A C A 



Tin Ac.vpr.MY of jlpaOfis, or Imptvt'iul ^-lauhinv T.i Fl.ir- 

 Tcnce, which compivhends witliiii the extent ot 'its ;>lati all 

 arts and fcicnces, lioldo from time to time public mcetinirs, 

 where any psrfon, whether acadcnaill or not, may read his 

 works, on any fubjcft, and in anv lantjuaj^e : tlie academy 

 receiving all with t!\e greatcit impartiality. 



Academy ilijl' Inqu'iet't, at Bologna, incorporated after- 

 wards into that Di-lta Traccui in the la;nc city, followed the 

 cxar'.ple of that del Cimc!i!o ; its meetings were at the 

 houfe of the ahbot Anronio Sampieri. Here Gemininno 

 Montanari, one of the chiijf members, made Cixcellent dif- 

 courfes on pliyfical and mathematical fubjecls, part whereof 

 v/as publilhed in 1667, under the title of Penfieri Filico- 

 Matematici. This academy afterwards met in an apartment 

 of Euftachio Manfredi ; and afterwards in that of Jacob 

 Sandri, but arrived at a higher lullre, when its alTemblies 

 were held in the palace MarliUi. Some writers have repre- 

 fentcd Manfredi as the fovinder of this academy in 1690. 

 Its motto was, Jilciis ag'nat. In 1705, J. B. Mavpfa'rm 

 4iew-modelled the academy, and received Marfifrli intoliis 

 houfe. Several learned men became members of it, and it 

 was united with the InjFilule, founded by Marfigli, in 

 the year 17 12, under the title of the ylcanemy of the 

 Infinite. Tiie arts of pair.tinj, ftatuar)-, and architeclurc, 

 introduced by Mariigli, were at lirll confidered as diftindl 

 and fepxrate from the plan of the Academy of Inftitute ; but 

 they were afterwards incorporated with it ; and the univer- 

 fity finally acquired the name of ylcadem'ia Clementina, 

 from its patron Clement XL A printing-office was 

 added to the academy by the munificence of Benedict XIV. 

 In this Inftit\ite, not only the learned of each fex were ad- 

 mitted as members, but feveral ladies have been promoted 

 to profefTorfhips. Among thefe we may mention the cele- 

 brated Anna Manzolini, profed'or of anatomy, and Laura 

 BafTi, who died in 1778, renowned for her knowledge in the 

 abilrufe fciences. Of this lady we have a particular account 

 in the 6th volume of the Cnniment. Bonan. The philofophi- 

 cal apparatus is large. This academy, in an early period 

 of its exiilence, publidied the Acia Bunomenfm. 



AcADtMY of Rnjfano, in the kingdom of Naples, called 

 La Soeicta Scientifica Roffunefe tiegl' Inniri fi, was founded 

 about the year 1 540, under the name of Naviganti, and re- 

 newed under that of Spenfierati by Camillo Tufcano, about 

 the year 1600. It was transformed from an academy of 

 belles Icttres into an ?.cademy of fciences, at the folicitation 

 of the learned abbot Don Giacinto Gimma ; who being made 

 prefident under the title of promoter-general thereof, in 

 1695, gave a new fct of regulations. He divided the acade- 

 mifts into feveral clafTes, fiz. grammarians, rhetoricians, 

 poets, hiftorians, philofophers, phyficians, mathematicians, 

 lawyers, and divines, with a clals apart for cardinals and 

 perfons of quality. To be admitted a member, a man mud 

 have degrees in fome faculty. The members are not allow- 

 ed to take the title of acath-m'fs, in the beginning of their 

 books, without a written permiffion from the prefident, 

 which is not granted till the work has been examined by 

 the cenfors of the academy. This permiffion is the greatell 

 honour the academy can confer ; fince hereby they, as it 

 were, adopt the work ; and are anfwerable for it againft all 

 critiques which may be made of it. The prefident or pro- 

 moter himfelf 'is I'ubjeft to this law. Add, that no aca- 

 demill is allowed to publiih any thi'.g againil the writings 

 of another, without leave from the fociety. 



