CHAPTER, III 
JOURNEY TO CATANIA. 
Among the many curiosities of the city is an establishment 
for foundlings. The institution is designed to prevent infanti¬ 
cide. It is a large gloomy old building, in an obscure part of 
the town, and must be approached with circumspection lest 
the inhabitants of the neighborhood should indulge in erro¬ 
neous suspicions. I threw all the responsibility on my guide, 
however, and went to see it in open daylight. There is a 
hole in the wall large enough to admit a good-sized bundle, 
inside of which is a revolving machine, such as they use in 
post-offices for the delivery of letters, with four compartments, 
each large enough to hold a bambino. The unfortunate 
mother, who is either unable or unwilling to support her 
offspring, rolls it up in a small package, which she carries to 
the pigeon-hole at night, thrusts it in, gives the revolving 
baby-holder a turn, and departs with all possible speed. A 
bell is so connected with the machine as to arouse the nurses 
on the floor above. By pulling a string the whole establish¬ 
ment is whirled up aloft, and the jpiccola bambina tumbled 
out of the package into the arms of the matron, who duly in¬ 
spects it, labels it Angelo, or Francisco, or Antonio, as her 
taste may dictate, records the date of its admission in a 
register, its sex, &c.; and so commences the foundling life ol 
the debutante. The mother is permitted to take it away 
whenever she chooses, hut it is seldom the little unfortunate 
is called for. What the moral effect of this institution is, it 
is not for an inexperienced person like myself to determine. 
During my sojourn in Palermo I visited Morreale, a village 
situated on a hill, about three miles distant The chief object 
