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XV, An Account of a vegetable Wax from Brazil. By William 
Thomas Brande, Esq. F . R. S. 
Read May 9, 1811. 
§• I- 
The vegetable wax described in this Paper, was given to the 
President by Lord Grenville, with a wish, on the part of his 
Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the 
hope that it might prove an useful substitute for bees wax, 
and constitute, in due time, a new article of commerce between 
the Brazils and this country. 
It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro, 
by the Comte de Galveas, as a new article lately brought to 
that city, from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian domi- 
nions, the Capiteneas of Rio Grande and Seara, between the 
latitudes of three and seven degrees north : it is said to be 
the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the natives 
Carnauba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, 
and another substance employed for fattening poultry. 
When the Comte wrote to Lord Grenville in July last, 
orders had been sent to the governors of the districts where 
it grows, requiring them to report more particularly, on the 
nature and qualities of this interesting tree ; we may therefore 
hope that information will soon be obtained, whether the ar- 
ticle can be procured in abundance, and at a reasonable price, 
in which case it will become a valuable addition to the com- 
