TRADE OF ITALY. CHAP. XVI. 



of the valuable products of Asia to the European 

 world. The incenses, the perfumes, the spices, 

 and the precious stones, were sources of vast gains ; 

 whilst the profit of freights on the bulky com- 

 modities with which Europe supplied Asia added 

 to the growth of the shipping branch of industry. 



Under the auspices and the influence of this 

 foreign trade, manufactures arose and flourished 

 in all the districts of the peninsula. Milan sup- 

 plied the best and most costly weapons and armour j 

 Venice produced the most elegant plate, jewellery, 

 and other ornaments ; Genoa and Bologna fur- 

 nished the richest silks, satins, velvets, and em- 

 broidery. 



Many inventions which owe their origin to Italy 

 and to this period contributed both to the fame 

 and the wealth of that peninsula. Glasses for 

 reading, in some measure resembling spectacles, 

 had been invented by Spino, a Dominican monk 

 of Pisa. Faenza fabricated within its walls a kind 

 of earthenware or porcelain. Glass had been made 

 by the Venetians to some extent, and mirrors had 

 been introduced by that state, from whence clocks 

 and watches had first became known. The manu- 

 facture of paper from pounded rags was an inven- 

 tion first practised in Padua. To these may be 

 added the substitution of candles and tapers in the 

 place of the lamps which had formerly been used. 



This flourishing condition of navigation and 

 commerce, both external and internal, led to the 



