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the fidfS of this volcano, whicli, if dug into as well within 

 the water as without, are found veiy warm. The fame 

 warmth is likcwife perceived at the bottom of tlie crater. 

 From fuch excavations likewife arifc thin warm vapours. In 

 fafl, in the internal parts of Monte Nuovo, we find all the 

 lad remains of volcanic conflagration. In the external fides 

 of the mountain many pieces of lava were found, which 

 were of a middle character between lava and pumice-ftone, 

 and which Spallan/ani on this account denominates pumice 

 of lavas. The bafe of thefe ilones is a horn-ftone, mixed 

 with a few fcltfpar fcales ; tlicy fcarccly arlhtre to the 

 tonffue, and emit a ilight argiliacco'.is odour. In the fur- 

 nace thev produce a compatt enamel of a dark grey colour, 

 tranfparent at the angles, and which gives a fev/ fparks with 

 fteel. Towards the mternal bottom of the crater, Spallan- 

 •/ani found, prnjeding from the tufa, the fame kind of lava, 

 penetrated with ftitfpars, but more compaft and heavy, 

 and intcrfperfed with beautiful and flii;:ing veins of black 

 enamel of various thickncfs. On the lide of the bottom, 

 witliin the t\ifa, this fagacious obferver difcovered a fmall 

 cavity, formed either by nature or art, tliat abounds with 

 falinc' efflorefcences, which he at firft imagined to be mu- 

 riate of ammcniac (fal ammoniac), or fulphat* of alumine 

 (alum) ; but their urinous acrid tailc, the green colour which 

 they gave to fyrup of violets, and otiier qualities that are 

 proper to foda, left no doubt that they were formed from 

 tha,t fait. On the tufaceous fides of the crater, both inter- 

 rial and external, Spallanzani perceived, as he had done in 

 the lake Agnako, a great number of frogs that were leap- 

 ing about, nearly half an inch long, and about a quarter in 

 breadth. They had the complete form of the frog, were 

 of a dark yellow colour, aiid their fore-feet were divided 

 into four toes, and their hinder into five ; though tliey have 

 not the (hape of the hand, which conflitutes an effcntia! dif- 

 ference between thcfe frogs, and the others of thofe coun- 

 tries. It was difficult to account for the produftion of thefe 

 amphibious anim^ds. " Among all the different fpecies of 

 European frogs," fays Spallanzani " (and under this ge- 

 nus, I, with LinuTus, likewife include toads), I know 

 none, which do not begin their exiftence in water, and con- 

 tinue to live in it fonie time, until they throw off the malic 

 of the tadpole, and affume the (hape of frogs. But Monte 

 Nuovo is not only entirely without moillure, but as I learned 

 from the peafants who refide in the neighbourhood, even 

 tvhen heavy rains fall, the bottom of the crater, which is the 

 only place where rain water can be collefted and retained, 

 imbibes all the water immediately, as in fart it muft, fiace 

 it confifts of a hght fpongy lufa, full of cracks and fiffures. 

 The only water near is that of the lake Agnano, about 

 half a mile diftant, from which thefe animals might be fup- 

 pofed to have derived their origin, were it not that the 

 frogs of that lake are of a totally different fptciei." Upon 

 the whole this ingenious naturalii^ concludes, that the pre- 

 fence of thefe creatures in this place was to him an amigma, 

 which it required a longer flay in this volcanic countiy to 

 enable him to folve. 



The cave, called the Sibyl's Grotto, near Avernus, which 

 is oppofite to the temple, feems more likely, as Mr. Swin- 

 burne apprehends, to have been the mouth of a communi- 

 cation between Cuma and Avernus, than the abode of a pro- 

 phetefs ; efptcially as the Sibyl is politively faid by hido- 

 rians to have dwelt in a cuvern under the Cumsan citadel. 

 Some have conj ftured that it was part of the canal ab- 

 furdly projected by Ivero, from the mouth of the Tiber to 

 the Julian port. On every hill, and in every vale of thefe 

 tnvirons, appear the ruins of extenfive villas, once embel- 

 lifhcd with all the elegansies of combined art, but now 



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traced only by half-buried mouldering walls, and fome mar- 

 ble fragments, the remaining indications of the tafle and 

 coftlinefs with which they were conftrufted. Among the 

 ruins of this country, one, in particular, claims attention ; 

 and this is the villa in which Cicero had his academy, where 

 he penned fome of his moft admirable produtlions, and which 

 probably flood on a fpot covered by the eruption of 1538. 

