Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/238

232 BRAZIL BRAZIL WOOD to Portugal, having appointed his son, Prince Pedro, regent of Brazil. A revolutionary movement took place in April, 1821. Brazil was proclaimed an independent empire, Oct. 12, 1822, and Dom Pedro crowned emperor Dec. 1. A constitution was adopted early in 1824 ; and the independence of the empire was acknowledged by the government of Lisbon, Sept. 7, 1825. In 1826 Dom Pedro became by the death of his father king of Portugal, but resigned that crown to his infant daughter Dona Maria da Gloria. In the same year the Brazilian government declared war against the Argentine Republic, which was seeking to con- vert Uruguay into an Argentine province ; but peace was restored through the mediation of Great Britain, and Montevideo declared an independent republic. Meanwhile disputes had arisen between the emperor and the chamber of deputies, and only ceased with the abdication of the former, April 7, 1831, in favor of his son Pedro II., then in his sixth year. (See PEDEO I.) The country was gov- erned by a regency till 1841, when the empe- ror was declared to have attained his majority, and crowned July 18. A law for the aboli- tion of the slave trade was promulgated in 1831, and another in 1850 for the final abolition of slave traffic. Several political uprisings oc- curred in the empire from 1841 to 1849, chiefly ' in Minas Geraes and Pernambnco, directed against the provincial governments, or against the measures or ministers of the central gov- ernment; but none attained the proportions of a civil war. An alliance was formed by Bra- zil, Uruguay, and the forces of Entre Rios, against Rosas, the Argentine dictator, with whose fall (at Monte Caseros) and flight to England, hostilities were terminated in Febru- ary, 1852. In 1865 war was declared against Paraguay, and an offensive alliance was formed between Brazil, Uruguay, and the Argentine Re- public, May 1, with the express stipulation that " none of the high contracting powers should lay down arms until the present government of Paraguay should be overthrown." For the motives, progress, and termination of this long and disastrous war, which ended in the de- feat and death of the dictator Lopez, March 1, 1870, see ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, and PARA- GUAY. Toward the close of the year 1871 a controversy arose between the governments of Buenos Ayres and Rio de Janeiro, which threatened for a time to disturb the friendly relations existing between Brazil and the Ar- gentine Republic. The latter protested against certain treaties concerning boundaries and a war indemnity ratified separately with Para- guay by Brazil, without the concurrence of the two other allied powers, and in violation of certain articles of the treaty of alliance of May 1, 1865; but the negotiations between the two countries came to a favorable termina- tion in October, 1872, it being agreed that the Argentine government should also arrange boundary questions by separate negotiation, as Brazil had done. In 1848 yellow fever broke out in the province of Baliia, and spread rapidly through all the maritime provinces, causing frightful mortality. In 1855 an epi- demic of cholera morbus visited Para, and afterward the other provinces, carrying deso- lation through all parts of the empire, and especially Alagdas. In 1872 an unknown dis- temper manifested itself in three towns, and carried off 13,000 out of 18,000 inhabitants. See " The Naturalist on the River Amazons," by Henry Walter Bates (2d ed., 8vo, London, 1864) ; " A Narrative of Travels on the Ama- zon and Negro," by Alfred R. Wallace (8vo, London, 1853); "A Journey in Brazil," by Prof, and Mrs. Louis Agassiz (8vo, Boston, 1870); "Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil," by Prof. Hartt (8vo, Boston, 1870). BRAZIL NUT, the fruit of the Beriholletia, ex- ceha, a large tree of the order myrtacea, found chiefly on the Orinoco. The nuts are of the form of triangular prisms, with very hard shells; they are often called cream nuts, and contain a rich, oily, solid meat. They are arranged in Brazil Nut, showing Fruit cut open, disclosing the arrange- ment of Nuts. four cells, each of which contains six or eight nuts, and all are included in a spherical case, half as large as a man's head. The Portuguese formerly carried on an extensive trade in these nuts. They are now chiefly exported from Para, and continue to form an article of great commercial importance. When fresh, they are highly esteemed for their rich flavor ; but they become rancid in a short time from the great quantity of oil they contain. This has been largely extracted for use in lamps. BRAZIL WOOD, the name given to several varieties of red dyewood, brought from South America, Central America, and the West In- dies. The genuine Brazil wood, sometimes called Pernambnco wood, is brought from the province of this name in Brazil. The tree is known as the casalpinia echinata. Other va- rieties are the braziletto (the most inferior kind of Brazil wood), from the West Indies, the product of the C. Brasilienxis ; the sapan,