and asserted that he was engaged in counterfeiting. This led to disagreeable complications, which resulted in his leaving his parish and becoming a missionary in the valley of the Mississippi. There could have been no discipline better adapted to correct his natural sensitiveness than his work at the West in those days, where he came into contact with many rough people and peculiar social habits. His observations on the manners and character of the settlers of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys were recorded in a very picturesque work called Recollections of Ten Years passed in the Valley of the Mississippi, Boston, 1826. This book passed to a second edition, and excited so much interest as to be translated into French as well as reprinted in England. Indeed, it was the first account of the Western States of America which brought to light the real life and character of the people. Flint had acquired this knowledge of the young communities of the West, not only by his journeys among them as an itinerant preacher, but also by having been for a short period teacher and farmer on the banks of the Mississippi and Red Rivers. The success which this work met with, together with the failing health of the writer, led him to relinquish his more active labours for literary pursuits. His subsequent publications were as follows:-Francis Berrian, or the Mexican Patriot, 1826,-a novel, the scene of which is laid in Mexico at the period of the revolution in which Iturbide was overthrown; A Condensed Geography and History of the Western States in the Mississippi Valley, 2 vols. 8vo. Cincin., 1828; Arthur Clenning, a novel, 1828; George Mason, the Young Backwoodsman, a novel; Indian Wars in the West, 1833; Memoir of Daniel Boone, 1834. In addition to these works, Flint published several translations from the French, and essays in the London Athenæum, the Western Review, and the New York Knickerbocker, of which last two magazines he was at different times editor. His style was vivid, plain, and forcible, and his matter in teresting; the spirit of his writings was always humane and genial; the Quarterly Review, in a notice of his first book, says: "These pages reflect a sincere, humane, and liberal character, a warm and gentle heart, and hardly even a prejudice which is not amiable." He was very industrious, and had acquired such a power of abstraction that he prosecuted the labour of translating the Biographie Universelle in a room where other persons were engaged in work or conversation, being so absorbed in his work as to lose all consciousness of where he was or who was present. He died in Salem, August 16, 1840. His works on the Western States are still among the best we have on the subject.

FLODOARD, or FRODOART (894-966), a French chronicler, was born at Epernay in 894. He was educated at Rheims, and for some time held the office of canon in the cathedral of that city. The later years of his life were spent in retirement at a neighbouring monastery, and were devoted to study and the exercises of piety. He died 28th March 966. His works are the most important contribution to the French literature of his time, and consist of Histoire de l'église de Rheims; Chronique sacrée, a poetical history of Jesus Christ, the apostles, the popes, and the saints and martyrs of the church; and Chronicon Rerum inter Francos gestarum, which, beginning with the year 919 and ending with 966, throws more light than any other document on the annals of the 10th century. This work was first printed in the Rerum Burgundicarum Chronicon, Basel, 1575; and a translation of it was inserted by Guizot in his Collection des Mémoires relatifs à l'Histoire de France. The prose of Flodoard is very correct and elegant, but his poetry is no exception to the mechanical, unmusical, and common-place verses belonging to this period of literature.

FLOOD. See DELUGE.

