ITALY. LETTER VIII. 8l 



colour were exaftly thofe of a fpunge, but its 

 weight made me incline to think it a pumice- 

 ftone. However, 1 leave it to your judgement, 

 if you come here and fee it. Bertrand> in his Dic- 

 tionary of FoJ/ils, fpeaks of petrified fpunges. 



The collection of fttifopbius, the very fame 

 \vhich he defcribed in his Amboinifh rarities, was 

 bought by the Grand Duke Cofmo III. from 

 Rumphius, and from Amboina brought to Leg- 

 horn. A dcfcription of the Amboina animals and 

 fifhes, with many figures, and written by Rum- 

 phius, was bought at the fame time, but fent by 

 another fhip; it perifbed at fea. This cabinet has 

 been in former times very rich in exquifite fcarce 

 (hells, corals, rich gold mines, precious ftones, 

 and the like ; but it has been much impaired while 

 it was kept in the gallery at Florence: Firft, 

 becaufe Baron Baillou, and the phyfician of the 

 Court, Mr. Guahieri, had the confent of the Grad 

 Dul^e, to take the duplicates for themfelves: 

 Secondly, becaufe fome precious pieces, for exam- 

 ple the large ffiendel-treppe of Rumphijts, in pu^r- 

 fuance of an order of the late Emperor have been 

 taken to Vienna : And finally, becaufe the laft 

 infpeclor, a Frenchman, has, as they told me, 

 re-aped a good harveft for himfelf, by his own 

 authority. Among the red corals I obferved a 

 handibme and branchy one, on which no place 

 G could 



