o f iflands invite to examine the works o f nature, which in the-
fubaqueous kingdom, hasfcattered wonders far more amazing restively
to us, than in the terreftrial. Nor ought this examination
to be efteemed an objeft- o f mere curiofity, as many- con-
fiderable and eflential advantages to commerce might refult from
it; for example, to change a branch of paffive into aftive trade,,
and a hurtful and expen five- articlè into- a lucrative, and ufefuli
one.;
The immenfe quantity o f mollia, and their almoft'infinite rarity;.
the multiplicity of aquatick infedts: the very confiderable
number, of the ifoney labours o f various polypi: the many fpecies.
o f fifhes, and ìefàcej, which require to be examined with leifure
and diligence,, would form a long, affiduous,, and no lcfs ufeful
than delightful occupation to a perfon. travelling from rock to ■
rock, and led hy genius and eagernefs to acquire new intelligence
in natural, hiftory, * The. mufeums, o f the curious in this.
country,,
* Few authors have hitherto wrote-concerning .the natural hiftòry o f the Adri-
atickj.and the worft is, that not even all thofe have Succeeded well. Zanichelli, a -
Venetian apothecary, publiihed a large volume in fòlio, delle piante del Lido Venet<ry .
and filled it with figures which are good for nothing- Count Ginanni of Ravens
na, left two volumes concerning the botanical and .animal natural hiftory of our
fea, and his book, though it had but little merit, is one of the beft we have
T h e figures,, of which it has plenty, are very ill executed; Do&er Vianelliy of
Chiozzay. and Signor G rifelini, have wrote upon the phofporfc points, which are
feen fwiming in the fait water, efpecially in fummer, and they both thought,
with very plaufihle reafons,. that every fparkling point was a microfcopic Scolo.-
pendra. M« Martin Brunnich, pubiick. profeflor of .economy and natural hiftory
at Copenhagen, illuftrious for his Ornitologia, and his Entomologìa Borealis pu*
blifhed when he was very young, wrote a treatife upon the fiihes, obferved by
him in a voyage made along the coafts of the Marca, Dalmatia, and Iftria, clafT-
ing then* according to the method of Linnaus, He alfo made repeated and exail
obfervations,
country, who have purchafed exotick ihells, crujlacex and htbo-
Jtti at high prices, are totally unprovided with thofe o f oui own-
fea; a circumftance which not only does no honour to them,,
but is alfo an injuilice to the country, which produces as great
abundance o f natural curiofities as any other, and ought certainly
to be preferred by thofe who make fuch collections. The,
feries alone o f petrefcent plants, the wonderful labours o f various
fpecies o f infedts, which abound in our fea, would afford-
matter for interefting obfervations, and noble colledtipns, qua--
lified to do us honour, when feen by.learned-travellers,, who now-'
look upon us with contempt..
B e f i d e s the, fea, fiihing, which is an article o f trade, the.inha**
bitants ■ of C/jsr/i- have alfo plenty o f freih water fifh,. which
might become an article both of pleafure and profit,.. They
h a v e no river, however,, as has been wrote by fome who trufted-
to unexad, informations,, or to the exterior appearance o f the.
yalley formed by-the rain water at Caifole, near the-northern
point of the ifiand : but they have a lake in which, there are.
pikes, of above thirty pounds weight, and tenches, eels,, and-,
other.freih water fifh o f exquifite tañe..
O f the Labe of J f.s e ro .
Among the natural curiofities o f Cherfa, the firft place is due
to the lake called of Jefero, a corruption o f Ozero, or Ezero,
analogous
obfervations, inray company, upoy the'phefphm o f theXagunes, and canals of
Venice; but has not treated of tfiem in the works laft mentioned, probably re-
ferving them for another occafion, as X do Iikewife. T h e celebrated Doftor
Bianchi of Rimini, has given two editions- of his valuable book di Cmchts
minus, notis, difclofing in part the riches of our fands, and making various and interefting
refearches concerning the flux and reflux of the Adriatick. One-ofthe
iliuftrators of the natural hiftory of our fea, was the celebrated Vitaliano Donaii
of Padua, of whom I fcall fay fomething in a fubfequent note.