pa- 
 dua. He was fucceeded in that place by his fon 
 il Cavaliers Antonio Valifneri, who is already much 
 advanced in years. 
 
 The collection is fomewhat impaired by dud; 
 Betides, it did not anfwer my expectation, either on 
 account of the quality or the number cf its curiofi- 
 ties. What I moil delighted to obferve was petrified 
 fnells in red jafper, different fpecimens of Bref- 
 cian agates ; Sicilian agates ; red and white fpotted 
 porphyry, from Cricetta, in the Venetian domi- 
 nions ; and a piece of an anchor-cable incruftated 
 , by a calcareous tufo-ftone, which contained natural 
 unpetrified (hells. They fhewed me likewife two 
 5 pieces
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R II. 1 5 
 
 pieces of native iron, one from Steyermarck> the 
 other from Johan-Georgen-Stadt, in Saxony. I 
 do not depend upon, nor anfwer for, their authen- 
 ticity. The perfon who mewed this cabinet was 
 an apothecary, a difciple of Pontedera, and pof- 
 fefied of a good collection of dry plants, petri- 
 factions, and lavas, found in the neighbourhood. 
 Among feveral other curiofities, he fhewed me, 
 i. Grey lava, fprinkled with fmall black fherl- 
 points, covered on one fide with the pretended 
 black Iceland agate, (Cronfted> Mineral. . 295) 
 found near Monte Catajo, near Padua. 2. Black, 
 very compact lava, with green fnerl-nodules, which 
 refemble the chryfolite, from the fame place. 
 3. ChryfoliteBafalt-columns, from the fame place, 
 and other Euganean hills, near Padua. 
 
 The chemical Laboratory^ at Padua ; together 
 with the hall, and the collection of minerals, has 
 been but of late eflablifhed by the prefent pro- 
 feffbr of chemiftry, Count Marco Carburi. He 
 was born in Greece, and travelled fome years ago, 
 at the expence of the Republick, to the mines in 
 Saxony, on the Hartz, and in Sweden, where, in 
 the year 1762, I got acquainted with him at UpfaL 
 His brother was phyfician to his Sardinian Ma- 
 jefty at Turin, but has lived for the lad year at 
 Paris. 
 
 The anatomical Theatre is fmall and dark, 
 though anatomy be, perhaps, no where better taught 
 
 than
 
 16 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 than at Padua. The celebrated Mr. Giov. Eat. 
 Morgagni, a German, though very old, continue? 
 his lefibns. Profefibr and doctor Caldani has a" 
 fine collection of anatomical preparations in wax. 
 
 Mr. Vandclli, profeflbr of furgery, has a fmall 
 collection of petrifactions, from the Vicentine and 
 Veronefe mountains. It was made by his fon 
 Domenico Vandalli^ now profeflbr of botany at 
 Lifbon, who lately has publifhed 
 
 Fafdculum plant arum rarlorum^ printed at 
 
 Lifbon, 1771 : 
 
 and has given fonae hopes of a general natural 
 hiftory of Portugal, and fome remarks on the 
 Milanefe mountains. His treatife 
 
 De Thermis agri Patavini cum Bibliotbeca Hj- 
 
 drographica Padua, 1761. ^to. 
 is an ufeful performance , and 
 
 Confpeftus Mufei Dominici VandelUy 
 kept at his father's, is inferted into the 
 
 Novell? ktterarie di Firenze, and into the 
 
 Gcizetta medica del Sr. Do f tore Pietro Ortcfchi, 
 
 n. 2. 1764. 
 
 At a diftance of eight Italian miles from Pa- 
 dua, is the fine villa of Mr. Filip-po Farfetti, a 
 nolile di Venezia t called Sala. There is building 
 now a palace, decorated with the fineft marbles 
 and granite-columns, which are tranfported hither 
 from Rome. His botanic garden is extremely 
 magnificent, and very rich in thefcarceft plants. 
 
 The
 
 ITALY. LETTER II. 1J 
 
 The Paduan-hilh, which lie free and ifolated, 
 and are known under the name of Monies Euganei^ 
 confift of lavas of ancient extinct volcanos, ne- 
 ver mentioned by any hiftorian. Thefe lavas are 
 of a red, black, grey, and whitim colour, and 
 commonly contain a great number of white cryf- 
 talline garnets, and black fherl-nodules. Being 
 very common and hard, they are, together with the 
 broken bafalt-columns, employed in the pavement 
 of almoft every flreet at Padua and Venice. In 
 one of my next Letters I mall fpeak of them more 
 particularly. Befides thefe ifolated volcanic hills, 
 the calcareous Alps run through the Paduan ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 / Bagni tfAlbano, defcribed in the above treatife 
 of Mr. Vanaeili) are about twenty miles diftant 
 from Padua. An Englimman, Sir John Strange, 
 who, on account of his health, has lived in this 
 country for feveral years, has exactly examined all 
 thefe parts *, arid written a defcription of the fof- 
 fils and lavas found thereabouts and in the Euga- 
 nean hills, which, together with that collection^ 
 he has defigned for the Paduan cabinet of natural 
 hiftory. 
 
 * His account of two giants-caufevvays, or groups of prif- 
 inatic bafaltine columns, and other vulcanic concretions in 
 the Venetian Hate in Italy, together with two engravings of 
 Monte Kofi and il Monte di Diavoto, was prefented to the Royal 
 Society in 1774, and is inferted in Phil Tranfaa. vol. lxv 
 part i. for 1775, 
 
 C LET
 
 18 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 , 
 
 . 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Verona, Ott. 5, 1771. 
 
 1CAME by the way of Vicenza to this place; 
 therefore I entertain you firft with my Vicen- 
 tine obiervations. 
 
 I got there the valuable acquaintance and friend- 
 mip of an able naturalift, Dr. Antonio Turra. He 
 has a fine collection of foffils, or petrifactions, 
 found in the Vicentine calcareous mountains, but 
 efpecially in the Monies Berici, and Monte Bren- 
 dola. His Herbary is likewife confiderable ; and he 
 has almoft finimed for the prefs a Flora Italica, 
 after Baron Linneus's principles. He would have 
 publifhed it, if the many difficulties which attend 
 every literary publication in Italy had not hin- 
 dered him. His infects alfo are worth feeing. 
 
 At Valdagno, twenty Italian miles diflant from 
 Vicenza, lives Dr. Antonio Martini, a good phy- 
 fician, and an attentive collector of the natural 
 productions of his country. 
 
 At Vicenza I had the honour to wait on the 
 BHhop Monfignor Marcs Corner. He has a rich : 
 
 bota-
 
 ITALY. LETTER III. 19 
 
 botanical garden and library, and is a fond virtu- 
 ofo in botany, as well as other parts of natural hif- 
 tory. Before he came to Vicenza he lived at Mo- 
 rano, and left there marks of his tafte in a botanic 
 garden, which is now decaying. His Vicentine 
 garden is fituated on a high hill, on the road to 
 Madonna di Monte Berico ; and that hill is through- 
 out an heap of accumulated volcanic ames, of a 
 dark-brown colour ; containing, very frequently, 
 a white fort of chalcedonick-nodules, which com- 
 monly are hollow within, but now and then are 
 filled with water. They appear under the form of 
 blunt round, or elliptical pebbles, from the big- 
 nefs of a pea to the diameter of about an inch. 
 There is good reafon to fuppofe that thefe pebbles 
 and nodules have been formed and filled -with water 
 in the holes of this cinereous hill, after it was 
 accumulated by rain or fnow water foaking 
 through its fpungy fubfrance. They make rings 
 of thefefingular chalcedonick-pebbles ; and I faw 
 t\vo in the pofleffion of Dr. Turra, which, by 
 having been worn for fome time, had loft and 
 evaporated their water, probably by fmall imper- 
 ceptible cracks ; though there are feveral of thefe 
 ilones which never lofe it. There are fundry 
 other volcanic-hills in Vicenza, containing fimilar 
 chalcedonick, or opal-like Enbydros. In that before- 
 mentioned, thefe pebbles are found in the volcanic 
 ames, exactly as the chalcedony and zeoiite-no- 
 C 2 dules
 
 2O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Jules lie buried in a bed of dark-brown earth, 
 in the ifland of Farroe. May not this earth-ftra- 
 "turn at Farroe be likewife of a volcanic kind ? 
 
 The Academia d* Agricultura^ at Vicenza, is 
 planned out for the improvement of hufbandry, 
 'the culture of filk (greatly flourifhing hereabout), 
 'and ceconomy in general. Dr. Turra is its per- 
 petual fecretary. 
 
 Verona is a very delightful place. Here is 
 much good-breeding, much chearfulnefs, and 
 much tafte in feveral parts of literature. The 
 road from Padua hither is undoubtedly the moft 
 pleafmg in Lombardy. On the right hand, you 
 fee, at fome diftance, the Alps, which feparate 
 Italy and Germany, or the Paduan, Vicentine, and 
 Veronefe hills ; but on the lefc, a flat, rich culti- 
 vated country, extending to the Apennines, be- 
 hipd Bologna. I do not entertain you at this 
 time with the Vicentine and Veronefe mountains, 
 belonging to the chain of Alps which feparate 
 Germany from Italy ; but, in general, I can tell 
 you, that they are of a calcareous nature, furnifh 
 "fine red, yellow, and variegated marbles, and 
 'have been mattered in former times by violent 
 volcanos, as evidenced by a great variety of la- 
 'vas, and other volcanic productions. Near Rove- 
 'redo and the Tfickntim, is Monte Baldo *, famous- 
 
 * They dig in Movie Baldo, a yellow violet fpotted mar- 
 ble, rcfejub'iing the Brocatello di Siena. The green colour-
 
 ITALY. LETTER III. 21 
 
 for. its rare plants, defcribed by Mr. Seguier, in his 
 flora Veronenfi, when he lived with the celebrated 
 Maffei, at Verona, before he went to Nifmes. 
 Another hill, Monte Bolca, in the Veronefe, is 
 equally famous, on account of its numerous pe- 
 trifactions and fine ichthyolites. 
 
 Spada defcribed, in Corporum lapidefafforum agri 
 Veronenfis Catalogo Veronae, 1744. 4/0. his collec- 
 tion of petrifactions, which I have feen at Mr. 
 Seguier's, at Nifmes, who acquired it after the 
 owner's death, and augmented it very much. 
 An apothecary, Mr. Giulio Cefare Moreni, at 
 Verona , has like wife a rich collection of the Eolca- 
 filhes and petrifactions ; together with a confider- 
 able Herbary of Alpine plants, of Monte Baldo, 
 which probably will be bought by the Archduke 
 of Tufcany , Mr. Moreni, by his private circum- 
 flances, being forced to fell them. Among the pe- 
 trified fifties of this collection, is the flying-fifh, fome 
 Brafilians, and fuch as are not found in the Adri- 
 atic or the Mediterranean fea ; the Pinna Ma-^ 
 rina, bones of exotic animals, and foreign plants, 
 petrified and moulded in calcareous flate, which,^ 
 by friction, gives a difagreeable fmell. Mr. Mo* 
 reni pretends to have found on Monte Baldo feveral 
 
 ing earth, or green painters clay, is dug near Brontonico, 
 on the northern fide of .Monte Baldo, and is a confiderable 
 of trade. 
 
 C 3 plants^
 
 22 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 plants, unnoticed by Mr. Seguier; for example, 
 the white and red variety of AlyJJum Pyrenaicum. 
 This may be, without lefiening the credit of Mr. 
 Seguier, who, grown old, continues to live like a 
 true philofopher -, and has feen, with cool indiffer- 
 ence, a Dutchman publifhing a new edition of 
 his Botanical Library, and impudently felling it 
 as his own work, fuppofing the author gone 
 
 Unde negant redire qtienquam. 
 
 I am indebted to Mr. Seguier, for many ufeful direc- 
 tions and recommendations in Italy. Befides the 
 before-mentioned collection, Mr. Gafparo Bordoni, 
 and the apothecary Vincenzo Eozza^ at Verona, 
 are likewife poflerTed of the rimes and curiofities of 
 Monte Bolca. The latter of thefe gentlemen has 
 publifhed a valuable chemical treatife, De a^uis 
 medicatis martialibus Veronenfibus. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER IV. 23 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Venice, Nov. 2, 1771. 
 
 I Returned hither on the 7th of October, afte r 
 my journey to Padua, Vicenza, and Verona ; 
 and have had, fmce, the pleafure to make fome 
 agreeable acquaintances, and to fee here, and in 
 the neighbourhood, whatever is remarkable in 
 Natural Hiftory. 
 
 Mr. Gio. Arduini, publico fopraintendente d'Agri- 
 coltura in ftato Veneto, is a very learned man in 
 Mineralogy, Metallurgy, and Chemiftry. I can 
 rank him amongft my friends. You may guefs 
 at his fkill in Agriculture and Hufbandry, by 
 his uncommon exertions in the Magiftrato d^Agri- 
 coltura. It is he that propofes, advifes, and re- 
 cords the greater part of its undertakings ; it is 
 he that, in fome refpect, is the fac-totum of this 
 college, for this, like other Venetian public de- 
 partments, is filled by over-great people, that is 
 to fay, by noblemen. He affifts likewife, accord- 
 ing to his function, the Magijlrato delk Miniere, 
 The tafte of huftandry is at prefent fo general in 
 C 4 the
 
 24 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the Venetian (late, that there are publishing many 
 ufeful obfervations , and they begin to fet the 
 fame value upon agriculture, with which the 
 Romans, in the brighteft luftre of their glory, 
 honoured that fcience. The Oeconomical acade- 
 mies, or focieties, at Udiae, Vicenza, and Brefcia, 
 fend their Difiertations to the Magiftrato d'Agri- 
 coltura> and are rewarded for the beft, with confi- 
 derable prizes. 
 
 The profeflbrfliip of agriculture and practical 
 ceconomy at Padua, given to Mr. Pietro Arduini, 
 is a new eftablifhment, and a confequence of this 
 tafte. But I mall rather dwell on Mr. Gio. Ar~ 
 duini's knowlege in mineralogy, which proved 
 very profitable to me. During a long time he 
 directed fome mines in the Tridentine territory, 
 and at Scbio in the Vicentine. Afterwards he got 
 the inipection of the mines of Gtrfalco and Mon- 
 tieriy in Tufcany, near Siena \ where he lived two 
 years, till he was ordered back again into the Ve- 
 netian ft ate. Wherever he lived, he was afiiduous 
 in collecting and obferving. Some of his obfer- 
 vations have been publiftied, in two Letters, to. 
 Mr. Antonio Valifneri, at Padua, in the Raccolta, 
 d'Opufcoli Filologici frej/b Simone Occhi. Several 
 others have appeared in different volumes of the 
 Giornak d' Italia fyettante alia Scienza naturale\ 
 printed at Venice j but flill the greater part is 
 
 kept
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R IV. 2 5 
 
 kept in his library. Their being publifhed 
 would certainly prove an advantage to the fci- 
 ences, efpecially if his mafterly hand fhould 
 bring them to due and fyftematical connection. 
 He was fo kind as to allow me to perufe them ; 
 and whenever, in the Paduan, Vicentine, and 
 Veronefe territories, I had an opportunity to 
 examine the places by myfelf which he had ob- 
 ferved before, I have found nature and his cb- 
 fervations exactly correfponding. By this means, 
 I am the more convinced, that the calcareous 
 hills, in the Paduan, Vicentine, and Veronefe re- 
 gions, belonging to the Alps, which feparate 
 Germany and Italy, are constantly, as in Auftria, 
 Steyer, and Crayn, fuperincumbent to flate, on 
 which they have been accumulated. He afiures 
 me likewife, that, according to Mr. ^argioni Toz- 
 zettfs obfervations in Tufcany, Prof. Baldaf- 
 fan's treatiles in the A&a Academic Sienenjis t and 
 his own infpeclion, the nature of a part of 
 the Apennines is exactly the very fame. Evert 
 the faline marbles at Carrara and Seravezza are 
 faid to be fuperincumbent on flate. I hope to 
 verify ail this by my own obfervations, recapitu- 
 lating in a few words, that flate is conflantly run- 
 ning under thefe limeftone-hills in the Venetian 
 State; that, from beneath the calcareous beds, 
 even from beneath the flate, there have been in 
 
 former
 
 26 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 former times volcanic eruptions, which, raifing 
 many lava hills, and occafioning in the calcareous 
 beds many failures and various (loping dip- 
 pings, have left every where inconteflable 
 marks and evidences of their former devafta- 
 tions, though unnoticed by the mofl ancient 
 hiflorians. 
 
 I am obliged to make you equally acquainted 
 with P. Alberto Fort is. He is a white-friar, of 
 the Angufline order, and a man of a lively tem- 
 per, and much ingenuity. He is poflefled of folid 
 fcience and principles in Oryctography j has tra- 
 velled in Dalmatia, and lately publimed OJ/erva- 
 zioni fopra I'lfola di Cberfo ed Ofero. A great 
 number of his performances are inferred in the 
 Giornak d' It alia, and the Europa Letter aria > two 
 periodical reviews, publifhing at Venice. 
 
 Padre Vio t a Dominican prieft in the convent 
 <S. Matiia, at Murano, near Venice, had fome 
 time ago a fine collection of petrifactions and 
 natural curiofities ; but he has fold it to Lord 
 Bute, who has travelled over Italy as a great 
 connoifleur and friend of natural hiftory and the 
 finer arts of the ancients. But Padre Vio has 
 already begun a new collection ; and he mewed 
 me a variety of imall microfcopic fhells and litho- 
 phytes, either natural ones found in the fands of 
 the Adriatic, or petrified and gathered in the Vi- 
 
 centinc
 
 ITALY. LETTER IV. 1J 
 
 centine and Yeronefe hills, which with much pains 
 he has collected, and with equal care glued on a 
 black paper-ground. Several fpecies feemed to 
 be entirely new, and never obferved. He fhewed 
 me fome petrified (hells in a red jafper, fprinkled 
 with quartz, found near Brefcia ; where, as in 
 Vicenza and Verona, the upper ftratum of the 
 calcareous hills commonly contains a great variety 
 of red and black jafper and common flint, dif- 
 pofed in fmall beds, which are called la Scaglia. 
 His mouldings and ammonites in a grey horn- 
 ftone (Petrofilex) from the ifland Cerigo, in the 
 Archipelago, feemed to me very fingular. 
 
 Signer Giacomp Morofmi, a nobleman, has a 
 fine botanic garden near Venice, and a cabinet 
 of the three natural kingdoms ; which, though 
 not very numerous, contains fome very valuable 
 pieces. I faw there pretended black Iceland agate 
 (Cronfted. Mineral. .295) and another fpecies of 
 that kind, of a blue colour ; fo perfectly refem- 
 bling blue iron-flags, that I doubted its authenti- 
 city, till feveral connoifTeurs, whofe veracity I 
 cannot fufpecl, unanimoufly afiured me of its 
 being very frequent, together with the black 
 fpecies, among the volcanic productions in the 
 Venetian State ; I faw, like wife, calcined bones 
 and fragments of human fkulls ( fuch they 
 feemed to be) in a red calcareous and jafper- 
 7 like
 
 28 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 like indurated ftratum, from the ifland of 
 Cherfo *. Of thefe, P. Fortis has given an ac- 
 count in the abovementioned treatife. But what 
 leemed more flrange to me was, to meet here 
 with a yellow zeolite, froi. Scbio and from Tret to. 
 It is the very fame fpecies wi. h we have in our 
 gold mines at Edelfors in Sweden. You mail have 
 your mare of all the double fpecimens of foflils 
 which I gather in Italy ; but do me the favour to 
 fend directly to Mr. Arduini fome pieces of the 
 fingular gold- ore from Nagyag, and of the gold 
 pyrite^ from Faccbay. 
 
 Mr. Francefco Pataroli is a great friend of bo- 
 tany. Accordingly he has a convenient garden 
 and library. I can fay the fame of Dr. Se/Ier, a, 
 German phyfician ; and of Mr. Pelegrino Gozzi, an 
 apothecary. Thefe botanical acquaintances give 
 me an opportunity to tell you, that, withMr.A&r- 
 Jik's- permifTion, I have lately reaped in the bota- 
 nical garden at Padua a fine crop of rare plants. 
 Several of the duplicates are for your Herbary. 
 Pity it was that autumn had left but few in 
 flower. But I hope to make up for this next 
 fummer. I have been feveral times botanizing at 
 Lido. This is the next place in the Venetian 
 Terra firma* Many fcarce plants are there natural 
 
 * Specimens of thefe Cherfo bones have been preferred to 
 the Sritifh Mufeum. 
 
 inhabi-
 
 ITALY. LITTER IV. 2 
 
 inhabitants. Such is the Apocynum Venetum. The 
 late Mr. Zannicbelti 9 a druggift at Venice, has 
 given defcriptions of many others ; and his col- 
 lection of natural curiofities has been incorporated 
 into the Academic Mufeum at Padua. I met 
 lately with the Valifneria, Najas, and Marfilaa 
 quadri-folia> in the Brenta, and in the fields near 
 Padua. 
 
 Mr. Francefco Grifelini is a man of much 
 reading in many fciences, particularly in natu- 
 ral hiftory, which he has fuccefsfully evidenced 
 in his Giornak d'ltalia fpettante alia Scienza 
 naturale. This excellent review gives an ac- 
 count of all Italian books, difcoveries, and efta- 
 blifhments, concerning natural hiftory, chemiftry, 
 huibandry, and ceconomy. There have appeared 
 already feven volumes in 4to. printed by Milocco 
 at Venice. Mr. Grifelini not only is author of 
 this, but likewife of the equally ufeful Giornak di 
 Medicina. 
 
 The other Review, Europa Letteraria, is upon 
 a larger plan. It deferves to be recommended, 
 for its intrinfic value ; and to be noticed, on ac- 
 count of one of the chief authors, who is a 
 young, handfome, and very learned lady, Mifs 
 Elizabeth Caminer-, whofe amiable ingenuity, parts, 
 and knowledge in the French and Italian lan- 
 -guages, have been juftly admired in feveral ori- 
 4 ginal
 
 30 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 ginal works, and in a great number of play?, 
 which, in her tranllations from the French arc 
 exhibited at S. Angelo^ in Venice, 
 
 After fo much literary news, there remains a 
 good deal to be faid of feveral curiofities in this 
 city. 
 
 I mould have faid nothing of the Arfenal, 
 but its large piles of iron-guns, as it were, bring 
 me to it. They are cafl in Brefciano and Ber- 
 gamafcoy and are fo remarkably deficient, and 
 full of holes and cracks, that the government, 
 on the reprefentations of general Pattifon, who 
 .is an Englifhman, has refolved to reject them 
 .as unfit for fervice, and to procure others in 
 their place. 
 
 Probably they will be ordered from Sweden, 
 our iron-manufactories having been jultly and 
 {Irongly recommended by our conful, Mr. De- 
 lort'he. The iron ore in Brefciano and Bergamafco 
 being the fame as the iron-coloured which we have 
 in Sweden, (Crovft. Mtmrahg. .203, 211, & 
 212.) or partly the fame {reel-ore (Stablftein^ or 
 Pfliniz) which yields the Steyermarck-fteel (Cron- 
 Jled. Min. . 207.) the defects and bad quality 
 of thofe guns, are merely to be afcribed to an im- 
 perfect fmelting and manipulation. 
 
 Ipafs
 
 ITALY. LETTER IV. 
 
 I pafs over the Coral Manufactory, as having 
 been exactly defcribed in the Giornale d'ltdia, 
 and agreeing with a like manufactory at Leg- 
 horn. 
 
 The manipulation of grinding and polifoing 
 Diamonds is here the fame as at Amfterdam. 
 
 The Cryjial Manufactory at Venice, the Looking- 
 glafs Manufactory at Murano, and the Glajieries at 
 the fame place, are lefs remarkable at prefent, fmce 
 good ones are now common every where, and the 
 French, at S. Gobin, by cafling, produce looking- 
 glafles of a larger furface than the Venetian prac- 
 tice of blowing will allow. In the Cryjial Manufac- 
 tory, they make not only different glafs enamelling 
 frittas, which fell all over Europe, but likewife a 
 white fritta, for the Venetian buckle-manufactory. 
 The Murano glafs-makers furnim- Italy with bottles 
 and glafies ; they, make the thin Florentine-oil and 
 wine-bottles, at fo cheap a price, that they bear 
 the carriage by mules to the other fide of the 
 Apennines. 
 
 The refining of borax and camphor, \htfublima- 
 ticn of mercury and cinnabar, &c. have ceafed to 
 be fecrets of the Venetians, as being now common 
 in Holland, at London, and Paris. They continue 
 {till to make theriaca in convents and in apotheca- 
 ries mops. 
 
 There
 
 2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 There is a good China-pottery at Venice. They 
 fetch the clay from fome low hills in Territorio 
 di Tretto, Vicariato di I'iene, where this clay-bed 
 covers old//wr mines, which are funk in flate and 
 volcanic ground. The fame clay is employed in 
 the Cbim-manufaflory at Florence. It is good, fine, 
 and white enough, but wants that foft faponaceous 
 and micaceous fubftance, which is peculiar to the 
 beft China- clays. A whiter clay of the fame kind 
 has been lately difcovered in a valley near Bergamo^ 
 but it is likewife deftitute of this glimmer. The 
 cafes of another apyrous earth, wherein the china 
 is fet in the fire, had a grey colour, fprinkled with 
 white fpots like porphyry. 
 
 The Italian Naturalifts pretend, that the Adria- 
 tic fea, inflead of dimiriifhing, continually increafes. 
 Among feveral evidences, they fupport this opi- 
 Jiion by a fact which cannot be doubted; that is, 
 digging at Venice, they very often meet in the 
 ground with three different ^pavements, two 
 of them lying below the prefent paving. This 
 has been obferved, for example, in the Piazza 
 S. Marco, and may have been occafioned by the 
 growing and heightening level of the fea. Certain 
 it is, that, after heavy rains, and in the autumn, 
 when ftofmy weather raifes the v/ater, they very 
 often are under the neceflity to go in boats from 
 one coffee-houfe to another But might not the 
 
 collective
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 
 
 collective burden and prefTure of a large {tone- 
 built city, have lowered and funk the yielding 
 fwampy Aground whereupon it (lands * ? 
 
 The quarry-ftones ufed at Venice in the ma- 
 fonry of churches and palaces, private houfes 
 being commonly built of brick, are a white lime- 
 ftone, brought hither from Iftria, and called Ptetra 
 d'lftria. Among them are great numbers of 
 jftalactites, of a compact contexture, and of confi- 
 derable bignefs. They are very common in the 
 
 * No, Mr. Ferber ! as I have no national reafon, either to 
 fupport the pretended diminution of the fea level, or to fink 
 cities on its behalf, I rather plainly conceive why the fea- 
 water and its level is conftantly increafing upon the land, and 
 unconcernedly agree that really it is fo in faft. The rivers, 
 difemboguing into the fea, continually carry along with them 
 the finds and clay, which rain, fnow-water, and torrents, 
 have wafhed down from the higher countries. The fea 
 conftantly beats the fteeper mores, and tumbles them down ; 
 large rocks and iflands have difappeared ; others, and very 
 large ones, have been raifed. The coral-rocks, and (hell 
 
 and oyfter-banks, are ever increafing, Undoubted fails, 
 
 whofe effect on the level of the feas and the ocean may be 
 very flow, but become fenfible in the progrefs of time. 
 And fo it is found, in faft, not only at Venice and in the 
 Adriatic fea, in many places which have been pointed out 
 by Mr. Manfredi, Zendrini, Vitaliano Donati, and Alberto Fonts. 
 (Viaggt di Dalmazia, vol. ii. p. 119.) but likewife in the 
 Mediterranean, near Baja and Puzzuolo, and on the fhore of 
 Holland ; where old Roman buildings, villa's, temples, and 
 fortifications, are covered by the overflowing heightened level 
 f the fea, 
 
 D caverns
 
 34 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 caverns of thofe calcareous mountains. The ctfr- 
 nice of the frontifpiece at the beautiful new Jefuit 
 church at Venice, being built of Pietra d'ljtria, 
 gives a ftriking evidence of its eafy diflblution, 
 by a great many hanging ftalaHtes which flick 
 to it, and have been, in a few years, produced by 
 the foaking and diftilling rain water. They are 
 forming in the fame manner in the fubterraneous 
 caverns of this calcareous ftone, whofe grain and 
 mixture fcems to be very fubject to diflblution. 
 
 The flreets and bridges at Venice are paved with 
 black, grey, and red lavas, from the Euganeari- 
 hills near Padua, in which frequently appear white 
 fmall polygon fherl-cryftals, and black fmall fherl- 
 fcales. The red and yellow Veronefe-marble is 
 much employed in gate-pofts, tables, chimnies, 
 or other architectonical ornaments. 
 
 Before I clofe this letter, I fhall juft mention 
 to you an excellent collection of models, of the 
 beft fculptures and ftatues in Italy *. It is in the 
 palace of Mr. Farfetti at Venice ; and 1 trefpaflcd 
 on our agreement refpefting the finer arts, only 
 to make you take due notice of it when you 
 come to Venice. 
 
 * It la rather a more valuable colle&ion of plaifters formed 
 over the originals ; Xuch as that of the inllitute at Bologna, 
 given by Pope Lambertini, and another of that kind lately 
 eftablifhed by the Eleftor Palatine at Manhcihi in Germany. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER IV. 35 
 
 - ~ 
 
 
 
 y/2 br^ubC"' ; m' ?n333 f 
 
 .dbvE T T E R V. 
 
 Iftidlft 3 
 
 Vmlct, Nov. 12, 1771. 
 ^ .noimloll: 
 T AM now going from Venice to Bologna ; 
 
 JL and I give you by this poft an abftraft of 
 the different obfefvations, which my unwearied 
 worthy friend, Mr. Giou. Arduini, during fo many 
 years, has made on the nature of the Vicentinc and 
 Veronefe-hills, and which he has kindly commu- 
 nicated to me. You will fee by it how excellent a 
 Mirieralogift he is, and how great a lofs it would 
 prove to Natural Hiftory, if he mould not digeft 
 his obfervations into the form of a conveniently 
 cxtenfive fyftematical Treatife. What I can write 
 you is but a fketch of a plan, which he has pro- 
 vided materials to execute at large, and of whofd 
 excellence I judge, by the fmall famples I had an 
 opportunity to pick Up in converfing with him', 
 and in making obfervations afterwards myfelf. 
 
 I have mentioned to you already two printed 
 
 Letters t of Mr. Arduinfs to Mr. Valifmri. In 
 
 thefe Letters he has divided the Vicentine and Ve- 
 
 D 2 ronefe*
 
 $6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 ronefe-Mls, according to the difference of their 
 beds and their prefumptive antiquity and origin, 
 into Monies primaries, fecundarios t) and tertiarios. 
 
 He calls Montes primaries the flate, which runs 
 under the fnperincumbent calcareous hills, and 
 which muft have been anterior to their origin ; 
 Montes fecundarios y the large calcareous hills, di- 
 vided into ftrata, confiding of a compact impal- 
 pable limeftone, and containing petrified marine 
 bodies j fuch are part of the Alps, or the large 
 chain of mountains that feparate Germany from 
 Italy; Montes tertiarios^ or colles, he calls the 
 lower hills, which confift likewife of fmall lime- 
 ftone beds filled with petrifactions, or now and 
 then confift of fand and clay-beds, but are of a 
 later origin, fmce incumbent on the Montes fecun- 
 darios, and produced by their decays varioufly 
 \vafhed down and accumulated together. Add to 
 thefe the volcanic hills, or their remains and old 
 devaftations. Remember what I faid to you 
 in one of my former Letters, that their erup- 
 tions came from beneath the flate, or from a ft ill 
 
 ' 
 
 greater depth, and that they have broken their 
 way through the Montes fecu/idarios and tertiarios. 
 
 And now permit me to entertain you by a par- 
 ticular account of each of thefe four different 
 fpecies of mountains, which are found in the 
 Vieentine and Veronefe territories. 
 
 6 I. Of
 
 I T A I, Y. L E T T E R V. ' %f 
 
 I. Of the inferior Slate, de Montibus primariis. 
 
 This date is of a clayifh (argillaceous) fub- 
 ftance, commonly containing much micaceous par- 
 ticles, now and then filver-coloured ; crofled by 
 Quartz veins ; lamellated or fhivery ; often ap- 
 pearing in wave-like bent ftrata. It is the deepeft 
 rock in the Vicentine and Veronefe countries, and 
 has never been dug through ; whence it is uncer- 
 tain whether there be any granite under ground as 
 in other mountainous countries ; though this be 
 very probable, fince the granite rocks appear from 
 under ground in the higher Alps of Tyrol ; and 
 the grey granite or granitello is to be found near 
 fozzino and Primiero, at the fpring of the river 
 Cifmonoe y which falls into the Brenta. Near Sckio in 
 the Vicentine territories there are facts to fupport 
 the fame opinion ; I mean, mountains of porphyry, 
 which are like wife very common in Brefciano and 
 Eergamafco ; but Mr. Arduini allures me, this laft is 
 fuperincumbent on the ilate and a volcanic produc- 
 tion, which I hope to examine myfelf. This flate 
 is here, as in other countries, that fort of rock 
 which commonly contains the metallic veins ; but 
 they are here, for the moft part, under the fame 
 law, which you, my deareft friend, have fo very- 
 well obferved in the Bannat , that is to fay, the veins 
 D 3 are
 
 3$ TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 are found between the Date and the calcareous 
 rocks, where they border upon, and fkirt or fepara^e, 
 one another. That is the cafe with the large vein of 
 copper-pyrites at Agorth, in the Bellunefe in Valle 
 Imperina, where the Tyrol-flate dips under the 
 Venetian Alps. Thefe dgortb-mmes yield every 
 year large quantities of copper, fulphur, and vi- 
 triol. They fave in a vitriol-manufactory a good 
 deal of cemented or precipitated copper, by put- 
 ting iron into the boiling pans. Purfuing the 
 limits and borderings of the flate and the lime- 
 done hills along the chain of the Alps, you will 
 meet, in the reparation, of the primitive flate and 
 the calcareous hills, with different metallic veins 
 and mines. For example, going from the Valk 
 Imperina to the weft, you find within fix Italian 
 miles of thole rock-limits at Feltrino nelld Valle 
 delle Monacbs, the mercury and cinnabar mines, 
 which for many years have been worked by the 
 Magijlrato delle Miniere, but now are deferted. 
 Jn the fame valley you meet with old bings 
 and marks of other metallic mines. The chief 
 vein at Scbio in Monte Narro runs between 
 the flate, which is its hading fide (das Lisgende) 
 and between the limeftone, which is its hanging 
 fjde (das Hangende). It yields lead -ore, copper- 
 pyrites, black jack (blende), white calamine, mun- 
 dicker marcafites, and manganefe or brown- ftone 
 
 Tho
 
 ITALY. LETTER V, 39 
 
 The white calamine feems to have been in this 
 vein produced by the folution of blende or black 
 jack in the vitriolic acid of the pyrites, precipi- 
 tated by lime, which is nearer related to the acid 
 than to the zinc ? ockre. 
 
 There are likewife at Sckio Tome metallic veins 
 in the calcareous hangings or incumbent rocks, 
 which 1 fhall notice afterwards. In the hills near 
 S. Ulderico, at Tretfo, in the Vicentine territory, 
 have been, in former times, very deep filver mines, 
 and there is ftill to be found heavy rhomboidal 
 tefTelated fpar, which yields fome lead. 
 
 Near Recoaro are old mines in flate ; but Mr. 
 Ardulni has been more particular on thefe parts in 
 his Letters to Mr. Valifneri. The mineral waters 
 near Recoaro fpring in cajcarepus hill, and form 
 
 fine incrijftafions. 
 
 ' - > 
 
 )OJjjfpw(y tb? calcareous Aty$ t 
 
 (Dg Montibus fecundariis.) 
 
 .. 
 
 I have told you already, that they are, for the 
 moft part, of a fine compact impalpable grain ; 
 hat fcarce any of them are of a faline contexture ; ' 
 that they are formed in ftrata, containing n^ow anc] 
 then fomp marine petrifactions. But their ilrata'' 
 are very different, on account of their hardnefs, ; 
 grain, cgmpofition, larnellated texture, hardnefs 
 D 4 of
 
 40 TRAVELS THROUGH' 
 
 of their finer particles, colour, fiffnres, cracks, 
 and petrifa&ions , which are very different in dif- 
 ferent beds, and conftamly the fame in the fame 
 bed. To have a general idea of thefe beds, from 
 the lowefl parts up to the fummits of thefe calca- 
 reous Alps, I can tell you, that they are generally 
 as follows. 
 
 i. The deepefc lime-ftratum, from the foot or 
 root to the middle of the Alps, is compofed of an 
 innumerable quantity of many fmaller beds, and 
 is at the exterior fides of the hills wafhed by the 
 defcending rain or fnow-waters into a great quan- 
 tity of perpendicular gutters, which form, as it 
 were, as many pyramidal bunches of a dark lead- 
 colour. This large ftratum contains but few pe- 
 trifadions , if any, they are hollow, or confift in 
 the inner ftony nucleus of the mells, or in the 
 petrified inhabitants * of the fhells, whereof no- 
 thing is left but the inner moulding. Thefe nu- 
 clei are likewife hollow, and filled with cryfta- 
 lized lirae fpar , but all thefe marine petrifactions 
 confift in fmaller bivalves and rifled tellines. 
 
 * The Editor of Mr. Ferber's Letters ought to have blotted 
 this lapfus judidi, as certainly he could not be ferioufly of an 
 opinion, which is inconfiftent with the nature of thefe ani- 
 mals ; and even with his faying immediately after, that thefe 
 uclei are moft part hollow and filled only with cryflallifed 
 /par. 
 
 *. The
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 41 
 
 2. The following ftratum is a fmall bed of a 
 compacter, whiter, and lefs cracked limeftone, fit 
 for gate-pofts and other architectural ufes. This 
 contains, next to the inferior former ftratum, fome 
 fmall unknown oftracites\ in its upper parts are 
 no petrifactions at all. 
 
 3. The ftratum which is commonly found in 
 the third place, confifts of many fmall beds, either 
 deftitute of petrifactions, or containing different 
 fea-fhells in different beds. The fmaller beds in 
 its upper-part, next to the enfuing fourth ftratum, 
 confift of what they call Oolithes. 
 
 4. This ftratum contains many fmaller ones ; 
 and thefe are either of a red colour, containing 
 frequent ammonites of an enormous fize, or en- 
 tirely white, and then contain no petrifactions or 
 fcarce ammonites. The red Veronefe marble, filled 
 with ammonites, is dug out of this ftratum. 
 
 5. Then follows an infinite variety of white 
 limeftone beds. Thofe which are uppermoftr in 
 the higher mountains, for example, Monte 'Tor- 
 raro, contain nothing *, but the reft is filled with 
 different marine bodies, each ftratum being filled 
 with a peculiar fpecies. 
 
 6. The uppermoft covering of thefe Alps is 
 called by the Italians Scaglia, and confifts of a 
 calcareous bed, which contains either in inter- 
 fperfed nodules, or in fmaller beds a great many 
 
 varioufly
 
 42 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 varioufly coloured flints. It caps the Alps on their 
 furface, 'dips under the Mantes tertlarios Bericcs, 
 and rifes again on the other fide up to the volcanic 
 hills, on whofe doping fides it is fuperincumbent, 
 having been by their eruptions firfl raifed and 
 elevated, and then perrupted or broken. This 
 Scaglia does not every where appear on the fur- 
 face of the Alps, being deftroyed in many places 
 by time and weather, and is found and unaffected 
 only in fmall holes and vallies. Mr. Arduini has 
 found in the Scaglia in Monte di S. Pancrazio red 
 flints branching as corals ; and in the Scaglia 
 fbperincumbent on the fides of volcanic hills near 
 Padua rife fulphureous hot wells fputizze.} 
 
 Thefe feveral ftrata of the Alps have been 
 formed by nature generally in an horizontal pofi- 
 tion ; but, having fuffered many devaluations by 
 earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as fplitting 
 them into large fifiures and cracks, through 
 which the lavas forced their way and occafioned 
 funnels and craters ; they have been much difor- 
 ckred, which makes them appear at prefent funk 
 in fome places, raifed in others, and brought from 
 their original level to a dipping, oblique, or even 
 vertical pofition. In fome places they are wholly 
 overturned. Inundations and rivers, whofe channels 
 and courfe might be fuppofed to have been very 
 often changed by earthquakes, have likewife caufe|l 
 
 in
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R V. 43 
 
 In the Alps and their ftrata many perruptions and 
 de vacations ; the former appearing at Agorth in 
 Valh Imperina near the mines, and the latter by 
 what I fhall relate. 
 
 The fields near Gallio, Afiago> Campo.di Rovere* 
 and other places, belonging to the Sette Communi, 
 are fituated in the mountains much above the 
 level of the fea, and are covered with a great 
 many detached pieces of granite, quartz, and 
 other vein-rocks, which appear to be forced 
 from, and to belong to, the Tyrolian primitive 
 mountains, Thefe ruins appear in the fame hori- 
 zontal elevation in feveral other places of the Alps, 
 as in Feltrino (Stato Veneto) feparated by the 
 Brenta from the former; weftward on the fame 
 Alps from Aftico to the ^J/g^-river, and fo on. 
 Their quantity and variety of fizes is remarkable 
 at Tonezza and near Folgaria in the hills under the 
 Auftrian jurifdiflion ; which, being entirely calca- 
 reous, and entirely deftitute of found, primi- 
 tive flrata, prove the more that thefe forced 
 and blunted rocks, pebbles, and fands, are ad- 
 ventitious (gejfriefo.) This phenomenon is the 
 more fingular, becaufe thefe ruins are exadlly of 
 the fame kind as thofe which the Adige and 
 Brenta wafhes and carries down from the Tyro- 
 lian mountains ; and the level of thefe rivers being 
 at prefent one thoufand feet lower, it is impofiible 
 
 to
 
 44 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 to conceive how in their courfc, fo deeply cut 
 into the Alps, they could have rolled and depo- 
 fired the before-mentioned ftones at fo fuperior 
 and high elevations. But this, and fimilar obfer- 
 vationsy force us to conclude, that their channels 
 and beds have been, in former times, at the fame 
 elevations which are marked at prefent with what 
 they depoiited. No water can have carried, rolled, 
 and forced them up into their actual petition, 
 whatever allowance be made for its impulfe, and 
 whatever violent inundations we fhould pleafe to 
 iuppofe. This Hands a fair evidence for the 
 great ruptures of the Alps, and for' the prodi- 
 gious effects of the unwearied and never-ceafing 
 courfe of rivers ; and anfwers pretty well for ftill 
 greater ones, which may have been occafioned by 
 violent ruptures and inundations in fuch places, 
 where earthquakes firft flopt, and afterwards en- 
 tirely changed, the courfe of rivers. 
 
 There is in the calcareous Alps a great number 
 of natural caverns, incruftated with ftalaclites ; and 
 befides them fome metallic veins, which I cannot 
 pafs over in filence. They are neither large, nor 
 do they run far into the field; but are fmaller 
 metallic fifiures, crofting the compact limeftone in 
 the largefl and undermoft ftratum. They are 
 lodged in its cracks, conflantly next to the 
 fole and to the neighbouring inferior (late and 
 
 its
 
 ITALY, L I T T E R V. 45 
 
 its metallic veins, to which they feem to belong 
 as ramifications. The fiffures of the foiid lime- 
 ftone, which are rilled with volcanic materials, do * 
 likewife now and then contain metals. This ap- 
 pears at Scbioj and {hall be taken notice of in 
 the defcription of the volcanos. Commonly there 
 is no ore or vein to be found in the uppermoifc 
 flrata of the calcareous Alps, which are fhivery 
 and lamellated. The following break through 
 the undermoft compact and found limeftone. 
 
 1. The old filver-mines in a heavy fpath in 
 Monte di S. Catharina in Tretto. 
 
 2. In Monte di Trifa, Monte Narro, Monte di 
 Caftetto di Pieve, near Scbio , and in feveral other 
 hills towards Recoaro to the weft, compact lime- 
 ftone mixed with volcanic productions ; and fbme 
 veins and old mines, yielding lead, filver, and 
 copper-ore, in a ponderous fpar, with pyrites, 
 manganefe, and blend. 
 
 3. In Monte Sivellina, near Recoaro, found and 
 hard limeftone without any vifible ftratum ; and 
 petrifactions and old mines in a lead-vein ; and 
 coarfc teflelated lime fpar, with manganefe and 
 amethifts. 
 
 4. In Valk di Gorno in the Bergamafco, lead- 
 ore and blende. 
 
 3: Of
 
 4$ TRAVELS TH 
 
 fli bflLOl '" 
 
 3. Of Lower Hills, 
 (De Montibus tertiariis.) 
 
 Thefe are pofterior to the Monies fecundan^ 
 being fuperincumbent to them either in vallies or 
 on their flopings; partly produced by their 
 decays and accumulated fand and clay-beds. They 
 have likewife regular ftrata, and different petri- 
 factions ; but, in particular, Numtnularios and Len- 
 ticularios. They have alfo fuffered many devafla- 
 tions by volcanic eruptions ; and our finding ir>- 
 clofed in the lava large fragments of Hmeftone, 
 petrifactions, and other adventitious bodies, is en- 
 tirely owing to fuch violent eruptions from under 
 ground, fmce the fluid lava has furrounded and 
 taken up whatever body was in its way. Often 
 they have been covered with volcanic afhes. Some 
 of thefe Monies tertiarii are poftericr to the erup- 
 tions, and fuperincumbent on their productions. 
 If thefe contain any lumps of lava, pumice- 
 Itone, &c. they have been brought into them from 
 afar, and by water. In feveral places in the Vi- 
 centine, Veronefe, and other diftricts of the Ve- 
 netian dominions, they conaain coal-beds, arid 
 have inclofed in them fome petrifactions; fuch as 
 a petrified fifli in a coal-flate, which has been 
 found at Monte-Viak in the VicthUm diftrict, 
 
 There
 
 ITALY.. LETTERV. 47 
 
 There is fcarce any ore or vein to be found in 
 thefe hills-, and, I do not know whether fome 
 fandy and argillaceous hills in the Valle de Signori, 
 in the Vicentine diftricl:, can be ranked among 
 them ; as containing coals, plaifter, alabafter, ful- 
 phureous pyrites, together with fome lead, copper, 
 and iron-ore. 
 
 Some of thefe hills in the Ficentine and Veromfc 
 diftricts are very famous on account of their 
 numerous and fine petrifactions. Such are the 
 Mantes Berici near Vicenza, and efpecially the 
 following. 
 
 Creazzo, three miles diflant from Vicenza^ fur- 
 nifhes the inner nuclei or imprefiions of Cbamites, 
 well-preferved Peflinites, the Area No<e, the Chitos 
 Linnei, and fome fcarce GloJJ'opetras. In the fands 
 are fmall fragments of Madrep.ores, fmall Nauti- 
 iites* and fome fcarce fifli-teeth. 
 
 / Colli dl Montecchio e Caftel Gomberto contain 
 plenty of petrifactions. 
 
 Brendola, ten miles diftant from Vicenza. The 
 undermoft ftratum of this hill is a blue clay, 
 crowded with marine bodies, and covered by an. 
 innumerable quantity of limeftone beds, contain- 
 ing a great variety of fea-fhells, but different from 
 thofe in the clay. The beds are fomewhat dip- 
 ping toward the fea or the eaft. The weft-fide of 
 this hill is covered with lava, and this : for the 
 
 mofr
 
 48 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 moft part ftriated and formed like iherl. A clefc 
 of the lava, called le Spejfe, mews at the bottom of 
 a fmall rivulet, which runs in it, an antient fea- 
 ground, rilled with an aftonifhing quantity of 
 Madrepores* Fungites, and a great variety of exotic 
 Ihells. It is pleafing to fee fuch a fingular mixture 
 of marine and volcanic productions. 
 
 At S. Vidoy two miles diflant from Brendola, is 
 an immenfe quantity of Oftrarites. 
 
 At Grancona near Brtrtdola, and on the road next 
 to the villa Figini, are frequently found petrified 
 cchinites, and efpecially the echinus orbiculus (Linn. 
 Syft. p. 666. n. 17. var. 8. or Gualtieri Tejtac. 
 tab. no. fig. B.) in its natural ftate inhabiting 
 the Indian feas There is likewife Serpula Ittmbri- 
 calis (Linn. Syft. nat. p. 787. n. 693.) At one 
 hundred yards diftant from that place, fine Num- 
 mularii, and fome alani 9 which fecm to be unde- 
 fcribed. 
 
 Favorita, ail ifolated hill in the Vicentine dif- 
 trift, has been defcribed by Mr. Arduini in the 
 Giornale d* Italia, who found there fome bones and 
 teeth belonging to a crocodile. 
 
 In the Veronefe is Ronca^ a hill fituated at the 
 Valk del Bufo, and piled up as it were by Nep- 
 tune's and Vulcan's emulations. Their different 
 productions are very diftincl:, but fpeak confufion 
 and devastation. The fuaimit is entirely volcanic, 
 
 without
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 49 
 
 without any marks of petrifactions. Somewhat 
 lower you meet with calcareous beds, inclofing 
 petrified bivalves^ tmnMiuKriL and turbimtcs j then 
 follows black very hard lava, cracked and broken 
 into frnall pieces, which have nearly an angu- 
 lated prifmatical form; afterwards red clay 'or 
 marie with petrifactions j again lava with pumice- 
 ftones and breccia, or limeflones cemented by 
 lava ; other limeftone beds with petrifactions, and 
 fo on. This hill furnifhes plenty of very hand- 
 fome and well-p refer ved different forts of : oftracites 9 
 murices, anemia , and bones. There may be about 
 thirty different fpecies. D'drgenvitle has men- 
 tioned them in particular, p. 175. They are found 
 not only in the calcareous flrata, but likewife in the 
 lava in the volcanic fands and afhes, which, mixed 
 and coagulated with limeftones, have produced a 
 fpecies of breccia. There are different forts of 
 pumice-flones. I have been told, that fome years 
 ago there was a new eruption of fire and fmoke, 
 which has deftroyed and changed a large part of 
 this mountain. 
 
 At S. Giovanni Bariom, in the Veronefe diflricl, 
 over-againft the houfe of Mr. Bahi, on the other 
 fide of the river, there is plenty of lenticular ti . 
 
 Boka is a deep and barren hill, at twenty miles 
 
 diftance from Verona, for the mod part of ftrati- 
 
 fied lirneltonej but now and then interrupted by 
 
 E ancient
 
 LS THROun 
 ancient volcanic craters. The limeftone contains 
 variegated flints, of a red, black, green, and 
 white colour. In this hill are found the famous 
 impreflions of plants and fifties : and among thefe 
 deierve particular notice, a mur^ena^ of three palmi 
 Romani, which I faw in the cabinet of the apo- 
 thecary Eozza, at yicenza ; and another of the 
 fame kind, kept by Mr. Seguier, at Nifties. All 
 around Boka there is nothing but lava, pumice- 
 ftone, and burnt-ground. 
 
 The calcareous fand-mixed hills near Recoaro, 
 and efpecially Lo Scoglio della Limpia, contain a 
 vaft number of entrocbi^ grypbites^ terebratul# 9 
 peff ancles, and feathers of Echini. 
 
 Backwards near Valdango is the quarry of the 
 fine Marino pavonazzo brecciato di Turigara. 
 
 In the hills near Leonedo are fine petrifaclions of 
 well-preferved Adriatic fhells. 
 
 Near Ceftegnero Hthophytes and ammonites ; and 
 near Cerna> and the houfe of Mr. Ctfarim, pe* 
 trified lobfters (grancbi e pagurfy all which places 
 I have taken fo much notice of ? that you may 
 not fail to find them whenever you Jfhall go to 
 Ijaly.
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. $1 
 
 4. Of the ancient VOLCANOS 5 
 their Effeffs and Productions. 
 
 Their eruptions from under ground of the 
 flate, and perhaps from a liill greater depth, are 
 evidenced at Rccoaro ; where you may fee in the 
 flate a great number of oblique fifiures filled with 
 lava. Thefe fiflures and clefts have been undoubt- 
 edly produced by earthquakes^ whofe eoncufiions 
 and explofions have produced fo many diforders in 
 the beds of the fuperior calcareous mountains 
 (mont. fecundarii) and hills (mont. tert.) To them 
 is owing the dipping oblique fituation of fo many 
 mountain-beds ; which moft part, and originally, 
 had been precipitated by water into an horizontal 
 pofition. Thus the fcaglia and the upper beds of 
 the calcareous hills are obliquely incumbent on 
 the fides of the Euganean-hills. The lavas have 
 not only filled up the open fiflures and clefts of 
 the calcareous hills, produced by their drying or 
 earthquakes ; but they have likewife inferted and 
 forced themfelves between their ftrata, which they 
 have feparated and lifted up *, as frequently may 
 be feen in the Voile Polifella in the Veronefe dif- 
 trid, and in many other places. Floods and 
 
 * The fame has been difcovered by Mr. Wl:teburft, in Dei> 
 bylhire, 
 
 JE 2 inun-
 
 2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 inundations have very often by newer ftratas (ftratti 
 tertiaria) buried arid covered all the old volcanic 
 devaftations ; and new eruptions from under 
 ground fucceeded afterwards. Hence it is obvi- 
 ous, that many fuch accidents may have happened 
 by turns in the cburfe of feveral thoufand years - 9 
 and that the confequence of thenl ought to have 
 been, a fingular mixture and cbnfufion of marine 
 and volcanic materials. Therefore, we are not to 
 wonder if petrifactions are found in the lava and 
 volcanic a'mes, as has been noticed in feveral 
 places before, and efpecially in the defcription of 
 Monte Ronca. A coal-bed may very cafily have 
 been furrourided by the fluid lava 5 and luch a one 
 is in Monte Vide in the Vicentine diftricl:. Hence 
 too arofe whole ftrata of breccie, or mixtures of 
 lava, marble, and limeftone; which offer them- 
 felves in Monte Ronca and the following places. 
 
 Lo SpiJJb di Tdnnefa, a calcareous rock belong- 
 ing to the Vicentine Alps, mews on one of its 
 fides a large perpendicular fifiure, which goes 
 down into the deep torrent Aftico, and is filled 
 with a fort of marble ; which has a great refem- 
 blance to the Breccia Africana, but confifis of a 
 mixture of white faline and fi'ne marble-fragments, 
 cemented with black lava. It takes a fine polim. 
 
 The fame la*ua Irecciata offers itfelf near that 
 place in Valle d'EriofredO) and more to the wed- 
 to wards-
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 53 
 
 towards the kghi di Pofena under a large rock, 
 called II Cajlello di I'ovo ; as likewife, above thefe 
 laghi in the large weftern vallies, between the 
 Alps of the Communita d'Arciero; in the Man- 
 tagna di Lovegno between S. Rocco and S. Ulderico ; 
 and to the Weft of S. Catharina towards Ena, 
 where the lava is of a black-green colour. It is 
 very common in the Alps near Recoaro. 
 
 Open volcanic craters are, in thefe countries^ 
 found in the Alps (.mont. fecund.) and in the hills 
 (mont. tertiarii.) There are two,, for example, in 
 an hill near the church of Borgo vicariale di Malo, 
 in the Vicentine diftrict ; another in the Veronefe 
 in Valle Pantena, on Monte di fette fongi, or of 
 Ccijlello di Maroftico. A remarkable one is in a 
 calcareous hill, called La Montagna di Lovegno, in 
 the Vicentim diftricl:. It is very large and deep, 
 and of an inverted conical form. The bottom is 
 filled with lava, containing a great quantity of 
 lhattered primitive flate and quartz -, whence its 
 eruption appears to have broken out. On the 
 North it has a large opening, by which the rain 
 and fnow-water runs down into the Torrente di 
 Pofena. The whole country thereabout offers its 
 different lava-torrents and aihes, which cap and 
 cover at prefent almofl every lower hill and plain 
 in the Tretto. Thefe lava's are black, and com- 
 rnonly containing a large quantity of white poly- 
 E 3 gope
 
 54 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 gone fherl-cryftallizations i which, for good rea- 
 fbns, might be called white garnets. 
 
 Near this Montagna di Lovegno, in the lower 
 hills di S. Ulderico di fretto, wherein, in former 
 times, have been many filver mines, they dig that 
 white potters and china-clay, which ferves for cru- 
 cibles in the Aftfnzw-glafs- manufactories, and is 
 employed in the china-manufactories at Venice and 
 Florence. The whole country is volcanic ; and 
 Mr. Arduini is of opinion, that former eruptions 
 pf the Monte di Lovegna have vomited this clay 
 with much water ; and that it is but a fine diflb- 
 lurion of the inferior deeper flate, becaufe it con- 
 tains many mattered flate and quartz-pieces, and a 
 good deal of the coarfe glimmer flakes, which are 
 mixed into its fubftance. He ranks, likewife, 
 .among the aqueous or humid volcanic eruptions 
 and their productions, the hard red bolus, which 
 is found in a volcanic bed under thefeaglta in monte 
 di S. Pancrazio, on the road from Barbarano to 
 Ponte di Mo/ano ; and, for the fame reafon, all 
 fuch red, blue, yellow, and cinericious boles, 
 which are found in many volcanic tracts o 
 Vicenza. Thefe boles are extremely fat to the 
 touch ; and, if diflblved in water, they depofit a 
 fine iron fand, which is drawn by the load-ftone, 
 and very common in the volcanic parts of Vi- 
 cenza ; whence, by rain, it is wafhed out, and 
 dcpofited in its rills and rivulets. 
 
 It
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 55 
 
 It is a very fingular phenomenon, that the 
 Vfcentine and Veronefe lavas and volcanic aihes 
 contain inclofed feveral forts of fire-ftriking and 
 flint-horn-itones, of a red, black, white, green, 
 and variegated colour, fuch as jafpers and agates; 
 that hyacinths, cryfolites, and petre olfidiane^ de- 
 fcribed by Mr- Arduini in the Giornak d'Italia> 
 ^re found at Leonedo\ a.nd, moreover, that chal- 
 cedony, or opal pebbles, and noduli, with inclofed 
 water-drops (chalcedony opali enhydri) are dug out 
 of the volcanic cinericious hills near Vicenza. One 
 might confider thefe flints as being torn and 
 dragged from the fcaglia, and thence to have been 
 by floods heaped together with afhes and lavas ; 
 becaufe it is a fact, that innumerable quantities of 
 flints, jafpers, and agates, are found in the above? 
 mentioned china and potters clay-hills near S. Ul- 
 derico nel Tretto (exactly as fimilar flints are found 
 in the Saxonian and other china clays). But how 
 did they come into thofe volcanic hills, which, 
 like thefe at S. Rocco, near S. Ulderico, never con- 
 tain any clay whatever? Suppofing their having 
 been by fubterraneous fire feparated from veins 
 pre-exifting in or near the very bottom of the 
 ancient volcanos ; this explains pretty well how 
 they came into their lava and the china-clay, 
 when in an aqueous difTolution or mixture it was 
 vomited, fmce fragments of quartz- cry ftallifations, 
 E 4 marble^
 
 56 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 marble, and other pre-exifting ftones, are likewiffe 
 found in thefe argillaceous beds j but what evi- 
 dence is there for fuch fubterraneous jafper and 
 agate veins ? And for what reafon are the Vicen- 
 tine hyacinths, cryfolites, and pietre obfidiane, 
 bsing true natural vitrifications, never found 
 with the horn-done flints in the china-clay, but 
 conftandy in the harder lavas ? All thefe circiim- 
 ftances agree in fupport of Mr. Arduini's afiertion, 
 that the before-mentioned flint horn-ftones, found 
 among volcanic materials, are owing to fubterra- 
 neous fire and its meltings. Knowing, that by 
 vitrefcent compofitions and chemical fire even the 
 ftardeft precious ftones can nearly be imitated, 
 why mould we deny the fame power to Nature 
 and its greater fubterraneous furnaces * ? I do not 
 
 * To prevent miftakes, and the charge of inconfequent wri- 
 ting or reafoning, the Author fhould have explained himfelf 
 Tvith i more propriety, and with more juftice to nature, and per- 
 haps to Mr. Ardulni. Therefore the Tranflator, who has ex- 
 amined feveral vclcanos, and fkidied Nature in her own manu- 
 factories or officines, endeavours to let him right. His obfer- 
 yations are fo far agreeing with Mr. Forty's and Arduinis^ that 
 he confiders the chalcedonies as volcanic productions, but in 
 n quite different fenfe, as that, in which the afhes and lavas, 
 with their various inclofed Iherl-cryftallizations, chryfolite, or 
 hyacinth-like vitrifications, and pietre obfidiane, are called fo. 
 Thefe are undoubtedly immediate productions of the fire and 
 violent melting; the former being \>\\t paraftical Jlones of ' <vo!~
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R V., 57 
 
 fay that all agates, jafpers, horn-flints, and finer 
 precious ftones, have been prepared by volcanic 
 
 fire, 
 
 tank matrices ; that is to fay, but mediate productions of the 
 fire, as being vilibly produced by water, either foaking through 
 and into the holes of volcanic ftones, and depofiting therein 
 the flint-like fire-ftriking fediment of chalcedony ; or, if pro- 
 perly qualified and heated by natural fire or fermentation, preci- 
 pitating the fame under other circumftances. The former ap- 
 pears to convi6tfon> by the Vicentine and Iceland-chalcedonies j 
 the latter by a fingular phenomenon, which I fhall take no- 
 tice of. 
 
 The Vicentine chalcedonies, found in volcanic-tufo, contain 
 now and then inclofed in their middle drops of the water 
 which produced them; and the Iceland-chalcedonies bear 
 likewife undoubted marks of an aqueous origin. The Tranfla- 
 tor knows, by good authority, that they have been difcovered 
 but of late ; and ocular infpeclion has convinced him, not only 
 that thefe Iceland-chalcedonies are equal in grain and colour to 
 the Oriental ones, but remarkably fuperior to them on account 
 of their bignefs. He had large pieces fent from Copenhagen 
 above a foot fquare : and what is more to the fubjecl, inclofed 
 in a brownifh tufo, in which they appeared to have been Gra- 
 tified or fucceffively depofited by water; confifHng more or 
 lefs of white or tranfparent beds, about an inch thick, and 
 flicking as clofe together as the fimilar ftrata of the coloured 
 agathes or onyx. Mr. Bank's late voyage to Iceland brings us 
 flill a irep further. He examined there the marvellous inter- 
 mittent fpouting hot wells, called the Gey/tr's, at Laugafell^ 
 which in the middle of a folfatara or ancient volcano, by their 
 accumulated fediments have produced or raifed a wide floping 
 hill of white hies or fot-Jlcne. I forbear to draw from this 
 fingular phenomenon the many con fequences. which it offers 
 for Natural Hiftory j obferving only, what is more to the pur-
 
 5$ .TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 fire, fmce I have a great many evidences of the 
 contrary, and of their aqueous origin by indura- 
 tion, 
 
 pofc, (hat jn -fome harder pieces of white Icbes, kept in Mr. 
 anh'j Iceland collection, there appears a Gratified white chal- 
 cedony, which cannot be considered as adventitious, and un- 
 doubtedly is produced either by a finer fediment, or by ita 
 greater faturation; proving, that the fubilantial earth of chal- 
 cedony and lebes are the fame, and that both are nearly related 
 to the lapis nephriticus, the ferpentinc, the bacon-flone, the 
 amianth, and the talc, which are found in many volcanic 
 places; and according to Mr. Marggrafs experiments, have 
 been by ,many Minerr-logiUs wrongly placed among the argil- 
 laceous itones. 
 
