About half-way between Desenzano sul Lago and the village of Lonato, and a little to the south of the direct railway between Milan and Venice, there is, in the midst of a series of morainic hillocks, a small bowl-shaped hollow, scarcely 300 yards in diameter, which at one time formed a stagnant lake called Polada. It appears that at some former period, of which there is now no record, this pool had been partially drained by means of a small tunnel which was pierced through the morainic lip on its north side, and so carried off the water to a lower valley. The result of this was to expose a considerable portion of the lake-bottom, one part of which formed a tongue-like projection or promontory attached to its eastern margin. This continued to be the condition of Polada for many ages, and in course of time the remaining portion of the lake became completely filled up with peat. Some years ago the proprietors of this bog commenced to utilise its contents as fuel, and, to facilitate this operation, the margin of the crater-like cavity was pierced by a second tunnel at a lower level than the former, so as to get rid of the water. It was then found that the promontory of land, which since its original exposure had been cultivated, had been only partially bared by the first drainage, as on its inner side there was a thin covering of peat, which a little farther on suddenly sank to a great depth. In the course of removing this covering of peat from the tip of the promontory, and just on the margin of the cultivated land, some rotten piles and other indications of a prehistoric dwelling were discovered. Dr. Giovanni Rambotti, President of the Liceo Ginnasio at Desenzano, recognised this to be the remains of a lake-dwelling erected on piles, and so greatly did he interest himself in the objects recovered and daily turning up that he arranged with the workmen to preserve all the relics for him. This discovery was made in 1872, and, as the operation of clearing out the peat progressed during the following two or three years, the settlement turned out to be very rich in industrial remains. Now that the turf is entirely removed and all the relics kept together Dr. Rambotti finds himself the possessor of one of the most valuable and instructive collections of lake-dwelling remains in Italy.