is a beautiful tree, which grows in the south and south-west parts of Abyssinia. With the ebony it is almost the only wood of the province of Kuara, of which it bears the name; but Mr. Bruce assures us, that it is very frequent in all the countries where there is gold. "It is (says he) what naturalists call a Ceratadenanum, probably from the colour of its flowers or of its fruit, both equal in colour to coral. Its fruit is a red bean, with a black spot in the middle of it, which is inclosed in a round capsule or covering, of a woody nature, very tough and hard. This bean seems to have been in the earliest ages used for a weight of gold among the Shangalla, and, where that metal is found, all over Africa; and by repeated experiments, I have found that, from the time of its being gathered, it varies very little in weight, and may perhaps have been the very best choice that therefore could have been made between the collectors and buyers of gold.

"I have said this tree is called kuara, which signifies the sun. The bean is called carat, from which is derived the manner of estimating gold as so many carats fine. From the gold country in Africa it passed to India, and there came to be the weight of precious stones, especially diamonds; so that to this day in India we hear it commonly spoken of gold or diamonds, that they are of so many carats fine or weight. I have seen these beans likewise from the West Indian islands. They are just the same size, but, as far as I know, are not yet applied to any use there."

This is a very different account of the origin of the term Carat from what we have given in the Encyclopaedia; but the reader will judge for himself between the two.