130 M. B. Lewy's Expedition to New Granada. 



vated, the decomposition of the carbonic acid by the green 

 parts of the vegetables must be effected in a far more rapid 

 manner than on the high table-land of Bogota, where the 

 temperature is not higher than from 37° to 64° Fahr. 



It is perhaps allowable to suppose, on observing this enor- 

 mous quantity of carbonic acid appear from time to time in 

 the atmosphere of the New World, and considering the large 

 number of volcanoes which exist in the country, that a por- 

 tion of the carbonic acid of the air is due to them, and that 

 they thus contribute in part to nourish the vast and beau- 

 tiful vegetation of the tropics. — Comptes Eendus, Sept. 29, 

 1851. 



M. B. Lewy's Expedition to New Granada. 1. Geology and 

 Mineralogy^ especially the remarkable discovery of the Geo- 

 logical Position of the Emeralds of Muzo . 2. New Animals 

 and Plants of that Country. 



The accomplished naturalist and traveller M. B. Lewy, 

 who left Europe in 1847 for the republic of New Granada, 

 on a natural history expedition, has returned to Europe with 

 rich and important collections illustrative of the geology, 

 mineralogy, botany, and zoology of that interesting 'part of 

 the New World. These collections have been deposited in 

 the Museum of the Garden of Plants in Paris. The French 

 Academy of Sciences appointed the following commissioners 

 to report on the collections made in New Granada by Mr 

 Lewy, viz., MM. Dumeril, Isidore Geofroy-Saint-Hilaire, Ad. 

 Brongniart, Elie de Beaumont, Dufrenoy, Milne Edwards, 

 Valenciennes. This report contains many important facts, 

 some of these we shall now mention. 



Geology and Mineralogy. 

 The rocks and specimens of minerals deposited in the 

 Museum of the Garden of Plants were collected by Mr Lewy 

 in the valley of the Magdalena and the eastern Cordillera. 

 The greater number of specimens are from the north side 

 of that chain, and others from the south side, on which is 



