possession of the canal of Toy, was then seventeen 

 thousand metres (or eighteen thousand five hundred 

 ninety- one yards,) advanced beyond the same point. 

 Thus, the shore had become extended nine or ten thou- 

 sand metres (or ten thousand nine hundred thirty-six 

 yards,) to the north, and six or seven thousand to the 

 south, (equal to seven thousand six hundred fifty-five 

 yards.) " Between these two mouths there was for- 

 merly a bay, or part of the coast less advanced than 

 the rest, called Sacca di Goro. During the same period 

 of foar hundred years, previous to the commencement 

 of the seventeenth century, the great and extensive 

 embankments of the Po were constructed ; and also, 

 during the same period, the southern slopes of the 

 Alps began to be cultivated. " 



From this, it appears that the extension of the delta 

 at the Po, had increased, in the space of about four 

 hundred years, nearly eight thousand yards ; a dis- 

 tance nearly equal to eight tenths of what it had 

 gained during the whole period, from the founding of 

 the city of Adria to the twelfth century. An enor- 

 mous disproportion, as must be admitted on all hands. 

 But let us examine the subject a little further, in order 

 to comprehend the full extent of this rapid increase. 



"The great canal, denominated Taglio de Porto 

 Viro, or Podelle Fornaci, ascertains the advance of 

 the alluvial depositions in the vast promontory now 

 formed by the mouths or delta of the Po." 



"In proportion as their entrances into the sea extend 

 from the original land, the yearly quantity of alluvial 



