and Roman antiques, that a good judge can fcarce diftinguish them from originals. The feries of the modern medals of European nations are abfolutely complete, and those of each nation kept distinct.

Amongst the natural curiofities preferved in the chambers, one of the most remarkable is a petrified child, the history whereof has been given us at large by Bartholine, Licetus, and other authors. This child was cut out of the mother's belly at Sens in Champagne, in the year 1582, after having lain there between twenty and thirty years; and that it is a human fœtus, and not artificial, is evident beyond all difpute. Its head, fhoulders, and belly, are of a whitish colour, and very much resemble alabaster; the back and loins are fomewhat brown and harder; but from the hips downwards it is of a red colour, and as hard as perfect stone can be, exactly resembling the hard fort of ftones generated in the bladder. This fœtus, after it was taken from the mother, was firft carried to Paris, where it was fold to a jeweller of Venice, who happened to be there, for about twenty pounds fterling; of whom it was afterwards purchased by Frederick the third, king of Denmark, for fixty pounds,

and added to this collection.

In one of the chambers are to be feen two elephants teeth, each weighing a hundred and fifty pounds, which were dug out of a ftone quarry in Saxony.

Here is also an egg laid by a woman, about the fize of a common pullet's egg, which Olaus Wormius tells us was fent him by very good hands, and the truth of the fact confirmed by people of credit. The woman, he fays, brought forth

two eggs, with the ufual child-birth pains; but the neighbours, who were called in to her affiftance, broke the first, wherein they found a yolk and a white, as in that of a hen.

We likewife fee here an unicorn's horn, as it is called, white as ivory, and fpirally twisted. This, however, is not the horn of any land animal, but belongs to a kind of fish called a Narval.

In this fine collection there are feveral large pieces of filver ore, dug out of the mines of Norway in 1666, one of which weighs five hundred and fixty pounds, and is valued at five thousand crowns. Another piece, fomewhat lefs, is valued at more than three thoufand; both being fo rich, that they are reckoned to contain at least three parts filver. They are compofed of a whitish ftone, the cracks or cavities whereof feem to be filled with pure virgin filver, which in fome places lies in broad flat plates, and in others like pieces of fine flver lace but what is moft admired in these pieces of ore are the threads or branches of filver, which shoot out an inch or two beyond the furface of the ftone, appearing in the form of small fhrubs or bushes; and feveral other ramifications of this kind are to be seen among the filver ores preserved in this Mufeum.

Here we also find several large pieces of amber, fome weighing forty or fifty ounces; which, upon opening the ditches about Copenhagen, when they fortified the city, were found fticking to the fides of old trees that were buried there, like the gum on the plumtrees in our gardens.

In the fame chamber are a great 0 3 many

many large branches of white and red coral, and one of black; likewife a pair of ftag's horns growing out of a piece of wood in a furprifing manner.

Here is a human thigh-bone, three feet three inches long, as measured by Dr. Oliver himself; and two very large fcollop-fhells, holding about three gallons each, and weighing two hundred and twenty-four pounds a-piece. These were brought from the Eaft-Indies; and it is faid the fish they belong to is of fuch strength, that if a man happens to get his arm or leg between the fhells when they open, it claps them together fo forcibly as to cut the limb clear off,

A piece of marble is preserved in this collection, which the Lutherans reckon a very valuable curiofity, the natural veins of the ftone running in fuch a manner as to reprefent the exact figure of a crucifix. Some indeed have fufpected the reprefentation to have been by art; but upon the niceft examination it appears to be entirely the work of nature.

Amongst the artificial curiofities, there is a fkeleton made of ivory, two feet fix inches high, in imitation of a human one; and it is fo nicely formed and put together, that one might eafily take it for a natural skeleton

There are likewise two crucifixes of ivory, and the whole hiftory of our Saviour's paffion beautifully expreffed in a piece of carved work.

A small man of war in ivory, with filver guns, is a curiofity much admired; as is alfo a watch made of ivory, with all its wheels and movements.

Befides thefe there are many other curiofities in ivory, ebony,

box, amber, and other materials, which are kept for the sake of elegant workmanship; and we are told there is a common cherryftone, on the furface of which are engraved two hundred and twenty heads, but their fmallness makes them appear imperfect and confufed.

