16 



Did time permit, I might present to you a most interest- 

 ing historical sketch of the changes in agricultural con- 

 dition and capability which that country has undergone 

 from the period of the ancient Etrurians to the present 

 day. And to the man of science, such a sketch would be 

 the more interesting, from the circumstance that in all the 

 changes which have taken place, the physical and geolog- 

 ical structure of the country, has exercised a far more 

 prominent and permanent influence, than either the re- 

 markable industry and constructive skill of the Etruscan 

 inhabitants, or the hostile incursions of its foreign in- 

 vaders. 



To the rich alluvial plains of Lombardy, of which rice 

 and Indian corn, and wheat and abundant milk, are the 

 natural productions ; and to Tuscany, in which something 

 of the ancient industry and persevering practical skill of 

 the old Etrurians* still survives, the agricultural enquirer 

 must proceed to see the bright side of Italian cultivation. 



But it is in Tuscany chiefly that he will find the most 

 interesting evidence of the conquering power of the living 

 mind over the obstacles of physical nature. The Maremme 

 of Tuscany and the marshes of the Val di Chiana, like the 

 Campagna and the Pontine marshes of the Roman domi- 

 nions, have long breathed forth that pestilential malaria 

 which, like the summer exhalations of the sea islands and 

 river mouths of your Southern states, carries on its wings 

 fever and lingering ague and frequent death. It is one of 

 the great modern triumphs of engineering skill, applied to 

 the promotion of rural industry — second only to the gigan- 



* To those who are desirous of obtaining the means of forming clear 

 notions of the physical structure of Italy, of its climatic conditions in the 

 times of the ancient Etrurians, and of the industrial skill as well as the 

 social relations of this people, I venture to recommend a perusal of Denis's 

 Cities and Cemeteries of Etniria. 



