THE EUCALYPTUS IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA. 97 



Not only are lava, peperino, and the volcanic puzzuolana abundant, 

 but in many places as at Bracciano and Baccano are to be seen the 

 remains of ancient craters. When the Campagna was in the earliest 

 phase of its history, it was one fertile garden, interspersed with thriv- 

 ing towns and villages. It was also the theatre of events which ter- 

 minated in making Rome the mistress of the world. This very su- 

 premacy was the final cause of its ruin and of its present desolation. 

 While the land remained in the possession of small holders every acre 

 was assiduously tilled and di-ained ; but when it passed into the hands 

 of large landed proprietors, who held it from the mere lust of posses- 

 sion, it became uncared for and uncultivated. 



Filtering into a soil loaded with easily decomposed sulphur com- 

 pounds, the decomposing vegetable matter finds no exit through the 

 underlying rock. The consequences may be imagined, but, to those 

 who have not experienced them, are not easily described. This once 

 fertile land is now a horrid waste, untouched, except at rare intervals, 

 by the hand of the farmer, and untenanted save by the herdsman. 

 Even he, during the months of summer, when the malaria is at its 

 worst, is compelled, if he will avoid the fever, to go with his flocks to 

 the mountains. It may be mentioned, in passing, that the malaria- 

 fever, or " Roman fever " as it has been called, has been the subject 

 of recent investigation by Professor Tommassi-Crudelli, of Rome, 

 who attributes it to the presence of an organism, to which the specific 

 name of Bacillus malar ioe has been given. 



Leaving St. Paul's, we pursued for a short time the Ostian road ; 

 and at a poor osteria, where chestnuts, coarse bread, and wine, were 

 the only obtainable refreshments, our route turned to the left, along a 

 road powdered with the reddish dust of the pozzuolana the mineral 

 which forms the basis of the original " Roman cement " large masses 

 of which rock form the roadside fences. After a drive of perhaps 

 half an hour, we found ourselves at the Monastery of Tre Fontane 

 (three fountains). The Abbey of the Tre Fontane comprises within 

 its precincts three churches, of which the earliest dates from the ninth 

 century. One of these, San Paolo alle Tre Fontane, gives its name to 

 the monastery. A monk, wearing the brown robe and sandals of the 

 Trappist order, met us at the gate. The contrast now presented be- 

 tween the sterile semi- volcanic country around and the smiling oasis 

 which faces us, is striking. Here are fields which have borne good 

 grass ; some sloping hills covered with vines ; and, directly in the 

 foreground, almost a forest of eucalypt-trees. 



We have come to learn about eucalypts ; and our guide takes 

 quite kindly to the role of informant. What follows is derived 

 from his viva voce teaching, from my own observation on the spot, 

 and from a very interesting pamphlet, printed at Rome in 1879, 

 and entitled " Culture de I'Eucalyptus aux Trois Fontanes," by M. 

 Auguste Yallee. 



VOL. XIX. 7 



