FLORENCE. 57 



Vemiene gerniogliar suole e rampolli. 

 Se dentro un mur sotto un medesimo nome 

 Fosser raccolti i tuoi palazzi sparsi, 

 Non ti sarian da pareggiar due Rome. 



" Florence, to see lliy hills full of so many wealthy, country- homes, 

 ' twould seem as if tlie earth did teem with them, as with its caterpillars 

 and its flower buds it teems. If circled by one wall and all by one name 

 kno\\-n thy scattered palaces could be, two Romes were not to be com- 

 pared to thee." 



There is a Florentine custom connected with this present 

 New Year season which may interest 3'ou. The admirable 

 custom of caring for poor people's children while the parents 

 are out at work for the day is a very old one in Europe, and 

 in happy hour is becoming more and more established in this 

 country. Accordingly the Asilo Infantile is a highh^ respected 

 institution, and is the recipient of many donations. Among 

 them this one. The duty of paying New Year's calls being 

 sometimes inconvenient and eveti burdensome, people are 

 allowed to commute. They pay three lire to the Asilo Infan- 

 tile and for this consideration their names are posted in certain 

 fixed and well known public places. Whoever finds a friend's 

 name so posted understands that that friend wishes him a 

 Happy New Year. 



And the Asilo Infantile is not to be confotinded with the 

 Innocenti, or Foundling Hospital, which is a portentously 

 large and important foundation. Little creatures left there, 

 unless otherwise provided for, are apt to have the surname 

 "Esposito," or "abandoned." My deft and clever servant 

 was Esposito because he was a foundling, and Domenico 

 because it was on a Sunday when they thrust him through 

 the hole in the wall, rang the bell and ran away. Sometimes 

 the child gets merely a number for a name. The great Flo- 

 rentine dentist, Trentuno, or Thirty-one, was in this class. 

 He became a ciarlatano di piazza, and for years was seen on 

 his wagon in the Square, pulling out teeth by the score, with 

 that astounding skill and quickness which stich men acquire 



