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PORTA, GIAMBATISTA. 



PORTER, JAKE. 



from hi* writing that he travelled through lUly, France, and Spun, 

 vi-itini; all the libraries and learned men, and convening with artists 

 on matters relating to their several profession*. His publications 

 widely extended hi* fame. A suspicion of hi* being addicted to 

 unlawful superstitions, countenanced by tome of his works, was how- 

 rer the cause of his felling under tho censure of the court of Rome, 

 which obliged him to appear there in person to justify his conduct 

 and opinions. The result of the examination was the prohibition of 

 the meeting of any more of the literary assemblies held at his house, 

 on account of their being accused of having occasionally discussed the 

 eeraU ot magic. This society was called I Secret!,' and was acces- 

 sible only to such as had made some new discoveries in physical 

 science : even after it* dissolution his house still continued to be the 

 resort of literary men, both foreign and Neapolitans. He not only 

 established private schools for particular sciences, but to tho utmost 

 of his power promoted public academies, and had no small share in 

 establishing that of ' GH Oziosi ' at Naples. In hia old age he com- 

 posed dramas, both tragic and comic, which had some success at the 

 time, bat are now quito forgotten. He died, unmarried, at Naples, 

 on the 4th of February 1615, and was buried in a white marble chapel 

 that he had built in the church of St. Laurence. 



In spite of the strange and childish absurdities that abound in 

 Forta's works, it cannot be denied that lie was of greater service to 

 physical science than perhaps any of hia contemporaries. It is to 

 him that we owe the invention of the camera obscura, and also of a 

 great number of curious optical experiment'. He lias written much 

 on the subject of plane, concave, and convex mirrors, and particularly 

 on the burning-glass, which he flattered himself he could construct 

 in such a manner ai to be able to burn at any distance. The most 

 important invention that has been attributed to him is that of the 

 telescope, of which he has by some persons been supposed to be the 

 author, on account of a passage in the tenth chapter of the seven- 

 teenth book of his ' Natural Magic ; ' hut by the best judges this 

 honour is still considered to be due to Galileo. - [GALILEO.] 



The following is a list of his extant works : 1. 'Perapeotiva,' Svo, 

 Rome, 1555. 2. ' Magiic Naturalis, sive de Miraculia lierum Nat.u- 

 ralium, Libri Viginti,' of which the first complete edition was pub- 

 lished at Naples, foL, 1589. The Naples edition of 1558, fol., is very 

 rare, and contains only three books; that of Antwerp, Svo, 1561, 

 contains four. It has been often reprinted, and translated into 

 several modern languages; into English, for instance, so late as 1628. 

 This work contains a great number of curious facts that were not 

 generally known at that time concerning tho properties of plants, 

 metals, animals, &0., and also the most remarkable human inventions. 

 It is a vast compilation of passages extracted from authors both 

 ancient and modern, and put together without taste or judgment ; 

 but it contains a great number of interesting observations on light, 

 mirrors, fireworks, statics, mechanics, &o. 3. ' De Furtivis Literorum 

 Xotis, vulgo de Ziforis,' 4to, Naples, 1563, several times reprinted, 

 with the addition of a fifth book. This is a sort of stenography, or 

 rather a treatise on different model of secret writing, of which one 

 hundred and eighty are explained, and a method proposed by which 

 they can be multiplied ad iufinitum. 4. ' Phytognomonica Octo Libri-s 

 Contents, in quibus nova facillimaque affertur Metuodus qui\ Hantarum, 

 Animalium, Metallorum, Rerum deuique omnium ex prima extimtc 

 Faciei Inspeotione quivi* abditas Vires sssequatur. Accedunt ad hax: 

 confirmanda, Infinita propemodum Selection! Secreta, summo Lahore, 

 Tempori* Diipendio, et Impcnsarum Jactura, vestigata explorataque,' 

 Naples, fol., 1683, and several times reprinted. His object in this 

 work is to point out the means of discovering tho properties of plants 

 by their analogy with the different parts of the body of animals : it is, 

 as might be anticipated, full of absurdities. 5, ' De Humanu Physio- 

 gnomoouV Sorrento, fol., 1586; and in Italian, Naples, fol., 1598, 

 very frequently reprinted, and translated into different modern 

 languages. This is the work by which he is best known, and which 

 gives him a right to ba considered as the true founder of physiognomy. 

