‘Vor. VI.] 
Economical Defcription of Coimbra and tts 
Environs,” proves that the {cience of bo- 
tany is better known in Portugal than is 
generally fuppofed. Since 1789, the aca- 
demy of Lifbon has printed feveral works 
relative to that fcience, among which are 
“¢ Viridarium Lujfitanicum Linneanis no- 
minibus illufiratum,” by Domingo Van- 
delli;, and ** Flora Cochinchinenfis,” by 
Joan. de Loureiro. There are, moreover, 
at Lifbon, feveral botanical gardens,which 
are worthy of the attention of travellers, 
as are the different mufeums of natural 
hiftory in that capital, Coimbra, Evora, 
Matra, &c. ) 
One of the moft interefting papers to 
- be found among the tranfactions of the 
academy at Lifbon, relates to the fitheries, 
articularly that of the whale, which the 
Pages might carry on to great advan- 
tage on the. coafts of Brazil, and for the 
produce of which they now pay to Eng- 
land. 700,000,000 rez annually (about 
180,000].) 
The academy of Lifbon proves alfo that 
the Portuguefe are not ftrangers to che- 
miftry and attronomy. It has lately printed 
an ‘*Effay on the new Theory of Fire,” 
by Magelhaens; and an excellent ‘Dz 
fertation on Heat,” by Coalho de Scabra. 
We allio find among its tranfattions of the 
year 1791, “¢ AiTrcatife on the Utility of 
Chemical Knowledge, as applied to the Con- 
firuction of Edifices,” by Alex, Anton. das 
Neves. 
For fome years paft, the asademy has 
publifhed an annual volume of ‘* Nautical 
Ephemerides; or an Aftronomical Fournal,” 
calculated for the meridian of Lifbon; 
and it was alfo under its aufpices, that 
the ‘* Perpetual Afironomical Tables for 
the Ufe of the Portuguefe Navigation,” 
were printed in 1790. 
The academicians of Lifbon have alfo 
publifhed fome curious refearches con- 
cerning the population of their country. 
One ot them, Fos. Foaq. Soares de Barros, 
printed at Paris, a few years back, a {mall 
traét,in which heendeavoured to prove that 
Portugal contained at leaft three millions 
et inhabitants. In anew work, included 
inthe ‘ Tranfacions of the Academy,” he 
goes ftill farther ; and maintains, tinat the 
population of that kingdom ought to be 
xated at upwards of three millions and a 
half. He fupports his affertion by the re- 
fults of feveral enquiries, particularly by 
the account that was taken in 1776, of 
all the cities, towns, and villages, and of 
the number of houfes contained in each. 
As it appears that the total number of 
houles was 744,980, and as each houfe is 
Retrofped? of Foreign Literature....Sciences. 
523 
generally fuppofed to contain five perfons 
upon an average, he concludes that the 
population of Portugal mult amount to 
about 3,724,900 fouls. He proves after- 
wards, by an exact account taken in fome 
particular places, that the eftimate ot five 
perfons to a houfe, very little exceeds the - 
truth, and that it is therefore incontefti- 
ble that Portugal, according to what he 
has aflerted, contains at lealt three millions 
and a half of inhabitants. 
Independently of its own ‘ Tranfac- 
lions,” the academy has alfo undertaken 
the printing of a great many books, con- 
fitting either of original works, or of tran- 
flations from the French, Englifh, and 
Spanifh. The lift we are about to give 
of the principal publications which ap- 
peared in this manner, Letween the year's 
1787 and 1794, will ferve, in fome mea-+ 
fure, to acquit the Portuguele of the 
charge brought again{t them of negle¢ting 
all the feiences. ‘For it will be readily be- 
lieved, that it was not for its members 
alone that the academy publifhed thefe 
different works; and that it would not 
have incurred the expenceif it had net 
reckoned upon a certain number of pur- 
chalers. It is to its care, that the pub- 
lication of the following books is due: 
 Hifforia juris civilis Lufitani ;” <* In- 
flitutiones juris civilis Lujitant,” both by 
Pafcal-Jofeph Mello Freire. — - 
‘“ The Life of the Infant Dox Edweard,”* 
by Andreas de Rezende. 
“¢ Memoirs of Agricuiture,”* which gained 
the academical prize in 1787 and 1788. 
Vefiies of the Arabian Tongue in Par- 
tugal, or, Etymological Diétionary of the 
Portuguefe word, which have an Arabic 
origin. By Francis Joad. de Soufa. 
Arabian Documents of the Portuguefé 
Hiftory, 42 Arabic and Porluguefe, 
A Colleftion of Works never before 
printed, Containing: The Hiffory of the 
Reigns of Fobn I. Edward, Alphonfo Vand 
Fobn i. Kings of Portugal. 
A Treatife on the Means of Improving 
the Manufadture of Oil in Portugal; A. 
treatije on the Cidtivation of the Olve-tree 
in Portugal; both by Joad Emton Della- 
Bella. { 
A Treotife on Phyfictal Education, od- 
drefed to the Portuguefe Nation. By. 
Francis de Mello-France. . 
Avother Treatife bearing the fame 
Title. By Francis Jofeph de Almeida. 
Obfervat.ons on the Principal Caufes of 
the Decline of the Portucuefe Power in Afia. 
By Anthony Caetano de Amoral. 
Memoirs illaBrative of the Hiffory of 
Tranfimarine Nations. 
A Diflionary 