In this royal repository we find fix golden fepulchral urns, which were discovered in the island of Funen in 1685, by a peafant, as he was ploughing his land, and contained each of them fome ashes of a greyish colour. The largest of them weighs two ounces and a half, and the others two ounces and a dram. They are very thin, and each has three rings of gold about its neck, with several circles carved upon the outfide of the urn, having one common center. This discovery confirms the account given us by Olaus Wormius and other writers, that it was an ancient cuftom among the northern nations to burn their dead, and then bury their collected afhes in golden urns.

There is another fepulchral urn of cryftal, of a conical figure, which has also a gold ring about it, and was found near Bergen in Norway.

'There are likewife in this collection feveral veffels of different fizes, fome of glafs, and others of earth, which are called Lachrymal urns, or Lachrymatories, being used by the antient Romans to catch the tears of weeping friends, which were afterwards mixed with the afhes of the deceased.

We fhall conclude our account of this celebrated Museum with a defcription of the Danish and Oldenburg horns, two curiofities which are much admired. The

Danish horn is of pure gold, weighs a hundred and two ounces and a half, is two feet, nine inches long, and holds about two quarts of wine meafure. This horn was accidentally difcovered in the year 1639, by a country girl, in the diocefe of Rypen in Jutland; and is undoubtedly a piece of great antiquity, by the figures carved on the outfide, which feer to be hieroglyphics, devils, hobgoblins, &c. Perhaps fome of thefe figures were defigned to reprefent their deities, and the horn was probably used in facrifices, as amongst the ancient Affyrians and other nations, who upon fuch folemnities made a great noife with horns and trumpets, and used them to drink out of at their folemn entertainments.

The Oldenburg horn is of pure filver gilt with gold, weighs about four pounds, and is curioufly enamelled with green and purple colours. The Danish antiquaries tell many fabulous stories of this horn, which are not worth repeating; and as to what they fay of its being given to Otho, earl of Oldenburg, in the year 982, it is plain it cannot be of that date, for the figures and characters on the outfide are modern; which, however, with the enamelling and other ornaments, are of excellent workmanship, and make it a very fine and valuable curiofity.

rence, of a creditable family, but without fortune, went to live with a merchant of the fame country, who had fettled at Venice: the merchant's houfe was over-against the back door of one that belonged to a noble Venetian, whose name was Barthelemi Capello. In the houfe of Capello there was a young lady of great beauty, whofe name was Bianca. She was watched with great circumfpection, but Buonoventuri frequently faw her at the window: he had not the least hope of a nearer interview, yet, by a natural, and almost neceffary impulfe, he did all that could be done in fuch circumftances to amuse her, and exprefs the paffion with which the had infpired him he was young and amiable, the very foon ceafed to be indifferent; and, after long negociation, the particulars of which are not related, the lovers found means to accomplish their wishes. Bianca went every night, after the family were retired, and afleep, to the chamber of Buonaventuri in the merchant's houfe, by means of the little back door, which fhe left a-jar, and by which fhe returned before day, without being feen by any body.

After this had continued fome time, custom made her lefs cautious, and one night fhe ftaid with her lover till the morning was farther advanced than ufual: it happened that a baker's boy, who, according to the custom of the country, was taking bread from a neighbouring houfe, to carry it to the oven, perceived the little back door, by which Bianca had come out, to be a-jar, and fuppofing it to have been left open by accident, fhut it.

The young lady came a few minutes afterwards, and found it faft; in the confternation and di0 4

ftrefs

ftrefs which this accident produced, fhe returned to the houfe fhe had juft quitted, and knocking foftly at the door, was let in by her lover, to whom she related what had happened. Gratitude and love inftantly determined him to facrifice every thing to her fafety, and he immediately quitted his fituation, and retired with the lady to the houfe of another Florentine, where they remained hidden, with the utmost care and precaution, till they found an opportunity of efcaping to Florence.

At Florence he had a little house in Via larga, near St. Mark's, and over-against a convent of nuns of the order of St. Catherine, To this little dwelling he retired, fays our author, with his wife, and lived fome time in great privacy, for fear the republic of Venice fhould, at the folicitations of Capello, caufe him to be pursued.

Francis-Maria, the great duke of Tufcany, at this time, was a native of France, the fon of Cofmo the firft, and father of Mary de Medicis; he had married Jane of Auftria, daughter of the emperor Ferdinand, widow of the king of Hungary he was a princefs of high eftimation; but being at this time past her youth, the duke neglected her for other women. One of the officers of his court was the confidant of his pleasures, who had a wife not lefs zealous to render herfelf ufeful than himself.