 Swinburne's Travels, vol. iii. p-Jl, &c. Spallanzani's 

 Travels, vol. i. p. 128, 5:c. 



AUEROCHS, in Ornithology, a fynonymous name of 

 the wild ox, given by Gefncr and Ridinger. See Bos 

 Ferus. 



AVE RON, in Geography, an ifland in the North fea, 

 near the coaft of Norway. N. lat. 63° 6'. E. long, -j^ 

 44'. 



AVERPENNY, q. d. Average-penny, in Antiqm'.y, 

 money contributed towards the king's averages, or money 

 given to be freed thereof. See Average. 



AVERRHOA, in Botany (fo named after the fam.ous 

 commentator on Ariflotle and Avicenna ; commonly- 

 called Averrhoes, of Corduba, in Spain ; his " Colliget," 

 or the plants ufed in food, &c. was written about the end 

 of the twelfth century). Lin. g. 576. Schreb. 784. Juff. 37J. 

 Clafs, dccandria pcnta^yn'ia. [Pcntandria, Lour.) Nat. Order, 

 gruiniites-—tsrelintaceic. Juff. Gen. Char. Cid. perianth five- 

 leaved, erect; fmr.ll ; leaflets lanceolate, permanent. Cor. 

 petals five, lanceolate, the lower part creft, the upper fpread- 

 ing. Stcim. filaments ten, fetaceous, alternately the length 

 of the corolla, and fhorter ; anthers roundifli. Pift. germ 

 oblong, obfcir. ely live-cornered ; flyles five, fetaceous, ereft ; 

 lligmas fimple. Per. pome turbinate, five-cornered, five- 

 celled ; feeds angular, feparated by membranes. 



ElT. Gen. Char. Cnl. five-leave d. Pet. five, expanding 

 above ; pome five-cornered, fivc-ceiled. 



Species, l. A. BUmhi. Rumph. Amb. i. 118. t. 36. 

 Riieed. Mai. 3. 55. t. 45, 46. Lour. Cochinch. 289. "Trunk 

 naked, fruit-bearing ; p -mes oblong, obtufe-angled." A 

 tree about eight feet in height, with few reclining branches ; 

 leaves pinnate, with ten or more pairs of leaflets ; flowers 

 on racemes adhering to the trunk, of a red purple colour ; 

 calyx five-cleft ; f.uit an oblong pome, the thickncfs of a 

 finger, fmooth. A native of Goa, and of both udes of the 

 Ganges. 2. A. Caramhola. Rumph. 1. c. t. 35. Riieed. 1. c. 

 t. 43, 44. Phil. Tranf. vol. 75. Lour. 1. c. " AxUlx of the 

 leaves fruit-bearing ; pomes oblong, acute-angled. This is a 

 tree above the middle fize, with fprcading branches, and a very 

 clofe head ; leaves v.ith about four pairs of leaflets, wliich are 

 ovate, acuminate, entire, oppofite, the upper ones largell ; 

 flowers lateral, on fhort racemes ; corolla bell-fliaped, varie- 

 gated with purple and white ; flamens always five ; pome 

 the fize of a hen's egg, witii a yellow rind. Dr. Bruce 

 gives a curious detail of the fenfibility of the petioles and 

 even branches of this tree. The fruit of both the fpecies 

 affords a pleafant acid juice, efpecially the former. The 

 Braniins and Portugucfe call this tree caramhola ; in Mala- 

 bar it is named tamara-tonga ; and in Bengal, camruc, or 

 camrunga. Both thefe Indian trees have been introduced 

 into the Kew garden. 



AVERRHOES, or Averroes, or Mu al Waked Mo- 

 hammed Eln Ahmed Ebn RrJJ.\l, in Bio\^raphy, an eminent 

 philofopher and ph^'fician, was born about the middle of 

 the twelfth century, at Corduba, the chief city of the Sara- 

 cens in Spain, v.here his grandfather and father had occu- 

 pied the polls of chief priell and chief magiltrate. The 

 firfl care of his education was entrufled with Thophail of 

 Seville, who inftrudled him in the Illamitic law ; and after 

 the manner of the Arabian fchools, in the Mahometan 



theology. 



