L I P 



L I P 



ground, there is reafon to believe, that fomo remains of ful- 

 phureous conflagrations ftiU continue. 



Lipari, we have already obferved, is the largcft, and it is 

 a]fo the mod populous of thofe called the iEoliau iflcs ; the 

 number of its inhabitants amounting to between nine and 

 ten thoufand, moll of whom refide in the city of the fame 

 name. If the illand be divided into four parts, aboiit 2^ 

 will be found to be cultivated, and the remainder overgrown 

 with wood, and barr3n. Thefe barren trafts, however, are 

 gradually converted into fruitful fields, from a kind of 

 ceceffity arifing from the continually incrcafing population 

 of the ifland. Lipari produces cotton, pulfe, and ohves, 

 in fmall quantities. The corn is fcarcely fufficient for the 

 fupply ijf the city. The principal of the ufeful productions 

 of this ifland are the grapes, of which there are feveral 

 kinds. The firft furnifhes the common wine that is drank 

 in the ifland, and of which they export aimually two or 

 three thoufand barrels. The paflole and paiTolina, as they 

 are called in the ifland, are two other kinds of grapes that 

 are dried. The lad is that fort which is ufually called the 

 Corinthian grape. Of this they commonly fell 10,000 bar- 

 rels annually; and of the other about 12,000. From a 

 fourth kind of grape is made the famous Malniley of Lipari ; 

 which is a wine of a clear amber colour, generous and fweet. 

 The grape producing this wine is fcarce, and does not 

 furnifli more than 2OCO barrels annually, which are fold for 

 foreign markets, as well as the paffole and patTolina. The 

 ▼intage is in the month of September, which is a fcafon of 

 relaxation and feftivity to the Liparefe. Another plant of 

 domeftic ufe to the Liparefe, if it does not form a branch of 

 foreign commerce, is the Indian fig (Cailus opuntia, 

 Linn.) Nothing can be more wretched than the filliery of 

 Lipari. In June and July they fifh for coral ; but owing 

 10 a want of ikill, this fishery is very unproductive. At 

 Lipari large and fmail cattle are very fcarce ; and the few 

 oxen and cows which are flaughtered there are brought 

 from Sicily, and are very lean. Of wild quadrupeds, the 

 country only produces rabbits, which make their burrows 

 in the mountainous parts, where the volcanic matters, prin- 

 cipally of the tufaceous kind, permit them to dig with their 

 feet. The birds ftationary here are but few, iiiz. the par- 

 tridge, green-f.nch, fparrow, gold-finch, horn-owl, and raven. 

 Of migrating water-fowls, here are different kinds of fea- 

 gulls and the cormorant. The birds of paffage are the 

 turtle-dove and the quail, which come for a few days in 

 April ^nd September. Several kinds of fwallows are 

 common. 



Foreign commerce has begun to be introduced into the 

 iiland by the mariners; they every year buy, at the fair of 

 -Sinigaglio, linen, muflins, veils, and other commodities of 

 •hat kind ; and fell them at MefTina, Catania, Palermo, 

 ind other parts of Sicily. The trade is very advantageous 

 to the country, and rnany have acquired confiderable wealth ; 

 though it injures the fiihery and raifes the price of fifh. 

 Strabo, Diodorus, and Diofcorides fay, that the fulphate 

 of alumine (alum) was procured in great abundance at 

 Lipari ; but none of this fait is now extrafted in the ifland. 

 The political adminiflration of Lipari is compofed of a 

 ^:riminal judge, a fifcal, a governor, who has the chief autho- 

 rity both in military and civil affairs, and who is commonly 

 an old invalid ; and a civil judge. The bifhop, fevcnteen 

 canons of the firfl order, and fourteen of the fecond, and 

 from 120 to 130 priefts, form the eccleliaflical eflablifli- 

 ment. The Lipa'-efe are, in general, of a prompt and 

 lively wit, ready to learn, of acute penetration, and very 

 .defirous of obta.ning knowledge. A beggar is fcarcely 

 ever found in thi; ifiand ; for the poorefl pcrfons have fome 

 Vol.. XXI. 



fmall piece of ground which they cultivate, and by the pro- 

 duce of wliich they live. The natives are rather of a large 

 (iZQ, robuft, and comely. The heat of the fun, however, 

 injures their fine complexions, producing tanned fkins and 

 fwarthy countenances. The Liparefe, in general, value 

 themfelves upon being good mariners, both in theory and 

 praftice. Spallanzani's Travels in the Two Sicilies. &c. 



