VARIETIES. 
89 
tlaticties . 
On  thefixei  oil  anl  Tannin  in  the  Szeds  of  the  Grape.  By  M.  R.  Wagnter. — 
The  grapes  which  yielded  the  seed  were  raised  in  a  vineyard  on  the  shores 
of  the  Rhine,  in  1858.  Dried  at  212°,  these  seed  contained  10-8  to  11-2 
per  cent,  of  fixed  oil,  and  6-5  to  7*3  per  cent,  of  tannin.  100  parts  of  the 
stenii  perfectly  ripe  and  dry,  contain  6-2  to  7-3  per  cent,  of  tannic  acid. 
The  author  proposes  to  utilize  these  seeds,  by  extracting  the  fixed  oil 
with  sulphuret  of  carbon,  and  then  to  employ  the  astringent  residues  for 
tanning  and  drying  purposes. — Journ.  de  Pharm.,  Nov.  1861. 
Diamonds. — In  the  official  statistical  report  of  the  value  of  produce  ex- 
ported from  Bahia,  Brazil,  an  amount  is  included  not  exceeding  150,000?., 
whereas  an  amount  superior  to  500.000Z.  worth  of  this  precious  stone  is 
clandestinely  sent  out  of  the  country  yearly.  The  discovery  of  the  diamond 
mines  in  the  district  of  Paraguassu,  in  the  year  1845,  has  effected  great 
and  beneficial  results  to  the  population  and  commerce.  What  was  in  that 
year  but  a  desert,  is  now  one  of  the  most  flourishing  districts,  inhabited 
by  a  laborious  and  daily-increasing  population.  The  town  of  Isabel  de 
Paraguassu  and  neighborhood  contain  60,000  souls  ;  that  of  Lencoes, 
30,000  ;  and  Andavahy,  20,000 — all  the  results  of  this  discovery ;  and  it 
may  truly  be  said  that  those  mines  have  realized  for  the  poorer  popula- 
tion of  the  interior,  the  same  good  we  have  observed  in  California  and 
Australia.  It  has  opened  a  large  field  to  all,  without  dependence  on  pro- 
fessional skill  or  capital,  of  which  the  majority  were  not  possessed  ;  and 
in  a  moral  sense  has  operated  wonders  in  reclaiming  the  vicious  from 
habits  of  indolence  and  crime.  These  men,  finding  in  the  extraction  of 
diamonds  an  advantageous  profit,  naturally  became  large  consumers  of  the 
produce  of  the  country,  which,  for  the  want  of  market,  was  not  cultivated  ; 
and  altering  their  habits  of  life,  increased  their  well-being,  and  eventually 
made  them  consumers  of  the  produce  of  foreign  countries.  The  town  of 
St.  Isabel  de  Paraguassu  is  now  the  chief  depot  of  the  trade  of  the  north- 
west of  this  province,  and  supplies  all  the  interior  populations  with  the 
comforts  of  European  civilization,  a  population  calculated  at  no  less  than 
700,000  souls.  In  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Isabel  the  cotton  plant 
flourishes,  and  nitrate  of  soda  is  found — but  the  great  difficulty  to  the  ex- 
portation of  these  valuable  products  is  the  want  of  a  good  road  to  this  port. 
