November 27, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



301 



Professor Winnecke, at Bonn, on March 8, 1858. This comet 

 was originally discovered by Pons, at Marseilles, oa June 

 12, 1819. Since Oppalzer's death. Dr. Haerdtl of Vienna has 

 taken up the orbit and discussed it, and also computed the 

 perturbations the comet has experienced since last seen. The 

 last return of the comet was in 1886, when it was discovered 

 by Mr. Find lay, at the Cape of Good Hope, Aug-. 20. At 

 the time of discovery the comet had passed its perihelion, 

 and was twelve days ahead of its predicted place. Its dis- 

 tance from the earth at the time of discovery was about one 

 hundred and fifty millioa miles. In No. 3,062 of the Astro- 

 nomische Nachrichten Dr. Haerdtl publishes an ephemeris 

 to assist in finding the comet during its approaching return. 

 The date of next perihelion passage is June 30, 1892. At the 

 present time the comet is about two hundred and fifty mil- 

 lions of miles from the earth, and is of course beyond the 

 reach of all but the most powerful telescopes, and probably 

 even them. In the latter part of next January the comet 

 should be within the reach of moderate-sized telescopes. A 

 copy of the ephemeris will be published before that date. 



The following are the positions for Wolf's comet for fol- 

 lowing dates. The epoch is for Greenwich midnight. 



1891. R. A. Dec. 



h. m. s. o ' 



Dec. 1.5 4 24 18 —13 22 



3 5 23 4 13 43 



5.5 21 52 14 



• 7.5 20 45 14 15 



9.5 4 19 42 --14 27 



The eclipse of the moon on the night of the fifteenth of 

 the present month was not generally observed at stations in 

 the eastern portion of the United States, due to a very cloudy 

 sky. The only satisfactory observations, as far as known, 

 were those made at Harvard Observatory. It was cloudy at 

 Albany, Rochester, Princeton, Washington, and the Univer- 

 sity of Virginia, points at which large telescopes are located. 

 Professor Dolland, late of the observatory at Pulkova, Russia, 

 had prepared a large list of stars that would be occulted 

 during the eclipse. Preparation bad been made at the sev- 

 eral observatories mentioned to observe as many of these 

 stars- as possible, to assist in revising the present value of the 

 semi-diameter of the moon. 



FOREST AND MINERAL WEALTH OF BRAZIL. 



A BULLETDf lately issued by the Bureau of the American 

 Republics states that the inexhaustible forests of Brazil 

 abound in woods of great value, some of the most beautiful 

 and valuable being entirely unknown in Europe. The large 

 collection of Brazilian woods exhibited in Philadelphia in 

 1876 attracted much attention, and the catalogue mentions 

 22,000 different woods found in the valley of the Amazon 

 alone. The best known of the valuable woods among those 

 of the Amazon are rosewood, satin wood, shell wood — of 

 which latter beautiful shell-like articles are made. The 

 cedars of Brazil are entirely different from the European, 

 and they abound everywhere from north to south. During 

 the floods of the Amazon, they are seen borne along by the 

 current, as a writer on Brazil describes them, " mighty trunks 

 of foliage like floating islands." Among the medicinal 

 plants of the Amazon valley may be mentioned the sarsapa- 

 rilla, ipecacuanha, the polycarp, the cubeb, the curare, — 

 from which the Indians extract the poison for their arrows, 

 — the nux vomiia, etc. On the Atlantic coast, the variety 



of valuable woods is continued, and mention may be made 

 of the acapti and angelica, and the bacury, which is the build- 

 ing wood most in use in Maranham. 



The forests abound in plants producing textile fibres. A 

 firm at CearA, has lately commenced the manufacture of the 

 gravatd fibre, a plant belonging to the bromeliacea. The 

 rubber tree exists in several varieties, producing as many 

 different sorts of rubber, and all through the northern 

 regions it thrives well. The once famous Brazil wood, which 

 gave its name to the country, lost its importance with the 

 discovery of the cheaper aniline dyes, and its exportation 

 has dwindled to insignificance. Gutta-percha is produced in 

 Brazil from two species of trees, the jaguS, (Lucuma gigantea} 

 and the massaranduba (MimMSops elata). The beautiful 

 vinhatico, much employed in Brazil for furniture and cabinet 

 work, enjoys a considerable reputation, the greater part of 

 the furniture in Brazil being made either of rosewood or vin- 

 hatico. The beautiful shaded yellow of this latter makes 

 it remarkable among the woods at once useful and orna- 

 mental. 



The development of the vast mineral resources of Brazil, 

 with the exception of gold and diamonds, has only just be- 

 gun. Its deposits of coal and iron, laid bare by scientific 

 explorers, await for the most part the labor and machinery 

 necessary to utilize them. The existence in Brazil has been 

 demonstrated of copper, manganese, and argentiferous lead 

 ore, in considerable quantities, and in widely extended locali- 

 ties. There are also mines of iron, coal, gold, and diamonds. 

 Gold is found in every State in Brazil, and is systematically 

 mined in Minas Geraes, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia, Matto 

 Grosso, Parana, Sao Paulo, and Maranham. 



Diamonds are co-extensive with the gold-deposits, and, like 

 that metal, are most abundant in Minas Geraes, where they 

 have been found since 1789. The most important locality 

 known for the production of these gems is the district of 

 Diamantina, in the above-named State. They are found in 

 Parana, in the gravels of the river Tibagy, and in the bed 

 of streams dry during the summer. Since the discovery of 

 diamonds at the Cape of Good Hope, the Brazilian production 

 has greatly diminished. 



As regards iron, the State of Minas Geraes abounds with 

 it. It is not found in veins or strata, buried deep in the 

 earth, but in enormous beds, often lying at the surface, or 

 in mountain masses. ' These vast deposits are worked only 

 by small scattered furnaces, charcoal being used in the re- 

 duction of the ore. Of these small furnaces there are five 

 groups, producing about 3,000 tons annually, the product 

 being used in the surrounding districts in the manufacture 

 of articles of home consumption, such as hoes, shovels, picks, 

 drills, nails, horseshoes, etc. In the State of San Paulo are 

 found deposits similar to the best Norwegian ore; and one of 

 the mines is worked by the Government establishment, near 

 the village of Sorocaba. This establishment has two fur- 

 naces, and produced in one year about 790 tons of pig iron. 

 The ore has about 67 per cent of iron. In Santa Caterina, 

 not far from a harbor accessible to the largest vessels, are 

 vast deposits of hematite, containing on an average 30 per 

 cent of manganese, and 25 to 30 per cent of iron. In the 

 State of Goyaz, as in Minas G-eraes, are found enormous 

 masses of the ore itaberite. 



The presence of copper has been demonstrated in Rio- 

 Grande do Sul, in Matto Grosso, in Minas Geraes, and Ceara. 

 The ore has never yet been mined, but in the last named 

 State works have been begun with a view to its extraction 

 and reduction. The ore, as far as yet reached, yields 40 per 



