PHYSICAL AND LITER ARY. loi 



in the winter, renders the neighbourhood 

 of thele places unwholefome, by the raw 

 ^and damp exhalations which arife from 

 them, and flill more fo in the fummer, 

 jby their noxious putrid vapours, proba- 

 bly the caufe of the malignant putrid 

 fevers fo fatal in thofe parts every fummer 

 and autum.n. I think alfb. that the health 

 of the I'ope's fubjeds iuffei s much from 

 the ftricl obleryance of their lents and 

 faftb : The lower clafs of people are general- 

 ly fupplied with very bad food on meagre 

 days, not being able to purchafe fifh while 

 frefli, and confequently never eat any till 

 half corrupted, at that time the moft un- 

 wholefome of all food in a hot country. 

 From thefe and other caufes, the health of 

 the Romans is lo much impaired, that 

 ievcral of them feemed to be almoft, if 

 not quite, rendered incapable of promo- 

 ting their fpecies. The continued endea- 

 vour alfoof their holy direclors, to engage 

 numbers to a monadic life, added to the 

 other difadvantages of a like kind, will cer- 

 tainly flrike very deep in fome ages more, 

 and will thin the country of inhabitants, 



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