ITALY. LETTER III. 19 



botanical garden and library, and is a fond virtu- 

 ofo in botany, as well as other parts of natural hif- 

 tory. Before he came to Vicenza he lived at Mo- 

 rano, and left there marks of his tafte in a botanic 

 garden, which is now decaying. His Vicentine 

 garden is fituated on a high hill, on the road to 

 Madonna di Monte Berico ; and that hill is through- 

 out an heap of accumulated volcanic ames, of a 

 dark-brown colour ; containing, very frequently, 

 a white fort of chalcedonick-nodules, which com- 

 monly are hollow within, but now and then are 

 filled with water. They appear under the form of 

 blunt round, or elliptical pebbles, from the big- 

 nefs of a pea to the diameter of about an inch. 

 There is good reafon to fuppofe that thefe pebbles 

 and nodules have been formed and filled -with water 

 in the holes of this cinereous hill, after it was 

 accumulated by rain or fnow water foaking 

 through its fpungy fubfrance. They make rings 

 of thefefingular chalcedonick-pebbles ; and I faw 

 t\vo in the pofleffion of Dr. Turra, which, by 

 having been worn for fome time, had loft and 

 evaporated their water, probably by fmall imper- 

 ceptible cracks ; though there are feveral of thefe 

 ilones which never lofe it. There are fundry 

 other volcanic-hills in Vicenza, containing fimilar 

 chalcedonick, or opal-like Enbydros. In that before- 

 mentioned, thefe pebbles are found in the volcanic 

 ames, exactly as the chalcedony and zeoiite-no- 

 C 2 dules 



