1846.] 



THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE. 611 



SCRIPTA HISTORICA BLANDORUM. Latine reddila et apparatu critico 

 instructa, ourante Societate Regia Antiquariorum Septentrionalium, vol XII. The 

 edition first commenced by the Society of the Historical Sagas, recording events 

 which happened out of America, (Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland,) particularly 

 in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, in the original Icelandic text with two trans- 

 lations, one into Latin and another into Danish, thirty-six volumes has now 

 been brought to a completion by the publication of the abovementioned volume, 

 (DD 658 in 8ro.) wherein are contained regesta geographica to the whole work, 

 which, for this large atlas of Sagas, may be considered as tantamount to an old 

 northern geographical gazetteer, inasmuch as attention has also been paid to other 

 old northern manuscripts of importance in a geographical point of view. Com. 

 plete, however, it cannot by any means be called, neither as regards Iceland espe- 

 ciallv. and other lands in America, whose copious historical sources have in the 

 present instance been but partially made use of, nor, also, as regards the European 

 countries, without the Scandinavian north, for whose remote history and ancient 

 geography the old northern writings contain such important materials; but it is to 

 be hoped that the society will in due time take an opportunity of extendmg its labors 

 in that direction also. The present volume does, however, contain a number o* 

 names of places situated without the bounds of Scandinavia m countries o. 

 which mention is made in the writings published in the work itself. To the name 

 of each place is annexed its Icelandic or Old Danisn form, and the position of the 

 place is investigated by means of comparison with other historical data and with 

 modern geography. 



SOUTH AMERICAN COTTON. 



LETTER FROM Mr. GRAHAM, U. S. CONSUL, BUENOS AYRES. 

 On the cotton of Corrienies, a province of the Argentine Confedera- 

 tion,— the mode of cultivating, carding, spinning, weaving, Sfc, <^c. 



Consulate of the United States of America, 



Buenos Ayres, March 17, l846. 



Sir • I send you herewith a specimen of the cotton of Corrientes, as it is picked 

 from tiie tree. Cornentes is one of the provinces of the Argentine Confedoralioa, 

 and is now in rebellion against this Government. It is on the Parana river, be- 

 tween Entre Rios and Paraguay. I also send you the implements used by the 

 Corrientenos for carding and spinning this cotton, =^»daspec.mcn of the cloth man- 

 ufactured from it. These were presented to me by Mr. John C. Hayes. Mi. Hayes 

 is a native of New York, has lived sixteen years in Corrienies, and is novv a resident 

 of this city. From him I obtained an account of the manner in which the cotton is 

 cultivated. The seed is planted about six feet apart each way ; the tree bears the 

 fir year, and, in his language, "forever after." It attains about the size of 

 our quince tree, and requires no cultivation except the occasional cutting off the 

 °op to prevent it from growing too high. At the ti'"^ ["/.P'-^king a hide is drawn 

 by a hJrse between the rows, and the cotton picked and thrown into it The seed 

 is »ickcd out by hand . The females then, with a small bow, one of which I send 

 yo^, .. card" or bow the cotton, w as to lay.the fibres all in one way. and to remove 



** uT'fhers'Ju'i'with little slicks, one of which I send you, by twirling the stick 

 with the fingers and letting it run on the floor whilst the fingers are employed m 

 drawine out the cotton. Mrs. Hayes, who is a native of Corrientes, ahowed me 

 the process of carding and spinning, with the implements 1 send you. The raw 

 cotton around the stick was prepared with tho bow, and the thread spun by her. 

 The weaving is performed in a manner as primitive as the spinning. Ihey drive 