 After establishing the influence that the mental affections exercise 

 upon the body, he treats of the differences of each part of the 

 human frame, and declares the signs which disclose the character of 

 the individual. He ha* mode great use of the observations of 

 Aristotle, Polemo, and Adamantius ; but be has also added a great 

 many curious remarks of hi* own. He considers that the human face 

 should be compared with that of animals ; that as there exists in the 

 human race a* many modifications as there are individuals, and as also 

 the different degree* of bis organisation recall those at which nature 

 top* permanently in some of the inferior vertebrated animals, the 

 general configuration of the head of man must express a character 

 akin to that which is found in these same animals, according a* the 

 intellectual disposition! of the individual agree with thoie that 

 characterise them. Accordingly, in the plates in cried in his work, he 

 ban compared the head of Vitellius with that of an owl, Plato's with 

 that of a greyhound, ftc. 6, 'Villa: Libri Duodecim : i., Dooms; ii., 

 Kylv* Cnj'lua ; iii., Sylva GUndaria ; iv., Cultus ctlnsitio; v., I'oin.i- 

 rium ; vi., Olivetnm ; vii., Vinea; viii., Arbustuui; ix., llortus Coro- 

 Daritis; x., llortus Olivarius; xi., Seges; xii., Prntum : in ijuilius 

 majori ex parte cum verus Plantorum Cultus, ccrtaque Insitionis Ars 

 libns Saeculis non viso* produceudi Fructus Via tnonstratur, 

 turn at Frugum, Vini, ao Fructuuia Uultiplicationem Experiment* 



propemodum infinita exhibentur, 1 Francof., 4to, 1592. A learned and 

 agreeable work, the contents of which are sufficiently expressed by 

 the title-page. 7, ' De Refractine, Optices Parte, Libri Novem,' 

 Naples, 4to, 1593. Among many things that are vogue and inexact, 

 are found now and then some just observations on a great number of 

 object* relating to optics, such as refraction and the anatomy of the 

 different parts of the eye. The seventeenth book of his ' Natural 

 Magic ' contains a portion of this treatise. 8, ' Pneumaticorum Libri 

 Tres ; cum Duobus I.ibris Cnrvilineorum Klenientorurn,' Naples, 4to, 

 1602, and in Italian, ibid., 4 to, 1606. In this work he treats of hydraulic 

 machines and their construction, and enters into a great detail. A new 

 edition of his 'Curvilinear Geometry' was published at Home, 4 to. 

 1610, with the addition of a third book, treating of the quadrature of 

 the circle, tho solution of which famous problem he flattered himself 

 that he had rendered more easy. 9, 'De Cielesti Physiognomia Libri 

 Sox,' Naples, 4 to, 1601, and frequently reprinted. In this work, though 

 he rejects judicial astrology, he attributes nevertheless great influence 

 to the heavenly bodies. 10, ' Ars Reminiscendi,' Naples, 4to, 1602. A 

 collection of all the means of assisting and strengthening the memory 

 that were practised by tho ancients. 11, ' De Distillationibus Libri 

 Novem, quibus ccrtA Methodo, multiplicique Artificio penitioribus 

 Natural Arcanis detectts, cujuslibet Misti in propria Element* Reso- 

 lutio perfecto docetur,' Rome, 4to, 1608, and Strasbourg, 4to, 1609. A 

 curious work, from giving an idea of the state of chemistry in the 

 beginning of the seventeenth century. 12, 'De Munitione Libri Tres,' 

 Naples, 4 to, 1608. A treatise on fortifications. 13, ' De Abris Tr.ius- 

 mutationibus Libri Quatuor,' Naples, Ho, 1609. This is said by M. 

