digeftion; they fhew that it is not mechanical power, nor contractions of the ftomach, nor heat, but fomething fecreted in the coats of the ftomach, which is thrown into its cavity, and there animalifes the food*, or affimilates it to the na ture of the blood. The power of this juice is confined or limited to certain fubitances, especially of the vegetable and animal kingdoms; and although this menftruum is capable of acting independently of the ftomach, yet it is obliged to that vifcus for its continuance.

Of the Climate at Naples, and of the Sirocc, or South-east Wind; from Mr. Brydone's Tour, &c.

E have been waiting with im

I am perfuaded that our medical people are under great miftakes with regard to this climate. It is certainly one of the warmest in Italy; but it is as certainly one of the moft inconftant; and from what we have obferved, generally difagrees with the greatest part of our valetudinarians; but more particularly with the gouty people, who all found themfelves better at Rome; which though much colder in winter, is, I believe, a healthier climate. Naples to be fure is more ellgible in fummer, as the air is conftantly refreshed often by the fea breeze, when Rome is fcorched by the most infupportable heat. Lait fummer, Farenheit's thermometer never rofe higher at Naples than 76. At Rome it was at 89. The difference is often ftill more confider

at prefent there is little profpect of it. The weather is exceedingly rough, and not a fhip has been able to get out of the harbour for upwards of three weeks paft. This climate is by no means what we expected to find it; and the ferene fky of Italy, fo much boasted of by our travelled gentlemen, does not altogether deferve the great elogiums beftowed upon it. It is now the middle of May, and we have not as yet had any continuance of what may be called fine weather. It has, indeed, been abundantly warm, but feldom a day has paffed without fudden ftorms of wind and rain, which renders walking out here to the full as dangerous to our invalids, as it is in England.

able. Here, our greatest degree of cold was in the end of January; the thermometer ftood at 36; at Rome it fell to 27; fo that the distance of the two extremes of heat and cold laft year at Naples, was only 40 degrees; whereas at Rome it was no less than 62. Yet, by all accounts, their winter was much more agreeable and healthy than ours: for they had clear frosty weather, whilft we were deluged with perpetual rains, accompanied with exceeding high wind. people here affure us, that in fome feafons it has rained conftantly every day for fix or feven weeks. But the moft difagreeable part of the Neapolitan climate is the firocc or fouth-eaft wind, which is very

The

ral state.

common

common at this season of the year : it is infinitely more relaxing, and gives the vapours in a much tronger degree, than the worst of our rainy Novembers. It has now blown for these seven days without intermiffion; and has indeed blown away all our gaiety and fpirits; and if it continues much longer, I do not know what may be the con fequence. It gives a degree of laffitude, both to body and mind, that renders them abfolutely incapable of performing their ufual functions. It is not very furprizing, that it should produce thefe effects on a phlegmatic English conftitution; but we have just now an inftance, that all the mercury of France muft fink under the load of this horrid, leaden atmosphere. A fmart Parisian marquis came here about ten days ago: he was fo full of animal fpirits that the people thought him mad. He never remained a moment in the fame place; but, at their grave converfations, he used to skip about from room to room with fuch amazing elasticity, that the Italians fwore he had got fprings in his fhoes. I met him this morning, walking with the ftep of a philofopher; a fmelling bottle in his hand, and all his vivacity extinguished. I asked him what was, the matter?" Ah! mon ami," said he, "je m'en"nui à la mort; moi, qui n'ai "jamais fçu l'ennui. Mais cet "execrable vent m'accable; et "deux jours de plus, et je me "pend."

The natives themselves do not fuffer less than ftrangers; and all nature seems to languish during this abominable wind. A Neapolitan lover avoids his mistress with the utmost care in the time of VOL. XVI.

the firocc, and the indolence it infpires, is almoft fufficient to extinguish every paffion. All works of genius are laid afide, during its continuance ;-and when any thing very flat or infipid is produced, the ftrongeft phrafe of difapprobation they can beftow is, "Era fcritto "in tempo del firocco;" that it was writ in the time of the firocc.

I have been endeavouring to get fome account of this very fingular wind, but the people here never think of accounting for any thing; and I do not find, notwithstanding its remarkable effects, that it has ever yet been an object of enquiry amongst them. I applied to a ce lebrated phyfician (who, from talking a jargon of his own, has attained to a degree of reputation, of which we found him extremely unworthy.) He told me, he had difcovered that it was owing to a certain occult quality in the air, which hardly any body knew except himself; that, as for the rest, they e'en let it blow, and never thought more about the matter — Here he burft out into a loud laugh; and this is pofitively all that I could make out of him.