 Similar operations of properly qualified hot wells, fo com- 
 mon and various in volcanic countries, might very well, anfwer 
 for the jafpers, agates, and other flints, in the china clays 
 and boles. But whether they have, in fact,, produced them, 
 muft be left to future proper enquiries in the volcanic coun- 
 tries, where they are fo very common. 
 
 jafper is found in large beds and rocks in Sicily, near .Rrrgw, 
 ,in the Apennines ; ?,t Mfmtieri in the Saneje (LETTER vii.) ; 
 near Frandenlerg and Ca/ett in Hefien (ilid.)\ in Iceland 
 (Mr. Banks'* cabinet) j and x perhaps, in many other countries 
 .equally famous for their being volcanic. Marine bodies un- 
 certain whether ever inclofed in them* 
 
 The agates, equally deftitute of marine bodies, are very 
 plenty in Sicily : and. to the Tranflator's knowlege> in great 
 varieties of colours, found in fome veins or their nodules. 
 
 The Common Jlints feem, to the Tranflator, to be rather fatu- 
 
 rated and glued parts of old marine fediment-beds. He found 
 
 them either flecking ia, the calcareous ilrata of fine grained 
 
 iinieflone as produced in them, or in dragged and waihed de 
 
 6 cays
 
 FTALY. LETTER V. 59 
 
 don, which clearly appears in the fcaglia of Vi- 
 cenzaj but I fee the poffibility, the probability, 
 and the evidences, of either of thefe opinions: 
 and, I prefume, Nature comes at the fame end 
 by different ways, Perhaps this opinion, if ever 
 ventured to the public, will be more than fuffi- 
 cient to bring a charge of mineralogical herefy 
 upon me , efpecially if I mould happen to be 
 judged by people who never have feen or exa- 
 mined any volcano, but are the better acquain- 
 ted with Hones and mountains produced by 
 
 cays of deflroyed lime, or in chalk-ftones. In the former 
 ftate, he favv them in the limeftone quarries near Gojlar, (LET- 
 TER xm. in a note) and remembers them to be noticed in Mr. 
 Abilgaard'i account of the Soeren-Klint in Denmark; in the 
 latter, they are common on our fhores and in our chalk pits. 
 In whatever ftate found, they contain a great variety of marine 
 (hells and productions; fuch as different echini tes and their 
 feathers, fmall peclinites, and fmooth bivalves, aflerias colura- 
 itares and various corals, fur.gites, madrepores, and retepores. 
 Belemnites are very fcarce in the flints ; fo too petrified bone<^ 
 and gloflbpetrae. However they are found, cochlites and am- 
 monites the Tranflator never obferved in them. Remarkable 
 it is, that the corals, whether fungites or aftroites, have a 
 fmgular tendency to be changed into common flint. This 
 the Tranflator obferved particularly in the uppermoft lime- 
 itone-bed of the Tonniefberg, on the road from Hanover to 
 Wetbergen in Germany, which is entirely calcareous, and con- 
 tains no flints, except a great variety of flintified branchy 
 ilrjated corals, afooites, and fungitei.
 
 6*& TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 water. This, indeed, is very often the cafe. We 
 are unhappily too much inclined to draw general 
 conclufions from particular obfervations, and to 
 flatter ourfelves of having exhaufted Nature's 
 powers, by judging and explaining its operations 
 according to a fmgle method. Very often we do 
 not even fufpect her being able to anfwer the fame 
 purpofes by different ways. I have many evi- 
 dences of it here in Italy ; fince, by a law of reta- 
 liation, arrd in fpite of our ultramontane minera- 
 logifts, who, perhaps, may be too fond of the 
 aqueous hypothefis, they explain all by their vol- 
 canic fyflem, even unfeen Nature, and the foflils 
 of countries which have few or no volcanos at all. 
 Happy the man, who, cautious of extremes, ad- 
 heres to no hypothefis, and is not in hafte himfelf 
 to believe, but admits of facts, even if they 
 ihould be oppofed to his former ideas \ 
 
 You certainly remember, my deareft friend, that 
 |aft fummer we faw in Bohemia many bafalt-hills, 
 and in fuch places where we fufpecled only 
 productions of water-diflblved materials. I fancy, 
 likewife, I have told you my obfervations of the 
 Habichwald, near Cafiel ; where, in the agreeable 
 company of my learned friend Mr. Rajpe, I np- 
 ticed feveral marks of ancient volcanos. He has 
 fince fent to the Englilh Royal Society a Differ-, 
 tation j wherein he afferts with a high degree of
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. 6t 
 
 probability, that the Heffian bafalt-hills have been 
 produced and cryftallifed by fubterraneous fire* 
 Moreover, I can tell you at prefent, that fome of 
 the Paduan, Vicentine, and Veronefe lava-hills, 
 are columnar-bafaltes, either entirely or in part; 
 and that Mr. Defmarets, travelling through thefe 
 parts, has been induced by them, to prefent a 
 DifTertation to the Academy at Paris, and to ex- 
 plain the origin of bafaltes by fubterraneous fire 
 and its fufions. This has been oppofed by that 
 great naturalift, Mr. Gueftard-, who, in his trea- 
 tife on bafaltes, afcribes its origin to an aqueous 
 cryftallifation, and cannot conceive how regular or 
 cryftallifed bodies can be produced by fufion. I 
 certainly do not conceive it neither ; but I find 
 in the greateft part of the Vicentine, Veronefe, 
 and Paduan lavas, an infinite quantity of white 
 polygdne iherl-cryftallifations, whofe figure is as 
 regular, and ftill more polygon, than the bafaltes ; 
 and can be fuppofed to have been formed in the 
 lava during its preparation or fluidity, as fuch in- 
 numerable quantities of cryftallized fherl, in fuch 
 a fhape and figure, have not been, till now, found 
 in any mountain or part of the world ; and, for 
 this reafon> not to mention many other difficul- 
 ties, it feems almoft improbable to fuppofe them, 
 in fuch aftoniming plenty, pre-exifting in the bot- 
 tom of all the Italian volcanos, and thence to 
 
 have
 
 62 TRAVELS fllROtfGH 
 
 have been thrown out. Is there any thing their 
 to anfwer for their origin but fufion? But I arrr 
 far from drawing henee a general conclufion, and 
 to deduce the origin of all bafalt-hills from vol- 
 canos. It is poffible, that fome might have been 
 formed by an aqueous cryftallifatton : and, I 
 frankly tell you that I was of that opinion, as I 
 faw the Saxonian and Bohemian bafakes. I fhould 
 like to examine them over again I Certain it is, 
 that the Paduan^ the Vicentine, and the Veronefe 
 bafalt-hills, have been, in former times, parts of 
 volcanos, and that they are compofed of the 
 fame lava as their other parts ; one fide of thefc 
 hills commonly being columnar, and the other 
 confifting of rude, unformed, lava maffes. I mall 
 mention fome of thefe bafalt-hills. 
 
 // tnonte di S* Luca fopra Mafone net Marttfticafia^ 
 joining to the fouthern defcent of the hills be- 
 longing to the Sctte Communi> is calcareous at the 
 foot; but at the fummit volcanic, and covered 
 with columnar bafaltes. 
 
 // monte Roffb, in the diftrict of Padua, is 
 entirely columnar*. 
 
 Near Montebetto and Sorio, in the Vicentine dif- 
 trift, near Gamhttara^ there is of the fame kind, 
 
 * Defcribed by John Strange^ Efq; in a paper to the Roya?. 
 Society, which was read 1774, andy with a fine. engraving, 
 inferred ia Philtf. Tranfaft. vol. LXV. part i. for
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R V. 63 
 
 11 monte di Diavolo, near S. Giovanni flarione, 
 in the Vicenza *, is a columnar bafalt-hill , con- 
 lifting of black hard prifms> of four, five, fix, 
 and feven fides, in an oblique pofition, their 
 heads pointing to the Weft, and their feet to the 
 Eaft. The whole mountain, on both fides of the 
 valley of S. Giovanni Ilarione, is volcanic, and 
 compofed of lava ; but a fingle part, on the Eaft 
 fide, is columbar and called // Scoglio del Diavolo, 
 The under part of this hill is calcareous, or an 
 Alpine fummit, covered by ftrata-tertiaria. 
 
 In monte Ronca is likewife a bed of prifmatical 
 lava, which I have mentioned already. 
 
 The Piperini, indurated afhes, cemented with 
 micaceous Iherl-lamelles, are found around the vol- 
 canos ; together with hills of loofe ferruminated 
 alhes, of a grey or brown colour : for example, 
 at Braganza, Sarcedo, Montechio, Precakino, Zo- 
 jano, and feveral other places in the Vfcentine 
 diftricl:. 
 
 Moft of thefe volcanos have broken 'their way 
 through the calcareous Alps or hills ; accordingly 
 they are deftitute of the regular and ufual forr ^ 
 of other volcanos ; but the Euganean hills n car 
 Padua, which rife in the plain between thatf 
 and the Alps, have a regular form, being en 
 
 f Defcnbed and engraved in this above account of Mr. 
 
 ifolatc
 
 64 TAAVELS THROUGH 
 
 ifblate and conic. "They are furrounded with th 
 fcaglia ; which confifts of calcareous beds, crofled 
 by black horn-iione veins, and is obliquely fu- 
 perincumbent to their fides, feeming to have co- 
 .vered the whole plain in which they arofe. This 
 happened by the effufion of the lava, which 
 through their crater ran down on every fide, and 
 not only heightened their fummit, but thickened 
 their periphery to a conical elevation. 
 
 I cannot finifh without taking notice of the mi- 
 nerals, which now and then are found in volcanic 
 countries, and have been occafioned either by fub- 
 limation and ftearhs of the fubterraneous fire, or 
 by its vomiting the metallic bodies, which it mec 
 with under ground and irtclofed into the lava. 
 
 To fublimation ought to be afcribed the/#//>#r, 
 which in fome volcanic countries appears In the 
 furface of the foil ; and vitriol is owing to fulphxK 
 cous acid and iron, as alum to its penetrating clay 
 or argillaceous ftones, and gypfum of felenites to its 
 uniting with lime. The cinnabar, which appea/ed 
 in the furface of the foil at Silvena nella Contea di 
 S. Fiore, had undoubtedly the fame origin. But, in 
 refpect to metals, there is no probability of finding 
 any veins in the lava's; neverthelefs, there are fome- 
 times in the diftrictof Vicenza metallic lavas in- 
 cluded iri limeftone fiflltres. All lavas contain fome 
 iron, but in different proportion 5 and two large rich 
 
 iron-
 
 1 f A L t. LETTER V< 6j 
 
 iron-veins in Valle Polifella deferve particular no- 
 tice, as running in lava. 
 
 In Valle Pantena nd monte di fette fongi, in the 
 Veronefe diftricl:, there is in the lava a vein of a 
 reddifh-yellow indurated bole, ftrongly mixt with 
 copperas, which in the field difappears, and leaves 
 in the vein only ochraceous iron-ore. Next to that 
 place is manganefe. Lead-ore and blende arc 
 found in black lava, which has funk into the 
 fiflures of a calcareous hill (mbnt. fecund.} in 
 Vallt di Garno, in Eergamafco \ thefe minerals, 
 probably, have been either forced from under* 
 ground, or pre-exiftent in the fiffures. The fame 
 may be faid of the lead-ore iri lava, which has 
 been found in different old and new mines, and 
 Volcanic hills, called k Guizze in territorio di 
 fretto, near Ena ; and in the Cotticetti di Pofena ; 
 and of the lead, copper, and filver ore, in pyrites, 
 manganefe, and blend, which, in compound, vol- 
 canic, calcareous hills, and feveral old mines, has 
 been found, in former times, near Leogra, in the 
 Vicentine territory ; at monte Narro, monte Frifa, 
 inonte del Caftello di Piere y and feveral other places 
 towards the Weft, and in Recoaro. In the fame 
 place where they find cinnabar, in Tufcany, they 
 meet with black, hard, and- vitreous lavas, which 
 contain long fplendid antimony points, that feem 
 to] have been feparated from under ground, and 
 involved in its fluid mafles. 
 
 F LET-
 
 66 TRAVELS THROtrOM 
 
 LETTER VL 
 
 Bologna y Nov. 2 6, 1771* 
 
 1WENT from Venice on the Po, and on ca- 
 nals, by the way of Cbiozza and Ferrara 9 
 through a flat, well-cultivated country, which con- 
 tinues a mile beyond Bologna^ where the Apen- 
 nines begin. I ft aid two days at Cbiozza, and 
 faw there a part of the botanic collection of Dr< 
 Bartolomeo Eottari, which is well furnimed with 
 fuci and other Adriatic fea-plants, whereof feve- 
 ral feemed to be new ones. His collection of 
 marine bodies, fhellsj lithophytes, and fertulari, 
 &:c. is excellent ; as likewife his collection of feve- 
 ral microicopical fhells, nautilites, and lithophytes, 
 of the neighbouring fand more. This polite and 
 learned man deferves a vifit from you. The fhort 
 flay I made in that place was fufficient to make 
 him my friend. He has written feveral Diflerta- 
 tions on the Natural Hiflory, or rather the Flora 
 and Fauna, of his country, which are worth print- 
 ing* You will find him ppfleffed of a library, not 
 
 numerous^
 
 ITALY. LETTER V. ' 6~J 
 
 numerous, but felect; confiding of the beft Au- 
 thors of Italy, and the bed Editions of thofe 
 which concern Natural Hiftory, Poetry, and the 
 finer Arts. 
 
 I faw too the old Dr. Vianelli, who is known 
 by his treatife de Nottiluca marina : a worm, which 
 caufes the nocturnal lighting of the fea. This 
 lighting is not obferved in every feafon ; but be- 
 fides, as I have been told, is common in the chan- 
 nels near Cbioyzd^ in Venice, and in the fea near 
 Naples *. During 
 
 * I have had an opportunity to obferve this lighting of the 
 North-fea in the months of July and Augufr, but conftantly 
 with South-winds and clear fultry calm weather. During 
 the day we faw many thoufr.nds of Mcdufts, mollufca, and crabs? 
 floating near the fmooth furface of the fea. Accidentally filh- 
 ing in a depth of twenty or thirty fathoms, we catched fo 
 many of them, that we could not clear the net of their 
 gelatinous fubftance. Therefore it was hanged to dry in the 
 riggings, and we found the folloiving night it was all on fire. 
 This was owing to the phofphorent nature of thefe fingular ani- 
 mals, and pretty well explained to me the light of the fea; which, 
 in that and feveral other nights, under the fame conftitution 
 of the weather, was uncommonly flrong. The water at the head, 
 and all along the (hip, was in a continual blaze; and in the midib 
 of the broken and fkimming billows, I difcovered fair mining 
 fparks, that continued to floating for a long while,and appeared 
 fo even under the furface of the water. The keel-water feemed 
 to be a fiery fmoke rifing from under the (hip. It traced the 
 courfe of the Jhip, and was fo luminous, that it fpread even a 
 jglare of light in the cabin, when candles were put out. Every 
 F i broken
 
 '3 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 During the hotter fummer months they evapc* 
 rate fea-ialt near Chiozza. 
 
 The roads to the continent (terra firma) fpread 
 hence to every part, to Padua and Bologna ; the 
 road on the more to Riming Pefaro, Ancona, 
 Loretta, Spoletto, and Rome, is faid to be ex- 
 tremely agreeable, and to run through an excel- 
 lent, rich, and well-cultivated country. 
 
 Count Francefco Ginanni, whofe collection of 
 natural curiofities has been described and pub- 
 blifhed at Lucca % 1762, 4/0. lives at Ravenna. 
 
 At Rimini lives Dr. Gio Antonio Batarra, and 
 t)r. Jano Bianco. The former has written a trea- 
 tife De Furigis agri Arlm'imnfis, Faenza, 1775, 
 410. and prints at Rome a new edition of all the 
 works of Bonanni, illuftrated by notes of his own. 
 The latter has got a reputation by his edition of 
 Fabii Columns Ecpbrafis and Phytbbazanos j and 
 by his performance de Conebis minus notis ; wherein 
 he dcfcribes feveral microfcopical (hells of the 
 fand fnore near Rimini. 
 
 At Pefaro lives the learned Mr. Pafferi, who is 
 faid to have a fine collection of foflils and mine- 
 rals, and has written feveral inflructing Letters on 
 
 broken and fkimmlng billow blazed and fpafkled likewife. But 
 Northern winds and high running feas made the Medufse d'if- 
 appear during the day, and the nofturnal blazing of the water* 
 to ceafe during the night. 
 
 4 M*
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R VI. 69 
 
 the Pefarefe fofiils, which are inferred in different 
 parts of the Raccolta d'opufcoli Scientifici e Filolo- 
 gid, printed at Venice by Simone Occhi. I did 
 not go by this road, as I went by water to Bo- 
 logna. 
 
 I have not much to fay to you of the Univer- 
 fity. The public halls are many ; the library is 
 numerous ; and the anatomical theatre handfome, 
 and decorated with fine fculpture. The botanical 
 garden has been of late aggrandized and much 
 embellifhed. The Profeflbrs have, in the begin- 
 ning of their academical function, but a fmall 
 revenue of about forty fcudi ; but it is annually 
 increafing. They repair at their fixed hours to 
 the public leffon-rooms, expecting their ftudents, 
 who feldom appear there. But the private lefibns 
 in their houfes are better frequented. 
 
 The Inftitutum Eononienfe is a noble eftablifh- 
 ment, and with much magnificence and conveni- 
 encies planned out to teach every fcience. It has 
 been by fo-many travellers, and in a feparate vo- 
 lume, fo well defcrjbed, that I have nothing to 
 add. 
 
 The Mufcular Preparations in whole fkeletons 
 are a capital ornament of the anatomical room. 
 
 In the Midwifery -colle5lion I obferved a great 
 many Uteri, made of leather, and in them the 
 feet us in every pofiible pofition. 
 
 F 3 Tfe
 
 19 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 The Inftruments for Experimental Philofophy 
 are exquifite. A lady, Signora Laura Bajji> is 
 ProfefTor of this fcience, and member of the 
 learned fociety or the academy. 
 
 The Chemical Laboratory is indifferent. 
 
 The Collection of Natural Curiofities is one of 
 the moft famous in Europe, and deferves notice, 
 on account of its former colle&ors, Aldrovandi y 
 Cofpi, and Marfigli. The collection is general, 
 and contains many fine and fcarce pieces in every 
 part of Natural Hiltory ; but a good deal of many 
 more impaired by duft and age. It would bear a 
 vaft augmentation , neverthelefs, it is very valua- 
 ble, fince it contains part of the natural curiofi- 
 ties defcribed by Aldrovandi ; the whole collection 
 of Cofpi^ defcribed in Mufeo Cofpiano Bologna, 
 i6jy,fol. and the cabinets of Count Marfigli, de- 
 fcribed in his noble works on the Danube, on 
 Corals^ and others. The Aldrovandi family is 
 ilill at Bologna. The Mineral collection is poor 
 indeed ; however, I faw in it feveral curiofities 
 from the country about Bologna ; which are the 
 following : 
 
 i. Impreflions of leaves, and' other parts of 
 plants, in grey- coloured, lamellated gyps, which 
 is throughout penetrated by native fulphur, from 
 the plaifter and fulphur-works in the Popifh do- 
 minions, in Pefarefe in Urritork Forolivienjt, which 
 
 have
 
 ITALY. LETTER VI. 71 
 
 have been defcribed by Count Vincenzo Mafmi in 
 his poem // Zolfo, in three books, printed a fecond 
 time at Bologna, 1762, in 4^0. The above plaifter 
 is employed in mouldings in the china-manu- 
 factory at Venice. 
 
 2. Ludus Helmontii, or cubical marl-done, fer- 
 ruminated by calcareous fpar-veins, from rio delk 
 maravtglie pre/o al Martignone ful Bolognefe. 
 
 3. Several petrified fhells from the Bolognefe. 
 The fmaller, and moft remarkable ones, have been 
 defcribed by Mr. Bajfi, in the Afta Inflltuti Bom- 
 menjis. 
 
 4. The celebrated Lapis Bononienfis^ a felenitical 
 fpar; which, after a convenient uftulatton, grows 
 phofphorefcent, and has been, together with other 
 phofphorefcent ftones, very well defcribed by Mr. 
 Markgraf at Berlin. The waiter of the Infti- 
 tute makes, of this {lone and Tragacanth, 
 ftars, and other fuch things, which light in the 
 dark. He fells them pretty high to travellers, 
 who believe him, on his word, to be the only 
 man poffefled of this arcanum. The Lapis Bo- 
 nonienfis is found in pieces' of a white opaque, 
 or femi-pellucid water-colour, either entirely foiid 
 or in nodules, ftriated from the centre. It is 
 found detached and loofe in monfe Paterno, three 
 Italian miles diftant from Bologna, in clay or 
 marl, whence it is warned by rain. 
 
 F 4 5- T '
 
 72 TRAVELS THROUQH 
 
 5. yellowifli fand-ftone, hereabout called Ma- 
 cignoi commonly ufed at Bologna in foundations, 
 and columns. The fpfter fort is unfit for architec- 
 ture, as dilTolving in the air. This is very com- 
 inon in the hills near the Apennines, on the road 
 to Florence. The harder and better fpecies is dug 
 2t Pontixano, thirty miles diftant from Bologna ; 
 a fomevyhat fofter near PJancio, fourteen miles 
 diftant j and the fofteft near the city- wall in villa 
 Barbiana ad Scottas. 
 
 6. Geffo Scajola, or S-cagliola, or &apis Specu-r 
 laris, is common in the clay- hills about Bologna. 
 The purer ones are burnt to plaifter, and the 
 coarfer ferve in mafonry. 
 
 7. Red Sal Gemma from Catalonia. 
 
 The library of the Inftitute poflefles a valuable 
 treafure, in the manufcripts of Aldrovandi and 
 Marftgli. A great part of the latter dcfervc pub- 
 liming. Aldrovandfs hand-writing is in fuch fmall 
 letters, and peftered with fo many abbreviations, 
 that it is very difficult to read it. 
 
 The collection of the late celebrated apothe- 
 cary Zannoni, at Bologna, now in the pofleflion 
 of his nephew, contained a great number of petri^ 
 factions, fhells, amphibies in fpirit of wine, ancj 
 large herbary. Several of his fcarcer plants, 
 Jiave been defcribed and engraved, un,der the, 
 title,. Sftrpcs Zannoni cwn Annotationil'UsMontii* 
 
 Among
 
 ITALY. LETTER VI. f% 
 
 Among the petrifac7ions, I took notice of the 
 Concha -polyginglyma, tefta crajja foliacea, margari~ 
 tacei colons, cardinibus pardleliter multo-fulcatis, 
 which is found in the hills about Bologna, ia 
 Switzerland, and in feveral parts of Germany. I 
 remarked Jikewife feveral turlinites changed into 
 agates with diftant fpirings. They had fome re- 
 femblance to the Wendel-trap i and many Bo- 
 lognefe petrifactions have been ^lefcribed by Mr, 
 fiajfi, in Comwentariis Eononlenf.bus. 
 
 Mr. Ferdinando Bajfi, member of the learned 
 fociety, and keeper of the botanic garden, is very 
 learned in botany, and other parts of Natural 
 Hiftory. The Baffia honours his name. He has 
 publifhed feveral DifTertations in the Bolognefe 
 Tranfaclions ; a treatife, Amlrcfma novum planta 
 genus \ and another under the title of, Analifi 
 delle terme Porretane Roma, 1768, 4/0. His mi- 
 nerals and fhellsare confiderable , and his col- 
 lection of the portraits of the moil famous Natu- 
 ralifts, drawn in black, is very valuable. Pity it 
 is, that his health has been lately much impaired 
 by apoplectical injuries. 
 
 Mr. Cajetano Monti, ProfefTor of Natural Hif- 
 pry at the Univerfity and Inftitute, and member 
 pf the Learned Society, is a very learned man, 
 Jrle has parts and fire. The Zannonian Stirpes 
 
 have
 
 74 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 have been explained and published by him ; and 
 he has printed an excellent Speech, occafioned 
 by the doctoral inauguration of Mr. Cajimiro 
 Gomez Ortoga, a Spaniard. Bologna^ 1764, Svo. 
 His father, Giufepps Monti, was likewife a good 
 Naturalift , and publilhed Prodromum Flora Bo- 
 nomenfis. 
 
 Abate Gabriello Brunelli is the denominated 
 fuccefTor of Mr. Monti, and his affiftant in the 
 irifpeclion of the botanical garden, and of the ca- 
 binets in the Inftitute. He is a learned man, who, 
 perhaps, may favour the public with a description 
 of this collection. 
 
 A lady, Signora Anna Morandi, vedova Ma- 
 zolini, imitates anatomical preparations in wax^ 
 which ftand the comparifon with thofe of that 
 famous lady at Paris. 
 
 The late celebrated Profeflbr Giacomo Bartolo~ 
 meo Beccari is dead long fince ; but his memory 
 lives in feverai of his performances, efpecially in 
 that de Phofphoris. There have been ever fince in 
 Bologna very learned men, in every fcience ; and 
 thefe may be known, by an excellent book, which 
 will appear foon in a new improved edition ; the 
 title is, Notizie delli Scrittori Bolognefi-raccolte da 
 Orlandi. Bologna, 1714, 4to. A fimilar account 
 of every Univerfity would be an excellent im- 
 provement of literary hiftory. 
 
 Mr.
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R. VI. 75 
 
 Mr. 'feffari, who has publifhed Linn<ei materlam 
 medicam omnium triitm regnomm cum Annotationibus, 
 an4 Elementa Cbymica, is Profefibr at Bologna. 
 
 The Mineral-colleftion of a Barnabite, Padre 
 Marcello Cortincvis, is kept in the Seminario de 
 Barnabiti ; meanwhile, its pofleflbr, animated by 
 his tafte for Natural Hiftory, has undertaken a 
 voyage to Calicut, under the charadler of a naif- 
 fionary. 
 
 In my next, I mall write to you from the other 
 f:de of the Apennines, 
 
 , 
 
 LET-
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Florence, Dec. n, 1771, 
 
 AT a diftance of one or two Italian miles, on 
 this fide of Bologna, the roa4 continually 
 afcended over the Bolognefe-fand, marl, and lime- 
 flone-hills , an.d thence to the Apennines, which 
 are ftratified, grey, and hard limeftome, with pe- 
 trifactions. Their higheft top is at Pietra mala, 
 Thence we defcended to a place called le Maf* 
 there, fome Italian miles diftant from Florence, 
 where we left thefe mountains, and came to the 
 agreeable hills of Tufcany. The pleafing green 
 of alternating cyprefies, firs (pinus picea fyhe- 
 ftris 6? abies), larch (pinus laryx)> walnut, and 
 olive-trees, the fertility of the grape, and of the 
 olives, which in this feafon fpread an oily fmell, 
 was certainly very refrefhing to the eyes, tired by 
 the uniform grey colour of the naked Apennines. 
 Now I fhould communicate to you my mineralo- 
 gical obfervations of this journey , but feveral cir- 
 cnmflances have efcaped my attention, and I fha'I 
 
 travel
 
 ITALY. LETTER vn, 77 
 
 travel this part over again, if I mould not hap* 
 pen to meet with Mr. Gnetard, and to hear by 
 him what I wanted to fee myfelf. He is faid 
 to be, at prefent, at Rome or Naples. In cither 
 of thefe cafes, I will difcharge my duty. 
 
 To-day I write to you what I have feen at Flo- 
 rence -, but the rainy fealbn puts many Hops to my 
 curiofity, and has brought me to the refolution to 
 fet out in a few days for Rome, and thence, after 
 a fhort ftay, for Naples. I know that in that 
 place there will be much bufmefs for me; that 
 the climate is the foftefl in Italy; and thatl can fpend 
 there the bad feafon, with lefs inconvenience for me, 
 thence to return in a better feafon to Rome, Siena, and 
 Florence-, which giving me opportunity topafs twice 
 through the fame country, will make [my obfer- 
 vations the more perfect, and the more acceptable 
 to you. But now let us fpeak of Florence. This 
 noble place was ever a feat of the ufeful and finer 
 arts ; and the Florentines have, for feveral cen- 
 turies, enjoyed the well-deferved reputation, of 
 being a witty, elegant, and clean people. The 
 mountainous, airy, and charming fituation of this 
 country ; the good tafte, the encouragements, and 
 the wife ordinances, of a good government ; a ge- 
 neral opulency, in comparifon of the other Italian 
 provinces ; and the greater chearfulnefs and con- 
 tentment of the inhabitants, have certainly their 
 
 marc
 
 *; S TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 fhare in this reputation, and in the great number 
 of valuable performances which they have pub- 
 lifted in almoft every part of literature. The ex- 
 cellent DiiTertations of" the Academy del Cimentd 
 and della Crufca are univerfally known ; and why 
 fhould I name to you fo many private men, which 
 have diftinguiftied themfelves in every part of the 
 fciences, and of good tafte ? The flourifhing foci- 
 ety for the improvement of hufbandry, and ano- 
 ther, which is entirely planned for botany, deferve 
 great efteem. Not to fpeak of Florence in parti- 
 cular, there are well-ordinated Univerfities at Pifa 
 and Sienna-, in that city a celebrated fociety of 
 the fciences, and a botanical one at Cortona. This 
 certainly feeins fufficient for a country whofe cir- 
 cumference is not very large; but the generous 
 public fpirit of its prefent Sovereign, and his own 
 acquaintance with the Mufes, will give to his refi- 
 dence a new fplendour, by the eftablifiiment of a 
 new Academy, calculated for every practical ufe- 
 ful fcience, which will the better anfwef his pur- 
 pofe, as there is no fparing of expences. The 
 palace Totrigiano has been bought for the Aca- 
 demy, and is changing now into halls, and cabi- 
 nets of books, natural curiofmes, phyfical inftru- 
 ments, anatomical preparations, and other requi- 
 fites. A botanical garden, a chemical laboratory,, 
 and an agronomical obfervatory, are building. 
 4 Some
 
 ITALY. LETTER VII. 79 
 
 Some rooms are preparing for the Grand Duke 
 himfelf, and for his entertainment in the fciences. 
 ProfefTors in every part of practical knowledge arc 
 engaged; and the direction of the whole is at 
 prefent, and will be for the future, intruded 
 to the Abate Felice Fontana, late Profeflbr of the 
 Mathematics at Pifa, and now Mathematician to 
 the Grand Duke. He has given to the public 
 feveral works, which are valuable proofs of his 
 parts *. I have feen a part of the microfcopical 
 difcoveries, which he has described in his writings* 
 The old phyfical inftruments, which in former 
 times belonged to the Academia del Cimento, have 
 been tranfported hither from the gallery ^ and a 
 great many new ones are ordered at Florence, or 
 bought at London. The foundation of a library 
 is laid by the phyfical and mathematical books of 
 
 * i. Dei mod de 1'Iride. Lucca, 8vo. 
 
 2. De kgibus irritabilitatis nunc primum fancitis. Lucca, 
 8vo. inferted by Baron Haller into his treatife fur Vlrritabi- 
 lite & Senftbilite. 
 
 3. Ricerche Fifiche fopra il Veleno della Vipera con alcunC 
 oflervazzione fopra le anguillette dei grano Sperone. Lucca, 
 1767, 8vo. 
 
 4. Nuove Oflervazzione Ibpra i globetti rofli del Sangue. 
 Lucca, 1766, 8vo. 
 
 . In the Glornale dli Firenze Giug no, 1771. is a Profpeclus 
 of a new work on the diftempers of corn, called Ergot and 
 Volpe, and on the Vinegar worms. 
 
 the
 
 86 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the Lilreria Mtgliabecbi ; and a young man, 
 at Florence, working under Mr. Fontanas direc- 
 tion, imitates in wax his anatomical preparations 
 of the human body, in a higher degree of perfec- 
 tion than I few them any where before. He 
 mixes white wax with feveral forts of white gums, 
 to prevent its melting and cracking. All is co- 
 loured after nature, and then properly varnifhed. 
 Some parts of the head, the eye, the ears, and the 
 tongue, are already fixed on wooden tables, and 
 highly and properly finimed for illufion. The fu- 
 ture collection of natural curiofities is to confift of^ 
 
 1. The cabinet of Rumphius* 
 
 2. Van Sproeckel ; and 
 
 3. The curiofities, which before have been kept' 
 in the gallery. 
 
 In the laft are large pieces of foffil calcined 
 ivory, dug out near the Lago di frafimene, or di 
 Perugia. 
 
 The fecond belonged to Van Spreeckel, a drug- 
 gift at Leghorn; and was, when he died, bought 
 by the Grand Duke for two thoufand pezze Tof- 
 cane* It confifts of minerals, petrifactions, corals* 
 marine plants, zoophytes, Ihells, earths, and a 
 materia medica. A {tone belonging to this col- 
 lection is, according to a ticket fixed to it, given 
 out for a petrified fpunge, found at Luciano, in 
 Tufcany. The form, the appearance, and the 
 
 colon r^
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 8l 
 
 colour were exaftly thofe of a fpunge, but its 
 weight made me incline to think it a pumice- 
 ftone. However, 1 leave it to your judgement, 
 if you come here and fee it. Bertrand> in his Dic- 
 tionary of FoJ/ils, fpeaks of petrified fpunges. 
 
 The collection of fttifopbius, the very fame 
 \vhich he defcribed in his Amboinifh rarities, was 
 bought by the Grand Duke Cofmo III. from 
 Rumphius, and from Amboina brought to Leg- 
 horn. A dcfcription of the Amboina animals and 
 fifhes, with many figures, and written by Rum- 
 phius, was bought at the fame time, but fent by 
 another fhip; it perifbed at fea. This cabinet has 
 been in former times very rich in exquifite fcarce 
 (hells, corals, rich gold mines, precious ftones, 
 and the like ; but it has been much impaired while 
 it was kept in the gallery at Florence: Firft, 
 becaufe Baron Baillou, and the phyfician of the 
 Court, Mr. Guahieri, had the confent of the Grad 
 Dul^e, to take the duplicates for themfelves: 
 Secondly, becaufe fome precious pieces, for exam- 
 ple the large ffiendel-treppe of Rumphijts, in pu^r- 
 fuance of an order of the late Emperor have been 
 taken to Vienna : And finally, becaufe the laft 
 infpeclor, a Frenchman, has, as they told me, 
 re-aped a good harveft for himfelf, by his own 
 authority. Among the red corals I obferved a 
 handibme and branchy one, on which no place 
 G could
 
 &2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 could be diftinguifhed whereby it might have been 
 fixed to the ground. There is a parcel of roots 
 and gums, and fome artificial curiofities; as a 
 fmall boullet, made of thin brafs, hollow within, 
 containing feveral others of the fame kind, one 
 inclofed in the other, which by the leaft making 
 fuffers a ftrong and lafting tremulous vibra- 
 tion. The Indian women are faid to ufe them as 
 implements of fafety. The Gummi elafticum, ac^- 
 cording to Mr. Mocquer's experiments difiblublc 
 in aether, is faid to be fubfervient to a like volup- 
 tuous abufe, and efpecially fo at S.Domingo. 
 
 There are at Florence feveral private collections 
 of natural curiofities ; but the chief of all, and 
 perhaps in all Italy, is that of minerals and foffils, 
 which belongs to Dr. Giov. Targioni tfozzetti, and 
 gives the compleatefl explication of the phyfical 
 Geography of Tufcany and other parts of Italy. 
 He is a celebrated phyfician, and keeper ot 
 the Magliabechi library ; and in his natural phi- 
 lofophy an excellent difciple of Micheli, whofc 
 collections and manufcripts he has acquired 
 and confiderably augmented. Mr. T'ozzetti has 
 publilhed feveral works * ; but efpecially Viaggi 
 
 per 
 
 * i. Petri Ant. Micheli Catalogus plantarum horti Caefarei 
 Florentine cum Praef. D. Giov. Targ. Tozzetti, fol. 
 
 2. Prodromo della Corografia e Topografia Fifica delJa 
 Tofcana, 1754. 8vo. 
 
 3 . Viaggi
 
 ITALY. LETTER vnr. 83 
 
 per la tfofcana, by which he ' has much illuflrated 
 ?-he Natural Hiftory of his country. 
 
 I faw in his cabinet all the rocks, flones, earths, 
 marbles, petrifactions, ores, and lavas of Tufca- 
 ny, which he has defcribed in his journey. I no- 
 ticed in particular the following. 
 
 a. Chalcedony^ from Maremma di Volt err a in 
 Tufcany, is faid to be found there in beds and 
 ftrata, and to be dug out from the Cava di S. A. 
 Reate, between Monte Ruffoli and Canneto* 
 
 b. Red fahguine jafper with white veins, from 
 Bnrga in the Apennines, is- found in large beds, 
 and compofing large rocky hills -f-. There are in 
 
 3. Viaggi per la Tofcana. Ediz. :. Volumi fei, 8vo. 
 
 4. Relazione d'alcuni viaggi fatti in diverfe parti della 
 Tofcana. Ed. 2. 8vo. Firenze, Vol. I, II, 1768. III. 1769. 
 IV. 17/0. A bankruptcy of the bookfeller ftopt the impreflion. 
 
 . Halimurgia e delle piante che fervono di nudrimento in 
 tempo di caritia. 
 
 6. Analifi e difefa della celebre opera intitdlata, Alimurgia 
 Yenezia, 1769. 
 , 7. Rsgionamenti full' agricoltura Tofcana. Lucca, 1759, 8vo. 
 
 8. Iflruzzione circa le varie maniere d'accrefcere^l pane ccn 
 1'ufo d'alcune follanze vcgetabi-li. Pifa, 1767, 8vo. 
 
 f The fame fpecies of red jafper is found in large beds 
 and rocks near Franckenberg in Hefien, whereof large raw 
 and polifhed fpecimens are to be feen in the Landgrave's 
 public colleaions at Caflel. The keeper of this cabinet, 
 xvhofe eminent tafte and knowledge appears in its fmgular dif- 
 tribution, calls it Franckenberg-agate ; but he is wrong in 
 t)ut, 
 
 G 2 the
 
 84 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the Capella di S. Lorenzo at Florence, large pt3- 
 lifhed tables and incruftations of this jaiper. 
 And at Montieri in the Sanefe fomewhat above the 
 caftle, in Montagna di Monticri^ which is mica- 
 ceous ilate, and wherein have been old filver, 
 copper, and lead mines, is likewiie a bed of 
 red coarfe jafyer, at leaft three fathoms large, 
 which continues to Cajlello di Gerfalco ; but being 
 lamellated and cracked by many fifiures, this jaf- 
 per is unfit for ufe. 
 
 c. Fallow copper-ore with grey ftriated anti- 
 mony in quartz, and calcareous fpar, found fome 
 years ago in Tufcany. The antimony appeared 
 in fibres, which, for fome part, were extremely 
 fine, and like feathers. 
 
 d. Fine native copper in calcareous fpar, or 
 perhaps zeolith, with brown terraceous copper-ore, 
 much refembling the native copper, which in a 
 fimilar brown earth and zeolith is found in Ferroe. 
 This vein was forne years ago difcovered in Tuf- 
 cany ; but breaking foon off they dropt the mine. 
 Generally the Tufcan veins are but fuperficial ones 
 (Wajen laufer), never dipping deep under ground. 
 
 e. Some petrifa^ions in flint or horn-ftone. Mr. 
 Targioni had,, in the collection of the celebrated 
 Micheli, a belemnite in a jafper ; but left this rare 
 piece \.Q. Alexander Funck, a Swede,, travelling fom 
 years ago in Italy. 
 
 f. Per-
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 85 
 
 /. Perfect regular parallelopipeda of white fherl, 
 more or lefs calcined, of the length and the pro- 
 portionate thicknefs of a ringer, incloied in black 
 lava, belonging formerly to the collection of Afi- 
 cheli, who neglected to take notice of the place 
 whence it was brought. This lava refembled the ' 
 Serpent ino antico^ but it was large fpotted. 
 
 g. A phofphorefcent felenitical fpar, iimilar to 
 the Bolognefe, common in Tufcany in detached 
 fragments, in the fractured clay and limeftone 
 beds, which are called Gallejlri. 
 
 h. Selenite in tranfpare,nt rhomboidical-cryftals 
 from feveral places in Tufcany. 
 
 i. Argillaceous nodules, by exficcation or dry- 
 ing cracked in feveral places, from Val d*Arno 
 fopra Firenze. Some of them half flint or horn- 
 ftone, and covered by a white terraceous furface. 
 There are likewife in the Val d'Arno feveral geodes 
 and other lufus nature. 
 
 k. White argillaceous alum-ftones, fimilar to 
 thofe from Tolfa, from feveral places in Tufcany, 
 See Tozzettis Travels. 
 
 L Gabbro, or ferpentine-flone., with white fpots, 
 from Cecina nella maremma Volterrana^ where it is 
 found ftratified , the fame white, black, red, or 
 green, with inclofed afbeftus, from Prato; black 
 with mica, from Monte f errata di Praia, has often 
 white calcareous fpar-veins, and is called by the 
 G 3 common
 
 86 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 common people Nero di Prato ; frequently em- 
 ployed for ornaments in churches and palaces. 
 The green is called Verde di Prato. 
 
 m. Several handfome tables of the celebrated 
 Marmo Florentine, found at Rimacio near S. Cecina, 
 two Italian miles diftant from Florence, and elfe- 
 where. It offers itfelf biit in fmall beds in the 
 compact limeflone, which is commonly of a grey 
 colour, frequently dendritical, yielding a good 
 lime, and called Alberefe^ or Albazzano. This 
 Florentine marble, reprefenting ruins, is likewife 
 known nnder the name of marmo pa'efino, as the 
 Dendritical under that of Alberino. 1 faw after- 
 wards 
 
 2. Several ores, ftones, fofiils, lavas, &c. from 
 Other provinces in Italy and foreign countries. 
 The Sicilian agates remarkably excellent. 
 
 3. A collection of natural and petrified {hells, 
 zoophytes, and corals ; efpecially from the Adri- 
 atic and Mediterranean fea. 
 
 4. Seeds, fruits, roots, of exotical plants. 
 
 5. A rich Herbary gathered by himfelf. 
 
 6. Micheli's Herbary. 
 
 7. A choice collection of books made by him- 
 felf, or left by Michcli. 
 
 8. The rnanufcripts of Micbeli* and other cele- 
 brated Italian and Tufcan authors. Several of 
 
 them have been noticed by Mr. Tozzetti in his 
 
 Coro-
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 87 
 
 Corografa Tcfccna ; but .thofe of Ricctus are quite 
 unknown, and never printed. ! hope that Mr. Toss* 
 zetti will publilh fome of Micheli's manufcripts j 
 especially the continuation of his botanical work, 
 which contains the fucos, zoophyta, and corals. 
 Above one hundred and fifty plates have been 
 already engraved, at the expence of the bookfeller, 
 Mr. Bouchard^ at Rome. 
 
 9. Some fkeletons, and bones, teeth, &c. from 
 elephants, dug out in Tufcany. The teeth are, 
 by the action of the air, calcined. 
 
 10. A great number of manufcripts of Mr. 
 Targioni Tozzetti, concerning- the Natural Hif- 
 tory of Tufcany, worth printing. I notice, above 
 the reft, his almoft finimed Mineralogy of Tuf- 
 cany ; containing the defcription, denomination, 
 Htuation, and ufe, of the earths, clays, quarries, 
 mines. The catalogue too of his Mineral-collec- 
 tion is very inftrucYmg. 
 
 n. The Herbary of the celebrated Clufius^ 
 given by Prince Eugene to the prefent poflefibr. 
 
 To underftand Mr. Targioni Tczzefti's travels, 
 and other Italian Mineralogifts, it is convenient to 
 be acquainted with fome denominations of ftones; 
 which either are ufed by the common people, or 
 derived from the Greek. The Italians, having but 
 a fmall number of mines, have but a few tech* 
 G 4 4?ical
 
 88 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 nical words of Minery; and I give you the 
 greateft part in the following fmall Glofiary. 
 
 1. Alberefe is a compact commonly grey co- 
 loured limeftone, yielding good lime. If blue 
 coloured, it 'goes often under the name of Pietra 
 columbina or turchina. In the Sanefe diftricl: they 
 call this limeflone Albazzano, 
 
 2. Alberefe coltettino is a lamellated limeflone, 
 whofe furface feems to be traced with angulated 
 and croffed lines, as cut or carved with a knife. 
 
 3. Afrofelino\ a ftriated, farinaceous loofe gyp- 
 fum, fimilar to what they call chaulks in Derby/hire. 
 I faw fuch a ftone flicking to white pifolithes in 
 Mr. fozzetti's collection, from the alum-works in 
 Monte Rotondo in Tufcany. Bardelloni. See fa- 
 lefti and Pietra forte. 
 
 4. Brectie verrucane ; Breccia, fimilar to a fpe- 
 cies which is found in Monte Ferrucola near Pifa. 
 A loofe pebble-breccia, or pudding-ftone, is 
 often called Eumecide. 
 
 5. Calamita bianca; a white hardened bolus, 
 ftriated like afbeftus. 
 
 6. Cijvare a forza ds ScarpelH, break with bills 
 and hammers. 
 
 7. Ccnicolo e galleria* a drain. 
 
 8. Cave, See Sterri. 
 
 . 9. Cicercbina\ a calcareous breccia pr pudding- 
 ftone, confifting in a grett number of calcareous 
 
 fpar
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 89 
 
 fpar grains, fome quartz flakes, rolled and blunted 
 fragments of lava, glued by lime; found near 
 Fiefole, ferves to polilh marble. Ciottoli. Sec 
 Gbtarta. 
 
 10. Eumeces, or Eumecide, is employed in dif- 
 ferent fenfes : Firft, fignifying globular coarfe 
 chalcedony-like half indurated clay, which may, 
 perhaps, be a mixture of foap-ilone, found in 
 the GWdy?r<?-hills, related to Igiada : Secondly, a 
 coarfe pebble-breccia, or loofe pudding-ftone : 
 Thirdly, an indurated terraceous fubflance, (Iri- 
 ated and fimilar to what they call erzmutter, or 
 ore matrix, in Hungary. I had no opportunity 
 to examine whether it be a calcareous or a feleni- 
 tical fubftance. 
 
 n. Filcne; fynonymous to rikgatura and vena 
 metaltica, commonly a bed, ftratum, or flat- work; 
 but now and then indiftinclly a metallic vein. 
 
 12. Gabbro ; ferpentine-ftone, found in Italy, 
 in Tufcany, and the diftridb of Genoa, in large 
 beds and hills, which commonly on one fide bor- 
 der on calcareous, and on the other fide on (late- 
 hills. See Polzevera. 
 
 13. Galaftites ; white bacon-ftone, or fmeclites 
 the green is called Pietra nefritica. 
 
 14. Galeftri\ (mall calcareous beds, found be- 
 tween the ftrata of compaft limeftone, mouldering 
 fry the lead touch to pieces. Synonymous to lar- 
 
 dellcni.
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 delloni. The argillaceous beds in the pietra forte 
 and ferena go under the , fame names if moulder- 
 ing. See Sajfi tfiatti. 
 
 15. Gbiarra; fmall detached ftones or blunted 
 flint, quartz, limeftone. Larger ones are called 
 Ciottoli and Ciottoloni. 
 
 i 6. Granitone ; a ftone, confifting of a greenifh 
 filver-glimmer, and white vitrefcent fpar or feld- 
 fpath, found in large beds in the Gabbro. Sprink- 
 led by fmall fpots and fragments into the Gabbro, 
 they call it Gram to, Grappi. See Piomlo. 
 
 17. Igiada; is a hardened lapis nephriticus or 
 hip-ftone, or a green horn-ftone (petrofikx viri- 
 dis), whofe origin from green fmedites or foap- 
 flone appears plainly in feveral of thefe ftones in 
 my pofleffion, which on one fide are hardened and 
 ftrike fire, and on the other are fo foft as to be cut 
 with a knife. Sometimes this green fmectites in 
 the fir'ft degree of induration takes the form of 
 afbeftus j or, it is a true albert and amianth, as in 
 the Serpentine quarries at ZoeMtz in Saxony and 
 as in feveral pieces from Impruneta in the Florentine 
 territory, orfromPrato, which I faw in Mr. Targi- 
 cni's colledion. On my return from Rome and Na- 
 ples I mail not neglect to examine thefe places. The 
 pretended 'Prcjius (I'/ all* Mitt. 120, n. 3.) from 
 Breilenbdum y at Johan-Georgmjladt, and from El- 
 fanjlcck in Saxony, feems to have had a fimilar 
 7 origin.
 
 ITALY. L.ETTER VIII. 9! 
 
 origin. 'The Eibenfifuk-foeties appears (Iriated as 
 a coarfe amianth. 
 
 1 8. Inolitbo', ftriated gypfum. 
 
 19. Iridi\ fmall quartz-cryftals of a black co- 
 lour, with pyramidal points on both fides. See 
 Mercati Metallotheca Vaticana. 
 
 20. Lavatojo ; a wafh-work. 
 
 21. Licafro; Wolfram. 
 
 22. Litheofphoro ; phofphorefcent Bolognefe 
 gyps-ftone. 
 
 23. La Machinai the water-engines, for draw- 
 ing ore and pumping water. 
 
 24. Macigno ; a micaceous flone, confifting of 
 clay and fome lime ; appearing rather to be en- 
 tirely compofed of glimmer. In the uppermoft 
 ftrata it is fhivery, but very compact and hard in 
 a greater depth. Hence Petrarch's and other poets 
 fetti di macigno of their unyielding cruel fair-ones. 
 The colour and hardnefs is different. There is 
 
 a. Tietra bigia \ grey yellow coloured by iron 
 ocher, refills the air, ferves for columns and walls. 
 
 b. Pietra ferena, cchtmbina & turcbina \ blue- 
 grey, porous, likewife ferving for columns. They 
 are but varieties of the fame fort of (tone, and 
 often united in the fame work. Near Siena they 
 call macigno pietra di torre. Marfe. See Piombo. 
 
 25. Nefritica pietrd; a green bacon-ftone or 
 fme<5tites. 
 
 26. Pietra
 
 92 TRAVELS TH R O UGH 
 
 26. Pietra bigia. See macigno. 
 
 27. forte ; an argillaceous lime or mar- 
 
 ble-ftone, found in the garden at Boboli, near S. 
 Francefco di Paola, alia Campora, near Florence^ 
 
 f and at S. Margarita a Montici^ ferving for the 
 pavings of the ftreets at Florence ; blue or yellow- 
 coloured ; and therefore diftinguifhed too by the 
 names of pietra bigia and turchina. The fmaller 
 clay beds in the quarries of Pietra forte are called 
 bar dell oni. 
 
 28. Pietra morta\ the uppermoft, loofe, and 
 fractured bed of fand-ftone or macigno, unfit for 
 ufe ; to be diftinguifhed from Sajjb morto or flate, 
 which goes under that name becaufe it very often 
 is hid and as it were buried by fuperincumbent 
 limeftone. 
 
 29. Pietra nefritica. See nefritica. 
 go. ferena. See macigno. 
 
 3 r . talcbina ; every fort of micaceous 
 
 ftone. 
 
 32. Piftare', pound and pulverize. 
 
 33. Piombo q/ia argent o qua e la fp^rfo a'majfe, a 
 grappi* a grappetti ofia rognonl ; lead or filver ore 
 fprinkled in nodules or grapes into the veins. If 
 it be fprinkled in fmaller flakes, they call it a 
 fpruzzi; and if thefe be ftraying and appearing 
 
 but now and then, they call them picciole fein- 
 title di Piombo, &c. 
 
 34. Pozzo;
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 93 
 
 34. Pozzo , a fhaft. 
 
 35. Polzevera; a Gabbro or Serpentine, with 
 limeflone, marble, or calcareous fpar-veins, or 
 the Ophites of Cronftedt (Miner. 261.) found 
 in large beds in the Gabbro-hills. La valle di Pol- 
 zevera, in the Genoefe, is called fo on account of 
 the fine red, black, and green, white-veined pol- 
 zevera-quarries. 
 
 36. Rilegatura ', a failure filled with quartz or 
 fpar, or a metallic vein. 
 
 37. Rognoni. See Piombo. 
 
 38. Saffi matti'y Galeftri mouldering in fcnall 
 bits. 
 
 39. Saffo morto. See Pietra morta. 
 
 40. Scagliola ; white tranfparent felenites. 
 
 41. Scintitte', metallic flakes. See Piombo. 
 
 42. A Spruzzi. See Piombo. 
 
 43. Sterri d'anticbe Cave-, the rubbrfh of old 
 mines or bings. 
 
 44. Tahhine pietre-, every glimmer or mica- 
 ceous Hone. 
 
 45. Variolarie ; blunted and detached flones ; 
 efpecially Gabbro, whofe furface is knotty. 
 
 They have ferved in former times as fuperfti- 
 tious amulets to children againfl the fmall-pox; 
 and accordingly they are ftill at prefent kept by 
 feveral jllalian apothecaries. 
 
 I have
 
 94 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 I have hitherto entertained you with the collet 
 tions of Mr. Giov. Targioni Tozzetti. But there 
 is at Florence another able phyfician a called Michel 
 Angela Targiont, living alia piazza di S. Maria no- 
 vella, which is not at all related to the former. I 
 faw in his houfe an excellent collection of mells^ 
 belonging to his fon Dr. Giov. Luigi Targioni. He 
 poflefies befides this fome minerals, petrifactions, 
 and fluffed birds. He has fome exotic and rather 
 unknown drugs. This gives me an opportunity 
 to tell you, that the Fungus Melitenjis or Sangui- 
 mria, which is defcribed in Linneus's Amanit. acade- 
 micisy is to be had in the Florentine apothecaries. 
 I had been told that it grows near Leghorn ;' but 
 that happened only once by accident, in a place 
 where fome earth and feeds from Maltha had been 
 accidentally thrown. Mr. Giov. Luigi Targioni has 
 publifhed a treatife de aitraftione & gravitate. 
 
 Dr. Saverio Ferdinando. Moretti is profeflbr 
 of botany in the botanic garden, and fecretary to 
 the fociety of hufbandry; and Dr Antonio Du- 
 razzini.is fecretary to the Academia botanic a \ which 
 focieties each feparately afTemble in the above-men- 
 tioned garden in a fmall room, wherein is kept a 
 collection of feeds. The garden is large and well 
 fituated,. planted and claffified according to the 
 two chief fyftems, that of Tournefort, adopted 
 by Mr. Manetti, and that of Linneus j but there
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 95 
 
 is not at prefent the fame plenty of plants as of 
 late, when Mr. Manetti publilhed Viridarium Flo- 
 rentinum, feu ccnfpeflum plant arum, qiice floruerunt 
 & femina dederunt. Florent. 1751, cum Appen- 
 dice, 1752. 
 
 The celebrated Petri Antonii Micbeli Catalcgus 
 ylantarum horti Cafari Florentini, cum Prof. D. 
 Joh. Targioni Tozzetti, indicates a ftill greater 
 plenty of this garden, which fuffers at prefent by 
 want of a convenient fund. 
 
 Mr. Manetti is author and publilher of Storia 
 naturale degli luccelli y with coloured prints ; whofc 
 firfl volume appeared at Florence, 1767, /<?/. The 
 figures are drawn after living birds kept in the 
 Grand Duke's menagery al Giardino di Bololi, 
 near the palace Pitti , or after fluffed ones in the 
 fine collections of Senator Gerini and Mr. Mlnnl ; 
 or copied from books. He is likewife author of 
 a good periodical paper, under the title of, Ma- 
 gazino Tofeano, which contains many ufeful objects 
 relating to phyfic and hufbandry. Another paper 
 of that kind is properly defigned for Dietetics, 
 or objects relating to he prefer vation of the hu- 
 man body. A third Florentine paper is called 
 Giornals di Firence. The Novelle Letterarie di 
 Firence have ceafed with the life of the learned 
 Mr. Lami. 
 
 Ifaw
 
 I 
 
 96 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 I faw in the Grand Duke's gallery, the grinding 
 and polifhing of the ancient Greek marbles, and 
 the modern harder ftones (pietre dure) fuch as 
 agates and jafpers. Samples for cabinets and fine 
 tables of the Florentine marble may be had from 
 the journeymen, and at a good rate too, though 
 they afk enormous prices of the unexperienced 
 ftranger. They make here excellent mofaic-works, 
 called Interfeccatura, or Lavoro di commeffo ; which 
 confifts of figures of animals, flowers, and other 
 high-coloured objects, cut from coloured ftones, 
 ferruminated by a compofition of white wax and 
 pitch, and polifhed afterwards either into flat tables 
 or into bas reliefs. It is hard work, requiring 
 much time, and accordingly very dear, efpecially 
 figures in relief. 
 
 In the Capella di San Lorenzo, are not only orna- 
 ments of this Lavoro d'lnterfeccatura \ but like- 
 wife of the fineft marbles, jafpers, and agates, in 
 large pieces, and compofed in the nobleft tafte. 
 The keeper of this majeftic chapel fells a fmall 
 printed account of the different antique and mo- 
 dern ftones employed in it. Even the Arm and 
 other Florentine rivers furnim fome fpecies of fine 
 horn-ftones and jafpers, which are ground in the 
 gallery. I referve for another time an opportu- 
 nity of fpeaking to you of the fine green and 
 violet fpotted Corfican marble , of the violet gra- 
 nite,
 
 ITALY. LETTER VII. 97 
 
 nice, from Ifola d'Elba, the Marmo Polverofo di 
 Piflqja, and other fpecies of that kind. 
 
 In the church di S. Spirito are many columns of 
 the before-mentioned petra ferena; which is a 
 yariety of macigno, and the chief altar is made 
 of Gabbro and Polzevera di Pralo, green and black, 
 or red and black white fpotted. 
 
 In the convent of the Dominicans at S. Marco* 
 and in the hofpital di S. Maria nuova, they make 
 excellent diflilled vegetable oils and eflences; 
 which, together with cedrates and confeded 
 fruits, are in great quantities exported from Leg- 
 horn to the Northern countries. But more of 
 the Florentine curiofities at my return from Na- 
 ples and Rome. 
 
 H LET-
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Rome, Dec. 26, 1771* 
 
 1 Cannot fpeak but with rapture of this old 
 noble city, where I arrived a fortnight ago. 
 In that fliort time I have feen fo many rnajeftic 
 beauties of the fine arts, that my memory cart 
 fcarce hold them. That infinite number of 
 churches, decorated with a profufion of the fined 
 tafte : and of palaces, whofe noble fimplicity forcesr 
 even the ignorant to fenfibility ; that innumerable 
 hoft of life-breathing ftatues and pictures \ the 
 many villas and gardens, which each feparately 
 would be confidered in every other refidence as 
 royal ornaments ; and the great many cafcades and 
 jet d'eaux, which are fo many rivers falling from 
 or rifing to the fkies, muft needs raviih and 
 charm every ftranger. I am ftill fo much un- 
 der the charm, that I would give myfelf the plea- 
 -fure of telling you whatever I have feen here. 
 But I know that all thefe excellent works have 
 
 been
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. 0,0, 
 
 been defcribed in many books, that by them 
 they are known to you, and that my defcriptions 
 would not afford you the leaft part of the delight 
 which they will force upon you if feen by your- 
 felf. Therefore I will be true to Natural Hiftory, 
 and go on, under the conduct of this generally neg- 
 lected or unnoticed guide, to admire Roman art. 
 If Art be Nature's daughter, both will, I hope, 
 very well agree together. I have already obferved 
 feveral forts of antique granite, bafaltes, por- 
 phyry, and marbles, in the treafures of the capi- 
 tol, the villa Albani, the villas, and the churches. 
 I have vifited fome of the marble- and (lone-cut- 
 ters i and, though they are Jews in their trade, I 
 have bought many fine famples. But I fpare their 
 defcription till my return, when I mall have feen 
 and examined, at leifure, more churches and 
 collections. Then you are fure of fome good 
 fupplements to the Lithography of the Ancients, 
 in which you have penned already down fo many 
 fine obfervations. Rome is, indeed, on this ac- 
 count, the beft place for a Mineralogift. They 
 cannot dig here in the adjacent vineyards through 
 the rubbifli and ruins of ancient palaces, which to 
 the heighth of fifteen feet cover the pavings of old 
 Rome, (fee Madame Du Bocae's Lettresfur I' Italic) 
 without meeting with rich provifions of the fined 
 antique marbks, porphyry, and bafaltes, which 
 H 2 the
 
 100 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the proprietors of the ground fell by the pound. 
 Even the ftreets are in many places, and efpecially 
 before St. Peter's church, paved with fepentino 
 antico, porphyry, and antique marbles. So are 
 the floors of the churches and palaces. I 
 will now fpeak to you only of the pietra daftica, 
 in the palace Borghefe. It confifts of feveral 
 flabs or tables of a white antique marble, which 
 are faid to have been cut from a cornice- block 
 belonging to an old building. Thefe tables are 
 about four palmi Romani in length, one palm in 
 breadth, and two inches thick. One of thele pieces 
 is defigned to be fhewn to {hangers, the others 
 are fet up as fide-boards. This table, being 
 put with the larger end on the ground and making 
 it, gives on both fides an alternating belly, but 
 fprings by an elaflic motion and with a cracking 
 found into its former form. It is a white antique 
 marble, affected by aqua fortis, and compofed, as 
 appearing under the microfcope, of tranfparent 
 cryftalline grains. Its flexibility is undoubtedly 
 owing to an imperfect connection of its grains. 
 This was loft, perhaps, by the action of the air, 
 or by a foft calcination of fire, which deftroyed 4 
 part of its natural cement : fo that, the plate being 
 bent, thefe particles are forced to roll or fhift, 
 which produces the crackling found. Its friabi- 
 iity, which is fuch that even the nail of a finger 
 
 makes
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. IOI 
 
 makes it appear, countenances the fame opinion. 
 It has been already fpoken of and defcribed by 
 the learned P. Jacquier delli Minimi alia Trinita di 
 tnonte in a periodical paper, and by P. For 't is in 
 his Saggffopra rifola di Cherfo ed Of era. 
 
 The flone and marble cutters at Rome imitate, 
 in marble, fruit, eggs, and fuch things, which 
 are to be had al Corfo. They give, by maceration 
 and coloured acids, to the white marble, a red, 
 yellow, blue, and green colour, which penetrates 
 and foaks pretty deep into its fubftance. 
 
 In the fame ftreet are fold imitations of cameo's, 
 cut in thick fea-fhells. The ground is commonly 
 blue or reddifh ; the relievo white. Fine im- 
 preffions in red fulphur fell for five bajocchi 
 apiece. 
 
 The old Mofaic-works, imitating Nature by a 
 compofition of fquare ftones, are done at Rome 
 in a high degree of perfection ; they at prefent 
 commonly employ only artificial ones, which for 
 the moft part are manufactured at Venice, in a 
 variety of about a thoufand colours. Thek frttta's 
 or artificial flones are firft cut with a diamond, 
 and then with a convenient iron hammer broken 
 into cubes 5 which, according to their bignefs and 
 colour, are feparated in different chefts and drawers, 
 and kept for ufe. The fixing and compofing them 
 H 3 is
 
 1Q2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 is the fame as in the before-mentioned Floren^ 
 tine Mofaic work. I have feen a Mofaic portrait 
 of the prefent Emperor, which was highly refem- 
 bling him -, and a great many artiils are employed 
 to decorate St. Peter's with fuch immortal unde- 
 caying pictures. They have improved the art 
 of the ancients, and attempted coloured baftb 
 relievi. 
 
 In the villa Adrian! at Tivoli, near Frafcati, 
 and in other places, have been found the noblelt 
 ancient monuments of that kind. I obferved in 
 them blue frittas, which proved to me that the 
 ancients knew the ufe of cobalt and the prepara- 
 tion of fmalt *. The fineft red fritta, refembling 
 fealing wax, is but a copper-fcoria, whofe compo- 
 fition was an arcanum of a certain Mr. Matthioli 
 at Rome. Though they imitate it, they do not 
 arrive to the fame brightnefs of colour. 
 
 The cabinet which Mercati defcribed in the 
 Metallotheca Vaticana has difappeared. 
 
