People are therefore more than ever thrown upon reading of a different description; and notwithstanding the various books which have been published upon the Riviera, and the still larger list of those upon Italy, I think none of them, so far as I have seen, are exactly on the same lines as the present. It is, indeed, not a little noticeable that so many, in writing upon Italy, should have chosen to wrap their descriptions in some strange, weird story. In _Corinne ou L’Italie_, Madame de Staël depicts an exotic Scotch nobleman wildly drawn about from one part of Italy to another by a most extraordinary platonic love for an Italian improvisatrice, in order that the different localities may obtain description. The _Improvisatore_ of Hans Christian Andersen, with a difference of mode, is much upon the same model for the same purpose, the machinery by which the hero is blown hither and thither being much more prominent than the places upon which he alights. The _Transformation_ of Hawthorne, in order to describe Rome, forces us into strange scenes and into company with a mysterious ‘faun’ and a beautiful murderess; while _Romola_, by George Eliot, in describing Florence, drags us after a smooth–faced, smooth–tongued, heartless villain, who attains to power with an odd facility, and after blasting a lovely life, is, to every reader’s relief, tragically removed from the world. Even Ruffini’s _Dr. Antonio_, commencing amidst placid scenes with all the softness of a _pastorale_, terminates by breaking hearts, and in the din of a revolution, with guns crashing and roll of death–dealing musketry on the streets of Naples. Amongst its many deficiencies, the present volume is undoubtedly wanting in this sensational element of popularity. Neither, on the other hand, can it lay claim to the merit of filling the place either of the guide–book or of the medical adviser. Its chief utility may be in giving in a general way to those designing to go abroad for a period of time, some knowledge which may perhaps aid them where to go and what to see; while there is furnished for the benefit of novices, in the preliminary chapters, some practical information, which the experienced traveller, who knows it all and could state it much better, will be graciously pleased, if so inclined, to skip. * * * * * In revising at home what was written abroad, I have studied to ensure accuracy of statement, and have been rather surprised, on comparing authorities, to find how widely they frequently differ regarding matters involving figures, so much so that occasionally I have withheld any statement on the subject. Some of these discrepancies I have noticed. * * * * *