ITALY. L E T T E R XT. 177 



quickly recover life and motion 1 . Their being 

 arfenical, as pretended by fome accounts, is con- 

 tradicted by experiments. It is fmgular, that 

 thefe damps rife but juft above the ground, 

 and that the other air of the grotto is entirely 

 unaffected by them. ProfefTor Vairo has aflured 

 me, that in thefe damps the mufcular fibres 

 of animals have no irritability ; that there is no 

 electricity , that the load-ftone draws no iron, 

 but that the needle is remarkably declining. It is 

 Ukewife a fact, that burning flambeaux extinguish 

 near the ground. 



I have mentioned already that the Iflands Ifcbia 

 and Ni/ita are volcanic. Lavas are common 

 there, and they furnim the black vitreous fpecies, 

 called Iceland agate. They export thence to 

 Naples a red and grey clay for the potters manu- 

 factories. 



The hot waters, which fpring in many places at 

 Iftbia, have been defcribed in feveral books, efpe- 

 cially in the following ones : 



De remedi natural?, che^fcno rielle Ifcla di Pithe- 

 cufa oggi detto Ifchia. Libri ii. Di Giutio Giafolino. 

 >Japolt, 1751. 410. Ediz. feconda, 1763. 



Cainil liEucherii de Quintiis Inarime, feu de balneis 

 Pithecufarum. Libri vi. Napoli, 1726. 8vo. mag- 

 giore. 



N Padre 



