traffic, which every class of people, from the viceroys to the meanest subjects, are more or less concerned in, and is reduced to such system by habit and custom, that each has his price for his perfidy in proportion to the value of the trade he facilitates.

There are manufactured in Peru some coarse woollen cloths and linen, as likewise hats, leather, &c. the only manufactures they are allowed to enjoy, though possessing a country capable of producing, with little labour, every raw material the manufacture requires.

During the late war the inhabitants of South-America received their goods by a trade with the West-India Islands, by the English and American whaling vessels on the coasts of Peru and Chili, by a commerce from this country to the River of Plate, and round Cape-Horn to Chili and Peru, which, with the exception of some few special permissions, granted generally to the Spaniards, and the property covered by our citizens, was a clandestine trade against the laws of Spain.

From the English islands they received their principal supplies, being allowed a trade thence by act of parliament, under certain restrictions, and protected from British capture by licenses from the different governments.

From Jamaica nearly the whole country from the Gulph of Mexico to Carraccas received almost wholly their goods, a great proportion of which went to Porto-Bello, on account of its vicinity to the Pacific Ocean, to Nicaragua, Carthagena, and St. Martha. From an intimate acquaintance with the trade from Jamaica the two years previous to the close of the late war, I am certain that at least two millions in goods were shipped from thence yearly. Porto-Bello once commanded an immense trade. Before the navigation round Cape-Horn was thought safe or practicable, the richly laden galleons of Spain, after having touched at Carthagena, and disposed of such parts of their cargoes as that market demanded, at a certain season of the year when it was supposed least unhealthy, proceeded to Porto-Bello with the remainder of their cargoes, when a fair was held of forty days continuance for the disposal of their effects. An English ship, by a contract with the Spanish government, was allowed an annual trade to Porto-Bello about the year 1720; was laden in England with a very rich cargo, toliched at Jamaica, put her provisions, water, &c. on board of tenders which accompanied her from thence, and proceeded to the fair at the time of the galleons. This privi

lege was given by the British government to the South-Sea Company.

The Spanish merchants from every part of America met at the time of the fair at Porto-Bello, with their gold and silver, and other rich productions of the country, to exchange them for the manufactures of Europe; and business was there transacted, in the space of a few days, to the amount of millions. Independent of the immense cargoes of the galleons and the British annual ship, great quantities of goods were smuggled into Porto-Bello at that time by the company's ships allowed to trade thither with negroes under the Assiento contract.

From the important discoveries made in navigation about this time, and the spirit of enterprize and commercial enthusiasm which pervaded Europe, hazardous and bold enterprises were undertaken as the thirst for gold increased, and voyages round Cape-Horn were effected and became frequent. From this time the trade of Porto-Bello decreased, and is now very inconsiderable, except by an illicit traffic.

Spanish America was formerly supplied with the manufactures and productions of China and the East-Indies by a trading company at the Philippine Islands. An annual galleon was sent from thence to Acapulco, Panama, and Lima. But the productions of those countries being afforded in Europe and the United States, of late years, much cheaper than they can ship them from the Philippines, the trade from thence is almost entirely done away, and there is only a trifling commerce from Manilla to Acapulco.

A free opening for Fredish commerce to Porto-Bello would supply the inhabitants from the River Nicaragua to the Carraccas on the Atlantic, from Guatamala to Chili on the Pacific Ocean, and the interior country within those limits, at a much cheaper rate than they could be supplied from any other quarter, except possibly that the British from Trinidad would be able to supply them cheaper in the vicinity of Carraccas. But few of their goods would enter the interior, however; as the risque of seizure, and expenses attending the smuggling trade, would deter the Spaniards from any considerable intercourse with that island, when they could be supplied from one of their own ports in the neighbourhood at much lower rates, and incur no hazard by transportation from one place to another.

The spontaneous productions of South-America, and of which, upon this plan, we should receive the greatest part for our merchandize sent thither, are gold, silver, platina (which

is taken from the gold-mines of Chaco only), pearls, precious stones, copper, drugs of various kinds, lignum-vitæ, ebony, mahogany, fustic, braziletto, Nicaragua wood, logwood, and generally every kind of dye-woods, which are in great abundance on the coasts of Porto-Bello, but have never been made an article of export from thence, as they have never had a trade to encourage the procuring of them.

The only place where pearls are taken in any quantity is at the Isles del Rey, in the Bay of Panama. The annual value of the fishery is about $150,000; and the pearls are said to be the best known. But the luxury in dress of the Spanish ladies so enhances the price of them there for ornaments to their persons, that they would not become an article of value for export.

The agricultural productions of that country are cotton, cacao, and indigo. Hides and tallow would become considerable articles of export from thence, and so would tortoiseshell.

