Foreign Notices : — Italy. 291 



elder savant, and when the spectators are tired of arithmetic and orthogra- 

 phy, the two dogs eitlier sit down with each other to ecarte, 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 vv^on, he selected 

 his number, and on being asked what were the gains of his adversary, he 

 immediately took an 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. 



" I 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 ecarte. 

 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. 



" I nmst 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. 



ITALY. 



Volcano of Pietra Mala. — In 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 been 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 

 crater. 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 3 ft. or 4 ft. 

 broad, on the same level with the surrounding field, and which space is 



