aggravated by the habits of the people, who, in defiance of the well-known proverb-fuge somnum meridianum

-usually sleep on the ground for two or three hours during the heat of the day. Indeed, they almost invariably sleep on the ground-floor, though it is well known, from the familiar example of the Grotta del Cane at Naples, that the mephitic air is always heavy and low. Were the labourers provided with sleeping rooms above the ground-floor, and supplied with good water-for the water of this district is execrable-were they a little more cautious in sleeping on the ground during the day, and, above all, in exposing themselves to the chilling breezes from the mountains during the evening, much of the mischief of the Maremma might, it is thought, be avoided.

As a further instance of the difficulty of ascertaining the causes of malaria, it may be observed, that, in the south of Italy, the neighbourhood of the lakes is notorious for mephitism, while that of the lakes in Lombardy is free from infection. Nor is it to low situations only that this scourge is confined, though doubtless in such situations its influence is more severely felt. It both creeps and soars:

Ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.

Volterra, for example, though it stands high, and exposed to every wind that blows, is by no means exempt from its withering effects. We might, perhaps, ascribe its baneful influence in these more elevated situations, in some measure at least, to the filthy habits of the

people; but this we cannot do without overthrowing Brocchi's ingenious hypothesis. It is his opinion, that the disease is introduced through the pores of the skin, and not through the lungs; and to the general use of woollen next the skin he attributes the comparative safety of the ancients from its attacks-not that even this woollen panoply would of itself have rendered them invulnerable had they not found an additional protection in the counter-poison of their own dirt, which, stopping up the pores of the skin, prevented the malaria from finding its way in! in! "If," If," says says the Edinburgh Reviewer, "as Signor Brocchi thinks, they really knew not how to wash this eternal blanket, to which the name of Toga gives in our ears such an imposing sound; and if, as Varro says, it was the universal dress of both men and women by day and night alike, we are not sure that we should not, for ourselves at least, prefer a clean shirt and an ague."

In some few cases we may trace the causes of malaria with sufficient certainty; as, in marshy tracts, for instance; in the swampy shores of a tideless sea, which occasionally deposits back-waters in stormy weather, and which back-waters-onda dal mar divisa- remain till slowly drunk up by the soil, or absorbed by evaporation; or in damp woods situated on low grounds, such being always reckoned unwholesome in hot countries. Of the prevalence of the opinion with regard to the unwholesomeness of woods, Rose mentions a curious in"I recollect," says he, "that going with an Italian gentleman, in an open carriage, through the

stance.

Cascine, near Florence, the coachman, who was a foreigner, having driven through an open grove-the ordinary resort of those who take the air on foot or in carriages-was proceeding into a closer part of the wood, when my friend exclaimed-' Non andar più in là, caro, chè si può dire che costì la febbre sta di casa.' And yet Florence is one of the healthiest places in Italy."

However difficult it may be to assign the causes of this pestilential air, we may determine with tolerable precision the time of its continuance. Commencing, in general, about the latter end of June, it continues till the earth is cooled again by the heavy rains which fall towards the close of September and the beginning of October. We learn from Horace, that July and September were considered unhealthy in his time. Of the former month he says, "Adducit febres et testamenta resignat;" and with regard to the latter he prays that he may be preserved "incolumem Septembribus horis."

ROME.

Rome is as the desert, where we steer

Stumbling o'er recollections; now we clap

Our hands, and cry "Eureka!" it is clear

When but some false mirage of ruin rises near-BYRON.

THE great northern entrance of Rome is by what is called the Porta del Popolo, nearly on the site of the ancient Flaminian gate. This modern entrance, designed by M. Angelo, leads at once into the Piazza del Popolo, from whence diverge the three principal streets, laying open to the first view the interior of the Eternal City;

Reigned absolute, the mistress of the world;
The mighty vision that the prophets saw,

And trembled; that from nothing, from the least,

The lowliest village (what but here and there

A reed-roofed cabin by a river-side?)
Grew into every thing; and year by year,
Patiently, fearlessly, working her way,
O'er brook and field, o'er continent and sea,
Not like the merchant with his merchandize,
Or traveller with staff and scrip exploring,
But hand to hand and foot to foot, thro' hosts,
Thro' nations numberless in battle array,

Each behind each, each, when the other fell,

Up and in arms, at length subdued them all.-ROGERS.

So multifarious are the objects of interest at Rome,

that, for a few days after his arrival, the traveller is bewildered and scarcely knows to which he shall turn his attention first*. Some sort of classification, however, is absolutely necessary, and the simplest, perhaps, is that which divides the curiosities into the antiquities, the churches, and the palaces. These latter, together with a multitude of columns, obelisks, and fountains, are to be met with in the inhabited quarters; "but you must cross the Capitol, or strike off among the mounts, before the genius of ancient Rome meets you amid its ruins+."

So much has the modern city been raised above its original level by the rubbish accumulated during the lapse of centuries, that a man may well wonder to find the shape and situation of the ancient hills still so distinguishable. Where the ground happens to have been excavated, the pavement of old Rome has not unfrequently been discovered at the depth of forty feet‡. Yet the Seven Hills-though, from the accumulation of soil in the valleys, their limits are not so accurately defined as formerly—are still distinctly discernible; and on each of them, except the Viminal-the most difficult of all -will be found some leading object; as the Villa Me

"Il faut, says Dupaty, with his usual love of point, que je commence par errer de côté et d'autre, pour user cette première impatience de voir qui m'empêcheroit toujours de regarder."

+ Forsyth.

Rome moderne est elevée de quarante pieds au dessus de Rome ancienne. Les vallées qui separaient les collines se sont presque comblées par le temps, et par les ruines des edifices.-Corinne.