“ their fortune and returning to the mother“ country. “For some years past, details respecting the “ population of Brazil have been published in “ several French journals, which appear to be “ the results of the enumeration of 1798. Ac“cording to these journals, the population of “ Brazil consists of 800,000 Whites, 1,000,000 “ of Indians, and 1,500,000 Negroes, in all “ 3,300,000. If we add the natural augmen“tation in a space of eleven or twelve years, I “ am persuaded that the actual population of

“ Brazil must be nearly 4,000,000.” Note of M. Correa de Serra.

On the Plants cultivated in New Spain.

I shall bring together under this head a few notes relative to Botany and Agriculture; and I shall arrange them in the order according to which the different objects have been treated in the ninth and tenth chapters of this work.

The Prunus avium (vol. ii. p. 416.) is undoubtedly a native of Europe; but the Prunus cerasus, which is a very distinct species, was brought to Rome by Lucullus. All the varieties which we cultivate belong to one or other of these two species of cherries.

The Cycas circinalis (vol. ii. p. 487.) can

only be classed among ferns. According to the beautiful work of Mr. Brown on the Plants of the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, the Cycas is the representative of a new group of plants which may be designated under the name of Cycadees", and which according to M. Richard is strongly related to the family of the Coniferi. In my researches respecting the history of the Ignames (vol. ii. p. 128.) I have made no mention of the first voyage of Cabral, in the account of the navigation of Pedro Aliares, published by Cadamusto. It was not consequently on the Coast of Peru, as I was led to suppose, but in the Southern Hemisphere, that Ignames were seen by the Portuguese Admiral (Grynaeus, p. 47, 67, and 215). Cadamusto, designated the famous Admiral Pedro Alvarez Cabralt, under the name of “ Petrus quidam Alieres “ ac Abrilus Fidalcus.” He calls Brazil, which is the Land of the Holy Cross of Cabral, Insula Psittacorum. (Grynaeus, p. 94.) The Helianthus tuberosus (topinambour) was formerly known in France by the name of Canada Trufle. North America, to the coast of the Gulph of Mexico, is the country of the Helianthoides. According to M. Willdenow, Loureiro has

improperly classed together the Citrus trifoliata (vol. ii. p. 514.) and the Limonia trifoliata, which is a very distinct species. The C. trifoliata Lour. is the Limonia trifoliata Willd. The grand Chinese variety of the Cannabis sativa is not the same as the Cannabis indica of Lamarck (vol. iii. p. 21.) It is however now well ascertained that this last plant is also only a variety of the ordinary Hemp. It is more ligneous and more narcotic ; it yields very little thread, and whereever it is cultivated, it is merely for the purpose of smoking or chewing the leaves. The Uvilla of Santa Fe, or the Cestrum, of which the fruit yields a beautiful black colour, (vol. iii. p. 46.) is not the Cestrum tinctorum of Jacquin, but a new species, called by M. Bonpland the Cestrum Mutisii. In the description of the plants discovered during the course of our expedition (Nova genera et species plantarum) we shall substitute another name to that of Arbutus Madroño, (Ibid. p. 59.) because the name of Madroño designates in Portugal and Spain the Arbutus Unedo. The wild Rice of Canada (vol. ii. p. 486.) is probably a Zizania. “The Cochineal of Rio Janeiro (vol. iii. “ p. 64.) is the Grana Silvestre. It was first “cultivated there in 1770 by M. Henriquez

“Lisbon. He has written a detached history “ of it, with many plates, the manuscript of “ which is in the archives of the Academy

“ of Lisbon.” Note of M. Correa de Serra.

On the Yellow Fever of Vera Cruz.

The experiments made by M. Isaac Cathrall lead to a different result from that announced by M. Stubbins Firth (vol.iv. p. 197.) M. Cathrall considers the matter of the vomito as the effect of a secretion of the gall; but he observes that the patients affected with the yellow fever sometimes vomit black and flaky matter resembling coffee grounds, which transude from the mucous membrane of the stomach. Analysis of the Black Vomit in the American Transactions, vol. v. 1802, p. 117– 138. • *

On the Quantity of Cotton annually imported into Europe.

I have endeavoured to collect in this work proper materials for the resolution of the important problem; what is the quantity of colonial produce which Europe absolutely requires in the present state of her civilization and manufacturing industry 2 I have already

shewn (vol. iii. p. 19.) that the European manufactories annually consume three times the quantity of cotton which is generally supposed in works of political economy. The following table, published by M. Medford, proves that Great Britain alone used in her manufactories, in 1805, more than 61,580,000 pounds of cotton ; and that she drew,

English Pounds.

From the United States, - 31,943,268 the English West India Islands 16,192,088 Portugal (Brazil) - - - . 10,000,000 the East Indies - - - - 2,432,483 other parts of the world 1,013,033 61,580,872

on the Quantity of Gold and Silver absorbed by the Commerce with India.

According to the researches which I have made respecting the commerce of India and China, it appears to me that we may estimate the mass of precious metals which annually flow into Asia and the Eastern Coast of Africa, by the way of the Cape of Good Hope", at seventeen millions and a half of piastres. A travellert who long resided in India, China,