 The Mufeum Kircherianum, in the Collegia Ro- 
 under the direction of the Jefuits, has been 
 
 * They had it, perhaps, as many other mechanical arts, 
 from the Egyptians. At leaft the Egyptians employed fmalt 
 or vitrified cobalt in their paintings and pottery, as plainly 
 appears -on the painted Mummy-chefts, and in feveral fmall 
 sauhen figures, kept in the Bmilh Mufeum, 
 
 defcribed
 
 ITALY. LETTER VIII. I3J 
 
 defcribed by Bonanni. It contains a fine fet of 
 precious ftones. There is preparing a new edition 
 of that book, under the title of, Bonanni rerum 
 naturalium Hiftoria ; which will appear with An- 
 notations of Mr. J. A. Batarra, in two volumes 
 in folio. 
 
 
 LET-
 
 J04 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 " 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 b _ T ^ 
 
 Naples, Jan. 13, 1772. 
 3- . ^ ' y ' /; 
 
 TH E few weeks which I have been in this 
 fchool of the volcanos have not been fuffi- 
 cient to give me full and compleat ideas of Vefu- 
 vius, Solfatara, and other fuch curiofities of this 
 country. I want to have them improved, en- 
 larged, confirmed, or refuted, by new and repeated 
 obfervations. I lhall therefore defer my own 
 obfervations, and give you an account of thofe 
 ingenious perfons with whom I am already become 
 acquainted. 
 
 Firft, then, I tell you, that I had the fingular 
 pleafure to meet here with Mr. Guettard^ from 
 Paris ; an excellent Natural ift, and an old ac- 
 quaintance of mine at Paris. We are much 
 together j and, what is flattering to me, I fee 
 our obfervations are, for the moft part, corrc- 
 fponding. 
 
 Mr. Serrao, phyfician of the court of Naples, 
 is a man of great knowledge, not only in phyfic 
 
 but
 
 ITALY. LETTER IX. 105 
 
 but in Natural Hiftory too, as appears in his trea- 
 tifes on Vefuvius, the Tarantifmus, the Hiftory of 
 the Lion, the Elephant, the Boar, and in fundry 
 others. 
 
 Dr. Giufeppe Vairo^ profefibr of chemiftry and 
 phyfic, is an excellent chemift, a very polite obli- 
 ging man; and, perhaps, the only Naturalift 
 at Naples, who is fcientifically acquainted with 
 Vefuvius and Solfatara. He favoured me with 
 his company to that place, to Ihew and to 
 explain to me its chief curiofities. I got in his 
 houfe an acquaintance with a young phyfician, Mr. 
 Nicolo Andria^ who is no ftranger to chemiftry and 
 Natural Hiftory. I hope they both will unite 
 to publifh their obfervations on Vefuvius and 
 Solfatara, either in a feparate work, or in the 
 fupplements of the Leghorn-edition of the French 
 Encyclopedy. 
 
 Dr. Dominico Cirillo, profeflbr of botany and 
 phyfic, a fon of a celebrated phyfician, has tra- 
 velled in France, England, Dalmatia, and Sicily, 
 and by that means gathered an excellent Herbary. 
 He is poficfled of the late Ferrantis Imperati col- 
 lection of plants, and had once a thought of a 
 Neapolitan Flora ; but phyfical practice has noxv 
 fo much engroiTed his time, that I fear he has 
 given it up. He has publilhed an abftract of Lin- 
 nai Pbilofophia Botanica for his lectures, under the 
 
 title
 
 io6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 title of, Dom. Ciritti ad Botanic&s inftitutwnes hi- 
 
 trfduftio, Ed. 2. Napoli, 1771, 4to. 
 
 P. Maeftro Antonio Minaji, a Dominican priefr, 
 is a good naturalift, and. an unwearied obferver. 
 Pity it is, that his fituation, and the oppreffing ig- 
 norance of his fuperiors, put him under fo many 
 difficulties, and almoft under an impoflibility, to 
 iUuftrate the Natural Hiftory of Calabria. Being 
 born there, and befides that a clergyman, he could 
 iafely travel over a country, in which any other 
 obierver would make but a fhort way. He has 
 made many curious obfervations upon feveral forts 
 of fpiders, upon the currents in the Mediterra- 
 nean, the Faro at Meffina, and , the Scylla and 
 Charybdjs; and he has produced paper, linen, 
 and other manufactures, by the fibres of the 
 pulpous leaves of the dgave Americana. His are 
 the greater part of the Remarks on the Natural 
 Hiilory of Tarento, which are inferted in the Mar- 
 quis Carduccfs tranflation of the Delizie Tarentine, 
 cperapoftuma di Tommafo Nicolo d* Aquino, Napoli, 
 1771, 4 to. 
 
 Abbate Nicola Pacifico is a good mathematician, 
 and learned in the fcience of infecls and plants. 
 Befides fome collections of that kind, he keeps 
 all' ivfrefcata, where he lives, a fmall botanical gar- 
 den. This is the only garden of that nature at 
 
 Naples,
 
 ITALY. LETTER IX. 107 
 
 Naples, fince that of Count Cbiaramonte alia larra, 
 nearPortici, has been in decay, and Prince Fran- 
 caroitta has ceafed to keep exotical plants. 
 
 The Marquis Abbate Gagliani is known by 
 fome agreeable and interefting performances on 
 politics and commerce, which he published at 
 Paris. But I take notice of him on account of 
 his knowledge in the Natural Hifto-ry of Vefuvius. 
 The beft Map of the kingdom of Naples has 
 been, by his orders, engraved at Paris. It con- 
 fifts of four plates, which in the royal library at 
 Naples are fold for fourteen carlini. To his 
 advice it is owing, that the excavations at Pom- 
 peja are not filled up like thofe at Herculaneum ; 
 and that the defcriptions and engravings of the 
 Herculanefe Antiquities may be had at prefent in 
 the royal library. 
 
 Padre Giammaria dclla 2Vrf, profeflor of natu- 
 ral philofophy, has given feveral editions of his 
 Defcription of Vefuvius. The laft is a French 
 one, under the title of, Hiftoire et Phenomenes dit 
 yefuve, expofis per k Pere della 'Torre, Naples, 
 1771, 8vo. He has publifhed befides, Nuovc 
 efavazi'oni intorno la ftoria naturale. Nap. 1763, 
 Svo. nnfwered by Abbate Font ana at Florence. He 
 pretends to have found by his microfcapical lenti- 
 cular glafles, melted into that form by a candle, 
 that the globules in the blood are annular and 
 
 perforated ;
 
 JOS TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 ' e '-' j i_ n i- ' it' 
 
 perforated ; but Mr. Pcntana proves, that his mi- 
 crofcopcs, though magnifying the objedls greatly, 
 Jiave produced an optical illufion. Moreover, he 
 fcas ptxblimed a fyftem of Natural Philofophy, in 
 eight volumes in octavo, wh'erein he has infer ted 
 an hiftory of the three natural kingdoms. It is a 
 good book in itfelf, and valuable on account of 
 many good figures of animals. 
 
 Abate Getano Bottis pofiMTes a rich and exqui- 
 Cte colleelion of all the productions of Vefuvius, 
 and its different modern eruptions. He has given 
 two treatifes on Vefuvius, under the titles of, Ra- 
 gienamento tftorieo iniorno a" nuovi Vnlcani com-parjt 
 xeRa fine del anno 1760. Napoli, 176.1, 4to. And 
 Ragionammto del incendio del Vefitvio accaduto ncl 
 taefe d'Otfobre 1767. Napoli, 1768, ^to. 
 
 Mr. Rocco Bouij profeflbr at Salerno, a native 
 of Tarento, is author of, Differfaziene Italiana e 
 Francefe fepra la fraduztone de Coralti e rifle ffiorn 
 criticbe fepra i Polypi, creduti coftruttori de wedejtmi 
 Ccratti. Firenze, 1769, 8vo. He looks upon Po- 
 lypes not as animal flowers, but as accidental in- 
 habitants of corals *. 
 
 Mr, Luigi Girafdi, antiquarian of the King of 
 Denmark, lives in the ifland Capri, and has a 
 thought of publilhing its Antiquities and Natural 
 Coriofities. 
 
 * Mr. Softer In bans fulfecivis fupports the faraeopjDU>n. 
 
 Don
 
 ITALY. LETTER IX. 
 
 Don Paulo Mccria, Pro/effort delk Sc'inz 
 niore nella pageria reak, a corpulent man, is natu- 
 rally endowed with the quality to fwim, and aoc 
 to fmk in water. 
 
 Padre dntonio Piaggio unrolls and copies at 
 Portici the old burnt manufcripts dug out ia 
 Herculaneum. He has a young Abbe for an 
 affiftant; but his age, the nature of the bufineis, 
 and his fmall reward, give no hopes that he will 
 unfold a great many of thefe precious remains, 
 He is faid to be poflefled of the arcanum to take 
 away the colours from fcveral forts of precious 
 ftones *, and to give fimilar colours to common 
 quartz-cryftallifations. 
 
 Domemco Cottunio, profefibr of anatomy at Na- 
 ples, has publilhed three anatomical difiertations. 
 One treats dc auditu, wherein he fpeaks of a 
 new-difcovered hole in the ears; which, to the 
 honour of the firft obferver, is called Duftus Czt f 
 tunnianus. Another, De fede i^no!arum t does 
 likewife much honour to his name. 
 
 After thefe gentlemen, I will mention to you 
 fome perfons who deal in natural curiofities. 
 
 Pietro Shilling^ living alia porta picccla di S. 
 Ciufeppe maggiore, deals in dried fiihes, IpbHers, 
 craw-fifhes, (hells, and corals, of the Golfo di 
 
 * Burning and uftulating is a common practice for the 
 fame purpofe. 
 
 Napoli,
 
 tlO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 NapoJi, and from Sicily. By order of the ng!im 
 Minifter, Sir William Hamilton, he has procured 
 for the Britifii Mufeum, at London, a compleat 
 collection of all the fifties of the adjacent feaj 
 which, before they are fent to England, he has 
 caufed to be finely drawn. Lately he has received 
 from America a fingular and unknown fifh, which 
 Mr. Guettard has drawn, and intends to defcribe. 
 
 // marinaro Pafcali a S. Lucia alia Chiaja, is a 
 6m.er, who fells the before- named fifties, and has 
 good plenty of them. 
 
 Micbek Pacileo is the beft Cicerone at Pozzuolo, 
 a good-natured man, well acquainted with the 
 Antiquities of that place, which he explains by 
 many paffages of Virgil and other ancient au- 
 thors, and intends to defcribe in a performance of 
 his competition. He affifts, likewife, in the col- 
 ledtion of the Solfatara curioficies, and deferves the 
 more encouragement as he is very poor. But 
 beware of another Cicerone in that place, who 
 chatters Ibme French and Englifh, and is a tho- 
 rough impoftor. 
 
 Don Valencia-til, at Portici, has a fine cabinet 
 cf all forts of lavas and productions, in large and 
 ^ne pieces. At Naples, near the palace of the 
 French Minifter, lives another lava-feller, who is 
 a Frenchman. A marble-cutter, living near Por- 
 tici, at the left hand of the entrance in that place ; 
 
 and
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R IX. 1 1 1 
 
 and another at Naples, living over- againft the gate 
 of CajltUo dell* Ovo, make marble- tabies, with 
 interfeccatures of different forts of lava, which 
 they fell likewife rough or polimed. They arc 
 to be had too of the Vefuvian guides, living at 
 Portici ; but you are to be cautious of all thefa 
 people: Firft, not to pay the exorbitant prices 
 xvhich they afk you , and then, not to buy artifi- 
 cial glafles inftead of Vefuvian gems or precious 
 ftones, under which name they fell the different 
 Vefuvian coloured fherl-fpecies. 
 
 The kingdom of Naples is provided with many 
 fine forts of marble , and thefe have been em- 
 ployed at. Caferta, Capo di monte, and other places. 
 They may be had, together with fome antique 
 marbles, in fmall polifhed famples at Naples. A 
 marble-cutter at Capo di monte has made my col- 
 lection. 
 
 Some years ago, the King engaged fome flone- 
 cntters from the gallery at Florence y in order to 
 employ them on the Sicilian agates and jafpers; 
 but, being too few in number, they cannot do any 
 confiderable work. 
 
 The late Prince 5. Sever o has left in his palace 
 at Naples- a great many artificial curiofities, molt 
 part invented by his fkill in chemiftry. Ke has 
 .known, for example, how to dye, and thoroughly 
 to penetrate, large white Carrarefe marble columns 
 6 with
 
 112 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 with any factitious colour; to change the blue colour 
 of lapis Lazuli into white, and fome other fuch 
 artificial manipulations, as defcribed in a pamphlet 
 on- his inventions; and as noticed by Mr. La 
 Lande in his travels to Italy. They relate, that 
 he imitated the oriental granite ; and accordingly 
 was of opinion, that the Egyptian obelifks, and 
 other fuch large granite-monuments, have been 
 artificial compofitions ; but, if he had feen our 
 red-granite rocks in Sweden, or read Pococke's 
 Defcription of the Eaft, he certainly would not 
 have doubted of the exiftence of fo large natural 
 granite-mattes. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER X. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Naples* Feb. 2, 1772. 
 
 IAlM but juft returned from a walk, which 
 three times in a week I take with Mr. Gust- 
 tard, and which is fo charming, that to have it 
 more fo, there wants but your company. We go 
 from the Chiaja to the right along the fea-fhore 
 to Paufilippo, and return the fame way. After 
 continual rains from the end of December to the 
 middle of January, we have now the moil agree- 
 able fpring -, but a fpring, which nearly refembles 
 the fummer of our Northern countries, except 
 the feas being continually ftorming and fo dan- 
 gerous, that even the rimers do not venture out, 
 and we have almoft given up all thoughts of going 
 to the iflands Ifchia, Capri, and Precita. Such 
 voyages are not to be undertaken but in fummer, 
 when the fea is faid to be conftantly calm and 
 quiet. But we enjoy the more the pleafant views 
 of the Continent. The hills of Paufdippo are co- 
 vered already with flonriming almond-trees, Some 
 I flou-
 
 114 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 flourifhing palm-trees, the great American Agave 
 (which are growing in the open fields even fo far 
 North as Rome), fig-trees very common all over 
 Italy, cactus opuntia, the flourishing rofmarin, the 
 ever-green lemon and orange-trees, give to thefe 
 hills the mod agreeable variety of colours, and a 
 refemblance to a botanical garden *. 
 
 The circular form of the more on both fides of 
 the Chiaja ; that is to fay, to the left towards 
 Portici, 'Torre delF annonziata, Torre del Greco, 
 Caftel mare, Sorrento, Salerno, and" Pejlo ; and to 
 the right towards the Pauftlippo, beyond the Scuola 
 di Virgilio to Cape Mifeno, together with the thea- 
 trical elevation of the hills all around the more, 
 produce the moft magnificent natural amphithe- 
 atre. From every fpot of this elevated circumfe- 
 rence you have a fight of the whole, of the fea, 
 of the iflands Procita, Ni/ita, Capri, Ifchia, and 
 of the Apennines running to Calabria. What a 
 noble view ! Ah might I be doomed to enjoy thee 
 longer 1 Going by the Grotta di Pozzuolo to that 
 
 * Lemons, citrons, cedrates, pomerances, and china-apples, 
 grow between Rome and Naples every where without any par- 
 ticular culture. There are whole foreib of fuch trees near 
 Terracina. But they are in flavour and fragrance much 
 below the Spanifti and Portugueze fruits. There are ripe 
 wood-berries, and woodberry-forbets or jellies, to be had in 
 January. 
 
 place,
 
 ITALY. LETTER X. 115 
 
 place, you have on both fides of the road a coun- 
 try either tilled for agriculture, or planted rows of 
 high Italian poplars, on which you fee the clufter- 
 ing grape. Near Pozzuolo, where the road goes 
 nearer to the fhore, you fee on the broken lava- 
 cliffs of the old Solfatara volcano, to the right 
 hand, a plenty of the pijjerina birfuta Linn^i. 
 Whatever is planted for ufe grows in this country, 
 as appears in the lower and fertile fields to the 
 left, on the road to Portici ; and the caufes of this 
 uncommon fertility are evidently owing to the foft 
 climate, and to a foil fertilifed by the fomewhat 
 alkaline Vefuvian alhes, or the dung of the popu- 
 lous city. 
 
 Pity it is, that we are fo unacquainted with the 
 plants and the natural hiftory of a kingdom, 
 which is fo remarkable for its climate and its fer- 
 tility in fcarce and ufeful plants. Calabria pro- 
 duces cotton, manna, filk, corn, oil, the fined 
 wines, fruits, and fragrant effential oils ; which, 
 at a cheap rate, in large quantities, are exported 
 from Rheggio, by Englifh, Dutch, French, and 
 other (hips. They have too Sal Gemmae, and 
 might have rich filver, copper, and iron mines, 
 as in former times fome have been begun, but 
 dropt foon after, a few excepted ; becaufe the 
 proprietors of the ground choofe rather to mifs 
 any advantage, than to give fome finall acknow- 
 I 2 ledgement
 
 Il6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 lodgement to the King; for which reafon, they 
 would confider any examination of their moun- 
 tains as incroaching treafon, and accordingly put 
 a flop to the curiofity, if not to the life, of 
 adventurous mineralogies. There is befides much 
 unfafety on account of robbers, and much incom- 
 rriodity on account of the public houfes j which 
 generally makes this country unfrequented by 
 foreigners, and caufes even the natives to go by 
 water from Naples to Kheggio. 
 
 It is the fame with Sicily y an excellent country, 
 cultivating palm trees and fugar. A few fine cities 
 on the fea-fhore ; as, MeJ/ina, Catania, Palermo ^ 
 Drapani, and Girgenti, excepted, fcarce any 
 ftranger has feen the inner parts of the country *. 
 
 Mongibello or Mtna is, on account of its nature 
 
 . 
 and 
 
 "* However, audaces forluna juvat, and feveral foreigners 
 hare of late, under convenient eafy cautions, penetrated into 
 thefe inner parts; whofe romantic, claffic, and unknown 
 ground, certainly invites the bold undertaking genius of 
 Britifh Antiquaries and Naturalifls. If the pretended rob- 
 beries and hardfhips of the Eaft did put no flop to our Po- 
 tockes, Heed's, Stuart's, and Chandler' 's ; and the horrors of 
 an unknown ocean could not abate the undaunted fpirit of 
 our navigators, and the curiofity of our^aw^'jand Solander*:', 
 if fo.many bardfliips generoufly undergone by Britons have 
 proved fuccefsful for the fciences, and glorious to the nation ; 
 why do not we then take proper notice of Sicily and Calabria ? 
 Why do not we then reap the laurels and knowledge left
 
 ITALY. LETTER X. II; 
 
 and foffils, almoft entirely unknown. What we 
 know of it, is fome notices, taken on a voyage to 
 Sicily by Sir William Hamilton^ the Britifh Minifter 
 at Naples ; which, if I recollect, are inferted to 
 the French Encyclopedic Journal, and juftly 
 prove, that JEtna, in comparifon to Vefuvius, is 
 a giant ; but for the reft, produces the fame forts 
 of lava. The celebrated Jo. Alphonfi Borellfs 
 Hiftoria et Metecrologia incendii ^Etnai^ Anni 1669, 
 printed at Reggio> 1670, 4to. is extremely fcarce. 
 I bought here, in a bookfeller's mop, an engraved 
 Plan of JEtna, under the title of, Carta OryRo- 
 graphica di Mongibdlo per la fua ftoria naturals 
 Jcritta da Giufeppe Recupero Canonicc della Colle- 
 giata di Catania ; but the Natural Hiftory it is 
 defigned for has not appeared, and perhaps never 
 will appear. The author bears the character of 
 a very learned ingenious man -, and it is a pity, 
 that many good undertakings mifcarry, or are 
 fupprefied, by fuperftition, and falfe religious fana- 
 ticifm. The old legend of Empedocles's throw- 
 ing himfelf in the funnel of ./Etna is generally 
 known. Mr. Byars, an Englifh Antiquary at 
 
 for Antiquaries and Naturalifts in thefe European Auftralian 
 countries? D'OrviUt, a Dutchman; Baron RieJe/el, a Ger- 
 man ; and Sir William Hamilton and Brydone, Britons, have 
 made promifing futcefsful attempts. They dared, and diffi- 
 culties difappeared. 
 
 I 3 Rome,
 
 I I 3 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Rome, who has been in Sicily, has allured me, 
 that there are on the top of ./Etna ruins of a fquare 
 maufoleum, erected by the family of Empedocles, 
 built from lava, and ornamented with Greek mar- 
 ble ; hence he concluded, that this mountain, 
 fince about fixteen hundred years, has not changed 
 either its heighth or its form. But Mr. Hone!, 
 a member of the French Academy at Rome, who 
 has drawn JEtna after nature, has affured me, 
 that there are no fuch ruins to be found. This 
 mountain rnuft be of an enormous elevation, 
 , fmce from its top a great part of Italy, of the 
 Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corfica, can 
 be furveyed in clear weather. Unhappily I lhall 
 not enjoy this noble fight ! 
 
 Here arrive in every fpring a quantity of'paf- 
 fage birds from Africa ; among others, a large 
 number of quails is catched living, but they are 
 poifonous at their arrival, and probably fo on 
 account of their African food ; therefore, they are 
 fed during about a week's time with corn, and 
 then drefled and eaten with fafety. 
 
 The Italian fcorpions are very fmall in compa- 
 rifon to the African ones. 
 
 I faw yefterday a large Afterias en-put Medufa, 
 
 which had on its under part, near its middle 
 
 opening, flicking, a fmaller medufa. The fifher- 
 
 man Pafcali faid it was a young medufa ftill cling- 
 
 3 in S
 
 ITALY. LETTER X. 11^ 
 
 ing to the mother. There may be fome truth in 
 that. Thefe medufas and feveral white and red 
 corals, which fell at Naples, are catched on the 
 coafts of Sardinia, and thence brought hither. 
 
 The pinna marina, yielding a brown filk or 
 byfius, which is manufactured into gloves, purfes, 
 and fuch milliners goods, are filhed in the Golfo, 
 near Naples; but in fmaller quantities on the 
 Calabrran more. 
 
 The petra fongaja is a white calcareous and 
 ftalactite tuph-ftone, dug in the lime-ftone-hills 
 bordering Romagna, and endowed with the qua- 
 lity to produce in every feafon of the year efcu- 
 lent mulhrooms, if kept in a moid cellar, and 
 now and then fprinkled with water. This qua- 
 lity is owing to a great many roots and vegetable 
 fibres, together with the mufhroom-feeds inclofed 
 in its fubftance. They uie them in fome great 
 houfes at Naples and Rome. I faw an indurated 
 mould, from the fame place, which had the fame 
 quality. It was kept by Mr. Fabrini in the mint 
 at Florence. 
 
 I have feen, a fecond time, the Herculanefe 
 and Pompejan antiquities at .Portici. Jt is in 
 every refpect an excellent inftructive collection, 
 The lacrymatoria prove the Hull of the ancients, 
 to produce a fine, white glafs. 
 
 At
 
 J2O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 At Naples, and thereabout, they feed therr 
 horfes with the roots of Triticum repens Lin- 
 tt<ei; a food which they delight in, and which 
 is commonly to be had in the markets in large 
 quantities. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LE'TtER XI. 121 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Naples, Feb. 17, 1772. 
 
 fTHO have my fhare of the laft week of the 
 JL Roman carnaval, I am obliged to fhorten 
 rny flay at Naples. Had I the happinefs to be 
 entirely independent, I mould (lay here fome 
 months more, and make a trip to Sicily. But I 
 fhall in a few days return to Rome. 
 
 You are entitled to an account of Vefuvius, 
 Solfatara, and other volcanic curiofities ; and to- 
 day I will difcharge this debt. 
 
 The hiftory of the different eruptions of Vefu- 
 vius, and the operations at Solfatara, are pretty 
 well related, and, with fome curious obfervations, 
 leading to a phyfical knowledge, publifhed in the 
 different defcriptions which have been quoted by 
 P. la Torre, in the French edition of his book. 
 But a true, pure, and fyftematical Natural Hif- 
 tory of thefe Volcanos is flill to be expedted, fmce 
 the greater part of thefe authors have been defti- 
 tute of mineralogical and minery-fcience. A per- 
 
 ufal
 
 122 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 uial of thefe books will eafily prove it to you. I 
 will not detract from their character. I will rather 
 flip over the particulars in which they may be 
 depended upon. But they contain many grofs 
 errors, efpecially on account of the mineralo- 
 gical denominations, and of Natural Hiltory, 
 which are entirely inconfiflent with Nature, and 
 miflead the reader. For example, P. la Torre en- 
 tirely miftakes Nature, when, fpeaking of the white 
 polygone, or garnet-like merl-cryftaliifations in 
 the lava, he calls them marcafites ; moreover, 
 obferving with much danger to his life the inner 
 {Iructure of Vefuvius, when that mountain was 
 burning, and pretending to have feen in its funnel 
 as it were timber and poles ^ from whofe exterior 
 appearance he draws a conclufion upon the ori- 
 ginal rocks of the mountain, which, however, 
 he does not determine : 1 certainly do not wrong 
 him, aflerting, that his pains and his danger have 
 been good for nothing. Such have been too, and 
 will ever be, the pains of thofe, who* for inftruc- 
 tion's fake, climb the mountain over and over 
 again, efpecially when it is burning. They never 
 will meet with any thing but lava and volcanic 
 alhes, which cap Vefuvius all around and cover 
 the whole country about Naples. I have been 
 but twice at the top. Once I ventured into its 
 funnel, which, in fome depth, is covered by a lava 
 
 floor i
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. IZ$ 
 
 floor i or, as Miners would call it, a lava-roof 
 (buhne) ; but the danger to be fuffbcated, as well 
 as to fink with that precarious roof down to bot- 
 tomlefs perdition, did not procure me a fight of 
 any thing but of fulphur, frnoke, and fire, which 
 iflue from its fi fibres. Therefore, to get as nearly 
 as poflible acquainted with the inner nature of 
 Vefuvius, I fee no means but a mineralogical exa- 
 mination of the adjacent country and its volcanical 
 productions ; this will bring us to probable con- 
 clufions bordering on- certainty : and thefe will do, 
 as long it will be impofiible to fink fhafts into the 
 undermoft Vefuvian rocks, and thence to fetch 
 famples to convince ftubborn incredulity. " No-- 
 " tune vis atque majeftas in omnibus momentis fide 
 " caret, fi quis modo paries ejus ac non totam com- 
 " pkftatur animo" Plin. N. H. lib. vii. c. i. 
 
 The country about Naples, the ground on which 
 the city is fituated, the Paufilippo, Pozzuolo, as 
 far as Cape Mifeno and further, the neighbour- 
 hood of Portia, of Vcfuvius, and beyond Pompeja : 
 in a word, every hill and plain which inclofes the 
 Golfo at the Chiaja and the city, is compofed of 
 yellowim, brown, black, or grey ames, mixed 
 with pumice (tones, and large torrents or beds of 
 lavas. The whole is volcanic. Nobody can 
 doubt of thefe afhes and lavas being, in former 
 times, thrown out from feveral now extinct vol- 
 
 canos,
 
 124 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 canos, b'ecaufe the fame may be now and then feerc 
 effe&ed by the Vefuvian eruptions. Thefe ames 
 and lava beds are but coverings cf the ground, 
 which was anterior to thefe eruptions. The queftion 
 is, of what nature it was ? 
 
 On whatever fide you fet out from Naples tra- 
 velling to the end of this volcanic covering, you 
 meet there with calcareous tufflone or lime-ftonc 
 hills, which are branches of the Apennines. Be- 
 hind monte Somma and Vefuvius, towards Sarno and 
 Nola, the ground confifts in calcareous incrufta- 
 tions, ofteocolla, and tufo-ftone, wafhed down from 
 the neighbouring Apennines j which calcareous 
 hills coming from Terracina run round the city 
 of Naples and Vefuvius, and appear again on the 
 other fide of Pompeja ; whence drawing nearer to 
 the fea, they go along the fhore ro Sorrento and 
 the fouthern parts of Italy. Even in the fea, be- 
 yond this volarric covering, there rife large calca- 
 reous rocks or iflands, fuch as Capri. Hence it is 
 probable, that the limeflone is running under 
 ground of the volcanic afhes and lavas ; and the 
 more fo, as large white lirneflones, and coarfe cu- 
 bic or calcareous fpar, are thrown out of Vefuvius, 
 and fragments of thefe ftones appear inclofed in 
 the cinericious hills and lavas. Even the ames are 
 fomewhat alkaline, as mewing fome fmall efierve- 
 fcence with acids. But
 
 ITALY. LETTER XT. 125 
 
 But now arifes another queftion, Whether the 
 volcanos be produced in calcareous beds or under 
 ground of them ? 
 
 Though 1 cannot decide it, I have very good 
 reafons to believe, that the limeftone of the Apen- 
 nines, in thefe fouthern parts of Italy, is fuper- 
 incumbent to argillaceous flate, as well as in the 
 Northern ones, which have been taken notice of 
 in my former letters. As I happened lately to 
 travel to Salerno *, I faw it plainly appear from 
 under the limeftone, and rife above ground clofe 
 to the road near the gates of that place. Mr. 
 Guettard, who accompanied me, can acted it ; and 
 his evidence will be the more valuable, as before 
 he had many times objected my opinion. There- 
 fore I am inclined to believe, that, according to 
 what has been obferved in the old Vicentine and 
 Veronefe volcanos, the deeped fire-places of thefe 
 in the Southern part of Italy are not in the lime- 
 ftone but in the flate, if not in a greater depth. 
 There are perhaps in the flate pyriticeous veins, to 
 whofe inflammation the fubterraneous fire might 
 be owing ; but I want evidences for it, as well 
 as for many other fuppofitions. 
 
 ' >ni ii 
 
 * Behind the Carmelite convent, at SaUrr.o, is a place 
 in the ground, which exhales fuffocating damps (meffette). 
 
 The
 
 126 TRAVELS tHROUGH 
 
 The beft opportunity for a general furvey of 
 this volcanic covering, and of the ancient funnels 
 whence it has been thrown out, is in the garden 
 of the CamatdttlenfeSj taking thence a walk to the 
 village Nazaret. A topographical map will faci- 
 litate it. 
 
 fefuvio, monte Scmma, and Ottaja?w, have been 
 probably, in former times, but one funnel and 
 volcano. 
 
 The Chiaja, now beaten by the fea, is fo circu- 
 lar, and fo much refembling a fegment of a fun- 
 nel, that you cannot help confidering it as fuch. 
 
 The Solfatara gives ftill marks of former con- 
 flagrations, mentioned in a fcarce book * ; Simo- 
 nis Portii Epiftola de conflagratiom agri Puteolani. 
 Florent. 1551, 8vo. 
 
 "Lago d'Ayerno, Lago d^Agnano, gli Aftroni^ 
 perhaps too Mare morto, are funnels of ancient 
 volcanos, funk into themfelves and filled with 
 water, except the Aftroni\ which, befides fome 
 pools, are covered with wood. The water in 
 Lago d'Agnano feems now and then to boil near 
 the more, much air afcending from under ground 
 without any fenfible warmth. 
 
 * But inferted in the Tbcfauri dntiqiiitatum Italicarum Gra- 
 vitni, torn. ix. p, 9. 
 
 Monte
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R XI. 127 
 
 Monte nuovo is a hill, which, in the year 1538, 
 during S. Michelmafs-day, was raifed from a 
 flat ground to an elevation .of four hundred fa- 
 thom, and a periphery of three thoufand paces. 
 During that day the lea retired for fome time j the 
 country fix miles around was burnt and laid wafte ; 
 the city I'ripergola was deftroyed, and the Lago 
 Lucrino filled up with ilones and allies. Lettres 
 de Mad. Du Eoccagefur V Italic , p. 235. and Deli- 
 ces de I'ltalie, torn. iii. a Leide, 1706, p. 576*. 
 
 Monte Gaurc. or Barbaro^ Monti de Camaldoli, 
 Sant Elmo, Pizzo falcone ojla I'antica Echia y Capo 
 di Cbino ; and, perhaps, lo Scoglio di Reuigliano^ 
 have had likely the fame origin f . 
 
 The ifland Ifchia is entirely volcanic. Such is 
 too Ni/zta, whofe fmall circular harbour, called 
 Porto Pavone, has likely been a volcanic funnel. 
 
 By fo many, and perhaps a great many more 
 volcanic funnels, have been, at different times, vo- 
 mited over a pre-exiftent ground fiery lava, afhes, 
 pumice-ftones, and other eruptions. The lava 
 did run in torrents ; but the afhes were fpread in 
 fo large quantities into the air, that day-light 
 often has been darkened,, and large tracts of coun- 
 
 * Better evidence, a contemporaneous writer, the above- 
 mentioned Simon Porta. 
 
 f As has been proved and conjectured by Camilla Peregrlni 
 in Campania fellce in Gr&vii Thef. Antlq^. Italicar, torn. ix. 
 p. ii. p. 230. 
 
 try
 
 128 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 try covered by them as with fnow (bowers. Thefe 
 afhes have been in different, yea, in the very fame 
 eruptions, of different colour; hence it comes, 
 that either they appear in one hill brown, in ano- 
 ther black, in a third yellow, and in a fourth grey 
 or white ; or, that all thefe different colours offer 
 in different thin ftrata of one and the fame hill ; 
 which, by that circumftance, gets a ftriped varie- 
 gated appearance. Even thofe of the fame co- 
 lour fhew different beds, and thefe feem at firfl 
 fight to have been produced by water; which is 
 an illufion, fince thefe beds are owing to the dif- 
 ference of the afhes, which have been fucceffively 
 coarfe or fine, pure or mixed, and more or lefs 
 mixed with pumice-ftones, of a brown, red, black, 
 or grey colour. Thefe beds appear often in an 
 oblique dipping fituation, which is to be afcribed 
 cither to the falling of the afhes on dipping flats, 
 or the difordering of the hills by earthquakes. 
 Time, prefllire, rain, froft, and heat, have ferru- 
 minated and coagulated the afhes to a tufo-ftone, 
 which is commonly yellowifh, brown, or grey 
 coloured. The " ferruminating quality of thefe 
 afhes has co-operated in that petrifaction. Pau- 
 filippo, and a great many other hills, as far as 
 Cape Mifenoy are cornpofed of fuch tufo; and all 
 the antiquities of this country, are either buried 
 or built with that cinericious {tone. Pompeja and 
 
 Hcrcula-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. I2p 
 
 Herculamum have been covered with afhes, at 
 prefent petrified, and have been built of tufo -, which, 
 together with three different lava beds, found 
 by digging under the foundation of thefe cities, 
 and in the palace-garden at Portici^ give an idea 
 of the high antiquity of the former eruptions. 
 This yellow- brown tufo is frequently dug out near 
 Naples, and commonly employed in buildings; 
 which, for that reafon, are much fubject to decay. 
 The grotta di Paujilippo is cut through fuch a 
 hill ; and fideways, to the right, are quarries where 
 this tufo is cut into convenient fquare forms. 
 Such are too at Puzzuolo, and behind the Cata- 
 combes of 6'. Januario, or the ancient burying- 
 place-, where* by long excavations, have been 
 produced enormous caverns, even more dreary 
 and confiderable than the Catacombs occafioned 
 at Rome by the fame operations. 
 
 In this tufo are now and then fourtd inclofed 
 fome adventitious bodies; which, by earthquakes, 
 or other accidents, have been buried therein : 
 fuch as, fome calcined (hells, acorns, chefnuts 5 
 and, if they have told me right, iron fcifTars, and 
 bones, and fkulls of animals. But that happens 
 very feldom, and there have never been found in 
 the alhes any confiderable quantity, or beds of fea- 
 fliells. They contain very often copious quanti- 
 ties of white garnet-like globulous polygone fherl- 
 K cryflal-
 
 13O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 cryftallifations j which are either femi-tranfp arefl 
 and vitreous, or changed into a clayifli argillaceous 
 fubftance. Even the red pumice-ftones of the 
 alhe, which cover Pompeja, contain fuch cryftal- 
 lifations. 
 
 The more from Naples to Puzzuolo is covered 
 with pumice-ftones, and the fands of that fhorc 
 are filled with a black, fplendent iron fand, drawn 
 by the loadftone ; which is owing to the fea's con- 
 tinual warning and breaking againft the tufo rocks. 
 The fame more offers a great number of worms, 
 called Apbrodit* aculeate, and fome pi/a marina, 
 which are produced by the rolling of the fibrous 
 roots of .the zcftcra marina. 
 
 The loole unpetrifted afhes, which are found in 
 feveral hills about Naples, are known under the 
 name cf terra pozzolana. It is of different co- 
 lours ; that of Vefuvius is commonly black. Mixed 
 with lime it ferves in mafonry, and produces an 
 excellent cement ; which, probably, on account of 
 the .ferruminating iron particles (Cronjied's Mine- 
 ral, publiihed by Brunmch, p. 47.) is fo ftrongly 
 coherent, that it is impenetrable and indifiblublc 
 by water. 'I" hey dig it likewife near Rome, and 
 in other places in Italy; whence, by the way of 
 Civita-vecchia, it is exported to France, Holland, 
 Sweden, and many other countries. The com- 
 mon puzzolana is yeliovvim. brown j an excellcn f 
 
 forr. 
 
 i
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 1^1 
 
 fort, dug near Naples and Torre dell* anncnziata, 
 is black ; and that which is found near Puzzofa 
 is grey. This is as fine and impalpable* as 
 flour. 
 
 After this defcription of a country which is 
 produced by volcanic eruptions, I come to Veftt* 
 oius, the only volcano Hill burning. This moun- 
 tain is very high, and entirely conic, (landing with 
 the adjacent lava-hills Monte Somma and Ottajano^ 
 ifolate between the Apennines and the fea. Its 
 exterior fides confift of lava, which towards the 
 fea, to a great depth, is covered with black| fand 
 and fmall (tones (Rena e lapilU)> or black afhes 
 and fmall lava pieces. The top is ever fmoking, 
 and changed by almoft every eruption. During 
 thofe of 1685 and 1689, a conical hill, five hun- 
 dred palmi high, was raifed in its funnel, wherein 
 it was fwallowed up, and difappeared foon after. 
 P. La Torre and Abbate Eotis have given its 
 figure. The circumference of the funnel is very 
 large after the laft eruptions. Its form is elliptical, 
 and refembles in the inner part an inverted cone. 
 Defcending feveral fathoms into it, you meet with 
 a floor or roof of lava, which covers the deeper 
 holes. Its ftrength and thicknefs are unknown. 
 It is cracked and broken in feveral places ; and 
 two fiffures, efpecially a long one gaping about 
 a foot, continually throw out fmoke, heat, fla- 
 K 2 zning
 
 1^2 TR.AVELS THROUGH 
 
 flaming fire, ames, fands, and ftones. The -whole 
 is covered by black fand and afhes, green vitriol, 
 yellow and reddim fulphur, and white falmiac. 
 The fands and ames on this floor, and on both fides 
 of the funnel, are ever fmoking, and often too hoc 
 to be walked upon. By flrong winds, the fulphu- 
 reous fmoke is whirling in the funnel, and almofl 
 intolerable. The eruptions do not conftantly 
 break through the top, but often through the 
 fides of the mountain, from its middle. So did 
 the laft. The erupted lavas lafl for a long while 
 hot and fmoking. I found thofe of the lail erup- 
 tion, a year after, in many places intolerably hot, 
 and fmoking through trie fiffures which had been 
 produced by the coldnefs of the air. This lava 
 torrent broke through the middle fides of the 
 mountain, and, having been ftrongly boiling or 
 fermenting at the eruption, has occafioned by the 
 inclofed air a fubterraneous hole ; which, accerd- 
 ing to my guides, is ftretching, and turning into 
 the lava-mafs, a length of about one hundred and 
 eighty feet. They had flambeaux, and ventured 
 into it. I attempted the fame, as far as the heat 
 would allow me ; and I found its inner fides, as 
 other, failures of hot lavas, covered with white 
 falmiac, which commonly appears on the furface 
 . of the^ lavas two months after the eruptions. If 
 the weather be fair, and the wind driving the 
 
 fmoke
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 133 
 
 fmoke to one fide of the funnel, you enjoy from 
 the fummit of the mountain a moil extenfive no- 
 ble view. I had that pleafure, and drank to 
 your health a glafs of lacryma Chrifti\ an excel- 
 lent wine, growing upon the cinericeous fertile 
 hills, that are adjacent to the foot of the moun- 
 tain. I heard at feveral times under ground a 
 hollow tremulous found j this is more intenfe and 
 frequent before the eruptions, which arrive, and 
 are apprehended, rather after continual flrong rains 
 then in dry weather. Prof. Vairo at Naples has 
 allured me, that during the eruptions of Vefuvius 
 perpendicular iron bars are found to be ele&ric. I 
 flip over the furrbcating damps, which will be 
 defcribed this year by Mr. Bartoloni in Defcription 
 delle moffette del Vefuvio. 
 
 I have noticed already, that the form of Ve- 
 fuvius is changed by every eruption ; and 
 particularly fo in the places of the eruptions. 
 Many old Poets and Hiftorians defcribe that 
 mountain as very fertile, and grown over with 
 wood. Hence it appears, that for many centu- 
 ries it ought to have been quiet without any erup- 
 tion (fee Magazine of Hantbrcugb, vol. ix.J ; and 
 that many more centuries, anterior to that time 
 of the Ancients, have been requiHte to rife it by 
 many fucceffive eruptions to its ancient form and 
 K 3. elevation,
 
 134 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 elevation. Is this confident with our common 
 Chronology * ? 
 
 Monte Som/na and Ottajano are volcanic moun- 
 tains, or rather the fame mountain, called at 
 one fide of Vefuvius Somma, and at the other. 
 Ottajano. It furrounds Vcfuvius like a wall, in 
 a femicircular form ; is lefs elevated , very fteep, 
 and irregularly broken towards the valley, by 
 v^hich it is divided from Vefuvius. This fitu- 
 ation, and the prefent condition of many fimi- 
 lar fwallowed volcanos, make it highly probable, 
 that Monte Somma, Ottajano, and Vefuvius> have 
 been, in former times, a coherent mafs of a co- 
 nical form, and much higher than Vefuvius ; 
 .. at the top of this coloffal volcano funk, and the 
 whole mountain was fvvallowed into itfelf ; that Som- 
 r/ia and Ottajano are but part of the anterior larger 
 funnel-, that there have been new eruptions from 
 the funk funnel, which by accumulated lavas and 
 afhes have fuccefiively raifed the now fubfiftent 
 Vefuvius in the lame manner as the eruptions of 
 1685 and 1689 produced a fmaller hill, which was 
 
 * Why not ? . If jnonte nuovo has been raifed in twenty-four 
 hours time, why fiiould not Vefuvius have been raifed within 
 ihe compafs of our Chronology, though in times much ante- 
 rior to the eldeil Greek hiftorians ? There are certainly much 
 ftronger arguments againft that Monkifh and Rabbinical 
 fy ile.ro. 
 
 2 fvvallowed
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 135 
 
 fwallowed afterwards. According to thefe facts 
 and fuppofuions, Vefuvius, after having burnt 
 out, may fink to the ground, leave but a part of 
 its circumference {landing, and in its place a 
 pool like Lago d'Agnano, d'Averno, and others in 
 Italy. 
 
 They fuppofe, that there is a fubterranean con- 
 nection between V(fu r oius^ the Solfatara^ jEtna, 
 Strombolo *, and the Ocean. I do not know this.; 
 but there is good rcafon to fuppofe, under ground, 
 large holes and excavations. Amazing quantities 
 of combuftible and vitrefcent materials have been 
 fince fo many centuries confumed and thrown out ; 
 and the vomiting of large {tones fuppofes ftrong 
 currents of air in thefe long and fpacious caverns. 
 Certain it is, that Vefyvius has, in former times, 
 vomited large quantities of water ; and that the 
 fea, during the eruptions and earthquakes, is in a 
 ftrong commotion. They tell us that lea fhells 
 have appeared together with this water. 
 
 The probable and poffible caufes of the fub- 
 
 * Strcmboli is one of the Liparean iflands, in the Mediter- 
 ranean, near Calabria; containing a mountain which is' ever 
 burning, and on all fides furrounded by fea. Some Italian 
 Philofophers are of opinion, that mod part of vclcanos have 
 been, in former times, covered by fea, and raifed above its 
 level by their eruptions. By this fuppofition, they very eafily 
 explain the mixture of volcanic and marine productions in. 
 jhc Vicentine diitrift. 
 
 K terraneous
 
 l%6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 terraneous inflammations are demonftrable by ex- 
 perimental philofophy. They are many. But it 
 is impoffible exactly to determine to what they are 
 owing, whether to water and pyrites, or to a fer- 
 mentation of calcareous materials produced by 
 acids or waters. According to general report, 
 pyrites have been thrown out, though in fmall 
 quantities ; but fublimated fulphur is very com- 
 mon on its fmoking funnel. 
 
 The amazing quantities of lava and aflhes, vo- 
 mited in fo many eruptions during fo many cen- 
 turies, prove that Vefuvius is hollow, and that 
 there are befides, under ground, large holes and 
 refervoirs of inflammable and vitrefcent materials. 
 The common finking of the volcanos into flat 
 pools countenances that opinion. However, the 
 lava-eruptions out of the upper funnel can be pro- 
 duced by its fermentation and ebullition, which 
 overflowing the funnel have fuccefiively raifed it, 
 and will continue to do fo, till the whole fire-built 
 conftruction link into the ground. 
 
 The undermoft and inner part of Vefuvius 
 confifts probably of lavas, afhes, and burnt ma- 
 terials. The remains of funk and extindt vol- 
 canos prove it. Monte Somma and Ottajano is the 
 beft evidence to the purpofe. This mountain 
 confifts of many horizontal or fomewhat dipping 
 beds, each one or two feet thick ; and thefe are 
 
 compofed.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. " 37 
 
 compofed, I. Of grey afhes mixed with pumice- 
 ftones. 2. Of grey blueifh lava fprinkled with 
 thin and black Iherl-flakes. 3. Of black lava 
 mixed with white garnet-like polygone fherl-cryf- 
 tallizations. They are fuperincumbent one to an- 
 other, without any order, except that the cineri- 
 cious or afh-ftrata are more frequent than the lava 
 beds. Perhaps each lava bed may be confidered 
 as a monument of as many eruptions. Through 
 thefe horizontal beds fink vertical or nearly verti- 
 cal veins, about three feet large, filled up either 
 with grey blueilh lava, which is porous and honey- 
 combed towards the middle, and contains now and 
 then black Iherl-flakes; or with black greyifh 
 lava, which contains white farinaceous decayed 
 garnet-like fnerl-cryflallizations. Thefe perpendi- 
 cular veins may be confidered as fiftures, caufed 
 by earthquakes and by following eruptions filled 
 with lava. 
 
 I have mentioned already feveral productions of 
 Vefuvius ; but I give you now a defcnption of all 
 their fpecies. Every eruption produces new varie- 
 ties ; but upon the whole they agree. Therefore 
 I (hall notice them without regarding, whether 
 they are owing to old or new eruptions , and I 
 lhall defcribe as many varieties as I have happened 
 to fee, either in different collections, efpecially in 
 Abbate Bofti's, which was the compleateft of that 
 
 kind,
 
 138 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 kind, or on Vefuvius, or in the Ihops and maga- 
 zines of lava-fellers. I divide all thefe Vefuvian 
 volcanic productions into two clafies. The firft 
 is to contain raw pre-exiilent ftones, which have 
 been by fubterraneous forces thrown out from the 
 deepeft caverns and rocks, being produced not by 
 fire but probably by water. The fecond clafs is 
 for the lavas, and other productions of fire. Thefe 
 are to be confidered as compofitions and vitrifica- 
 tions, or fcorize of the former ftones, and other 
 vitrifying materials of the deep -, and it is unhappy, 
 that, we are deftitute of compleat collections, and 
 that the veracity of the inhabitants of thefe coun- 
 tries cannot be much depended upon \ whence it is 
 dubious, whether many Vefuvian productions in, 
 the collections and fhops be really fuch, 
 
 
 b 
 
 Firft Clefs of Vefuvian Stones. 
 
 - 
 
 i. Quartz. 
 
 <?. White, compact, in large and final ler frag- 
 ments. 
 
 b. White, cracked, femi-pellucid ; feems to 
 have been expofed to a great fire, and to have 
 been half vitrified. In the collection of Abbate 
 Sottis. 
 
 c. Hexagonal pellucid quartz lacaellated. Ibidem. 
 
 4. Cornmon and 
 
 e. A me-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 139 
 
 e. Amethyftine quartz cryvballifations. Ibidem. 
 I doubt their being Vefuvian ones. 
 
 2. Agate; white with red ftripes, of the fame 
 kind ; which, on account of the angulated ftripes, 
 is in Saxony called fortification- agate. Ibidem. 
 To me dubious. 
 
 3. Gypfum, or felenite, in tranfparent lamella?; 
 fimilar to the lamellated felenites of Montmarlre, 
 In the collection of Bottis. 
 
 4. Amiantb. Ibidem. Dubious again. 
 
 5. White, fcaly, or lamellated calcareous f-par \ 
 confifting of coarfe and finer fcales ; found in 
 confidera.ble .quantities all around Vefuvius, in 
 loofe fragments, often of the bignefs of a man's 
 head, or even in greater ones ; in the fame col- 
 left ion. 
 
 6. White limeftone or marble, in fimilar Graying 
 loofe pieces; fome burnt and calcined ; they are 
 found likewife in the alhes and lavas, and then 
 conftantly calcined and farinaceous. The Vefu- 
 vian guides prefented me with quantities of white 
 calcareous ftalaclite ; confiding of piiblithes in a 
 mafs of globules, but thofe were folid without any 
 mark of fcales. Though they affured me of thefe 
 ftpnes being frequent in the funnel, I never could 
 find any, either there or in other places of the 
 mountain. 
 
 7. Hexagonal^ columnar, pyramidical, calca- 
 reous J-par-cryftallifations* In Mr. Bot tin's collec- 
 tion. Dubious, 8.
 
 14 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 8. White, compact, and fine calcareous fpar j 
 or rather limeftone with mica and fherl-cryftals, 
 both of different colours. This is probably be- 
 longing to a vein (gang-arth)> and feems to fup- 
 port my fuppofition of veins under ground at Vefu- 
 vius. They appear in fragments of different big- 
 nefs , fome as large as a man's head. Neither I, 
 nor Mr. Guettard, could imagine thefe Hones to be 
 really thrown out of Vefuvius; we conjectured 
 them to have been broken at monte Somma, or elfe- 
 where. But having found monte Somma deftitute 
 of fuch ftones, and plenty of them fcattered all 
 around Vefuvius, we changed our opinions ; and 
 this the more fo, as we happened to fee in Don 
 Valenclanis magazine, at Portici, fome fragments, 
 which vifibly had been affected by fire. 
 
 9. The mica, or glimmer, in this calcareous 
 fpar, is more or lefs hard, fofr, and fimilar to talc. 
 Its colour white transparent, white argentine, and 
 then fat to the touch ; yellow, green, dark-green, 
 blackim. Its texture lamellated. 
 
 10. Adherent to fuch a fpar, foft, loofe, and 
 fat glimmer; of a fplendent blofTcm 1 colour, fimi- 
 lar to molybdana. In Mr. Eottfs collection. 
 
 1 1 . The Jherl cryft alii fattens of this calcareous 
 fpar, (n. 8.) are cofnmonly found in its holes, 
 which they cover all around. According to my 
 ppinoin, they feem to have belonged with the mica 
 
 and
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 141 
 
 and calcareous fpar to a fubterraneous vein, and 
 therein to have been produced by water ; though 
 fome other fherl-cryftallifations in the holes of 
 lava, which I fhall notice after, and which owe 
 their origin to fire, are entirely fimilar to thefe. I 
 have obferved the following varieties. 
 
 a. Polygone, pyramidical, fmdl Jherl-cryftallifa- 
 tions; form fimilar to blende; hardnefs and tex- 
 ture different i colour white, black, blackilh-green, 
 grafs or emerald green, purple or garnet-red, ruby- 
 red, brown, and topaz-yellow. Thefe, efpecially 
 the brown-coloured, are moil common in the 
 micaceous limeftone fpar, and are handed about, 
 and dearly fold as geros, though of a lefier hard- 
 nefs and pellucidity, and in fire affayed to be no- 
 thing but merl. The fame is to be faid of the 
 following three varieties. 
 
 b. Sherl-cryftallifatiom in flat hexagonal trun-^ 
 cated pi'iirns -, black, dark-green, brown, and vi- 
 trefcent white. 
 
 c. Sherl-cryftallifations in hexagonal prifms, 
 with a pyramidical top ; flat as the former ; en- 
 tirely fimilar to fmall quartz-cryftals j coloured 
 
 as the before-defcribed (b). 
 
 d. Globular polygone, or entirely garnet-like 
 Jherl-cryftals ; entirely fimilar to the white in 
 
 the lavas. I doubt whether they juftly can be 
 
 ranked amongft the raw pre-exiftent aqueous pro- 
 
 2 duclions ;
 
 142 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 dudions ; fmce the fcarce famples in Mr. Bottis's 
 collection were not inclofed in micaceous lime- 
 ilone fpar, but in white quartz or green fherl 
 fpar, which, is the pretended mother of emerald 
 (Cronft. Mineral. 73.) 
 
 12 Pyrites j fome cryftallifed into marcafitical 
 cubes ; in all Veiuvian collections. The fame 
 from Mtna. 
 
 13. Ochracecus iron cre^ either compaft, or in 
 polygone comb-like cryftallifations ; in all Vefu- 
 vian collcdions; pretended to be from Vefuvius 
 or -ZEtna. But the very fame fpecies of iron-ore 
 being common in the mines of Ifola d'Elba* near 
 Tofcana, I doubt whether it really be a volcanic 
 production. 
 
 14. Pyritical yellow copper -ore ; pretended to be 
 from Vefuvius or JEtna, It may be ; but I am 
 dubious. 
 
 15. Malachites and azure copper-ore on quartz 
 and calcareous fpar. Pretended Vefuvian pro- 
 ductions j as, 
 
 1 6. Striated grey antimony, and 
 
 17. Arfenical-pyrites or mifpickel, with fhetl 
 flakes. 
 
 
 Second
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. I4g 
 
 Second Clajfts of Vefuvian Stones and Fojjils, 
 prepared, by fire. 
 
 Before I proceed to the defcription of the 
 lava and other volcanic productions of Vefuvius, 
 I think it convenient firft to fpeak in particular of 
 the fherl-cryitallifations, which are fo common in 
 the lava; and which I believe to be produced 
 by fire, and thus far to be different from thofc 
 which are inclofed in the above micaceous lime- 
 ftone fpar. I have feen the following varieties. 
 
 i. Globular polygone garnet-like cryftals, with 
 fifty-fix for the moft part rhomboidical faces ; the 
 biggeft an inch diameter; either vitreous white 
 tranfparent ; or femi-pellucid lefs vitreous ; or fari- 
 naceous white opaque; and in old lava, friable to 
 a powder which does not effervefce with acids, and 
 is comparable to the white terraceous furface of 
 flints (Cronfted. Mineral, in the note, 40.) In 
 the eldeft lavas, efpecially thofe which have been 
 long expofed to the acid of the air, they are en- 
 tirely dilTolved and changed into clay. Thefe 
 fherls or white garnets * are extremely common in 
 
 * Their nature and form prove them to be true white gar- 
 nets ; but being commonly deilitute of the garnet-hard nefs 
 arid the lava- fherls, whofe fubftance is the very fame, appear- 
 ing under many other forms, I choofe rather to call them 
 garnet-like fherl-cryllals. 
 
 mod
 
 J 44 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 moft part of the lavas of ancient and modern vol- 
 canos '?, {ticking in them very clofe together ; 
 eafily broke out of their fubftance, and then 
 leaving holes, which are exact impreflions or 
 mouldings of their regular forms ; if broken, there 
 appears in their middle a fmall black-coloured 
 fherl- grain. 
 
 2. Opaque, white, farinaceous, long, round, 
 columnar, and on the furface (triated fherl cryf- 
 tals (in Saxony called ftangen-fpatb or Jlangen- 
 Jherl f), found in fome Vefuvian lavas, and in 
 thofe which are to the right of the road from 
 Naples to Puzzuoh. 
 
 3. Hexagonal whine tranfparent fieri columns, 
 either truncated or pyramidical - 3 in fome Vefuvian 
 lavas ; fcarce. 
 
 4. Black Jherl-featbers, either thin and pin-like, 
 or fomewhat bigger, either round or hexagonal. 
 
 * This is to be understood of Italian volcanos. The Hef- 
 fian lavas, which I have defcribed lately, offer other varieties 
 of fherls j fo too do the Iceland lavas in Mr. Bank's col- 
 
 f This German flone is ele&ric as the Ceylon and Brafilian 
 tourmalines ; and thefe laft in their primitive itate being of 
 the fame form as the itangen-flierl, there is good reafon to 
 rank them among the flierls and the volcanic productions ; 
 to fet right fome Mineralogies, and to roam from the volcanic 
 through the ekdlrical-fyftcms into literary immortality. 
 
 <. Lamel-
 
 IVALY. LETTER XI. 145 
 
 5. Lamellated black jberl-glimmer, in larger or 
 fmaller often hexagonal lamellae ; fplendent -, feem 
 to be fragments of columnar fherl. 
 
 6. Black fieri fprinkled in the lava in fmali 
 points. 
 
 7. Small, black, prifmatical, hexagonal merl- 
 cryftalsi fplendent; their form but appearing under 
 the microfcope ; wafhed by rain out of the volcanic 
 aflies ; either drawn by the load-ftone or mixed 
 with iron-fand. 
 
 8. Green, either dark and blueim, or cryfolite, 
 or emerald-colouredyZ>r/, in hexagonal, pyramidi- 
 cat prifms j found in the black lava often of an inch 
 diameter-, of the hardnefsof fherl, or, at lead, of a 
 coloured quartz-cryftal, to whofe form it is refem- 
 bling , however, by the Neapolitans called gemma, 
 or precious fione. 
 
 9. Yellow hyacinth, or topaz-coloured hexagonal 
 jloerl. This too is nearly as hard as a gem. 
 
 All thefe merl-varieties, inclofed in the Vefuvian 
 and other lavas, feem to have been produced in 
 the lava during its fufion. My arguments are the 
 following. 
 
 i. There is no example of any mountain or 
 rock, precipitated by water, and explored by 
 miners and mineralogifts, which is found to con- 
 tain fo amazing a quantity of (herl-cryftals, as are 
 inclofed in the lavas. The fmall numbers of the 
 L above-
 
 146 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 above-mentioned raw and natural fherls in mica- 
 ceous limeftone fpar, are nothing in companion to 
 thofe in the lava; and they prove, at 'lead, that 
 Nature works the fame effects by different caufes. 
 Yea, there are fome learned men at Naples, who 
 confider even thefe fheris as volcanic productions, 
 afTerting, that the glimmer was produced as the 
 variegated lamella ted litharge in fire. 
 
 2. If, however, you would fuppofe fuch a rich 
 flherl mine under Vefuvius, how could you fup- 
 pofe the fame under all ^he other Italian vol- 
 canos ? 
 
 3. If thefe fherl-cryflallifations had been torn 
 off from pre-exiftent fherl-mme-rccks and thrown 
 out by fire, how could they, without melting, 
 lofing their form, and mingling with the lava, 
 refift its intenfe long-lading heat ? You know it 
 is a common quality of inerls and garnets, to 
 melt eafily and to be fcorified by candle-light ; 
 however, their crystallizations are found not only 
 in the common lavas, but even in the vitrified 
 Iceland lavas or agates, as {hall be related here- 
 after. 
 
 4. How came the fmall white garnets in the 
 inner parts of the red pumice-ftones, which are 
 found near Pompejano and other places? If pre- 
 exifting the fcorification, which fuppofes the 
 higheft degree of fire, they would have been 
 cetlroyed. 5. If
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 147 
 
 5. .If thrown up from under ground, why are 
 not all forts of fherls found in the lava ? The 
 above deicribed blend- like fherl, inclofed in the 
 micaceous limeftone fpar, though with that fpar 
 thrown out by fire, are never feen in the lavas ; 
 and thefe are rather filled with white garnets never 
 obferved in that micaceous limeftone. 
 
 6. There are white and black fherl points, not 
 above the bignefs of a pin's head, glued into the 
 fubftance of lava. How is it to be afierted, that 
 thefe fmall regular bodies have been cryftallized 
 before in the rocks under ground ? In what other 
 mountains are fuch fmall merl-cryftallizations to be 
 found ? Why have they been fo exactly feparated 
 from their former rock-matrix, and been fo equally 
 diftributed in the lava ? The fame queftions will 
 do for the greater cryftallizations. 
 
 7. Obferving the compacted black lavas by a 
 microfcope, we find in its fubftance a great many 
 white cryftalline fherl flakes ; which prove, that 
 they are fubftantial particles, which, being of a 
 fimilar nature, during the fufion of the heteroge- 
 neous melted materials, have approximated and 
 cont railed themfelves into fuch flakes or greater 
 cryftallizations. Such I imagine to be their origin, 
 as feeing no impoflibility that certain bodies, in a 
 ftate of hot fluidity, may be endowed with a ten- 
 dency to determined regular forms, as well as 
 
 L 2 many
 
 14-8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 many others in a ftate of aqueous difiblution. Mr. 
 Cronjledt, in his Oration on the Improvements of 
 Mineralogy, has pointed out leveral examples of 
 mineral melted bodies, which cryftallize in fufion 
 and fublimation. 
 
 8. The black coarfe lava has, according to my 
 former defcriptions of the Vicentine, Veronefe, 
 and Paduan volcanos, the quality, to be cryftal- 
 lized by refrigeration into large columns or 
 prifms, which are called bafaltes. Now what 
 is bafaltes and lava but a fpecies of fherl ? (Cronft. 
 Mineralog,} Why fhould we deny then that fome 
 nearer related particles of the lava may feparate from 
 its mafs and form fmaller cryftallizations * ? This 
 my opinion will probably be much itrengthened 
 and confirmed by my repeated obfervations of a 
 bafalt-rock near Bolfena, which I have feen near the 
 road, and will defcribe to you at my return. The 
 explaining of aqueous cryftallizations is attended 
 with the fame difficulties as of the fiery ones. Both 
 fuppole a ftate of fluidity. Would we deny their 
 exiftence ? We fee them, though we do not, per- 
 
 * The queftinn, Why do not all lavas cryftallize into prif- 
 matical bafalts? or, Why do not the Vefuvian lavas fhew 
 that form ? is the fame as afking, Why does not every quartz 
 appear in cryftallizations? 
 
 Mr. Ferber fhould not have penned that note; fince there 
 ought to be a natural caufe of it, whatever it be. TRANSJ,. 
 
 haps,
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R XI. 149 
 
 haps/ conceive how they are produced. Attempt, 
 for example, to explain by what means the red 
 garnets came into their common matrix of mica- 
 ceous flate (or gneifs) ? How they have been 
 brought into that matrix in fuch vaft quantities as 
 that in which they are found in Bohemia, near 
 Leutmeri'z, at Zoeblitz in Saxony, in Hungary^ and 
 in other places? Have they been pre-exiftent and 
 formed before ? And how came they into the flate? 
 Or, have they been cryftallized while the mafs of 
 the flate was fluid ? Take whatever hypothefis you 
 will, a friend of contradictions and difficulties will 
 ever have fome at hand ; however it be true, tha c 
 they cannot have been produced but by either of 
 thefe fuppofitions. Similar objections can be made 
 to me, by afking how the white garnets came 
 into the volcanic afhes-hills, the afhes being thrown 
 out into the fkies, and thence fallen down as fnow ? 
 But I can anfwer it by the ftupendous forces, 
 which, throwing the fire-confumed lavas into the 
 fkies, may have pulverized and thus feparated 
 themfrom the inherent merl-cryflallizations. Thefe 
 forces indeed muft be ailonifliing, if it be true 
 that, by fome ancient eruptions of Vefuvius, the 
 afhes have been fpread as far as Rome ; and, as 
 fome authors have affured, at random as far as 
 Conftantinople. Dion Caff us relates, that the 
 L 3 afhes
 
 IJJO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 aflies have gone further, even to Africa, Syria, 
 
 and Egypt. 
 
