This article focus on the participation of scientists, Portuguese agents and even natives - including Indians - in the developing of an information net that focused on the economic potential of territories subject to the Portuguese Crown, mainly of Brazil. Aiming at the Crown's economic development, Brazilian fauna and flora samples were sent to some institutions in Portugal, such as Jardim Botânico da Ajuda, Arsenal Real do Exército and Hospital Real Militar in Lisbon, where they were analyzed for future application to agriculture, trade and medicine making.
Brazilian colonial period; eighteenth-century History; Jardim Botânico da Ajuda; Natural History