Tiiere have been feveral other academics of fciences in 



Italy, which have not fubiuled long, for want of being fup- 



ported by the princes. Such were at Naples that of the 



hv'fli^n'nllf founded about the year 1679, by the Marquis 



. Vol. L 



A C A 



d'Ar.'nS, Don Andrea C<inctil>Icllo ; and 'list which met 

 in 169S, in the paliice of the duke dc Medina, Don Levvm 

 della Creda, vli.croy of Naples. At Konic, that of Fiji.o- 

 Miilanatici, >vhich met in 16H6, in tlic lioufe of Si;;. Cium> 

 pini : at Verona, that of ylLliifiii, founded the fame year 

 liy Sig. jofejih Gaiola, which met in the houfe of the 

 Count Screnghi della Ccicca : at Urclcia, that of Filftiici, 

 founded the lame year for the cultivation of jiliyfici ai d ma- 

 thematics, and ended the year following ; that of !•'. I'ran- 

 ciio I>.ana, a^tl'uit of great (Ivill in thofc fciences: lallly, 

 that of Vifico-Ciilici., at Sienna, founded in 1^191, by Si^. 

 Peter Maria GabricUi. Some other academics Ihil fubiilliig 

 in Italy , have repaired with advantage tlie lofs of the former. 

 One of the principal is the academy of FHannonici, at Ve- 

 rona, liberally fupported by the Martinis Scipio M:i(!ii, 

 one of the moll learned men in Italy, in honour of whom the 

 members, of the academy ere<i\ed a marble llatue over the en- 

 trance of the palace, w.th a:i appropriate infcriplion : and in 

 1 543-, the In'-alinnii of Ancona were mcorpoi'ated with this aca- 

 demy. Though tlio members of this body apply thenifelves to 

 the belles lettres, they do not negleiit the fciences. The aca- 

 demy of Ricovrali, at Padua, has Ijng fubfilled with repu- 

 tation ; in it, learned difcourfcs have b, en held from time to 

 time on phyfieal fubjccts ; fuch, for inllance, ii tl at whicli the 

 celebrated Slg. Antonio V.iUifiiieri, firll profcPor ofphyfic 

 in the imiverlity of that city, delivered here on the origin of 

 fprings, fince printed. The like may be faid of the aca- 

 demy of the Mtiti de Rrggio, at Modeiia ; to which the 

 fame Sig. Vallifnieri, a native of that city, prefented an ex- 

 cellent difcourfe on the fcale of created beings, fince in» 

 ferted in his Hiftoiy of the Generation of Man and Ani- 

 mals ; printed at Venice in 1721. In the number of thefe 

 academies may alfo he ranked the aflembly of learned men, 

 which met at Venice in the houfe of Sig. Chrillino 

 Martinelli, a noble Venetian, and great patron of learn- 

 ing. Among the new academies, the firil place after 

 the inftitute of Bologna, is given to that of the countefs 

 Donna Clelia Grillo Boromeo, one of the moll learned ladie» 

 of the age, to whom Sig. Gimma dedicates his Literary 

 Hillory of Italy. She had lately cllabliflied an academy of 

 experimental philofophy in her palace at Milan ; of which 

 Sig. Vallifnieri was nominated prefident, and had already 

 drawn up the reguhtions of it, though we do uot find it 

 took place. There are likewile many other academies 

 of lefs note in Italy ; Jarchius enumerates 550, of which 

 the names are very curious. F. Merfenne is faid to 

 have given the firll idea of a philofophical academy in 

 France, towai-di the beginning of the feventcenth centiiry, 

 by the conferences of naturalillij and mathematicians, oc> a- 

 fionnlly held at his lodgings ; at which Gadendi, Des Car- 

 tes, Hobbes, Roberval, Pafcal, Blondel, and others afiilU J. 

 F. Merfenne propofed to each, certain problems to examine, 

 or certain experiments to be made. Thefe private alTem- 

 blies were fucceeded by more public ones, formed by M. 

 Montmoit and M.Thevenot, the celehnittd traveller. The 

 French example animated every Englilhmaii of dilllnifliou 

 and learning to ercA a kind of philofophical ;'.eadcmy at 

 Gilford, towards the clofe of Ciomwcli's .idmiiiillration ; 

 which, after tlie reftoratlon, was ereAed by authority into 

 a Roval Society. The Englifh example in its turn ani- 

 mated the French. Lewis XIV. in l6fi6, afFiiled by the 

 counfels of M. Colbert, founded an academy of fciences at 

 Paris, called the 



AcADF.MY, Royal, of Sciences, for the improvement of 

 plivfics, mathematics, and chcmiftry. In the year 1699, it 

 had as it were a fccond birth ; the fame prince, by a regu- 

 lation, dated the 26th of January, giving it a new form, 



O ani 



