Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1897. 
California  Manna. 
335 
Mr.  J.  Ross  Browne,  however,  gives  a  general  outline  of  this 
exploration,  based  on  detailed  letters  he  received  from  Mr.  Gabb 
while  on  his  exploring  tour. 
P.  66,  a  description  of  vegetation  in  Lower  California  is  given, 
which  may  be  condensed  as  follows : 
"Agaves  (century  plant)  are  also  abundant,  may  be  useful  in  the 
future  to  extract  spirits  from  the  root.  *  *  *  Acacias,  palms 
with  edible  fruits,  coniferae,  oaks,  wild  plums,  cottonwoods,  syca- 
mores, willows,  elder.  The  Arabian  date  palm,  introduced  by  mis- 
sionaries, is  thriving.  The  sugar  cane  has  been  cultivated  for  more 
than  a  century,  and  yields  a  su^ar  as  strong  and  as  sweet  as  that 
of  Peru,  and  very  abundant  in  juice." 
P.  82.  Letter  of  Mr.  Gabb  to  Mr.  J.  Ross  Browne,  May,  1867  : 
"  At  Santiago,  there  are  extensive  plantations  of  sugar  cane,  and  a 
sugar  mill  was  in  active  operation.  The  process  throughout  is  of 
the  most  primitive  kind,  but  the  result  is  a  very  palatable  sugar 
moulded  into  cakes  somewhat  like  maple  sugar,  and  known  as 
panoche."    "  Sugar  industry    *    *  .  *    also  at  Todos  Santos." 
P.  143  of  J.  Ross  Browne,  Sketch  and  Settlement  of  Lower  Cali- 
fornia. Report  of  Dr.  John  A.  Veatch  on  Carros  or  Cedros  Island, 
p.  152,  Soil  and  Productions,  pine  trees. 
"  The  two  interesting  species  of  Rhus  (R.  Lentiana  and  R. 
Veatchiana)  form  marked  features  in  the  island  flora,  the  former  for 
the  delicious  acid  exudation  of  its  fruit."    *    *  * 
"A  beautiful,  yellow-flowered  agave  or  aloe  plant,  about  12  feet 
in  height,  with  a  stem  from  4  to  6  inches  diameter  at  the  base, 
branching  and  spreading  at  the  top  and  terminating  in  a  profusion 
of  golden  blossoms,  was  tolerably  abundant.  The  flower  cups  were 
filled  with  a  fragrant,  sweet  liquor." 
The  same  book  of  J.  Ross  Browne  points  to  a  third  source  of  infor- 
mation on  Lower  California ;  this,  however,  was  not  obtainable  in 
the  original. 
P.  155,  Extracts  from  a  history  of  Old  or  Lower  California.  A  pos- 
thumous work  written  originally  in  Spanish  by  Padre  Franc.  Jav. 
Clavijero,  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Tra?islated  into  Italian,  Venice, 
1789,  and  back  again  into  Spanish  by  Nicolas  Garcia  de  San  Vi- 
cente {Juan  R.  Navarro,  editor),  1852,  was  translated  into  English 
by  A.  G.  Randall,  Secretary  and  Translator  of  the  Lower  California 
Company's  Exploring  Expedition,  San  Francisco,  May,  i86j. 
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