l^ew Spring of Petroleum discoVei'ed in Italy. 321 



we saw them produce young ones at Rome the prcccdhig 

 year, and as that produced in 1801 is Uvely, and now iu 

 the possession of the princess Venoi3a." 



The witnesses who attest the above are : 

 Dr. Louis Bernardi, 

 Joseph Taruchi, surgeon, 

 Felix Albcrici, canon> 

 Bernard Picrmattei. 



it is to be regretted that the hatching of these parrots has 

 not been attended with the same success as it was last year. 



We here see that the cUmate of Orvieto, which is more 

 temperate than that of Rome, was no obstacle to the copu- 

 lation or laying of these birds. What in all probability pre- 

 vented the female from hatching the eggs was, that the par- 

 rots were not in separate apartments as the preceding year,^ 

 and that they were deranged by the too great number of 

 people who approached them eitfier through curiosity or by 

 accident^ since they were placed in a chamber which served 

 as a kitchen. 



These birds are suspicious and timid, and it is probable 

 that the female bruifled the eggs in endeavouring to change 

 their position with a view of placing them in more safety. 



But as these birds, according to my calculation, are in 

 the vigour of youth> it is to be hoped they will produce young 

 hereafter; and that the owner, taught by the experience 

 of this year, will take the necessary precaution of placing 

 them in an apartment less exposed to noise and bustle, 

 where the solitude of the place may bring them nearer to 

 the wild state, and suffer them to complete their incubation 

 as during the preceding year. 



Turin, 

 September 25, 1S02. 



LX. AcrowU of a new Spring of Pefrolemn discovered 

 in Italy ; in a Letter to the ^Editors of the Annales de 

 Chimie. By J, Poggi *. 



Paris, Dec. iz, 1802. 



JjEiNO detained in the capital by the great means it af- 

 fords of applying to the study of nature, I think Itniy duty 

 to communicate to you an account of an interesting pha>- 

 nomenon with which nature has enriched my country. It 

 consists in a veiy abundant and permanent s|)riug ot petro- 

 leum or napt/ta, which has appeared for some mouths at 



* From t!ic Arwales df C'-imir, No. 1 34. 



Vol. XVI. No. 64. X Amiano 



