326 If. Bory de Saint-Vincent on the 



covery, by allowing the gas to rush out with very great vio- 

 lence from a portable gas lamp' against a piece of white paper, 

 which becomes immediately covered with a black carbonaceous 

 deposit. 



The discovery has confirmed in my mind what I have long 

 suspected, that in carbonated hydrogen there is little more 

 than a mechanical union between the hydrogen and the car- 

 bon, and that during the sudden expansion of the gas the 

 carbon is deposited. 



I should like to see it ascertained if there are any and what 

 electric phenomena developed during the operation. — I am, 



My dear Sir, 

 38, Cornhill, London, Yours very sincerely, 



28^ Feb. 1827. David Gordon. 



Art. XXXVII. — Notice regarding the naturalization of the 

 Cochineal Insect in Spain. Communicated to the Academy 

 of Sciences by M. Bory de Saint-Vincent. 



I have received from Madrid, says M. Bory de Saint Vin- 

 cent, by the hands of the excellent botanist, M. Pavon, the 

 subsequent note, which I conceive to merit the attention of 

 the Academy. 



" Since the publication of the edict of the 29th of March 

 1826, by the Consulate Royal of Malaga, the environs of this 

 city have exhibited a spectacle exciting both interest and ad- 

 miration — the complete naturalization of the Cochineal insect. 



W Dr Joseph Presas, known in Europe from having served 

 as private secretary to the Queen of Portugal during her resi- 

 dence in Brazil, drew up minute instructions for the cultiva- 

 tion of the Nopal, as well as for the breeding of the Cochineal 

 itself. These instructions were published in Malaga at the 

 commencement of the year 1825. To secure a portion of one 

 of the greatest sources of the riches of the New World became 

 at once an important object. Plantations of Cacti were made, 

 the insect was obtained, and the instructions having been scru- 

 pulously followed, the result has been favourable beyond the 

 most sanguine expectations. Spain has secured a source of 