 : This I think may be fufficient of the fnerl- 
 
 cryftallizations inclofed in the lavas ; and will be 
 
 probably confirmed by my nearer examination of 
 
 the ancient volcanos, near Rome, J/ilerbo, and 
 
 Bolfena. 
 
 Befides them, the black comparer lava con- 
 tains fmall pebbles, of a black, cryfolite-green, 
 emerald-green, dark-green, hyacinth, and topaz- 
 yellov/ colour. They are in nothing differing 
 from the lava fherls, but in their greater hardnefs 
 and a want of a regular form. They are true 
 flints (/ilices), or natural hard vitrifications or 
 frittasj exactly agreeing .with the hyacinths, cry- 
 folites, and pietre obfidiane, in the Vicentine 
 lavas j and, in fome refpecl, deferving the deno- 
 mination of gems, though their hue be fcarce 
 comparable to the colours of the true precious 
 ftones; which, being produced by an avueous cryf- 
 tallization, are on no account above the fherls, 
 but on account of their greater hardnefs and 
 refractor inefs (fcbwerfiijfigkeil) to the fire a 
 circumftance, which cauied Mr. Cronftedt (Mine- 
 ralcg. 63,) to feparate the garnets and fherls- 
 from the quartz and horn-ilones (filices), and 
 plainly (hews, that the denomination fine and pre- 
 cious ftones, is rather a hint of their conventional. 
 7 orna-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. Ifl 
 
 ornamental quality, than of real and mineralo- 
 gical differences. I am entirely of opinion, that 
 fherls and the pretended precious ftones are the 
 fame , that the different degrees of their refpec- 
 tive hardnefs are hardly to be determined ; and 
 that the conventional preference of the latter 
 depends only upon their high prices and exqui- 
 fite colours. However, as long as any regard is 
 paid in common life to thefe circum'ftances, what- 
 ever they be, a due regard is to be paid alfo to 
 the difference of their names, fmce it cannot be 
 indifferent to the purchafers, whether a common, 
 or a rare, a foft, or a hard, variety of fherl be 
 fold to them at equal prices *. Thele fcarce and 
 
 hard 
 
 * The author is too good a Naturaliil not to allow the fol- 
 lowing flriftures. Ke fpoke of the gem-like pebbles, inclofed 
 in the lavas, which he very juftly obferves to be different 
 from the fherls on account of their undetermined form, and 
 to be fimilar to the precious ftones on account of their hard- 
 nefs and colour ; 'but immediately after he goes aftray, con- 
 founding them with the fherls, and thefe even with the pre- 
 cious ftones ; which he plainly aflerts to be the fame, not 
 altered by any real and mineralogical principle, but by fome 
 indefinite hardnefs, colour, prejudice, and conventional 
 price. In this confufion of different objects, and in this 
 affertion, he certainly is remarkably wrong, if put to the teft 
 of Natural Philofophy, as plainly will appear by the follow- 
 ing remarks. 
 
 The
 
 152 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 hard fherls are part of the precious ftones ; accord- 
 ingly, to avoid cheats and impoftures, this name 
 
 is 
 
 The Jberls are, according to the author's own evidence, 
 cryftallized in a fluid ftate of their matrix, produced either 
 by water or by fire ; their form cryftallized regular ; their 
 fubftance eafily melting before the blowing pipe ; and what- 
 ever be their origin, their hardnefs and gravity inferior to 
 that of the volcanic vitrification-pebbles, and of the precious 
 ftones. To thefe the Tranilator adds, that fome fherls are 
 endowed with the double electricity of the tourmaline, h^- 
 therto never obferved in the precious {tones; and that their 
 natural forms too are very different from thofe of the precious 
 Hones. 
 
 The 'volcanic vitrification pebbles are immediate productions 
 of the fire, and conftantly found in the hardeft lavas ; en- 
 tirely deflitute of any regular cryfialline form of either the 
 fherls or precious ftones, being properly vitrifications of 
 fherls, as hinted by Mr. Rafpe's defcription of the Heflian 
 Volcanos ; their hardnefs and gravity above the fherls, and 
 nearly the fame as that of the coloured precious flones. 
 
 The precious jlanes are aqueous cryftallizations of many 
 different regular forms ; unknown whether ever found in a 
 volcanic matrix j their fubflance remarkably refractory to 
 the fire j their hardnefs, gravity, and luftre, above the fherls ; 
 and if not fuperior to that of the volcanic vitrifications, they 
 are undoubtedly differing from them on account of their co- 
 lours, having them either higher and finer dyed, or entirely 
 different. 
 
 To thefe obvious and natural mineralogical differences a 
 Jeweller might perhaps add a great many more. However, 
 it is very true, that the high prices of the precious jlones are 
 father owing to old fuperfiicion, their fcarcity, fancy, and 
 
 euflom j
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 1$$ 
 
 is not to be fquandered away upon any other (tone 
 fpecies. However, they fell at Naples a great 
 many poliihed flones, of almoft every colour, un- 
 der the name of Vefuvian or volcanic gems, and 
 they are accordingly received as fuch in many 
 cabinets , though the before-mentioned hard lava- 
 pebbles did never appear to me but black-green 
 and yellow- coloured : and I am perfectly con* 
 yinced, that even the fofter lava-fherls and artificial 
 coloured glafTes are very ofcen fold by that name. 
 I cannot be greatly concerned or forry for it. The 
 ignorance of thefe gallant purchafers is too invit- 
 ing for the Italian fubtlety ; and why do they tra- 
 vel and meddle with Natural Hiftory, without 
 having inftrucled themfelves in its principles? 
 
 I am now to defcribe as many lavas, and other 
 Vefuvian volcanic Neapolitan productions, as I 
 have had an opportunity to obferve. Some of 
 them are the matrices of the before defcribed Iherls 
 and pebbles. 
 
 cuilom ; that the volcanic-vitrlfication-pebbles, on account of 
 their remarkable hardnefs and fcarcity, might with juftice 
 claim the fame rank ; that the garnets, a merl-fpecies, have 
 been received among the ornamental flones ; that fancy and 
 folly may ennoble many more ; and that, whatever be the 
 natural and minerological differences of fantaftical ornaments, 
 a (hell, a feather, beads, glafs, cryftals, and Hones, are tree- 
 fure or trafh, as cuilom leads, and fancy wills, 
 
 i. Black
 
 154 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 i. Black lava, ferruginous, entirely limilar to 
 black icon-flags or fcorios, is the mod common 
 of all, covering' Vefuvius on every fide, except 
 towards th'e-fea, where it lies deeply buried under 
 black funds and afhes. A white lichen, which I 
 flever fa\v ftourifhing, is frequently growing upon 
 it. Its eruptions are attended with ftrong ebulli- 
 tion and ffcimming, which occafions the large air- 
 bladders or hollow caverns mentioned before. For 
 the fame reafon its furface is commonly very rough 
 and unequal, xvhich makes the walking upon it 
 extremely difficult. Now and then it flowed in 
 waves,- (till appearing after its cooling. It is porous 
 in the furface, fpungy, and light, and therefore em- 
 ployed in vaulted roofs. At a greater depth it is ex- 
 tremely compafr, and th'e'n employed in foundations 
 and pavirrgs of the ftreets. Such lava is at prefent 
 chiefly dug out at the right hand of the road from 
 Naples to Puzzuvlo, from a lava-torrent of the 
 Solfatara volcano ; it is dug likewife between Por- 
 tia and Pompeja, from that large and terrible lava 
 torrent, which in one of the lateft eruptions run 
 down Vefuvius acrofs the road into the fea. They 
 here cut the lava into fquare pieces, or into paral- 
 klopi-pedes, and {hip it thence to Naples, even as 
 far as Salerno^ and other diilant places. This 
 black flaggilh lava appears in the inner fide of 
 the funnel in the form of grapes or branch-like 
 
 corals,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 155 
 
 corals, partly mixed or incruftated with a reddifh 
 iron-ochre, which is fimilar to the colcothar vitri- 
 oli. Under thefe circumfrances it is very fonorous; 
 which is owing to its longer expofition to an in* 
 tenle- lire *. 
 
 2. Black compact lava, with white garnet-like 
 fherl-cryftallizations ; which are either vitreous, 
 tranfparent, or femi-pelkicid, or white opaque 
 milk-coloured. In the moft ancient .lavas, long 
 expofed to the air, they are friable and farina- 
 ceous. This lava is very common, and moft fre- 
 quent, not only near Vefuvius and Naples, but 
 likewife near the other Italian volcanos. 
 
 3. Black compact lava, with round ftriated 
 fherl-columns, called ftangen-fpath; near Vefuvius 
 and Puzzuolo, on the fhore, at the right hand of 
 the road from Naples. 
 
 4. Black compact lava, with white hexagonal 
 Iherl-prifms ; very fcarce. 
 
 5. Black compact lava, with black (herl- fea- 
 thers or points, which are either thin and pin-like, 
 or fomewhat bigger, in a roundifli or hexagonal 
 form ; from Vefuvius. 
 
 6. Black compact lava, with black flierl- flakes, 
 which feem to have been cracked by fire .from 
 fherl-prifms ; from Vefuvius. 
 
 * Or rather to its form. 
 
 7. Black
 
 156 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 7. Black compact lava, with dark grafs-greet7, 
 cryfolite-green, or emerald -green iherl, in hexa- 
 gonal and pyramidical prifms, of different bigneis -, 
 from Vefuvius. 
 
 3. Ditto, with yellow hyacinth, or topaz-like 
 hexagonal fherl ; from Vefuvius. 
 
 9. Ditto, with coloured blunt pebbles, or hard 
 natural vitrifications, on account of their hardnefs 
 more refembling the precious (lones than the above 
 coloured fherls. They are black, and then called 
 pietre obftdiane, dark-green, cryfolite, emerald, hy- 
 acinth, or topaz coloured j from Vefuvius. 
 
 10. Grey or blue porous lava, in fome tranf- 
 verfal or perpendicular veins of monte Somma. 
 
 11. Grey compaft lava, with black hexagonal 
 or cylindrical rnerl columns ; from Vefuvius. 
 
 12. Grey compact lava, with frequent black 
 fherl-glimmer or merl-lamelles. The colour of 
 the lava and the bignefs of the lamelles very dif- 
 ferent. I have lavas from the dark-grey to white 
 colour ; and the lamelles, varying from larger 
 ones down to fmall fprinkled points. Thefe lavas 
 refemble fo much fome varieties of fine grey 
 granite, that one might might miflake them for 
 .granite. Their grain is rough and fandy to the 
 touch. They are common on the road from, Por~ 
 tic'i to Vefuvius in the ftone heaps at the left, by 
 which the vineyards of lachryma Chrifti are in- 
 clofed. 13. Grey
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 157 
 
 13. Grey compact lava, with white fherl-gar- 
 nets ; from Vefuvius. 
 
 14. Ditto, with hexagonal (herl-columns, or 
 with cylindrical ones, called ftangen-fpath. 
 
 15. Red compact lava, of a fanguine or red- 
 brown colour. 
 
 a. With white vitreous merl-garnets, at the 
 right hand on the road and fhore, from Naples to 
 Puzzuoh) near this place and the houfe of the 
 galley- (laves. 
 
 b. With xvhite cylindrical Iherl-columns or flan- 
 gen-lpath. Ibidem. 
 
 c. With fmall milk-white points ; from Vefu- 
 vius. All thefe varieties are much refembling the 
 Oriental porphyry. 
 
 1 6. Black vitreous lava, or pretended Iceland 
 agate, is a perfect hard glafs, and intirely fimilar to 
 that of Hecla. I have fome pieces from Vefuvius, 
 from Capo di China near Naples, from the ifland 
 Ifcbia, and from Sora on the limits of Naples and 
 the Roman dominions. A green variety of this 
 lava-glafs is Ibmetimes found covering or glazing 
 the black flaggifh ferruginous Vefuvian lava, Ni. 
 I faw in Abbate Bottis* collection a fragment of 
 this vitreous lava, which was black grey coloured, 
 and contained inclofed, betides many fmall hexagonal 
 white merl-cylinders, a great many fmall white 
 
 (herl-
 
 1J 8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 fherl-ftars. There is too a black fpecies, with -in- 
 clofed white garnet-like fnerl-cryftals*. 
 
 17. Lapilli delVefuvio are fmall bits or fragments 
 of the black flaggilh fefrugineous Java, N i. are 
 thrown out during the eruptions, and appear in 
 large heaps. 
 
 1 8. Sabbione or Rena diVefuvio, the fame lava in 
 grains of the bignefs of fea-fand ; covers Vefuvius 
 towards the fea. 
 
 19. Ceneri neri del Vefuvio are black allies or puz- 
 zolana, common in the inner funnel of Vefuvius, 
 
 * The Iceland-agates, or rather the black vitreous Iceland 
 lavas, in Mr. Bankt's collection, appear in three varieties. 
 . Vitreous black, rough and coarfe to the touch ; con- 
 taining 
 
 K. White fmall Iherl-flakes from the red crater. 
 8. Small white and black fherl flakes, from a Hecla 
 
 Rhaun. 
 
 b. Entirely vitrified black, breaking fcaly as glafs ; now 
 and then 
 
 a. With fingle white fherl-fiakes. A large fragment is 
 very remarkable for containing fome large round 
 air-holes or bladders, incruftated with 
 |S. A white cryftallized fubftance; which, on account of 
 the compact glafs-mafs, cannot be fuppofed to be. 
 cryftallized by water, and appears flrongly ta coun- 
 tenance Mr. Ferrer's hypothecs. 
 
 c . Blackifh tranfparent ; commonly broke or fplit into irre- 
 gular fmall prifms or points, which bear fome refemblance to 
 arrow- fhafts, never containing any Iherl-flakes. 
 
 and
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R . XI. 1 59 
 
 end in fome flrata of the adjacent cinericeous hills ; 
 likely duft of pulverized black flaggifh lava. 
 
 20. Grey or white puzzolana, or alhes dug in the 
 hills near Pozzuolo ; feems to be for the greater 
 part duft of grey cinders or pumice-ftones, pulve- 
 rized by long intenfe fire ; contains fome calcareous 
 or alcaline particles, more or lefs effervefcent with 
 the acids. The fame effervefcence appears in the 
 
 21. Brown or yellowijh puzzolana, common in 
 the greateft part of the cipericeous hills at the foot 
 of Veluvius or about Naples. 
 
 22. Smsll magnetic, black, fplendent cryftal- 
 line fherl-particles , by rain warned from the above 
 puzzolanic hills. They might perhaps be confi- 
 dered rather as fmall iron-cryftals, and certainly 
 have been expofed in the eruption to a ftrong uftu- 
 lation. 
 
 23. Pumice-uones,- grey, black, or red, produc- 
 tions of the intenfeft fire, and the higheft degree of 
 fcorification- found in the cinericious hills, whence 
 they are vvalhed by the fea to the fhorc. The red 
 pumice-ftones in Pompejano are filled with white 
 fherl-garnets. 
 
 24. Yellow native fulphur, plenty in the cracks 
 and fiflures of the inner funnel ; but the fnjalleft 
 part has got by fublimatioi: ,a determined form, the 
 greater part appearing in undetermined fmall 
 grains. 
 
 2-. Red
 
 lO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 25. Red arfenic, or arfenic mixed with fulphur, 
 in the inner funnel of Vefuvius ; fcarce , either un- 
 determined or cryftallized flicking to lava. 
 
 26. Green vitriol, coagulating likewife in the 
 inner funnel ; expofed to the air diflblving into an 
 humidity, which by iron-ocher is tinged brownifh- 
 yellow, and fells by the lava-dealers at Naples un- 
 der the name of oil. But thefe people, as well as 
 many Authors who have defcribed Vefuvius, are 
 of opinion, that there are in the bowels of Vefuvius 
 large quantities of inflammable materials ; fuch as 
 afphalt, naphta, and petroleum. I do not know 
 whether it be fo or not ; but I know very well, 
 that thefe materials are neither found on Vefuvius 
 nor thrown out by its eruptions. P. Torre, in his 
 Hiftoire des Phenomenes du Fefave, p. 232. fays : 
 " On voit fur la furface de la mer pres de Grana- 
 " tetto du petrole, qui fort des rochers-," but I 
 have not feen that place, and doubt whether it 
 have any connection with Vefuvius, having been 
 told that thefe rdcks are calcareous ; which, in 
 many other unvolcanic countries, fweat and pro-^ 
 duce petroleum and afphahum. The old Italian 
 Hiftorians of Vefuvius call even lava biiume. 
 which probably may have fsduced many modern 
 Ones into the lame error. Combuftible materials, 
 as fulphur, cannot be denied as exifting in Vefu- 
 vius ) but I never found any thing like afphaltum. 
 
 27. Sal-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. l6l 
 
 27. Salmiac [fal ammonlacum nativum) is fub- 
 limated in the cracks and fiffures of the inner 
 funnel of Vefuvius, and is pretty common. It is 
 iikewife fublimated in Solfarara. It appears either 
 in folid undetermined or cryftallized lumps, and 
 proves the prefence of the acid of common fait 
 and of a volatile mineral alkali, which are requi- 
 fite to its production. What is ftill more remark- 
 able is its appearing in the cracks, fiffures, and 
 furface, of the erupted lava-torrents, where it be- 
 gins to fublimate about two months after the erup- 
 tion, when the lavas begin to cool. This proves the 
 pre-exiftence and not the evaporation of the volatile 
 fait in the mixture of the hot lava. It is, perhap?, 
 produced in the lava. Or did it pre-exift in the 
 mountain ? Whence comes this volatile alkali ? 
 Cannot many other falts have exifted in the lava? 
 And what wonder is it then that, the lavas incline 
 to cryftallize into regular determined forms, either 
 in their whole mafies or in feme particles? The 
 Vefuvian guides gather and fell the Salmiac at 
 Naples, where it is employed to fcower or to tin 
 iron or copper vefTels. The Vefuvian Salmiac is 
 white ; but that of Solfatara is yellowim. 
 
 Among the devaluations of the different erup- 
 tions of Vefuvius, the mod remarkable indeed is 
 the covering and burying of three cities. They 
 cannot have been very large > nor very confider- 
 M able,
 
 l62 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 able, fince the houfes and rooms, which have been 
 dug out, are but fmall. They have been covered, 
 not as commonly is imagined by lava-torrents, bu 
 by allies and pumice-flones thrown like fnow- 
 fhowers upon them. 
 
 Pompeja is buried in grey afhes, covered after- 
 wards by black ones. Small grey pumice-ftones, 
 and white fmall garnet- Iherls, moft part farrina- 
 ceous, are common in both. Thefe aflies ihe-w 
 fome effervefcence with acids, and have been, by 
 length of time, coagulated or ferruminated into a 
 volcanic tufo, which is common too in many hills 
 about Naples. Almofl all the whole city is difco- 
 vered, fo that you may walk into its ftreets and 
 into its houfes, which have no roofs. They have 
 difcovered the gate of the city, and even the hinges 
 and hooks upon which the gates moved. The 
 ftreets are paved with Vefuvian lavas. There are 
 on. both fides rifing foot-paths; and in the middle 
 pavings you difcover the tracks of the waggons. 
 The houfes are built with lime, and the following 
 ftones. i. With calcareous tufo-ftone and ofleo- 
 colla, from Sarno near Pompeja % or the calcareous 
 Apennines, running towards Salerno and Apulia. 
 2. With old black lava, containing white fherl- 
 garnets. 3. With old grey or yellow volcanic 
 tufo, containing plenty of grey pumice-ftones. 
 4. With red porous pumice-ftones, containing 
 
 fmall
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R XI. 1 6% 
 
 fmall vitreous fhcrl- garnets. The antiquity of 
 Pompeja gives an idea of the high antiquity of 
 thefe volcanic eruptions. But digging under the 
 foundation of Pompeja three other different tor- 
 rents of black lava have been difcovered, which 
 are one incumbent on the other, inclofe white 
 garnets, and for that reafon appear to be of the 
 remoteft antiquity. The fame has been obferved 
 under Herculaneum and Portici. 
 
 Herculamum is buried under blackifh or dark- 
 grey ames, affected likewife by acids, and con- 
 taining inclofed fmall pumice- ftones and fragments 
 of white marble or limeftone. They are ferrumi- 
 nated into a black tufo. The theatre alone is left 
 difcovered ; all the reft is filled up again. 
 
 Stabia is near CafteW a Mare. This place feems 
 to have been the fmalleft of all ; therefore but a 
 part has been dug out and filled up again. The 
 mineral waters hereabout are defcribed in, Trat- 
 tato delle aque acldole che fono mlla Citta di Caftell* a 
 mare di Siab':a compofto da Ralmondo ds Mojo. In 
 Napoli, 1754. 8vo. 
 
 I take this opportunity to tell you, that hot 
 mineral waters are very common near Vefuvius, 
 and other Italian volcanos ; but they appear 
 likewife in many unvolcanic countries, fuch a? 
 England and Hungary, where I obferved them 
 in the neighbourhood of calcareous hills. Mr. 
 M 2 Guettard
 
 164 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Guettard has affured me, that in France they are 
 commonly to be met with in flate. But nothing 
 more eafy than an explanatory hypothefis of thefe 
 phenomena. 
 
 After thefe my obfervations on Vefuvius, I will 
 defcribe Svlfatara. 
 
 This place feems undoubtedly to have been a 
 volcano, which, after having been burnt out, funk 
 into itfelf, and left a crater-like ground incloled 
 with fome remains of its fides. Its inner ground 
 is covered by a flat roof of a white ciayifh earth, 
 whofe hollow found indicates deeper caverns. 
 There appear no flames, either in its fifiures, or 
 in the artificial holes, which for the gathering of 
 the falmiac are dug into it ; but a ftrong fulphu- 
 reous aluminous fmoke or fleam, fmelling like 
 hepar fulphuris, iflues out from thefe fiffures of 
 the floor, and from its white elevated inclofures, 
 which furround it in an amphitheatrical form. 
 
 Rain and other waters penetrate by the cracks 
 of its floor into its fubterraneous caverns; become 
 there boiling by heat ; diflblve the faline and ful- 
 phureous materials; evaporate in fleams, or run 
 with a fenfible noife by fubterraneous canals and 
 caverns to the other fide of Solfatara, where in 
 the Pifdarelle they appear rifing from under 
 ground. Thefe Pifdarelle are two or three fmall 
 fpoutings of hot aluminous and fulphureous water, 
 
 on
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R XI. 1 6$ 
 
 on the exterior fide of the lava hill, which in- 
 clofes the Solfatara, ifluing there with fome noife 
 under ground in a valley at the foot of this hill, 
 which by fuiphureous acid is changed intowhiteclay, 
 and is called monte Secco. The murmuring noife of 
 the wacer may be explained by its boiling from the 
 heat of fubterraneous fire ; or by an ignition and 
 fermentation of humected martial fulphur pyrites ; 
 or by a fermentation of the fuiphureous acid with 
 calcareous fubftances, which may be fuppofed ex- 
 ifting under ground; fince it is highly probable, 
 that the calcareous Apennines, which inclofe Na- 
 ples on every fide, are inferior here to the fuper- 
 incumbent volcanic covering. The preience of 
 the fuiphureous acid in the fubterraneous caverns 
 of Solfatara is plainly evidenced, by the native 
 cryftalline fulphur flowers, fublimated on the argil- 
 laceous furface of its floor and fides, and by the 
 alum, vitriol, and felenite, which is here pro- 
 duced. But falmnc being likewife gained in 5>ol- 
 fa .ura, there fhould be in its earth the requifite 
 fubitantial acid of common fait and a volatile 
 alkali. 
 
 The rocks and walls, which furround the plain 
 floor of Solfatara, are for the moft part ftratified and 
 white like lime-done. They might even, by their 
 appearance, be miftaken for lime-done ; but upon 
 nearer examination they appear to be argillaceous, 
 M 3 and
 
 1 66 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 and there is no doubt of their having been origi- 
 nally lavas arid afties of the ancient volcano, pene- 
 trated by the ho: fleams of fulphureous acid, and 
 by them changed into an argillaceous nature. Mr. 
 Beaume, a very fkilfu! and learned chemift at Pa- 
 ris, has deduced *, from a great many afiays, and 
 from a great many experiments, that clays are 
 produced by a clofe conned ion of fulphureous 
 acid, with vitrefcent or vitreous earth. . The afhes 
 and lavas of the ancient Soltatara volcano have 
 been undoubtedly, as every other volcanic lavas or 
 afhes, of a vitreous or virrefcent nature, and thefe 
 appear at prefent changed and argillaceous. Some 
 fragments of this lava are but half or at one fide 
 changed into clay, which either is vifcid or duc- 
 tile, or hard and ftony, and refembling a white 
 limeftone. In fome appear ftill the forms of the 
 old inclofed white garnet- fherls, which are fo com- 
 mon in the Italian lavas ; and are likewiie in this 
 Solfatara clay changed and argillaceous f. Gene- 
 
 * In His Treatife on clays. 
 
 j- I have noticed already that thefe fherl-cryftalHzations 
 appear very often in the moil ancient lavas opaque, milky, 
 and friable into a white powder, which is argillaceous, and 
 owing to the acid of the air. \ cannot Kelp obfervitig here, 
 that the white or coloured potters and china clays and boles, 
 in the Vicentine volcanic countries, may be volcanic mate- 
 rials, changed into clay by iubterraneous fulphur acid. 
 
 rail/
 
 ITALY. LETT E R XI. l6j 
 
 rally thefe changed volcanic materials are of a 
 white colour j but there are too, red, cinericeous, 
 blueifh, and black-coloured ones, as for example, 
 near the before-mentioned Pifciarelle. 
 
 This undoubted change of volcanic vitreous 
 materials into an argillaceous nature by the ful- 
 phureous acid, which did, during fo many years, 
 flowly penetrate, difiblve, and change them, is cer- 
 tainly one of the mod fingular, and moll fignifi- 
 cant phenomena in Nature. 
 
 It certainly is worth white to expofe Vefuvian 
 lavas and other (tones to the fleams of Solfatara, 
 and to obferve their fucceffive alterations. Pro- 
 fefibr Valro at Naples has promifed me to make 
 thefe experiments. 
 
 It is a known fact, that clays, by burning in 
 fire, are deprived of their vifcid coherent quality, 
 which cannot be reflored to them, neither by the 
 fined pulverization, nor by the moft curious hu- 
 mectation. But the fulphureous Solfatara fleams 
 reftore it, as may be eafily obferved on the broken 
 pots wherein they gather the falmiac. Though 
 Tery well baked and burnt at Naples, they are 
 mollified again by the acid fleams into a vifcid 
 clay, which keeps the former fire-burnt colour. 
 
 The clays and ftones at the Solfatara are, by 
 
 the fuper-abnndance of the fulphureous acid, 
 
 brought to diftill into aluminous lumps, to which 
 
 M 4 very
 
 l68 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 very often native alum is found flicking. Na- 
 ture wants here no artificial affiftance, but the bare 
 accumulating of rlay in fuch places where the 
 acid fleams are mod frequent. 
 
 Mr. Beaume has proved, in his quoted Treatife, 
 that fome fulphureous acid clofe connected to 
 much vitrefcent earth produces clay ; but that by 
 a greater quantity of acid the clay becomes alu- 
 minousthe very thing which happens in Solfa- 
 tara, and is pra&iled every day by the ignorant 
 unphilofophical alum-makers, in gathering clay 
 from the furface of the floor and the inclofing 
 rocks, and pat-ting' it in heaps around thofe places 
 of the floor whence the fulphureous fleams arife 
 (Irongefl, to have it the more penetrated and en- 
 riched by alum. This being clone, they bring the 
 clay into open tubs, and lixiviate it with water 
 from the Pifciarelle, which is alfo fomewhat alumi- 
 nous. The cleared brine is afterwards put into 
 fquare lead-pans, which to the brim are dug into 
 the hot bottom of the Solfatara. The fubterra- 
 neous heat makes it boil ; and, to flrengthen the 
 aluminous water, they put large pieces of hard 
 aluminous rocks into it. Being fufficiently evapo- 
 rated, they mix feme urine or pot-afhes into it, 
 in order to take away the fuperfluous acid, and 
 then put it, without any percolation, to cryftal- 
 Jize in fmall round tubs. That is the whole mani- 
 pulation
 
 ITALY. LE T T E R XI. l$ 
 
 pulation of making alum at the Solfatara. The 
 lead-pans laft for a hundred years and more. 
 
 There is in fome parts of Solfatara fome 
 native green iron-vitriol, but in no confiderable 
 quantity. If they expofed to the acid fleams of 
 Solfatara iron-filings, or the iron-fand, which is 
 Ib common on the more from Naples to Pozzuolo^ 
 they would probably produce larger quantities of 
 iron-vitriol, and at a cheaper rate. By a fimilar 
 operation they might produce copper-vitriol by 
 copper-filings. 
 
 Selenite is found on the inclofing walls of Solfa- 
 tara^ either in undetermined lumps or formed like 
 ftalactites. Being often grown in feather-like 
 fibres, ignorant Mineralogifts call it alumen flu- 
 mofum. 
 
 In former times they gathered the fulphur-flow- 
 ers or lumps from the furface of the clay-heaps 
 accumulated near the (teaming fiflures, and dif- 
 tilled them in earthen retorts, which they had fent 
 from Rome ; but, the operations being too expen- 
 five, they have dropt it. 
 
 Small cryftals of red arfemc, native fulpbur^ and 
 alum, do likewife fublimate on the furface of thefe 
 clay-heaps or the inclofing walls, either in fmall 
 lumps or lamelles, and many different fmall cryf- 
 talline forms. 
 
 There
 
 I7O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 There is at prefent but a fingle artificial hole in the 
 floor,, where they gather falmiac, in the following 
 manner : They cover this hole with loofe fragments 
 of broken pots and tiles, in which the rifing hot 
 fleam depofes and fublimatcs the falmiac, which 
 here commonly is ydlow. In former times they 
 catched the falmiac in many other fuch holes, which 
 they cz\\ fumarole ; but you can dig many holes 
 in the ground without meeting with falmiac-fleam ; 
 which convinces me, that the fubterraneous mix- 
 ture of the minerals is not every where the fame. 
 I have mentioned already, that falmiac is fubli- 
 mated likewife on the furface of the lavas, and in 
 the crater of Vefuvius. This being confiantly 
 white, it Teems that the yellow colour of the Sol- 
 fatara-falmiac is owing to fome iron-particles. 
 
 It is remarkable, that the foil of Solfatara, 
 which feems unfit for vegetation, and proves fo to 
 other vegetables, is covered with plenty of ar- 
 buftus unc do and erica car ma. 
 
 To conclude this long epiftle, I mail add, 
 only, a few words on Ibme curiofities of Patiji- 
 Iij>p0j the adjacent country, and the Ifland Ifchia. 
 
 The whole Paufilippo, as far as Cape Mifeno, 
 and further, confifts of hills of volcanic afhes 
 and fome lava- torrents. In thefe are the anti- 
 quities, which have been defcribed in many books, 
 
 and
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. I/I 
 
 and which I fhould not mention, if it were not 
 to tell you that they are buried in volcanic 
 afhes, or built of tufo, and moft part half- 
 hid aihes. I have feen them all, and give their 
 names. 
 
 Tumuh di Virgilio. 
 
 Grotta di Puzzuoli ofia Paufilippo. 
 
 Tumulo di Sannazaro, in the church of the Ser- 
 vites on the Paufiiippo. 
 
 Scuola di VirgiUo^ funk into the fea. 
 
 Tempio di Giove Ammone, built of lava at Poz- 
 zuolo. 
 
 Colifeo di Pozzuolo. 
 
 Labirinto di Nerone, near that place. 
 
 Ponte di Caligola^ near Puzzuolo, built of lava 
 in the fea. 
 
 Cafa di Cicerone, 
 
 Tempio di Nettuno. 
 
 ,. ., . ^near Pozzuolo. 
 di Adnano, 
 
 . di Serapis, J 
 
 The. remains of this beautiful temple are near 
 to the prefent fea-fhore, and have been but of late 
 dug out of the aflies which covered them. Three 
 large columns, of a white-grey antique marble, 
 ftood upright on their ancient pedeftals. At the 
 middle of their length, which is about nine French 
 feet above the prelent le el of the lea, they are 
 all around their {halts for one or two palmi much 
 
 worm-
 
 172 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 worm-eaten by -pholades or daBylites, marine in- 
 fects, whofe fhells are (till to be feen, and remaining 
 in the many holes which they have bored. Over 
 and above this place, there is nothing like Inch 
 holes to be feen on thefe columns. Now as thefe 
 animals only live in the level of the lea, and 
 never domiciliate themfelves under it, or in 
 rocks above it , it is a natural confeqnence, that 
 the fea, during ibme time, mufl to have been 
 nine feet higher, and fuddenly have fallen to its 
 prefent level *. The fa6t deferves the more atten- 
 tion, as fome adjacent antiquities, as the temple 
 of Neptune and Adrian, are fituated above this 
 temple of Serapis : and as, for that reafon, the 
 latter feems to have been, in former times, upon 
 the fame level, and to be funk under it; in which 
 cafe, 'the fea ought to have decreaied nine French 
 feet more f. I do not decide any thing about that; 
 
 but 
 
 * A very rafh confequence ! Cannot the marble have been 
 worm-eaten by the Pholades before it was cut into columns, 
 and fet up in that form at Puzzuolo? May not thefe columns 
 by accident have been loft for fome time in the fea, and after- 
 wards reared in the temple of Serapis ? Or may not the ground 
 have funk for fome time under the level of the fea, and after- 
 wards been raifed again ? 
 
 f If there was no faftof any ground raifed by earthquakes, 
 fubterraneous fermentation and fire, and none of the before- 
 mentioned fuppofitions were to be admitted, this fuppofi- 
 
 tion
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. j;j 
 
 but the before-mentioned obfervation is fact, 
 though I do not attempt to explain it. The 
 effects of earthquakes on the fea are known, and 
 cannot be doubted * j but a difference of nine feet 
 is very fignificant. A French officer of the engi- 
 neers, in Corfica, Mr. Barrat, has fketched the 
 whole fituation, and given his plan to Mr. Guet- 
 tard, who has promifed to make ufe of it. Some 
 broken columns and decorations of this temple, 
 which have been found lying under its ruins, and 
 perhaps were placed at the fame elevation as the 
 worm-eaten columns, mew likewife fome pholade- 
 holes j but, befides them, none are to be obferved 
 in the whole temple. 
 
 Behind this temple, in the adjacent cinericious 
 hill, in which appears a fmall lava torrent, is a 
 fmall grotte ; and they allured me, that now and 
 
 tion would do ; but as that is not the cafe, it is entirely preca- 
 rious, as generally are the pretended fads and fuppofitions in 
 befcalf of the Malletian or Telliarnedian diminution of the 
 level of the fea. 
 
 * The author goes again aflray, feeming here to hint but 
 at the firong commotions of the fea during the earthquakes, 
 and entirely to forget the effecl, which of courfe they have on 
 the ground and the bottom of the fea. The firit produce but 
 momentaneous effects and overflowings ; but the latter pro- 
 duce very often permanent ones. See the ifland Santerini, and 
 many other of that kind. 
 
 then
 
 1 74 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 then heat and poifonous damps are obferved in it ; 
 but I found neither. 
 
 Mcnte Nuovo is already fpoken of. 
 
 Tripergold) a market town fwallowed up by the 
 fea, together with the adjacent famous Lago Lit- 
 crino *. 
 
 Lago d'Averno, an old crater. 
 
 Grotla della Sibylla Cumana. 
 
 Luogo deir antica citta di Cuma. 
 
 Arco felice. 
 
 Cifterna d'Aqua di Cuma. 
 
 Monte FalernO) celebrated by Horace's favourite 
 wine* 
 
 Bagni^ e ftufe di TritoH ofia di Nerone are feveral 
 rooms cut in the volcanic tufo-hill ; fome of them 
 are intolerably hot. In one of thefe grottos, which 
 is obliquely running into the rock, the heat is fo 
 intolerable, that naked people in two minutes 
 diftill with fweat. The heat flopped my refpira- 
 tion, and I could not go in them above thirty 
 paces. Diftant one hundred and thirty paces 
 from the entrance is a hot aluminous water, about 
 one palm deep, which hardens eggs in a moment. 
 
 Palazzi di Nerone. 
 
 - ' di Giulio Cefare. 
 di Mercurio. 
 
 * Rather buried and filled with afhes. 
 
 Stanza
 
 ITALY. LETTER XI. 175 
 
 Stanza di Venere e di Diana. 
 
 Tempio di Venere. 
 di Diana. 
 
 The old city, caftle, harbour, and promontory 
 of Baja. 
 
 Bagni delta Luna. 
 
 del Sole. 
 
 La pifcbiera d'Qrtenfa. 
 
 Porto di Eauli, is a fmall charming gulph ; 
 where, in the month of January, we dined once 
 in open air, under the fhade of a fig- and mul- 
 berry-tree, with fo much delight, that the impref- 
 fion of this fortunate climate, and of the noble 
 view we enjoyed, will never be loft in my me- 
 mory. 
 
 Sepoltura d'dgrippina. 
 
 Prigioni di Nerone. 
 
 Pifcina mirabile. 
 
 Campi Elifi, with feveral old tombs, 
 
 Mare morto. 
 
 fheairo di Lucullo. 
 
 Villa di Lucullo. 
 
 L'acqua di Fenocchio di M. Lucullo ; thus called, 
 on account of the fennel which grows thereabout, 
 and employed for that reafon to bathe or wafh 
 the eyes. 
 
 Grotta dragonara di Marco Agripfa ; ^'herein, in 
 7 former
 
 176 f RAVELS THROUGH 
 
 former times, has been a magnificent refervoir of 
 frefli water. 
 
 Pifcbiera d'Agojlo. 
 
 Capo e porto di Mifeno. 
 
 Near the. Solfatara and the Pifciarelle, is Lago 
 d'Agnano, an old volcanic crater; and juft by 
 
 / Sudatori di S. Germano, being rooms cut in- 
 the tufo, and remarkable for their hot fprings. . 
 
 Qrotta del cane is a fmali cavern in a lava-hill,- 
 which deferves notice, the other grottos being 
 in tufo. It is about a man's heighth, and about 
 four paces in length , fituated clofe to Lago d'Ag- 
 nano, which is a funk crater of an old volcano, 
 having the form of an amphitheatre, and being 
 inclofed by cinericeous and lava hills. The grotto 
 is cut in a part of this rocky inclofure, and is 
 renowned for the killing damps, which rife from 
 its ground about a palm above its floor, move 
 along it as a white fmoke, and fpread through the 
 door in the open air. Thefe damps are faid to be 
 acid and fuffbcating as the acid of common fait ; 
 and, according to their effects, their dangerous 
 quality feems to arife from a \vant of elafticity in 
 the air, which alone is fufficient to fuffocate a 
 dog or other animals forced into them for a long 
 while ; becaufe, being but a fliort time expofed to 
 thefe damps,, and immediately after brought into 
 open air a or thrown iif the Lago d'Agnano, they 
 
 quickly
 
 ITALY. L E T T E R XT. 177 
 
 quickly recover life and motion 1 . Their being 
 arfenical, as pretended by fome accounts, is con- 
 tradicted by experiments. It is fmgular, that 
 thefe damps rife but juft above the ground, 
 and that the other air of the grotto is entirely 
 unaffected by them. ProfefTor Vairo has aflured 
 me, that in thefe damps the mufcular fibres 
 of animals have no irritability ; that there is no 
 electricity , that the load-ftone draws no iron, 
 but that the needle is remarkably declining. It is 
 Ukewife a fact, that burning flambeaux extinguish 
 near the ground. 
 
 I have mentioned already that the Iflands Ifcbia 
 and Ni/ita are volcanic. Lavas are common 
 there, and they furnim the black vitreous fpecies, 
 called Iceland agate. They export thence to 
 Naples a red and grey clay for the potters manu- 
 factories. 
 
 The hot waters, which fpring in many places at 
 Iftbia, have been defcribed in feveral books, efpe- 
 cially in the following ones : 
 
 De remedi natural?, che^fcno rielle Ifcla di Pithe- 
 cufa oggi detto Ifchia. Libri ii. Di Giutio Giafolino. 
 >Japolt, 1751. 410. Ediz. feconda, 1763. 
 
 Cainil liEucherii de Quintiis Inarime, feu de balneis 
 Pithecufarum. Libri vi. Napoli, 1726. 8vo. mag- 
 giore. 
 
 N Padre
 
 17? TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Padre Torre, in his Hiftory of Vefuvius, fpeaks 
 like wife of thefe hot mineral waters. 
 
 The Ifland Capri is calcareous. 
 
 Prod t a is a very fmall Ifland, and, as they told 
 me at Naples, covered with volcanic afties. 
 
 LET-
 
 TALY. LETTER XII 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Rome, March 5, 1772. 
 
 TH E length of my laft letter, from Naples* 
 will atone for the fhortnefs of this, which 
 is intended only for the defcription of my jour- 
 ney. 
 
 The country from Naples, by Capua to Mola, is 
 generally flat, except fome hills which run along 
 the calcareous Apennines. Thefe hills, and the 
 plains, under the vegetable mould, confift of fer- 
 ruminated volcanic alhes, wherein a great quantity 
 of pumice-ftones is inclofed. 
 
 Behind Mola the road afcended into the A pen- 
 nine calcareous hills ; fome of them were ftill co- 
 vered with fnow. In a continental chain, they 
 ftretched to 
 
 Terracina, which is a fmall place, and a harbour 
 very well fituated on a fine golfo, fhekered by high 
 mountains againft the Northern winds, and very 
 fertile in corn, wine, pomegranates, and lemons, 
 which grow here fpontaneoufly in the fields in 
 N 2. tufts
 
 I8O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 tufts or fmall forefts. Narci/us Fazzetta grevr 
 here in plenty on the borders of rills in the fields, 
 and filled the air with agreeable fragrancy. 
 
 From Terradna to Piperno the calcareous hills 
 continued. This place is fituated on a high cal- 
 careous hill. Some miles diftant from Piperno I 
 palled a large forefl of olive-trees, belonging to 
 the adjacent monaftery called Cafa nucva. The 
 foil thence to Piperno was fandy. On both fides 
 of the road the fields and hills are covered with a 
 fine fanguine red and ochraceous fand. The dark- 
 nefs of the evening hindered me from obfer- 
 ving whether this red colour might not perhaps 
 arife from red puzzolana or volcanic alhes -, which 
 is the more probable, as at Rome they call Piperno 
 a greenilh volcanic tufo, probably firft difcovered . 
 in this country, and very well agreeing with red 
 puzzolana. I was told, that there is near this 
 place a limeftone quarry. 
 
 From Piperno we defcended on this calcareous 
 hill till we arrived within a few miles of Sermo- 
 netta> where the -country begins to be plain and 
 flat. The Pomptine fwamps are to the left, and 
 the Apennines run to the right. Thefe fwamps are 
 inhabited by a great many buffalos. The fmell 
 of the air, and of feveral hot fprings, near the 
 road, which depofe a white terracous fediment, is 
 fo fulphureous, that it was offenfive, and is fa-id 
 
 to
 
 ITALY. LETTER XII. II 
 
 to be ftill more fo in hotter weather. The inn- 
 keeper at Sermonetta, and his whole family, have 
 a yellowifti complexion ; and generally, the inha- 
 bitants of this country are much fubjedt to agues, 
 quartan, and other fevers. 
 
 Behind Sermonetta to Vehtri the Apennines run 
 more to the right, though ever in view ; the 
 country becomes plain, and is, half way to Fektri, 
 covered with red volcanic ames, from which a 
 heavy rain had warned a great quantity of black 
 iron-fand, or fmall magnetic fherl-cryftallizations. 
 Nearer towards Vehtri this red puzzolana is heaped 
 into fmall hills, which feem to be produced by the 
 old eruptions of the adjacent monte Albano. This 
 extinct volcano is a high mountain, with two old 
 funnels at its foot, which are funk into two lakes, 
 called Lago d'Albano and Lago di Nemi. The 
 mountain is but a refiduous part of the former 
 volcano. Having refolved to examine it in an 
 excuriion from Rome, I only obferve now, that 
 this mountain confifts of a fort of (lone, which 
 the Romans call Piperino y and is properly a green- 
 ilh-grey ferruminated volcanic cinericious ftone, 
 mixed with black merl-lamelles, and farinaceous 
 white garnet-like merls ; now and then it is per- 
 rupted by large torrents of black lava, which is 
 employed thereabout in mafonry and pavings. 
 
 N 3 Some
 
 l82 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Some Italian miles on this fide of Veletri the 
 read goes over the wide ftretching foot of montc 
 Albano, near Lago dfAlbano, and dcfcends fuddenly 
 into the plain which extends to Rome, and is but 
 now and then interfered by hills. Thefe hills arc 
 compofed of ferruminated yellow, red, grey, black^ 
 or white volcanic afhes, with the common cal- 
 cined or farinaceous garnet-like Iherls -, and yield 
 in the roads, after rainy weather, great quantities 
 of the black magnetic iron-fand, or fmall ftierl- 
 cryftals. 
 
 ry* i* 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIII. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Rome, March 30, 1772. 
 
 TH E fine Spring feafon, which in this happy 
 climate we have already enjoyed, has adorned 
 the fields and gardens with many plants, that are 
 peculiar to the Southern parts of Italy ; and the 
 ever-greens, darkened by the Winter, appear more 
 agreeable in their new drefs. I mention to you only 
 thofe that are flourifhing already in the fields, re- 
 ferring you for the reft to the future Flora Italic a 
 of Dr. Turra, at Vicenza ; to whom Mr. Corrca and 
 Serra, a Portugueze, has communicated his obfer- 
 vations on the Roman and Neapolitan plants. 
 
 hia Eulbocodium grows in the wet grounds near 
 Rome. 
 
 Anemone Apennina in the Apennines, and upon 
 the woody hills, efpecially near Frafcati and the 
 ipring of the Nymphe Egeria. 
 
 Refeda undata at the fame place-, and on the 
 ruins of the Collifeum, and other ancient buildings. 
 
 Rofmarinus officifialis on ancient ruins. 
 
 N 4 Geranim
 
 I $4 ^RAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Geranium Romanum in the fields on the other 
 fide of the Tiber, and in the meadows. 
 
 Tbeligonum Cynocrambe on the flairs and terraces 
 in the garden della villa Corfmi. 
 
 Orchis papilionacea, bifolia, pyramidalis, morio? 
 mafcula^ militaris, latifolia, 6? m.aculata, in wet 
 meadows, efpecially in the Villa Borghefe. 
 
 Ophrys fpiralis, monorchis t ovata, in the fame 
 place, 
 
 Serapias latifolia s? lovgifotia-, in the Villa Borg* 
 left. 
 
 'Cretan tinftoria in the fields, not yet flour ilh ing. 
 
 Afphodelus ramofus in the higher fields, and on 
 the hills between Rome and Naples. 
 
 Crocus fativus in the meadows, 
 
 Arum maculatum 5? arifarum near the hedges^ 
 and in wet places in the Villa Borghefe. 
 
 Hyadnthus non fcriptus on different hills. 
 
 Orabanche major common. 
 
 Erica clnerea on calcareous rocks between Na- 
 ples and Rome near Terracina, and on ancient 
 walls at Rome. 
 
 Silene Gallica in the fields. 
 
 Cheiranthus Cheiri on ancient ruins. 
 
 Fumaria capreolata every where on (tone walls, 
 
 Carcmlla frcuridara in the meadows. 
 
 Lapfana rhagadiolus common. 
 
 Valantia muralis on old walls. 
 
 far-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIII. 185 
 
 Vargionia kypophyUa, near Frafcati. 
 
 Riccia glauca in the gardens of Villa Ludevi/i. 
 
 framella in the Villa Borghefe. 
 
 Several Mma 9 Brya, Hypna, Agarici, Boleti^ Ly- 
 coperda, Mucores, Byjfi, and fmall Lychenes, in the 
 willow tuft and the plantation at the entrance of 
 Villa Borghefe, adherent to the trees and to the 
 wooden fence. 
 
 Marchantia cruciata near the inclofures of the 
 ipouting waters in the Villa Ludoviji. 
 
 Cbara vulgaris, Uha Ltnza, and other fpecies 
 of Ulva, in the water refervoirs of different villas. 
 
 The Palm-tree or Pbanix daftylifera, Agavt 
 Americana^ and CaEiits Opuntia, bear the climate of 
 Rome and Naples, growing fpontaneoufly in the 
 fields, though lefs frequent than near Naples and 
 the Southern parts of Italy. 
 
 The artificial hedges, fences, and alleys, in the 
 gardens of the Roman villse, confift in the ever- 
 greens, which are flourilhing, or have already loft 
 their flowers ; fuch as 
 
 Prunus Laurocerafus* 
 
 . Laurus nobilis. 
 
 Arbutus Unedo, grows likewife fpontaneoufly on 
 the Euganean hills near Padua. The fruit, refem- 
 bling wood-berries, is eaten in Italy. 
 
 Piftacia Lentifcus. 
 
 radicans, not in flower fo foon. 
 
 3**
 
 l86 TRAVELS THROlTCn 
 
 Juniperus Sabina. 
 
 Viburnum Lantana. 
 
 Taxus barrata. 
 
 Cupreffus femper virens. 
 
 Myrtus communis^ later in flower. 
 
 Buxus fempervirenSj growing into large trees. 
 
 Cercis Siliquaftrum^ lefs employed in hedges then 
 its beauty deferves, which is very inviting and 
 pleafing by its bloffom- coloured flowers. This 
 fhrub grows fpontaneoufly at the Pcrta del Popofa 
 near the Mv.ro florto y and the Villa Borgbefe. 
 
 Citrus medica, and 
 Citrus Aurantium, flourifh later. 
 
 Thuja Occident ali s et orientalis* 
 
 Liguftrum vulgare. 
 
 Pbiladelphus, later in flower. 
 
 Staphylaea pinnata. 
 
 Jafmini varise fpecics, later. 
 
 Punica Granatum likewife. 
 
 Pbillyrea anguftifolia et latifoUa. 
 
 I do not entertain you with a defcription of the 
 many Roman villas. They will certainly be better 
 feen by you than poffibly they could be defcribed 
 by me. 
 
 The beauty of the Italian gardens and views is 
 partly owing to fpontaneous forefts, or planted 
 tufts of deciduous trees and ever-greens > whole 
 
 variety
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIII. iS/ 
 
 variety is extremely pleafing to the eyes. Of the 
 firft kind there are, 
 
 Quercus Hex, Suber, JEgylops^ Robur. 
 
 Plat anus orient alls. 
 
 Several aceres. 
 
 Populi. 
 
 Betula alba et Alnus. 
 
 Carpinus Betulus et OJlrya. 
 
 Ulmus campejlris. 
 
 JEfculus kipocaftanum. 
 
 Fagus fy ha tic a et Caftanea. 
 
 Of ever-greens there are, 
 
 P.fausfy he/iris, abies, picea et larix. 
 
 Cupre/its femper wrens. 
 
 The Botanic garden, Giardino da femplici* be- 
 longing to the Univerfity, or the Collegia della Sa- 
 pienza, is well provided with exotic plants, fuffi- 
 ciently fpacious, though planted without much 
 refpect to fymmetry. Its Infpector is a furgeon, 
 Mr. Liberate Sabati; and the Profeffor of Botany, 
 Abbate J. F. Maratti, gives here in fummer his 
 lectures. Thefe gentlemen are publifhing Tbeatrum 
 Horti Romani ; or, defcriptions and coloured 
 prints of the fineft, moft ufeful, and moft fcarce, 
 exotic plants ; which, according to their account, 
 are kept in this garden. The firft volume, in 
 large folio, is finifhed, and told by Bouchard and 
 4
 
 1 88 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Gravier, at Rome. The coloured copies are often too 
 lively , the figures are true, but generally without 
 the fexual parts ; for the authors have no confider- 
 ation for the Linnean fyftem, following rather that 
 of I'ournefort. Mr. Maratti is known by, 
 
 Defcriptio de fera florum exiftentia, vegetatione et 
 forma in plant is dorfiferis feu epi-phyllofpermis vulgo 
 capillaribus a J. F. Marattio. Rom^, 1760 *. 
 
 This performance has been criticized by Mr, 
 Adanfon at Paris \ but by a friend of Marattfs 
 defended, in the twentieth volume of the Nuova 
 Raccolta d'Opufcoli Filologici, printed at Venice 
 by Simone Occhi^ Botanopbili Romani ad R. Cl. 
 Virum J. C. Amadutium Ariminenfem Epiftola qua 
 CL Virum J. F. Marattium ab Adanfonii cenfuris 
 vindicat. 
 
 I have made an excurfion to Oftia, to fee the 
 difemboguing of the Tiber into the fea. This 
 place is, at prefent, a village inhabited by malefac- 
 tors banifhed from Rome. Its air is very un- 
 wholefome in fummer-time. The road which 
 brought me there is the ancient Roman Via OJli- 
 enfis. and paved with black compact lava, as 
 found in monte Albano^ efpecially near Grotta fer- 
 rata* They were repairing it when I pafifed by, and 
 
 * Inferted in Raccolia d'OpffcoIi Filologiei. 
 
 this
 
 TALY. LETTER XIII. lS$ 
 
 this gave me an opportunity to make a mod in- 
 ftruding obfervation. I faw in fome broken lavas 
 little empty holes, of the bignefs of a walnut, 
 incruflated all around their inner fides by white or 
 amethyfline femi-pellucid, pointed, or truncated 
 pyramidical cryftallizations, entirely refembling 
 the agate nodules or geodes, which commonly are 
 filled with quartz-cryftallizations. There was no 
 crack or fiffure in the ambient compact lava ; 
 the cryftal fherls pretty hard, and I might rather 
 call them quartz. In the reft of the holes I faw 
 fome fine brownim duft, impalpable and light as 
 allies. This obfervation feems to give a ftrong 
 evidence for the pofiibility of cryftallizations in 
 fire, and to explain the origin of the white garnet- 
 like Iherls in the Italian lavas, which I have men- 
 tioned fo often in my former letters. 
 
 The road from Rome to Oftia is all volcanic 
 ames till within two miles of Oftia ; where I ob- 
 ferved an argillaceous marl, and, for the moft 
 part, fandy ground with inclofed fea-fliells, proving 
 its. having been produced by the alluvions of fea 
 fands. A great number of fea plants, which ap- 
 peared on it, confirmed that opinion. I obferved 
 the following fpecies : Polygonum maritimum f 
 Scirpus maritimus, Vitex agnus caftus, Triglocbin 
 naritiftHtttt) Ciypeola maritime Cbelidonium glan* 
 cium, Tamarix gallic a y Piftacia lent i feus, Myrtus 
 
 comrnu-
 
 iO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 communis, Punica Granafum, Liguftrum Vttlg'are^ 
 Ceratonia Sili^ua, and feveral others. 
 
 The ruins of the old celebrated city of Oftia 
 are behind the village. This was in former times a 
 trading place and a fea port, where the (hips un- 
 loaded the ^Egyptian marbles. Immenfe quanti- 
 ties of large blocks of Serpentino antico^ and fome 
 of Porfido roflo, are ft ill found near that place, 
 and fometimes transported thither by the Roman 
 artifts. But the old OJlia lies at prefent about an 
 Italian mile diftant from the fea ; and accordingly 
 all that ground has been, fince the times of the 
 Romans, gained from the fea. 
 
 The place where the Tiber difembogues in the 
 fea is called Fitimicino. I did not go there ; but 
 know by Mr. Guettard that there are fome hills 
 of rolled pebbles, ferruminated as a coarfe brec- 
 cia, and blunted by rolling on the ancient more. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Rome, April 10, 1772. 
 
 IN this Letter I (hall give you an account of 
 my journey to TVw//, Paleftina, and Fref- 
 cati, and of fome places nearly adjacent to Rome. 
 From Rome to 'Tivoli I went over fields and 
 hills of volcanic afhes or tufo, to the ruined Caftell* 
 Arcione. Here I faw calcareous incruftations of 
 roots and plants, commonly called cfteocolla. They 
 are owing to the inundations of the Lago di far- 
 tari t fituated at the left of the road. Its water 
 has a ftrong fmell of btpar fulpburit, and gets its 
 calcareous particles either from the depth or from 
 the neighbouring Apennines. On the other fide of 
 the Lago de' Tartari, till we came to Ztvoli, the 
 inferior volcanic afties are almoft every where co- 
 vered by thefe calcareous ofteocolla. Somewhat 
 further, and to the left, is Lago di Zolfo, and 
 Lago de* Bagni, both fmelling like btpar fufpfa- 
 ris. Though cold, it throws up from the bottom 
 large air-bladders like boiling water, efpecially if 
 
 ftones
 
 Ip2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Hones be thrown into it. It is faid to be fifty 
 feet deep, and is celebrated for its fmall floating 
 ifiands, which are grown over with grafs and reed. 
 A fmall brook running from the Lago de' Eagni 
 forms by its incruftations the Lujus natur<2^ called 
 Confetti di Tholi, From the Lago di Zolfo to 
 Tivoli the country is flat ; but here it afcends to 
 the city, which is fituated on a calcareous hill of 
 the Apennines. This hill is towards the valley 
 covered by a large calcareous incruftation, pro- 
 duced by the waters, which, defcending from the 
 Apennines, run over this hill in the valley, and 
 have incruflated the whole ground as far as Cafteir 
 Arcicne. The ir.cruflations flicking to. the deep 
 fides of the Tivoli hill, are wave-like and twilling, 
 lamellated like the fprudel-ilone at Caclfbad.. They 
 often contain inclofed large lumps of ofteocolla or 
 incruftated roots and branches of trees, which ei- 
 ther are penetrated by the calcareous water and 
 petrified, or have left impreflions rilled with a 
 calcareous fubflance. 
 
 From 2rz;0# to Villa d\ Adriano the road de- 
 fcends the hill, and runs afterwards over volcanic 
 tufo, which lies bare and uncovered. This ground 
 continues to the Villa d' Adriano, whofe antique 
 Walls are built of its ferruminated afhes, in a me- 
 thod which the Ancients called Opus, reticulatum. 
 Volcanic tufo is likewife ; feen inferior to the cal- 
 5 careous
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 193 
 
 careous incruftation on the afcent of the calcareous 
 hill of Tivoli, near a bridge in a cavern to the 
 right hand of the road ; which proves 4 that thefe 
 fuperincumbent incruftations are by far pofterior 
 to the volcanic alhes. 
 
 The porous -limeftone produced by the calca- 
 reous waters on the defcents, and on the foot of 
 the Apennines near Tivoli, is called Pietra Tra- 
 vertina. It is commonly ufed at Rome, fivoli, 
 and other places, in the mafonry of churches and 
 private houfes. Though found in many other 
 parts of Italy, its original local name is become in 
 Italy a generical one, and it is called every where 
 Pietra Travertina. The quarries, whence came 
 that name, are three Italian miles diitant from 
 ttvoK) and are in fome large hills immediately 
 under the Apennine-limeflone mountains. The 
 rubbifh of thefe quarries is burnt in large heaps to 
 quick-iime. 
 
 Grotta di Nettuno is a deep ravin in the hill of 
 Twol*, by which the great cafcade of ^e^erone 
 falls into the city. This river depofes likewife cal- 
 careous fediments, and many Travertino hills feem 
 to be produced by its former inundations or bed- 
 dings. 
 
 Le Cafcadette defcending from the fame hill are 
 
 very fine. To the right of the road, which leads 
 
 to the oppofne part, whence thefe cafcades are beft 
 
 O feen,
 
 f 9'4 fRAVELS THROUGft 
 
 feen, there appear in the compact limeftone-hills 
 feveral fmall horizontal ftrata of white-grey horn- 
 ftone-Jlints> alternating with the limeftone, two or 
 three inches thick. Some of them are half lime- 
 ftone and half flint *. 
 
 From TivoK to Paleftrina the road defcends 
 from the city over calcareous fediments. Volcanic 
 tufo offers in the fame line with villa d'Adriano. 
 Hence the rain had walhed plenty of little black 
 fherl-cryftals; which, oppofite to the fun, made 
 the road refplendent and glittering all over ; the 
 Apennines in view to the right ; the high volcanic 
 hills of Frefcati to the left. Paleftrina is fituated 
 on a lamellated fhivery calcareous hill in the chain 
 of the Apennines. I faw in the palace the famous 
 antique Mufaico, which in former times was the' 
 floor of the Temple of Fortune. The blue ftones 
 coloured with- cobalt. 
 
 From Paleftrina to Frafcati defcending from 
 
 *' The Tranflator remembers to have feen a fimilar pheno- 
 menon in the limeftone quarries at Peterjberg.* near Gc/fcr, in 
 Germany, The limeftone is whitifli, of a fine grain, containing 
 fome fcarce petri factions of OJlrete majores, tenues t rugofa, Oftreo 
 pefiiniteS) Arttftotiitei, and Ecbini mammillares. Its beds are 
 turned up almoft to a vertical pofition ; and in their compaft 
 folid fubftance appear mafles of grey-brownifh hornftone flint* 
 which cannot be considered as adventitious, but are parts of 
 the marine ftratum in which they have been produced. 
 
 Pale-
 
 . 
 
 ITALY* LETTER XIV. l$$ 
 
 Paleftrina over the limeftone, you meet with vol- 
 canic tufo, mixed with fmall farinaceous garnet- 
 fherls, large lumps of black lava from the adja- 
 cent volcanos, and with black and greenifh fherl- 
 mica, or lamellated fherl. Much merl-cryitals are 
 warned out by the rain. The whole country, for 
 eight or nine Italian miles, is a flat plain of volcanic 
 afhes or tufo. Some miles on this fide of Fraf- 
 cati, the road afcends to very high volcanic tufo- 
 hills, pafTes by monte Algido and monte Porcio, 
 till it brings you to Frafcati. Thefe tufo-hills 
 run afterwards in an uninterrupted chain to Ma- 
 rinoy Aibano, Genfano, Veletri, and bending be- 
 hind monti dell* Arianoj they run back to monte 
 Algido. Within this circle lay inclofed the whole 
 extent of monte Cavo or Albano, its adjacent vol- 
 canic hills, and Lago di Nemi and di Caftello. Ac- 
 cordingly the whole country is volcanic, as will 
 plainly appear hereafter. Ametis map of Latium 
 Parts i. maritima is very accurate. 
 
 From Frafcati the road goes over Rocca di 
 Papa, a fmall place fituated on a high rock of 
 lava, and Brings you to monte Cavo or monte Al- 
 bano. There are on both fides of this hill old 
 roads paved with lava. 
 
 Monte Albano or monte Cavo confifts of volcanic 
 productions, which are the following. 
 
 O2 i. Grey
 
 Ip6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 1. Grey or yellow brown tufo, with fmall whits 
 farinaceous fnerl-cryftals. 
 
 2. Red puzzolana with red pumice-ftones. 
 
 3. Greenim-grey ferruminated ames, with black 
 fherl-lamelles, white garnet-like fherls, and fmall 
 pumice-ftones. This tufo is called Piperino *. 
 
