than among the ruins o f Rome, or the beautiful veftiges o f ancient
grandeur at Pola.
The politenefs o f the modern inhabitants does much more
honour to Spalatro than the magnificent’ruins of ancient fabrics;
I was, both alone, and in. company with our noble Friend, my
Lord Harvey, treated there with the. greateft degree o f hofpita-
lity.
The reverend canons did us the favour to let us foe fome-
MSS. in their capitular archieves, from whence might be extraded,
without much-, fatigue, many informations- relative to-
the hiftor-y o f Ulyrium; for there are writings -of Lucio and Beni,
o f their adveriaries, and. many other, learned Dalmatians, '
Among thefe manufcripts we find , a copy ©f the evangelifts,
o f the foventh, perhaps o f the fixth century,, fufficiently well:
preforved. In the fifft page is the beginning o f the gofpel o f
St. John in Greek, wrote in Latin charaders ; but the copieih
tranfcribed only two pages in this manner,. and began again in
latin, ufing the vidgate for original.
This city has. produced,, itv.all times,., men-. dhlinguL/hed in.
letters andfciences. Without,mentioning the chronicle writers,
o f the barbarous ages,, who, however preferved many precious
records,, as Pommafo, the archdeacon,, Michele o f Spalatro,,
and others, it boafls, in. the beft times o f reftored learning,.
Marco Marulo,, of whom many works- are both printed and in
manufcript. I have adually in my pofleflion a fmall MS. of.
.inscriptions illuforated by him;, but its authenticity cannot be
entirely depended on; in our days more dexterous inventions,
o f
a f that nature could be-made. Among the archbiihops, who
held that foe, the firft/place for learning, is due to Mare Antonio
de Dominis, a native o f the city o f Arbe, whofo memory
would have been much more illuftrious, if he had contented him-
felf with being diftinguiihed in phyficks and mathematicks,
and had not chofen to write too much, and to fingularize him-
felf in religious matters alfo. His treatifo de ’raggi vifuali, e
délia luce ne 'vetr i da qffervazione, e dell iride, and his other, pub-
liflied with the title o f Euripo, 0 Jia del jluffb, errifiujjo delmare,
•deferve the more attention, as they preceded, by much, the celebrated
philofophers o f our age, who have defervedly gained the
higheft reputation, by explaining thofe very dodrines, which
the learned prelate had taught. The great Newton did juftice
•to de Dominis, from whofo fmall work he drew his firll theory
of light. I have feen, and one day perhaps may publifli, fome
things in manufcript, which forve greatly to illuftrate his talents.
Monf. Cofmi, who held the archiépiscopal feat many years
after de Dominis, left a remarkable writing, fopra la Bollà Clementina,
which ihould be among the MSS. o f the late fignor
Apofiolo Zeno, in the library o f the fathers o f the Zattere at
Venice.
Between Spalatro and the river Hyader, at the foot o f mount
Marian, there are beautiful and pleafant fields ; but the earth is
ihallow, and thence fubjeét to drought ; though it ihould foem
no very difficult matter to water it, by means of-the neighbouring
river. The maflesat the foot of the hill, and in the contiguous
plain, are o f lenticular ftone, quite fimilar in fubftahce,
to that which -forms the little promontory H H in Pl. X .
but it is much harden, and-alfo contains lenticular flints.
D d * Ruins