GROTTO

(It.) The name given to subterraneous natural excavations formed in the heart of mountains or other places. Many of these cavities are famed for the mephitic exhalations that i ue from them, and to this cla belongs more especially the Grotto del Cane, near Naples; but there others not le celebrated for their beauty and grandeur, of which the grottoes of Anti parps and Ungal are well-known examples. In picturesque gardening, the term is applied to an artificial or ornamental cave or low building intended to represent a natural grotto. The best specimen of this kind is the grotto attached to the Colo eum, which may be considered a model for all similar designs. [s. 544]