FLOOD, HENRY (1732-1791), an eminent Irish orator and politician, born in 1732, was the son of the Right Honourable Warden Flood, chief-justice of the Queen's Bench in Ireland. He came of an old Kentish family, a branch of which had settled in Kilkenny during the Civil War. At the age of fifteen he was sent to Trinity College, Dublin; and he subsequently studied at Oxford under Markham, afterwards archbishop of York. On leaving the university with a good reputation for classical scholarship he proceeded to the Temple. Possessing a competent fortune, high social position, and considerable family influence, be determined to devote himself to a political life, and obtained a seat in the Irish House of Commons for his own county of Kilkenny. His abilities soon placed him in the position of a leader of the opposition or popular party, to which he rendered good service on several occasions. Among his more intimate friends at this time were the agreeable and gifted Lord Charlemont, Mr Bushe, and the famous Grattan, who owed a good deal to Flood's assistance in entering upon public life. Though somewhat too solemn and dignified, Flood was an orator of considerable power, and especially master of that unsparing invective which was then one of the best employed weapons of debate, and which often degenerated into what would now be considered unwarrantable personalities. At that time, indeed, political rivalry frequently ended in personal hatred. In 1769 Flood had the misfortune to be involved in an election quarrel with a Mr Agar. The result was a duel, and on the second exchange of shots Agar was mortally wounded. Flood was brought to trial, but acquitted. In 1775 Flood was persuaded to an act which seriously diminished his influence. He accepted the office of vicetreasurer under Lord Harcourt and the duke of Buckingham. But in 1780, in consequence of his strong sympathy with the cause of Irish independence and his position as lieutenant-colonel of the Irish volunteers, he felt obliged to resign this office, and in consequence he was removed by the Government from the council, treatment which he bitterly resented. His influence was now entirely devoted to the support of the popular party, which in fact he had never deserted. He was present at the great armed convention of the volunteers which met at Dungannon, and proposed a resolution that the powers exercised by the Privy Council were unconstitutional. After the passing of the Irish Bill of Right through the splendid efforts of Grattan, Flood made an attempt to achieve what he considered would be a still greater triumph. He declared that the mere repeal of the Act (6 Geo. I.) which had subjected Ireland to the control of the English parliament was not enough, and insisted upon an express renouncement of the right of the English parliament to interfere in any way with the government of Ireland. Grattan, maintaining that his own measure was sufficient, vigorously opposed the bill which Flood introduced; and the two orators, forgetting their old friendship, exchanged speeches full of the bitterest personal invective. The quarrel was about to end in a duel, and arrangements were actually being made for a meeting, when the affair was discovered, and both were bound over to keep the peace. Flood's bill was completely defeated, for it was altogether unnecessary, and could only have served as a triumph to Irish national vanity. In 1783 Flood obtained a seat in the English House of Commons (while retaining his seat in the Irish House), being elected M.P. for Winchester. He was afterwards (1785) member for Seaford. But his success was not such as he had enjoyed in Ireland, and his career in the English parliament was not of much importance. Perhaps his greatest effort was his speech against Pitt's famous commercial treaty. Flood died on the 2d

December 1791. He left £5000 a year to Trinity College, | Dublin, part of which was to found a professorship of Irish and furnish prizes for English and Irish composition, but this destination of the bequest was set aside.

FLOOR CLOTH is a covering for the floors of lobbies, halls, passages, and other situations where there is much traffic and heavy wear. Originally floor-cloth consisted of a heavy canvas coated with painters' colours and ornamented with patterns executed with the brush. At a later period stencilled ornaments took the place of hand-painted patterns, and now ornamental designs are applied solely by means of hand-blocks. Kirkcaldy, in Scotland, is the leading centre of the oil floor-cloth manufacture, in which town it was firmly established by the energy of the late Michael Nairn -the operations of the firm founded by him being, it is understood, the most extensive in the trade. The brief outline of the manufacture which follows represents the processes as conducted in the extensive establishments of Shepherd and Beveridge of Kirkcaldy, where the mechanical and other arrangements have reached the highest perfection suggested by skill and experience.

ments.

