u4n Account of a vegetable Wax from Brazil, 429 



Kan-tah-hah-ko-nah. November: the month when 



the " vegetation is chiefly 

 fallen down," having been 

 killed by the frost. — Ever- 

 greens, of which the number 

 of species in the conntry of the 

 Six-Nations is very consider- 

 able, — such as Pinus, Larix, 

 Abies, Thuja, Cupressus, not 

 to mention the smaller, but yet 

 conspicuous, Taxus, Rhodo- 

 dendron, Kalmia, and many 

 others, — are, doubtless, in- 

 tended to be excepted from the 

 observation, which is exclu- 

 sively restricted to decidiious 

 vegetables, and chiefly those 

 of an arborescent stature. 



LXXVIII. An Account of a vegetable Wax from Brazil, 

 By William Thomas Brande, Esq. F.R.S.* 



§ I. J. HE vegetable wax described in this paper was given 

 to the president by lord Greuville, with a wish on the part 

 of his lordship that its properties should be investigated, in 

 the hope that it might prove an useful substitute for bees 

 wax, and constitute, in due time, a new article of com- 

 merce between the Brazils and this country. 



It was transmitted to lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro, 

 by the comts de Galveas, as a new article lately brought 

 to that city from the ncrthcrnmosi parts of the Brazihan 

 dominions, the capiteneas of Rio Grande and Seara, be- 

 tween the latitudes of three and seven degrees north : it is 

 said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called 

 by the natives Carnaiiha, wiiich also produces a gum used 

 as food for men, and another substance employed tor fatten- 

 ing poultry. 



VVlien the comte wrote to lord Grenville in July last, 

 orders had been sent to the governors of the districli where 

 it grows, requiring them to report more particularly on the 

 nature aud qualities of this interesting tree : we may there- 

 fore hope that information will soon be obtained, whether 

 the article can be procured in abundance, and at a reason- 

 able price; in which case it will become a valuable addition 



• From the Philotophical Traniactions for 1811, part ii. 



to 