The arrival of the fair Venetian was known in Florence, and the rumour of her adventure, and her beauty, excited a ftrong defire in the duke to fee her, to which the great privacy of her life contributed not a little. He used every day to walk before the houfe to

which he had retired, and, as fhe had no amufement but looking out of the window, it was not long before his curiofity was gratified; fhe was indeed half veiled, but he faw enough to judge of her beauty, of which he became violently enamoured.

His confidant, perceiving his paffion to be unfurmountable, began to concert measures for the gratification of it; and engaged his wife to affift in the project: the misfortunes which Bianca had already fuffered, and those to which fhe was ftill expofed,

gave this good

woman a pretence to infinuate that fhe had fomething of importance to communicate to her, and for that purpofe invited her to dinner. Buonaventuri was fome time in fufpenfe whether he should fuffer Bianca to accept the invitation; but the rank of the lady, and the need in which he ftood of protection, at length got the better of his caution and doubts. Bianca was received with the moft flattering kindness and attention; fhe was prevailed upon to relate the story of her diftrefs, and was heard with an appearance of the moft tender concern: obliging offers were made her, and preffed with fo generous a friendship, that fhe could not refufe to accept of fome prefents from the lady.

The duke, informed of the fuccefs of the first vifit, hoped that he might be prefent at the fecond. Another invitation was immediately fent to Bianca; and, after new marks of efteem and regard, new pity of her misfortunes, and new praises of her beauty, fhe was asked if fhe had no defire to make her court to the grand duke, who, on his part, was impatient to become

acquainted

acquainted with her, having already found an opportunity to fee and admire her. Bianca had not fortitude or virtue to forego this new honour; which, though fhe at first affected to refufe, her crafty feducer discovered by her eyes that fhe wished to be urged to accept. Juft at this crifis it was contrived that the grand duke fhould come in, without any appearance of defign, and Bianca was charmed with the modefty of his addrefs, the warmth of his praife, and the liberality of his offers. Other vifits fucceeded, and a familiarity infenfibly came on; fome prefents which fhe could not refufe from her fove reign, improved the duke's advantage, and the husband himself did not think it prudent to break a connection which might be at once innocent and advantageous. The duke was not likely to ftop fhort in fo good a road; he gained new influence over the wife, by advancing the husband; and at laft accomplished his wishes fo much to the fatisfaction of all parties, that, as the Italians exprefs it, he, and Bianca, and Buonaventuri, made a triangulo equilatero the husband foon became familiar with his new condition, and removed with his wife to a house in the fine ftreet that leads to a bridge over the Arno, called Trinity-bridge: this houfe is ftill ftanding, and is diftinguished by the arms of Medicis, furmounted by a hat, and belongs at prefent to the Ricardi family. Buonaventuri folaced himself for the lofs of Bianca, by forming new connections, and affociated with the nobility of the country: but a change of fortune fo fudden and fo great, rendered him infolent, overbearing, and prefumptuous, even in his be

haviour to the duke himself, and created him fo many enemies, that he was at length affaffinated near the bridge that led to his house.

The duke and his new mistress were not much afflicted at this accident; fhe totally lost her reserve and timidity, and appeared in public with a magnificent equipage, fetting honour and shame at defiance.

Jane, the grand duchefs, was extremely mortified at the conduct of her husband, and provoked by the pride of her rival, yet fhe fuppreffed both her grief and resentment; which, however, fecretly fubverted her conftitution, and at length put an end to her life.

The death of the grand duchefs opened new views to the ambition of Bianca, who had acquired an afcendancy over the duke which rendered him wholly fubfervient to her will, and fhe now exerted all her art to induce him to marry her. The cardinal Ferdinand de Medicis, who was next heir to the dukedom, if his brother died without iffue, oppofed this marriage in vain, and Bianca, in a fhort time, became grand duchefs of Tuscany.

After fome time she became very defirous of a child, who might fucceed the grand duke in his dominions: fhe caufed maffes to be faid, and aftrologers to be confulted; but thefe, and many other expedients, proving ineffectual, fhe refolved to feign a pregnancy, and introduce a fpurious child, of which she would at least have the honour. To affift her in the execution of this project, The applied to a cordelier of the monastery of Ogni San&ti, who readily undertaking the affair, fhe feigned tranfient fickness, naufeas, and other fymptoms of pregnancy,

took