unable to ascertain the annual amount of exports and imports From the previous statements, however, and from the want of internal communications by land and water, the reader will readily perceive that commerce must be transacted on a comparatively contracted scale. The manufacture of silk has made little progressive improvement since its first establishment, in 1148. Among the silk stuffs produced on the island, the most finished are damasks, and a sort of waving taffeta, termed tabi ondati, or watered tabby. The attempt made in 1810, to equalize the very various weights and measures used over the island, has unfortunately proved abortive. In the list of celebrated Sicilians, Archimedes justly takes the lead, although the author is little disposed to give him credit for burning the Roman galleys. M. de Buffon, indeed, has made experiments and discoveries relative to this subject, which have demonstrated the possibility of such a conflagration: but, as no antient author has spoken of the pretended mirrors invented by Archimedes, it is probable that they never existed. We know that, of all his discoveries, the ratio of the sphere to the cylinder (a proportion which had not been determined before his time) was that which flattered him the most; and that, accordingly, he entreated his friends to cause to be sculptured on his tomb a cylinder circumscribed by a sphere, with an inscription denoting the ratio of these two solids. His desire was accomplished; for Cicero informs us that, by these indications, he discovered the sepulchre of this great man, overrun with briars, and in the midst of ruins."

Diodorus Siculus is noticed as the safest guide in matters relative to the antient history of his native island. Zeno, a distinguished partisan of the Pythagorean philosophy, Empedocles of Agrigentum, whom Aristotle considered as the inventor of the first principles of the art of oratory, Theocritus and Moschus, who excelled in pastoral poetry, and various other writers and artists, most of whose productions have perished, adorned the early periods of Sicilian history.

Though the language of the present inhabitants is copious and expressive, it is very remote from pure Italian; having partaken of the political vicissitudes of the country, and being blended with numerous terms of Greek, Latin, Moorish, German, or Spanish origin. As enunciated, especially by the peasantry, it sounds much harsher to the ear than the Tuscan dialect; owing to the more frequent combination of consonants, and the repetition of the vowels i and u; particularly of the latter, on which a great stress of voice is laid, and which often replaces the a, e, and o, and sometimes even d, of the APP. REV. VOL. XCIX. Ii

Italian.

Italian e The Italian b, in like manner, is often manner, is often converted into once into, finto o, into du into r p into ch, &c. la With regard to the existing state of literature, now that controversial theology and scholastic philosophy have lost their eir charms, a more natural and enlightened spirit of discussion prevails in the Universities, which are no longer strangers to the doctrines of Newton, Leibnitz, and Condillac. Under the auspices of the Prince of Torremuza, a celebrated antiquary, the Academy of Palermo was founded in 1779. Three distinguished individuals, in conjunction with Prince Biscari gave a new and active impulse to the literary taste, and to the cultivation of the liberal arts. Vintimiglia even imposed on ecclesiastics the obligation of prosecuting a regular course of study, and bestowed prebendal stalls only on the most accomplished scholars. He had, moreover, the rare merit of instituting libraries, and promoting the importation of standard works which the blind zeal of the court of Rome had proscribed. Till that time, the booksellers would not undertake the publication of any work on general science or the arts; and, as their correspondence did not extend beyond Venice, or Naples, it was with the utmost difficulty that a foreign book could be procured, or, as it was termed in the small towns, un libro oltremontano. A taste for poetry, or rather for versification, is very generally diffused over the island; and the practice of improvisation still prevails, as in various districts of Italy. The pastorals of Meli, in the vulgar dialect, which are airy and graceful, are circulated even among the populace. The Sicilians are likewise partial to music; though they excel in singing rather than in playing on stringed instruments. As to sculpture and architecture, they have fallen greatly below the models bequeathed to them by the Greek colonists and, although they boast of hey boast of many painters, only a few of them can be allowed to rank high in the annals of their profession, the most eminent being Pietro Novelli Vitto d'Anna, Trevisi, and Tancredi. bisomybe, ussd sved

The distinguished professors of mathematics and astronomy are not numerous but Piazzi, who discovered the planet Ceres, was observer at Palermo; and, on his translation to Naples, his his place was ably supplied by his pupil, Cacciatore. Mironi, who lately occupied the chair of chemistry in Catania, was among the first of his countrymen who publicly unfolded

the modern principles of that of that interesting and and useful depart

ment of knowlege. The physicians, and even the apothecaries, are generally well informed: but most of the savans are said to be jealous of one another, and aliens to that free and unreserved intercourse which which so ess essentially contributes to the

dissemin

dissemination of science. In the province of natural history, zoology and comparative anatomy have been very imperfectly studied but the labors of Rafinesque Smaltz are advantageously known by his publications; and the ichthyology of the cir cumjacent sens has of late received considerable extension by the addition of several species which were formerly supposed to be limited to remote latitudes. Of the various botanists who have flourished in Sicily, Bivona Bernardi has treated of the plants indigenous to his country with the greatest care and accuracy: while the geology of the island has been expounded with ability by the Abbate Ferrara, who has also indicated the principal sources of its mineral riches: as gypsum, salt, sulphur, aluminous slate, fine varieties of marble and jasper, and different descriptions of metallic veins, the working of which has been abandoned chiefly in consequence of inconBinde siderate management, and of the baleful influence of a corrupt government. Mineral and thermal waters, also, have been discovered in so many places that their enumeration would prove tedious: but we the tempermay mention th ature of the hepatic springs near Alcamo indicates 59° of Réaumur's scale. According to the author's general notices, most of the island is calcareous; with the exception of the Pelorian mountains, which are partly granitic. Gypsum frequently occurs under chalk, or marl, which generally composes the plains, and the hills which are subordinate to the Calcareous mountains. These strata often contain layers of Hint, sometimes a little blended with clay. The volcanic territory occupies only the eastern tracts included between Cape Passero and the Pelorian range.

ature usually exhibited by lava, the author mentions that at Vesuvius, in 1794, many metallic and stony substances were fused; whereas wood, and other articles of easy combustion, having been enveloped in the lava, and consequently deprived of air, were not completely burned, circumstances thus modis fying the contained caloric. Lavas, in all the currents of volcanos, retain their internal heat for many years.'

