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Bolca. who flourished in the sixteenth century. He is cele- 

 v ' brated by Aldrovandus, Gesner, and other cotempo- 

 rary authors, for h ; s knowledge of natural history ; 

 and left a work on the contents of his cabinet, De- 

 scrizione de Museo Calceolari, which was published 

 after his decease by Andrea Chiocco. Nearly a cen- 

 tury later, Count Ludovico Moscardi, having the 

 same propensities for study, formed a cabinet, partly 

 consisting of the petrifactions of Bolca. Still more 

 recently, a member of the noble family of Rotari and 

 Count Andrea Gazola, were occupied with similar 

 pursuits towards the earlier part of the 18th century. 

 The former, who died in 17-ii, addressed a learned 

 epistle to Vallisnieri, on the subject of the fishes of 

 Bolca ; and the latter laid the foundation of the most 

 celebrated of all collections of this description, which 

 still subsists in his nephew's possession. Soon after- 

 wards, the learned Marquis Scipio Maffei, equally 

 distinguished by his skill in polite and antiquarian 

 literature, as in exploring natural phenomena, pur- 

 chased the quarries. Assisted by M. Seguier, a 

 French botanist, he was long engaged in recovering 

 the fossil remains of animals, numerous specimens of 

 which were dispersed among the naturalists of Eu- 

 rope. Nearly about the same time, Giacomo Spada, 

 a priest of Grezzana, which is a place situated among 

 the Veronese mountains, following in the footsteps 

 of Maffei, soon formed a respectable collection, 

 which constantly increased during his life. When he 

 died, in 1750, it passed into the hands of Maffei, 

 from whom M. Seguier acquired it ; and by him it 

 vras carried to the city of Nismes in France, where 

 it yet remains. Spada published three different works 

 on the petrifactions and fishes of the territory of Ve- 

 rona. The loss of his museum, and of the collections 

 f Maffei to that country, were partly indemnified 

 by Julius Caesar Moreni, whose cabinet was enriched 

 with numerous petrifactions, but particularly fishes. 

 The whole was on his death acquired by the Marquis 

 Ottavio di Canossa. Near to the period when the la- 

 bours of Moreni ceased, those of the most celebrated 

 of all the collectors, Vincenzo Bozza, a learned apo- 

 thecary of Verona, commenced. Twenty years were 

 occupied in forming his museum, which neither ex- 

 pence nor trouble were spared in rendering complete. 

 He purchased the soil wherein the quarries of Bolca 

 lie, or obtained permission from the heirs of Mai! ei 

 to renew the excavations ; and, towards the year 1770, 

 began to found a collection, from its owner denomi- 

 nated Gabinetto Bozziano, which w;;s famed over all 

 Europe. The activity of Boz.za was not less excited 

 by his love of investigating the profound phenomena 

 which his reseaiches tended to elucidate, than by 

 the desire of surpassing those cotemporaries who 

 were engaged in the like pursuits. At length his 

 cabinet contained 700 specimens of petrified fishes, 

 besides many other animal and vegetable substances, 

 recovered in the same state from the territory of Ve- 

 rona. Amidst such a number of specimens, 69 dif- 

 ferent (pecks of fishes could be distinctly identified, 

 setting aside others whose characteristics were not 

 sufficiently prominent to give them an appropriate 

 place in the arrangement. " In my cabinet," says 

 Bozza, " which contains above GOO fishes of different 

 sizes, all extracted from Bolca, thers are more than 



100 whose kinds are known, which differ from each Bolca 

 other in genera and species ; and many others besides II ' 



to which similar ones have not yet been dis^frvered c le 5 e >- 

 alive." Juan Andres, a Spanish traveller, relates, 

 that Bozza assured him, that he possessed eight spe- 

 cies of fishes such as now inhabit the Pacific Ocean, 

 and above 30 other species totally unknown ; and he 

 saw some specimens 30 or 40 inches in length. But 

 the Physical Society of Verona, on stricter scrutiny, 

 have reduced the species to 69. In the year 1794, 

 this magnificent collection was purchased, at a high 

 price, by the Count Giambattista Gazola, nephew to 

 Count Andrea, mentioned above. The Count had him- 

 self with great industry procured fossil fishes during 

 the space of eight years, and his museum contained 

 many specimens not to be found in that of Bozza. 

 He likewise acquired the museum of another collec- 

 tor, the Marquis Giacopo Donisi j so that he came 

 into possession of the most splendid and extensive 

 collections which any naturalist had ever enjoyed. 

 From Mount Bolca alone he had above 800 speci- 

 mens of petrified fishes, many of extraordinary size, 

 and of the finest quality ; and the same place afford- 

 ed him numerous petrifactions of crabs, winged in- 

 sects, and marine plants, of which he was enabled to 

 form a perfect series. See Societas Physicorum Ve- 

 ronensium, Ittiolitologia Veronese del Museo Bozzi- 

 ano, 1796. Bozza Lettera al P. Orazio Rota, sul/a 

 universale rivoluzione sofferto dal globo terracqueo. 

 Ermengildo Pini sulle rivoluzioni del globo ter'restre 

 provenienli daW azione deli' acque, part i. ii. Spada, 

 Disscrtazione ova si prova che li Petrificate Corpi 

 Marini che net monti adiacenti a Verona si trovano, 

 non sono scherzi di natura, ne diluviani ma antcdilu- 

 viani. Spada, Corporum lapu/efaetorum agri Vero- 

 nensis Cata/ogus. Testa, Lettera su i Pesci Fossili 

 del Monte Boka. Fortis, Lettera al Signor Abate 

 Testa sopra i Pesci Ischeletriti de' Monte di Bolca. 

 Fortis, Transunto delta replica al Signor Abate Tes- 

 ta sugli izzioliti de' Monti Veronesi. Juan Andres, 

 Cartas familiar es del viage que l/izo a varias citidades 

 de Italia, v. 3. Maffei, Verona lllustrala, torn. iii. 

 Compendio dclla Verona Illustrata, ad uso de' Fores- 

 iieri, torn. i. Cato/ogo Sistematico del piu rari Ittio- 

 !>li del Monte Bolca, che si conservano nel gabinetto 

 prixalo del Signor Vincenzo Bozza. (c) 

 BOLE. See Oryctognosjy. 

 BOLETUS, a genus of plants of the class Crypto- 

 gamia, and order Fungi. See Botany. (u>) 

 BOLINGBROKE, Lord. See St John. 

 BOLCHE RETS KOI, a town of Kamtchatka, 

 situated in a swampy plain on the banks of the Bol- 

 chaia-reka, a river winch rises about the middle of 

 the peninsula, and after running northerly about thirty 

 miles, falls into the sea of Ochotsk. The town is 

 placed on an island formed by the arms of this 

 river, which divide the town into three parts. The 

 town consists of several rows of low buildings, thatch- 

 ed and built with logs. Each of these buildings con- 

 tains of five or six dwellings, connected together with 

 a long common passage, which separates the store- 

 house and kitchen from the dwelling apartments. 

 The principal buildings are a church, a court room, 

 and barracks for the cossacks and Russian soldiers. 

 The river is about six or eight feet deep, and a quar- 



