CONTENTS.

vii

Catalogue of the principal Plants, the natural growth of Malta. - - 155

List of some of the scarcest and most curious Plants of Malta. - - 156

Catalogue of Plants which, according to Cavallini, grow in Malta and Go/a. 158

Explicatio Nominum Authorum. ------- 170

Catalogue of several Plants which, according to Forskal, /grow in Malta, particu-larly near the Saltworks, together with the distinguishing characteristics ofthe said plants, published by him under the title of Florida Melitensis. 173

Catalogue of the different kinds of Fish on the coast of Malta, according to alearned Physician of that island. - - - - - -177

BOOK II.

ON THE CONSTITUTION AND FINANCES OF THE ORDER OF MALTA.

CHAPTER I.

Constitution of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, from its original foundation tothe present times. Changes it has undergone. The legislative and exe-cutive power, in whom vested. The authority of the grand-master, how farlimited. Extent of the said authority over the knights. To what de«ree theorder was dependent on the pope and other Christian powers. Independencethe principal basis of its government. Its right of sovereignty acknowledged,and its rank assigned in the different courts in Europe. Plac es in the gift ofthe grand-master. ^ - - - - - - - - 1 s 1

CHAP. II.

Government of the knights over the Maltese. Laws to which they were sub-jected under the dominion of the kings of Sicily. Amendment of theirsituation. Employments to which they might pretend. Their associationwith government. The formation of a language composed of Maltese greatlyfavoured by France. Consequences which must infallibly result from such aninnovation. - ------- - 198

CHAP. III.

The order divided into different classes. Proofs of nobility requisite to be ad-mitted into the first; proofs of being free citizens necessary to enter into the