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was shewn us by a young Irish jesuit, Fa-
ther Plunket, I think, who is likewise a
young antiquary; but Mr. Morrison,
who is undoubtedly one of the first and
most sagacious antiquaries in Rome, set
him right in many particulars. Ancient
paintings, urns, vases, jewels, intaglios,
cameos, and other antiquities, are here
in such abundance, that I could have fan-
cied myself at Portici; but the curiosities
which I chiefly went to see, were Father
Kircher's musical instruments and ma-
chines, described in his Musurgia: they
are now almost all out of order, but
their construction is really curious, and
manifests the ingenuity as well as zeal of
this learned father in his musical enqui-
ries and experiments.
In visiting Rome a second time, I took
a view of the theatres, of which there are
seven or eight: the principal are the Ar-
gentina, the Aliberti, the Pordenone, and
the Capranica: the two first are very
large, and appropriated to serious operas.
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