 4. Spungy and compact black lava without and 
 with white garnet-lherls. 
 
 Thefe volcanic productions alternate without any 
 order but that which accident gave them in the 
 former eruptions. The lava, as well as the Pipe- 
 rino, contain calcined fragments of limeftone ; 
 and, on the road up the hill, appear plenty 
 of large limeftone fragments, of fherl, of lamel- 
 lated fherl, and of mica; which, in former 
 times, have been thrown out by fubterranc- 
 ous force. This mews, that the volcanic pro- 
 ductions of monte Albano and of Vefuvius are 
 exactly the fame. The view from its top is very 
 extenfive and agreeable ; comprehending the beau- 
 tiful plains and the fca towards Terracing, Rome, 
 the Tiber, and its wide-ftretching claffical neigh- 
 bourhood. At the foot of monte Albano you fee 
 Lago di Nemi, and Lago di Caftello^ or d* Albano, 
 
 * In the Piperino of monte Albano I have obferved frag- 
 ments of white quartz, with great cubic black iherl-glimmer 
 or horn-blende, which entirely refembled the antique Granito 
 ntro> except that by heat it had been cracked. 
 
 both
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 1 97 
 
 both round or rather oval, feparated by high 
 ground two Italian miles in extent. They have 
 been undoubtedly funnels of this volcano, and 
 monte Cavo or Albano, which are deftitute of fun- 
 nels; feveral other lava and cinericious hills are 
 but remaining parts of their former high-tower- 
 ing periphery after it funk, and produced the be- 
 fore-mentioned lakes. 
 
 Monte Albano is about twelve Italian miles dif- 
 tant from Rome. Its periphery is about fixteen 
 Italian miles. It is like Vefuvius feparated into 
 two parts in the monies Tufculani and monies Al- 
 bani. 
 
 Monies Yufculam are to mcnte Albano in the fame 
 proportion as monte Somma to Vefuvius. 
 
 Monies Albani have the two higheft tops, called 
 I. Monte Algido, mentioned by Horace; and 2, 
 Monte Cavo, or properly Mcnte Allano. On this 
 hill are the ruins of an ancient round temple of 
 Jupiter Latialis, built with volcanic tufo, mixed 
 with white garnet-like merl. Towards the Lago 
 d* Albano I faw on its fides, as in many other parts 
 of this country, plenty of Narciffus-poeticus. 
 
 The volcanic and Piperino hills around monte 
 Cavo are bare and deftitute of wood as the hill of 
 the Camaldules near Vefuvius. One of thefe hills 
 is called monte Porno, another monte Compatro, a 
 fhird feparated from - the chief mountain monte 
 P 3
 
 IpS TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Colonna (columen) , Ci r oita Lavinia or Latiuvium, Is 
 fituated on a fourth. 
 
 Monte Cavo is entirely ifolate. At its foot are 
 Lago d* Albano, or di Cajiell Gandolfo, and Lago 
 di Nemi (Lacus Diana, Speculum Dian<, or La~ 
 cus Aricinus), on which the Ancients are faid 
 to have had floating gardens, built on boats. 
 Lately they have difcovered here leaden pipes, 
 marked with the name of Tiberius. At one end 
 of this lake is a flat ground planted with fruit- 
 trees ; and near the city of Nemi are fome mills, 
 turned by fprings, one of which is faid to be 
 occafioned by the tears of the nymph Egeria 
 afflicted by her beloved Numa's death. 
 
 On the Lake d' Albano lies Cajtell' Gandolfo, 
 Palazzuolo, Albano, a fmall city. Albanum Suetonii 
 in vit.a, Neronis. 
 
 On the Lago di Nime lies Nemi, and over- 
 againft on the other fide Genfano (Cinthyanum), 
 and near by a rnonaftery of capucins. The coun- 
 try admirable. 
 
 Veletri is at the foot of monte Albano towards 
 the Pomptinian fens. Marino, Frafcati, Rocca di 
 Papa, are towards Rome. 
 
 Rocca pnora is on the top of the Tufculan-hills 
 pver-againft the top of monte Algido. 
 
 or Aricia is between Albano and Genfano. 
 6 The
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 199 
 
 The afties of the Albano Volcano have been 
 fpread up to Poli, a place which lies eight Italian 
 miles in the Apennines. * v -' 
 
 At the foot of monte Colonna is Lago di Regilla, 
 which has been an old volcanic crater. 
 
 Lago di Cajliglione has been probably of the fame 
 nature, and would have been on this account the 
 remoteft crater of the Alban mountains. 
 
 The quarries of the Piperino, employed at 
 Rome in buildings and fculpture, are near Marino. 
 I have defcribed already the nature of this volcanic 
 ftone. 
 
 The quarries of the black compact lava of the 
 Alban volcano, which is called Selce, are near 
 Albano alle Fratocchie, and alia Cava de Selci. It 
 is employed at Rome, and the adjacent places, in 
 the pavings of the roads and ftreets ; in ftatues ; 
 and in reflorations of old mutilated oriental bafalt- 
 ilatues : in which cafe, this lava, or felce, is called 
 occidental bafaltes. I have had an opportunity to 
 be convinced of it. The ufual garnet-like white 
 cryftallizations are now and then found in it ; but 
 then they do not employ it. The black fherl and 
 the green and yellow pebbles of the Vefuvia.n lavas 
 are likewife found in this. 
 
 Dionyfius of Halicarnafius tells us, that a king 
 
 pf Alba was fwallowed up with his palace in the 
 
 Lago d* Albano. And Livy, lib. i. has the fol- 
 
 O 4 lowing
 
 2OO TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 lowing paflage. " Nunciatum eft regi patribufque 
 " in monte Albano lapides pluifle. Miflis ad 
 (t vifendum id prodigium in confpe&u cecidere 
 " lapides. Vifi etiam audire vocem ingentem ex 
 <f fummi cacuminis luco." This lucvjs was at 
 the top of monte Cavo. 
 
 During the fiege of Veja, 398 before the Chrif- 
 tian sera, the lake of Albano overflowed the coun- 
 try, and caufed a pernicious inundation. The 
 Oracle of Delphi anfwered, upon demand, that 
 a draining ought to be made. If they did 
 fo, it cannot be the canal, which is ftill to 
 be feen, fince it drains the lake under the level, 
 which was requifite to water by that lake the fields 
 at Alba^ as they ufed to do according to Dionyfius 
 of Hallcarnaffus. who lived under Anguftus. There- 
 fore the prefent canal is rather to be afcribed to the 
 fuccefibrs of Auguftus. The depth of Lago d* 
 Albano is faid to be three hundred and fixty feet. 
 There is plenty of large eels in it, and the fiihcry 
 rented by a fifherman. Near it are the remains 
 of a temple of Diana. Another belonging to. 
 that goddefs was formerly near Lago di Nemi. 
 
 I went from monte Cavo by Genfano to Rezia or 
 Ricda^ in former times Aricia\ and returned thence 
 by a fine country over the .gentle Hoping of a. 
 volcanic hill,; which, in an amphitheatrical form, 
 jpclofes a part of the plain over Albano, Marina,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 2OI 
 
 and a flat country of volcanic afhes and hills, to 
 Rome. 
 
 The ground about Rome is generally of that 
 nature , however, there are fome calcareous hills, 
 confifting of white, yellow, or grey porous lime- 
 or marl-flone, with plenty of fea-fhells. Such are 
 the hills which offer on the road of Porta del Po- 
 polo, beyond the vineyard Papa Gmlia, as far as 
 Aqua Acetofa \ fuch are, on the other fide, the hills 
 of the Vatican and monte Mario. I had no oppor- 
 tunity to obferve the extent and run of thefe cal- 
 careous hills on the other fide of Rome ; but the 
 before-mentioned may be eafily furveyed from 7W- 
 nita dl monte and the villa Medici. Some of the 
 feven Roman hills might, upon examination, be 
 found calcareous. 
 
 Before Porta del Pepslo, near Papa Giulia, the 
 hills confift of grey, yellowifh, loofe calcareous 
 earth, mixed with lumps of yellow-brownifli cal- 
 careous oftescolla, produced by incruftated roots 
 and plant-ftems. Near Aqua Acetofa this calca- 
 reous mould is coagulated into a hard lime-done 
 tufo. Monte Mario is grey-yellow calcareous earth,, 
 mixed with fome clay and a fpecies of marl. Here 
 appears above ground a large flratum of loofe 
 great oyiter-fhells, of fmall bivalves, univalves, 
 balani, and echini, covered by red-brown loofe fea 
 apd. This is belt obferved in going by the com- 
 mon
 
 202 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 mon road to the villa Mellim, and villa Madama, 
 on wcnle^MariO) fince it is deeply cut into this 
 hill, which in greater depth may probably contain 
 many more fuch marine ftrata. 
 
 This defcription of monte Mario, and of other 
 like hills, ieems to fupport the inference, that they 
 have been immediately depofited by the fea, and 
 that the inclofed ofteocolla-lumps have been pro- 
 duced by the foaking and filtering of waters. The 
 compact limeftones in the Apennines are feparated 
 from thefe hills by the valley between Rome and 
 Tivoli, which is covered by volcanic allies. Hence 
 \ve may conclude, with fome probability, that the 
 Apcnnine limeftone beds are continuing under the 
 volcanic productions of the valley towards the 
 Roman calcareous hills * which, on this account, 
 are in the fame proportion to the Apennines, as 
 the Viccntine colls s teriiarii are to their monies fecun- 
 darii. The volcanos therefore have forced here 
 their way through the inferior limeftone, and fpread 
 their a&es over the lower calcareous plains, leaving 
 the higher hills uncovered and bare. This opinion 
 is ftrongly countenanced by the frequent limeftone- 
 fragments in the Piperinos, lavas, and yellow- 
 Lro-wnifo tufcs, by their effervefcence with the acids, 
 ancl by the loofe feparated ft ray ing limeftones on 
 monte Allans. The volcanic productions have been 
 afterward covered in ma y places, as near Tivolt^ 
 
 with
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIV. 2Og 
 
 with new ftrata of calcareous tophus, produced by 
 the calcareous waters of the Apennines, or the 
 overflowings of the tophaceous Lago d Tartari 
 and Lago df Bagni. 
 
 Thefe few calcareous hills excepted, the foil 
 about Rome is volcanic, and covered with yellow- 
 brown volcanic allies. Commonly they are loofe, 
 and employed as puzzolana. The greater part is 
 dug alia Porta di S. Paolo near Rome, and by 
 the Tiber fhipped to Civita Vecchia\ whence it 
 is exported into feveral parts of Europe. In monte 
 Verde near Rome, alia Porta Portefe, to the right 
 of the road, thefe ames are ferruminated into a 
 tufo, which is employed at Rome in mafonry and 
 buildings. The varieties of tufo in the different 
 beds of the hill are as follows. 
 
 1. Grey-yellow margaceous tufo, fprinkled with 
 white farinaceous round fpots of calcined or 
 mouldered garnet-like fherls. This tufo is fome- 
 \vhat calcareous as fermenting with acids; but it is 
 likevvife argillaceous, which feems to be owing to 
 an adventitious mixture, or to a fort of difiblution 
 by the air. The white farinaceous fpots are lefs 
 aftedted by acids. 
 
 2. Grey-brown, loofe, friable tufo, with plenty 
 of little white round fpots as the before defcribed ; 
 fomething fermenting with acids, unfit for build- 
 ings. 3. A
 
 2-04 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 3. A deep-'.j iwn unfpotted tufo, unmixed, ex- 
 cept with forae lamelles of black-green fherl 
 glimmer. 
 
 4. The common building-tufo, compofed of 
 fragments of grey-yellow brown, greeniffr and 
 deep-brown tufo, black fherl-grains, and white 
 calcined farinaceous garnet-like cryftals or round 
 fpots, more or lefs fermenting with acids. The 
 whole mixture of this tufo fomewhat affected 
 by aqua fords. Some years ago they found in 
 this monte-verde tufo a large bone, which was 
 considered as a tooth of a cacholong, and is de- 
 fcribed by P. Jacquier in an Italian magazine ; 
 but its length of four or five feet did not agree 
 with that denomination. It was rather a bone or 
 tufk of an elephant, brought there by accident, 
 and covered in afhes by a pofterior eruption of the 
 adjacent volcano. The round pebbles fometimes 
 inclofed in this tufo may have been brought there 
 by fimilar accidents, or rolled from higher grounds; 
 which is the more probable, as near Fiumicino 
 there are hills of ferruminated pebbles or a coarfe 
 krcctia, 
 
 ' 

 
 ITALY. LETTER XV. 2QJ 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Rome, dpril iS t 1772. 
 
 SOON after I fent my laft, I made an ex- 
 curfion to Civka Vecchia and the alum- 
 works at Tolfa. I had the agreeable and 
 inftrucling company of Mr. Guettard, of Ba- 
 ron de Geer, and of Mr. Corea. However, 
 my curiofity has not been compleatly fatisfied, 
 fince the bad rainy and ftormy weather not only 
 made our obfervations very difficult, but likewife 
 hindered me from examining the country about 
 Tolfa. While I let you know what I had leifure 
 to obferve, I tell you the blanks, which you will 
 pleafe to fill up. 
 
 As foon as we had patted the Porta fabrica at 
 Rome, which is near S. Peter's and the Vatican, 
 we obfervcd the continuation of the calcareous 
 hills on which the Vatican is fituated. Afterwards 
 the road was covered with brown fea fand, which 
 on both fides made fmall hills decked with brown- 
 yellow volcanic afhes. Near "the inn Montercne, 
 half way to Civita Vecchia^ I faw under the 
 
 mould
 
 2O6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 mould a calcareous tophus, which changed after- 
 wards into a true limeftone. Then fucceeded 
 again fand-ftone, which laded but a Ihort while, 
 and was followed by the limeftone till near Civita 
 Vecckia\ where, near the fea-fhore, it grew very 
 fhivery, argillaceous, and finally a true marl. The 
 xvhole country, from Rome to Civita Vecchia, is 
 flat, and feems to have been accumulated by ma- 
 rine alluvions. 
 
 From Civita Vecchia to the alum quarries near 
 Folfa is eleven Italian miles, the road continually 
 afcending through woody countries, over the 
 following ftones. 
 
 1 . Near Civita VeccUa, white, grey, and reddifh 
 marl-flate. 
 
 2. White-grey limeftone. 
 
 3. Blue, grey, or perlaceous marl-flate. 
 
 4. Again limeftone. 
 
 5. An argillaceous, either black, grey, or blue- 
 grey flate, in fome parts penetrated with iron, whence 
 
 ? I LI 1 J L J 
 
 it was become black and hard. 
 
 s- xT7i J j-rt ?Jil . 
 
 6. White or reddifh compact marl, more or 
 
 i f 1 j r 11 
 
 lefs calcareous ; and, finally, 
 
 _. . ... . ... , . . -i^qqo'j - 
 
 7. White, high, and argillaceous hills, compact, 
 
 with fcarce any vifible horizontal beddinas. Thefe 
 
 i u L r i 
 
 rocks yield the Roman alum. 
 
 T , ' i i , , 
 
 Hence it appears, that the whole country from 
 
 Civita Vecctia to Volf* is generally calcareous, 
 
 only
 
 ITALY.. LETTER XV. 207 
 
 only more or lefs mixed with clay. The argilla- 
 ceous (late, N 5. (and perhaps fimilar hills on 
 both fides of the way) is entirely defticute of 
 any calcareous mixture. So are likewifc the 
 alum- rocks, N 7, which contain fo trifling a 
 quantity of lime, that it cannot be confidered as a 
 fubftantial part ; joined to the acid of vitriol it 
 precipitates as feienite. I could not obferve the 
 pofition of thefe feven different forts of ftone ; 
 whether their difference is owing only to a differ- 
 ent mixture in the furface ; or, whether the argil- 
 laceous Hate, and the white alum-rock, as in other 
 parts of Italy, be inferior to the fuperincumbent 
 calcareous hills; and but in fome places appear 
 above ground, either bare and unmixed, or as 
 marl, more or lefs calcareous. This laft I hold to 
 be moft probable, as obferved in many other parts 
 of Italy; but, as the bad weather and fhortnefs of 
 time did not permit me any clofer examination o 7 
 this country, I could not afcertain it, and leave it 
 therefore to your future enquiries. 
 
 In argillaceous (late hills;, mentioned N 5, are 
 to the right, and at fome didance old deferred 
 lead, copper, and iron- mines ; and probably the 
 celebrated quartz-cryflallizations, going under the 
 name of Tolfa-diamonds, may be found in thefs 
 mines ; but as the alum-rocks, N 7, offer like- 
 wife quartz- fiffures, I cannot be pofitive about it. 
 
 Amtt?s
 
 2o8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Ametis geographical map places hereabout anti- 
 monial mines, which I have been allured to be 
 fictitious. I got at Chita Vecchia fome minerals 
 of thefe parts ; con fitting of yellow copper-pyrites 
 with green fluor, blende, blue azure-copper-ore, 
 and malachites in argillaceous flate. 
 
 The alum-hills, N 7. are very high fhining 
 white rocks, feparated by a long valley and large 
 excavations, which are made in the following 
 manner : The workmen delcend by ropes to the 
 fleep rocks; thus fufpended, they bore blafting- 
 holes, fill them with cartridges, free the rocks 
 which by former blafiings are loofened, and then 
 are pulled up again. The firing of the powder is 
 done by dry branches and leaves, which expe- 
 rience has taught them to throw from on high to 
 any place below. 
 
 The alum-rock is white-grey or chalk-white; 
 extremely compact and remarkably hard. Scraped 
 with a knife it yields an argillaceous powder, which 
 does not ferment with any acid, fince penetrated 
 by the vitriolic acid, and being compofcd of an 
 argillaceous fubftance. There are fome blueim- 
 grey fhivery pieces, which are rejected as unfit, 
 and probably are remains of the natural argilla- 
 ceous ftqne before it was fufficiently imbibed and 
 whitened by the vitriolic acid* In fome cracks 
 appears a chalk-white ductile clay. Some pieces 
 2 are
 
 ITALY. LETTER XV* 20p 
 
 are bkreHh-grey ivith white fpots, produced by the 
 acid. Thefe are much refembling the half- 
 diffblved black lava in Solfatara with white garnet- 
 like (herls , with this difference, that in Solfatara 
 the fubterraneous acid worked upon lava^ and here 
 upon an argillaceous blueifli (tone. The acid 
 feems in this place likewife to be produced by 
 fubterraneous fleams, which, penetrating the argil- 
 laceous (tones, changed them into alum-ore. I 
 could not afcertain whether there be near Tolfa 
 ancient volcanos ; but 1 faw lava-fragments in the 
 wall under the boiling-pans ; and therefore they 
 cannot be far diftant. 
 
 By all this it appears, that the aluminous rock at 
 Tolfa is an indurated clay, having imbibed and been 
 whitened by a vitriolic acid, and contains fome 
 fcarce calcareous particles, which in the alum- 
 manufactories precipitate in the wooden rills or 
 troughs under the form of felenites. It is a com- 
 pact and found rock, neither ftratified nor fhivery 
 and flaty. Some nearly perpendicular white-grey 
 quartz-veins, three or four inches large, crofs it 
 from top to bottom : and in fome places appears in 
 the midft of the white rock a red mixture, as it 
 were of a colcothar vitrioli, or crocus martis, or 
 fpotted pieces, which refemble red and white 
 marbled foap. 
 
 P Tfit
 
 210 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 The blafted Hones are calcined in furnaces, 
 which have an inverted conical form. They 
 are in the open fields clofe together, fur- 
 rounded and feparated by a covering of turf and 
 mould. The upper diameter is about eight feet. 
 They are filled at the bottom with wood, and then 
 heaped with alum-Hone, which appears above the 
 furnaces as an accumulated cone, nine or ten feet 
 high, which is nearly anfvvering to the depth of 
 the furnace. Then fire is let to the wood by a 
 fquare vent near the bottom, and the whole" is 
 burnt down in about three hours time ; which is, 
 as they told me, the requifite time for burning : 
 after which the heated Hones are carried to the 
 boiling-houfe, diftant about one Italian mile from 
 .the quarries. Here they are put into large pits, 
 or fquare wooden refervoirs, half funk into the 
 ground ; where they are fleeped in a convenient 
 quantity of water, which, after fufficient diflblution 
 of the alum, is by troughs conveyed into the 
 alum-houfe, and in large fquare wooden fettlers, 
 that the dregs may fettle at the bottom. This 
 done, the clear lixivium is poured into brafs pans, 
 and after fufficient boiling conveyed into wooden 
 coolers, on whofe fides the alum cryftallizes white 
 and reddifh. Before the infpiflated brine be con- 
 veyed into the cooler, they flop it for fome time 
 jn the troughs, in order to facilitate the precipita- 
 7 tion
 
 ITALY. LETTER XV. 211 
 
 tion of a reddiih felenite -, and in the boiling they 
 mix in the liquor feme lime * and urine. 
 
 The fupports of the pans are rmde of a grey 
 lava with large white cryftalline fherl-prifms, 
 whofe quantity exceeds the mafs of the ferrumi- 
 nating lava. It is found, as they told me, in large 
 loofe pieces, at nine or ten miles diftance from 
 'Tolfa i and it refembles much the lava of. a 
 volcanic hill, called S. Flora in Tofcana, which I 
 have feen, and (hall defcribe in my following 
 Letters. 
 
 . The Tolfa alum-works are faid to have been 
 difcovered in former times by a man, who, having 
 been long time a flave in Turkey, and worked 
 there in fome alum-works, gueffed by the Ilex 
 Aquifoliunt) common about 'Tolfa, that there muft 
 be aluminous works in the neighbourhood. But 
 this fhrub is found in many places where no 
 alum is to be had at all. 
 
 Monfignor Borgia at Rome, who had the good- 
 nefs to provide us with recommendations to Ci- 
 vita Vecchia and Tolfa, and who, notwithftand- 
 ing his troublefome infpe&ion of the Collegium de 
 propaganda fide, preferves a good tafle for every 
 
 fcience, has made in his travels through the Ro- 
 3jui\?r zssnifcjjip o 
 
 * If this be the cafe, the felenite is in no refpea a fubftan- 
 tisl part of the Tolfa alum-ftone, as the author feems inclined 
 to fuppole. 
 
 P 2 man
 
 212 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 man dominions feveral hiftorical and oeconomical 
 remarks on I'olfa, and the other mines and pro- 
 ductions of the Roman State. He had the polite- 
 nefs to promife a copy of them to Mr. Guettard, 
 who intends to give them to the publick. 
 
 I gathered fome fea-plants about Civita Vecchia. 
 On the Roman road and about T'olfa, I obferved 
 the Fraxinus Ornus, from which, being in plenty 
 in that place, they gather manna, a fweet officinal 
 juice, diftilling from openings cut in the bark of 
 the trees. On monte Gennaro in the Apennines near 
 77i>0//, and at Arienza near Naples, they gather it 
 likewife 5 but the greateft part comes from Cala- 
 bria. T S 
 brie t ^)inpimA b 
 
 b nfiilsil bns 
 t^do-oJ znieq on 
 
 i, 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALV. LETTER XVI. 
 
 LETTER xvi. 
 
 Rome, April 26, 1772. 
 
 THIS being my laft letter from Rome, I have 
 kept for it the account of the antique ftones, 
 which are the materials of the immortal works of 
 Art and Antiquity, and the chief ornaments of 
 the Roman and Italian churches and palaces. I 
 have fpared no pains to obferve a great variety 
 of them ; and have repeatedly examined the 
 churches, palaces, and collections of antiquities, efpe= 
 cially thofe in the capitol, and in the villa Al- 
 bani. I have alfo bought from the marble- cutters 
 (Marmaji ofia Scarpellini) a great variety ; but the 
 ignorance and avidity of thefe people makes cau- 
 tion necefTary, to avoid purchafing the fame fpecies 
 under different names, and not to depend upon 
 thofe denominations but in which they generally 
 agree, or which are given by the moft fkilful. Thus 
 hope to be pretty well acquainted with the antique 
 marbles, and their odd and fingular names, with- 
 out which they are not to be underftood by 
 P 3 the
 
 214 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 <cl r i3jTfidiA ( ih 
 the artifls. The modern marbles employed at 
 
 Rome fhall be noticed in thofe places where they 
 are dug out. Though the defcription of the co- 
 lours be very difficult and of little ufe, fince the 
 colours only make varieties; yet a Naturalift 
 fhould, by a due regard for the finer arts, be as 
 nearly as poflible acquainted with them, and An- 
 tiquaries mould not neglect them. Practice, and 
 frequent examination, teach beft how to diftin- 
 guilh the different fpecies ; which may be obtained 
 by fmall famples, fold at Rome, Naples, and 
 Florence. I cannot advife the purchafing of what 
 they call a whole fet or Audio, becaufe that is buy- 
 ing many indifferent famples, and many falfe deno- 
 minations; unlefs a Naturalift: mould choofe to pur- 
 chafe different ftudiain different places, and thence 
 to form a compleat one, by examining the juftnefs 
 of the names, and by throwing away what was indif- 
 ferent in itfelf, or went under falfe and improper 
 names. I hope my lift of the different fpecies and 
 varieties of Porphyry, Granites, and Bafaltes, will 
 be as compleat and exact as poflible. But it is 
 difficult and expenfive to get at their famples, 
 and at the other pretended Pietre dure> fuch as 
 
 r ' r o 
 
 jalpers, agates, cornelians, &c. 
 
 The before- mentioned antique marbles and 
 itones may be ranked under the following genera : 
 
 Marble,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 215 
 
 Marble, Lumachella, Alabafter, Jafper, Breccia, 
 Porphyry, Granites, Bafaltes. 
 
 I. Antique Mar&tes. 
 
 Marmo Africano, purple, white fpotted with 
 black intervals, which feem to be argillaceous. A 
 like fpecies is dug at Seravezza ; therefore called 
 Africano, and employed inftead of the antique. 
 
 Afrlcano jftorifo. white, purple and yellow fpot- 
 ted ; the fpots like flames, and the mafs or inter- 
 vals blackifh, of an argillaceous nature. 
 
 Arkchino, or di Seme Santo, dark red with fmall 
 triangular white fpots Arlecbino, on account of 
 its many fpots ; and Seme Santo, on account of 
 their likenefs, with white feeds, and its being fre- 
 quently employed in holy places. Now and then 
 called Breccia di Seme Santo, but that is an abufe of 
 the word ; it mould rather be called Brcccatello. 
 
 M. Bigio, grey antique marbles. 
 
 M. Breccia darata has great yellow fpots upon a 
 red ground, in which now and then appears fome 
 white. The Italians call this and other variegated 
 fpotted marbles Breccia ; though this be the proper 
 denomination of feparated different ftones ferrumi- 
 nated into a common mafs. Spotted marbles are 
 properly to be called Broccatello ; but this word 
 is feldom employed. 
 
 P 4 Breccia
 
 Breccia di Seme Santo di Setts baft. See Seme 
 Santo and Arlechino. 
 
 Breccia Pavonazza refembling a true Breccia, 
 compoled of white roundifh calcareous cryftalliza- 
 tions in a blackifh ground, I faw it in the decora- 
 tions of the Mufeum Clementinum j dubious whe- 
 ther antique or modern Seravezza marble. 
 
 Brocatello. See Breccia dorata. 
 
 Brocatellone, red and white- fpotted, differing 
 from the Roffo annulate. 
 
 M. CanneHoy cinnamon brown. 
 
 Cipolazzo, white and violet. 
 
 Cipolino is a white Greek marble, croiTed by 
 greenifh glofiy micaceous flripes, ferruminated 
 with clay, and for that reafon to be confidered as 
 micaceous flate. The white colour is lefs clear, as 
 in the Palombino. This marble has been, per- 
 haps, dug from the undermofl marble flratum, 
 impofed on argillaceous flate ; it is commonly em- 
 ployed in columns and the outfides of churches 
 and palaces. 
 
 M. Cotomllo, white and red coloured ; as mi- 
 nium or red lead. The name very obfcure. 
 
 M. Fior di Perfico^ or Perfechino, white and 
 grey, with crimfon or blofTom coloured fpots. 
 
 F'oritp, red and white fpotted ; the fpots like 
 
 flames. But there are many other marbles called 
 
 Fioriti, on account of their flame-like or flripy 
 
 ; fpots,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 217 
 
 fpots, though differing in colour. See Pcrta 
 fanta fiorita. 
 
 M. Giallo, yellow ; ufed for altars, tables, &c. 
 
 Giallo annulate, yellow and black, fpotted or 
 ringled, refembling the Erocatello di Siena. 
 
 Giallo brecciato, yellow, with dark yellow fpots. 
 
 Giallo e nero, yellow and black fpotted, differing 
 from the Giallo annulato by the bignefs of the 
 fpots. 
 
 Giallo pagliocco, flraw yellow. 
 
 Nero, black. Some buds and pedeftals in the 
 capitol and the villa Albani, together with the 
 ornaments of fome altars, are of this marble. 
 
 Ner *e bianco antico, white and black ftriped. 
 
 Occhio difernice, blackifti and blackifh red with 
 white fpots. 
 
 Occbio dipavone, red, white, and yellow fpotted. 
 
 Palombino, white compadt, neither fcaly nor 
 cryilalline. 
 
 Paragons, black; may ferve as touch- ftone. The 
 Paragon? di Bergamo entirely fimilar to the antique. 
 
 Paro antico, beautifully milk white, extremely 
 compact, though cryilalline or fcaly. The Carrara 
 marble is very like it, but lefs compact. 
 
 Pavonazzo, white with red ftripes. See Breccia 
 pavonazza. 
 
 Pecorello or Pecorella, red and white fpots with 
 white ringlets. 
 
 Porfa
 
 2 18 TRAVELS. THROUGH 
 
 Porta fanta fiorita, white or grey with purple 
 fpots, formed like flames ; called Porta fanta be- 
 caufe employed in the Porta fanta at 5, Pieter's. 
 
 Porta fanta nonfarita, red, white fpotted. 
 
 Perfecbino. See Fior de Perfico. 
 
 Purichiello, red and white, 
 
 Rezziato, white-yellow fpotted. 
 
 Roflb, dark red ; fcarce, and dear. 
 
 Roffb brecciato, brownifh with red fpots. 
 
 Roffb annulate, red-white fpotted. .,^ 
 
 Di Seme Santo. See Arlechino. 
 
 Seme Santo di Settt Ba/i, or Breccia di Seme 
 Santo, &c. purple-white fpotted ; not to be con- 
 founded with the Arkchino. 
 
 Serpentelo, Serpetiela, or Serparielo, white red 
 ftriped. 
 
 Sette baft, white-red veined. 
 
 Statuario, white, refembling the Parian, and 
 perhaps the fame fpecies ; lefs milky and opaque ; 
 femipellucid, though in large pieces. I remember 
 to have feen at Venice, and other places in Lom- 
 bardy, fuch tranfparent columns. 
 
 Vendurino, red and white. 
 
 Verd* antico 9 green and white with black greenifh 
 fpots. 
 
 Verde pagliocco, green i(h yellow. 
 
 Thefe are the varieties of the antique marbles, 
 which, with much pains, I have been acquainted 
 
 with.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 2 19 
 
 \vith. They are truely antique, as being every 
 day dug out of the ruins of old Roman buildings. 
 I have not at hand the catalogue of Produzzioni 
 natural^ che Ji rilrovano nel Mufeo Ginanni in Ra- 
 usnna. Lucca, 1762. 4 to. wherein many antique 
 and modern marbles have been defcribed : I have 
 not 1? Argwuillt s OryBograpbia ; therefore 1 defire 
 you to compare their lifts with mine, fmce I 
 may have dipt fome varieties. Elofius Caryophilus 
 de antiquis marmoribus, Viennae, 1738, 4to. is a 
 valuable learned performance ; but hardly any of 
 its defcriptions are to be traced out, as the ancient 
 denominations of the daffies are entirely different 
 from the modern ones. They commonly employ 
 at Rome much Broccatelk di Spcgna, French and 
 Flanders marbles, and Florentine marble-, which, 
 on account of its landfcape figures, is' called Mar- 
 mo pae'fino. Dendritical "marble is called Alberino, 
 commonly fet in Mofaic-tabks. Petrified corals, 
 lithophytes, and madrepores, employed to the 
 fame purpofe and in fnuff-boxes, are called pietre 
 ftsllarie. But generally thefe denominations are in- 
 dependent of any rule, occafioned only by the 
 fancy of the artifts and journeymen, which often 
 is very capricious and whimfical ; fome, for exam- 
 ple, called a red, yellow, and brown variegated 
 Sicilian marble, Diafpro moderno di Sitilia, though 
 on account of hardnefs, colour, and nature, en- 
 tirely
 
 22O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 tirely different from the Sicilian jafper. Cubic 
 pyrites or marcafite-dice went under the name of 
 fietra quadrat a. 
 
 II. Lumaclella. 
 
 Is limeftone or marble, filled with petrifactions 
 of Ihells. I have fcen feveral varieties at Rome, 
 which paffing for antique fold very dear ; fuch as, 
 
 1. Grey-brown lumachella, with white tranf- 
 parent agate, like veins. 
 
 2. Ditto, with rofe-coloured flripes ; beautiful 
 and fcarce. 
 
 3. Ditto, with fmaller Ihells, called cajtracana -, 
 extremely dear. 
 
 4. Yeilow-brownim lumachella, with plenty of 
 irnall black (hells. Befides them they employ the 
 lumachella of Sicily and Calabria abruzza. 
 
 III. Oriental Alab after. 
 
 1. White tranfparent, now and then with thin 
 parallel milk-white ftripes. 
 
 2. White opaque, milk-coloured. 
 
 3. Alabaftro Tartarucato, brown, like turtle- 
 fhell, fcarce femipellucid, fometimes veined or 
 
 watered,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 22 1 
 
 watered, and then extremely beautiful ; called 
 Jikewife pietra -puruchina. I do not know for what 
 reafon. 
 
 4. Alabaftro forito, brown and white, in alter- 
 nating parallel ftripes, which are either waving or 
 angulating. Sometimes with fmall iron-dendrites, 
 as in fome pedeftals in the villa Albani. 
 
 IV. Jafper. 
 
 1. Diafpro Sanguigno ofia Heliotropio is agreenifh 
 oriental jafper, with fmall blood-red fpots. 
 
 2. Diafpro roffo is not commonly antique, but 
 commonly found at Barga in Tofcana, or in St- 
 cily. 
 
 3. Diafpro giallo> yellowifti-brown, veined with 
 thin green and white waves. 
 
 4. Diafpro forito teticellato is white tranfparent 
 agate-like, with dark-red fpots and ftripes j the 
 fpots inclofed into a white opaque milky or yellow 
 line. At Mondragone at Frafcati, and elfewhere, 
 magnificent tables, compofed of this and other 
 hard (tones. Antique, and very fcarce. 
 
 There is a fimilar Diafpro Jiorito from Sicily, 
 Spain, and Conftantinople, 
 
 V. Breccia
 
 222 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 aisflib m 
 V. Breccia filicea. 
 
 -rift, if fpeak here only of the flint, or horn-flone 
 Breccia, which is a true pudding-ftone. The cal- 
 careous ones belong to the marbles. 
 
 lid-^Pietra fruticohfa, or frutiliofa, orient ale*, an 
 ancient pudding-ftone ; confiding of yellow and 
 red roundilh pebbles inclofed with black iron 
 dendrites. I faw only a fingle fpecimen of that 
 kind. 
 
 2. Breccia verde d'Egitto, ferruminated from 
 darker and higher, round and undetermined green 
 fragments, which --Teemed to be terraceous, taking 
 ho remarkable polifh ; however, extremely hard, 
 and agreeable on account of the fine colours. 
 Large Granite pieces inciofed now and then into 
 its mixture. In the villa Albeni is kept a great 
 vafe, compofed of fragments of this Breccia, large 
 blocks not being to be had ; though the Ancients, 
 as appears by fragments and ruins, . had large 
 columns of this Breccia. 
 
 " 
 
 . 
 
 VI. Porphyry. 
 -rru*toi \h . 
 
 Vis y&&)rfido roffb, dark-red, with white oblong 
 fpots j moft commonly employed in Italy. The 
 
 ground-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 22^ 
 
 ground colour is dyed in different degrees. There 
 are fome almofl entirely Black. The fpots are 
 commonly fmall and oblong -, ibmetimes larger, and 
 then either oblong, that is, parallelepiped, or an- 
 gulated irregular. They are opaque, milky, and 
 compact feld-fpath, but of a fherl-nature, as ap- 
 pears by their parallelepiped form, and other ex-* 
 ternal marks-, hence, they feem to me to be a 
 middle fpecies of feld-fpath and fherl. The real 
 difference between fherl, feld-fpath, quartz, and 
 other flint, and garnet-fpecies, is but very fmall, 
 merely depending on fome admixtures (Cronfted. 
 Mineralogy). Sometimes there offer in the red 
 Porphyry blunted pieces of another porphyry-fpe- 
 cjes, with whiter ground and larger fpots. Thefe 
 adventitious pieces fuppofe the inclofing mafs to 
 have been ductile, as that of the Breccia. This 
 may be obferved on fome Porphyry columns on 
 the out-fide of S. Marco at Venice. There appear 
 likewife in it fome thin black fherl-feathers, as on 
 the pedeftal of the Diana triformis, in the capitol 
 at Rome. 
 
 4. Porfido nero t black-white fpotted. There 
 are two varieties. 
 
 a. Entirely black, with fmall oblong white 
 Porphyry-fpots ; the colour excepted entirely refem- 
 bling'the red Porpyhry. Of that kind there are 
 
 two
 
 224 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 two large fine columns in the church delle tre fon- 
 tane alia Poria di S. Paolo. 
 
 b. Serpentine nero antico, black, with large white 
 parallelepiped fpots, fimilar to thofe in the Serpen- 
 iino vercT antico , which, the colour excepted, is 
 entirely refemblingto this. A fine column of that 
 kind is in the church di S. Praffede at Rome. I 
 faw at Florence in Mr. Targioni Tozzettfs collec- 
 tion fome Tufcan lavas; which, on account of 
 their parallelopiped white merl-fpots, refembled en- 
 tirely to this Serpentine ner* antico. Mr. Cronfted 
 (Mineral 259.) fpeaks of a Serpentine antico , as 
 not being a Porphyry, but an Ophites, confiding 
 of white marble with black fteatit-cryftallizations ; 
 but I did not fee or hear at Rome of fuch an 
 antique ftone. 
 
 3. Porfido bruno, brown, with oblong greenim 
 fpots, entirely refembling the Serpentine <verd ' an- 
 tico , the brown colour likely owing to iron-ocher. 
 There are two varieties. 
 
 a. Liver-brown, and fair green fpots. In the 
 collection of Mr. Targioni Tozzetti at Florence ; 
 antique. 
 
 b. Black-brown, with fpots half black and half 
 green. Count Cronftedt had bought a fpecrmen of 
 that kind. 
 
 4. Porfdo verde. There are many fpecies ; the 
 
 lefler
 
 If ALT. LETTER XVI. 22 
 
 lefier part diftinguifhed "by names j wherefore I 
 (hall attempt their defcriptions. 
 
 A. Serpentino verd' antico found in large blocks 
 and lumps near Oftia, the 'old harbour where the 
 Egyptian fhips unloaded. The ground green ; 
 the fpots oblong or parallelepiped, feld-fpath or 
 fherl ; more or lefs green. The colour perhaps 
 owing to copper ochre. In the fubftance now and 
 then holes or bladders like thofe which air forms 
 in melted materials i but white tranfparent flint, 
 or agate-fpots, of an undetermined or roundifh 
 figure, are common in it. I have feen the fol- 
 lowing varieties. 
 
 a. Dark-green, with fair green fpots ; common. 
 
 b. Dark-green, with white fpots. 
 
 c. Dark- green, with black fpots. 
 
 d. Fair- green, or green-yellowilh, with black 
 fpots. 
 
 B. Porfido verde propriamente coji cHamato ; 
 dark-green, nearly black, with different fhadow- 
 ings or grafs-green. The mafs never quite fo 
 hard as jafper, but often refembling trapp, and to 
 be fcraped with a knife. The fpots white, but 
 commonly undetermined. The following varieties 
 have offered themfelves to me. 
 
 a. Green porphyry, jafper-like dark or. black- 
 green, with diftincl: oblong fherl-fpots, larger than 
 < in
 
 226 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 in the black fpecies 2 a. and fmaller than in the 
 Serpentino nero antic o, (2 b.} 
 
 |3. Green porphyry, dark-green jafper-like, with 
 fmall roundifh and obbng white fpots, fimilar to 
 the red porphyry except in colour. 
 
 <y. Green porphyry, trap-like and dark-green, 
 with Undetermined large white quartz fpots ; 
 thefe fpots often fo common that it may rather be 
 called a white fpecies , now and then the dark 
 trapp- green cryftallized into fherl-cryftals, and 
 then much refembling Granites, which have merl 
 inftead of mica. See the Granites 3, 4. 
 
 'J. Green porphyry, with trap-like dark-green 
 fmall oblong, compact merl, in white fpots, com- 
 monly irregular, and twitted in maffes like fmall 
 worms ; called Porfido verde fwrito. 
 
 i. Light-green porphyry, trap-like, with oblong 
 determined and regular white porphyry fpots and 
 fmall black fherl-cryftals. There is a column of 
 it at the Baptiftcry in the cathedral church at 
 Siena, among feveral columns, of Granite and 
 Granitello. 
 
 VII. Oriental Granite. 
 
 i. Granlto rcjjo confifis in white quartz, large 
 
 pieces of red feld-fnath and black mica. There is 
 
 i 
 
 a violet
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVl. 227 
 
 a violet fpecies on the ifland of Elba. Pocofke 
 gives fome account of the Granite-quarries in 
 Egypt. Europe produces Granite in almoft every 
 country, in the iflands Corfica, Sardinia, Elba, in 
 Tofcana, in the Sanefe, in Switzerland, and the 
 higheft Alps, in the higheft mountains of the 
 Hartz, in Bohemia, in Saxony, in the Carpathian 
 hills, in Sweden, Normandy, and Lapland. Thefe 
 European Granites are in no refpeft differing from 
 the pretended oriental ones -, there are red and 
 grey forts, and they would furnim as large maffes as 
 the Egyptian obelifks, if we did not grudge 
 time and money. 
 
 2. Granito Grigio or Bigio, grey, confifts in 
 white tranfparent or milky tranfparent quartz, 
 white feld-fpath and black mica. If all thefe mix- 
 tured Hones be fmall, it is called Granitello. The 
 quartz being commonly the greater part, and now 
 and then, butfcarcely, mixed with feld-fpath ; which 
 commonly appears in cubic lumps, this fort of 
 {tone wants an exact examination. If the feld 
 (path be entirely wanting, the mixture of quartz 
 and glimmer is properly called Hornlerg^ Homfels, 
 or Geftell-Stein ; and it is ilaty or fhivery if the 
 mica exceed the quantity of quartz. But the 
 ftone-cutters are not ib nice in the denominations, 
 ranking even the Geft ell-Stem among the grey Gra- 
 nites. There is a fpecies of the grey large fpotted 
 0^2 Granite,
 
 228 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Granite, in which the feld-fpath forms large white 
 parallelepiped fpots in the length of a finger, and 
 in the form of the fpots in Serpentine vera" antico. 
 The compofition of thefe fpots is of oblique cubic 
 larnelles ; and they feem to be a middle fubftance 
 of fherl and feld-fpath. Such Granites is the Co- 
 lonna die piazza di S. Felicita at Florence. In fome 
 other Granite and Granitello-columns in the out- 
 fide of the royal palace at Naples, and at Salerno^ 
 I have obferved large black fpots, occafioned by a 
 clcfer mixture of mica. But at Florence I faw a 
 grey Granite-colonne, with black fpots, that entirely 
 refembled Porfdo Serpentino ner* anlico, and feemed 
 to have been as pebbles inclofed in the (till duc- 
 tile mafs of the Granit. Finally, there are grey 
 Granites, which have ftierl-lamelles or Iherl-mica 
 inflead of the common mica. 
 
 3. Granit o ncro, or rather ner *e lianco, confifts 
 of white quartz, fome fcarce or even no feid-fpath- 
 particles, and large oblong and black (herl-fpots, 
 which are here in the place of the mica. Com- 
 monly they have a columnar parallelepiped form, 
 are cubic where broken, and thus are a fpecies of 
 Horn-blende. Of this Granite is a column in S. 
 Prafitde at Rome, to the left of the entrance, to 
 the chapel -, where they keep the column on which 
 Chriit is faid to have been flagellated* (Mercuric 
 err ante di Roma, p. 235.) If the merl fpots be 
 
 fo
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 229 
 
 fo common, that the chief colour or ground feem 
 black, it is called Granito ner 'e bianco a macchie 
 grandi\ and fuch is the column kept in S. Praf- 
 fede, on which Chrifl fuffered flagellation. 
 
 4. Granito verde, green Granite, confifts of 
 white quartz, fcarce feld-fpath particles, and large 
 oblong fherl-fpots, as the former, n. 3. except 
 that the white ground appears light-green in the 
 furface ; which makes this variety of Granites 
 much like the above green porphyry (4. B. y.) 
 whofe green trap-ground is cryftallized like (her], 
 and whofe white fpots are large. The difference 
 is, that the green Granite appears in the white 
 quartz, and that in the porphyry it appears in the 
 fherl-cry utilizations. A column of green Gra- 
 nites is in the villa Pamphili at Rome. 
 
 The ftone-cutters and dealers call the antique 
 Granite Oriental, or d'Egitto ; and the European 
 Occidental. On the fame footing, the antique or 
 Egyptian bafakes goes under the name of Orien- 
 tal. It is the fame with the alabafter; and the 
 precious flones are, according to their hardnefs 
 and country, every where divided into Oriental 
 and Occidental ones. 
 
 0.3 VIII,
 
 23O TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 VIII. Bafaltes* 
 
 Strabo and Agncola relate, that the antique 
 bafaltes is found in Egypt in the fame prifmatical 
 form, as that in which it offers itfelf in many other 
 European countries. I have proved in one of my 
 former Letters, that the Vicentine, Paduan, and 
 Veronefe bafaltes, is but a cryftallized lava-, I 
 add, that the common black antique bafaltes agrees 
 not only with the vifible fubftance and hardnefs of 
 the lava prifms, and the compadt lavas of Vefu- 
 vius or monte Albano, but likewife on account of 
 its nature allayed by fire, The likenefs or fimila- 
 rity is fo compleat, that there appears no differ- 
 ence at all, and the hard lava or felce of monte- 
 Albar^ is commonly ufed in the reftorations of 
 mutilated antique bafait-ftatues. The white gar- 
 net-like Iherl-cryflallizations and lamelles, which 
 are fo ,comman in the Italian lavas, offer likewife, 
 though lomevvhat fmaller, in fome varieties of the 
 Egyptian bafaltes. Therefore' it ieems to me un- 
 deniable, that, fome fpecies of bafaltes are true 
 lavas and volcanic productions. However, I dare 
 not afiert that all the varieties of Oriental bafaltes 
 are of that origin ; I have rather very good rea- 
 fons to believe, that fome of them are produced 
 by aqueous mixtures, and that nature works, per- 
 haps
 
 ITALY. LETTE'R xvi. 231 
 
 haps, the fame effects by the different caufes of 
 fire and water. I fiiall be prefently more parti- 
 cular on this fubject. The varieties of antique 
 bafaltes, which I faw at Rome, are as follow.s. 
 
 1. Bafaties Orientalis Niger is black or dark 
 grey, of a fine grain, mixed with fmall white 
 fcales, which feem to be fherl j and with fome 
 little white veins or fiiTures, filled by a fubfhnce 
 which is either quartz or a fpecies of fherl. I 
 have more than once noticed the near relation of 
 Iherl and flints. This fpecies of Oriental bafaltes 
 is moft common, extremely hard, and entirely fimi- 
 lar to Albano-lava or felce. It is likewife the 
 moft homogene and fimple in its mixture without 
 flierl-cryftallizations. 
 
 2. Bafaltes Orientalis Niger ^ cryftallis minutis 
 immixtis, black-grey, of the fame grain, but 
 fprinkledr with plenty of white garnet-like cryjftal- 
 lizations and black glofly fherl-lamelles. Some 
 ftatues of that kind in the villa Albani. 
 
 3. Bafaltes Orientalis Niger * commonly called 
 Fiorito, black and white marbled in irregular 
 waves. The white fpots are entirely undetermined. 
 
 4. Bafaltes Orientalis cum partibus conftitutivis 
 Graniti ^qualiliter mixtus ; black, and of the fame 
 grain as the precedent fpecies ; but fprinkled with 
 feparated particles of quartz, red feld-fpath and 
 mica,, which feeji to have been mixed in an 
 
 Q..4 aqueous
 
 132 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 aqueous folution of bafaltes, and to prove that this 
 bafalt-fpecies had rather an aqueous than a fiery 
 origin. In the yard before tke Mufeum in the 
 capitol, to the left of the door, is an Ifis made 
 of this bafaltes. 
 
 5. Bafaltes Orient alls ^ fafciis granitofis^ the 
 common black bafaltes fafciated with large ftripes 
 of red Granite, blended and joined to the bafaltes 
 without any vifible feparation, not as the pebbles 
 in a breccia, or as fifiiires healed up and filled 
 with Granite, but as if both the bafaltes and Gra- 
 nite had been fluid and dried together. This 
 fort differs from the preceding in the clofer con- 
 nection of the Granite-particles, which appeared 
 feparately in the above defcribed. The two wa- 
 ter-fpouting Sphinxes, at; the gradini or flairs 
 to the capitol, are fuch bafaltes with Granite- 
 ftripesj one having an ear of red Granite, and both 
 having large tranfverfe ilripes. if we do not 
 with fome Italians fuppofe that even Granites can 
 rpe produced by fire, we are forced to confider this 
 fpecies as produced by water. However, I dare 
 not decide any thing. Either may be pofiible. 
 Rerum mihi natura perfuajit nihil de fe mcredibik 
 
 6. Bafaltes nigerrimus maculis ex Hornblende viri- 
 The Hone-cutters and dealers call it 
 
 Pielra.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVI. 233 
 
 Tietra a" Egitto, Pietra nefritica, and I have 
 feen and bought ancient weights made of it. 
 
 7. Bafaltes Orient dis Niger, cryftallis majuf cults 
 albis granjti-formibus immixtis. Entirely fimilar 
 to a lava with great white garnet-like fherl-cryftal- 
 lizations, differing from . 2. only by a greater 
 fize and diftincier form of the cryftallizations. 
 Though fome marble- dealers affured me of i^s 
 being antique, I doubt it, fince it entirely agrees 
 with a black-grey lava of mcnte Albany. 
 
 10. Bafaltes Occidentals Mollior^ thus they call 
 at Rome an antique and Oriental bafaltes, on ac- 
 count of its fofrnefs. Its colour black- grey, with 
 finall little points and fome fmall gloffy fcales. A 
 variety of . 2 ; but I have fubmitted here to the 
 arbitrary difference of the feulptors. 
 
 9. Bafaltes Orientalis Viridis^ green, extremely 
 hard, homogeneous, and compact, without any 
 cryitallizations. Statues made of it in the capitolio 
 et villa Albani. 
 
 jo. Bafaltes Viridis, punElulis cryjtalUnis albis 
 afperfus (bafalte pedocchiofo), green as the fpecies, 
 9; but fprinkled with fmall white cryftalline (herl- 
 points , fcarce. Two columns made of it are faid 
 to be in the church of S. Pudenziana at Rome j 
 but I did not fee them. 
 
 LET-
 
 234 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Siena. May 4, 1772. 
 j -\> it 
 
 IG I V E you today an abftracl of my journal 
 from Rome to Siena ; but, mould the fhort- 
 nefs of time not now permit me to take proper 
 notice of the Learned, and their collections, which 
 1 have feen here, I fha'il do it in my next from 
 Florence. The road from Rome to Siena is, for a 
 ftaturalift one of the moft remarkable in Italy. 
 I do not repent therefore having travelled it over 
 a iecond time. 
 
 v A. From P.vme to Viterto I went by the Porta 
 di Popcloj and law the continuation of the above- 
 mentioned calcareous hills and monte Mario, which 
 ran with me to Ponte Mclle or Ewilio, where 
 thefe hills ftretched to the left, and followed the 
 direction of the Tiber. Immediately after Ponte 
 Molle fucceeded volcanic tufo-hilis ; i. Yellow, 
 with fragments of black pumice-ftone, and white 
 farinaceous decayed garnet-like flierls. 2. White- 
 grey corapofed of white puzzohna. 3. Entirely 
 
 whitej.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 235 
 
 white. 4. White hills of Piperino, or a mixture 
 of white afhes, black fmall fherl points, fome 
 glofly fherl-larnelles and inclofed fragments of 
 limeftorte, as in the Piperino at Marino, near A/. 
 Albano. This continued till mcnte Roft. The road 
 covered with black fherl-fand warned by rain. 
 Behind monte Rofi^ on the road to Ronciglione, a 
 lava-torrent ; and fomewhat further, a fmall lake, 
 Lago di monte Rqft, which feems to have been an 
 old volcano. Near P\.onciglione a deep beautiful 
 valley, ftretching through a high yellow-brown 
 tufo-hill, with many picturefque romantic views. 
 Followed a large lake, Lago di Vico, a funk crater 
 of an old volcano. La Montana di Viterbo is a 
 remaining part of its former circumference ; and 
 monte Vemre, in the lake, a part of its kernel or 
 nucleus, being of thi* fame fubftance as Moniagr.a 
 di Viterlo* This high mountain confifts of the 
 following materials, accumulated without any or- 
 der : 
 
 a. Black compact lava, with plenty of vitreous 
 01 farinaceous greater and finaller Iherl-cryftals. 
 b. Decayed lava, at the ieaft touch mouldering 
 ii.ro a black-grey powder, with inclofed large 
 white garnet-like fherls likewife decayed, c. Beds 
 or torrents of compact black lava. d. Black-red 
 hardened pozzolana ', with e. red pumice-ftone. 
 /. Pitm'no, confilling in white-grey pnzzolana, 
 
 mixed
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 mixed with black fherl feathers and lamelles. I 
 faw here fquare columnar pieces of piperino, about 
 one palm long, which proved that even the pi- 
 perino has a natural tendency to a regular cryftal- 
 lization, or to break into regular forms of lava- 
 bafalt. g. Yellow tufo, with black pumice-ftones 
 alternating with piperino, from Viterbo to monie 
 Fiafcone. In thefc yellow tufo-hills I obferved 
 large, globular, or oval black lava-lumps, which 
 decayed or mouldered into concave or fpheric 
 fcales. Thefe boulets or nodules refemble the 
 trap-nodules in Weftgothland in Sweden, but they 
 ar.e fuperior to them in bignefs. They have been 
 lively thrown out of the volcano in glowing lumps, 
 and by fucceeding cooling got the quality to crack 
 in fpheric fcales. 
 
 B. From Viterbo to monte Fiafcone, piperino 
 alternating with yellow tufo or afhes. Behind Vi- 
 terbo, to the left, a Zolfatara or Bulicami di Vi- 
 terbo, being a lake of hot water, which fmells 
 like he$ar fulpburis. Half-way to monte Fiafcone, 
 to. the left, a pool of fimilar but cold water -, 
 which, from continually throwing up air-bladders, 
 feems to boil. All around, and clofe to it, are 
 Java-hills, with white farinaceous garnet-like 
 fherls ; but this lava is, by fubterraneous fleams 
 of vitriolic and fulphureous acids, changed into a 
 light and red porous argillaceous itprie, entirely 
 
 fimilar
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 2j7 
 
 fimilar to the changed lavas in the So/fatara near 
 Pozzuolo. Elixiviated, it would, in all probabi- 
 lity, yield the fame alum. The red argillaceous 
 flone feems to be produced by lava, more affected 
 by the fulphureous acid, and by a difiblution of 
 the iron particles into a colcothar or crocus martis. 
 A great quantity of fulphur fweats, or evaporates, 
 from the diffolved white lava or this lava-clay. 
 
 Somewhat further to the left, is a hot boiling 
 fpring, which depoles a glutinous fediment hard- 
 ening in the air ; and both the pool, and this 
 fpring, are called / Pantandli di Viterbo^ a popular 
 denomination, the origin of which I could not 
 make out. 
 
 C. Fmm Monte Fiafcone to Acqua -pendent e. r. 
 Grey, hard and compact lava, with black and 
 green tranfparent flierl pebbles, fimilar to dark- 
 green cryfolites. Some topaz-coloured. 2. Grey 
 compact lava, with white oblong columnar fherl 
 or ftangen-fpath. 3. Detached (lones ferrumi- 
 iiated of black and green fherl with mica. 4. 
 Grey-yellow tufo hills alternating, 5. With red, 
 white, and grey fprinkled lava, containing black 
 and greenifh fherl-pcbbles ; a fingular fpecies of 
 lava. The red fpots are tile-coloured, friable, 
 unaffected by acids, either argillaceous or indu- 
 rated puzzolana. The grey afhes (4) alternate 
 like wife 6. with grey, hard, and compact lava, 
 
 7. with
 
 2 3 g TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 7. with white loofe lava and its farinaceous merls, 
 affected or diffolved by fulphureous acids. 8. Near 
 Bolzena, clofe to die right hand of the road, a 
 remarkable bafalt-hill. Its ground or foot is a 
 ftratum of grey volcanic afhes, mixed with fmall 
 farinaceous white fherl points, one fathom thick, 
 nearly horizontal, and compofed of parallel fmaller 
 beds or {tripes, produced, as the beds in the vol- 
 canic tufo-hills, near Naples, by the equal falling 
 of the allies. Thefe grey afnes are entirely unaf- 
 fected by 'the acids, probably owing to their having 
 been ever dcftitute of calcareous particles, or having 
 been elixiviated by many years rain-waters. Now 
 and then appeared in it fome fmall grey pumice- 
 Hones. On this cinericious beddi'ng lieth, for a 
 long extent, ftrctching on both fides five or fix 
 fathoms, a {Iratum of regular bafalt-prifms. Their 
 fubftance hard compact lava, fprinkied with fmail, 
 white, vitreous garnet-like Iherls, or with fmall 
 black fherl- feathers ; fcarcely any interval between 
 them , each column or prifm five or fix palmi 
 long, one paln> diameter, on both ends flat; ge- 
 nerally of an hexagonal form, either with equal 
 fides or two oppofite greater ones ; feme of five, 
 four, and three fides j upon the whole, fo regular, 
 that their cryrhllization cannot be doubted, and 
 being con* poled of lava, its cryflallization, when 
 . in a Hats of fufion, cannot be controverted. They 
 2 rile
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 2$$ 
 
 rife with the upper ends about twenty degrees 
 above the horizontal-line, dip with the under ends 
 in the mountain, and both ends entirely flat, not 
 convex or concave as the articulated Irifli bafaltes. 
 All along the roads about Bolzena many of thefe 
 prifms are raifed. The Ancients employed them 
 for grinding corn (Plin. lib. xxxvi. c. 18.) Kircher, 
 in Mufeo, mentions thefe Bolfena- bafaltes. Above 
 this ftratum of regular bafaltes, the mountain 
 confifts of the fame but undetermined lavaj 
 that is to fay, of a black compact lava, irregu- 
 larly cracked and broken - t though, in many places, 
 with fome tendency to a cryftalline form. The 
 white garnet-like fherls in the Bolzena-bafalt- 
 prifms are the fame as in the antique bafalt pe- 
 docchiofo, and other antique bafalts. 
 
 This bafalt-hill is clofely fituated near the Ldgo 
 di Bolzena, and together with the other hills which 
 inclofe this lake ; but a remaining part of the old 
 volcano, which funk into the ground, and left 
 this water, fo as generally all fuch lakes in Italy ; 
 as Lago di Vico near Viterlo^ Lago di Bractiano, 
 di Nemis, and many more, are fuppofed to have 
 been produced. 
 
 From Bolzena to slquapendente, are volcanic 
 ames and lavas, with white fherl-cryftallizations. 
 In the tufo-hills, near 6", Lorenzo die Grotte, I ob- 
 fervcd a great number of artificial caverns, being 
 
 either
 
 24 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 either puzzolana-quarries, or flickers for cattle arid 
 implements of hufbandry. 
 
 D. In my journey to Raduofani, I defen- 
 ded from Aquapendente and a lava-hill into a 
 valley, which feemed to have been a part of the 
 periphery of an old volcano funk into the valley. 
 Soon after I patted an arm of the Paglia-nver, 
 behind which i faw hills of grey and blue unftra- 
 tified marl; with blunted and detached limeftones, 
 I pafled afterwards feveral branches of the Paglra, 
 filled with thefe limeftones, fand, and marl, and 
 blunted pieces of a pudding-ftone, ferruminated 
 of rolled globular fragments of lava, and white 
 lirneftones in a calcareous cement. This Breccia 
 is called in Italy cicercbtna ; and I faw the fame 
 in Krayn, and in the pebbles of the river Greife 
 near Florence, where they employ it to the coarfer 
 grinding of marble. 
 
 The Radicofani-hill, whereoh the caftle is 
 fituated, is a fteep and ifolate volcanic rock, fur- 
 rounded every where in the valley with the before- 
 mentioned marl, and eompofed i. of grey; 2. 
 black and compact i 3, porous; 4. red and com- 
 pact lavas; 5. red pumice-flones ; and 6. a black 
 (crnpacl: lava^ with white transparent garnet-like 
 lherl-cryflallizations. ; Thefe varieties alternate 
 without any order; and generally they are fplit 
 and broken into perpendicular fiffures, or irregular 
 A undeter-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 24! 
 
 undetermined polygone forms. However, there ap- 
 pear in the mafs of the rock fome diftincl: hexagonal- 
 quadrangular and triangular large bafalt-colonnes 
 and truncated mafies of them, obliquely peeping 
 from under ground. Hence may be juftly con- 
 cluded, that the whole mafs of lava, which com- 
 pofes this hill, had a general tendency to cryftal- 
 lize into prifms, but that its prefiure and quan- 
 tity did not permit every where an equal and dif- 
 tincT: cryftallization. In fome prifms of this lava 
 are inclofed fragments of white limeftone ; fuch 
 as I have noticed with the lavas of Vefuvius and 
 monte Albano. No volcanic afhes, but marl, is to 
 be feen all around this huge lava-lump , I could 
 not difcover any mark of a former volcanic crater 
 or funnel, though there be, hereabout, a tradi- 
 tional faying of its former eruptions. I conjec- 
 ture, therefore, that the funnel was in the valley, 
 and has been covered by marl. Directly above 
 Radicofani, on the other fide of the valley, rifes 
 a higher lava-hill, called S. Ficre-, which may 
 have had, perhaps, in the finking plain of its fum- 
 mit, an ancient volcanic funnel * : however, it is 
 
 more 
 
 * This mountain called Montagna ammiata, or di S. Fior? t 
 or Santa Fiora, confifts on one fide in lavas and volcanic ma- 
 terials ; but on the other, which I did not fee, it is calcareous 
 according to Mr. Tergioni Tox.ztitfs authority. J faw in hi* 
 R . coiie&ious
 
 242 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 more credible, that S. Fiore, and the caftle-hili of 
 Radicofonii are remaining lava-lumps of the wide 
 
 periphery 
 
 colle&ions, and in fome others at Siena, the following foffils 
 found there. 
 
 a. Black lava, with white garnet-like flierls, entirely refem- 
 bling thofe of Vefuvius. 
 
 b. Piperino or Granito di S. Fiora ; a particular fort of 
 lava, compofed by a large quantity of white fherl in oblong 
 parallelepiped cryftals ; much black fherl-mica, and fome lava. 
 If the white fherl be fuperabundant, or more copious, it i* 
 called hereabout Pietra Salina. Such is dug in S. Fiore a 
 Plan Caflagnaro, near the abbey S. Safaadore, and all along the 
 Paglia ; and has been much employed in the ancient walls of 
 caftle Raditofani* The fame Pietra Salina ferved at Tolfa in 
 the fupports of the alum-pans. I have feen in Mr. Targioni 
 Tozzetti'j collections at Florence fome white fherl-parallelo- 
 pipeds, the length of a finger, and proportionably thick, 
 found in the Piperino di S. Fiora ; but generally they are 
 fmaller. Properly the name of Piperino is belongs only to 
 indurated volcanic afhes or tufo with fherl-cryftals ; accord- 
 ingly, the above-defcribed of S. Fiore, being a lava, fhould 
 not be called by that name ; fed merba valent Jlcut nummi. I 
 law in Siena two other varieties of this Piperino or Granlto t 
 which hft is a ftill more proper denomination. One 
 confifted in black fherl-grains and irregular garnet-like whit* 
 Iherl-cryitals ; and the other is a red earth, fimilar to a red 
 puzzolana, with regular garnet-like white fherl-cryftalliza- 
 tions. 
 
 c. Black vitreous lava, entirely fimilar to the Iceland-agate. 
 d. Globular nodules of black lead or molybdrena, often of 
 the bignefs of a fill, 
 
 e. Greeniifc,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVIi. 24$ 
 
 periphery of the ancient volcano j which, in former 
 times, rofe between them, and, after having burnt 
 out, funk in the interjacent valley, and is now 
 covered all over with marl. By the following 
 accounts, it will appear that this marl ought to be 
 eonfidered as a marine fediment, and that the 
 lavas and volcanic afhes are buried under it. 
 
