194 Physical Notices of the Bay of' Naples. 



this paper. Suffice it to say, that it appears to be more rich in 

 antiquities than Pompeii, probably from the greater haste 

 with which the inhabitants had been compelled to leave it. 

 In statues it is richest ; and here alone the papyrus rolls* were 

 found sufficiently dry and well preserved to afford any hope 

 in the task of unrolling them. Perhaps, too, it is from the 

 greater solidity of the covering strata that many of the more 

 perishable articles of curiosity have been preserved in great 

 numbers. The glass of windows,-|- as well as that used for 

 other purposes, paintings,^ styles, tablets, pens, fruit, honey- 

 combs, loaves, with the baker's name stamped upon them, 

 opera tickets, " honestae missiones," or the honourable dis- 

 charges of soldiers ; and all the innumerable objects of do- 

 mestic use and ornament, which render the museum at Naples 

 unparalleled in the world. The forum, and a temple of Jupiter 

 are the principal discoveries of this city, besides the theatre, 

 which is now the only place open for inspection, the rest hav- 

 ing been filled up with rubbish as the workmen proceeded, 

 from the difficulty of removing it from so great a depth below 

 ground. For many years the excavations have been discon- 

 tinued; but I understand that very lately they have been 

 partially revived by the Neapolitan government. 



I consider it one of the most important objects of this paper 

 to make some remarks on the substance in which Herculaneum 

 is buried : curious, not merely in itself, but from the discus- 

 sion which it has excited, and the light which it is calculated 

 to throw on the geology of the volcanic formations. I have 

 already alluded to the want of a detailed examination of the 

 locality ; and I regret to think that I have little or nothing 



* Very little has been done commensurate with the expectations formed 

 on the first surprising discovery of the papyri. A few Greek fragments 

 on rhetoric, music, and cookery are the only fruits of the labours of 

 Mazzochi, Rufini and de Jorio. Sir H. Davy himself could not succeed 

 in simplifying this tedious process. 



t See a learned dissertation on the glass of the ancients in the Appendix 

 to Barihelemy's Italy ; also in the Philosophical Transactions, where may 

 be found many detached, but generally unimportant, notices on Hercu- 

 laneum. 



% Ibid, and Eustace ; also Winkelmann. 



