40 
STATE OF ZOOLOGY 
materials of tlieir own. Ichthyology, and especially its ana- 
tomical department, is illustrated by them in useful papers. 
The Giornale Acadico, the true foundation of which was laid 
in 1818, by a Lyncean Academy, now existing at Florence, 
includes many memoirs on natural science, which fell within 
the scope of its extensive range, unassisted at first by any 
public money. My own cabinet and my zoological library, 
which my subject obliges me to allude to, being now trans- 
ported from the extremity of the Quirinal Hill to the centre 
of the city, may aid the student, by furnishing him with ap- 
propriate books and objects. You are acquainted with my own 
humble labours, which, by the aid of your intelligence, I shall 
endeavour to render always less unworthy of your compassion. 
It is right, that I pass an encomium on the rare collection of 
that zealous cultivator of science, Signor Lavinio Spada 
Medicij rich in minerals and crystals, and abounding in fossil 
bones, collected with much industry. With the death of the 
meritorious Cavaliere Abate Scarpellini, it is not right that the 
Accademia dei Lincei, which he restored, should also perish, 
when, by uniting it with another of great renown, through the 
care of the eminent Lambruschini, the Prefect of the Studies, 
and by the conspicuous zeal of the eminent Cardinal Giusti- 
niani Camerlengo di Santa Chiesaj a zeal consistent not only 
with his personal character, but with the office which he sus- 
tains with equal dignity, — it will certainly not descend from 
the honourable rank in which it Avas placed by a Federico 
Cesi, Avith the aid of so many illustrious men, and especially 
of a Galileo. 
Viterbo possesses Hiq Accademia deg li Ardenti, is 
also concerned Avitli science. Perugia sustains her ancient fame 
by the men whom she at present boasts of, and by the periodi- 
cal works Avhich she publishes. In natural history, she derives 
fame from a Briischi, the founder of her Botanic Garden, and 
the author, besides other Avidtings, of the most classical work 
on Natural History that Italy has known ; Avhile the total 
privation of sight, Avhich this learned man labours under, 
recalls the verse, — 
“ Occhio cieco, rliAnn raggio di mente !*' 
40 
