MAUTIUS ON THE BOTANY OF BRAZIL. 3 



and sent his MSS. to the minister Don Christovam da Moura; 

 but which was not printed till 1825, and then by the Royal 

 Academy of Science at Lisbon, in their " Noticias para a 

 Historia geografia das Na^oes ultramarinas," Tom III. — 5. 

 Jos de Anchieta, *' Epistola quam plurimarum reruni natu- 

 ralium, quae S. Vincentii (nunc S. Pauli) Provinciani incolunt 

 sistens descriptionem, a Didaco de Toledo Lara Ordonhez,* 

 &c. &c., Olisip," 1799. The merits of these works are not 

 discussed by Dr Martius. They are considered as the coun- 

 terpart to the works of Petrus Martyr, Oviedo, Gomara, 

 Acosta, P. de Cie^a and others, who, in the olden time, de- 

 scribed the plants of the Antilles, and others of the Spanish 

 colonies. They all notice the common American useful and 

 medical plants, agreeably to the low state of the sciences at 

 that time. They are therefore of the greatest interest to the 

 historical inquirer into the native country of particular vege- 

 tables, the mode of cultivation and application to various 

 purposes, and the nomenclature of the aborigines. On this 

 account they merit greater attention than one is accustomed 

 to pay to them, while, on the other hand, to the mere syste- 

 matic botanist they are of subordinate value. 



The literature of a Natural History (in the stricter sense of 

 the words,) of Brazilian Botany, may be said to have com- 

 menced with Piso and Marcgrav. Most of the species that 

 are introduced in the very valuable work of these Patres 

 Florae Brasiliensis, (G. Piso, Historia naturalis Brasiliae. 

 Amstel, 1648.) were, for that time, described with great 

 clearness; and in point of fidelity and solid information, it 

 surpasses the similar work of Hernandez on the Natural 

 History of Mexico : and it is to be wished it were quoted 

 with more reijard to the various editions than is usually done. 

 Besides the wood-cuts which illustrate the work itself, there 

 exist, as is known, in Germany, the original drawings by 



* The old edition of this worthy converter of the Heathens and of 

 Thammaburg Anchieta, who was known to be active in the year 1554 in 

 the province of St Vincent, is one of the rarest of the literary productions 

 on Brazil. 



