278 On the Minhocao of the Goyanese. 



bined with the lime, magnesia, alumina, and a portion of the 

 iron, forming silicates. 



It would also appear, from the small quantity of iron exist- 

 ing in the state of sesquioxide, and from the presence of 

 organic matter, that the heat employed for the purpose of 

 drying or baking the pottery was of no high temperature. 



If the heat had approached in temperature that of our pot^- 

 tery kilns, the dark green protoxide of iron would have been 

 for the greater part, if not totally, converged into the red 

 sesquioxide ; and, moreover, the organic matter would have 

 been dissipated. This eifect may be observed in the clay 

 jars, bricks, &c., manufactured in this country. A common 

 wood fire was probably the only source of heat the Ojibbe- 

 ways had at command ; which being in contact only with the 

 outside of the vessel, has confined its chemical action to that 

 part. • • 



Laboratory, 24. Brown Square^-Edinbitrgh, 

 Beoemher 1846. 



On the Minhocao of the Guyanese^ an enormous species of 

 Lepidosiren* By M. Auguste de Saint Hilaire. 



Luiz Antonio da Silva e Souza, whose acquaintance I 

 made during my travels, and to whom we owe the most valu^ 

 able researches on the history and statistics of Goyaz, says, 

 in speaking of the lake of Padre Aranda, situated in this 

 vast province,"!" that it is inhabited by minhocoes ;i then he 

 adds that these monsters — it is thus he expresses himself — 

 dwell in the deepest parts of the lake, and have often drawn 

 horses and horned cattle under the water.§ The industrious 



* This notice » taken from an unpublished work on the province of Goyaa, 



f The province of Goyaz stretches from nearly 5° 22' latitude south, to- 

 the 22d degree, and is greater than France. 



X Plural of Minhocao, 



§ See Memoria Sorbe o descobrimente, etc. da capitania de Goyaz,. in th^- 

 < Patriota," 1814. 



