262 Mr. W. Brande’s Account of a 
forts of mankind, by reducing the price and improving the 
quality of candles, flambeaux, &c. 
The article, in the state in which it was sent, resembles 
much that described by Humboldt, as the produce of the 
Ceroxylon Andicola,* but it is not likely to be the same, as 
Humboldt's wax is collected from a stately palm tree, which 
grows on the high mountains, from 900 to 1450 toises above 
the level of the sea, and on the edge of the regions of perpe- 
tual snow. On the other hand, the Brazilian plant is described 
as a slow growing tree, but not as a large one, and there are 
no high mountains delineated in the most accurate and recent 
maps of the Capiteneas where it is found. But a more deci- 
sive argument against their identity, is the analysis of Vaque- 
lin, published by Humboldt, which shews that the produce 
of the Ceroxylon consists of two-thirds resin and only one- 
third wax; but the Brazilian article is entirely wax, and affords 
not the smallest trace of resin. The Brazilian plant, however, 
was not entirely unknown to Humboldt, for it appears from 
his book, that M. Correa had informed him that a palm, 
called Carnauba by the natives of Brazil, produced wax from 
its leaves. 
§.H. 
1. The wax in its rough state, is in the form of a coarse 
pale gray powder, soft to the touch, and mixed with various 
impurities, consisting chiefly of fibres of the bark of the tree, 
which, when separated by a sieve, amount to about 40 per 
cent. 
It has an agreeable odour, somewhat resembling new hay, 
but scarcely any taste. 
* Plantes Equinoctiales, p. 3. 
