, 6 TR A V E L S THROUGH
AEOVE the infcription is placed a buft, fuppofed to be that of Livy. There is alfo
in the Hall of the Council Houfe a monument and infcription, with a buft of the
Marchionefs of Obizzi, which does infinite honour to the Paduans: I IKall not tranfcribe
the infcription, as it would carry me beyond the plan of this work; but the caufe
muft not be omitted, as it is creded to the memory of one who was not only as
virtuous as Lucrctia, but had as great a ihare of fortitude, fmce ihe ehofe rather to be
ftabbcd by her raviflier, who, in the abfencc of her huiband, had found means to get
admittance into her chamber, than yield to his defires.
THE villain eluded, for fome time, the hand of juftice; but was at laft taken, and
confincd in prifon for fifteen yeais, where he was made to fuffer extreme torture,
but to no purpofe; for he never would confefs his guilt. Being at laft fet at liberty,
he was foon after fhot through the head by the Marchionefs's fon, who immediately
afterwards entered into the Emperor's fervice, where he fervcd at the beginning of this
century.
THE people who can ereft a monument in honour of fo much virtue, and ftrew
its remains with flowers, furely merit the eftcem of virtuous men, and the notice of a
fentimental traveller.
THERE are ftill, at Padua, a vaft nijmber of curious infcriptions; one in particular,
infcribed on a fmall monument or pillar, in honour of Antenor, and placed at the entrance
of St. Lawrence's Street, in thefe words:
C.. Tnrlytiis. Antc-ridr. parriam vii>r nifa quietem,
" Tranftulit hue Enetum Dardanidumque fugas.
" Expulit Euganeos, Patavinam condidit Urbem
" Qucm tenet hie humili, marmorc cefa domus."
THERE are alfo many remains of antiquity, although the misfortunes wliich have
affliftcd this city, have fcarcely left any thing but ruins of the ancient monuments;
for the Amphitheatre, which, according to appearances, ought to be larger than that at
Verona, is nothing but a heap of ftones 1 difmal veftiges of paft magnificence I
THE Geologift and Naturalift dcfirous of improvement, muft not quit Padua, without
making an excurfion to the fouth of that city, and vifiting the villages of Abano, or
Aponum, Catajo, Bataglia, and Arqua, or Arquato, as they contain objeds worthy of
the greateft attention. Thofe villages are fituated at the foot of the Euganian hills,
and nearly fouth-weft of Padua.
ABANO, which is only five miles from that city, is certainly the fame place which
Pliny names Pontes Patavini; as there are in its neighbourhood feveral hot fpriiigs,
T H E RH^TIAN ALPS. 17
or baths, of different qualities, the major part of them being fulphurated, and reforted to
for various complaints. The heat of fome of thofe fprings is fo great that Fahrenheit's
thermometer rofe in general to 110 degrees.
THEV emit a difagreeable fmell, fomething like a folution of liver of fuiphur. One
of them is lukewarm, and is faid to be impregnated with lead. The water is thick, of
a milky colour, and the fediment effervefces with acids. There are others fimilar to tliis,
although not quite fo hot as the firft, from which the water iíTues in fuch quantities as
to drive a mill at the diftance of twenty paces from.the fource, and yet continues hot,
forming fediments and calcareous ineruftations, or rather a kind of marble wliich effervefces
with acids; I alfo found there feveral metallic guhrs.
THOSE various fprings flow through beds or ftrata of ftone, of which thofe hills
are compofed, being a kind of lapis molarh. Thofe ftrata are moftly parallel, inclining
towards the fouth, nearly fifteen degrees and a half; but extremely porous, and of a
greyifli colour, exccpt in fome places where they are yellow, inclining to red; but I
convinced myfelf that the colour was merely fuperficial, and did not penetrate more
than two inches in the interior of the ftone, which was owing to fmall ftreams of ferruginous
vitriolic water, which filter through its pores. When firft I had the curiofity
t o vifit thofe hills, not meeting with any bafaltesj or the leaft produñion which could
lead mc to fuppofe that they had been formed by volcanic produflions, I attributed tlie
heat of thofe waters Amply to the decompofitions of fome pyrites, occafioned by the
moifliire which muft naturally filter abundantly through the pores bf the lapis molans.
Not being however thoroughly fatisfied, and having foon after an opportunity of renewing
my obfervations with greater accuracy, T continued ray refearclifs on the fame chain of
hills in the neighbourhood of Vicenza; and was then fatisfied that the country had
formerly contained voléanos, as moft of the fummits of thofe hills were formed of
volcanic produdions; for in feveral places I found ftrata of lava apparently wide, and
one foot and a half in thicknefs; as alfo pieces of bafaltes, pumice ftone, &c.
THE village of Catajo is only five Italian miles from Abano, and will not only furnifh
amufement to the Naturalift, but to all admirers of painting, as they will be amply
gratified by vifiting a magnificent palace called Inganno, and built by Delfini, belonging
to one of the defccndants of the Obizzi family; the remarkable añions of which are
painted in frefco by the celebrated Paul Veronefc.
ABOUT five miles from Catajo lies Arqua, or Arquato, famous for having been the
refidence and burial place of Petrarch.
THE houfe, in which Petrarch lived with his beloved Laura, ftands on a hill a little
way from Arquato.
V. TH E
•i'ti'Il
liCi