BASSI, LAURA MARIA CATERINA, an Italian lady eminently distinguished for her learning and her virtues, was born at Bologna in 1711. On account of her extraordinary attainments she received a doctor's degree, and was appointed professor in the philosophical college, where she delivered public lectures on experimental philosophy till the time of her death. In 1738 she married Giuseppe Verrati, a physician, and left several children. She died in 1778.