resolved to undertake
a national geological survey under the direction of Mr Orville A. Derby,
one of Professor Hartt's assistants. The coal resources of the southern
states were investigated in 1904, under the auspices of the national
government, by Dr J.C. White, of the U.S. Geological Survey, who found
strata of fairly good coal at depths of 100 to 200 ft. extending from
Rio Grande do Sul north to Sao Paulo. The more important contributions
to our present knowledge of Brazil, however, have been obtained through
the labours of foreign naturalists. Beginning with the German
mineralogist W.L. von Eschwege, who spent nineteen years in Brazil
(1809-1828), the list includes A. de Saint-Hilaire (1816-1820 and
1830), J.B. von Spix and C.F. von Martins (1817-1820), Prince Max zu
Neuwied (1815-1817), P.W. Lund (1827-1830, and 1830 to 1880, the year of
his death), George Gardner (1836-1841), A.R. Wallace (1848-1852), H.W.
Bates (1848-1859), Hermann Burmeister (1850-1852), Louis Agassiz
(1865-1866), Charles Frederick Hartt (1865-1866, 1872 and 1875-1878) and
Karl von den Steinen (1884-1885 and 1887-1888). These explorations cover
every branch of natural science and resulted in publications of
inestimable scientific value. There should also be mentioned the
monumental work of C.F.P. von Martius on the _Flora Braziliensis_, and
the explorations of Agassiz and Lund. Among other scientists of a later
date who have published important works on Brazil are the American
geologists O.A. Derby and J.C. Branner, the Swiss naturalist E.A.
Goeldi, the German botanist J. Huber, the German ethnologist H. von
Ihring, and'the German geographer Fried. Katzer. The _Instituto
Historico e Geographico Brazileiro_, though devoted chiefly to
historical research, has rendered noteworthy service in its
encouragement of geographical exploration and by its publication of
various scientific memoirs. The Museu Nacional at Rio de Janeiro, which
has occupied the imperial palace of Sao Christovao since the overthrow
of the monarchy, contains large collections of much scientific value,
but defective organization and apathetic direction have rendered them of
comparatively slight service. The Observatorio Nacional at Rio de
Janeiro is another prominent public institution. The botanical gardens
of Brazil are developing into permanent exhibitions of the flora of the
regions in which they are located. That of Rio de Janeiro is widely
celebrated for its avenues of roy