The size of the canvas operated on, which must be free from all seams and joinings, is 8 yards wide by 25 yards long. The huge webs from which these canvasses are cut are woven, chiefly in power-looms, in lengths of 150 yards, from which six floor-cloth pieces are obtained. For the cheaper qualities of floor-cloth jute canvas is employed, but in the best kinds the material is woven of stout tow yarn. The pieces of canvas in sizes above indicated are mounted on a series of stout wooden stretching frames, ranged about 30 inches apart from each other in a lofty, well-ventilated hall. The back or under part of the floorcloth is first dealt with, the first operation being to coat the whole surface with thin size, which fills up the interstices and prevents the oil of the pigment from penetrating and rotting the fibres. The paint, which is next applied, is of the consistency of a thin plaster, and is made up of raw oil, some turpentine, and ochre, umber, and other earthy pigIt is laid on, not with brushes, but with long trowels, the operation being called "trowelling," and the workmen go over a large surface with great expedition. When the operation is complete, the iron doors of the hall are closed and streams of heated, slightly moist air are blown by a fan blast into the apartment, a temperature of from 78° to 90° Fahr. being then maintained. The moisture in the heat is essential for keeping the paint while drying from shrinking, cracking, and scaling off. When the paint is dry the whole surface is smoothed with pumice, and the back is finished with a coat of thinner colour, in which boiled oil without turpentine is employed, thereby securing a glossy surface and finish. As soon as the back is dry the face or upper side has to be turned to the workmen, an operation which demands great caution aud precision to prevent the canvas from being torn and destroyed. The lower edge being carried up and secured along the top of the frame, the upper part is suddenly detached and let down to the floor. The face receives, in succession, a coat of size and three " trowelling coats, with pumicing between, and on the conclusion of these operations it is ready for printing. The printing is a costly process, owing to the great store of blocks which it is found necessary to provide and keep up; and the colours used are also expensive, consisting as they do of the fine bright pigments with a foundation of white lead. The blocks have a printing surface of 18 square inches, cut either of pear tree or other wood, or with faces of type metal cast in wood matrices, the interstices being filled up with felt. The cost is further increased by the laborious and tedious nature of the operations, the printing of an eight-colour pattern over a full piece requiring no less than 7200

separate applications of the set of eight colour blocks and one finishing block. The cloth is brought to the printing room by a kind of overhead tramway arrangement, where it is passed over a long narrow table. At the side of this stands the printer, and the colour table, on which is spread the colour he is to print, is mounted on rails which run parallel to the table over which the cloth is spread. Guide bars are arranged over the cloth to secure that the various impressions fall on their proper places with the utmost precision, and overhead are suspended from a spring beam screw presses which travel from end to end of the table. The block having received the needful amount of colour, and being laid in position over the cloth, receives by means of the movable screw press a tight elastic squeeze, which secures a uniform impression of the portion of the pattern brought out by one colour. The various colours are so printed in in succession, and thereafter the whole is gone over with a finishing block, the surface of which is cut into fine straight grooves or lines. Finally, the finished cloth is moved to a drying room, where, suspended by the two extremities face outwards, it is left to harden and season.

Oil floor-cloth is open to the objection that it has a hard, cold, and uncomfortable surface, while it is almost as noisy to the tread as ordinary wooden flooring. Many substances have been proposed to supplant it, in which these objectionable features have been more or less overcome, while they retain its advantages of resistance to wear, cleanness, and freedom from damp. Of these bodies linoleum has proved most successful in experience, but various other materials of a similar kind have been introduced and used to a considerable extent.

Kamptulicon is a variety of floor-cloth, which, although invented about 1843, did not receive prominent public notice till the London International Exhibition of 1862. The materials and processes employed in its manufacture vary considerably, but it is essentially a preparation of india-rubber masticated up with ground cork, the preparation and mixture being effected by repeated passing of the material between grooved rollers. When thoroughly incorporated the preparation is rolled out into sheets, sometimes over a backing of canvas, by passing it between pairs of wide and heavy steam-heated rollers. In addition to the substances above mentioned, gutta-percha, sawdust, peat-dust, ground leather, boiled oil, resins, pitch, asphalt, tar, chalk, and fibrous residues have all been used in kamptulicon making. The rolled sheets are ornamented by printing simple patterns on their surface, but, as much of the peculiar advantages of kamptulicon would be lost were its whole surface covered with oil pigments, the kamptulicon surface is, as far as possible, left exposed. Kamptulicon forms a warm, pleasant, soft, and noiseless floorcloth, but the higher qualities, in which india-rubber and ground cork are the main ingredients, are rather expensive, and the manufacture has been curtailed since the introduction of linoleum.

