The Road Pierced Thro' This Rock And Called The
Grotto Of Pausilippo Abridges The Journey To Puzzuoli Very Considerably, As
Otherwise You Would Be Obliged To Go Round By Cape Margelina, Which Would
Increase The Distance Ten Miles.
On issuing from the grotto on the other
side, you arrive in a few minutes on the seashore, on the bay formed
between Cape Margelina and Puzzuoli.
We stopped at the lake Agnano which is
strongly impregnated with sulfur. On the banks of this lake are the
Thermae or vapour baths, and here is also the famous Grotto del Cane,
the pestilential vapour arising from which rises about three inches from
the ground and has the appearance of a spider's web. An unfortunate dog
performs the miracle of the resurrection to all those who visit this
natural curiosity; and we also were curious to see its effect. The guardian
of the Thermes seized the poor animal and held his nose close to the place
from whence the vapour exhales. The dog was seized with strong convulsions
and in two minutes he was perfectly senseless and to all appearance dead;
but on being placed in the open air, he soon recovers. The poor beast shews
evident repugnance to the experiment, and I wonder he does not endeavor to
make his escape, for he has sometimes to perform this feat four or five
times a day. I should suppose that he will not be very long lived, for the
repeated doses of this mephitic vapour must surely accelerate his
dissolution.
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