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It should seem that the visible presence of prismatic basalt, in the island of Sicily, is more rare than it is commonly supposed to be: but, as basaltic lava prevails in the more antient streams, large tracts of the columnar modification may lie buried beneath the currents of more recent eruptions. Mean while, the striking similarity between the antient lavas and the basalts and amygdaloids of Auvergne, the north of Europe, &c. for rather, the perfect identity of composition observable in these bodies,) furnishes a powerful argument in favor of their igneous formation in general. The circumstance of their reposing on or alternating with lime stone, as in Sicily and Ireland, would moreover induce the belief that they were generated under the sea. M. DE S. observes that Scertain portions of the base of Etna exhibit pieces of charred wood in the volcanic breccias, or tufas, somewhat correspond ing to the strata of trass at Andernach, on the Rhine. This fact is easily explained; for, when trees occur in the middle of a current of lava, and are not dragged along by it, they instantly blacken and inflame, which sometimes happens st Mount Vesuvius. In this case, the upper part is reduced to ashes, while the lower passes to the state of charcoal; which, being deprived of air, is preserved untouched. 1, offsoner:¶ -J It was for a long time believed that the volcanos of Europe, as Vesuvius and Etna, were liable to aqueous eruptions; because, at different periods, and at the moment when these volcanos were in a state of activity, a great quantity of water descended from their sides, and inundated the regions situated at their base 2 but it had not then been remarked that most of the great ceruptions are accompanied by considerable falls of rain, all round the volcanos, proceeding, no doubt, from the hydrogen contained in the aqueous vapors that issue from the crater, and mingle with the oxygen of the air. With regard to Etna, whose summit is almost always covered with snow, it is nearly certain, notwithstanding the declarations of some of the magistrates of Catania relative to the Nilo d'Aqua, that the torrents of water which rolled down from its summit, in 1755, were caused by the melting of the snow, induced by the heat of the currents of lava, or of the scoria projected from the crater. This solution is moreover increased by the abundant rains originating from the clouds which often circulate at the top of volcanos, during their eruptions, and of which Vesuvius has afforded so many examples. Such clouds are principally

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ست داری

Lamarck's Natural History of Invertebral Animals.

485

formed by the ascent of aqueous vapours in the column of air which issues from the crater; and, when they attain to an ele n of union at which the strata of air are too cold, they condense, and fall directly down again in rain. These copious rains intermingle with the ashes rejected by the volcano, and then form torrents of mud. to

The foregoing explanation, conjoined with the remarks of Humboldt and others, furnish us with something of a connect ing link between burning and mud volcanos.sa bloode 1

Of the abridged view of the history of Sicily which occu pies the greater portion of the third volume, we may truly! say that it is little else than an unvarying tale of warfare and perfidy, seldom relieved by the cheering rays of virtue, or diversified by the salutary lessons of wisdom. e od slidw -biolebyzime Luz zilezed sdị

ART. V. Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres, &c., i. e. -The Natural History of Invertebral Animals. By the Chevalier DE LAMARCK, &c. Vol. VI. Part II and Vol. VII. 8vo. Pavisa 1822. Imported by Treuttel and Co. ban yli ni This with pleasure that we announce the completion of this laborious work, which ably sustains the reputation of the preceding volumes. (See Appendix to M. R. vols. xc. and xci.)

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The remaining divisions of the GASTEROPODA, included in Part II of Vol. VI., are denominated Calyptracians, Bulleans, Laplysians, and Limacians. The first includes the genera Parmophorus, Emarginula, Fissurella, Pileopsis, Calyptræa, Crepidula, and Ancylus, the second, Acera, Bullcea, and Bulla the third, Laplysia and Dolabella; and the fourth, Onchidium, Parmacella, Limax, Testacella, and Vitrina. The divisions and subdivisions of the TRACHELIPODA, or third order of Mollusca, are necessarily more complex: but the subordinate titles are ranged under one of two sections, the first of which comprizes the Phytophagous, and the second the Zoophagous sorts. To the former belong Helex, Carocolla, Anostoma, Helicina, Pupa, Clausilia, Bulimus, Achatina, Succinea, Auricula, Cyclostoma, Planorbis, Physa, Lymnæa, Melania, Melanopsis, Pirena, Valvata, Paludina, Ampullaria, Navicella, Neritina, Nerita, Natica, Ianthina, Sigaretus, Stomatella, Stomatia, Haliotis, Tornatella, Pyramidella, Vermetus, Scalaria, and Delphinula, which is the last genus particularized in this continuation of Vol. VI. The number of rare or non-descript Ispecies is very considerable; and due attention has been paid to the more recent discoveries and observations of Cuvier, de -Blainville, Beudant, Draparnaud, Ferussac, &c.

J

Is A large portion of the seventh volume is devoted to the exposition of the remaining families of TRACHELIRODA, and consequently comprizes various rare and interesting species.

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The