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3 (1836) The British cyclopædia of arts and sciences, manufactures, commerce, literature, history, geography, politics, biography, natural history, biblical criticism and theology : on the basis of the german conversations-lexicon
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important collections in the arts and sciences arecontained in the building of the academy Degli Studi(Museum Bourbon), the lower apartments of whichare allotted to ancient statues, of which we shall heremention only the Farnese Hercules, the FarneseFlora, the equestrian statues of the two Balbuses, theVenus, and an excellent Aristides. The second floorcontains a valuable collection of Etruscan vases, agallery of paintings, and the royal library. Theuniversity, founded in 1224, is of some consequenceas a building, but of little note as a place of educa-tion. It contains several good collections; forinstance, a mineralogical cabinet. The botanicalgarden is gradually improving. There is also anobservatory, a royal medical college, a military school,a naval college, an academy of agriculture, manu-factures, and arts, a college for the instruction ofChinese and Japanese youth, two jesuit colleges,&c., and a royal society of sciences.

The number of benevolent institutions is abovesixty. Among them are two large hospitals—DegliIncurabili (where, however, sick of all kinds arereceived), and Della Santissima Annunziata, which isvery rich, and receives and provides for foundlings,penitent females, &c. There are five other hospitals,many religious fraternities, and several conservatories,which last were long famous as the seminaries of musicfor all Europe. The Albergo dei Poveri, with a schoolof mutual instruction for 400 children, is one of thegreatest buildings of the kind in Naples. But pleasure,not serious business, has its abode in Naples, andamusement is the general aim. For the idle populace,there is no want of entertainment—pulcinellos, music,macaroni, and room to sleep. For the better classes,there are four theatres, of which the largest, St. Carlo,was burned in 1816, but has been splendidly rebuilt.Besides this theatre, there are the Teatro Nuovo,de’ Fiorentini, and St. Carlino.

In respect to music and representation, they hardlyreach mediocrity ; but the ballet is magnificent. Thenobles are opulent and fond of parade; the citizensare thriving ; and the lowest class (the lazzaroni) are,in general, so temperate that, from the cheapness ofprovisions, they can live with the least pittance, gotby work or begging, and reserve something for thedivertimenti on the mole, and, if they have no othershelter, trust to the mildness of the climate, and spendthe night under the portico of a palace or a church.Compared with the number of inhabitants, the manu-factures are unimportant; the artisans have littleskill. The furniture made in Naples is clumsy. Thebest jewellers, tailors, and shoe-makers are foreigners;the best traiteurs Milanese. From the situation of thecity, its commerce might be extensive. The bank ofthe Two Sicilies has a capital of 1,000,000 ducats.Female beauty is rare in Naples, but the men arevigorous and well formed, especially at the age ofmaturity. In literary cultivation, the Neapolitans arealtogether behind the other Italians, though they havemany celebrated names.

The character of the people is not so suspicious asmany travellers have represented it. There is muchgood humour and cordiality, and a temperance worthyof imitation among them; with all their violence,murders are seldom heard of. The immorality is notmore than that of other great continental cities; andthe love of idleness and pleasure has in some measureits foundation and excuse in the nature of the cli-mate. The costume of the upper classes does not

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differ materially from that worn by the natives of therest of Italy, and we select for our graphic illustra-tion, an armed peasant and his wife, the latterengaged in the manufacture of flax.

The environs of Naples are rich in wonders ofnature, art, and innumerable remains of antiquity. Onthe west side of the city is the ridge of the Pausi-lippo. It is said to owe its name to the effect of itsbeauty in lulling the sense of grief. Its grotto is anarched way, which the ancients often mention, butwhich Alphonso I. enlarged, and the viceroy Peterof Toledo paved. In a garden above it is situatedthe pretended tomb of Virgil, a columbarium, orRoman tomb, with several niches, in which oncestood urns. The laurel, w hich once flourished there,but which had to surrender its foliage to every travel-ler, is gone. Following the road through the grottoof Pausilippo, we come to the lake of Agnano. Itis inclosed in a picturesque manner by mountains, ofwhich the one on which is situated the monastery ofthe Camaldoli is the highest. The prospect fromthis eminence extends over the whole of CampaniaFelix, far out over the islands and sea, and is incon-testably one of the richest and most delightful in theworld. The lake of Agnano has the property ofboiling up in some places, but is not, however, hot.In the summer, when all the hemp of the neighbour-hood is rotted in the lake, the air is extremelyunhealthy. On its banks are the sudatories, or vapour-baths of St. Germano, consisting of vaults, from thefloor of which a sulphureous vapour issues, and thecelebrated Grotta del Cane, the bottom of which iscovered with a stratum of carbonic acid gas, in whichthe guides generally immerse a dog, and draw himout, when on the point of suffocating, to recover inthe open air. A grotto leads into another romanticvalley surrounded by the Leucogean rocks. At thefoot of these hills is the Acqua delle Piscianelle, avery warm sulphureous water, issuing from the groundwith a loud noise. On the other side of the rocks liesthe Solfatara, a very remarkable volcanic valley, 900feet long, and 750 broad. A volcanic mountain was, inin all probability, once carried down here, withoutbeing entirely extinguished. The ground, which iscovered with a whitish clay, and trembles under thefeet, is hollow; from every hole and crack, sulphu-reous vapours issue. The deposits of the native