I have not observed that the firocc makes any remarkable change in the barometer. When it first fet in, the mercury fell about a line and a half; and has continued much about the fame height ever fince; but the thermometer was at 43 the morning it began, and rose almost immediately to 65; and for these two days paft it has been at 70 and 71. However, it is certainly not the warmth of this wind, that renders it fo oppreffive to the fpirits; it is rather the want of that genial quality, which is fo enlivening; and which ever renders. I

the

it makes a very confpicuous figure. I own I was by no means ftruck with its appearance, as it does not feem to be one tree, but a bufh of five large trees growing together. We complained to our guides of the impofition; when they unanimoufly affured us, that by the univerfal tradition and even teftimony of the country, all these were once united in one ftem; that their *grandfathers remembered this, when it was looked upon as the glory of the foreft, and vifited from all quarters; that for many years paft it had been reduced to the venerable ruin we beheld. We began to examine it with more attention, and found that there is an appearance that these five trees were really once united in one. The opening in the middle is at prefent prodigious; and it does indeed require faith to believe, that fo vaft a space was once occupied by folid timber. -But there is no appearance of bark on the infide of any of the ftumps, nor on the fides that are oppofite to one another. Mr. Glover and I measured it feparately, and brought it exactly to the fame fize; viz. 204 feet round. If this was once united in one folid ftem, it muft with juftice indeed have been looked upon as a very won derful phenomenon in the vegetable world, and was defervedly ftiled, the glory of the foreft.

I have fince been told by the Cannonico Recupero, an ingenious ecclefiaftic of this place, that he was at the expence of carrying up peasants with tools to dig round the Caftagno de Cento Cavalli, and

he affures me, upon his honour, that he found all these stems united below ground in one root. I alleged that fo extraordinary an object must have been celebrated by many of their writers.-He told me that it had, and produced feveral examples; Philoteo, Carrera, and fome others. Carrera begs to be excufed from telling its dimenfions; but he fays, he is fure there was wood enough in that one tree to build a large palace. Their poet Bagolini too has celebrated a tree of the fame kind, perhaps the fame tree *; and Maffa, one of their moft efteemed authors, fays he has feen folid oaks upwards of 40 feet round; but adds, that the fize of the chefnut trees was beyond belief, the hollow of one of which, he says, contained 300 fheep; and 30 people had often been in it on horfeback. I fhall not pretend to fay, that this is the fame tree he means; or whether it ever was one tree or not. There are many others that are well deferving the curiofity of travellers. One of thefe, about a mile and a half higher on the mountain, is called Il Čaftagno del Galea; it rifes from one folid ftem to a confiderable height, after which it branches out, and is a much finer object than the other. I measured it about two feet from the ground; it was 76 feet round. There is a third called Il Caftagno del Nave, that is pretty nearly of the same fize. All these grow on a thick rich foil, formed originally, I believe, of afhes thrown out by the mountain.

The climate here is much more

temperate

temperate than in the first region of Erna, where the exceffive heats muft ever prevent a very luxuriant vegetation. I found the barometer had now fallen to 26: 5; which announces an elevation of very near 4000 feet; equivalent in the opinion of fome of the French academicians, to 18 or 20 degrees of latitude in the formation of a cli

mate.

The vast quantity of nitre contained in the ashes of Etna, probably contributes greatly to increase the luxuriance of this vegetation; and the air too, ftrongly impregnated with it from the fmoke of the volcano, muft create a conftant fupply of this falt, termed by fome, not without reafon, the food of vegetables.

There is a houfe built in the infide of the great chefnut tree for holding the fruit it bears, which is ftill very confiderable; here we dined with excellent appetite, and being thoroughly convinced, that it was in vain to attempt getting up the mountain on that fide, we began to defcend; and after a very fatiguing journey over old lavas, now become fertile fields and rich vineyards, we arrived about funfet at faci Reale, where, with the utmoft difficulty, we at laft got lodging in a convent of Dominicans.

The laft lava we croffed before our arrival there, is of a vaft extent. I thought we never fhould have had done with it; it certainly is not less than fix or feven miles broad, and appears in many places to be of an enormous depth.

When we came near the fea, I was defirous to fee what form it had affumed in meeting with the I went to examine it, and found it had drove back the waves

water.

3

for upwards of a mile, and had formed a large black high promontory, where before it was deep water. This lava, I imagined, from its barrennefs, for it is as yet covered with a very fcanty foil, had run from the mountain but a few ages ago; but was furprised to be informed by Signor Recupero, the hiftoriographer of Etna, that this very lava is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus to have burft from Etna in the time of the fecond Punic war, when Syracufe was befieged by the Romans. A detachment was fent from Taurominum to the relief of the befieged. They were ftopped on their march by this ftream of lava, which had reached the fea before their arrival at the foot of the mountain, and entirely cut off their paffage; and obliged them to return by the back of Etna, upwards of 100 miles about. His authority for this, he tells me, was taken from infcriptions on Roman monuments found on this lava, and that it was likewife well afcertained by many of the old Sicilian authors. Now as this is about 2000 years ago, one would have imagined, if lavas have a regular progrefs in becoming fertile fields, that this muft long ago have become at leaft arable: this however is not the cafe, and it is as yet only covered with a very feanty vegetation, being incapable either of producing corn or vines. There are indeed pretty large trees grow. ing in the crevices, which are full of a very rich earth; but in all probability it will be fome hundred years yet, before there is enough of this to render it of any ufe to the proprietors.

In the lowest part of the firft region of Etna, the harveft is almoft

over;