ment that suspended in the west the fate of falling Rome. The villa, which I have mentioned, belongs to a Florentine nobleman, who however is seldom attracted by its beauties, and like most of his countrymen, prefers the indolence and effeminacy of the city to the charms and manly occupations of a country life. Non his juventus orta parentibus Hor. 111. 6. No; lost now to all sense of independence and spirit they submit without resistance to every invader, bow their servile necks to the Austrians and to the French alternately, and at length retain that yoke which is the most galling, and the most disgraceful because imposed by the hand not of an open but of a treacherous enemy. Towards evening we proceeded to Covigliaio, where we took up our quarters for the night. The flame appears on the side of a mountain, about four miles from Covigliaio, and the road or path thither is rugged enough. The spot where the phenomenon shews itself is on the declivity, and rather low down; the flame covered a space of about one hundred and forty feet, run along in crevices, and burnt much stronger in some places than in others. Its colour was either bright yellow, or blue, like spirits of wine, and it rose little more than half a foot from the surface; but in rainy weather, and particularly in winter, it is said to increase considerably, and mount to the height of six or seven feet. We extinguished it in some places by waving our hats strongly over it, and re-produced it by firing a pistol into a small train of gunpowder, and sometimes by merely throwing a lighted paper on the spot where it had disappeared. It emits a strong odour similar to that of æther. The soil which nourishes this flame is rather more stony than that immediately adjoining, but grass and mountain herbs grow around. Our guides informed us that a similar flame appeared in other parts of the mountain, and offered to conduct us to another spot further on; this we thought unnecessary, especially as it was very late, and we were distant from our inn. Naturalists are divided in their opinions as to the cause of this phenomenon: some suppose it to be electric, other phos phoric, while a third set look upon it as volcanic. There are strong reasons in favour of this latter opinion, such as the vestiges of ancient eruptions in the neighbourhood; the frequent shocks of earthquakes that agitate the surrounding mountains, and sometimes occasion considerable mischief; the sulphureous sources that bubble up in the vicinity and are so inflammable as to take fire at the approach of a torch, &c. &c. All these circumstances, without doubt, seem strong symptoms of subterraneous fires, or at least of volcanic ingredients fermenting in the bosom of the earth. Yet, if the flames of Pietra Mala proceeded from any such cause, the ground over which they hover must be heated, and its heat increase if opened, because nearer the subterranean furnace. Thus, on the cone of Vesuvius the ashes are warm on the surface, and immediately under intolerably hot; so also at the Solfatara, which is a crust of sulphurated marle formed over an abyss of fire, the superficies is hot, and half a spade under almost burning. On the contrary, at Pietra Mala the flame communicates but little heat when burning, and when extinguished leaves the ground cold and without the usual vestiges of fire. This difficulty has induced others to ascribe it to a sort of oily substance or petrolium with which they suppose the earth hereabouts to be impregnated. But, if this were the cause, the flames instead of being increased must be diminished or rather extinguished by the rains and tempests of winter; and at the same time the crevices which emit the flame must exhibit some traces of this oily vapour. Yet neither is the case; the flame glows with the greatest vivacity in winter, and the soil does not exhibit the least traces of any oily or bituminous substance. The first of these reasons is equally decisive against the operation of the electric fluid and phosphoric exhalations. At all events, whatever the physical cause of this phenomenon may be, its appearances are very pleasing; it illuminates all the mountainous tract around it, and banishes the horrors of night from one of the most dreary solitudes of the Apennines. We reached our inn at a very late hour, and next day returned by the same road to Florence. But the curious traveller would do well to take the old road from Pietra Mala to Fiorenzuole, cross the Giogo, so called because it is the highest point of the Apennines between Bologna and Florence, descend to Scarperia which lies at the foot of the mountain, traverse the Val de Mugiello, and rejoin the new road a little below Tagliaferro. Before I quit the subject I must observe, that similar phenomena were observed in or near the same region anciently, as Pliny the Elder* notices the appearance of flames in the terri * Lib. 11. cap. exi. tory of Mutina, which territory includes the neighbouring Apennines. This naturalist, who indeed seems no enemy to the marvellous, adds the singular circumstance of the flames appearing only on certain days, statis vulcano diebus. He elsewhere represents the same territory as the theatre of a more astonishing exhibition of a combat between two mountains*, which not only belched out fire and smoke at each other, but jostled together with great spirit and effect for some time, in the presence of a great concourse of people drawn up on the Via Emilia to behold the contest. This event he places in the year of Rome 662, and seems to consider it as a prognostic of the social war which broke out the following year. * Lib. 11. 85. CHAP. X. MUSEUM-----ACADEMY DELLA CRUSCA----ETRUSCAN LANGUAGEANCIENT DIALECTS OF ITALY-DEPARTURE FROM FLORENCEPRATO-PISTOIA---LUCCA, ITS HISTORY---ITS BATHS. To return to our observations on Florence-the Museum of natural history, which owes its foundation to the Archduke Leopold, is considered as one of the most complete of the kind in the number and judicious arrangement of the different articles that compose it. The mineralogical collection is said to be perfect; but in the beauty and size of the specimens is, I think, far inferior to the magnificent mineralogical cabinet at Vienna. The learned Fabroni presides over this museum, and communicated to us his information with so much readiness and attention, at repeated visits, as to merit our highest acknowledgments. It must indeed be admitted to the honour of Italy, that not only are their great museums and colleges open to the public, but that the directors of such establishments feel as much pleasure in explaining, as the curious traveller can possibly take in examining, their contents. Annexed |