History of the Fungi of the Kingdom of Naples

a secretis, on the 21st of February of the past year 1846, urged me by the weight of his duty to provide a distinct account of the three aforementioned specimens of my father: quickly obeying his most welcome commands, I laid out the individual vicissitudes as they were recounted, so that he himself might appropriately instruct the members regarding that matter. Therefore, it came to pass that you, most learned men, having begun the session on the 17th of March of the following year, proceeded with that liberty of judgment which is fitting for elevated minds in all things that contribute to the growth of the sciences, and decreed that the mycological dissertations of my father should be inserted among the acts of the Academy, and that the efforts I have expended should be rewarded with some compensation.

Led by this most recent act of singular benevolence and kindness, I confess, most excellent Colleagues, that I have gained greater strength and vigor to complete the work, the origin and vicissitudes of which I wished to bring to life here by narrating them, as if my father were reflecting his devotion toward you, and his own specimen of a grateful mind for your merits toward me: I wished that, with him now passed away, you might understand this very thing, which he would have done with a candid voice while alive.—Farewell.