 E. From Radicofani to Siena ; the road conti- 
 nues to S. Quirico over grey and blue marl-hills ; 
 which, in fome depth, were entirely blue, con- 
 fifted in lime, mixed with clay, fermenting with 
 acids and the above-mentioned blunted limeftones. 
 Near the inn dello Spedaktto I obfcrved in this 
 marl fome thin calcareous flrata, with fea-fliells, 
 
 t. Greenilh fteatites or bacon-ftone. 
 
 /. Calcareous earth, agaricus minerals la: lun<e. I do not 
 know exactly whether it be calcareous or felenitic. 
 
 g. Mercurial clay, with adherent cinnabar; found in the 
 volcanic ground near Silvena nella Contea di S. Fiora, in 
 inonte S. Fiore ; the cinnabar fublimated by fubterraneous fire 
 into the furface of this high elevated ground. There appears 
 cinnabar even in the cracks and joints near the furface or the 
 day of this volcanic hill. I did not mention it in one of my 
 former letters. They {hewed me quartz-cryftallizations front 
 Silvena, pretending them to have been found in volcanic 
 productions. But I doubt it. They may have been found, 
 perhaps, .on the calcareous fide. 
 
 h. Grey ftriated antimony in lava, from Silvena. 
 
 z. Cinnabar-lumps, from the abbey di S. Sahadore alia 
 Mvntagna di S. Fiora, 
 
 R a Neaf
 
 244 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Near 5. Quirico the hills confifted of calcareous 
 tufo, with inclofed fea-fhells. This tuphus or 
 porus confided of a light-yellow fine calcareous 
 earth, mixed with fome clay, ferruminating and 
 containing different fpecies of fea-fhells, fmall 
 blunted quartz, and limeftone fpar-grains, and 
 oval lumps of green marl, whofe colour is like 
 the mountain green, or chryfocolla. There is a 
 great variety of well-preferved fhells in this yellow 
 Jime-porusi among feveral great echinites there 
 appear, now and then, the cucurbit es 9 or the echi- 
 nites floridus. Mercati Metallotheca Vatic, p. 233. 
 It contains likewife a fingular pyrites, which Mer- 
 cati calls mtmmum diaboli. Near the country-feat 
 Cafa nova are found Iridi nere y or loofe and fepa- 
 rated black quartz- cryftals, pointed on both ends. 
 I had pa(Ted in this way over many arms of the 
 river Fiumirigo ; in which the blunted limeftones 
 are very common. They are either employed in 
 mending the roads, or gathered to be burnt into 
 quick-lime. Some Italian miles before I reached 
 ' 5. Quirico, I met with the celebrated Eagni di S. 
 Filippo *. The houfes in S. Quirico were built 
 
 of 
 
 * Thefe hot fprings lye on the defcent of mount S. Fiore, 
 and depofe a fediment of fulphur and a fine calcareous porus 
 or tuphus, which ;s more or lefs penetrated by vitriolic acid, 
 or more or lefs felenidc. They are defcribed by Dr. Leonardo 
 
 Vegm,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 24^ 
 
 of travertine, a proof of neighbouring limeftone. 
 Likely they fetch this travertino from Rapolana.-. 
 
 Behind 
 
 Vegnl, in a Letter to ProfefTor Gaetano Monti at Bologna j 
 printed at Bologna, 1761, 410. Dodtor Vtgni has efta- 
 blifhed there a manufaftory, to precipitate this fine tufo on 
 medals and bas-reliefs, and to get by that means the fineft 
 impreffions. He caufes this hot incruftating water to fall 
 from on high into a large vefTel, and to break upon a wooden 
 crofs ; whereby it is feparated into drops, and diredled again ft 
 the fides of the veffel, on which all around, the medals or 
 bas-reliefs, or their mouldings or forms, are hanging. The 
 falling and breaking of the water imparts a greater impulsion 
 to its drops, and to its tufo or tartaro; which, without this 
 manipulation, would be but farinaceous, friable, and fpungy. 
 The above-mentioned agaricus mineralis, in Montagna di S. 
 Fiore, feems to be the very calcareous earth, and fubftance of 
 this fine tufo. The hills about the Bagni di S. Filippo, at the 
 foot of S. Fiore, confift likewife in this tufo and its various 
 jncruftations. Profeflbr BaldaJJari at Siena told me of a na- 
 tural white and downy fait. This he confiders as a concen- 
 trated and compaft, or rather congelated, vitriolic acid (oleum 
 vitrioli glaciate naturale), entirely pure and free from any 
 phlogifton. Filtering the hot water through red brazil-wood 
 the tufo gets by it a fine red colour. If it be precipitated in 
 glafs- mouldings or forms, itsfurfaceis extremely fmooth and 
 fplendent. By thefe principles they make not only impref- 
 fions of medals, but likewife of greater bas-reliefs ; which, 
 refembling to marble-work, are even fuperior to them on 
 account of the finer colour. Mr. Vegni has fucceeded already 
 in calling bufls of this tufo, and he foon hopes to cafl ftatues
 
 24^ TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Behind S. Quirico, the hills which arc next to 
 the place confift of a fine light yellow, fome- 
 what argillaceous lime ; then came marl hills, con- 
 tinuing to Siena. I pafled feveral arms of the 
 Or da and Qmlrone. 
 
 The foil, from Aquapendente to Siena, is, upon 
 this account, generally confiding of marl-hills5 
 under which there is certainly volcanic tufo next 
 to Radicofani. The marl has been warned toge- 
 ther, either by the above-mentioned rivers or by 
 the fea, which appears by the frequent foffil fea- 
 Jhells near S. Quirico ; and, is the more probable, 
 as towards the fea the country is ftill moory and 
 jnarfhy, being, for that reafon, called maremma. 
 The villages from S. Quirico, and even the houfes 
 jn Siena, are built of brick. The ftreets have no 
 other pavings ; marks of the want of quarries, and 
 of an abundance of clay and marl. Near the 
 
 of natural bignefs. He is next to publifh an account of the 
 works which are manufactured here. 
 
 The warm baths at Vlgnone are about two Italian miles 
 diliant from S. S>uirico. They are likewife impregnated 
 with hepar fulphuris, depofe a calcareous tufo (which fer- 
 jnenting but a little with acids is rather more felenitic), and 
 Spring in .ail probability from Montagna di S. Fiore. They 
 are defcribed in Olfer<vazioni intorao.all* acque del bagno di 
 atia. dal^D. Teofila Grifoni, Siena, 1705, 8vo. A 
 warm bath is faid to be near S. Quirico, 
 
 foria
 
 ITALV. LETTER XVII. 247 
 
 Port a Romano, at Siena , are fomej hills of a fine 
 yellow loofe fand-ftone ; which, on the other fide 
 of. the city, towards Florence, grows coarfer. But 
 the city is fituated on a marl-hill, as appears on 
 the market afcending to the cathedral church. 
 
 The Univerfity has feveral learned and cele- 
 brated Profeffors, which are members of the Aca- 
 demy of Sciences, eilablimed in former times j 
 but of late revived under the name of Academio, 
 de' Fificocritici. The library, and the cabinet of 
 natural curiofities, is common to the Univerfity 
 and the Academy. The latter has got a great 
 celebrity by the four volumes of its Tranfaclions, 
 publifhed under the title, Atti dell* Academia dl 
 Siena, 410, 
 
 The cabinet of natural curiofities was, fome 
 years ago, bequeathed to the Academy by 
 its prelident, the Profeflbr of Natural Hiftory, 
 Dr. Giufeppe Baldaflari, who collected it, and has 
 it flill under his infpection. Befides feveral Dif- 
 fertations, inferted in the Academical Tranfac- 
 tions, he has published, Delle acque miner ali di 
 Ciandano relazione di G. Baldaflari. Siena, 1756. 
 4to. ' Saggio di produzioni naturali dello Stato Sa- 
 nefe cbe fi ritrovano net Mufeo del Sr. Cav. Gio- 
 fuanni Venturi Gallerani. Siena, 1750. 8vo. lam 
 Cbrry for not having feen this collection. Offer-* 
 R 4
 
 248 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 vazionifopra il Sale delta Creta, &c. del Sr. D. G. 
 Baldafiari. Siena, 1750. 8vo. 
 
 The following articles feemed to me the mod 
 remarkable in the Academical-cabinet. 
 
 1. Coals, either bituminous wood or true coals, 
 and argillaceous flate, impregnated with petroleum, 
 lie in flats or beds under the clay and marl-hills in 
 feveral parts of Tofcana. 
 
 2. A jaw, with the teeth of an unknown ani- 
 mal, found in a marl-hill in Tofcana, and defcri- 
 bed by Mr. Baldafiari in the Academical Tranf- 
 a&ions agrees with an American jaw defcribed 
 by Mr. Guettard in his Memoirs. 
 
 3. A blunted limeftone, worm-eaten by pho- 
 lades, found in a marl-hill in the Sanefe. 
 
 4. Yellow fand-ftone, with a petrified fea-ftar or 
 afteria ; from a hill near Giufuri, a mile diilant 
 from Siena. 
 
 5. Black quartz- cry ftallizations -, either pitch- 
 black throughout, or only tinged in the furface ; 
 having eight triangular faces, or rather the form 
 and bignefs of rough diamonds 5 from monte Pul- 
 ciano. 
 
 6. Native yellow fulphur in cubic cryftalliza- 
 tions, inclofed with pyramidical calcareous fpar in 
 grey limeftone ; from S. Agatha di monte Feltro in 
 Ducato d' Urbino, in Romagna. This native ful- 
 phur refembles a yellow knotty blende ; but yields 
 
 a yellow
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 249 
 
 a yellow fulphur- powder as foon as fcraped with 
 the nail. 
 
 The private cabinet of Dr. BaldaJJari* which 
 is to be delivered after his death to the Aca- 
 demy, contains feveral remarkable curiofuies. I 
 notice, 
 
 1. Native fulphur, in a large yellow, tranfpa- 
 rent cryftal, half an inch diameter, nearly of fherl 
 or columnar form ; from S. Agatha di monteFeltro. 
 A fcarce and precious piece indeed ! 
 
 2. White and black quartz-cryftallizations, py- 
 ramidical on both ends-, (Iris nigra Aldrovandi, 
 lapis Dichonus Mercati in Metallotheca, Ingemma- 
 menti cryflallini appuntati in ambe le parti di Fer- 
 rante Imperato} ; found loofe and detached in the 
 furface of the earth in" many places of the Sanefe ; 
 fuch as, Leceto, al, bagni di S. Filippo, di Cianci* 
 ano, a Belriguardo, &c. 
 
 3. Dark-green quartz-cryftallizations in and on 
 dark- green fodjlag, or ajbeftus fibris abrupfis et 
 conglutinatis (Cr on ft. Mineral. 105), which feems 
 to have dyed or tinged them. Mr. Ealdaffari did 
 not remember pofitively, whether this rare curio- 
 fity came from monte Chrifto, or from Gigtio, two 
 fmall iflands in the Tufcan fea. 
 
 4. Blue quartz-cryftallization, from a copper- 
 jnine in the Sanefe. 
 
 'Shells
 
 250 T R AVELS THROUGH 
 
 Shells petrified into agate, in a yellow fine to- 
 phaceous fand-ftone, found in a fand-hill at the 
 Florentine gate at Siena. 
 
 6. White and tranfparent petrified turbinites 
 in a fimilar fand-ftone-, the turbinites hollow. 
 
 7. Native copper in quartz, with cryfocolla, 
 from a new-difcovered mine at Paris, in the Sa^ 
 nefe, twenty-three miles diftant from Siena, clofe 
 -to the Via confularis to Grojfctto. 
 
 8. Grey antimony in large and long cryftals, 
 covered with cryftallized native fulphur and fari- 
 naceous auripigment, from an antimony-mine, 
 Bear Per eta nella Maremma Sanefe. 
 
 9. Granite-^ the fubftance of fome hills in the 
 Sanefe. 
 
 10. Argillaceous flate, from Montagnuola and 
 Prata, in the beginning of the Maremma Sanefe, 
 xvhere it is in large hills covered with calcareous ; 
 defcribed by Mr. Baldajfari in the eleventh volume 
 of the Sanefe Tranfaclions, or in his Sketch of 
 a .Natural Hiftory of Prata. 
 
 11. Argillaceous flate, with white marble veins, 
 without any quartz ; different from the preceding 
 fpecies on account of its antiquity and pofition, 
 as being not inferior to the calcareous ftrata ; but 
 gratified in the calcareous hills hear Gerfalco, be- 
 tween that place and Prata. The micaceous
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 25< 
 
 gripes in the Greek C/po/to-marble are, perhaps, 
 owing to a fimilar pofition. 
 
 12. Micaceous (late with dendrites, from Man- 
 tagnuola prejjb la villa Cettenati, eight Italian miles 
 diftant from Siena. 
 
 13. Sand-ftone, from Rdriguc.rdo, three miles 
 diftant from Siena. 
 
 1 4. Travertine, from Rapolano in the Sanefe ; 
 produced there by the fediments of hot waters. 
 Rapolano is fitnated at the entrance of the valley, 
 called La Valle di Chiana, twelve Italian miles 
 from Siena; celebrated on account of its baths, 
 which incruftate like the Bagni di S. Filippo what- 
 ever is laid into them. 
 
 15. Serpcrtino or Gabbro, green and black fpot- 
 ted, from Vallerano in the Sanefe ; called by the 
 ftone-cutters Marmo di V alter oho. 
 
 1 6. Serpentino or Gabbro^ from Prata, is green 
 and black, or red fpotted ; commonly called Ferds 
 di Prato. 
 
 17. White fcaly marble, as beautiful and faline 
 as that from Carrara, from Montagnuola in the 
 Sanefe j the whole mountain being commonly 
 grey, it is found but in fmall blocks or lumps. 
 
 1 8. Brocatello di Siena^ a yellow marble with 
 black veins; the ground fometimes purple; but 
 burning makes the whole red coloured; dug at Af00- 
 farenti in Montagnuola, in the Sanefe ; eight Italian 
 
 miles
 
 252 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 miles diftant from Siena ; generally known, and 
 much employed in Italy. 
 
 19. Marmo tigrato di Vair di Rati, a fine fpot- 
 ted marble. 
 
 20. White handfome alabafter, and alabaftro 
 Jiorito, dug at Caftel nuovo dell* Abbate, in the 
 Sanefe. 
 
 Dr. Calluri, profefibr of phyfic at Siena, has a 
 fmall but choice collection of Natural Hiftory, I 
 noticed the following pieces. 
 
 1. A petrified fhell in a flint (fylex pyromachus), 
 from S. Cianciano de Bagni. _ S. Cafciano de Bagni, 
 in the Sanefe, is different from the precedent place; 
 and defcribed in Analifi delle aque minerali di S. Caf- 
 ciano df Eagniy &c. di Annibale Baftiani. Firenze, 
 1770, 8vo. 
 
 2. Microfcopical fhells, as defcribed and drawn 
 by Janus Plancus ; common in feveral fand-mixed 
 clay-hills, two miles diflant from Siena, on the 
 road to Florence. 
 
 3. A petrified wendel-trapp (turbo fcalaris}, a 
 fcarce and precious fnell, found in an argillaceous 
 fand hill near monte Algino in Tofcana. 
 
 4. Several univalves, comprefled and crufhed 
 by the preflure of the fuperior beds ; petrified 
 from the hiils near monte Algino. 
 
 5. White fullers earth, dug at Perfonatina near 
 Cettinale, feven miles diftant from Siena. 
 
 6. Nummi.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 
 
 6. Nummi diabolici Mercati, round and flat py- 
 rite-lamellse, from Curia? fix miles diftant from 
 Siena, on the road to Rome. 
 
 7. Magnefia, from S. Cianciano di Bagni. 
 
 8. Quartz- cry ftallizations, with an air bladder 
 and inclofed water, from the Sanefe. 
 
 9. Lamellated qnartz-cryftal, from the Sanefe. 
 The fame frequently found in Chriftina-fhaft, at 
 Shemniz, in Lower Hungary. 
 
 10. Oblique rhomboidal tranfparent gyps-cryf- 
 tals, four inches long, two inches large, called 
 fpecchio d 'Jfmo, found near Villa di Cettenali nclla 
 Montagnuola* Some are faid to double the ob- 
 jects. 
 
 IT. Large black and columnar merl, from 
 monte Chrifto, a fmall ifland near Ifola di Gigbi, on 
 the coaft of Tofcana. 
 
 12. Some copper ores and malachites, from the 
 mines near Maffa di maremma, in the Sanefe. 
 
 13. Agates, amethyfts, and quartz-cryftalliza- 
 tions, from Maremma, fome miles diftant from 
 the copper mines at Maffa\ 
 
 14. Slate, with py rite-cubes or marcafites, from 
 Rocca Strada, near Maffa di Maremma. 
 
 15. Great white argillaceous and fulphureous 
 bullets, fome of the bignefs of a man's head, 
 from monte Antico, three Italian miles diftant from 
 the baths at Petriulo in the Sanefe j defcribed by 
 
 Pinelli
 
 254 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Pinelli in his Lett era d Bagni di Petriulo* Rom 3, 
 17 id. 4to. 
 
 Dr. 'Tabaram, profefibr of Anatomy ; a cele- 
 brated man, who deferves the attention and the 
 efteem of any traveller. 
 
 Having in the defcription of profeflbr Baldaf- 
 fari's cabinet mentioned, that in the Sanefe the 
 flate is conftantly running under the limeftone, I 
 fend you Mr. Gio*ji Arduini's obfervations, made 
 in 1756, as he happened to difcover the copper 
 vein near Montieri e Bochejano, in the Sanefe, whofe 
 working and melting of copper, fiber, and blue 
 vitriol, he fuperintended for fome years. Mr. 
 Arduim has inferted in the Magazino fofcano, 
 printed at Livorno, the firfl defcription of Mon- 
 tieri, together with a map ; but this magazine 
 being dropt foon after, this Defcripfion'is incom- 
 pleat; for which reafon, the following paper. 
 which Mr. Arduim made me a prefent of when at 
 Venice, was the more agreeable to me, and will 
 be fo to you. I have only to remark upon it, that 
 Mr. Arduim 's opinion on the origin of travertine* 
 (a porous limeftone) perfectly agrees with Mr. 
 Rajfis * oil the origin of the faline marbles, which 
 
 he 
 
 * See his account of the fcdiments of the Bagni di San 
 near Radicofani, inferted in the Philofophical Trar.f- 
 
 aSicns $
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 255 
 
 he has propofed in a DifTertation prefented to the 
 Royal Society of London ; and, that the obfer- 
 ration of prifmatic cryftals in the old filver-flags, 
 feems to me very remarkable. Likely the fherls 
 in the lavas formed themfelves in the fame 
 manner. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Tran/lated from the Italian. 
 
 At Moniieri in Tofcana, in the valley detta 
 Merfa di Montieri e Bochejano, the flate is ob- 
 ferved to be inferior to the fuperincumbent lime 
 and marl. The fame is feen in many other places ; 
 as, for example, at S. Giovanni alia vena in the 
 Pifane mountains. Between the flate and the 
 ftratified lime, or marl-Hone : (as Hkewiie in other 
 places between the fame (late and a rufty greenifh 
 vitreous Galeltro, filled with fpar-flakes, which in 
 fome places covers the flate :) is conftantly running 
 and obferved a large matrix, many fathoms broad, 
 which varies on account of its conflituent foffils- 
 and materials as the fuperincumbent materials* 
 
 actions ; or rather, in the fecond, much improved, Edition of 
 his Natural Hiftory of the Earth, which is preparing for the 
 prefs. 
 
 4 This
 
 256 TRAVELS THROUOH 
 
 This matrix or large vein runs a long way in the 
 hills della Maremma y between Gerfalco e Prat a to- 
 wards Roccaftrtda : where covered with limeflone, 
 it is calcareous ; where, with Galeftro, it is moftly 
 compofed of vitrefcent materials. Upon the 
 whole, it may be confidered as a confufed union 
 of limeftone, marl, quartz, fpath, pyrites, and 
 marcafites , yellow fprinkled copper-mine, blende, 
 lead-ore with fome filver, magnefia, black iron- 
 ore, glofTy and magnetic mica, and quartz-cryflal- 
 lizations. But thefe materials are not diftributed 
 alike every where. In fome places different mate- 
 rials are predominant; for example, near Gerfalco 
 it Is magnefia; alia merfa di Bochejano, it is copper 
 and iron ; and here the matrix is almoft entirely 
 quartz, this part being covered with Galeftro. In 
 ihort, this great vein conilantly covers the flate. 
 Beyond Bolro di Cagnano alia Carbonaje di Montieri 
 (a valley defcending from the high mountain of 
 Montieri) towards the Weft the above vein appears 
 in the fummit of a hill, called Pogglo del Duca 
 Salv.ati, and it is here begins the limeftone of this 
 vein -, which, hereabout, is called travertine or 
 columbino, and is the only ftone in thefe parts 
 that yields a good white and lafting quick-lime. 
 It ;s extremely fpungy, without any regular Grati- 
 fication, deftitute of marine bodies, and entirely 
 
 refembling
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVII. 2^7 
 
 refembling the tophaceous incruftations or fedi- 
 ments of the hot-wells at S. Quirico. It begins 
 infenfibly and thinly, as it were, to run from this 
 vein down to Marfa and towards the fea, It forms 
 different hills of a confiderable elevation, and 
 is conftantly fuperincumbent on the Gate and the 
 Galeftro. It was probably produced by the long 
 runnings and precipitations of hot boiling fulphu- 
 reous waters, which fprung from this vein, and 
 from amidft the flate and the ftratified limeftones. 
 This travertino is conftantly feen further to the 
 Weft, near monte Rot.ondo and in the Volterran. 
 Near monte Rotcndo and an ancient caftle, they 
 have found even in this calcareous tophus a vein 
 of lead and fome filvcr. The fame phenomenon 
 occurs in the Montagnwla di Siena, at Montarenti^ 
 in the quarries of the Siena- Brocatello. In this 
 place rifes from under ground a flate rock, to- 
 wards the Weft covered with many vertical dip- 
 ping beds of faline-marble, among which there is 
 that of the Erocatello d* Siena. Here the traver- 
 tino, under, the above-mentioned form, feems to v 
 iffue from between the marble and the flate ; and 
 covering the flate towards the Eaft, it dips gently, 
 flpping into and under the lower plain, which is. 
 filled with fea fand, or yellowifli arenaceous Siena- 
 tophus.
 
 2^8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 The caftle of Montieri is, for a great part, 
 built upon the (lags of the ancient filver mines 
 pf Montieri. Thefe artificial flags or fcorise con- 
 tain, if broken, tranfparent prifmatical cryftalli- 
 ?ations of gypfum or felenites *. 
 
 * Similar cryflallizations in a fmelted fubftance have been 
 lately obferved by Mr. Kair in the common glafs-mafi'es, 
 which for a long while have been expofed to a violent fur.nace- 
 ifire. The glafs-mafs of thofe famples, which I have feen, is 
 of a blueifh tranfparent colour, and the cryilallixations ap- 
 pearing and produced in it are of a white colour, and in a 
 globular lamellous form, exaftly refembling the feed of Na- 
 $urtium. He has prefented an account of this obfervation to 
 the Royal Society; and, together with the above obfervaticn 
 of Mr. ArdHii)i>_ and fome of my own, it greatly countenances 
 Mr. Ferler's hypothefis on the. origin of the cryftallized (herls, 
 found in the lava?. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVIII. 259 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Florence, May 14, 1772. 
 
 ON the road from Siena to this place, I 
 obferved the following varieties of the 
 ground. 
 
 Near the Florentine-gate hills of common 
 coarfe gritty brown- reddifh fea-fand, either loofe 
 and incoherent, or hardened into arenaceous 
 ilone. A finer and yellow variety of it appears 
 beginning on the other fide of the city near the 
 Roman gate. I believe I have obferved, that this 
 fand and thefe fand-ftones are fuperincumbent on 
 the before-mentioned marl-hills, which I noticed 
 between Radicofani and Siena. I obferved in this 
 fand and fand-ftone beds, the following fmaller or 
 thinner flrata and mixtures, which fucceeded or 
 followed without any order, a. Now and then a 
 ftratum of grey limeftone, inclofmg b. A thin bed 
 of oblong and fmall oyfter-fhelk, of the fame 
 fpecies, and nearly refembling the oyfters in Gual- 
 S 2 tiqrj
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 tieri feftarum Indice^ Tab. 102. Fig. D. (. "White 
 clay in lumps, inclofed in the fand-ftone. d. A 
 mixture of fand and calcareous white mould. 
 e. Near Staggia fmall and decayed petrified {hells 
 in a yellow limeftone fomewhat fand- mixed. It is 
 obvious, that all thefe varieties in the fand-hills 
 are Owing to different ancient fedimentS of the Tea. 
 
 From Staggia to Poggibonzi and Tavernelle, 1 
 obferved either limeftone under the fahd-hills, or 
 travertino fuperincumbent on them, and probably 
 produced by the Apennine waters; or the marl- 
 iills appeared bare without any covering. Thefe 
 marl-hills confided either of ductile and tough, 
 or petrified marl, which inclofed many blunted 
 limeftones and fome fea-mells. Thefe limeftonesi 
 appeared painted with iron-dendrites ; fom? worm- 
 f aten by pholades ; fome penetrate^ and crofled 
 with, veins of black horn-flint. 
 
 From Fayer-nelle. towards Florence the foil con- 
 lifted either of thefe fand and fand-ftone hills, with 
 pyfter-fhells and incumbent travertino , or of marl.* 
 lulls with, detached limeftones ; or of grey lime- 
 Ilone, which formed fome hillocks, 
 
 Some miles before I reached Florence, I ob 7 
 feyved on both fides of the Greve-river *,; argilla- 
 
 - ceous. 
 
 * The Greve-river offered the followiag rolled blunted 
 f ones. .. 
 
 a. Grey
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVIII. 2&1 
 
 ceous flate fuddenly arifing from under ground, or 
 dipping into it, towards or under Florence, and 
 Undoubtedly under the Apennines. This (late 
 was, in the greateft vifible depth, pure and un- 
 mixed ; but in the fame proportion it came nearer 
 to the furface, it was mixed with mica; infomuch, 
 that the uppermoft ceafed to be fhivery, and refem- 
 bled rather a found macigno, as appeared in the 
 quarries near the road in monte Euoni. Now and 
 then there appeared in it frhall black argillaceous 
 and bituminous nodules. 
 
 Nearer towards Florence, above the argillaceous 
 flate which dipped in the ground, I found grey 
 limeftone, which continued to the city. 
 
 A. Grey Cicercbina, or fine-grained calcareous breccia, com- 
 pofed of globular white limeftone-pieces, fmall globular frag- 
 ments of la'/a, forne quartz-grains, and a lime-cement ; 
 mixed fometimes with green petrified argillaceous fpots ; em- 
 ployed in the marble-grinding. 
 
 t. Red Cicercbina, of a reddifli lime-cement and blunted 
 pieces of black lava. 
 
 e. Large fragments of black lava with ihclofed white lime- 
 ftone. 
 
 d. Black-white-ipotted porphyry, fimilar to the ferfitttihf 
 aer" antico defcribed in one of my Letters from- Rome ; is fail 
 to be found in fome Tufcan-hills ; as aflured to me by Mr* 
 Targiom Tozzetti, and evidenced by thefe fragments. 
 
 *. Red and brown-mixed jafper; 
 
 f. Red and brown-mixed petrified calcareous earth.
 
 2 62 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 The whole road from Siena to Florence is un- 
 doubtedly one of the moft charming in Tufcany. 
 It feems to be rather a garden walk than a read, 
 becaufe it runs between fome hills, which are 
 cloathed with olive-trees, cyprefies, different firs, 
 oaks, beeches, &c The great number of country 
 feats, old caftles, and villages, make it extremely 
 agreeable : and, to my knowledge, there is in 
 Germany nothing comparable to it, except, per- 
 haps, the country between Meiffen and Drefden t 
 which is extremely beautiful, though it be of a 
 fmaller extent, and planted with lefs variety of 
 trees and greens. 
 
 I mail at prefent continue my accounts of 
 Florence, which I began, and for a great part 
 have fent you, as on my way to Rome I hap- 
 pened to be in this place. 
 
 The Spital of S. Maria Nttova is a well-ordered 
 eftablimment ; to which is annexed a fchool of 
 phyfic and furgery, a library, an anatomical thea- 
 tre, a botanic garden and a difpenfary. Doctor 
 Ranieri Maffei, a young man of parts, teaches 
 anatomy. Abbate Giovanni Lapi is public lec- 
 turer of botany, member of the Florentine bo- 
 tanic and ceconomical focieties, and infpector of 
 the botanic-garden belonging to this hofpital. He 
 is a Ikilful botanift, and adopts the Linnean fyflem, 
 whofe excellence appears in its prefent univerfal 
 
 applaufe*
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVIII. jjGj 
 
 applaufe. Some of his publications * give great 
 credit to his parts; but thefe fhould be encouraged 
 and rewarded by a better penfion. The Floren- 
 tine country is, in a botanical refpect, but imper- 
 fectly known by Micbelfs publications, fince pro- 
 perly he has only defcribed and drawn the moffes. 
 Leontice Leant op etalon, Aldrovanda, &rc. are found 
 in Tufcany, though fcarce. The happy climate -f 
 favours the growth of exotic plants in the bota- 
 nical gardens. Melia Aredar. Callicarpa Ameri- 
 cana, and many other exotic plants, are kept here 
 in the open fields, and thrive in large trunks; 
 being in the Northern countries conftantly kept iri 
 warm-houfes, where they never grow beyond the 
 form of fickly fmall plants. If Upfal were iri 
 Tufcany or Naples, our immortal Linn^us would 
 certainly have given to Flora and its treafures > the 
 moft convenient abode. 
 
 Mr. Fabrini, employed at the Mint of Florence^ 
 is poflefled of a fine collection of minerals, (hells* 
 petrifactions, and other natural curiofideSj which 
 
 * Metodo Jicuro per diflruggere i fucciameli con alcune rtfleffioni 
 di Agricoltura di Gio. Lapi. Firenze, 1767. 8vo. Difc or/a ful 
 tflermlnio del Loglio e. d* allre pianle native. Firenze, 1767. 
 8vo. 
 
 f This appears remarkably in the unexampled Regale o^ 
 Monopoly of Ice, which, by the Sovereign^ is let to private 
 farmers. 
 
 S 4 ha$
 
 264 TRAVELS THROUG& 
 
 has been gathered by Dr. and Profeflbr XaVerif 
 Manetti. 
 
 Dr. Bartolome Mefny, a Frenchman, has like- 
 wife a cabinet ; but on account of his abience I 
 did not fee it. 
 
 The china manufactory at Doccia, four Italian 
 miles diftant from Florence, is belonging to Mar- 
 quis and Senator Lorenzo Ginort, a fon of the late 
 Minifter, who eftabhmed it, and has been a man 
 of great learning in Natural Hiftory. To obferve 
 the growth of the zoophytes, corals, and their 
 flony branches, he caufed ftrong china-plates, with 
 the dates of the day and year> to be caft in the fea 
 en feveral fhores of the Mediterranean j fuch as 
 that of Tufcany, Sicily, and Sardinia, and to be 
 fifhed up again in different times. If I remember 
 right, I have feen fome fuch plates in the Imperial 
 cabinet, or in that of the late Aulic-agent Baron 
 de Moll, at Vienna. This our common worthy 
 friend had not only got acquainted with thefe Ita- 
 lian experiments, but examined himfeif the na* 
 ture and growth of the Coralline inhabitants. To 
 this purpofe he had made a great many remarkable 
 microfcopical obfervations of the Polypes in frefh 
 water, which- are of the fame kind as the coral- 
 animalcula : and you have feen, I fuppofe, fome 
 of his engraved obfervations of thefe marvellous 
 creatures, which, being in every refpect honourable
 
 ITALY. LETTER XVIII. 265 
 
 to their author, deferve to be publimed *. The 
 prefenc Marquis Gincri is not lefs a friend and 
 connoiiTeur of the fciences. This appears, among 
 feveral other circumftances, by the goodnefs and 
 magnificent eflablifhment of his china-manufac- 
 tory, which deferves to be confidered as a pattern 
 of a manufactory of that kind. The clay, em- 
 ployed here, is fetched from Tretto in the VI- 
 centine, till they happen to find an equally good 
 one in the Florentine, which the Marquis neglecls 
 nothing to procure. In a feparate room are kept 
 in fine glaffes famples and fpeeimens of the differ- 
 ent clays, for the greater part found in Tufcany, 
 or in France and Germany, and employed in the 
 china- manufactories. The Petunfe and Kaolin 
 from China are not wanting. In fhort, this valu- 
 able collection may be confidered as 'a little cabi- 
 net of natural curiofities ; which is the more re- 
 markable, as the fcience of the earths is fo very 
 ufeful in common life, and as collections of that 
 kind are fo very fcarce. Several forts of quartz, 
 fluors, and other ftones, fit for china-work, are 
 likewife taken care of; and the whole rendered 
 more ufeful by art inftructive catalogue, penned by 
 the beft Mineralogift of this country, Mr. Tar- 
 giont Tozzetti. There are convenient furnaces for 
 
 * Baron Moll died in 1772, 
 
 the
 
 2&6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the afiays of the earths and colours. The fame 
 care is taken of the workmanfliip and its improve- 
 ment. The workmen are, for the greateft part, 
 natives of Tufcany, and fubjects to the manor of 
 Doccia. The children are, from their very in- 
 fancy, by their parents, taught painting and fculp- 
 ture after the befl models ; and, for this purpofe, 
 there is a confiderable collection of prints and 
 plaifter ftatnes and buftos. I found here a painter, 
 who, at the expence of the late Emperor, had 
 travelled with ProfefTor Jacquin to America, and 
 knew many circumftances of that voyage. 
 
 Clofe behind the magnificent buildings of this 
 manufactory is Morelto, a calcareous mountain of 
 the adjacent Apennines, bare at the top, but 
 round about its Hoping fides covered with green^ 
 fine villas, and gardens. It is to the North of Flo- 
 rence, and in winter-time now and then covered 
 with fnow. I returned from Doccia along its 
 fides, and faw by the way at Quarto a marble-faw- 
 mill, where I obferved a large block of a fpecies 
 of granites, if it may be called fo, Compound of 
 fat white and red Cornelian-coloured quartz-grains* 
 They could not tell me whence it came. At the 
 Villa dl Caftetla is a garden, which Eellonhis praifed 
 in his time as a model of good tafte. 
 
 I have feen fome marbies and flones dug in 
 
 Tufcany j
 
 ITALY. LETTER xvni. 16"] 
 
 Tufcany;. which, deferving your notice, I fhall 
 defcribe to you. 
 
 Marmo verde di- Firenze is a faint-coloured fea- 
 green marble, found in the Florentine. 
 
 Marmo bianc* e mro di Porto Ferrajo is digging 
 hear this harbour, fcarce inferior in beauty to the 
 Bianc' e nero antico. Black white veined. In thfe 
 fea near Porto Ferrajo they fifh Pinnas marinas^ 
 whofe filk, called Pelo di Gnacckera, is worked into 
 gloves, ftockings, &c. 
 
 Marmo potoerofo di Piftoja is black with white- 
 grey, and, as it were, pointed veins, refembling 
 black marble fpririkled with white duft. Fine 
 tables of this marble are to be feen in the 
 Lorenzo chapel. Generally the hills about Pif- 
 toja confift in macigno. Mr. Manetti gives fome 
 account of them in the tfiridario Florentine, 1751, 
 8vo ; but Sig. Antonio Matt ani, Profeflbr of Phyfic 
 at Pila, has defcribed them more at large in his 
 work, intituled, Delle produz'wni naturali del 
 Territorio Pijloyefe, Relazione iftorica e philofofica, 
 Piftoya. 1762, 4to. Giufeppe Matani is Profeflbr 
 of Philofophy, and a Botanifti By the Giornak 
 d* It alia, I fee that Mr. Gio. Antonio Stettanti, at 
 Piftoja, is a good Chemift and Botanift. 
 
 Verde di Prato is a ferpentine-ftone or gabbro, 
 green, with black or red and white veins, digging 
 at Prata near Piftoja, 
 
 Grarti/t
 
 208 TRAVELS THROUGri 
 
 Gfanito 'di Cortona is, as it feems to me, a grey 
 lava, with white tranfparent oblong fpots, refen> 
 bling flint, and likely of the Iherl-kind, though I 
 have tried neither. They have, of late, eft- 
 blifhed at Cortona an Academy of Botany, whofc 
 fecretary is Mr. Ludovico Coltellini. Near this 
 city they have found in the earth a contexture 
 of fine coherent fibres ; which feem to have been 
 a Conferva, and referable a yellow filk-paper. 
 Mr. Strange, whom I have mentioned in former 
 Letters, has defcribed it in a Diflertation Sopra l& 
 cart a fojjile, cleft trova preffb di Cortona. 
 
 Diafpro di Volterra is red coloured. I have 
 mentioned already the chalcedonies found near 
 that place, whofe adjacent remarkable country 
 has been defcribed at large ia the Travels of 
 Mr.Targioni Tvzzetli : Mr. Le Lorgne, Profeflbr 
 of the French language at the Academia di Nobili, 
 at Florence, has a thought of translating this 
 ufeful work into French; confining hirhfelf entirely 
 to the Natural Hiftpry of Tufcany, and leaving 
 out the diffufive hiftorical accounts, as merely 
 interefting to the inhabitants. This tranflation 
 would bear the better character, as Mr. Le Lorgne 
 is a friend of. Natural Hiftory, and has travelled 
 many times over this country. I am alike in- 
 debted to his politenefs and to his fcience. 
 
 L E T-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIX, 269 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Florence^ May 23, 1772. 
 
 THE (tones employed in buildings, decora- 
 tions, and pavings, are natural hints of 
 the nature of the neighbouring hills and quarries. 
 I have followed them at Florence*, and can accord- 
 ingly give you the following account of fome 
 quarries. 
 
 i. Cave di Macigno di Fiefole. Fiefole is an old 
 Etrurian city, fome miles diftant from Florence to 
 the North, fituated between fome macigno-hills. 
 The ruins of this place have ferved to build Flo- 
 rence in the adjacent plains. There remains at 
 Fiefole a piece of an old Etrufcan wall, confiding 
 in large fquare-cut ftones of. macigno, which are put 
 together without any cement. The prefent quar- 
 ries of macigno near Fiefole are fituated on the hill, 
 Called Ceceri, and in another over-againft to the 
 fouth-weft, called Settignano. All the other hills 
 .hereabout confift likewife of macigno, bordering 
 
 on
 
 270 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 on calcareous-hills; fuch as monte Morello, and 
 others. I have noticed already in one of my for- 
 mer Letters that macigno is a fpecies of flate, com- 
 pofed of an argillaceous earth, much mica, and 
 fome lime j wherefore it is flowly and gently 
 affected by aqua fortis. Near Fiefole the macigno 
 is in , the uppermoft ftrata (hivery or thinly-lamcl- 
 lated ; that is to fay, it confifts of fmall beds, 
 alternating with argillaceous ftrata, which are 
 called Bardelloni. In greater depth, it grows found 
 and compact without any vifible leparadon of 
 beds, fo that it can be cut into large mafTes and 
 columns, which they do by many iron wedges 
 driven into it on the fame line. Now and then 
 occur in this found macigno argillaceous nodules, 
 and very frequently little black fpots and thin beds 
 or veins of coals or clay faturated and black-co- 
 loured petroleum. The macigno appears in two 
 different colours. I. Pietra Bigia is grey-yellow, 
 on account cf fome admixed iron-ocher; com- 
 monly found uppermoft, but Ibmetimes clofe flick- 
 ing with the following variety. 2. Pietra Serena^ 
 petra columlina, or tur china, is blueifli grey ; 
 commonly ufed in the buildings at Florence, but 
 moulders away in open air, in which it contracts 
 a black colour. Many columns made of it are to 
 be feen in the church di S. Spirito. The petra 
 bigia is, on account of its ochraceous mixture, 
 
 harder
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIX. 27! 
 
 harder and more durable. It ferves in the exterior 
 parts and walls of the buildings as the pietra fs- 
 rcna in the inner parts and decorations, which are 
 lefs expofed to the air. The fuperior beds, which 
 are ftrongly mixed with clay, go here in the quar- 
 ries under the name of pietra worta, and thi$ 
 ferves in the walls of furnaces and fire-places. 
 
 2. Cave di pietra forte die Camp or a, two miles 
 diftant from Florence. The pieira forte is the 
 found, fine-grained, yellow-grey, or blueifh lime 
 ormarl-ftone; which is employed in the pavings 
 of Florence. It is found not only alls Camper a^ 
 but likewife at 5. Franc efco di Paolo in a wide-* 
 ftretching low ridge of hills, three miles diftant 
 from the city to the South- weft. The pietra forte 
 alle Campora is found generally in horizontal beds, 
 three or four inches thick, fuperincumbent one to 
 the other, but now and then, feparatcd by fimilar 
 beds of hardened clay, called Bardelloni. In thefe 
 Uft beds frequently offer little veins of calcareous 
 fpar, not above one or two twelfth parts of an 
 inch thick ; and the pitfra forte is throughout pe-, 
 retrated and glued by fpar, wherein it is remark- 
 ably different from the Bardelloni, which are but 
 argillaceous. The pietra forte before this fatu ra- 
 tion with fpar feems to have been but Bardellone-, 
 as Bardellone would have been changed into pietra 
 forte if the calcareous folution or glu.e had not 
 4 been
 
 272 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 eben hardened in the before-mentioned veins. The 
 colour of the petra forte is either grey-yellow OJT 
 blveim. Sometimes both colours offer in the fame 
 bed (laft-ra); but generally each bed has but one 
 colour, whence arifes the different denomination of 
 pletra ligia and iurcbina, ; though, in fact, they be 
 of the lame kind, and, on account of their clayifh 
 mixture, equally affected by the acids. In fome 
 beds of the petra forte, as well as the Bardellonc, 
 offers a fine mixture of mica, which proves their 
 near relation with the macigno. The macigno is 
 not only fometimes Separated by fmali- Bardellone- 
 beds, but likewife of two. different "colours, blue 
 and yellow, fomething affected by acids, in the 
 fame proportion as being more or lefs pene- 
 trated by calcareous particles. Hence it appears, 
 that its difference from the petra forte is entirely 
 depending upon- its ftronger mixture with mica, 
 which has made it a fpecies of Ardefia. 
 
 According to thefe facts, all the hills near Flor 
 rence are to be confidered as argillaceous, as really 
 in a greater depth they are a pure argillaceous 
 ilate-, which I have obfcrved in' the quarries in 
 monte Buoni> where the macigno dips under the 
 adjacent calcareous hills or branches of the Apen- 
 nines. 
 
 In and upon the Rardelloni alk Campcra are often, 
 d bls,gk;-iron dendrkes j and Micheli has. 
 
 found
 
 ITALY. UTTER XIX, 27$ 
 
 found in the pietra forte am mon's- horns, and feve- 
 ral imprefiions of plants. The plates or lamellae 
 of the yellowifh pietra forte appear in the furface 
 to be traced with lines, arifmg from thin fpar-la- 
 mellse, which crofling the (tone form rhombo'ides, 
 in which accordingly it breaks. On other fuch 
 plates appear worm-like mouldings, which Scheuch- 
 xer has defcribed under the name, Lapis Floren* 
 tinus Lumbricaria diffus. Red boles are common 
 in the fifiures and clefts of the pietra forte. Some 
 pieces of this (lone are thin-mivery and bent like 
 waves, as appears in the pavings at Florence ; 
 which, however, are as flat and even as a chamber- 
 floor ; confifting of joined plates of pietra forte, 
 which generally are broken into natural rhomboides 
 and pentagons. The weaknefs of the eyes, to 
 which many Florentines are fubjec~r., is commonly 
 afcribed to the fliining white or grey colour of 
 thefe pavings. But it is ftill more common at 
 Naples; where the lava pavings are rather of a 
 black colour. In both places fpectacles are very 
 commonly and conftantly worn. 
 
 3. Cave di Pietra forte di S. France fco di 
 Paolo. Here are likewife bardelloni between 
 the beds or plates of pietra forte, \vhich is 
 remarkably affected by acids, and crofled by 
 fpar lamellae, that form pentagons. Pn the 
 T pietra
 
 274 TRAV.E.L'S THROUGH 
 
 pietra turthina, or colwnharia, now and then arc 
 found veins and nodules of coals. 
 
 4, Cava di Pietra arenaria ml Ciardino di Eoboli. 
 The high hill, on which this garden is fituated, is 
 towards the plain of the Palace Pitti, by nature 
 cut off and (haggy. It is here that they dig a^ 
 yellow fand-ftone, which is employed in building. 
 But under and above this fand-rock is-pittra forte -, 
 accordingly this hill is diftingui(he4 only by this 
 accidental land- bed from the other Florentine-hills; 
 which, upon nearer enquiry, might offer- the fame 
 phenomenon*. The vifible beds in this hill are 
 from the. furface to the depth as follows, i. Many- 
 thin beds of > petrified clay or marie, that is to fay, 
 Bardelloni and Pietra forte bigia, which alternate^- 
 but are too thin to be employed in pavings ; 
 on the furface likewife marked by fpar-lines which 
 are rhombo'ides. 2. A bed of yellow fand-ftone,- 
 mixed with fome lime; therefore aired upon by 
 acids; and proper for building. 3. Pietra font 
 turchina r or columbina* 
 
 5. Montague di Gablro intorno Impruneta ; feven 
 Italian miles diftant from Florence towards the 
 South. The hills about Itnprunsta confift of 
 Gabbro or Serpentine- ftone> commonly thereabout 
 dug out of feveral hills, and employed in the floor* 
 and decorations of palaces and churches, as -may 
 be fecn, for example in the church of the beau- 
 tiful
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIX. 2J 
 
 tiful and great Carthufian Monaftery, three miles 
 diftant from Florence. But I have fome very 
 good reafons to fuppofe this Gabbro, near Impru- 
 9teta t to be fuperincumbent on limeftone ; for beyond 
 this monaftery arife found limeftone-hills, which 
 you afcend, till within a mile from Impruneta you 
 reach the Gabbro, on which you afcend further 
 up to Impruneta. On the hill where this place 
 is fituated, behind and fideways of it, they have 
 occafionally funk a pit in the Gabbro, and found 
 under it a grey compact limeftone with pyritical 
 nodules. Not far off, in another pit, they have dif- 
 covered a remarkably large ftratum of clay of a 
 blueifh-grey or yellowifh, which dips between forty- 
 five and feventy-five degrees, and furnifhes the 
 potters at Impruneta with the materials for their 
 pottery; which confifts of great vafes, and gets 
 reddifh in the fire. The fingular fituation of this 
 clay in and between the Gabbro, together with 
 its different mixtures, caufe feveral opinions on its 
 origin. It is fomewhat mixed with lime , accord- 
 ingly it is of the marl-kind, and it is acted upon 
 by acids. This is probably owing to the inferior 
 lime. The reddiih colour, when baked, may be 
 afcribed to a mixture of iron particles of the py- 
 ritical nodules in the limeftone. The fmall pieces 
 of felenite offering in this clay may have been 
 T 2 produced
 
 276 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 produced by the conne&fon of the pyritical ful~ 
 phureous aeid with the calcareous earth. But, a 
 great quantity of talc-glimmer, and even many 
 pieces of Gabbro offering in this clay, whicii 
 befides is uncommonly fat and talcous to the touch, 
 there is no doubt of its containing a good deal of 
 talcous Gabbro or Serpentine-earth. Has not 
 therefore this clay a fhare in the compofition 
 of Gabbro or Serpentine ? Their natural affi- 
 nity of external qualities, and their now-defcribed 
 birth-place and fituation, together with the expe- 
 riments of Doctor Stange *, leem to countenance 
 this opinion and the generality of Mineralogifts, 
 who hitherto have ranked the Serpentine among 
 the argillaceous ftones. However, I am very well 
 acquainted with the experiments of the juftly cele- 
 brated Director Marggraf at Berlin -f- j according 
 to which the Gabbro or Serpentine contains a par- 
 ticular alkaline earth, the very fame which is vifi- 
 
 * This gentleman is at prefent Profeflbr of Chemiftry at 
 W.urzburg, -and has publifhed his Experiments in a Differta- 
 tion printed at Franckford on the Oder. 
 
 f See his Demonftration of the alkaline parts of common 
 fait being an alkaline fait. Tom. I. of his Chemical Works. 
 Analyfis of the evaporated brine and its earth. Ib. Tom. IT. 
 Experimental Demonftration of the Serpentine- ftones not 
 being of an argillaceous kind. Ib. Tom. II. Account of the 
 effefts of vitriolic acids on feveral fpecies of (tones and earths. 
 Ib. Tom. II. 
 
 - ble
 
 ITALY. LETTER XIX. 277 
 
 f ' 
 
 ble in the evaporated common falt-brine, and by 
 a mixture of vitriolic acid produces the bitter 
 purging or cathartic and Epfom-falt. Should not 
 there be a means to reconcile thefe two different 
 opinions ? 
 
 The I mpruneta- Gabbro or Serpentine is white, 
 red, black, yellow, and green ; either of the fame 
 colour or variegated, fuch as yellow and red- 
 veined, black and red, green and yellow. All 
 thefe varieties are found and compaft, crolfed by 
 fmall afbeft veins, and are frequently fprinkled with 
 a greenim argentine fat talcous glimmer, which is 
 cubic as the horn-blende, but friable into a fattifh 
 duft. In the perpendicular or oblique fiffures of 
 this Gabbro, which were broad from fix to twelve 
 inches, I found the following varieties : 
 
 i. White and loofe foap- (lone, or lebes-earth. 
 
 ^. Green ditto. 
 
 3. White compact foap : ftone, or Serpentine, 
 feemed but a petrifaction of the white lebes-earth 
 f#."f'.) being either ftill friable or entirely petrifieff 
 as the Brianfon-chalk. 
 
 4. Green compaft Bacon-ftone, produced and 
 differenced as n. 3. by the petrifaction of n. 2. 
 55. Fibrous Bacon-ftone or Gabbro, refembling 
 Amiant, either white or green, either coarfe or fine 
 fibrous. This fibrous Serpentine may be, I think, 
 confidered as unripe Amiant. Between the coarfer 
 
 T 3 fibres
 
 278 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 fibres there appeared veins of white calcareous 
 fpar, which was acted upon by acids ; but in fome 
 places it was fo entirely petrified into the nature 
 of feld-fpath, that it refifted acids as well as the 
 friction of iron. 
 
 6. White Amiant, more or lefs fine and afbeft- 
 like. 
 
 7. Green Amiant, fcarce. 
 
 8. White and dry Amiant-earth, or remains of 
 
 deftroyed Amiantes. 
 
 . 
 
 The Gabbro-hills near Impruncta contain hori- 
 zontal beds of Granitom^ confiding of much white 
 feld-fpath, which is in fome places calcareous, of 
 .fome greenifli argentine cubic glimmer, and of 
 greenifh Serpentine-earth. I faw in Mr. Targioni Tcz- 
 zettfs collection, who accompanied me to Impru- 
 neta^ fome pieces of Granitone, which had been 
 found there, and were entirely deftitute of glimmer, 
 confining of large white parallelopipedons of white 
 feld-fpath, and a glue of green Gabbro-earth. 
 ^"he greenifli argentine and cubic glimmer of this 
 Granitone is friable into a fat talc-powder, and ap- 
 pears in the mafs of the flone in oblong parallelo- 
 pipedons, compound of lamella? or fmall cubes. 
 The Granitone-b$d& in the Gabbro-hills near Praia 
 are fo large, that they cut them into rnill-ftones. 
 
 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XX. 279 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Florence, June i, 1772. 
 
 IO W E you ftill the defcription of my jour* 
 ney from Bologna to Florence. Having got 
 the neceflary informations, dpecially Count 
 James Crcnfted's obfervations, which, in Mr. 
 Guettard's company, he made on that road, and 
 has communicated to me, I will now difcharge 
 ray debt. 
 
 The road from Florence to Bologna is generally 
 afcending to Monte Fraverfo and Pietra Mala \ 
 but thence iloping towards Bologna. Monte Fra* 
 verfo confifts of lava produced by an ancient vol- 
 cano. Next to Florence and Bologna are argillf 
 ceous, mivery, micaceous, or macigno and marl- 
 hills, uncovered and bare. But higher up, 
 the grey limeftone of the Apennines is fuperin* 
 cumbent on them in large beds, now and then 
 feparated by fmaller marl or clay- beds. All thefe 
 argillaceous, micaceous, and rn^irl-ftrata, on both 
 T 4 fides
 
 TRAVELS THROUH 
 
 (jdes of the Apennines near Florence and 
 together with the fuperincumbent calcareous ones 
 <jf the Apennines, are in an oblique pofition dip- 
 ping from the South-eaft towards the North-weft \ 
 that is to fay, towards Florence they are rifmg 
 above, and towards Bologna they are dipping un- 
 derneath the ground. Probably they have been 
 in .the, beginning in an horizontal pofition, and 
 got an oblique dipping by the eruptions of the 
 ancient volcano at Monte < Traverfo > raifing the beds 
 on its Northern fide, and finking thofe to the 
 South, perhaps by deftroying the combuftible 
 fubftances by which they were fupported before. 
 Count Cronftedt aflerts never to have met with any 
 marine petrifactions in the grey compact limellone 
 of the Apennines ; but herein he is certainly mif- 
 taken, having perhaps intended to fpeak of the 
 cryflalline and fcaly limeflone -, fuch as that at 
 Carrara. I have myfelf conftantly found petri- 
 factions in the grey limeflone of the Apennines 
 and feveral other Alps ; though fometimes they 
 are very fcarce, and to be found only by careful 
 enquiry. Some Alpine-beds, it is true, may be 
 deftituteof petrifactions; but then other ftrata of 
 the fame Alp will be the more filled with them. 
 
 TI-W, ' ' ' . ' ' 
 
 Two miles diftant from Florence, near the village 
 Bobera^ rifes a hill, confiftingof mouldering; argil- 
 laceous flate, micaceous fhiftus and macigno, ftra- 
 
 tificd;
 
 itALY. LETTETl XX. 2$t 
 
 tilled j which, as all the following, dipped from 
 S. E. to N. W. in nearly twenty-three degrees. 
 The fummit or back of this hill was plain and 
 flat. Here is a tile-manufactory, in which the 
 before-mentioned mouldering and Ihivery clay 
 is baked. This hill continued gently afcending: 
 two miles nearer Creica, I faw fragments of coarfe 
 calcareous fpar in the argillaceous flate, its fmall 
 beds by different mixtures coloured black and 
 red-, thefe red-coloured ones broken in regular 
 oblique cubes or rhomboides. There appeared in 
 it fmall and accidental beds of yellow feparated 
 limeftones, covered with dendrites. 
 
 Scon after the fhivery argillaceous flate, ceafing 
 to be micaceous, alternated with large grey lime- 
 fione-ftrata. Thefe hills continued to the left, and 
 role very high. They go under the narrie of tne 
 Apennine Alps j which accordingly confift of large 
 beds of grey and compact limeftone, now and 
 then, butfnot generally, feparated by fmall argilla- 
 ceous ftrata. They are never found in the higheft 
 mountains. The road going fideways from thefe 
 higher mountains, I travelled along a little brook, 
 eight miles farther j where I obferved, in the 
 calcareous ftrata, fifTures rilled and healed up again 
 by cryftallized fpar. The fame fpar offered in 
 the argillaceous beds in lumps and nodules. The 
 
 road
 
 2 o 2 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 road went over fuch a clay-bed in a plain gnd 
 horizontal direction, 
 
 Four miles toCrjaneth; where it generally afcen- 
 ded over a long ridge of hills, which being entirely 
 cloathcd with fhrubs and bufhes did not appear 
 ftratified j but oftered rubbifh and feparated frag- 
 ments cf marl-Hate and clay, with fome mica. 
 
 This rubbifh continued fourteen miles to Monte 
 Caravallo j where a fleep and bare hjll offers fome 
 beds of a coarie clay, mixed -with lime or marl- 
 fccne, which incloled mica and irregular broken 
 pieces of macigno. Theie beds are in an oblique 
 dipping pofition, oppofiue to that before-mentioned, 
 which, appearing but for a Ihort way, is a mark 
 of an accidental convulfion ; which 
 
 Two miles farther has happened in Monte Tra- 
 verfo. 
 
 This hill lies acrofs the ridge of the Apennines, 
 is extremely fleep, fplit from top to bottom, and 
 conftfts of blaclc-greenilli grey ipotted lava. Among 
 the many fcattered feparated ftones, which are 
 remains of the old eruptions, I found numbers of 
 large limeftones. Beyond Monte Traverfo towards 
 Bologna, the grey limeitone-beds appear again in 
 their general dipping pofition. 
 
 From Monte tfraverfo the road afcended fome- 
 what during four miles to Pietra Ma/a, on whofe 
 
 fummit
 
 ITALY. LETTER. XX. 283 
 
 fummit is a fiat, which is furrounded with fome 
 hills. On the (loping fide of fuch a hill towards 
 the valley, appear continual flames ; which being 
 ever to be feen, have caufed this hill to be called 
 Pietra Mala. The calcareous Apennines are to 
 the left. The flaming place is covered with earth, 
 and loofe fepc.rated lime, clay, and marl ftones. 
 Every circurnftance fpeaks a violent devaftation. 
 The whole is furrounded with grafs and corn. 
 The flaming place has properly but fix feet diame- 
 ter, and the flames appear between and upon the 
 before-mentioned ftones. The marl and clay- 
 Hones are hardened by them. The calcareous 
 ones are rather calcined and diflblved. The flames 
 are exceedingly clear, and yellowilh- white as 
 arifing from burning oil. They have a faint 
 fmell of petroleum, and depofit by its confump- 
 tiqn a fine fod upon the furrounding ftones. They 
 rife about two feet above the ground, give no 
 mark of any fulphureous acid, grow ftronger after 
 WCL weather, and fainter in dry fummers. This I 
 was afiured by the neighbouring people. Among; 
 the loofe feparated ftones of this place I obferved 
 fragments of Serpentine-ftone * aiid calcareous 
 poms or tophus. 
 
 * Mr. Guettard has found likewife Gabbro or Serpentine- 
 ftone in an old extinft volcano between Rome and Loretto. Tho* 
 I mean not hence to draw too rafli or falfe conclufions of this 
 
 (tone's
 
 284 TRAYELS THROUGH 
 
 Somewhat higher in the valley, but on the fame' 
 floping fide of the hill, is another funnel of 
 burning petroleum. It is of a larger circumfe- 
 rence, but the flames fo faint/ that they are fcarce 
 vifible by day-lighr. Farther on, at the end of the 
 valley, where the ground afcends to the higheft 
 fummit, is a fmall pool, called Aqua Euja ; 
 whofe water, though cold, feems for ever boiling, 
 on account of many air-bubbles which rife from 
 its bottom. Its furface is covered with bitumi- 
 nous oil, which catches the fire of any approach- 
 ing candle or flambeaux, and continues burning 
 till wind or rain quench its flames. All thefe curi- 
 ofities are within a circumference of about one 
 Italian mile and a half. The higheft fummit of 
 the Apennines, which I mentioned before, confifts 
 of reddifh limeftone beds, covered by large ftrata 
 of a coarfe grey limeftone, and dipping as com- 
 
 monlv in twenty-five degrees. 
 
 ,. yjctopj 
 
 This coarfe grey limeftone continued and alter- 
 nated with marl-flate till I came to Dcjano, at the 
 diftance of fix miles, where appeared ferruminated 
 or glued beds of blunted quartz-pebbles and 
 detached lime-fand, and argillaceous flate pieces/ 
 Superincumbent to thefe 1 found firft marl-flate, 
 
 flone's being a volcanic production, I have, however, no- 
 ticed this obfervation, fince no phenomenon in nature feems' 
 to me indifferent. 
 
 and
 
 ITALY. L E T T E X XX. 2$,$ 
 
 and ^afterwards fine white-grey lime-mixed ,.fand- 
 ftone, and dark- grey compact ftratified limeftone.- 
 Five miles farther, at Livergmno^ the white-grey 
 fand-ftone was covered with marl-beds and blunted 
 Draggling limefiones, of a different bignefs and 
 colour j containing a great . number of petrified 
 (hells and corals. Alternating with and above 
 them occurred beds of a coarfer limeftone, in a 
 more and more horizontal fituatipn. The lower 
 I defcended in the plain, the greater the variety 
 of the ftrata, which appeared fhorter, and to be 
 produced by leveral accidents, not to be obferved 
 in the higher and more regular hills ; which, for 
 that reafon, feem to be of greater antiquity, and 
 of a different origin. 
 
 Five miles farther, at Pianurc{ t the former white- 
 grey fand-ftone appeared again ; lower hills jcon. 
 tinued into the plain, which begins eight miles 
 off, at the gates of Bologna, and connects .with 
 Lombardy. I faw en both fides of the road 
 Urge erected {tones of a coarfe felenitic mals, 
 which is dug at S. Rofilo, and proves that there 
 has been formerly in thefe parts many folutions 
 of calcareous ftones by vitriolic acids ; whofe con- 
 comitant heat and fermentation have probably pro- 
 duced many effects, which we cannot explain. 
 
 I have made, at Rome, Florence, .and. Bologna, 
 a meteorological obfervation, which ieems to have 
 
 fdmc
 
 286 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 fome foundation in Natural Ph'ilofoph'y, and to 
 be worth your attention. The Scirocco^ a wind' 
 which blows from the fea, occasioned laft winter 
 at Rome conftantly rain and cloudy weather ; but 
 the Tramcntana, which blows from the hills, 
 brought fair weather. In fummer, after the month 
 of April, it is exactly the reverfe. The caufe 
 feems to be, that the fea, being in winter warmer 
 than the air, evaporates in that feafon more than 
 in fummer. Moreover, the hills are covered in 
 winter with fnow , accordingly they cannot eva- 
 porate , but in fpring and furhmer, as foon as the 
 fnow thaws, and in many rapid brooks rulhes" 
 down in the plains, they are fiibject to ftrong 
 evaporation. When I went from Rome by Siena 
 to Florence, I had rain and Tramontana ; but on 
 the other fide of the Alps they had the fame wind 
 and fair weather. Nearly the fame time there was 
 fair weather at Ancona, and fome rain at Bologna, 
 probably becaufe that place is fomewhat nearer 
 to the Alps'. There never is in fummer any rain 
 at Florence, except after 'Tramontana^ or North- 
 wind in the morning. 
 
 But no more of Florence. I am refolved to go 
 hence to Pifa, Leghorn, and Genoa. This de- 
 prives' me of the opportunity to fee Lucca, Parma^ 
 and Modena. Of thefe places therefore 1 ffiall 
 only tell you what I have* been told myfelf. 
 
