456 report— 1879. 



6. On Geographical Studies and Works in Italy. 

 By Professor G. Dalla Vedova. 



In Italy, the aids to Geographical knowledge may be thus divided : — 



State Undertakings. — The general topographical survey of the kingdom, 

 commenced at the end of 1861, under the general staff of the Italian army, and 

 subsequently carried on by a special office, the Royal Military Topographical Insti- 

 tute at Florence. In 1873, the ex-kingdom of the Two Sicilies was completely 

 triangulated, with other partially geodetic works elsewhere ; and since that time 

 the general triangulation of Italy has been undertaken, commencing with Piedmont, 

 with other topographical works to be utilised in the preparation of a map of Italy 

 on the scale of 1 : 100-000, though frequently themselves on a much larger scale. 

 In the present year, 1st and 2nd class surveys are being executed in Piedmont, 

 Lombardy, from Leghorn to Oivita Vecchia, in Sardinia, and elsewhere, and are 

 expected to be completed in three years. Operations have also been conducted in 

 aid of the determination of the European level. The Institute also published in 

 1878 a complete map in photolithography of the province of Naples and Sicily, 174 

 sheets, scale 1 : 50-000, with elevation in contour lines of 10-metre intervals. 

 Work has also been executed towards the publication of a large map of Italy in 

 photogravure, bv Ayet's process, to be completed in 277 sheets, scale 1 : 100-000. 

 Twelve sheets of this have been completed in proof. 



As to Hydrographic Surveys, under the Minister of Marine, the whole Adriatic 

 coast is completed, with extension in 1877 to Calabria and Sicily, and in 1878 

 to North Sardinia. Sixteen sheets (with many others provisionally) have been 

 published of a coast map, scale 1 : 100-000. 



The Minister of Public Works has in hand the river hydrography, high roads, 

 and railways, on which memoirs are published in the ' Hydrographic Bulletin.' He 

 presented a general account to the Paris Exposition. 



The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, apart from economical statistics, 

 undertakes Meteorology, having a council and thirty-two observatories in his de- 

 partment, and also a geological committee (with Commissioner Felice Giordano as 

 president). The ' Italian Statistical Annual,' under this minister, edited by Com- 

 missioner Luigi Bodio, contains condensed results of official information on internal 

 geography and statistics. 



In all the schools, geography forms part of the curriculum, though in unequal 

 degrees. ^ It is relatively larger in the elementary, very limited in the lower, and 

 entirely insufficient in the higher classical schools. There are special teachers in 

 only seven of the twenty-three State and private University Institutions, viz., at 

 Bologna, Florence, Naples, Padua, Pavia, Rome, and Turin, and in all these the 

 time and course of instruction devoted to geography are inadequate. 



As to State aid in explorations by foreigners, although never organising such 

 expeditions, Italy has always been ready to contribute substantial and moral sup- 

 port for the advantage of science or the benefit of her subjects. 



Private Institutions.— Chief of these is the Italian Geographical Society, 

 founded at Florence in 1867 by Commander Cristoforo Negri, who continued 

 President until 1871, when the Society was transferred to Rome. He was suc- 

 ceeded by Commander Cesare Correnti, who held office until January last, when 

 Don Onorato Caetani, Prince of Teano, was elected. The Society now has over 

 1,400 Fellows, and publishes an 'Annual Bulletin ' of 800 pages, with twelve maps, 

 of which 15 vols, had appeared in 1878. It has also published a volume of 

 'Memoirs' (1878), one of 'Biographical and Bibliographical Studies on Italian 

 Geography,' and another on the ' Physical and Political Geography of Italy ' (1875). 

 It has promoted or subsidised various expeditions to the Bogos country, Abyssinia, 

 New Guinea, Morocco, &c. It delivers lectures, gold medals (the last two to 

 D'Albertis and Savorgnan di Brazza), and two pecuniary awards, endowed by the 

 present King and Commissioner Canevaro. 



The Turin Geographical Club, founded some years before the Society by Pro- 

 fessor C. Peroglio, and of which Signor Guido Cora is now President, has issued 

 some few publications, but is not of any considerable size. 



The Italian Alpine Club, with its centre at Turin, presided over by Comman- 



