Fauna Italica. 83 



gave the " Spechio Comparative*/' a little comparative sketch of the 

 birds of Rome with those of North America, to which a supplement 

 was added. Subsequently, a system of classification of the animal 

 kingdom, with remarks on that of Cuvier, and some minor opusculi, 

 were printed at Rome, but we believe these works were principally, 

 if not wholly, intended for private distribution amongst his friends. 



In the winter of 1832-33, the present more serious undertaking 

 was commenced. It consists of a selection of the new or remarkable 

 species in the Mammalia, birds, fishes, and reptiles, of Italy and the 

 adjacent countries, which are given in coloured lithography, with 

 descriptions in the vernacular idiom. The work may be classed 

 amongst those '* of luxury," in the phrase of our neighbours. The 

 size is folio, the printing admirable, and reflects the more credit on 

 the Roman typography, that it is the first attempt on that scale and 

 subject. The policy of the Papal government has always been to 

 discourage printing, and in consequence, the profits of an art which 

 would appear to be particularly suited to the place, have been aban- 

 doned to the Tuscans and Lombards, who have almost monopolized 

 the printing even of the standard classic works, to which no inqui- 

 sitorial objection could be made, whilst the public press of Rome 

 has been chiefly employed in the most common-place work of mis- 

 sals or breviaries, more for the use of the strangers than of the 

 natives, for whom a very small supply of these articles is sufficient. 

 The editing a work of this sort, and passing it through the hands of 

 such assistants, is of course considerable, and enhances the interest 

 of it. The same remark applies to the designs, Avhich were executed 

 under the personal inspection of the Prince ; and his draftsmen mak- 

 ing their first essay in this work, and his villa, (which formerly be- 

 longed to Paulina, the Princess Borghese, and is situated just with- 

 in the walls,) when his assistants were at work resembled a small 

 academy. The fish and reptiles are the best executed, the quadru- 

 peds are good, the birds perhaps the most defective, clearly owing 

 to the difficulty, even to the experienced hand and eye, of seizing 

 and embodying the graceful, lively, and ever-changing attitudes of 

 the feathered part of the creation. The style is excellent, the clear- 

 ness and ductility, as well as extreme conciseness of the Italian, 

 adapting it singularly to the uses of natural history. 



The work commences with a plate and description of the common 

 fox of Rome and the vicinity, which the Prince has made out to 

 differ from the Canis vulpes, the inhabitant of our own islands, 

 and of the centre and north of Europe, and to which he has given 

 the name of Canis melanogaster. The chief organic difference ap- 