 6 There
 
 ITALY. LEffER XX. 287 
 
 There are at Lucca fome hot wells, defcribed 
 by Jo. Bapt. Donati, Libri iv. De aquis Lucenji- 
 bus ; but beft by Profeflbr Giuf. Benvenuti's trea- 
 tife, Be Lucenjium thermarttm fate; printed at 
 Lucca, 1758^ Svo. You know that they have 
 undertaken at Lucca a new imprefilon of the 
 French Encyclopedic, with Supplements and An- 
 notations. Here is puhliihed likewife a Literary 
 Review, under the title of, Memorie di Fifica di 
 Lucca. 
 
 At Parma, the collection of Natural Curiofi- 
 ties, belonging to the Duke, is faid to be worth 
 feeing. It is under the infpecTibn of the learned 
 P. Fourcaud. The Duke^s Librarian, P. Pad- ' 
 audi, is a man of great 'learning. 
 
 At Modena,-tl\e Duke's Librarian, P. Zacca- 
 r'ta, is- -a learned Jefuit. Betxveen this place and 
 Lucca there is a new road making over the Apen- 
 nines.- P'.Bvfiowicb, who formerly lived at Modena, 
 has publifhed fome account of this road, and of feve- 
 ral mineralogical obfervations. The Salfadi Modena 
 is a remarkable fwamp in the hills near Saffuolo ; 
 where the new road is making over the Apennines 
 to Mafia di Carrara. It feems to be the exterior or 
 upper covering of a volcano, which is faid to 
 throw out fometimes earth, pyrites, and large 
 ftones. A pole may be driven or forced into it ,tp
 
 28S TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 the depth of a fathom , being taken out, the water 
 fprings with violence from the hole which it had 
 produced. Somewhat higher, following the new 
 road to the inn called // piano del oglio, there are a 
 great number of pits, in which they gather petro- 
 leum fwimming on the furface of the water. Ra- 
 tnazzini and Valifneri have defcribed the Salfa di 
 Modena. Arioflo y a relation of the poet, has like- 
 wife defcribed it in a performance inferted by Ra- 
 muzzini. Wells may be dug and found in any 
 place of the Modanefe. Ramazzini's treatife De 
 admiranda fontium Mutinenfium origtne, Mutina?, 
 1691, 410. is worth perufmg. In the hills near 
 Vignola, and in feveral other places of the Moda- 
 nefe, they find red agates, cornelians, and differ- 
 ent forts of jafper, which are exported to Mi- 
 lano. There are alfo fome copper-mines in the 
 Apennines belonging to this country, efpecially 
 Alle Pievi di Reno al Vefolo ed air antico cajtello 
 di Medola nella provincia Grafagnlana. Hills of 
 Gabbro or Serpentine not wanting. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXI. 289 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 Leghorn, June 9, 1772. 
 
 BETWEEN Florence and Pifa the road 
 goes to the left of the Arno on the Hoping 
 of high mountains ; which confift firft of ma- 
 cigno, and afterwards of black and blueifh-grey 
 limeftone, in large beds. The hot wells of Pifa, 
 remarkable for their fine fituation and magnificent 
 buildings, fpring in thefe calcareous hills. They 
 are defcribed by feveral authors. The beft and 
 mod - modern are, CocchPs Differ tazione fopra i 
 bagni di Pifa. 4 to. Trait at o de\ bagni di Pifa del 
 D. Giov. Bianchi. Firenza, 1757, 8 vo. Analiji 
 delle acqus thermali di bagni di Pifa fatte dal D. 
 Eartclomeo Mefny. Firenza, 1758, 8vo. 
 
 Mr. Targioni Tozzetti has told me, that near 
 the road between Florence and Pifa fome upper 
 ftrata in the hills confift of Breccia, which fome- 
 times contains holes with earth or duft. The hills 
 towards the fea, near Pifa, are faid to confift of 
 U marl ;
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 marl, and fometimes to contain a fpecies of lufus 
 nature, refembling trees or branchy corals, with 
 round buttons like apples flicking to the branches. 
 They are neither petrified plants nor corals, but 
 accidental concretions of marl, produced like fta- 
 ladites within the marl-hills. 
 
 The Univerfity at Pifa is diftinguifhed by many 
 learned Profefibrs. There appears at prefent a 
 Literary Review, under the title of, Giornale d 
 Letterati di Pifa. 
 
 The Obfervatory (la Specola) at Pifa is a fine 
 building. The ProfefTor of Aftronomy, Mr. I'o- 
 mafo Perelli, and his fubftitute Abbe and Dr. Slop., 
 have a reputation, which their learning juftly de- 
 ferves. 
 
 The Botanical Garden is fpacious, and kept in 
 good order. The Profefibr of Botany and Natu- 
 ral Hiftory, Dr. 2Y/#, lives in it; and has pub- 
 limed Hortum Pifanum, in folio, To his care is 
 likewife intruded the academical collection of Na- 
 tural Curiofities, kept in a fine faloon. The late 
 celebrated Steno, author of a treatife, De Soli do 
 infra Solidum, laid the firfl foundation of this cabi- 
 net, augmented at prefent by the valuable collec- 
 tion of fhells, belonging formerly to the late Dr. 
 CuaUieri at Florence. He was phyfician of the 
 court, and had the permiffion to appropriate to 
 himfelf the duplicates of the Grand-Duke's Gallery, 
 
 into
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXI. 29! 
 
 into which the cabinet of Rumphius had been in- 
 ferted. I noticed, among many other curiofities, 
 
 1. A human fkull, incruftated by a marine ani- 
 mal production, called Poms cervinus, with a 
 piece of branchy coral flicking to it; fifhed up 
 from the bottom of the fea ; and incruftated with 
 thefe coralline fubftances, as bottles and other 
 things are commonly ufed to be ; remarkable as 
 being the fame which Gaflendi has defcribed and 
 drawn. 
 
 2. Petrified corals or lithophytes in common 
 flint (Jilex), from the Univerfity of Oxford. 
 
 3. A ring of quartz- cryftal, fet in gold; con- 
 taining a hole, half-filled with water, in which 
 a fmall infecl: is obferved fwimming. I have con- 
 vinced myfelf, by repeated clofe examination, of 
 its being really an infect; which I doubted at firft 
 fight. 
 
 4. A large fine-green emerald, in a perfedt co- 
 lumnar merl-form, in quartz *. 
 
 5. Yellow round pebbles, from the Nile, called 
 Cailloux d'Egypte, hollow, and within incruftated 
 by fmall quartz-cryftals. 
 
 6. Fallow copper-ore, from fome ancient mines 
 near Seravezza in Tufcany. 
 
 * The like to be feen in the Britifli Mufeum, formerly be- 
 icnging'to Sir Hans Sloane* 
 
 U 2 7. Gin*
 
 2,02 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 * 
 
 7. Cinnabar-ore, from the fame place. 
 
 8. A large petrified echinites, comprefled into 
 an oblique form by the fuperincumbent weight of 
 the ftratum in which it was found. 
 
 9. A large turtle-fhell, with longitudinal flripes, 
 refembling the Buccimtm Harpa. 
 
 The Profeflbr of Chemiftry, Mr. Nicola Brancki 
 della Torre, has of late begun a collection of mi- 
 nerals and chemical preparations, chiefly intended 
 for his lectures. 
 
 The road from Pifa to Leghorn goes, i. near the 
 before-mentioned calcareous hills. The land after- 
 wards becomes, 2. plain, and is covered by a 
 brownim fea-fand, which continues towards the 
 fhore; but, 3. five miles on that fide of Leghorn 
 is monte Nero, where a white foap-ftone (fmeflis, 
 Italian pietra di Sarto, becanfe employed by tay- 
 lors for drawing) is digging. 4. Near the more 
 at Leghorn, are fome hills, confifting of a grey or 
 rather grey-yellowim calcareous tophus, which is 
 filled with fmall microfcopical fhells and litho- 
 phytes. The waves of the fea diffolve thefe ftones, 
 which caufes thefe fmall fhells to be mixed with 
 the fea-fand, in which Abbate Fontana has found 
 thefe microfcopical lithophytes, and fome lituites, 
 In a quarry of a fimilar tufo, near the hofpital S. 
 Jacopo at Leghorn (caya di S. Jacoto), are found 
 plenty of greater Bucardites, 
 
 There
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXI. 2pg 
 
 There are feveral coral- manufactories at Leg- 
 horn. The red corals fifhed near Sardinia are 
 ground there to beads and necklaces. They are 
 belonging to fome fubftantial Jews, and have been 
 exactly defcribed in the Giornak d' Italia. This trade 
 demands a great flock, and is carried on chiefly 
 with the Indies, Turkey, and Barbary. Some of 
 thefe beads and ornaments are fold in Italy and 
 Germany. At Bologna, the girls wear commonly 
 red coral necklaces. 
 
 Dr. Giovanni Gentili, phyfician to the Offitio 
 detta Sanita at Leghorn, has publifhed the follow- 
 ing works : Offervazioni fopra i terremoti ultima' 
 mente accaduti a Livorno. Firenze, 1742, 410. 
 Annotazioni fopra il commerzio del oglio. Firenze, 
 1754, 410. Sitologia feu de -plant is f rumen to fucce- 
 daneis. 
 
 The French Encyclopedic is printed at Leg- 
 horn, and is a fine edition, with Supplements 
 and Notes. This edition is carefully fuperintended 
 by the learned Abbe Serafini and Dr. Gonnella. It 
 feems to be fuperior to any other. 
 
 The trade of Leghorn is remarkably extenfive.- 
 Though the neighbouring ifland Elba produce 
 plenty of iron, there is, however, much Ruffian 
 and Swedifh iron, in bars, imported. But the 
 coarfeft Swedifh iron goes by Leghorn into B ar- 
 il 3 bary j
 
 294 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 bary ; the fined being exported to England -, and 
 the middle fort to Germany, Holland, and France. 
 The iiland Elba is remarkable on account of its 
 iron-mines. It is the property of the Prince of 
 Piombino, under an annual recognizance of a 
 certain quantity of iron-ore, to be delivered for 
 the Grand-Duke to Porto-Fcrrajo. The moun- 
 tains of this Ifland confifl of Granite, which partly 
 is violet and very fine, becaufe its feld-fpath forms 
 large oblong fquare cubes of a violet colour. It 
 is employed in the pedeftal of the Equeftrian fta- 
 tue before the Santiffima Anncnziata at Florence, 
 with this infcription, MAJESTATE TANTUM ; and 
 in the under incruftations in the famous Capella di 
 5> Lorenzo. The ore is not found in veins, but 
 in a large hill or mafs of folid ore, furrounded 
 with Granite- mountains. For that reafon they dig 
 it not in expenfive mines, but in open quarries. 
 It is a fact, that leveral mountains in Sweden, 
 Lapland, and Siberia, likewife entirely confifl of 
 iron-ore > and fome hills in Campiglia, and other 
 places in Tulcany, are either entirely, or in a 
 great meafure, of the fame nature. Branches 
 of thefe iron-mafles continue running between the 
 hills of Maffa di Maremma. The fimilarity of the 
 ores, and of their running, gives fome probability 
 that the Tufcan iron-hills are but branches of the 
 large iron-mafs in Elba, being to be confidercd a 
 
 its
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXI. 295 
 
 its continuations under the level of the fea ; which 
 is the more credible, as the fea carries conftantly 
 to the fnore a great quantity of feparated pieces 
 of the fame iron-ore. The iron-mafs or ftock at 
 Elba confifts, for the greateft part, of a found 
 iron-coloured ore, being either an iron-coloured 
 hematites (Cronft. Min. 201.) or magnetic ore 
 fib. 2. 10.), or load-ftone (Ib. 209.) which is 
 now and then found to be very good. Thefe dif- 
 ferent forts of ore cryftallize in the holes and 
 fifiures into different forms ; as that of ftalaftites, 
 polygones, cellular cryftallizations, or lamellated 
 and glimmeryones ; fuch as iron-glimmer or eifen- 
 mann. The fineft famplesof all thefe fpecies of ore 
 are to be had from that iiland, the ore itfelf being of 
 the fame goodnefs as the Swedifli : but the Italians 
 are greatly deficient in its melting and preparation, 
 as I have obferved in the iron magazine at Flo- 
 rence. In the fubftance of the ore offer now and 
 then fome pyrites in cubic or polygone marcafi- 
 tical cryfhls, fome copper-pyrites, whith amianth, 
 wolfram, and great quantities of white, liver-co- 
 loured, and red bolus, which is found in large long- 
 itretching fiflures, that might be called veins. Part 
 of thefe boles appear fometimes to be petrified into 
 jafper. I have feen likewife ftalactites from this 
 iiland, either -confifting of brown iron-ocher, or 
 of an iron-coloured fubftance. The ores are from 
 U 4 ffob
 
 2g6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 Ifola d* Elba exported into feveral ports of the 
 Roman and Tufcan dominions, and ibid there to 
 the proprietors of the furnaces. 
 
 The ifland of Corfica, and its natural produc- 
 tions, will be, I fancy, nearer examined by its 
 prefent pofTefibrs. Mr. Barral, a French engineer, 
 with whom I got acquainted at Naples, has 
 affured me that there are Granite-mountains j and 
 that fome other hills feem to be metallic ones. 
 
 The Verde di Corfica is no marble, but a hard 
 rock, ftriking fire with fteel, of a white fubftance, 
 with blackifh or violet fpots, and large grafs-green 
 fherl cryftals, of a fweet colour. Large tables of 
 this fine ftone to be feen in the Capella di S. LG~ 
 renzo at Florence. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXII. 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 Genoa, June 16, 1772. 
 
 1C A M E from Leghorn to this place by 
 water along a mere, which not only offers a 
 great many picturefque and agreeable rocks and 
 landfcapes, planted with olive-trees, but is like- 
 wife remarkable on account of Mafia di Carrara, 
 Seravezza, Porto Venere, Seftri di Levante, and 
 Lavagna. I went but now and then on (hore. 
 I mould have wiflied to make the whole way by 
 land, but the accounts of its nature checked 
 my eagernefs. The whole more confifts of high 
 towering calcareous rocks, extremely fteep to- 
 wards the fea, and equally rapid towards the land. 
 On the top of this ftrait ridge is a foot-path, 
 running over feparated loofe (tones, and fo very 
 fmall, that the Humbling of the mule would throw 
 one down into the fea, or over the tremendous 
 precipices on the land-fide. Every rain produces 
 in the deeper ravins of thefe hills violent and rapid 
 
 torrents,
 
 298 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 torrents, which flop or make dangerous the paf- 
 fage till they difappear again. Add to this, that along 
 this road there are but few and thofe very poor 
 inns to be met with, and a people whofe tender- 
 nefs of confcience is not at all remarkable ; I 
 fancy, therefore, you will not difapprove my going 
 by fea. 
 
 Carrara is fituated on one fide, and Seravezza 
 on the other fide of the fame mountain. The grain 
 of the Carrara-marble is cryftalline and fcaly ; that 
 of Seravezza is finer, though it be of the fame 
 origin, and in the fame fituation, as the former. 
 The Carrara- marble is either milk-white, and then 
 it is much refembling the Parian antique marble; 
 or it is grey, and then called Bardiglio or Bigio di 
 Carrara. If there be micaceous flripes acrofs the 
 white or grey, as in the Greek Marmo Cipolino, it 
 is called Cifolinacdo di Carrara. The Seravezza- 
 marble is white, purple-mixed, and extremely 
 beautiful. There are feveral varieties, which go 
 under the names of the ancient marbles, of nearly 
 the fame colours ; fuch as, Fior di Perfico, Pa* 
 vonazzo, Africano, Africano Fiorito, Mifchio 
 di Seravezza. Sometimes the white and purple-* 
 fpots are fo exactly feparated, that the marble re- 
 fembks a calcareous Breccia j in which cafe, it is 
 called Breccia di Seravezza, though properly it 
 mould be called Brocatellb. Sometimes it is black 
 fpotted. 3 The
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXII. 299 
 
 The marble of Carrara and Seravezza, and ge- 
 rally the cryftalline, fcaly, and coloured marbles, 
 fuch as thofe in the Sanefe and Genoefe, near Porto 
 Venere, &c. are found in large mafiy oblique 
 ftrata, fuperincumbent to each other, and, as far 
 as we know, entirely deilitute of petrifactions. 
 Every ftratum has its particular fifiures, which 
 commonly are filled with calcareous fpar, and 
 fometimes with quartz. At Seravezza the deeper 
 laying flate (Saffb morto) appears under the fuper- 
 incumbent marble. 
 
 The marble of Porto Venere in the Genoefe is 
 yellow, mixed with black, and extremely beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 Near Seftri, and in feveral other places, are dif- 
 ferent coloured marbles. 
 
 At Lavagna they dig black table- flate, which 
 ferves at Genoa, and thereabouts., inftead of tiles. 
 It is employed likewife in the linings of oil- 
 cifterns; and is preferable to the common in- 
 cruftations of lead or plaifter, fince the acid in 
 the oil acts upon the iead, and even upon the 
 plaifter, if it be not entirely faturatpd with the vitri- 
 olic acid. This flate is, in Italy, called La- 
 vagna, on account of the place in which it is 
 found. 
 
 Near Polzevera, in the Genoefe, is digging a 
 fort of rock, known under that name, confifting 
 
 of
 
 00 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 of Gabbro or Serpentine, crofied with calcareous 
 fpar-veins. It is red and green. But there are 
 befides feveral places in other parts of Italy where 
 the fame is to be found. 
 
 The hills near Genoa confift, toward the coun- 
 try, of a fort of macigno; and beyond Genoa, 
 on the fea-lhore and the road to Turin, of grey 
 and black ifh limefione. 
 
 There is fcarcely any thing to be faid of Genoa 
 in refpect to Natural Hiftory. It is a common- 
 wealth of merchants, more fond and curious of 
 gain than of plants and (tones. Dr. Rofmi y phyfi- 
 cian to an hofpital at Genoa, is the only Botanift 
 whom I have found there. He ftudied at Mont- 
 pelier, and keeps for his diverfion a little garden, 
 with fome plants. I faw here fome native gold in 
 imall feparated lamellae, faid to be wafhed from an 
 ore, found twenty miles diftant from Genoa in the 
 mountains. The city is built with much magnifi- 
 cence, but too clofe furrounded with hills ; which, 
 however, makes the climate as foft as that of 
 Rome. The profpects, the fhore, and the land- 
 fcapes hereabout, are unparalleled. 
 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIII. 30! 
 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 I 
 
 Turin, June 36.^! 
 
 TH E trafl of land between Genoa and this 
 place confifts of the following varieties of 
 mountains and hills. 
 
 1. Behind Genoa, grey and blackim limeftone. 
 
 2. The hills of the Bochetta confift of black 
 undulated flate, green Gabbro or Serpentine-ftone, 
 polzevera or gabbro with calcareous veins, argil- 
 laceous (late, glimmery and fplendentas fifh-fcales; 
 .and finally, of grey limeftone. Thefe ftones alter- 
 nated without any fenfible order in the fituation ; 
 and it feemed as if, in the fame hill, one part 
 confided of flate, another of Gabbro, and another 
 of limeftone. This feems to confirm that clay is 
 a condiment part of Serpentine or Gabbro, which 
 differs from the flate and its clay but by a mixture 
 of feveral other particles. The calcareous veins 
 in the Gabbro produced the polzevera near the 
 adjaceut limeftone. Some parts of the green Gab- 
 bro
 
 302 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 bro are mixed with a talcous glimmer ; for the 
 greateft part it is fat to the touch, as that ef Im- 
 prunera ; but fome there is entirely dry, and clofely 
 ferruminated with flint ; hence extremely hard, and 
 exactly refembling a fea-green jafper. All thefe 
 hills are richly grown over with cheinut-trees, very 
 high and very agreeable. They terminate near 
 Nori, and from that place the country becomes 
 plainer. 
 
 3. Near Ottacio^ and even to Alexandria^ the 
 country is covered with white hills, appearing on 
 the fides of different rivers in oblique flrata, pro- 
 bably produced by thefe rivers in former times, 
 and confiding of a fine hardened marl, mixed with 
 glimmer and fmall blunted pieces of Gabbro. 
 Thefe hills run far beyond Alexandria, though 
 they do not appear there remarkably elevated, but 
 form rather a plain well-cultivated country. Some 
 of them contained blunted detached limeftones, in 
 fo great a quantity, that they made them refemble 
 a fort of Breccia or Pudding-ftone. 
 
 4. Somewhat further near Afti, in a valley, a 
 bed of black loam or common clay appeared, on 
 which fomewhat higher is fuperincumbent the be- 
 forementioned glimmery marl, in which here- 
 abouts frequently offered fragments of marine* 
 Ihcils, efpecially of a kind, which is called Solen. 
 This plain country, and thefe marl-hills, continue 
 
 to
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIII. 303 
 
 to Turin ; nay, beyond that place to the foot of 
 mount Cenis, a calcareous Alp. Of that nature 
 is likewife the whole country, and all the hills of 
 Piedmont. Blunted rollecj pieces of Gabbro, and 
 fome petrifactions of marine bodies, are frequently 
 found in it. But befides thefe there are other hills 
 in Piedmont, calcareous and quartzous ones, which 
 are veined with fmall flripes of mica. Such are 
 the hills next to Turin ; and that fort of flone is 
 called Sarris, commonly employed in foundations 
 and columns. 
 
 The Arfenal at Turin deferves the attention of a 
 friend of Natural Hiftory and Chemiftry, becaufe 
 it contains a collection of minerals, a good che- 
 mical laboratory, a library of mineralogical and 
 metallurgical books, and well-directed furnaces for 
 calling guns. As chemiftry is of great ufe in the 
 artillery, and the principles of mining may prove 
 highly ufeful to a part of military architecture, the 
 court has been induced to make thefe ufeful efta- 
 blilhments in the Arfenal, which are calculated for 
 the inftruction of engineers as well as for that of 
 young miners. I need not tell you, that there is 
 no want of matters in the mathematical, mecha- 
 nical, an d other arts relating to tactics ; but I 
 fpeak only of what is to my purpofe. 
 
 The Cavalier Rubilante was fome years ago or- 
 dered by his Majefty the King of Sardinia to make 
 
 and
 
 304 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 and to fuperintend thefe ufeful eftablimments. 
 Some time before, he .had travelled at the expence 
 of the King with three young gentle men to 
 Germany, and efpecially to Saxony, to get there, 
 and in the Miners-academy at Freiberg, that 
 knowledge by which he and his companions were 
 defigned to be ufeful to the public. You remem- 
 ber that counfellor Gelkrt, in the Preface of his 
 Metallurgical Chemiftry, has taken proper notice 
 of thefe travellers. At their return, Cavalier Rubi- 
 lante got the commifiipn of the eftablirtiment, the 
 inspection and chair of a Profefibr in this Mine- 
 academy, together with the direction of the mines 
 in Savoy. -He caufed fome of them to be worked 
 again; and during feveral years he continued in 
 thefe different functions with great advantage to his 
 difciples. One of his companions was fent into 
 Savoy, and the two others into Sardinia, to exa- 
 mine the mountains and mines of this remarkable 
 country. A happy moment in the Natural Hif- 
 tory of thefe parts ; as about the fame time Donati 
 fpread a new light in fome other parts, and was 
 entirely bent on bringing Arabian treafures into 
 Europe ! I fhall prefently take more notice of this 
 unhappy man. But how vain are human hopes ! 
 Donati fell- a facrifice to the plague ; the un whole* 
 fome air killed the two travellers in Sardinia; ano- 
 ther difeafe made away with the third -fent into Sa- 
 voy,
 
 ITALY." LETTER XXIII. 305 
 
 voy, and Rubilantc found many reafons to prefer 
 retirement; which, proving agreeable and happy 
 to a philofophic mind, deprived the ftate of 
 an ufeful member, and the Sciences of an 
 active friend. Happily he had formed by his in- 
 ftructions a man of great merit, who is his fuccef- 
 for. This is Mr. Grafton, an artillery-officer. By 
 his commifiion he is obliged to go often into Sa- 
 voy, and might give many curious obfervations 
 on the nature of the mines and mountains of that 
 country. The collection of minerals under his 
 infpection contains many remarkable pieces from 
 the German and Saxonian mines, together witk 
 fome minerals and petrifactions from Piedmont, 
 Sardinia, and Savoy. Unhappily the number of 
 thefe laft is the lefs confiderable ; as but few- 
 mines are ftill working. I mail take notice of 
 fome. 
 
 i. Native gold in quartz, from Valle d'Aajla 
 neile vaile di Cbialland, in Piedmont. There are 
 in thefe parts feveral considerable quartz-veins, 
 with plenty of native gold, of fine-grained lead- 
 glance, containing fome filver, of pyrites, and 
 fallow copper, and filver-ore. The quartz is fome- 
 times cryftallized, which appeared by feveral 
 cryftallizations penetrated and tinged by copper- 
 azure. The brooks, which from the mountains 
 run over thefe quartz^veins, commonly warn down 
 X large
 
 306 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 large and rich gold-quartz pieces, entirely fimilar 
 in bignefs and riches to thofe of the Guinea-coait. 
 I faw in this collection found pieces of native gold 
 in quartz, nearly of the bignefs of a fift, with fome 
 fmaller ones, found in the torrent called Evanzonc. 
 Mr. Rubilante had revived the ancient works of 
 the Romans in thefe veins ; but after his retirement 
 they were dropt. 2. Red antimony, from Cbaiiland 
 at Valk fcAofta in Piedmont, fo much refem- 
 bling that of Braunsdorf in Saxony, that I rather 
 incline to believe it to be a Saxonian fample. 
 3. Green lead-ore, from Darba in Valle d'Aofta. Of 
 this kind, I faw fome years ago, in the collection 
 of Chevalier Turgot, at Paris, feveral fine fam- 
 ples uncryflallized, found, glofly, nearly tranfpa- 
 rent, and of the colour of high-green or a dark- 
 green lead-glafs. 
 
 4. Some gold-ores and fallow filver-ore, from 
 T)allangua, in Valle di Sexta, in Piedmont. 
 
 5. Pyritical and other copper-ores, from the 
 fame place. 
 
 6. Several filver-ores, with cobolt, from Bourg 
 d 'Eauecan, in Dauphins, near Brian f on. 
 
 7. Cobolt, from fome mines flill working in 
 Piedmont and Savoy. The burnt ore is tranf- 
 ported, and fold at Nurnberg. 
 
 The Univerfity at Turin has, in the noble aca- 
 demical buildings, a confiderable library, a good 
 
 cabinet
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIII. 307 
 
 cabinet of antiquities, and a collection of natural 
 curiofities, which is in no fort of order. It 
 confifts, i. of a collection of (hells and Eng- 
 lifh minerals, which the King bought from 
 his phyfician Count Carburi, at prefent living at 
 Paris. 2. A collection of fine antique and mo- 
 dern polimed marbles and hard ftones, petrifac- 
 tions, corals, zoophytes, and ibme minerals, made 
 by the celebrated Vitaliano Donati, in his voyages 
 into the Adriatic lea, before he went to the Eaft. 
 The King bought it, for the Univerfity, of 
 "Donatfs heirs. 3. Some chefts of natural cu- 
 riofities, which Dcnati^ during his travels in 
 Egypt and Arabia, ferit from Goa by the way of 
 Lifbon. They contain a great quantity of dry 
 plants, undefcribed and unexamined ; fome anti- 
 quities, inferted already in the collection, and a 
 great number of infects, corals, Ihells, and marine 
 productions. A great number of thefe corals, 
 Ihells, and marine productions, being very com- 
 mon in the Mediterranean ; and, upon the whole, 
 not at all anfwcring Donates abilities, and the 
 countries from whence he fent them ; there arifcs 
 a probable fufpicion, that thefe chefts have been 
 opened and robbed before their arrival at Turin. 
 They wen;e a long time on the road, and afterwards 
 a long while depofited at Lifbcn, unknown to 
 the court of Turin, till at laft Profeflbr Vandelli 
 X 2 gave
 
 5JO8 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 gave advice of their arrival. Befides, there ap- 
 peared not in thefe chefts any accounts concern- 
 ing Natural Hiftory, except fome notes of the 
 plants which he had fent before ; with fome fine 
 memoirs on the antiquities of the countries in which 
 he travelled, and in which he was very converfant. 
 This unhappy man was born at Padua. He 
 had an uncommon inclination to Natural Hiftory. 
 Fired by the adtivity of his genius and the quick- 
 nefs of his underftanding, poflefied of an extenfive 
 knowledge of the fea-prod actions, and blefTed with 
 a good conftitution, he was prompted in the bloom 
 of life to fo hazardous an undertaking. His 
 qualities procured to him, firft, the place of Bo- 
 tanic Profefibr at Turin, and afterwards the com- 
 miflion of the literary expedition, which, had he 
 lived, would have undoubtedly proved a great ad- 
 vantage to fcience. He was not eminent in botany, 
 at leaft when firft he was denominated Profefibr of 
 botany. This appears by many wrong denomina- 
 tions given by him to the coloured drawings after 
 living plants, which are kept in the academical 
 library, and are Hill augmenting. But it is equally 
 true, that afterwards he bent with great appli- 
 cation to this part of fcience. It would be un- 
 fair to expect that any man mould have an equal 
 knowledge in every part of the extenfive fcience 
 of nature, which is rather impoffible. The friends 
 6 of
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIII. 309 
 
 of Mr. Donati extol to this day his candour 
 and lively parts. But he had many ungenerous 
 detracting enemies, as appears by rumours in- 
 tended to ftain his memory ; and importing, 
 that he is ftill living in Perfia under a foreign 
 drefs, after having appropriated to himfelf a large 
 fum of money, defigned for his literary expedition. 
 This falfe and injurious charge is the more cruel, 
 as it blackens the name of a deferving man, 
 who, being a martyr to Natural Hiftory, mould 
 rather have been honoured by a ftatue in a hallowed 
 grove of cyprefs. If its falfhood did not appear 
 in many other circumftances, it would by the pri- 
 vate letters ; which he muft be fuppofed Co have 
 meant for his own ufe; and would not have 
 fent them in thefe chefts had he not been flat- 
 tered with the unaccomplished hope of returning, 
 to unpack them himfelf. But fp happy a fate 
 was not the doom of this Son of Nature, whom 
 fhe is ftill mourning. Donati died in Perfia, not 
 by poifon, as fpread by another falfe rumour, but 
 by the plague. The friends of fcience lament 
 his death the more, as not a fingle paper of his 
 writings and literary collections has been delivered. 
 All the expences and good intentions of a wife 
 Monarch, for the improvement of Natural Hif- 
 tory, were loft at once j and, by the fame ftroke, 
 yanimed the hopes of many who have been juftly 
 X 3 afflidecl
 
 310 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 afflicted by the fimilar fate of Forfici, Ha/elquift, 
 and Loefling. 
 
 Donati could have had no better fuccefibr than 
 Dr. Charles Allione, the prefent Profefibr of Botany 
 at Turin. He is a learned man of the firft rank, 
 equally remarkable for his extenfive knowledge in 
 the falutary art as for his perfonal character. His 
 very firft acquaintance is captivating, and his con- 
 verfation infpires friendfhip and efteem. His 
 practical bufmefs as a phyfician has not hindered 
 him from publifhing fome excellent writings * ; 
 however, it has put him under a neceffity of 
 having a fubftitute, who is Dr. Giov. Pier Maria 
 Dona, Profeflbr-extraordinary of Botany, and In- 
 fpector of the Academical Collection of Natural 
 Hiftory. The Memoirs of the Royal Society at 
 Turin contain fome valuable Diflertations of thefe 
 Gentlemen. The Botanical garden near the palace 
 Valentin belongs to the Univerfity, and is under 
 the infpection of Mr. Allione. It is well-provided 
 with fcarce Alpine plants. Proper care is taken 
 for their growth and prefervation. One of the 
 gardeners is every year fent into the neighbouring 
 Alps, to fetch the fcarceft Alpine productions. 
 
 - C. AHlonu Otyflngrapbia PeJemontana, Ejufd. Flora Ni- 
 ceajts. Ejufd. Specimen Stirpium Pcdanontanarum. Taurin. 
 1755. flora PeJemontana, to be published. Ejufd. Trafl. 
 dc millarum origins, frogreflu, natura t fe 1 curatiom, Taurini, 8iv.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIII. 3! I 
 
 Mr. Allione has himfelf an exquifite collection 
 of dried plants, infects, and efpecially, petrifac- 
 tions and minerals, chiefly found in Piedmont and 
 Savoy, though foreign correfpondence has equally 
 procured him riches from abroad. The following 
 pieces feemed to me remarkably worth notice. 
 
 1. Impreffions and petrifactions of fifties in 
 white fhivery argillaceous limeftone or marl, fimi- 
 lar to thofe of Pappenheim -, from Scappezano and 
 from Mondolfo, in the Roman ftate; alfo from 
 mount Libanon in Paleftina. 
 
 2. Nummularii, round and flat, of a form like 
 the Cornua Ammonh , from ~Daubrig in Switzer- 
 land, proving that the Nummularii are a fort of 
 (hells. 
 
 3. Petrified wood, worm-eaten by the Teredo ; 
 from the hills near Annone nel Contado d*Ajli in 
 Piedmont. 
 
 4. A petrifaction fimilar to an ear of corn; 
 near Turin. 
 
 5. Yellow fulphureous earth, or rather native 
 fulphur, in grains, mixed with fome earth from 
 Tortona in Piedmont. 
 
 6. Native fulphur in fmall lumps, from fortona. 
 
 7. FofTil wood, entirely changed into Jamellated 
 tranfparent felenites, incruftated with a flint-like 
 fubftance ; from La Morra and Alice in Piedmont. 
 
 X 4 8. PC-
 
 312 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 8. Petrified Boletus, from Morra ; alfo from 
 3n. Undoubted Boleti. 
 
 9. Petrified Agaricus, from Turin-, refembling 
 an Agaricus. 
 
 10. Iron-dendrites on common flint; from 
 England. 
 
 u. A porphyry, with white oblong fpots like 
 the Serpentino antico ; found in green jafper at 
 Monvifo, a high mountain in Piedmont. 
 
 12. Black Iceland agate, a volcanic vitreous 
 flag ; from Sardinia, where it is found in loofc 
 fragments. 
 
 13. Iron- coloured fine glofly iron-ore; from 
 Sardinia. 
 
 14. Red and brown-veined jafper; from Sardi- 
 nia, on one fide {till unpetrified, tough, red bolus. 
 
 15. Some Terra Sigillatte, of different colours; 
 from the mines in mount Nailer near Hof, in the 
 Marquifate of Baireuth, for example, from FufT- 
 puhl, where the clay contains red ferrugineous 
 horn-ftone, and red and green jafpers. 
 
 1 6. Speculum met alii cum^ or a glofly iron ore, on 
 green and red- mixed gabbro ; from Feneftrella, a 
 fortrefs in Piedmont. 
 
 17. Fine radiate white antimony; from fome 
 mountains in Piedmont. 
 
 1 8. Cobplt-ore; from Ufiei in Piedmont. 
 
 . 19. Grey antimony ; frpm Sardinia^ , ,-j^^ 
 
 20. Gin-
 
 ITALY. LETTER TXIII. 313 
 
 20. Cinnabar; from Marienberg in Saxony. 
 Extremely fcarce. 
 
 21. Sal Gemmae', from Sicily. 
 
 22. A calcareous breccia, or pudding-ftone, of 
 an alh-grey fubftance, with rofy-round fpots or 
 pebbles ; from monte Alcamo in Sicily, called brec- 
 cia rofata. 
 
 23. A fpecies of porphyry, fimilar to the black 
 Serpentine antico, of a black fubftance, with white 
 fpots ; from Sardinia. 
 
 24. Fine white clay, partly hardened into an 
 opaque milk-coloured, or white femi-pellucid flint; 
 fometimes ornamented with iron-dendrites, which 
 appears in little veins eroding the white clay; 
 from Baudt/fe in Piedmont, in the Canavefe; en- 
 tirely fimilar to the white china-clay, and the 
 white flints contained in it; which Mr. Peithner* 
 in his Mineralogy, calls Porcellanites, and is 
 found at Kaaden in Bohemia. 
 
 25. Small petrified or foflil fimple Madrepores, 
 with five points at the under part ; from the 
 marl-hills in Piedmont. Thefe hills contain many 
 fcarce, undefcribed little marine productions. For 
 the greatelt part, they are iiv Mr. AUtone's collec- 
 tion, and dcferve to be drawn and defcribed by 
 him* 
 
 26. Malachites in large lumps, flicking to cop- 
 per-azure 5 fromC0#0. 
 
 27. Pe-
 
 314 TR AVELS THRO'U.GH 
 
 27. Petrified flint-like wood, in large pieces j 
 common near Montfcrrat in Piedmont. 
 
 28. Quartz- cry ftals, of a remarkable length ; 
 from the Montagne de Chamonyx in Savoy. 
 
 29. Marmo di Gtjfino, a grey marble, fpotted 
 by petrified fhells j from Ga/mo near furin -, com- 
 monly employed in columns. 
 
 30. Bardilio di Valle di Jcri> a fine Piedmontefc 
 marble. 
 
 31. Bardilio di P<efana, of a paler colour; from 
 Piedmont. 
 
 32. Alabaftro fiorito ; from Bufca in Piedmont. 
 
 33. Verde di Sufa is a polzevera ; from Sufa in 
 Piedmont ; white and green, fimilar to the Marmo 
 Verde antico. 
 
 1 got likewife acquainted at Turin with Mr. 
 Ignazio Somis, Phyfician of the King, and Pro- 
 feffo.r of Phyfic. 
 
 P. Beccaria, a Piarift, is Profeflbr of Natural 
 Philofophy, and known abroad by his valuable 
 Treatife on Electricity, which appears at prefent 
 in a new edition. 
 
 Dr. Charles Lewis Bellardi^ a phyfician, has in 
 his Inaugural- Differtation^ printed at Turin, 1764, 
 among feveral curious phyfical objects, treated de 
 motu Plant* fenjitiva. He is a good botanift, 
 9 difciple of Dr.
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIV. 315 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Milan, July 8, 1772. 
 
 MY journey from Turin hither afforded me 
 fcarcely any opportunity of making obferva- 
 tions worth your notice. A plain, flat, well-culti- 
 vated country, with fome fwampy rice-fields, fpoke 
 the vicinity of Lombardy. The rice is commonly 
 planted in the Milanefe, about Mantua ; and in the 
 Veronefe, in the fame manner as has been defcribed 
 in Spolvermi's Poema il Rifo. The Northern part 
 of the Milanefe, bordering on the Grifon-hills in 
 Switzerland (gli Grigioni') is mountainous. Above 
 the Lago di Como, in a tract of mountains called 
 La Grigna, and in the Valle Sq/ina, are the Mila- 
 nefe mines, which inclofed in micaceous flate 
 partly yield iron ore fpeckled with copper, and 
 partly lead-ore. Many confiderable mountains in 
 thefe parts confift of Granites ; fuch, for example, 
 as thofe which Ikirt the Lago Maggiore, and the 
 delightful Borromean iflands, in the form of an 
 
 amphi-
 
 31 6 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 amphitheatre. This Granite is of a faint flefh- 
 colour, and commonly employed at Milan in co- 
 lumns in churches and cortiles. There are befides 
 around the Lago Maggiore, and other parts of the 
 Milanefe, different forts of beautiful marbles i bu,t 
 they do not take the finer polifh of feveral other 
 Italian ones. I (hall notice only the following. 
 
 A jwhite tigred marble with fmall black fpots j 
 from Lago Maggiore ; beautiful ; commonly em- 
 ployed at Milan in the altars and churches. 
 
 White (bianco e bigio), from Lago Maggiore; 
 fimilar to the pietra d'TJlria^ but coarfer. The 
 cathedral at Milan is built with it. 
 
 Black marble i from Lago di Como ; very beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 There are likewife fome fine calcareous Breccie, 
 which -the ftone-cutters at Milan call occbiettina -, 
 fuch as thofe of the Lago Maggiore and Lago di, 
 Corno, called Breccia "jecchia^ &c. But Mr. Van- 
 tklli will certainly entertain you better on the na- 
 ture of the Milanefe mountains, which he has exa- 
 mined on purpofe, and promifed to defcribe, as I 
 told you in one of my former Letters. 
 
 The Ambrofian college at Milan poflefles a nu- 
 merous library, a collection of natural curiofities, 
 fome antiquities, pictures, and other artificial 
 things. There are fome valuable and precious 
 pieces ; but the whole is rather refembling a raree- 
 
 fhewr
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIV. 317 
 
 fhew, than a fcientifical collection. Among the 
 natural curiofities, I obferved a great cryftalliza- 
 tion of fine emeralds, in the form of columnar 
 fherl, with fmaller polygon and brown flierl-cryftals 
 flicking to a matrix of quartz. Some white opaque 
 and milk-coloured pebble-flints, with inclofed water, 
 deferved likewife to be noticed. 
 
 Milan is one of the molt agreeable places in 
 Italy. 
 
 The Prime-Minifter Count Firmian poffefTes a 
 choice library and gallery of paintings, and every 
 quality to improve the arts, the fciences, and the 
 public welfare. His civility to every friend of the 
 fciences is remarkable. 
 
 The Imperial Chamberlain and Privy-Counfel- 
 lor Mr. Pietro Verri, is known by his valuable 
 Medilazioni full* Economia politico, publifhed at 
 Leghorn. 
 
 P. Paolo Frifi, a Barbanite Profeflbr of the 
 Mathematics, and member of feveral learned foci- 
 ties, is not only a deep philofopher, but a learned 
 connoifleur in many other fciences. 
 
 P. Ruggiero Giufeppe Bofcovich, a Jefuit, and 
 Profeffor of Aftronomy at the college* has been 
 long known as a fagacious aftronomer and philofo- 
 pher. He has made extenfive travels in France, 
 England, Turkey, and Poland ; and was recom- 
 mended to obferve the tranfit of Venus, when the 
 
 late
 
 3 I TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 late Englifh expedition to the South-fea was re- 
 folved on. He lately publifhed at Laufanne, Jour- 
 nal d'un Voyage de Conjlantinople en Pologne, par le 
 R. P. Jof. Bofcowich ; and his Relazione delta 
 ntiova Jtrada fra Modsna e Lucca. Lucca, 1767. 
 4to. gives fome account of the Apennines. 
 
 P. La Grange, a French Jefuit, is at prefent 
 living at Milan, and known as a good natural 
 philofopher. 
 
 Mr. Paolo Sangiorgio is a young apothecary, 
 who employs himfelf in botany and the mineral 
 hiftory of his country. I faw in his collection a 
 black vitreous lava or pretended Iceland-agate, 
 whofe native place he was ignorant of, with little 
 liars of concentric large fibres, of a green terre- 
 ous colour. He fhewed me likewife fome prints 
 of ceconomical grafles, which his father intends to 
 defcribe and publifh. 
 
 The Univerfity at 'Pavia 9 twenty miles diftant 
 from Milan, is but in it's infancy, though fup- 
 plied with fome ProfefTors of note. 
 
 Abbate Lazaro Spalanzanz, ProfefTor of Na- 
 tural Hiftory, has published, 
 
 1. Prolufio opens de animalibus Microfcopio vifi- 
 tiUbus. Mutinse, 1770, 410. 
 
 2. Prodromo d'un Opera fopra la Riprcduffioni 
 animali. Modena, 1768, 410. 
 
 3. Memorit fopra i muli de' vari Autori. 8vo. 
 
 4. Nuove
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXIV. 319 
 
 4. Nuove offer vazioni dell* azione del Cuore ne* 
 vafi fanguigni, 8vo. 
 
 5. De corporibus in aqua rejilientibus* 
 
 6. Tradozzione della contemplazione della natura 
 del Sr. Bonnet, con annotazionl. 
 
 P. Fulgentius Vitman, a Vallombrofe Friar, Pro- 
 feflbr of Botany at Pavia, has publifhed in two 
 volumes, 8vo. De medicatis herbarum facultatibus. 
 Faventis, 1770. 
 
 LET-
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Verona, Aug. i, 1772, 
 
 I WENT from Milan by Bergamo and Brefcia 
 to Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and Venice ; and 
 am in this place again on my return to Germany. 
 I need not tell you that I unwillingly part from 
 Italy. 
 
 As I have entertained you already with the 
 curiofities of feveral places in Lombardy, I fhall 
 be very concife in relating my journey from Milan. 
 Do not expect any particular account of the iron- 
 mines in Bergamafco and Brefciano. I had no 
 leifure to examine them at the expence perhaps of 
 my life, thefe parts being famous for bloody rob- 
 beries, fadly evidenced by a great many ftone and 
 wooden crofles in memory of murders committed. 
 Thefe fkirt the road every where. Perufe there- 
 fore Abbe Pilati's Saggio cTIftoria naturals del 
 Brefciano, till you come here yourfelf. 
 
 Between
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXV.' 21 
 
 Between Bergamo and Brefcia I obferved blunted 
 limeftones, and vail quantities of different de* 
 tached lavas, which prove, that to the north of 
 this country there are trafts of volcanic moun- 
 tains. Thefe lavas were : 
 
 i. Black found lava ; 
 
 2. with inclofed white gar- 
 nets; 
 
 3. Red lava, with fmall garnets and fherl-cryf- 
 tals, perfectly refembling porphyry. Large moun- 
 tains in the Bergamafco confift of fuch lava-rocks, 
 which are dug and cut there into columns and 
 chimney-pieces, felling at Bergamo under the 
 name of Sarres. This fpecies has the hardnefs of 
 porphyry. 
 
 4. Red hard lava, fimilar to the former fpecies, 
 but containing befides large white fherl-parallelo- 
 pipeds. 
 
 Behind Brefcia occurred grey limeftone- hills, 
 which belong to the Alps. 
 
 Then I obferved on the road to Verona pieces of, 
 
 1 . Sound black lava ; 
 
 2. The fame with white (herl-cryftals* 
 
 3. Fragments of columnar bafaltes. 
 
 4. Red porphyry-like lava, with white garnet- 
 like flierls. 
 
 5. Grey limeftone. 
 
 Between Verona and Vicenza 1 faw detached, 
 
 Y i Lime-
 
 22 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 "i k Limeftone of the Alps. In thefe, as com- 
 monly in the calcareous hills, occur now and then 
 fubterraneous caverns or natural grottos. A remain- 
 ing part of fuch a cavern, or rather its upper 
 covering, which refembles a bridge, is defcribed 
 in Defcrizione d'un meravigliofo pcnte naturah ne' 
 monti Veronefi. Verona, 1766, 410. 
 
 2. Black found lava; with and without white 
 garnets. 
 
 3. Spungy and porous reddiih grey lava. 
 
 4. Black found lava ; with oblong white fpots, 
 firnilar to Serpentino antico. 
 
 Between Vicenza and Padua, towards la Mira, I 
 faw detached lavas and limeftones. 
 
 Abbe Fortis> whom I noticed in one of my 
 former Letters, has quitted with the Pope's con- 
 fent his regular order, and is at prefent in Dalma- 
 tia ; where, at the expence of three Venetian no- 
 blemen, he makes obfervations on Natural Hif- 
 tory. Mr. Angela Donati, a relation of the cele- 
 brated Naturalift, and a fkilful draughtfman, was 
 for feme time his companion 5 but he is returned 
 already to Venice. 
 
 LET-
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXVI. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 Regenfburgb, Sept. 5, 1772. 
 
 T WENT from Verona through Tirol, a 
 * country, whofe old and remarkable mines are 
 better known to you than they might be to 
 a paffenger who never flopped in it. Tirol, 
 though mountainous, is however a fine agree- 
 ble and fertile tract of land. The candour and 
 civility of its inhabitants, and the clean and pro- 
 per accommodation which travellers meet with at 
 inns, recommend it to every flranger. As far as 
 Erixen t the agriculture refembled that of Italy, 
 and confided of grapes and maize, figs and mul- 
 berries, but no olive-trees. Maize is planted even 
 in the vicinity of Augfbourg. 
 
 I faw from Verona up to Cbiufa a plain flat 
 country. Cbiufa is a fteep limeftone-hill. 
 
 Behind Volarni I found calcareous hills ; firft, 
 
 white ones, whofe fragments fkirted the road ; 
 
 Y 2 after-
 
 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 afterwards red ones, with inclofed fragments of 
 Cornua Ammonis * ; and at laft grey ones in 
 large horizontal ftrata, of a fomewhat fcaly and 
 faline contexture f. Along the road and the 
 concomitant Adige-river, towards Newmark, I 
 obferved vaft quantities of loofe ftones ; as, 
 
 1. Red porphyry fpotted with white, fimilar to 
 the Bergamafco Sarres, which I. confider as a fpe- 
 cies of lava. 
 
 2. Black porphyry, with oblong fpots, fimilar 
 to the Serpentine antico. 
 
 3. Grey Granite or Granitello. 
 
 4. Between Walfhmichel and Newmark, I faw 
 fragments of the porphyry hills beyond Newmark, 
 which I (hall prefently defcribe. 
 
 To the right beyond this place, there are con- 
 fiderable wide-ftretching porphyry- mountains ; con- 
 fifting of, i. Black Porphyry, with white tranf- 
 parent round fherl-fpots. 2. Black fpotted, with 
 red feld-fpath. 3. Red fpotted white. The red 
 fpecies the fame as the Bergamafco-farres, except 
 
 This Is the common red Veronefe marble, called HkeVvife 
 JBreccia roffa di Feraita* In the fame traft they have of late dif- 
 covered a fine yellow marble, called Gia/lo di Verona. 
 
 f The msnit Bttte, celebrated ^or its plants, is of this 
 kind. 
 
 that
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXVI. 325 
 
 that the fpots of feld-fparfi have got by the action 
 of the air an opaque milk-colour ; and that thofe 
 of the porphyry hills, now under confideration, 
 confift of a flem-coloured feld-fpath, or of a vi- 
 treous tranfparent Iherl, fimilar to that which in 
 the Vefuvian lavas formed garnet-like cryftals, 
 but here appears in undetermined grains. The 
 black porphyry in thefe hills is fpotted with the 
 fame vitreous fherl, either in oblong or undeter- 
 mined forms. The fimilarity of this porphyry 
 with fome Vefuvian lavas is fo very great, that 
 even the ikilfulleft Mineralogift might confound 
 them ; and I am convinced that thefe Newmark 
 porphyries are true lavas, though I would not 
 venture any general afiertion. Another circum- 
 ftance, which furprized me, countenances this 
 opinion. All thefe porphyry hills confifted either 
 of feparated or Hill coherent rhomboidal columns-, 
 or they had, upon the whole, a tendency to fplit 
 into thefe forms, which is a quality of feveral forts 
 of bafaltes. Thefe high porphyry hills continued 
 almoft to Brandfol y and were generally cracked 
 and fplit, moftly in fquare columns, with a flat 
 oblique broken top , their form fo regular, that 
 it cannot be confidered as accidental, but as that 
 of regular cryftallized columns. The angles of 
 the oblique mTures were commonly oblique, that
 
 326 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 is to fay, the diameter of the columns was rhom- 
 bo'idal ; however, there are fome of a rectangular 
 parallelepiped form ; their length different, from 
 a few inches to above three feet Swediih meafure ; 
 their diameter fix inches and more. Many of thefe 
 columns appeared erected along the road, as the 
 bafalt-columns near Bolzena. The darknefs of 
 the night hindered me from obferving how far 
 thefe porphyry-hills continued , but I am certain 
 I obferved them about one German mile and a 
 quarter along the road between Newmark and 
 Brandfol. 
 
 The next morning I found near Brandfol flate 
 mountains, partly argillaceous mixed with glim- 
 -mer, that is to fay, gneifs, partly quartzous. 
 Jn fome places I obferved found dark-coloured 
 horn-Hate, penetrated with iron. Then fucceeded 
 fome mountains, which confifted of grey, found, 
 opaque quartz, fprinkled with fmall black, or 
 blackim-green fherl-cryftallizations. Afterwards 
 gneifs, or horn-flate hills, which continued to 
 Brixen. Detached Granite is common near the 
 roadi 
 
 Beyond Brixen, mountains of grey Granite or 
 
 Granitello appeared, confiding of quartz mixed 
 
 with mica or glimmer, either in lumps and ipots, 
 
 or in crofiing itripes, The fcld-fpath in it is fcarce, 
 
 J if
 
 JTALY. LETTER XXVI. 327 
 
 if any*. Then fucceeded micaceous or glimmer / 
 horn-flate, in fome parts fpotted with fekl-fpath 
 
 and 
 
 * No part of Mineralogy is lefs cultivated tlinn that of the 
 mountain-rocks (SaxaJ, though it be undoubtedly of great 
 importance in exacl and fcientifkal rrinera!ogicnl rbfer- 
 vations. Every defcription of a country is attended wi h 
 great difficulties ; and too often we are at a lofs for pro- 
 per exprefiions, which arifes from the want of juft claflifica- 
 tion, knowledge, and denomination of the rocks, which do 
 not generally differ but in the various mixture of their conili- 
 tuent parts. Many rocks, either compound or ferruminated 
 (Cronjied's MimraL 258.) are Hill without any name, and 
 fome others have fo many and undetermined ones, that they 
 are by no means to be underftood. For example, Granite, 
 Hornftone, Horn Hone-rock, Horr.berg, Korn-flate, Geftell- 
 fiein, are undetermined names, end for that reafon very often 
 confounded '\nd mifapplied. Granite properly confifts of 
 Qaartz, Feid-fpath, and Mica, or Glimmer; but Ibmetimes 
 the fame name is given to a rock, which contains not afirgle 
 fpark of Feld-fpath. This fpecies fnould rather be called 
 Hornberg or Hornftone-rock. If the Mica or Glimmer- 
 ftripes in it be very near one to another, fo as to make it fhi- 
 very or lamellated, it is called Geftel-llein, on account of its 
 being employed in fupport (Geftelle) of grates and fire- 
 hearths. However, it is common to apply this very name too 
 to the coarfe micaceous Hcrn-ftone rock, for want of a better 
 fpecies applied to the fame ufe. The names of Horn-itone 
 and Horn-llone rock are like wife given to fome pebble-flints 
 (pttrofelices); nay, Profeflbr Wallerius has given them to an 
 indurated clay, which in fome veins Ikirts the ore (faattand), 
 Horn-ihte is the proper denomination cf a rock, confining of 
 Y 4 Quartz
 
 328 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 and the before-mentioned grey Granite, which 
 here contained white opaque fpots of feld-fpath, 
 Thefe rocks, being but varieties of grey Granite, 
 continued alternating beyond Sterzing. 
 
 Beyond Sterzing appeared mixed with the for- 
 mer rocks a fhivery limeftone, which mixture pro- 
 duced a blueifh-grey hard limeftone ; then fol- 
 lowed a pure, white, and fhivery limeftone ; again 
 horn-flate, and fo on without any vifible order. 
 
 Beyond Brenner ', a poil-ftage in Tyrol, I ob- 
 ferved ftraggling, i. Argillaceous flate of a green 
 colour, with calcareous veins. 2. Black and green 
 gabbro, with white calcareous veins, or rather 
 polzevera. 3. Greenifh quartz, with fmall red 
 garnets. 
 
 Quartz and Glimmer, or Mica, thoroughly and internally 
 blended, fo as not to be diftinguilhed by the eye. Often a 
 good deal of clay is mixed in the fubftance of thcfe rocks. 
 Till we have better claffifications and determinations, I have 
 aid down the preceding ones, for the moft part agreeing with 
 ,our German and Swedifh Mineralogifls and Miners. It was 
 merely to be imderftood, and to underfland myfelf. Conftantly I 
 have employed thefe names in this fcnfe. They may be inconve- 
 nient ; and the rocks which they are meant to indicate may be 
 perhaps but varieties on account of the mixture of their con- 
 ftituent parts, which I do not queflion ; thefe denominations 
 are, however, neceffary and ufeful in mineralogical and oro- 
 log'pal defcriptioni. 
 
 Behind
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXVI. JSp 
 
 Behind Infpruck occurred low hills of ftratifie 
 friable and compacter limeftone j its colour light- 
 grey or blackifti-grey, with calcareous veins. 
 Gently they afcended into higher hills of large 
 grey calcareous beds, which between Nefereit and 
 Lermos formed calcareous Alps, of a remarkable 
 elevation. Clofe to Lermos is a fteep calcareous 
 Alp, called the Sonnenfpitz, or the \Yetterfiein, in 
 which a lead and Giver-mine, called Silberlcuthen, 
 is working. 
 
 Beyond Fuefien towards Augfbourg the country 
 . is plain and flat. 
 
 Near Augfbourg I faw blunted and detached 
 pieces of black porphyry, with white oblong fpots. 
 The fame to be found near Munich, and the con- 
 vent Varenbach, on the Inn. In Bavaria are very 
 commonly found large detached pieces of grafs- 
 green quartz, or rather emerald-matrix (Cronfted's 
 Mineral. 73.) with red tranfparent garnets, 
 which at Munich they miftake for Granite, and 
 work into fine muff-boxes and other trinkets. 
 
 Some hills about Regenfburgh are calcareous ; 
 towards Bohemia they confift of Gncifs and Gra- 
 nite. I faw here, near fome mills on the Danube, 
 quantities of fquare-cut grey Granite, fpotted with 
 large parallelepiped of milk-coloured feld-fpath. 
 You are acquainted already with Dr. Shejjer's 
 
 works, 
 
 *
 
 330 TRAVELS THROUGH 
 
 works, and with his and fome other collec- 
 tions of natural curiofities at R.egenfburgh. 
 
 All along the way from Italy through Tirol 
 to this place, I pafled over calcareous, then 
 fchiftous, and at lad aver Granite-hills ; and from 
 t^e higheft tract of this country, which confifts of 
 Granites, I defcended in the fame but reverfed 
 order, over fchiftous and at laft over calcareous 
 hills., in the low'er parts of Bavaria. Remem- 
 ber, that the fame order of rocks and ftones 
 is obferved in the higheft European mountains ; 
 fuch as in the Carpathian hills, the Saxonian ones, 
 the Hartz, in Silefia, in Switzerland, in the Py- 
 renees, in Scotland, and in Lapland ; and it 
 feems to be a fair conclufion, that the higheft, 
 deepeft, and moft ancient mountains, hitherto ob- 
 ferved, confift of Granite, fince that rock conftantly 
 appears in the higheft tracts of mountains above the 
 other fuperincumbent and adjacent ones ; that the 
 argillaceous Schiilus or flate, whether pure or 
 mixed with quartz and mica, that is, whether 
 a gneifs or horn-date, is immediately incum- 
 bent on, or adjacent to, Granites i and that lime- 
 ftone, and other mixed ftone- and earth-ftrata, 
 are conftantly accumulated on this (late, or Schiftus- 
 ground. 
 
 This,
 
 ITALY. LETTER XXVI. ^33! 
 
 This, my dear Friend, concludes my obferva- 
 tions on the Natural Hiftory of Italy. You will 
 pardon my involuntary errors. I mould be happy 
 in any opportunity to corredt the laft, and to im- 
 prove the former. This would lead me again into 
 Italy 5 
 
 Vbofe hallowed ruins better pleas' d to fee t 
 'Than all the powp of modern luxury. 
 
 INDEX.
 
 t 333 1 
 
 N D E X. 
 
 ADRIATIC Sea 
 
 increafes, and its level heightens, p. 32, 33. 
 jtna y accounts of this volcano, 116, 117, 
 Africano antico^ marble, 215. 
 . fiorito antico, marble, 215. 
 
 AfrofelinO) Florentine name of Gypfum, 88. 
 Agate in China clay, 55. 
 
 Seems to be deftitute of petrifactions, 58. 
 
 Petrifactions of and in agate (or rather of a hard fpar) 
 73 250. 
 
 Vefuvian, 139. 
 
 Iceland. See Lava vitreous. 
 Agnano (Lago a"*), ancient volcano, 126. 
 Alabafter oriental antique. 
 
 Its feveral varieties, 221. 
 Alabaftro orientale Jlorito^ 
 
 brown and white, 221. 
 ii. . ' ' " tartarucatf t 
 
 brown- veined, 220. 
 Allans (Lagoa")t 
 
 ancient volcanic crater, 1 8 1 . 
 
 Motttc, ancient volcano, 181. 196. 
 
 Allaz-
 
 334 INDEX. 
 
 Albazzano, is at Siena fynonymous to limeflone, 88. 
 Allerefc, fignifies in the Tufcan idiom limeftone, 88. 
 coltellino, fpecies of faline limeftone, 88. 
 
 AUjcrino, dendritical Florentine marble, 86. 
 Aldrovandf 3 manufcripts, 72. 
 Attione (Chart.) at Turin, 310. 
 
 AlpS) are calcareous Gratified mountains, and mattered by vol- " 
 
 canic eruptions, 20. 
 Their beds and petrifactions, 39 42. 
 
 Alum produced in volcanos, 64. 
 
 Produced iu day faturated by fulphureous acid fleam*, 
 167. 
 
 Oie at Tolfa is argillaceous, and produced by fulphureou* 
 
 fleams, 208, 209. 
 Amianth, Vefuvian, 139. 
 
 In Serpentine-flene fiflures, 277. 
 Antitnony, 
 
 Cryftallized and covered with cryftallized native fulphur, 
 250. 
 
 Vefuvian, 142. 
 
 In lava, 65, 245. 
 Antique marbles and ft ones. 
 
 Their varieties and modern names, 215. 
 Apennlne mountains. 
 
 Calcareous, 76, 278, 279. 
 
 Petrifactions fcarce, 279. 
 
 Railed by the eruption of monte Trawrfo.^ 278. 
 Arduini (Giov.) at Venice, 23, 24. 
 
 His fyitem of the mountains, 3$. 
 
 Hypothefw
 
 INDEX. 335 
 
 Hypothefis on the volcanic origin of china-clay and bo- 
 lus, 54. 
 
 Account of the mountains at Montleri, 255. 
 Hypothefis on the origin of the Travertino, 255. 
 Arcluim (Pictro) at Padua, 14. 
 Argillaceous Jlones. 
 
 Some produced from lava changed and affected by fulphu- 
 
 reous acids, 166. 
 See Barddloni, 
 Horn-flats^ 
 Mica, 
 
 Serpentine-Jlonc t 
 Slate. 
 
 Arlcchlno antico, or di Seme Santo marble, 215. 
 Arfcnic, red, native, Vefuvian, ig. 
 cryftallized in the Solfatara, 169. 
 
 in Serpentine-ftone and its fiffures, 85, 90, 277. 
 See 
 
 j4Jbes (volcanic). 
 
 Stratified, 127, 28. 
 Varieties about Vefuvius, 158, 159. 
 Mixed with fherl polygons, 162. 
 Effervefce with acids, 162, 63. 
 AJbes (volcanic). 
 
 See F~olcanlc productions* 
 Piperino. 
 Pozzulana, 
 Tufo. 
 
 tj never found on Vefuvius, i65.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ancient \-olcanos, 126. 
 B. 
 
 Bacon-Jlone in Serpentine- ftone fifTiires, 277. See Steafilts. 
 
 BalJaJjciri (Gluf.) at Siena, 247. 
 
 Baldo (monte), 20, 21. 
 
 Bardi^lio di Carrara, grey marble, 298. 
 
 Bardclloni indurated clay beds, alternating with limeftone, 271* 
 
 Bafaltes columnar or prifmatlcal. 
 
 At monte Catajo near Padua, i . 
 
 In monte Bello, 6z. 63. 
 
 At Bolzena, 238. 
 
 In OT0/0 ^t Diavolo, 62, 63. 
 
 Ronca, 62, 63. 
 
 ^^, 62, 63. 
 
 $. Lucca, 62, 63. 
 
 Is cryftallized hard lava, 60, 61. 
 
 Is a fpecies of fherl rock, 148. 
 
 Contains (herl cryftallizations, 230, 231, 232, and lime- 
 {tone, 241. 
 
 Ufed by the Ancients in ftamp-mills, 239. 
 
 Bafaltes occidentalis 
 
 Ufed at Rome, is a black compact lava from monie Albany 
 
 199. 
 Bajaltes orientalis 
 
 Is in fubftance, hardnefs, colour, and nature, entirely 
 refembling to the Italian prifmatical Bafaltes and harder 
 lavas, 230. 
 Its varieties, black, grey, green, 231 233*
 
 INDEX. 337 
 
 Some fpecies, mixed with diflblved Granite, feem to have 
 
 been produced by water, 230, 31.33. 
 Bafalte fedoccbiofo antico. 
 
