Foreign Notices : — Italy. 291 
elder savant, and when the spectators are tired of arithmetic and orthogra- 
phy, the two dogs either sit down with each other to écarté, or become the 
antagonists of one of the company. They ask for, or refuse cards, as their 
hands require, with a most important look, they cut at the proper times, and 
never mistake one suit for another. They have recourse to their ciphers 
to mark their points, and on one occasion Bianco having won, he selected 
his number, and on being asked what were the gains of his adversary, he 
immediately took an 0 between his teeth, and showed it to the querist ; and 
both seem to know all the turns of the game as thoroughly as the most expe- 
rienced card-players. 
*“ All this passes without the slightest visible or audible sign between the 
poodles and their master, the spectators are placed within three steps of 
the carpet on which the performance goes forward; people have gone for 
the sole purpose of watching the master, every body visits them, and yet 
no one has yet found out the mode of communication established between 
them and their owner. Whatever this communication may be, it does 
not deduct from the wonderful intelligence of these animals; for there must 
be a multiplicity of signs not only to be understood with eyes or ears, but 
to be separated from each other in their minds, or to be combined one 
with another, for the various trials in which they are exercised. 
“ T have seen learned pigs and ponies, and can, after these spectacles, 
readily imagine how the extraordinary sagacity of a dog may be brought 
to a knowledge of the orthography of three hundred words; but I must con- 
fess myself puzzled by the acquirements of these poodles in arithmetic, which 
must depend upon the will of the spectator who proposes the numbers ; but 
that which is most surprising of all is the skill with which they play écarté. 
The gravity and attention with which they carry on their game is almost 
ludicrous, and the satisfaction of Bianco when he marks his points is per- 
fectly evident. 
“ T must not omit a very amiable feature in the character of these four- 
footed savans, which is, that their great superiority of instruction over 
their brethren has not in the least destroyed their more engaging quali- 
ties. Not only are they obedient, but lively, affectionate, and gentle, 
and have not one particle of conceit, though all Paris sees and admires 
them.” 
I can vouch for the entire veracity of the above statement, and am, Sir, 
yours, &c. — Sarah Lee. 27. Burton Street, Burton Crescent, March, 1830. 
PDALY. 
Volcano of Pietra Mala.—1n crossing the Apennines we slept at the 
village of Pietra Mala, about half way between Bologna and Florence, that 
we might more conveniently see the celebrated volcano, which is about a 
mile from the village, and to which, attended by a guide, we bent our steps 
soon after it was dark. As usual we found the account in our guide-book 
incorrect. Far from illuminating the surrounding mountains, we should 
not, until quite near it, have taken it for any thing but a candle in a cottage 
window, or at most a small bonfire ; and instead of presenting the extraor- 
dinary peculiarity of lighting wood but not heating stones, we found those 
which lie upon it so hot as not to be held in the hand, and the heat suffi- 
cient to roast, very speedily, some chestnuts which my sons chanced to have 
in their pockets, and which they ate with double glee on account of their 
cookery at this natural furnace, which has beer. burning for ages, and which 
from this circumstance derives its greatest interest. Strictly it has little 
claim to be called a volcano, there not being the slightest appearance of any 
erater, It is merely a flame of hydrogen or carburetted hydrogen gas, 
issuing from crevices in an oval space 6 ft. or 8 ft. long, by 3ft. or 4 ft. 
broad, on the same level with the surrounding field, and which space is 
