ITALY as a prolongation of those of Argentiere in the French department of Hautes-Alpes, or of those of Pezey in Savoy. Piedmont is rich in metals ; the Val d' Anzasca is renowned for its auriferous pyrites, the Val di Macagnaga for its beds of auriferous schists, and the Val d'Aosta for copper pyrites. In the serpentine rocks bordering the gulf of Genoa are rich ores of copper, not sufficiently appreciated in the country ; while the mountains of Modena are filled to their very summits with ores of iron, lead, and silver, and most valuable deposits of copper. The Apuan Alps adjacent to the Mo- dena chain, and forming the northern frontier of Tuscany, are traversed by veins of quick- silver, magnetic iron ore, and argentiferous copper and lead ores. The silver was worked by the ancients, as the numerous remains in the neighborhood attest. On the seashore are the ruins of the Etruscan city of Luna, which had for its emblem a crescent, the symbol of silver dedicated to Diana. All through the middle ages the most violent contests raged between the local lords and the city of Lucca for the possession of these mines ; the latter remained mistress of them, and coined their silver into money. They were afterward open- ed afresh by the Medici ; and the Bottino mines are still worked and productive. The central and southern districts of Tuscany are equally favored with metalliferous deposits, among which the mines of Terricio and Cas- tellina in the centre, and those of Monte Cati- ni near Volterra, deserve special mention. The latter, known even to the Etruscans, were re- opened not many years ago, and now yield enormous profits. Further off are the mines of Campiglia, from which the Etruscans drew the greater part of their bronze. During the middle ages also various mines of iron, lead, copper, silver, alum, and sulphur were worked with great success In Massa Maritima, hence called Massa Metallifera to distinguish it from Massa Carrara. All over the face of the coun- try, now covered with marsh and ravaged by fever, ancient pits and ruins of old founderies are counted by the hundred. This same re- gion, in the districts between Massa and Monte Catini, contains the famous soffioni or vapor vents, utilized for the extraction of boracic acid. The districts of Siena and Grosseto also have silver and copper mines; and in southern Tuscany, besides these, are veins of quicksilver at Selvina, Pian Castagnajo, and Oastellazzero, and lodes of antimony at Montanto and Pereta. All these districts are on the "W. flank of the Apennines, or rather on a littoral chain which is a continuation of that skirting the coast of Genoa ; hence it has been denominated the metalliferous chain. The former States of the Church are poor in metallic deposits; but the Calabrias possess iron lodes and an- cient silver mines. The most important pro- duct of the Italian mines is sulphur, which is found in the island of Sicily and exported in large quantities. Sea salt is likewise an im- portant article of export. The average annual produce of the most important mineral produc- tions is as follows: salt, 440,000 tons; sul- phur (1804), 198,000; coal (1862-'6), 49,500; raw iron, 27,500; lead (1862-'G), 4,500; raw copper (1862-'6), 550; zinc (1865), 88; mer- cury, 25; silver (1865), V; gold (1864), 482 Ibs. Fossil remains of uncommon interest are I found in various parts of the peninsula. Be- sides the great abundance of fossil shells in Lombardy and Piedmont, the soil covering the marine deposits is filled with bones of the mastodon, elephant, rhinoceros, and other large quadrupeds. But it is in the neighborhood of Parma and Piacenza, and particularly in the basins forming the upper Val d'Arno, that the most extraordinary discoveries have been made. The skeleton of a whale 20 ft. long was found in the marl at Arquato in the for- mer district; while in the latter, among the lacustrine deposits left in the very centre of the Apennines, are enormous quantities of bones of great quadrupeds of extinct species and be- longing to warm climates. Skeletons of the elephant, rhinoceros, mastodon, and hippopota- mus are so abundant that the valley is like a vast cemetery, and the peasants were formerly in the habit of enclosing their gardens with legs and thigh bones of elephants. There is no Eart of Italy not possessed of a soil naturally 3rtile, or capable of being made productive by labor and artificial means. The vast plains of Piedmont and Lombardy have a soil equalled in fertility only by that of Campania Felice, while the remainder of the peninsula, being of calcareous and volcanic formation, is almost everywhere susceptible of tillage. The Apen- nines in many places are cultivated in terraces to their very summits. Even in the most win- try district of the centre, only the highest peaks are naked ; the inferior ranges are cov- ered with forests, the pine tree highest up, the oak beneath, and the chestnut near the plain or valley; while lower still the fig tree and olive flourish. The soil yields abundant har- vests everywhere in these central valleys, or affords rich and perennial pastures. The un- productive plains of the former kingdom of Naples were once under high cultivation, and the home of a numerous people. The vast marshes on the east and west anciently fed a large population ; parts of them have been re- claimed in recent times, and the present gov- ernment of Italy has manifested the intention of restoring the remainder to agricultural uses. In the volcanic districts the tufa and lava form a soil favorable to husbandry. The climate of Italy is generally considered the most genial and wholesome in all Europe, hut proportion- ately to the number of inhabitants the mortali- ty is greater there than in any other European country. In summer the burning heat, unre- lieved by refreshing showers, withers all vege- tation, parches the ground, and imparts to the landscape a gloomy brownish tint. In many places a subterranean heat periodically sends