 A fpecies green-fpotted Bafaltes, with white fherl points^ 
 
 2 33- 
 
 Bafft (Ferdinando) at Bclogna, 73. 
 Batarra (Giov. Ant.) at Pumini, 68. 103. 
 Beaume (Mr.) 
 
 Theory of the clay confirmed at large by the fulphureoxis 
 
 acid ileams in the Solfatara, 168. 
 Beccaria at Turin, 314. 
 Bellardi (Cbarl. Lewis) at Turin, 314. 
 $ello (monte) a Bafalt-hill, 62. 
 Berico (montc) a volcanic mountain, 10.. 47, 
 Biancbi (D. Giov.) 289. 
 Bigio antico. Marble, 215. 
 3'fotald (P.) at Graz, 6. 
 
 Bolca (monte) marino-volcanic mountain, 2 1 . 49- 
 Bolus. Arduini's opinion of its origin, 54. 
 
 red, in the fifl'ures of calcareous pietra forte, 273, 
 i-' a red vein with copperas in lava, o. 
 
 a vein croffing the iron rock in Elba, 295. 
 
 is the fubftantial earth of jafper, 295. 312. 
 
 Bolzena Bafalt-hill, 238. 
 
 Bones (foffil) 
 
 human, from Gherfo, (which, on nearer examination, art 
 
 found to be fheeps bones) 27, 
 > . .- of an unknown animal, 248, 
 Borgbefe (Villa) 
 
 plaftic marble, 100.'
 
 33 8 INDEX. 
 
 Borgia (MoHJtgnore) at Rome, 211. 
 Sorgo vicariale di Mala 
 
 a volcanic crater, 53. 
 Bofcovicb (P. Rugg Giufeppe) 
 
 at Milan, jry. 
 
 Bottari (Bartol.) at-Chiozza, 66* 
 Sottis (Gaetano) at Naples, 1 08. 
 Bovi (Rocco) at Naples, 108. 
 Bozza (Ficenzo) at Verona, 22. 
 Breccia, Italian name of variegated fpotted marble, 215. 
 " is properly the name of" a ftony fubllance, compofed 
 
 of ferruminated fragments and pebbles. 
 is at Milan generally called Occhiettina, 316. 
 
 j4fricana, feems to be lava brecciata, 2, 
 
 ' calcareous, fuperincumbent on limeftone, 7. 
 
 produced by lava and calcareous fragments, 52. 
 
 Dorata antica, marble, 215. 
 
 Pav onazza antica, marble, 215. 
 
 Rofataf am -grey, with roly-coloured round fpots, 313. 
 
 di Seme Santo antico, marble, 215. 
 
 di Seme Santo di Sette bafi antico, marble, 218. 
 
 di Seravezza, white, purple-fpotted marble, 29^, 
 
 Silicca antica, pudding-ftone. 
 
 Its different antique fpecies, 222. 
 " Slee Ciccrcbitta and 
 
 Marmo pavonazzo Irecciato di 1'unga.ra. 
 Brcndola, petriifaclions and volcanic productions, 47. 
 Srdccatello, name of variegated fpotted marbles, 215. v 
 Brcccatello di Siena, yellow and violet m.arble 2 20. 
 " " di Spagna, marble, 219, 
 
 SroccateUone antico, marble, 216. 
 
 ' Cofa
 
 INDEX. 239 
 
 c. 
 
 'Calabria, its Natural Hiftory rather unknown, 115. 
 
 Calamine (white) produced by Blende diflblved in vitriolic acid, 
 
 and precipitated by lime, 39. 
 Calamlta bianca, Italian name of white bolus, 88. 
 Calcareous mountains and beds of various antiquity and ori- 
 gin* 36- 
 
 The loweft ftrata in the Alps contain but few petrifac- 
 tions, 40. 
 Their metallic veins appear but in their loweft beds, and 
 
 produce in the Alps lead, copper, filver, 44, 4$. 
 Their fiflures often filled with volcanic materials, 45. 51. 
 Calcareous ft ones. 
 
 See Bagni di S. Fillfpo. 
 Confetti di Ttvol!. 
 Cicercbina. 
 Flints. 
 Incruftations. 
 Lime/lone. 
 Lumbricaria* 
 Macigno. 
 Marble. 
 Marl. 
 Qfteocolla. 
 Piefra forte. 
 Spar, 
 fravertino. 
 
 Chalcedony. 
 
 . . I, . ... (enlydros), or nodules, with water-drops, produced 
 Z * ia
 
 340 INDEX. 
 
 in a matrix of volcanic aflies and tufo, near VI- 
 cenza, 1 9. 
 
 Chalcedony is a parafitical {tone, produced by water in volcanic 
 
 matrices, 56 58. 
 
 found in beds and ftrata, 83. 
 " unripe, a mixture of foap-ftone in Serpentine-beds, 
 
 related nearly with Jade, 89. 57. 
 .... in Tofcana, 268. 
 
 - in Iceland, 57. 
 
 Calluri (Dr.) at Siena, 2^2. 
 De Camalaali (monti) volcanos, 127. 
 Camincr (JLll%ab.) at Venice, 29. 
 Canncllo (antico) marble, 216. 
 Carburi (Count Marco), 
 
 at Padua, 15. 
 Carrara. 
 
 Marble quarries, 292. 
 
 white 
 
 .. g re }"> fardigliO) or llgio di Carrara , 298. 
 
 ftiiped with naica, Cipolinaccio ell Carrara, 298. 
 
 Catajo {monte), 
 
 an ancient volcano. 
 
 See Lava and Bafaltes, 
 Caverns (fubterraneous) 
 
 in limeflone rocks, 11.322. 
 
 Ancient volcano, 126. 
 
 China day. 
 
 A pyrous earth, found near Bergamo and Tretto, 32. 
 Mixed with flate, quartz, and mica, 54. 56. 
 
 ' According
 
 INDEX. 341 
 
 According to Mr. Arduini, produced by aqueous volcanic 
 eruptions, and confifting of fine diflblved Hate, 54. 
 
 Commonly mixed with flints, jafpers, and agates, 55. 
 
 According to Mr. Ferber, produced from volcanic afhes 
 and fames, faturated by fulphureous acid, 166, 
 
 Produces flints, 313. 
 
 China manufaftory at Venice, 32. 
 
 At Doccia, near Florence, 264. 
 Cicercbina. 
 
 Calcareous breccia, with lava fragments, 88, 89. 240. 
 
 261. 
 Cinnabar 
 
 in volcanic produftions and lava, 64. 243. 
 CipollazKo antico, marble, 216. 
 Cipollinaccio di Carrara, marble, 298. 
 ClriUo (Domingo) at Naples, 105. 
 
 Clay, 
 
 produced from vitrefcent earth and fulpliureous acid, 166. 
 produced from lava and fulphureous acid, 16^. 236. 
 burnt and deprived of its vifcidity, can be made vifcid 
 
 again by fulphureous acid, 167. 
 a condiment part of Serpentine- ilone, 301. 
 
 See argillaceous ftones. 
 Bardelloni. 
 Cicercbina. 
 Granite. 
 Macigno. 
 Mica. 
 Porplyry. 
 Slate, 
 
 Z 3
 
 INDEX. 
 
 China-clay. 
 Bolus. 
 
 Clvfn manufcripts, 87. 
 
 Coal beds in the more modern mountains, 46. 
 
 . furrounded by lava, 52. 
 
 - in limeilone, 274. 
 
 Cobalt, its ufe and preparation known to the Egyptians and 
 Romans, 102. 
 
 Coccbiy 289. 
 Coltettinl (Ludovico), 
 
 at Cortona, 268. 
 
 Confetti dl Tivo!t, 192. 
 
 Copper ore in a vein of red bolus in lava, 65. 
 
 - Vefuvian, 142. 
 
 Corals 
 
 afFecl: to be petrified in flint, and often found fo, 5, 
 . red, manufactory at Leghorn, 293. 
 Corner (Marco), 
 
 Biihop of Vicenza, 18, 19. 
 Corjica, foffils, and Natural Hiftory of, 296* 
 Cortinovif (P. Mar cello) at Bologna, 7$. 
 Cotoncllo antico, marble, 216. 
 Cottunnio (Domenico) at Naples, 109. 
 Creazzo, petrifactions, 47. 
 Crocodile bones petrified at Favorita, 48. 
 CrvftattizationSy 
 
 produced by fire in artificial flags and glafs-mafles, 258, 
 Cryjlallus enlydros t 
 
 with water-drops, and an infecl: fwimming in water, 291^ 
 
 Qzirkniz (lake) in Crayn, u. 
 
 4 J)efmare?s
 
 INDEX. 
 
 D. 
 
 Defmarefs 
 
 hypothec's on the origin of prifmatical Bafaltes, 61. 
 Diajpro antico. See Jafper. 
 Ji Foltera. See Jafper. 
 
 i i di Sicilia. 
 
 a wrong denomination of a Sicilian marble, 219. 
 
 Diavolo (monte di) t a bafalt-hill, 63. 
 
 Diminution or Jinking of the fea level, ill fupported by the Au- 
 thor, 32. 
 
 Doccia. See Cbina-manufaElory. 
 
 Dona (Gio. Pier Maria) at Turin, 310, 
 
 Donatl (F~italiano)i 304. 
 
 his collections made in the Adriatic Sea, in Egypt and 
 Arabia, at Turin, 306. 
 
 his life, 308. 
 
 * dies by the plague in Perfia, 509, , 
 
 Elba (ifland) iron-mines, 294. 
 JHeftricity. See 
 
 Sberl 
 TurmaJine. 
 Volcanic eruptions. 
 
 tuiks and bones, near the Lugo di TraJlmeM*, 
 and in other parts of Tufcany, 87.
 
 < I N D E X* 
 
 Elephant tufk in volcanic tufo, 204. 
 
 S. Elmo volcano, 127. 
 
 Emerald in a columnar cryftallized form, like (herl, with Iherl- 
 
 cryftals in quartz, 317. 291, 
 _ matrix, green, with red garnets, wrongly called 
 
 Granite, 329. 
 
 Euganean hills volcanic, 15. 17. 
 Eumecide, Tufean name of Breccia, 88, 89. 
 and of other objects, 89. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fabrini at Florence, 263. 
 
 Farfetti (Filippo) at Venice, 16. 34. 
 
 Favorita petrifactions, 48. 
 
 Feld-fpath in Granite, red, violet, and white, 226, 227. 
 
 conftantly in cubic, lamellous, or undetermined 
 
 forms, 227. 
 
 in Serpentine- ilone fiflures, 278. 
 
 S. Filippo (Bagni di) 
 
 on monte di S. Fiore, which is volcanic, 244. 
 Their calcareous porus or fedtment, and D. F'egnis rnanu- 
 fadory, 24^. 
 
 FiordiPerficO) or Perfechino axtico, marble, 21 6. 
 S. Fiore (Montagna) volcanic, 242. 
 Fiorito antico, marble, 216. 
 
 Fijhes Jjying, and BraJHiatt ones, petrified in monte Solca, 21. " 
 petrified in white argillaceous flate, at Pappenheim, Scap- 
 pezano, Mondolib, and mount Liban, 311, 
 
 Pi/urti,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tiflitres. See Caverns. 
 
 Metallic Veins* 
 
 Feins. 
 Flints in calcareous beds, 41, 42. 49, 50. 194. 
 
 in calcareous beds, with petrifa&ions, 59. 25 2. 
 
 in china-clay, ij. 
 
 in white clay, 3 1 3. 
 
 in green porphyry, white, 225. 
 
 See Calccdony. 
 
 green, in Serpentine-Hone, 302. 
 Fontana (Felice) at Florence, 79. 107, 108. 
 Fortis (Alberto) at Venice, 26. 322. 
 Frankenberg, in Heffe, jafper, 58. 
 Frafcati, volcanic hills, 1 95. 
 Frijt (P. Paolo) at Milan, 317. 
 Fungus Melitenfis, or Sanguinaria^ 94. 
 
 Gallro. See Serpentinc-Jlone. 
 Polzevera. 
 
 G. 
 
 s, Italian name of Smectites, 89. 
 Garnets (red) 
 
 in green fparry ftierl, 7. 
 . - in green quartz, or emerald-matriy, 329. 
 
 v in micaceous flate or gneifs, their common matrix, 149, 
 (white). See Sbcrl-crv/lallizations* 
 Gagliani (Marq.) at Naples, 107. 
 Gauro (monte) volcano, 127.
 
 346 INDEX. 
 
 Gentili CD. Giov.) at Leghorn, 293. 
 
 Gcftelljlein. 
 
 A variety of Horn-Hone or Hornberg, nearly related to 
 
 Granite, 327. 
 
 Geyfer's hot fpouting wells at Laugafel in Iceland, 57. 
 Giallo annulate antic o^ marble, 217. 
 
 antico t marble, 217. 
 
 Irecciato aniico^ marble, 217. 
 
 e nero antico, 217. 
 
 . pagUocco antico^ marble, 217. 
 Ginanni (Conte Franc.). 
 
 At Ravenna, 68. 
 Glnori (Lorenzo, and Marquis). 
 
 At Florence, 264, 65. 
 *?. Giovanni Ilarlone^ 
 
 Bafaltes and petrifactions, 49. 63. 
 Gold wafhed in the Genoefe mountains, 300* 
 
 native in quartz, from Pal d?AoJla t ^05* 
 
 Gomberto (Caftell) 
 
 Petrifactions, 47. 
 Gimidla (Dr.) at Leghorn, 293. 
 Gojlar; flints in ftratified limeftone, 5 
 Grafio-n, at Turin, 305. 
 Grancona petrifactions, 48. 
 La Grange (Padre) at Milan, 318. 
 
 Granite, Prince S. SeverJs erroneous opinion of its being an old 
 artificial flone, 112. 
 
 conftantly under the ancient flate beds, the deepcil and 
 
 moft ancient rock hitherto obferved, 37. 330. 
 = its difference from and relation with Granitello, Horn- 
 berg,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 347 
 
 berg, Hornfcls, Geftellitein, and Horn-flate, 227. 
 
 3 2 7- 
 Granite, its conitituent parts, 226. 
 
 " varieties, antique, oriental, and occidental, 226229. 
 
 -- colours, grey, black and white, red, violet, green, 
 
 226 229. 
 
 (grey) with inclofed fragments of black porphyry, 
 
 228. 
 
 -- with {herl inftead of mica, 228. 
 
 ' " (grey) a fpecies refembling grey lava,, 156. 
 " - (di Cortona) feems to be grey feva, with oblong 
 
 tranfparent fpots, 268. 
 
 (red) with white and red coloured quartz refembling 
 
 cornelian, 266. 
 
 (violet) from Elba, 294. 
 
 - furrounds the iron mountain in Elba, 294. 
 
 " diflblved or in ilripes found in fome oriental Bafaltes, 
 
 " is confidered by fome learned men in Italy as a fpecie* 
 
 of lava, 
 
 Granitello, a fpecies of Granite, 227. 
 Granitone, Italiaa name of a ftratified rock, alternating with 
 
 Serpentine-ftone beds, and confifting of white fcld= 
 
 {path and green mica or talcous earth, 90, 278. 
 Grifdini (Francefco) at Venice, 29, 
 Groita del cane, 176. 
 Gttaltieri (Dr.) at Florence, 290, 
 GmttareTs hypothefis on the origin of Bafaltes, 61. 
 
 (gry) lamellous, with native fulphur and impreflions of 
 
 plants, 70.
 
 34 INDEX. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hanover* 
 
 Tonniefberg near Wetbcrgen, and its remarkable petrifac- 
 tions, 59. 
 
 HeUotropio. See Jafper. 
 
 Herculaneum buried under petrified afhes or volcanic tufo, 129. 
 Hornberg. See Hornftone. 
 Hornblende, its fimilarity with fherl, 228, 
 . in oriental Bafaltes, 252. 
 
 Horn-Jlate, a mixture of clay, quartz, and mica, entirely dif- 
 
 folved and blended into one Ihivery fubftance, 6. 327. 
 Hornfione (Petrojilex), 
 
 a mixture of quartz and mica, 327. 
 
 (grey) with an impreffion of a Cornu dmmon'u, from 
 
 Cerlgo, 27. 
 
 the name of Hornftone erroneoufly, but very often, 
 given to flints and lilicious Hones, 327. 
 list wells, 
 
 in a volcanic ground, in Iceland produce white pot- 
 
 ftone and Calcedonies, 57. 
 
 in a volcanic ground a' lagni di S. Filippo depofit a 
 fine calcareous porus, 245. See Travertine. 
 
 Hydria. 
 
 Mercurial mines, 8 10.
 
 INDEX. 349 
 
 I. 
 
 produced by petrified Bolus, 295. 312. 
 in china-clay, $$. 
 
 in volcanic countries, common and Gratified in large 
 
 beds, 83. 
 
 petrifactions (whether any) extremely fcarce in Jaf- 
 
 per, 58. 
 petrifactions in Jafper noticed, 14. 
 
 i " a Belemnites in Jafper, 84. 
 
 fiieils in Jafper, 27. 
 
 (Antique, or) 
 
 Diafpro Sanguigno ofia Hetiotrcpio, green and red fprink- 
 led. 
 
 ' fiorito reticeflate, 221. 
 
 (green) feems to be flintified Serpentine-ftone, 302. 
 (red) on one fide ftill unpetrified Bolus, 312. 
 
 di Volterra^ 268. 
 
 ( red and white-veined) 
 
 in large ftrata and blocks at Barga, 83. 
 at Frankenberg, 83. 
 in Montagna dl Montieri^ 8a 
 Iceland. 
 
 Agate. See Lava. 
 
 Calcedonies, ftratified as parafitical ftones in a volcanic! 
 
 matrix, 57. 
 
 Geyfers at Laugafel, hot fpouting wells, 57.
 
 35 o INDEX, 
 
 Igiada, Italian name of Jade, or flintified green Sme&ites, 90. 
 Imprumta, Serpentine -ftorie quarries, 274. 
 Incniflations calcareous. 
 See Confetti di Tivoli. 
 
 Porus. 
 
 Tophus. 
 
 (Travcrtino. 
 
 InolitO) Italian name of gypfura^ 91. 
 
 In/eft, included and fwimming in a cryflallus enhydros, 291. 
 
 Iron in Lavas, 64. 
 
 .1 native, 14, I . 
 
 fand, black, cryftallized, and magnetic, in the Vefuvia* 
 
 tufo, common in volcanic countries, 1 30. 
 . ore, from Vefuvius and ^Etna, 142. 
 n. , large mountains confuting of iron ore, 294. 
 Jfcbia (Ifland) volcanic, 127. 177. 
 
 Lapl (Giov.) at Florence, 262. 
 
 Lapis Bononienfa, a phofphorefcent felenhical fpar, 71^ 
 
 Laftra, Italian name of a flone ftratum, 272. 
 
 Lava, a ftone, produced in the volcanos from foffil fubftanceSj 
 
 fmelted by fubterraneous heat. 
 contains iron, 64. 
 
 and acciden-ally other metals, 4, 
 
 lead ore and Blende, 65. 
 
 filver ore, 65. 
 antimony, 6$.
 
 INDEX. 351 
 
 , a fiflure or vein, croffing a lava rock, filled with bolus, 
 copperas, and magnefe, 6. 
 
 often found in the fitfures of limeftone rock, 45. 51. 
 
 nay, often between the calcareous beds, 51. 47. 49. 
 
 its hard fubftance, though vitreous and hard, and its 
 black or grey colour, by fulphureous acid fleams of the 
 Solfatara changed into white and aluminous clay, 16^. 
 
 236. 
 its form. 
 
 a. Pointed irregular prifmatic. See vitreous Lava. 
 I. Columnar prifmatic, under calcareous marine beds, 
 
 49- 
 
 See Bafaltcs. 
 
 c. Globular concentric, 236. 
 d. Cubic and rhombo'idal. 
 
 See Porphyry. 
 
 - Its varieties, fubjtance, mixture^ colour. 
 A. Vitreous, erroneouily, and commonly called Iceland 
 
 agate. 
 j. Black. 
 
 a. $>emi-tranfparent y a perfect glafs. 
 
 from Iceland, naturally fplit into irregular 
 
 pointed prifms, 158. 
 
 1. "Black and dark, a perfect glafs. 
 from monte Caiajo, 15. 
 from Sardinia, 312. 
 
 from Ifchia, 177. 
 
 from Montagna di S. Fiore, 242. 
 
 from Vefuvius. 
 
 a. With hexagonal white fherl cylinders, '1^7, 
 
 158. 
 0, With white fherl ftari. 
 
 7. With
 
 35* INDEX. 
 
 >y. With white garnet-like fherl polygoiis, i^j t 
 
 158. 
 & With lingle white fherl flakes, from Hecte 
 
 in Iceland, 158. 
 
 2, Blue t as iron flags, from the Euganean mountain's, 27; 
 
 3. Green, from Vefuvius, 157. 
 B. Stony. 
 
 I. .Z?/rfo, cotnpaft, called &/? and occidental Ba/ahes, 199. 
 
 See Bafahes. 
 
 In the Euganean hills, 17* 
 \nmonteCatajo, 15. 
 
 In Vefuvius and other Italian volcanos, i 4. fe 5 paffim. 
 This black and compaft Lava appears often in columnar, 
 prifmatical, and globular forms, 49. 236. & paffim. 
 Its varieties. 
 
 1 . With white garnet-like polygon flierl, from Vefu- 
 vius, 137. 154, i#. 
 
 2. With flriated fherl-cylinders, or Stangen flierl, from 
 Vefuvius, 155. 
 
 3. With white 
 
 4. With gre'eri 
 
 5. With yellow hexagonal flierl prifms, from Vefu* 
 \ius, 1^5, 156. 
 
 6. With green 
 
 7. With yellow hexagonal pyranndical ftierl prifms,' 
 from Vefuvius, 156'. 
 
 8. With amethyiline or violet truncated ; and 
 
 9. Wi'h pvramidical fherl prifms, near Oftia, 189. 
 Jo. With black h< xagonal fherl lamella;, from Vefu- 
 vius, 155. 
 
 i i. With black flierl points, from Vefuvius, i$. 
 ^2. With hard black vitrification's, called Pictre O6-' 
 fdianc, from Vefuvius, 156. 
 
 13. Lawi
 
 INDEX. .. 5$ 3 
 
 JLa<va 
 
 13. With green cryfolite-like hard vitrifications, from 
 Vefuvius, 156. and from monit Catajo^ i. 
 
 14. With yellow vitrifications, from Vefuvius, 156, 
 H. Grey. 
 
 Compact and porous, rough and fandy to the touch, 
 
 refembliiig fome fpecies of Granite, 156* 268. 
 In the Euganean hills, 17. 
 
 1. With black hexagonal fherl prifms, from Veu- 
 vius, 156. 
 
 2. With black fherl lamellae, from Vefuvius, 137, 
 156. 
 
 3. With white garnet-like fherl, 157. 
 
 4. With rifled fherl columns or cylinders, from Ve- 
 fuvius, 157. 
 
 5. With black fherl points, from monte Catajo, i_j. 
 IIL White and wbitf/h. 
 
 In the Euganean hills, 17. 
 On Vefuvius, 156. 
 IV. Red, compafl, and porous. 
 In the Euganean- hills, 17. 
 
 1. With white fherl garnets like porphyry* 3-21-, 
 
 324* 
 
 From Vefuvius, 157. 
 From Bergamo, 321. 
 
 2. With rifled fherl cylinders or Stangen-fherl, from 
 Vefuvius, i 7. 
 
 3. With white fherl flakes, from Vefuvius, 157. 
 
 All thefe red varieties much refembiing porphyry , 
 157. and feem to prove that porphyry is a fpe- 
 cies of Lava, 222. 22-6. for porphyry, or the 
 compact red Lava, has a tendency to cryitallize 
 A a M
 
 JJ4 INDEX. 
 
 Lava. 
 
 as the black harcler Lavas, and breaks in cubic and 
 rhomboi'dal forms, 325. 
 See Porphyry. 
 
 V. I. Greeny in Montagna di Lavagno, and near Ena and 
 
 Recoaro, 3. 
 a.. Green and grey-fpotted at monte Traverfo, in the 
 
 Apennine mountains, 282. 
 Lovagna, Italian name of flate, 299. 
 Lead ore in Lava, 65. 
 . green , uncryibllized, femi-pellucid, from Val d'Aofta, 
 
 305. 
 
 Leles, produced by volcanic hot-wells in Iceland, 57, 58. 
 Licafroy Italian name of Wolfram, 91. 
 Lighting, nocturnal of the fea, 67. 
 Lime/lone, ^ratified with marine fliells, fuperincumbent o* 
 
 flate, 4. &pajfo t 15. 
 
 fuperincumbent on and above fand-ftone, 274. 
 
 . changed by nodules in flint, 260. 
 
 MI - runs under Vefuvius, 139. 
 .. . (white) from Vefuvius, 139. 
 
 Vefuvian, with flierl. 
 See Sberl. 
 
 (grey) called Aiberefe, 88. 
 (faline) called Aiberefe cotellino, 88. 
 See Lumbricaria, Pietra forte^ Porus, Marlle } Tra^ 
 ^ Confetti di Tivolu 
 
 New fpecies difcovered by P. Vio, 26. 
 Lovegxo (Montagne di) volcanic crater, 53. 
 l,umachella, antlca^ marble, with petrified Ihells, IIQ. 
 
 Lum-
 
 INDEX. 35 
 
 Lumachella caftracana antica, marble, 220. 
 Lumbricaria, a name given by Scheuchzer to a fpecies of Flo- 
 rentine Pietra forte^ 273. 
 
 M. 
 
 o) fignifies at Bologna yellowifti fand-ftone, 72. 
 
 an argillaceous (tone, confining of mica, clay, and 
 
 fome lime, 91. 270. 
 
 nearly related with argillaceous flate, 261. 
 
 Mafic i (Ranieri) at Florence, 262. 
 
 Magnetic, black iron fand in the Vefuvian afhes and tufo, 1 3. 
 
 Mojo (Raimondo) at Naples, 163. 
 
 Malta, Fungus Melitenfis, or Sanguinaria, 94. 
 
 Manetti (Sig.) at Florence, 95. 
 
 Manganefe in Lava, 65. 
 
 Maratti (J. F.) at Rome, 187. 
 
 Marble, the c^ftalline and fcaly white, in general, and thofe at 
 Carrara, Seravezza, and the Genoefe, in particular, are 
 ftratified, and never contain any petrifaiflions, 299. 
 
 Marble, 
 
 (white cryftalline andfealy). 
 
 Its fiffures in the quarries at Carrara and Seravezza filled 
 with calcareous fpar and quartz, 299* 
 
 Superincumbent on flate, 299. 25. 
 
 . of Carrara and Seravezza, the common white, 
 
 298. 
 
 the grey Bardiglio, orBigio d- Carrara, 298. 
 
 Striped with mica, called Cifolinaccio di Car- 
 rara, 298. 
 
 A a 2 MarUe
 
 35& INDEX. 
 
 Marlle (elaftic) in the Villa Borghefe at Rome, 100.' 
 . (Bianco e nero di Porttferrajo) 267. 
 Pavonazzo brccciato di Tungara, near Valdagno t 50. 
 Polfverofo di Piftoja, 267. 
 Verde di Firenze, 267. 
 
 See Breccia. Brocatcllo di Siena. Antique marbles. Afri- 
 cano. A&erino. Arkchino. Bigio. Brocatello di 
 Spagna. Cannello. Cicercbina. Cipolazzo. Cipollino* 
 Cotoncllo, Fior di Perjico. Piorito axtico. Giallo. 
 Nfro ; Occbiettina ; Occhio di Pavone ; di Pernice . 
 Paejino ; Palombino ; Paragwie ; Paro ; Pavonazzo ; 
 Pccordlo; Perfecbino. Porta fantti. Porte Fenere. 
 Puricbiello. Rez&iato. Rojfo. Seme Santo. Sera- 
 vezza ; Scrpentclo. Sttte la/i. Statuario. Travcrtino* 
 Tungara. Vendurino, Verde antico. 
 Marcajife, that name by P. La Torre erroneoufly given to Lava- 
 
 hills, 122. 
 
 Mare morto, ancient volcano, 126. 
 
 jMarggrafs, at Berlin, new difcovery of a particular alcaline 
 earth in the Salt-brine, and in Serpentine and talcous 
 ftones, 276. 
 Uarojlico (Cajlello di). 
 
 On a volcanic crater, 53. 
 Marjigli (Count) manufcripts, 72. 
 Marjlli (Giov.) at Padua, 13. 
 Martini (Ant.) at Valdagno, 1 8. 
 blatani (Giuf.) t 267. 
 Mattani (Ant.) at Pifa, 267. 
 
 -m\ nes, 
 
 at Hydria, in flate throughout impregnated with Mercury, 
 8 -10. 
 
 At
 
 INDEX. #7 
 
 At Almaden in Spain, 9. 
 At Zweybruck, 9. 
 
 In the Palatinate in Germany, 9, 10. 
 Mcfny (Bartol.) y 289. 
 Metallic Veins. 
 
 No probability to meet with any in Lava- rocks, 64. 
 Scarce any in the more modern and uppermofr. ftrata and 
 
 mountains, 47^ 
 
 In calcareous rocks, commonly lead-mines, 34. 
 In the calcareous Alps or beds, feem to be ramification! 
 
 or thofe in the more ancient and deeper flate, 44, 45. 
 Commonly run between the flate and the fuperincumbent 
 
 or adjacent hanging of calcareous rocks, 37, 38. 
 Common in flate, 37. 
 Mica, in china clay, 32. 54. 56. 
 in Serpentine-ftone, 8$. 
 in Vefuvian calcareous {par, 
 white tranfparent, 
 
 argentine, 
 
 yellow, 
 green, 
 
 blackifli, 140. 
 
 in calcareous Itones, 272. 
 See Garnets* 
 Granite* 
 
 Michel? s manufcripts, 86. 95. 
 Minafi (P. Maflro Antonio), 
 
 At Naples, 106. 
 Mineral Water, 
 
 Common in volcanic countries, 163. 
 A a 3
 
 35 8 INDEX. 
 
 Mifeno Cape. 
 
 Volcanic tufo-rock, 128. 
 
 in Montagna di S. Fiore, which is volcanic, 242. 
 
 Monteccbio (Colli di). 
 Petrifaftions, 47. 
 
 Monti (Cajetano) at Bologna, 73. 
 Moretti ( Saver io Fernando ), 
 
 At Florence, 94. 
 Morgagni (Giov. Bat.) 
 
 At Padua, 16. 
 Mountains and Stone-beds, 
 
 According to Mr. Arduinis opinion. 
 
 1. Primitive, confifting of (late, 36. 
 
 2. Sccundary, confifting of ftratified limeftone, with 
 fome petrifa&ions ; fuch as the Alps and Apennin* 
 mountains, which are accumulated on flate, 36. 
 
 3. Modern (or Teriiarii), lower hills, confiiHng of 
 thinner limeftone- clay- marl- and Sand-ftone-beds, 
 with petrifactions; which are to be confidered as 
 decays of the more ancient mountains, 36. 46, 
 
 4. Volcanic, accumulated on the former. 
 " . Entirely confifting of iron ore, 294. 
 
 
 N. 
 
 Jfapbta, not found on Vefuvius, 160. 
 
 DiNemi (Logo) old volcanic crater, 1 8 1. . 
 
 Nero (antico) marble, 217,
 
 INDEX. 359 
 
 Nero t bianco (atttico) marble, 217. 
 
 di Prate, black Serpentine-Hone, 86. 
 
 Nijita, volcanic ifland, 137. 
 
 Nummukrii and Lenticular ii^ marine petrified (hells, 46. 311. 
 
 Nuovff (Monte) volcano, 127. 
 
 O. ... .; 
 
 ' 
 
 Ochiettina, name of Breccia, 316. 
 Occbio di Pavone antico, marble, 217. 
 ' di Per nice antico, marble, 217. 
 Qlfidiana pietra, volcanic vitrification, 56. 
 Oriental and Occidental Stones* 
 
 Precarious diftinftion, 228. 
 Cfteocolla t calcareous incruftations, 191* 
 
 Ottajano, part of Vefuvius, 126, 
 
 ./.-- . 
 
 . . 
 
 d ,3rtitnuom msi 
 P. 
 
 t marble, 86. 
 Painters clay, green, of monte Baldo, 21. 
 Paleftrina, volcanic aflies, 194. 
 Palombino antico t 217. 
 Pantena (Valle) vdcanic crater, 53. 
 Paragone antico^ marble; 217. 
 
 A a 4
 
 360 IN D E X, 
 
 Paragons di Bergamo, marble, 217. 
 
 Parajitical Jlones, of volcanic matrices, 19. 56, 
 
 Paro (antico) marble, 217. 
 
 Pajfiri, at Pefaro, 68. 
 
 Pavottazzo antico, marble, 217. 
 
 Paufilippo, volcanic tufo, 128. 
 
 Pecorello, or Pecorella. antica, marble, 2 1 7. 
 
 Perelli (T'ommafo) at Pifa, 290. ; 
 
 Perfecbino anticho, or Fior di Perfico, marble, 216. 
 
 Petrifactions* 
 
 Of marine bodies in Lava, 49. 
 Of exotic productions. 
 See Crocodile. 
 Elephant, 
 Fifties. 
 
 At Verona and Vicenza, 47. 
 See Berici mantes ; - . 
 Boka; Brfndola' t 
 Creazzo ; Comber to Cajltl; 
 Grancona j 5. Giov. Ilarione j 
 Favorita ; Lconedo ; Colli 
 di Monte cchio ; Rccoaro ; 
 Ronca ; S. Fido. 
 See Agate; Jafper\ Flinty . 
 
 Petroleum, not found QII Vefuvius, 1 60. 
 Piaggio (P. Ant.) at Naples, 109. 
 
 Piedmont. 
 
 Ores and foffils, 304. 
 
 Pictra ty&ia, fpccies of macigno, 270.
 
 INDEX. 361 
 
 Pietra ligia, fpecies of limeftone, 272. 
 
 i columbina, fpecies of macigno, 270. 
 
 Blue limeftone, 88. 
 tTEgitto, black oriental Bafaltes, with Hornblende, 333. 
 
 fongaja, white, calcareous, porous, 119. 
 forte, limeftone fometimes mixed with mica, 272.92. 
 
 Breaks into rhomboi'dal forms and pentagones, 273. 
 Species, called Turcbina, contains nodules of 
 coals, 274. 
 
 . fruticulofa, an antique Pudding-ftone, 222. 
 tTIJiria, a calcareous foft marble, 33, 34. 
 
 Mala, a place in the Apennine mountains, flaming by 
 
 burning Petroleum, 283. 
 
 .. morta, the uppermoft loofe bed of macigno, 92. 270. 
 . ,. nffritica, Italian name of green Bacon-ftone, 89. 
 Black oriental Bafaltes, with Hornblende, 233. 
 
 objidiana, black vitrification found in Lavas, 56. 
 
 - purucbina. See Alabafter. 
 
 -.. . qziadrata, Italian name of cubic marcafite, a 20. 
 
 ' " di Sarto, Italian name of Smectis, or white Soap-ftone, 
 
 292. 
 
 >- Serena, fpecies of macigno, 270. 
 Stellaria, petrified corals, 219. 
 T Tur china, fpecies of macigno, 270. 
 
 Species of limeftone, 88. 272. 
 Pilati (Abate) at Brefcia, 320. 
 Pinna marina, and its filk, 1 19. 
 Pipcrino, petrified volcanic afhes, 63. 181. 
 
 . mixed with merl and limeftone fragments, 235. 
 
 , di S. Fiffra, called Pictra Salixa, 242. 
 
 i from Viterbo, appears often m iquare columnar pieces, 
 
 and has a natural tendency to cryftallize as many 
 
 other volcanic productions, 236. 
 
 Pifa,
 
 362 INDEX. 
 
 Pi/a, hot wells, 239. 
 
 Pfizarelk, hot aluminous wells at the Solfatara, 164. 
 
 fcaty, fuperincumbent on limefione, a fpecies of 
 Porus, 7. 
 
 e^ volcano, 127. 
 Pelifclla (Falle), Lava, between calcareous firata, p. 
 Polzntra^ fpecies of Serpent! ne-ftone, with limeftone, marble, 
 
 and fpar-veins, 93. 299, 300. 
 PorteHamtes, white flint, found in white china clay near Ka 
 
 den in Bohemia, 313. 
 Porphyry, fuperineumbent on flate, feems to be a volcanic pro- 
 
 .- duftion, 37. 157. 224. 225. 325. 329. 
 . mountains in Tyrol, near Newmark aad Brandfbl, 
 
 3M- 
 
 .1 Naturally breaks in fquare rhomboidal and paraile* 
 
 lopiped columns, 325. 
 
 i bladders and holes in the fubftance of a green an- 
 
 tique Porphyry filled with flint or agate, 225. 
 
 contains feld-fpath and flierl, v. fqffim. 
 
 its Varieties. 
 
 I. Red; Porfido Roflb antico, 222. 
 
 1. With oblong angulated irregular white (pots. An- 
 tique, 223. 
 
 2. With white or reddifh feld-fpath and vitreous (herl 
 in undetermined forms, from Newmark, in Tyrol, 
 
 325- 
 
 3. With black flierl flakes. Antique Porphyry, 225. 
 
 II. Blacky 313. 261. 
 
 inclofed by fragments in grey Granite, 228. 
 Varieties. 
 
 i. With white tranfparept rouad {hcrls, from New- 
 ni-rk, 324. 
 
 2. With
 
 INDEX. 363 
 
 2. With parallelepiped merl-fpcit" 1 , an antique fpecies, 
 refembling to fome Tufcan Lavas, called Serpentino 
 nero antico, 224. 
 
 3. With red feld-fpath, from Newmark, 324. 
 III. Green. 
 
 Its fubftance feems to be Trapp. 
 
 See Trapp and paffim. 
 Its bladders and holes filled with flint or white agate 
 
 is an antique fpecies, 12$. 
 Varieties. 
 
 i. With flint and white agate fpots, antique, 225. 
 3. With green fherl, and large white quartz fpots; 
 
 antique, 226. 225. 
 3. With black fherl flakes, 226. 
 
 Porto, Santa Jiorita antica , marble, 218. 
 Porta Santa noti Jiorita^ antica, marble, 218. 
 Porto Venere, marble, yellow and black, 299. 
 Porus, See Tophus calcareous, and Incrujiations. 
 Potftone^ produced by hot wells in Iceland, 57, 58. 
 See Lehs. 
 
 Precious Stones, their difference from volcanic (herl and volcanic 
 vitrifications, 152. 53. 
 
 Pumice Stone, Vefuvian, 159. , 
 
 Contains garnet-like fherls, 130. 162. 
 Puricbiello antico^ marble, 218. 
 Puzznlana, 130. 
 Puz,uolo ; remarks on fome columns in the temple of Scrapis, 
 
 171* 172. 
 Pyrites^ cubical, from Vefuvius and ^tna, 142.
 
 364 INDEX. 
 
 Quartz, matrix of emerald, 291. 329. 
 - in china clay, 54. 56. 
 
 < in green Porphyry, 226. 
 
 1 Vefuvian, with garnet-like iherl, 142. 138, 139. 
 
 (CryftaUisutfions). 
 
 a White pyramidical on both ends, 249. 
 1. hexagonal, fronxVefuvius, 138, 139. 
 
 c. Amethyftine, from Vefuvius, 138, 139. 
 
 d. Black like diamonds, from monte Pulciano, 248, 
 
 e. pyramidical on both ends, 249. 
 
 /. Green, on A&eil or Sod-flag, 249. 
 
 JRadtcqfani, a volcanic hill, 240. 
 Rafpe (R. E.). 
 
 Opinion of the diminution of the fea, 33. 
 
 Is convinced that its level conitantly riles and increafes 
 
 33. 172, 173, 
 
 Of the origin of Calccdony, Sberl-cryftalHzations, and 
 
 Vitrifications in Lavas, the Pietre obfidiane, Jafper, 
 Agate, and Flint, 56 9. 
 
 - i ' . On the Habichwald in Hefle, 60. 
 
 On the Mummies in the Britifti Mufeum, 102, ' 
 
 ' " On the Brafiiian and German Turmaline, 144. 152. 
 
 Raff*.
 
 1 N D E X. 365 
 
 Difference of volcanic Sherls, Vitrifications, and the 
 
 precious Stones, 151 53. 
 
 . . Defcription of the Iceland Calcedonies and volcanic 
 Phenomena, 57. 
 
 < of the Vitreous Iceland Lavas, 158. 
 
 Remarks on fome columns of the Temple. of Serapis 
 
 at Puzzuolo, 172,173. 
 
 > On the flints in limeftone, 58. 69. 1 94. 
 
 " His hypothefis on the origin of the white Saline mar- 
 
 bles confirmed by Arduini's obfervations, 254. 
 Recoaro petrifactions and volcanic productions, 50, 51. 
 Revigliauo (Scoglio di) volcanoj 157. 
 Rczvdato autico, marble, 218. 
 JRitci, manufcripts, 86* 
 
 Rome-, volcanic hills and productions, 189. 191. 201. 234. 
 Ronca petrifactions and marine beds alternating with volcanic 
 ilrata, 47, 48. 
 
 Bafaltes, 63. 
 
 Roji (Lago di monte) volcano, 235, 
 Roflb cumulato antico, marble, 218. 
 . antico, marble, 218. 
 
 Irecclato antico , marble, 218. 
 
 . di Pcrona, marble, 3 24. 
 
 Rojjb (monte) Bafalt-hill, 62, 
 
 Rubilante (CavaL), 303. 
 
 Ruinpbius \ his cabinet at Florence, 80, 81.
 
 366 INDEX. 
 
 S. 
 
 SaSaii (Liberato) at Rome, 187. 
 
 Salmiac fweating from cooling Lavas, 132. 
 
 . by fulphureous fleams produced in the Solfatara, 170. 
 
 Vefuvian, 161. 
 
 Salt (rock), red, from Catalonia, 72. 
 
 .1 With petrifactions of (hells and turbinites, 260. 
 
 With a petrified fea ftar, 248. 
 
 . Superincumbent on marl, 2^9. 
 
 Alternating with marine calcareous beds, 259. 
 
 Superincumbent on lime, 260. 
 Under limeftone, 274, 285. 
 
 See Mac ; -gno and 
 
 Pietra fagta, columllna, Serena, Turcklna* 
 
 Sangiorgio (Paolo) at Milan, 318. 
 
 Sarres, in Bergamafco, the name of red Lava or Porphyry 
 322. 
 
 Sarr, Italian name of calcareous and quartzous fione, flriped 
 with mica, 303. 
 
 SaJJb morto, flate ; fo called by the Italians becuufe it is com- 
 monly hid under other {lone-beds, 92. 
 
 Scaglia^ the uppermoft calcareous ftratum of the Alps and the 
 Euganean hills, contains nodules and fmaller beds of 
 flints, 27. 41, 42. 
 
 Scaliola, Italian name of Selenites, 93, 
 Sea, its nocturnal lighting, 67.
 
 INDEX. 367 
 
 Sea, its diminution ill-fupported by the Author, 32. 172, 173. 
 
 increafes, or its level heightens, 32, 33. 172, 173. 
 
 Sfguzer, at Nifmes, 21, 22. 
 
 Seknites, lamellous, Vefuvian, 139, 
 
 Seme Santo antico. See Arlecbino. 
 
 Seme Santo di Sette loft, atitico, marble, 218. 
 
 Serafini^ at Leghorn, 293. 
 
 Seraruezza^ marble, 298. 
 
 Serpentelo, Serpetiela, and Serparielo antico, marbte, 21$. 
 
 Serfentine-Jlone. 
 
 " Gratified at Cecina, 85. 
 
 between limeftone and flate, 89. 
 
 above lime at Impruneta, 275. 
 
 alternating and mixed with clay and marl, 27^ 
 
 alternating with Gratified Granitone, 90. 278. 
 
 " found near Pietra Mala, 283. 
 
 Ics Varieties : 
 
 1. Dark-green white-fpotted. 
 At Cecina, 85. 
 AtPrato, 85. 
 
 2. White. 
 
 3. Black. 
 
 4. Red, from Prato, 85. 
 
 and Impruneta. 277. 
 
 5. Yellow, at Impruneta, 277. 
 
 feems to be an argillaceous ftone, 276. 
 
 . but mixed with a particular alkaline earth, 276. 
 
 - contains at Prato, 
 
 1. Mica, a. black, 85. 
 
 b. greenilh, at Impruneta, 277. 
 
 2. Afbeft veins, at Impruneta, 277. 
 
 Serpentine-
 
 3*8 IN D E X. 
 
 Serpentlne-Jlont. 
 
 3. Soap-ftone and Bacon-ftone, white and green, at 
 Impruneta, 277. 
 
 4. Amianth, white and green, ibid. 275. 77. 
 
 5. Calcareous fpar, ibid. 278. 
 
 6. Fcld-fpath, 278. 
 See Polzevera. 
 
 Granitone. 
 
 Serpenfino nero anfico, black Porphyry, 225. 
 Scrra.0, at Naples, 104, 105. 
 Sette baji antico, marble, 218. 
 Selte fongi (monte) volcan. 53. 
 S.Severo (Prince) at Naples, in. 
 
 Sicily, its inner parts and Natural Hiflory unknown, m. 
 Siena, 247. 
 
 Silver ore in Lava, 65* 
 
 Shells (microfcopic foffil and natural) new fpecies, 37, 
 Sfjfrl Rock, Bafaltes, a fpecies of, 148. 
 
 * (Cryjlallizations) in the Lavas, by P. La Torre, erro- 
 
 neouily called Marcalite, 122. 
 
 ' immediate productions of fire in frrrelted Laras, or other 
 
 volcanic fubftances, 56. 145. 258. 
 
 however found likewife in other matrices^ as in white 
 
 Quartz, 7, 
 
 . large fine grafs-green cryflals in forde di Corjica, 296. 
 
 which is a filiceous ilone. 
 
 brown and polygone, with Emerald cryflallizations in 
 
 - Quartz, 317. 
 . - in Vefuvian calcareous fpar t 140. 
 
 in Trapp,^. 226. 
 
 in Granite, 228. 
 
 in many volcanic productions, pajjlm. 
 
 Ski*
 
 INDEX. 369 
 
 ISi-erZ (crjftaillzatiom). 
 
 Varieties of form and colour* 
 
 1. Magnetical olactJSaa, appears under the microfcope to 
 be prifmatical hexagones ; in Vefuvian and many vol- 
 canic afhes, 130. 145. & paffimi 
 
 2. Points and flakes, black, in grey lava, from monte 
 
 Catajo. 15. 
 
 In grey Vefuvian Lava, 137. 145". 15$. 
 
 In Porphyry, 223. 
 
 In Mifpikkel or arfenical pyrites, fuppofed to be Vefu- 
 vian, 142. 
 
 3. Lamellous and lamellae, or Sberl-mica and Glimmer^ 63. 
 In Vefuvian Lava, black, 145. 
 
 In Piperino, 181. 
 
 In oriental Bafakes, 230, 231 33. 
 
 In Granite, 228. 
 
 4. Feathers, black, round arid hexagonal, thin. 
 In Vefuvian Lava, 144. 155. 
 
 5. Cubic black Mka, or Glimmer, called Hornllendt; 
 In Trapp, 7. 
 
 In white Quartz, hiclofed in Piperino of monte Al- 
 bano^ 196; 
 
 6. Regular Parallelopipeda. 
 
 a. IWnte, bignefs and length of a finger, in black 
 
 Lava, 85. 
 
 In red Porphyry, 223. 
 
 In black Porphyry, 224. 
 1. Black, large, a fpecies of HornUcn.*, breaks cubic. 
 
 In antique Granito neroe bianco, 228. 
 c, Green, in green Porphyry, 225. 
 
 j>. Cylindrical, columnar,' rifled and lengitkdinalfy^JlriateJ 
 trur^attd ; tilangeu-fierl or Stangen-fpath. 
 a. Green, vitreous, femi-pe,lucid, endowed with th 
 
 double electricity. 
 
 E b from
 
 370 INDEX. 
 
 From Brazil, called the Brazilian Turmaline, 144 
 From Saxony, called Stangen-fpath or Stangen-Jberl, 
 
 144. 
 
 It. Wb, opaque, vitreous, often decaying, and fari- 
 naceous. In Vefuvian, black and red Lava, 144. 
 
 55- T 57- 
 
 In grey Lava, near monte Fiafcone, 237. 
 ^9^-Pokgone pyramidal cryjlals, vitreous, more or lefs 
 
 Hii\v - -TI'- 
 
 -Bib j" ,,, , * - :;jjfd SHY <<.;!.>'.'. 
 
 itns ,'-^ . ' -p. saiifwah T" , . 
 
 c. Green Emerald-coloured or dull. 
 i833fnfiBijk>,e3i33tu * ;}u3isqi. , . 
 
 <'.- Red purpie or garnet-coloured. 
 
 /I Brown. 
 
 j-. Yelloiv, In yellow calcareous fpm\ mixed with Mica 
 erroneously fold and bought at Naples as precious 
 ' : J ft&rieV being deflitute of their hardnefs, 141. 
 9. Hexagonal, columnar prifms, truncated, vitreous, mor 
 
 or lefs tranfparent, crroneoufly given out for precious 
 . z; : ~ ens ,oioj ^ojl-a'jtmuq*m 
 
 itowes. 
 
 '.. BUdc. 
 
 , _ ,181 ,cflii:- 
 
 I. Green. 
 
 tr / 
 
 -. Brown, in Vefuvian micaceous 
 fo 
 
 - 2aIfi.Tu.oO 
 
 
 __-, * tr j*V te c. \ ftJ-Jiil**^* w^l 
 
 </. Wjfa/r, in VeUman calcareous fpar, 141. 
 
 loi 1^1^351 vns io 3JmiM9fa >?5luo-)* 10 .nwrttoivV^ 
 T iva, 1 44. i%. 
 
 . . 
 
 l.O. ffexagoxaf, columnar, pyramidal Prifms, vitreous, 
 ' ttiore or lefs tranfparent, pretended Vefuvian precious 
 ftones. 
 
 <?. Black, 141. 14 j;. ij;6. 
 i. Gm-K, in Spar and Lava, 141. 14^. 156. 
 c. frown, m Vefuvian calcareous fpar, 141. 
 
 </. Wbitt,
 
 INDEX. 371 
 
 *4- 
 
 t "m&. * white * in ditto '4 1 - 
 and Lava, 143. 189. 
 e. 2~e!kiv, in Vefuvian Lava, 145. 156. 
 /.' Blueijb, in Vefuvian Lava, 14$. 
 . Violet Ametlyftine coloured, in black Lava, from 
 Oftia, 189. 
 
 11. Hexagonal flakes and lamella, black, in Vefuvian 
 Lava, 14$. 
 
 12. Garnet-like globular polygons, or pofyedra-, fome with 
 fifty- fix rhomboidal faces, the biggeft one inch dia- 
 meter ; white, vitreous or decaying, farinaceous, and 
 then more or lefs tranfparent ; a fpecies of garnets, 
 141, 42, 43. 
 
 In white Quarta, 142. 
 
 In green Sherl-fpar or Emerald matrix, 142. 
 
 In Vefuvian black, grey, and red Lava, 137. 143. i$. 
 
 2 S7- 
 
 In Lava, from Tretto, C2j 53. 
 j j * 
 
 In pumice-ftones, tufo, and afties, 129, 130. 149 
 
 162. 181. 
 InPiperino, 181. 
 In oriental Bafaltes, 23033. 
 13; Spar ; fpaffyfherl, green; matrix of Emerald, 142, 
 
 Contains red Garnets, 7. 329. 
 
 trl-Vitrijications, or pebbles, deftitute of any regular form, 
 extreamly hard; fpecies of precious ftones, 56.' 
 150 $2. 
 
 ' *. Green, in black Lava, from monte Carajo, Kke 
 Cryfolite, 15. 
 like Emerald, 150. 156. 
 In Euganean Lava, 27. 
 In Vefuvian black Lava, io and 156. 
 In black J^ard Lava, near monte Fiafcone, 237. 
 
 B b 2 I- T<1
 
 372 INDEX. 
 
 Sherl-Fltrifications 
 
 b. Tellow, like topaz in the fame Lavas, 150. 237*-.^, 
 
 c. Black, called Pietre Oljidiane^ in the fame Lava 
 
 150. 237. 
 
 Silver -ere, in Lava, 65. 
 
 Slags (Scoriae) artificial contain prifmatical cryftallizations, 258. 
 Slate (Schiftus). 
 
 by the Italians called Lavagna, 299. 
 
 (micaceous and argillaceous) ftratified, conftantly below 
 limeilone, fuperincumbent on Granite, 37. 125. 261. 
 
 330- 
 
 . Its fiflures and veins, filled with Quartz and other me- 
 tallic matrices, 37. 
 
 Fiflures filled with Lava, 51. 
 
 ' 'i caufed by volcanic eruptions, ^3. 
 
 Fragments in China-clay, 54. 56. 
 
 Its near relation with Macigno, 261. 
 
 Its relation with and difference from Granite. 
 
 See Horn-Jlate. 
 
 Slop (Dr.) at Pifa, 290. 
 
 Soap-Jlone y called Pietra di Sarto, 292-* 
 
 in Serpentine-Hone fiffures, 277. 
 
 Sodflag, fpecies of Afbeft, 249. 
 
 Solfatara, ancient volcano, 1 26. 1 64. 
 
 ^P' 
 Somma (monte). See Vefavius* 
 
 Spadas cabinet in thepoffeffion of Mr. Seguier, 21. 
 Spalanzani (Laxaro), 
 
 At Pavia, 3 1 8. 
 Sj>ar (calcareous). 
 
 cotnpaft, and fcaly, from Vefuvius, 139. 
 
 with Mica and Sherl-cryftallizations, 140. 
 
 - (ciyjtattizcd), pyramidal, columnar, hexagonal, from 
 Vefuvius, 139. 
 
 2 Spar
 
 INDEX. 373 
 
 Spar (Sberl). SeeSkerl. 
 
 Sponge, fuppofed petrified, 80, 81. 
 
 Stan?e, (Prof.) at Wurzburg. 
 
 > ^ \ t> 
 
 His hypothefis on Serpentine- ilone, 276. 
 Statuario antico, marble, 218. 
 Steatites, green, 243. 
 SteUanti (Glov. Ant.) at Piftoja, 267. 
 Stockworck ; rock, entirely metallic, 294. 
 
 Strata, their oblique fituation and dipping produced by volca- 
 nic eruptions and earthquakes, 51. 
 Stromlolo, a volcanic Ifland, 135. 
 
 Sulphur (native), 
 
 Jn columnar cryftals, 249. 
 In cubic cryftals, 248. 
 Inclofed in Gypfurh, 70. 
 Ciyftallized on Antimony, 2^0. 
 At Tortona, 311. 
 Sublimated by volcanic fire, 64. 
 . i u ' in the Solfatara, 169. 
 From Vefuvius, ICQ. 
 
 3V 
 
 Sulphureous acid. 
 
 r 
 
 Of the Solfatara, changes Lava into clay, 165. 
 _ . . , 
 
 Produces Allum, 165. 67. 
 
 Vitriol, 165. 169. 
 
 Salmiac, 170. 
 
 . Selenite, 165. 169. 
 
 Reftores the former vifcidity to burn clay, 167. 
 
 Changes Lava into Clay, 236. 
 
 Produces the Allum ore at Tolfa, 209. 
 
 B b 3 Valcou* 
 

 
 I N D E X. 
 
 AiofcKft if Mrb SJnOC 
 
 : ni/mti/ern sn:;iaoqA c ^nSfeUib 5/{ 
 
 * 
 ?&< Stones. See .400?. 
 
 Amiaiitb; Calcedony; Gattro-^ Granltont \ Jglada: Nejrl- 
 tlca pktra', Serpeutine-Jlonc ; Soaf-Jione-, Steatites; 
 Verde di Praia. 
 Bacon-floye. 
 
 i > hiO 
 
 Targioni (Glo. Lu ; gl). 
 
 A TV 
 
 A TV 
 
 At Florence, 94 
 _ 
 
 - (' 
 
 Tartarucato. 
 
 . 
 __ . . - 
 
 ('Me*. ^?.; at Florence, 94. 
 
 t :,- ..:Iov 
 
 (Prof.) at Bobgha, 75 . . 
 
 (Qr.) at Rfa, 290- n <j j^ 
 
 Volcanic afhes, &c. 191, 92. 
 
 f^, allum-works, 208. 
 
 _. , , .o 
 
 fefktu calcareous, 
 
 . - produced at the bottom of the 
 &31 ij>nii'( -l/the Bagni of S. Filippo. 245. ..TJWK^ 
 ' Incruflations, 192. , . . ;jnmqi 
 
 ^ - - globular or fcaly Pifolithes, fupernKumbe.nt on limp. 
 tfone, 7. 
 
 See Travertino Hot-wells* 
 Delia Torre (?adre)> 
 
 At Naplrt, 107. i.r. ^ 
 
 r<*ni (Targhni) at Florence. ^ .. 
 
 His travels, 268. 
 
 GV^r-. Tarfwu) at 
 
 c, 2*.
 
 
 I N D ;E X. ^ 37 S 
 
 Tratnoutana, 
 
 North-wind produces oppofite effefts in the fame feafou 
 
 on the different fides of the Apennine mountains, 
 
 285, 286. 
 ?rapp^ (Ike-grey), with quadrangular Sherl, 7. 
 
 - (green), a fpecies of green Porphyry, 22^. 
 
 . - cryftallized into Sherl in the fubflance of green 
 Porphyry, 226. 
 
 _. ^<i\SnTiS. 
 
 T.raverfo (montej, 
 
 Old volcano in the Apennine mountains, 278. 282. 
 Travertino, calcareous tophus, 193. 
 , - fuperincumbent on fand-ftone, 260. 
 H - r produced by hot-wells, 257, 
 
 TrettOy volcanic hills, 3, 4. 
 
 ^ /- / i \ 
 Jqfa (volcanic). 
 
 . - Produced by ferruminated or hardened afhes, 128. 
 
 - - Serves at Rome in building, 203. 
 
 - Contains fonie fcarce adventitious bodies, 129, i^Ot 
 
 Sherl Garnets, 129, 130. 
 Tungara, marmo Pa<vonex,zo brecciato <//', o. 
 
 fyrmaline, Brafilian and German, a fpecies of cylindrical co- 
 
 lumnar Sherl, 144. 
 vail uttyrra (A nt .) at Vicenza, 18. 
 
 Feu.ro (Guifcppe) at Naples, io, 
 raUfncri (Ant.) at Padua, 14. 
 
 PatdeBi, at Padua, 16. 
 
 
 . (Domen'ico), at Li(bon, 16*
 
 57 6 INDEX. 
 
 \v\ 
 
 ffrgai (D. Leon.), his manufactory of white marble tophus, 245. 
 
 fcitdariao out ice, marble, 21$. 
 
 forde antict), marble, 218. 
 
 di Corjica, a filiceous rock, white, black, or violet-fpoN 
 
 ted, with large grafs-green Sherl cry flals, 296. 
 -, i . d'Egiito, a breccia, with Granite fragments, 222. 
 
 . Pagliocco, marble, 218. 
 
 - di Prato, green Serpentine-ftone, S6. 267. 
 di Sxfa, Serpentine- ilone, 314. 
 it Milan, 317. 
 i^snd Ottajaxo). 
 
 His defcription, and his produftions, 121, &c. 
 Whether connected with ./Etna and Stroaibolo, i 35. 
 
 ^,- petrifactions, 48. 
 Fie (Padre), at Murano, 26 
 f'ltr ifi 'cations (volcanic). 
 
 See Sbtrl-Vitrificcttlon 5 . 
 
 
 Pitman '(P. 
 
 At Pavia, 3 19. 
 
 Suppofrd by the Italians to have been generally co- 
 vered by lea, and to have been raHVd above its' level, 
 136. 
 
 See JEtna* Lago d'djnano, Lago cTA&ano. Monte Alhano* 
 Aftronl. Lago d'AvertM*. Eerico monte. Bolca. Bol- 
 zena. Brendola. Monti d Camaldoli. Monte Catajo. 
 Ckiaja. Capo Ji China, S. Elmo. Eitganean moan-' 
 iais. Monte di S. Fiore. Frafcati. Monte Gauro, 
 Ifchia. S. Giov, ILarione. Lovegvo. Pietra Mala. 
 Borgo di Mak. Mare worto, Mtrojiico* Capo Mi- 
 J'tno, La^o di JS T < Mof.tf numo. Ottajano. 
 
 > Faff-
 
 INDEX. 377 
 
 Palejlrlna. Pantena. Pizza Falcone. Poli/ella. Ra- 
 dicofani. Recoaro. Scogllo di Rcvigliano. Roma. ROHCO. 
 Lago di mottte Rojl. Monte di Sette fongi. Solfatara. 
 Somma. Strombok. Tivoli. Monte Travel fi. Trttto* 
 Veletri, f'efiii'ius. Logo di Vice. Viterbo. 
 Volcanic Eruptions^ from underneath the lime-fione and flate, 
 
 2J, 26. 
 
 Their effeft on the air, which they maVe eletric, 133. 
 Have raifed and inclined the horizor.-al beds, 42. 51, 52, 
 . Eruptions of Water, have, according to Mr. Arduin?s 
 
 hypothecs, produced Bolus and China-clay, 54. 
 Productions. See A/lies. Bolus. Cahedony. City. 
 
 China- clay. Iron-fand. Mineral waters. Hot-<vxils. 
 
 Mum. Pietre Olfidiane. Piper ino. Pot-Jlone. Leba. 
 
 Porphyry. Pumice-Jlone. Puzzolana. Pyrites. Lava* 
 
 Salmiac. Seknlte. Sulphur. Tophus. Tufa. Turmalin, 
 
 Sberl-rock, cryfials, a tul vitrif cations. 
 
 Ferde di Corfua. 
 
 Vitriol. Vitrifications. 
 
 Bafaltes. 
 
 Volterj-a. Strata of Calcedony, 83. 
 
 I 
 
 W. 
 
 -. 
 
 Wemleltrapp, a fcarce fhell petrified, 252. 
 Wolfram, called Licafro by the Italians, 91. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zwlite, yellow, from Schio aad Tretto, 28. 

 
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 ^
 
 BOOKS 
 
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 LOCKYER DAVIS. 
 
 1. AN Account of fome German Volcanos, and 
 ^\. their Productions. With a new Hypothefis of 
 the Prifmatical Bafaltes; eftabliflied upon Fafts. Being 
 an EfTay of Phyfical Geography for Philofophers and 
 Miners. Publifhed as a Supplement to Sir W. Hamil- 
 ton's Obfervations on the Italian Volcanos. By R. E. 
 R A S P E. With Copper Plates. 35 6d. 
 
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 tants. Written in French by Monf. GROSLEY, F. R. S. 
 &c. &c. Tranflated by Dr. NUGENT. Two Vols. 
 8vo. IDS. 
 
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 fearches on Hiftory, Geography, Antiquities, and Polite 
 Arts: By its noble and comprehensive Plan of invefti- 
 gating the Character, the Manners, the Cuftoms, and 
 the private Life, of the Inhabitants of this much-admired 
 Country. 
 
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 BOOKS printed for LOCKTER DAF1S. 
 
 3. Monf. Grofley's New Obfervations on England and 
 its Inhabitants, made in a Tour to London in 1765* 
 Tranflated by Dr. NUGENT, 2 Vol. lOs. 
 
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 ful, nothing great, but under a Britifh Sky." 
 
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 go, Syria, Palefline, Egypt, Mount Sinai, &c. by 
 the Hon. Mr. Van Egmond, and Profeffor Heyman. In 
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