 Mussel Pathay (' Bibhog. Agronomique,' p. 51) to be the first work on 

 meteorology in which any sound ideas are to be found. 14, His dra- 

 matic works consist of fourteen comedies, two tragedies, and one 

 tragi-comedy. The comedies were collected into four volumes, 12mo, 

 and published at Naples, 1726. All these works are analysed by H. 

 Gab. Ducbesne, at the end of his ' Notice Hiatorique sur I. B. Porto,' 

 Paris, Svo, 1801. 



PORTKR, ANNA MARIA, born at Durham about 1781, was the 

 youngest child of a family all of whom attained considerable celebrity. 

 Her eldest brother was an eminent physician at Bristol ; another brother 

 was Sir Ii. K. Porter; and her elder sister was Jane, the subject of 

 tho following notice. When only a few mouths old licr father died, 

 and tho mother, for tho sake of educating her children economically, 

 .removed to Edinburgh. Anna Maria was the most precocious ; and 

 as a lively and intelligent child attracted the notice of Sir Walter Scott, 

 then a youth, who delighted in relating tales to her, and this probably 

 leil to her own early attempts in the same line. While still almost a 

 child she bad written ' Artless Tales ' in two volumes, which were 

 issued in 1793 and 1795, of which she afterwards regretted the publi- 

 cation. Her mother had before this time removed with her family to 

 London, and subsequently, with her sister Jane, they settled first at 

 Thames Ditton, and finally at Eaher. After the death of her mother 

 in 1831, while travelling in hopes of restoring her delicate health, she 

 was attacked by typhus fever, and died on June 21, 1832, at the seat 

 of Mrs. Colonel Booth, Montpelier, near Bristol Besides many contri- 

 butions to periodical works, she had published numerous novels, among 

 which 'The Hungarian Brothers,' 'Don Sebastian,' 'The Recluse of 

 Norway,' ' The Village of Mariendorpt,' ' The Fast of St. Magdalen,' 

 and ' The Knight of St. John,' enjoyed and retain considerable popu- 

 larity. They belong, more or less, to the class of historical novels, and 

 show skill in the management of the story, and some discrimination of 

 character; but her heroes and heroines too often possess a superhuman 

 excellence that becomes palling. ' Tales of Pity ' were published 

 anonymously, and are intended to inculcate kindness to animals. In 

 ' The Barony ' she has developed her religious feelings. She also 

 published a volume of poetry, ' Ballad Romances and other Poems/ in 

 1811, of no great value. 



PORTKR, JANE, the elder sister of the preceding, was born in 

 1776. Her life followed that of her sister, with whom and her mother 

 she constantly resided till their deaths. She then, as she described 

 herself, " became a wanderer," living with one or other of her friends 

 till, in 1842, she went with her brother to St. Petersburg. On his 

 death she returned to England, and resided with her eldest brother, 

 the physician at Bristol, where she died May 24, 1850. Miss Jane 

 Porter did not adventure into tho field of literature so early as her 

 sister, and in some respect* came better prepared, but she has the 

 same fault in the unmitigated excellence or depravity of her characters. 

 Still, in many of her characters there is a firmer delineation, and perhaps 

 somewhat greater knowledge, though not very rigidly adhered to, 

 of tho manners of the times of which she treat*. Her firot work was 

 ' Thaddeus of Warsaw,' published in 1 803, which was extremely popular, 

 and procured for her the admission as a canouess into tin; Teutonic order 

 of St Joachim, and a complimentary letter from Kosciusko. In 

 she published tho ' Scottish Chiefs,' a romance of Wallace and Bruce, 

 in which there ii considerable vigour of description, some cln 

 but a total misconception of the condition of the time. Wallace and 

 Bruce are depicted as little less than demigods. To the-" followed 

 ' The Pastor's Fireside* and ' Duke Christian of Luuchurgh,' the latter 

 said to have boon suggested by George the Fourth. She next joined 

 with her sister in 'Tales round a Winter's Hearth,' and these were 

 succeeded by ' Tho Field of Forty Footsteps,' founded on a London 



