ALASSIO AND ITS FLORA 
7 
and built their residences there. The Alas- 
sians themselves long since delighted with 
the beauty of their native place, have 
built a great many houses in the country 
round about, and one may say that however 
poor a proprietor may be, there is not one 
who does not possess his own country ror 
sidence. 
I cannot therefore understand the feve- 
rish activity, the innumerable villas, the 
immense sums lavished on localities, which, 
as one must allow, are sheltered, but are 
small, arid, and wild; where artificial 
beauty contrasts so strongly with the 
barren rocks which are forced to smile 
on such unnatural pomp. 
Alassio has the following geographical 
position calculated by the Meteorological 
Observatory of the Municipal College: 
Longitude W. of Rome 4" 17' 50" 
Longitude E. of Greenwich 0'' 32"' 44' 
Latitude N. 44" 0' 1". 
Distant kilom. 91 from Genoa, and 61 
from Ventimiglia; it is about halfway 
between Genoa and Nice. From the sum- 
mary of the meteorological observations 
