750 Transactions of the American Institute. 



inches. Gold mines are there, and also stream tin is found, also a 

 great many diamonds, but the natives keep it secret for fear the 

 chiefs will make them work them. Elephants, oiirang-outangs, 

 alligators, eight to nine inches long; wild hogs, of which the island 

 is full; goats, no sheep; cattle and ponies, fourteen hands high; 

 plenty of domestic fowls in the villages, but none found wild; no 

 turkeys, either wild or tame. Kivers are full of fish, same variety 

 as are found in the China sea. He never saw any centipedes, but " 

 large and venomous mosketoes, as also scorpions. Wax is produced 

 in great abundance. The natives do not care for the honey. The 

 cigars are about three feet long, and made from the inner leaf of 

 the Nico palm. It takes a day to smoke one. Upon visiting the 

 Sultan, cigars are passed around on entrance, and it is considered 

 an insult unless it is all smoked. Thus a great deal of business 

 can be done. Kimanis, the name of the American settlement, 

 means a very sweet smelling wood, oh account of the abundance 

 of Cassia wood around it. The settlement is rapidly progressing. 

 In the Kimanis river the tides rise four feet. All are bar rivers on 

 the western side, and yet about every other one, as soon as you get 

 past the surf, contains drinkable water. 



Mr, Torrey was listened to attentively, and applauded warmly 

 on the conclusion of his remarks. The Association then adjourned 

 until Thursday, November 21st. 



November 21, 1867. 

 Prof. S. D. Tillman in the chair. 

 The Chairman presented the following scientific items: 



TESTING COGNAC. 



A correspondent of TJie London Chemical News states that the 

 aroma left on slow evaporation of genuine spirits, when gently 

 evaporated in the hollow of the hand, is so very characteristic that 

 it is used as a criterion in the South of France to distinguish 

 between pure esprit de vin, eftjwit de marc de raisin^ and the spir- 

 ituous fluids o1)tained from grain and beet root. It is impossible 

 to entirely eliminate from the latter the fousel oil, but this is never 

 present in spirits made from wine, which, on the contrary, always 

 contain small quantities of fenanthic and acetic ethers. The smell 