Linoleum.-This substance consists of oxidized linseed oil combined with ground cork, treated and rolled very much in the same manner as kamptulicon, to which, in appearance and properties, it bears a close resemblance. The manufacture was first conducted under a series of patents secured by Mr F. Walton, the essential feature of his process-his method of oxidizing linseed oil-having been patented in January 1860. The oxidation was effected by mixing the oil, perfectly clear and bright, with a suitable drier, by preference from 5 to 10 per cent. of acetate of lead being used, and spreading it in thin films on surfaces of considerable extent, which films were exposed to currents of heated air. In this way a rapid oxidation was induced, the oil being transformed into linoxein, a slightly IX.

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elastic semi-resinous body, having many properties in common with india-rubber, with the advantage of a clear semi-translucent yellow colour. In his patent of December 1863, dealing chiefly with the production of coloured patterns on linoleum, Mr Walton specifies, as a suitable composition for the body of the material, 4 cwt. of oxidized oil, 1 cwt. of resin, cwt. of kaurie-gum and colouring matter, mixed together in a steam-heated pan and cast into cakes. It was afterwards to be mixed with an equal weight of cork dust, or a somewhat larger quantity of sawdust, and spread on and pressed into a woven fabric between steam-heated rollers. The breadth of the finished linoleum is determined by the breadth of the spreading rollers through which it passes; at present that does not exceed six feet. The manufacture of linoleum is rapidly extending, and since the expiry of Mr Walton's patent rights, it has been begun by the leading Kirkcaldy floorclothmakers.

Boulinikon.-Under this name a kind of floor-cloth with a linoleum-like surface is manufactured of waste materials, by a process patented in January 1865 by John B. Wood. It is composed of about equal portions of raw buffalo or other hide macerated and reduced to a pulp, pulped cotton or linen rags, and coarse hair ground up short and fine. These are mixed into a common pulp in a form of rag engine, and subsequently spread, drained, dried, and pressed on a machine similar to that used in the paper manufacture, The ornamentation is effected in the manner employed for kamptulicon and linoleum; but the substance may be entirely covered with pigment and finished like oil floor-cloth. (J. PA.)

FLOR, ROGER DI, a military adventurer who, in the early years of the 14th century, distinguished himself as leader of the Catalan Grand Company. He was the second son of a falconer in the service of the emperor Frederick II., and when eight years old was sent to sea in a galley belonging to the Knights Templars. He entered the order, and became commander of a galley. At the siege of Acre by the Saracens in 1291 he absented himself, took no part in the defence of the town, and was accused of appropriating to his own use the treasures of his order. He was denounced to the pope by the grand master as a thief and an apostate, was degraded from his rank, and threatened with arrest. To escape imprisonment he fled to Genoa, where he began to play the pirate. The struggle between the kings of Aragon and the French kings of Naples for the possession of Sicily was at this time going on; and Roger entered the service of Frederick, king of Sicily, who gave him the rank of vice-admiral. At the close of the war, in 1302, Frederick being anxious to free the island from the auxiliaries whom he had no longer the means of paying, Roger induced his followers to seek new adventures in the East, in fighting against the Turks, who were ravaging the empire. The emperor Andronicus II. accepted his offer of service; and in September 1303 Roger with his fleet and army arrived at Constantinople. He was adopted into the imperial family, was married to a granddaughter of the emperor, and was made grand duke and commander-in-chief of the army and the fleet. After some weeks lost in dissipation, intrigues, and bloody quarrels, Roger and his men were sent into Asia, and after some successful encounters with the Turks they went into winter quarters at Cyzicus. In May 1304 they again took the field, and rendered the important service of relieving Philadelphia, then invested and reduced to extremities by the Turks. But Roger, bent on advancing his own interests rather than those of the emperor, determined to found in the East a principality for himself. He sent his treasures to Magnesia, but the people slew his Catalans and seized the treasures. He then formed the siege of the town but his attacks were repulsed, and he

