It is scarcely to be wondered at that in a country so frequently devastated by earth quakes as Italy, seismology should have found many earnest and efficient students. Among those who deserve first mention is De Rossi (1834-98), although the tendency of his
From volcanoes and seismology it is but a step to geology and paleontology, the funda mental principles of which were conceived, or at least instantly accepted, in Italy, where Leonardo da Vinci saw in some fossil the traces of animals and plants of former ages; where Brocchi, who may be called the father of mod4 ern geology, recognized the formation of the Apennines; and where Capellini (b. 1833) as early as 1861 developed his course of: lectures on the basis of the Darwinian theory. Pilla (1805-43) deserves mention as the precursor of many others in modern ideas; Meneghini (1811-89) on account of his studies in Italian geology; Stoppani (1824-91), the geologist of Northern Italy, who in his book
Turning now to the exact sciences, in math& matics we find Betti, who taught mathematical physics at Pisa; Brioschi (1824-97),• who ex celled in all branches of his science, and par ticularly in the theory of equations and de terminants; Beltrami (1835-1900), who was remarkable for the clearness and elegance of his deductions; and Cremona (1830-1903), whose works in graphic statics and in projective geom etry won him great fame. These were the masters of a host of students who to-day teach' and advance their science throughout all Italy.' In the present generation we have Dini, who teaches higher analysis ;• Bianchi, midi& of 'Lezioni di. geometria D'Oeidto and Veronese, geometricians; Volterra, subtle mathematical physicist; Enriquez, a makhema tician and philosopher.
In the domain of physics, the seed sown by the undying work of Volta was destined to bring forth fruit primatily in other lands, where Ohm discovered the law of the electric current, Ampere the electromagnetism, and where Faraday explained induction and the laws of electrolysis. Nevertheless, in every age Italy
has given precious contribution tophysics. We need only mention Nobili, who constructed the first sensitive galvanometer, of which Melloni made use in his celebrated experiments on radi ant heat; Dal Negro, inventor of the first electric motor; Mossotti (1791-1863), whose ideas on molecular force contained the germs of certain theories that were develoied later by Faraday and • Clansins; (1811 who conducted man); researches on mag netism and on the phenomena of magnetism and induction. Felici (1819-1902), was a pupil of Matencci, and his researches in electromagnetic induction, which are admirable for their ele gance and simplicity, furnished him with the subject-matter for a theory of induction which is a classic.
In modern times we name Blaserna, who established the first modern institute of physics in Italy; also Roiti, to whom we owe one of the first exact experiments determining the unity of electrical resistance; Pacinotti, who as a young man invented an apparatus that later, under the name of Gramme's Ring, became the characteristic part of dynamo-electric machines and of electric motors with continuous current; Battelli, unwearied investigator and unexcelled instructor. Foremost of all is Righi, a profound experimenter, who, in a series of prolonged researches into the electric discharges in gas, made many observations which anticipated' the later discoveries of other investigators, and which have acquired added importance in the light of modern theories. By his studies on the subject of electric waves Righi completed the analogy already made evident by the clas sical experiments of Hertz, between these waves and the motion of light, and at the same time inspired the first experiments of Gugilelmo Mar coni. Marconi himself, to whose acute per ception we owe wireless telegraphy, must be mentioned in this review; for his work, as well in its beginning as in the later phases of its de velopment, constitutes a splendid application of scientific principles and discoveries, and is a shining proof of the practical value that may be obtained from even the most abstract researches. We must not omit from the list of physicists of the present day, Galileo Ferraris (1847-97), al though he was snatched from his scientific labors 20 years ago; for his work, through which orig inated the discovery of the rotary magnetic field, which has found extensive application in electric motors, is stamped with the imprint of modern ideas.