258 Dr» SmithV Botanical Characters of feme Plants 



an unufual circumftance in this natural order. I have alfo another 

 not mentioned by him. 



With refpecl: to the name, there being already a plant of a very 

 diftin& genus infcribed to Jungius in the Supplementum Plantarum 

 of Linnaeus, it becomes neceflary to give this of Gcertner another 

 denomination. ProfefTor Gmelin has, indeed, called it Mollia; but, 

 as I am ignorant of the derivation of that name, I purpofely change 

 It. However eftimable this writer may be in other branches of 

 fcience, he can claim no rank as a botaniit. The miftakes pointed 

 out by Mr. Dryander in the fecond volume of our Transactions, 

 and by M. Lamarck in thofe of the Natural Hiftory Society at 

 Paris, are but a fmall part of his innumerable errors. Perhaps no 

 book in any fcience contains fo many. The zoological part of 

 his Syflema is far lefs faulty. In that department he may be con- 

 fidered as authority, till fome original author appears ; but good- 

 nature would wifti to forget his attempts in Botany. I cannot 

 help upon this occafion recommending, that only original authors 

 in Natural Hiftory fhould have any authority to give permanent 

 names. By original authors I mean thofe who have feen and 

 examined every object which they profefs to defcribe or enumerate, 

 in contradiftinction to compilers of the obfervations or nomencla- 

 ture of others. 



In preference therefore to Mollia, this genus is named Imbrlcaria^ 

 in allufion to its imbricated foliage, A farther reafon for my choice 

 of this name is to aboliih the Imbrlcaria of Gmelin, taken up by 

 him from JufTieu, which I know from original fpecimens to be the 

 identical Mimufops Kauki of Linnaeus, of which Jufheu, after Com- 

 merfon's manufcripts, made a diftincl: genus on account of its fruit 

 having eight cells, and as many feeds ; but Commerfon obferved, 

 that four or more of thefe were often abortive; and, on the other 



hand, 



