HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



185 



certained by experience ; befides three hundred others, 

 the ufes of which are not mentioned ; and without doubt 

 there are innumerable others yet undifcovered. Mr. de 

 Paw, on the contrary, fays that America produces a 

 greater number of poifonous plants than all the reft of 

 the world. But what does he know of the plants which 

 are bred in the inland countries of Africa and Afia, to 

 enable him to make a comparifon ? The foil of Ameri- 

 ca is fo fertile, that it is not to be wondered at if there is 

 abundance of every fort in it. But to mention the truth, 

 we do not know that one twentieth part of thofe poi- 

 fonous plants which are produced in the old continent 

 have been difcovered in New Spain. 



With refpecl: to gums, refms, oils, and other juices 

 which the trees yield either fpontaneoufly or with the 

 aid of human induftry, New Spain, fays Acofta, excels : 

 there are whole woods of acacia, which yields the true 

 Arabian gum ; but from its plenty it is not fufficiently 

 valued. There is befides balfam, incenfe, copal of many 

 fpecies, liquid amber, tecamaca, oil of fir, and many 

 other juices valuable for their fragrant odours, and me- 

 dicinal virtues. 



Even thofe very woods with which the land of Ame- 

 rica is covered, as Buffon and de Paw affirm, demon- 

 ftrate its fertility. There have been, and there are 

 ftill, in thefe moft extenfive regions, great woods ; but 

 there are not fo many as that a journey of five or fix 

 hundred miles may not be made without meeting one 

 of them. And what kind of woods are they ? for the 

 moft part confiding of fruit-bearing trees, fuch as the 

 mufa, mamey, apple, orange, and lemon, in the woods 

 of Coatzacualco, Mifteca, and Michuacan ; or of trees 

 valuable for their wood or their gums, fuch as thofe 



Vol. III. B b which 