was compelled to raise the siege. Passing over into Europe, he settled his troops in Gallipoli and other towns, and visited Constantinople to demand pay for the Grand Company. Dissatisfied with the small sum granted by the emperor, he plundered the country and carried on intrigues both with and against the emperor. In the spring of 1306 Roger was created Cæsar, this being the first time that the title was given to a mere adventurer. Before setting out on a second expedition to Philadelphia, he visited the young emperor Michael at Adrianople; and there he was assassinated and his Catalan cavalry were massacred, April 4, 1306. His death was avenged by a war which was fiercely waged by the Grand Company against the Greeks.

FLORA, in Roman mythology, a goddess of spring-time and flowers, to whom for her fostering influence a festival (Floralia) of great gaiety and perhaps excessive licence was held in Rome, at first irregularly, but after 173 B.C. annually, with increasing popularity. This festival was extended to five days, April 28 to May 3, the date of April 28 answering to the foundation day of the temple of Flora near the Circus Maximus. To her worship was attached a Flamen Floralis.

FLORENCE (Italian Firenze, ancient Florentia), the capital of Tuscany, now a province of the kingdom of Italy, is an archiepiscopal see. It is situated 125 miles north of Rome, 43° 50′ N. lat., 11° 14' E. long., on both sides of the river Arno, which here flows through a wide valley, bounded by spurs of the Apennine range to the north, and by lower hills to the south of the city. The bed of the river at Florence is 138 feet above the Mediterranean. The geological formation of the surrounding country is Upper Cretaceous and Older Tertiary, partially covered by the fossiliferous upper Arno beds of Newer Tertiary, containing elephant bones. Pietra forte, belonging to the Cretaceous, a durable sandstone with calcareous ingredients, is largely quarried south of Florence, and has been used for centuries as paving-stones for the city, as well as in the construction of the city walls, the palazzi, churches, &c. North of Florence, pietra serena or macigno, a pure sandstone belonging to the Tertiary beds, is likewise worked for building purposes, its texture being finer than that of the pietra forte; it has been adopted for the interior of churches and houses.

The soil is remarkably fertile: corn, vines, and olives cover hill and valley, while the mountains, which rise above 3000 feet, have the cypress, ilex, chestnut, and pine. The country is celebrated for the abundance of its flowers, and presents a rich field for the botanist.

Climate and Sanitary Condition.-The climate of Florence is extremely variable, especially in the early spring, when the inhabitants are liable to diseases of the trachea, to bronchitis, and affections of the lungs. The summers are hot; but both the summers and autumns are peculiarly healthy, when the city is entirely free from inter mittent fever, while typhoid fever is of rare occurrence. Eruptive diseases and all children's complaints are exceedingly mild. Diphtheria appeared first in 1868, and continued as a severe epidemic until 1872, since which time it has only occurred at intervals and in isolated cases. Cholera has more than once visited Florence with severity, but the last time it was in Italy this city escaped the calamity. The migliaria, so much dreaded by the Florentines, is not confined to Italy, but here, as elsewhere, is found to be an accompaniment of typhoid fever, pneumonia, and some other diseases. The average temperature throughout the year is about 15° centigrade (59° Fahr.). The greatest summer heat averages 36 centigrade (96.8° Fahr.), but it has risen exceptionally to 39° centigrade (102·2° Fahr.). The greatest cold is about 6° centigrade below zero (21.2° Fahr.). The

longest day is 15 hours 23 minutes; the shortest, 8 hours 50 minutes. The average annual rainfall is about 9 inches. The drainage of the city is imperfect, and it is ill supplied with water, which is largely impregnated with carbonate of lime. The wells are shallow, not above 20 or 22 feet deep. The best drinking water is conveyed in pipes from a distance of seven miles north of Florence to the Palazzo Pitti. The water of the Arno above the town has latterly been filtered and pumped up to a reservoir for distribution in the city.

