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There is a fpecies of myrtle with very large 

 leaves found in this country, and which I know to 

 to be like wife very common on the coafts of Aca- 

 dia, and in the Englifh colonies on the continent. 

 Some have given it the name of laurel, but falfe- 

 ly, its leaf having the fmell of a myrtle, and the 

 Englfh have no other name for it, but that of the 

 candle myrtle, le myrtle a chandelle. This fhrub 

 bears a fmall grain, which during the fpring is full 

 of a gluey fubftance, and being thrown into boiling 

 water, fwims upon it, and becomes a kind of green 

 wax, not fo fat and more friable than bees-wax^ 

 but equally fit for burning. The only incon- 

 venience attending it is that it is very brittle ; but 

 it may be mixed with another wax extremely li- 

 quid, gathered in the woods of the American 

 iflands, which, however, is not necefifary, unlefs 

 it is intended to be made into tapers. I have 

 feen candles of it which gave as clear a light and 

 lafted as long as ours. Our mifiionaries in the 

 neighbourhood of Acadia mix it with tallow, 

 which makes them liable to run ; becaufe the 

 tallow does not incorporate well with the wax. 

 The Sieur Alexander who is here, in the compa- 

 ny's fervice, in quality of furgeon and botaniftj 

 ufes it without any mixture, and his candles have 

 not this defect, their light being foft and very clear, 

 and the fmoke, which they yield, has the very a- 

 greeabie fmell of the myrtle. He even entertains 

 hopes of making them perfectly white, and mewed 

 me a piece which was more than half fo *. He 

 pretends, that had he five or fix of thofe (laves 

 which are unfit for ordinary labour, he could 



* This projecl has been fince given over, becaufe they fay this 

 wax, by being whitened, undergoes confiderable alterations. 



gather 



