Description

8vo, 99, [1], xxiv, 100-187, xxv-lxx1, [1] pp., presentation inscription on front free endpaper ìPresented to His Excellency Sir W. Gomm, by his most obedient humble servant L. Bouton, Sect. to the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences.î, 2 folding lithograph plates at end of Mr. Carieís pump, contemporary red morocco, gilt, hinges slightly rubbed, the upper cover with presentation inscription in gilt, with the armorial bookplate of Sir James Gomer Berry, a nice copy. Field Marshall Sir William M. Gomm was Governor of Mauritius, 1842-49. The text which is part in French and part in English includes a letter from the Hon. Mr. G. C. Cuninghame on the Dodo being on the islands of Mauritius, Bourbon, and Rodrigues, about 200 years previously (pp.91-93), and a fascinating discussion on how people and boats could have reached Madagascar from the Malays, with further interesting comments on the Malayan language (pp.136-148). Other interesting topics include the cultivation of canes at Bourbon Island, a new mode of preserving and cutting canes, the diseases of canes, preservation of the roots of the manioc, and electricity applied to the growth of plants.