Public Buildings, Parks, and Charitable Foundations.Florence contains more than 170 churches, several of which are Italian Evangelical, besides English, American, French, and German Protestant, and a large Jewish synagogue

lately erected. The most remarkable are the Badia or ancient abbey, the cathedral with its campanile, and the baptistry, Sta Maria Novella, San Marco, the SS. Annunziata, and Or San Michele, with San Miniato and San Francesco beyond the walls. Of the palaces, whose construction of rough hewn stone gives a peculiar character to the city, those of greatest interest are the royal residence of the Pitti, the Palazzo Vecchio or municipal palace, and the Palazzo Riccardi, once the mansion of the Medici, but now the palace of the prefect. To these may be added the private palaces of the Strozzi, Rucellai, Corsini, Corsi, Quaratesi, Gondi, Albizzi, and Alessandri. The streets of modern Florence bear the names of many illustrious citizens of the past, and in the older narrower streets which have

been left standing, the former homes of Dante, Macchiavelli, Guicciardini, &c., have tablets with their names inscribed. Some of the tabernacles, or frames containing pictures of sacred subjects, with lamps burning before them, still remain, commemorating the ancient usage of praying in the corners of the streets. The walls of Florence north of the Arno have been demolished, leaving the gates isolated, huge monuments of the past. South of the Arno the four gates of Romana, San Frediano, San Giorgio, and San Nicolo, remain as of old.

The city is intersected from S.E. to N.W. by the river, which is crossed by six bridges. Two are suspension bridges, the remaining four of stone. The Ponte Vecchio, or jewellers' bridge, alone retains its ancient form, and is still flanked on both sides by goldsmiths' shops; the bridge of the S. Trinità is adorned with statues, and is remarkable

for the perfect symmetry of the arches. The fortresses of Belvedere and Del Basso are now only used as barracks for soldiers. Since the annexation of Tuscany to the Italian kingdom the convents in Florence have been suppressed. A few monks are allowed to remain in each sanctuary, but the Government has prohibited any new monks or nuns to be added to the present number. This prohibition is, however, constantly evaded, and some of the schools for the young continue in their hands. There are twelve hospitals, including those for the blind, deaf and dumb, and insane. The hospital for the sick of Sta Maria Nuova, was founded by Folco Portinari, the father of Dante's Beatrice, and the institute for the relief of the poveri vergognosi, or those ashamed to beg, by the good bishop Antonino, in the 15th century. One of the most important and beneficial charities is that of the Misericordia, or brothers of mercy.

There are nine theatres, and several public parks or gardens. The Cascine, a large extent of ground surrounding a fancy farm formerly belonging to the grand dukes, and planted in long avenues of ilex and other trees, is the fashionable resort of the Florentine nobility. The Strada dei Colli, outside the Porta Romana, winds round the hills of Arcetri and San Miniato, affording a magnificent prospect over Florence. The Boboli garden, behind the Pitti, and belonging to the royal palace, is open twice a week to the public, and, with its trim alleys, quaint terraces, statues, and fountains, is the delight of the Florentines.

Galleries of Art and Libraries.-Besides some excellent private collections, such as those of the Torrigiani, Corsini, and Strozzi, the Uffizi contains a very fine gallery of paint ings, especially of the Tuscan school, but including several of Raphael's and Titian's masterpieces. The greatest treasures of the gallery are contained in one room called the Tribune, where are also placed the most celebrated statues of antiquity. A suite of small rooms contains some admirable specimens of other schools of painting. In one of the larger rooms is the famous group of the Niobe; two others are filled with portraits of artists, chiefly by their own hands; and there are, besides, valuable collections of busts, coins, medals, gems, engravings, and drawings by the old masters. The Pitti collection of paintings is perhaps the finest in the world, not only from the chefs d'oeuvre of the great masters, but from the small number of pictures which may be considered of even mediocre merit. The Academy is assigned for the best examples of early art down to the time of Fra Angelico and Perugino; and connected with it are the cloisters of the former convent of the Scalzo or barefooted friars, where are some of the finest works of Andrea del Sarto in chiaroscuro. The Egyptian museum in the Via Faenza is small, but contains several objects of interest, and the museum of Etruscan art under the same roof is peculiarly important from a life-size bronze statue, a marble Greek sarcophagus with a coloured representation of the battles between the Greeks and Amazons, and a terra-cotta statue of a lady in the costume of the third century before Christ. Here also is an interesting fresco of the Last Supper attributed to Raphael, whilst the Convent de' Pazzi possesses the finest work of his master Perugino, a Crucifixion, now open to the public.