The country in the vicinity of Porto-Bello, though extremely fertile, remains in the same uncultivated state in which nature formed it; hardly presenting a single trace of the art or industry of man. In the neighbourhood of Panama the attention of the agriculturist is paid only to the breeding of cattle.

In the provinces of Leon and Costa-Rica considerable quantities of indigo and cacao are produced; but of the latter article we should receive the greater part from Guayaquil, where it is produced in abundance. We should receive from Guatamala, by the way of Panama, the greatest quantity of indigo, and perhaps some cochineal; but there is no attention paid to the culture or gathering of that article in the southern part of America.

The province of Carthagena produces great quantities of cotton, and thence eastward there are considerable quantities raised.

In the vicinity of Santa-Fè, in Grenada, wheat and other kinds of grain are raised in abundance. But the expense of conveyance so enhances the prices, that by the time they arrive at Carthagena, Porto-Bello, or Panama (whether from thence or from Chili, where they are also produced), that we could supply those places with flour much cheaper than they can now obtain it.

ARTICLE V,

CASE of LUNACY, with a new Argument in favour of the VITALITY of the BLOOD. Addressed to the Editors by THOMAS EWELL, Student of Medicine in Virginia.

NGAGED in the study of medicine, and desirous of extending my knowledge in anatomy, I lately undertook the dissection of a man who died in Dumfries (Virginia) last May. The occurrence of several unexpected phenomena induced me to prepare and offer for your consideration an account of the case.

It was with difficulty I could collect any information relative to the former affections of the subject. The little I did, served as an incitement to make further inquiries. This rendered my regret the greater, when I found the following only could be obtained.

The man was named Benson, about 35 years old. For several months previous to his death he had lost his ordinary understanding. At first the symptoms of idiocy were only Occasionally betrayed. These gradually became more remarkable, and of longer duration, till he had no intervals of sound sense. Still, however, at particular periods, there was considerable difference in his state; the disease being increased by various exciting causes. His appetite was extremely depraved, and his habits equally irregular. Being very capricious, he would take at one time but little nourishment; at another he would eat it in large quantities with voraciousness. Notwithstanding the perversion of his mind, he was pleased with ardent spirits. In this state unusually small quantities would render him intoxicated. Without a home, he was obliged often to encounter the inclemencies of the weather; and from its sudden vicissitudes he was rarely sheltered. The charitable hand occasionally extended its aid to relieve him; but it was inadequate to the providing him accommodations in a house with persons to take care of him. From the irregular periods at which he took and could obtain food, his disease was increased; an exacerbation of all his symptoms was the concomitant of a full stomach. The indirect operation of alcohol was also attended with the same effect. When he had taken much food, or used ardent spirits in excess, he rarely missed a fit before their effects were off. During these there was a loss

of voluntary motion: convulsions supervened, which terminated in the restoration of volition in the course of an hour. After the fit, an old woman who saw him told me he seemed much weaker than usual. The violence of these paroxysms increased with their frequency; till at length, after a remarkable transition in the weather from heat to cold, he was seized with one near the town, and died in the night on the public road. On the ensuing morning, in conjunction with Mr. William M. Weems, student of medicine, the dissection was commenced. According to the usual mode, the abdomen was opened. We were forcibly struck with the morbid appearances which presented themselves. The enormous bulk of the stomach, and the uncommon distension of the intestines by flatus, were alike remarkable. In order to procure a full view of the parts, the sternum, with the connecting cartilages, was removed. This being done, we found the lungs had undergone formerly considerable inflammation. They adhered on all sides to the thorax and diaphragm. Their adhesions were stronger than any I had ever seen. The new membrane connecting the inferior lobes to the diaphragm was sensibly the thickest and most unyielding.

The pericardium contained about two ounces and a half of serum. Considerable adipose matter had accumulated about the heart. Large polypous concretions were found in the left ventricle.

The stomach was, as near as I could ascertain, twice the common size. The appearance of the exterior coat was not natural: it seemed to have been considerably inflamed. A small aperture, giving vent to the flatus, reduced its magnitude as well as that of the adjacent parts. Still, however, its bulk was equal to that of most stomachs. On pressure, a hard, moveable substance was felt in the cavity. An incision being continued across the stomach, we found it considerably thicker than common. The muscular coat appeared twice the usual thickness: its fibres were distinctly seen and remarkably red. The internal or villous coat, as might be expected, was but little corrugated. In some parts it had a dark blueish hue, which appeared to have been the consequence of inflammation. Excepting a small quantity of mucus and gastric juice, nothing but this hard mass was in the stomach, which accidentally was broken before it was extracted. When the parts were held in contact it had a curve, and was not unlike an injected stomach. Its size was about equal to a common pine-apple. Indentations could be casily made on it with the thumb; and,