Lipari, an ancient city of the above ifland, forming an 

 amphitheatre a'ong the fhore, with a chain of mounrains 

 behind it, not of an extenfive circuit, and confifling rather 

 of narrow alleys than ftreets. The caflie is furrounded with 

 a wall, on which are erefted a few cann in, and is defended 

 by a fmall garrifon. The houfes are iLdifferent buildings ; 

 but three edifices are diftinguilhable fror.; the reft ; vii. the 

 palace of the billiop, the houfe of tht- governor, and the 

 cathedral church. The latter contain? very coftly facred 

 utenfils, a great quantity of plate, and a number of filver 

 images, among which is the ftatue of St. Bartholomew, 

 their patron faint. The value of this treafure is faid to 

 amount to go,ooo Neapolitan fcudi ; the fcudi being worth 

 about 4f. ^J. N. lat. 38 3;'. E. long, ij'- 12'. 



LIPARIA, in Botany, io named by Linnseus, in his 

 fecond Mantijfa, m allulion either to the fmooth or fleek 

 habit of L. j'phxrica, from which his idea and character 

 of the genus was taken, or to its rich and fplendid ap- 

 pearance, for the Greek word Xtrrx^t,; will juftify either ex- 

 planation. Profeflbr Marty n gives the former; we prefer the 



latter Linn. Mant. Ij6. Schrcb. 499. Willd. Sp. PL 



V. 3. II 14. Mart. Mill. Dick. v. 3. Thunb. Prodr. 123. 

 Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. i. v. 3. 48. Juff. 3^3. — Clafs and 

 Older, Diadelphia Decandrla. Nat. Ord. PapUionaccay Linn. 

 Legumlnofie, JufF. 



Otn. Ch. Cal. Perianth of one leaf, inferior, very ob- 

 tufe at the bafe, divided half way down into five acute feg- 

 raeiits, the lowermoll of which is very long, elliptical, and 

 refembling a petal. Cor. papilionaceous, without any fpurs 

 or elongations to the keel or wings. Standard oblong, 

 folded, flraight, reflexed at the fides. Wings oblong, 

 ftraight, narrower at the bafe, two-lobed at their inferior 

 margin. Keel lanceolate, flightly afcending, divided deeply 

 at the bafe. Stam. Filaments in two diitinft fets ; one 

 fimple ; the other in nine divifions, which are thread-fliaped, 

 three of them fhorter than the reft ; anthers ovate. PiJI. 

 Germen feflile, very fliort ; ftyle thread-fhaped, of a mode- 

 rate length ; ftigma fimple. 'Perk. Legume ovate. Seeds 

 few. 



EfT. Ch. Calyx in five fegments, the lower one elongated. 

 Wings of the corolla two-lobed at the lower fide. Three 

 of the united ftamens fliorter than the reft. Legume ovate. 



This fplendid genus of lhrub«, from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, is in every refpeft clofely allied to Borbonla, next to 

 which it ought to ftand in the Linnxan fyftem, though 

 Murray, who has been heedlefsly followed by others, 

 widely feparated them. Liparta differs from Borbonia in 

 being truly diadelphous. How far the other charaders 

 indicated in their defcriptions hold good, we have not fuffi- 

 cient acquaintance with all the fpecies of either genus to 

 determine, but there is no difference with regard to habit 

 or appearance. Two fpecies are defcribed by Linnius, 

 Mant. 268, 269, and four more indicated with doubt, amongll 

 which is Spartium capenfe, [Crolalaria oppofita, Linn. Suppl. 

 322.) The refl ftand as Liparia in Syft. Veg. ed. 14. 

 665, making five in all, to which eight are added by Thun- 

 berg, and the whole thirteen are admitted by Willdenow. 

 The habit of the genus is rigid, with numerous, fcattered, 

 fharp, ufually elliptical, rarely linear leaves, which are either 

 fmooth, hairy, or filky. Flowers, as far as we know, of a 

 S line 



