a lake in the central parts of Italy. to the north-east of Rome, surrounded by a chain of lofty mountains inhabited by the ancient Marsi. Its usual circumference was about forty miles; but there were times when the volume of its waters was much increased, and it enclosed a larger space than this. The purity and transparency of its waters, and the grateful breezes from its surface, were frequent themes of praise to the ancient poets; but the inhabitants on its banks suffered severely from its inundations. Among other magnificent projects to benefit his fellow-citizens, Julius Caesar entertained the idea of cutting a canal to drain the water from the lake and convey it to the Tiber, by which he imagined that he would benefit the inhabitants on its banks, and at the same time increase the volume of water in the Tiber, so as to render it navigable to vessels of greater burden. His murder put an end to the attempt; and it was not till the reign of Caligula that any further steps were taken. It was the Emperor Claudius, however, who first took effectual measures to accomplish the undertaking; and he directed that the waters should be drained off into the river Liris, now Garigliano. Suetonius states that 30,000 men were employed for eleven years in cutting this emissary; but Feboi, a modern Italian geographer, satisfactorily proves that such a number could not have been employed for eleven years on this work, gigantic though it was. It is probable that the number in the Manuscripts was originally 3000. This emissary is still in existence, though from neglect it has ceased to be of any advantage to the inhabitants. In the plain of Capistrello the openings are still to be seen which were intended to give light to the workmen in the interior, much in the same way as the Grotto di Posilipo at Naples is now lighted; and alongside of these openings there are smaller perforations in the form of a spiral stair-case, to enable the workmen to descend. The government of Naples has latterly employed engineers to report on the possibility of clearing out this emissary, and of thereby recovering much fertile land now covered by the waters of the lake; but whether it has sufficient funds and sufficient energy to succeed, remains to be proved. (See Feboi Histor. Marsorum, lib. ii. c. i.; Descrizioni delle antiche et moderne città accostò de' fiumi Liri e Fibreno, Napoli, 1824.)