Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/464

446 ITALY Potatoes ........................... 27.250.000 bushels. Hemp .............. 11 1.1(10,000 pounds. Flax ' ........ 80.1110,001) " Cotton'" ............... 22,000,000 " Tobacco .......................... 7,200,000 " Olive oil ......................... 42,250,000 gallons. 800,000,000 The animal kingdom is not represented by many species in Italy. The domestic animals common to all Europe, including horses, cat- tle, sheep, swine, goats, asses, and mules, are raised. Animal food being not as extensively used as in more northern countries, but little attention is paid to the improvement of breeds. Swine are principally raised in Parma and the N. E. provinces of the late Papal States, where the manufacture of sausages is carried on upon a large scale. The dairy products of Parma, especially cheese, are largely exported to for- eign countries. The number of horses, mules, and asses in 1872 was reported to be 1,600,000 ; of cattle, 3,700,000; of buffaloes, 40,000; of sheep, 8,800,000; of goats, 2,200,000; of swine, 3,900,000. The coast fishery employs a great amount of tonnage and capital. Tunny and anchovies are caught in immense numbers, and the latter are exported to all parts of the world. Oysters are obtained from beds in the Adri- atic, but are poor in quality. The sea fur- nishes also a great variety of smaller shell fish, which are used as food by the lower classes, or as delicacies by the wealthy. The increase of the population of Italy since 1861, when a cen- sus was taken in the countries at that time form- ing part of the kingdom, has been about 0'72 per cent, annually. Of the 3,382 communes into which the kingdom is divided, 1 (Naples) had in 1872 a population of more than 400,000, 4 (Rome, Palermo, Turin, and Milan) above 200,000, 5 above 100,000, 12 above 50,000, 25 above 30,000, and 22 above 25,000. The Italians now constitute a compact national- ity, although they are descended from a num- ber of different races who have successively obtained the mastery of the country. The Gallic (Celtic) and Roman elements have be- come the principal ingredients of Italian na- tionality, but few traces of the character of the aboriginal population being now discerni- ble. In upper Italy the Germanic element has contributed its share ; even the name of Lom- bardy is derived from that of a German tribe. In southern Italy and Sicily the Arab element enters into the mixture of national character- istics. In 1872 the population of other than Italian nationalities was estimated at about 330,000. Of these, 140,000 were French (chiefly in the circles of Aosta, Pinerolo, and Susa, in the province of Turin), 58,000 Albanians (in south Italy), 35,000 Jews, 30,000 Slovens (in the province of Udine), 25,000 Germans (chiefly in a few mountain valleys of the provinces of No- vara and Turin, and in the provinces of Vi- cenza and Verona), 21,000 Greeks, and 7,000 Catalonians (in the town of Alghero and its vicinity in Sardinia). Only the 'written lan- guage is the same in all parts of Italy, while the vernacular of the common people consists of various dialects, almost as unlike each other as different tongues. It is in Tuscany that the Italian language is spoken in its utmost purity. But while the Florentine dialect excels in purity and delicacy, the Roman pronunciation and accent are most admired ; hence to speak Italian with perfect grace one must unite la lingua Toscana e la bocca Somana. The Ital- ian has generally a fine exterior. He is rather slim than stout, but strong and agile. A dark complexion, an expressive countenance, sparkling eyes, black hair, and a grave gait combine to render the native of Italy prepos- sessing. A great proportion of the inhabi- tants retain many of the characteristics of the Roman conquerors of the world. The decline of the Italian military greatness was followed by eminence in letters. Italy was long the foremost nation of Europe in literature, art, and science, and she has given birth to some of the greatest men of modern times. There are numerous high schools, academies, lyce- ums, and universities, and the last enjoyed during the middle ages a world-wide reputa- tion, though they are now eclipsed by some of the German seats of learning. The number of universities in 1873 was 22, of which 17 were royal, 4 (Ferrara, Perugia, Camerino, and Ur- bino) provincial, 1 (the Sapienza in Rome) pa- pal. The 17 royal universities had in 1873 the following number of professors and students: UNIVERSI- TIES. Pro- feisore. Students. UNIVERSI- TIES. Fro- fisiors. Student!. Bologna Naples Padua Palermo 68 73 65 56 45 66 61 69 80 577 i,izi 806 718 508 584 1,408 88 Catania. Genoa. . Macerata Messina Modena. Parma . Sassarl . 88 46 20 86 42 47 81 82 233 460 115 112 815 270 74 118 Pisa Cagliari Total. . . . 758 6,957 The theological faculty has been abolished at all these universities. Bologna, Catania, Ge- noa, Messina, Naples, Padua, Palermo, Pavia, Pisa, Rome, and Turin have four faculties each ; Cagliari, Modena, and Parma three ; and the others two. The institutions of secondary instruction in 1870 comprised 352 gymnasia (104 royal) and 272 technical schools, and for more advanced pupils 142 lycenms and 89 in- dustrial and technical special schools. Ele- mentary education is to be compulsory, but the attendance at the primary schools is .still far from being satisfactory. In 1872 there were 34,213 public and 9,167 private elemen- tary schools, together 43,380; the number of pupils was 1,745,467. Immense literary trea- sures are stored in public libraries. The prin- cipal of these are the Vatican and the Miner- va libraries at Rome ; the Borbonica and the Brancacciana at Naples ; the university libra- ry at Bologna ; the Ambrosian at Milan ; the library of St. Mark at Venice ; the royal library