There are three large and valuable libraries in the city. The National library, which unites the former library of the Pitti with the Magliabecchian, the two together containing 280,000 volumes; the Marucelliana, chiefly remarkable for important works on art; and the Laurentian, founded by Lorenzo de' Medici, and attached to the convent of San Lorenzo. This last is rich in a collection of more than 9000 valuable manuscripts, as well as illuminated bibles and missals, and possesses about 20,000 volumes of print.

University and Schools.-The university of Florence, which is rather an institute for advanced studies,-Istituti de' Studi Superiori Pratici e di Perfezionamento,—has its origin as far back as the year 1348. It was divided into six "scholæ," viz., theology, jurisprudence, medicine, belles lettres, Greek and Latin literature, and astrology or astronomy. To counteract the effects of the plague, which in the year just mentioned had decimated Florence and caused the city to be avoided by strangers, it was decreed that no one living within the walls, or even in the territory of the republic, should be allowed to seek an education abroad, and that those youths who were already attending other lyceums should forthwith return to their native city. In 1421 there were already 42 professors, and although in 1472 the Medici desired to revive the splendour of the Pisan university, and transferred several of the chairs from the city to Pisa, Florence retained many distinguished professors. The university underwent various changes, both in organization and name, but continued to flourish under the Medicean grand dukes. It gave rise to several academies, the most ancient of which was the Platonic, founded by Marsilio Ficino, for the cultivation of Greek literature, the Florentine academy, and the Accademia del Cimento (discussion) which had its rise with Galileo and his scholars. The Accademia della Crusca-named from crusca (bran) to express sifting the language-was founded in 1552, and the agricultural academy of the Georgofili in 1783. The taste for botany of Cosimo I. led to the formation of a herbal garden (Giardino de' Semplici)—and ultimately to the botanic garden under the walls of the Boboli. Natural science first formed a branch of study under the patronage of the Medici, who invited foreigners of scientific distinction to Florence. A vast collection of objects of natural science and physics having accumulated, the celebrated professor Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, in the 18th century, threw them open to the public. The observatory, once attached to the museum, has been removed to a height corresponding with that on which Galileo made his observations. The collection in the museum was enriched by the valuable waxen anatomical preparations of Giulio Zummo of Syracuse, and by a unique collection of physical instruments, most of which had belonged to the Accademia di Cimento. The university was reorganized in 1859, when Baron Ricasoli presided over Tuscany. Several new professorships were founded, in law, philosophy, and philology. In 1869 a chair of anthropology was added. The medical school of Sta Maria Nuova has also been attached to the university. At one time the students of law, medicine, and natural science were expected to pursue their studies, first in Pisa, and the last two years in Florence, where they received their degrees. This has again been modified, and students in Florence have now the option of receiving degrees in Florence, Siena, or Pisa. Natural science degrees are conferred at the Specula, or institute of natural science, in the Via Romana.

The communal or municipal schools, where the pupils are admitted gratis, have increased enormously. From 4 schools under the last grand-duke, there are now, besides 32 elementary schools, 15 lyceums, of which three are for girls, and one of these a normal school for the training of teachers. The entire number of pupils in the schools averages 7900.

The manufactures are few and of small importance, that of silk standing first. The cultivation of the silk-worm and straw plaiting are the usual occupations of the people. The porcelain manufacture of the Marchese Ginori at Doccia, a few miles from Florence, has greatly fallen off in work as well as reputation; but a successful attempt to