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ITALY 447 at Turin ; and the libraries at Florence, Brescia, Ferrara, and Parma. Literary and scientific societies have been numerous in Italy i-ver since the 14th century, but only a few of them have retained their vitality. Among them the accademia Hello, Crutca at Florence, the royal institute at Milan, and the academy of sci- ences at Turin, are the most prominent. Mu- seums, cabinets of art, and picture galleries are found almost everywhere, rendering Italy the Mecca of artists. Observatories exist in Rome, Bologna, Padua, Milan, Florence, Na- ples, and Palermo. The number of charitable institutions is enormous. No state religion is legally recognized, and any profession of reli- gion or creed is excluded from the coronation oath. The civil and political rights of the citizens are independent of their profession of any religion. The Roman Catholic church has 47 archbishops, 217 bishops, and 8 abbots with quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. The pope, though no longer recognized as a sovereign, continues to enjoy extensive prerogatives, which are regulated by the law of May 13, 1871. His person is sacred and inviolable ; the Italian government renders to him the honors of a sovereign, and guarantees to him a yearly donation of 3,225,000 lire ($622,500). The number of Catholic priests is about 100,000. The convents and monasteries of Italy were abolished in 1866, and in 1873 this law was extended to the city and province of Rome. The industry and commerce of Italy have greatly declined since the middle ages, when the republics of upper Italy were the commer- cial centres of the continent, and held the same position which during the 17th century was held by the Netherlands, and which since the 18th century has been held by Great Britain. Since the establishment of the king- dom of Italy a new impulse has been given to the development of industry in Tuscany and most of the northern provinces. About 13 per cent, of the total population derive their sup- port from industrial pursuits. The number of chambers of commerce and industry in 1873 was 71. In point of ship building Italy occupies a prominent place among the mari- time states of Europe; it is most extensively carried on in Liguria. Musical instruments are manufactured in all the large cities. The silk manufactures of Italy are the most important in Europe, and are one of the great sources of national wealth ; the number of spindles em- ployed in silk spinning is about 3,000,000. Of the other manufactures, those of earthenware, straw goods, glass, artificial flowers, and mac- carom and other fine pastes, are of special im- portance. The principal articles of export are : from Piedmont, oil, oranges, wine, corals, silk, rice, fish, wood, hides ; from Tuscany, oil, fish, silk, straw goods, marble, salt meat ; from Na- ples and Sicily, oil, sulphur, sumach, almonds, lemons, grain, licorice, alcohol, wool, skins, silk; from Parma, silk, cattle, grain, cheese, wool; from Modena, wine, silk, fruit, marble, 442 VOL. is. 29 ] oil ; from the former Papal States, grain, wool, oil, beeswax, silk, cattle. The total value of the commercial movement of Italy from 1869 to 1872 was as follows : 1870. Imp'rts $180,000,000 $171,000,000 $18(5,000,000 $22'.t,000,000 Exp'rts 168,000,000 146,000,000 209,000,000 225,000,000 1871. 1S72. The value of the Italian transit trade amounted in 1870 to $1,780,000. The shipping of Italy, owing to its favorable situation, is of great im- portance. The number of merchant vessels belonging to the kingdom in 1873 was 19,600 (118 steamers), and there were also about 12,- 300 fishing boats. The seafaring population in 1870 included 180,800 adult males. The number of entries in the Italian ports in 1870 was 90,001 loaded vessels, tonnage 8,347,506, and 28,723 vessels in ballast, tonnage 1,363,346; of these, 73,368 loaded vessels, tonnage 4,939,- 943, and 25,941 vessels in ballast, tonnage 983,317, belonged to the coast navigation. The aggregate length of railroads in operation in 1872 was 4,148 m. ; aggregate length of tele- graph lines, 12,009 m. ; aggregate length of wires, 37,218 m. The number of large moneyed institutions is considerable, the most important of which is the national bank of the kingdom of Italy, at Rome, founded in 1849, a bank of issue, with a capital of $40,000,000, having establishments in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Na- ples, Palermo, Rome, Turin, and Venice. The crown of Italy is hereditary in the house of Savoy. The statute of the kingdom of Sardinia of 1848 is considered as the fundamental char- ter of Italy, although it has been modified by new acts relating especially to the complete separation of church and state, and the abolition of the former privileges of the church of Rome in Italy. On assuming the government the king takes an oath to support the constitution.. He exercises the legislative power conjointly with a national parliament consisting of a sen- ate and a chamber of deputies. The senate is composed of the princes of the royal family who are of age, and an unlimited number of members appointed by the king for life. The senators must be 40 years of age or over, and belong to certain classes of citizens, as arch- bishops, bishops, deputies, ministers, other high officers of the state, generals, admirals, mem- bers of the provincial councils or of the Turin academy of science, persons who have distin- guished themselves in behalf of the country, or who for three successive years have paid 3,000 lire of direct taxes. In 1873 the senate had 317 members. The members of the chamber of deputies are elected by a majority of all citizens who are 25 years of age and pay a cer- tain amount of taxes (in most provinces 40 lire) or of rent. Some classes of the popula- tion, as members of the academies, of the chambers of commerce and industry, professors, state officers, physicians, lawyers, &c., haVe the right of voting in virtue of their educational