Miscellaneous Intelligence. 503 



ancient time to the lynx making it a fit emblem of the searching 

 spirit of Science, of which Galileo was already an illustrious ex- 

 ponent. The members were "Lincei." They required that a 

 candidate for membership should not be younger than 22 years or 

 older than 30 ; and he must be devoted to the sciences of experi- 

 ment or observation. Discussions in jurisprudence, modem his- 

 tory, theology, politics and poetry were excluded, because not 

 properly within their range. The Academy had, in part, in con- 

 formity to the spirit of the place and times, the form of a religious 

 order; for St. John the Evangelist was recognized as its protector, 

 and the members were required to recite daily " I'officio deila Beata 

 Vergine." This, however, was not enough to save the " Lincei " 

 from suspicion. 



In 1630, Fedexico Cesi, the founder and patron of the Academy, 

 died, to the grief and great loss of its members. The Academy 

 had already come into disfavor, because Federico in 1625 had 

 denied that the sky was solid, and Galileo had asserted that the 

 earth moved ; and, soon after Federico's decease, its sessions were 

 for the second time, suspended. Some private meetings were 

 occasionally held, under the protection of Cardinal Barberini, 

 nephew of the pope, Urban VIII, at the house of Cassiano del Pozzo, 

 where there was a rich museum. But in 1651, on the death of 

 this Cardinal, the suspension became complete, and the Academy 

 was for the second time dead ; and so it remained for nearly a 



Its revivification — the^ecowJ — did not take place until 1740, when 

 the learned and liberal Pope Benedict XIV, Lambertini, reinstated 

 it and gave it the name of the " Accademia de' nuovi Lincei." 

 But in 1758, on the death of this pope, it became for the third 



len which had held meetings for 

 the " Collegeis TJmbro-F'uocioli " 

 ana wnicn embraced among its members Feliciano Scarpellini, took 

 the form of an academy, called the " Accademia Umbro-Fuccioli," 

 which was in effect a revival— the third— oi the old Academy. 

 Owing to the political disturbances of 1801, the Academy was 

 again suppressed. But in July, Pius VII, a patron of science and 

 art, succeeded to the papal chair, and the meetings were resumed, 

 Scarpellini having the full confidence and support of the pope. 

 This was th^frntrth return to active life. It took at first the title 

 of "Accademia Gaetani ;" but in 1802 it adopted that of " Acca- 

 demia de' nuovi Lincei," and in 1804, returned to the original 

 name, dropping the nuovi. 



The Academy continued in activity for forty years, sustained 

 largely through the influence and labors of Scai-pelhni. With 

 Scarpellini's death, in 1840, it became once more defunct, having 

 I>een closed by Gregory XVI, against earnest solicitations. This 

 pope finally gone, Pius IX succeeded ; and being eminently liberal 

 m his views when he took the pontificate, the Academy, a year 



