540 Dr. Francis Hamilton's Commentary 



plant used in India for the purpose, I suspect some mistake ; 

 and I cannot conceive how Willdenow should quote it (Sp. PL iii. 

 1237.) as his Indigofera tinctoria distinguished foliis quadri- 

 jugis. 



Plukenet in the first place (Aim. 165.) refers the Nil or Anil of 

 the Bauhins, no doubt the Indigo plant, to his Genista tinctoria 

 maderaspatana, §c, which he figures in the Phytographia, t. 31. 

 f, 3. and which seems to be an Aspalathus, but which has not 

 the smallest resemblance to Indigo. The Ameri, however, he 

 referred to his Colutea indica herbacea ex qua Indigo (Aim. 112.), 

 to which he also refers many synonyma indicative of its being 

 the Indigo plant, although he excludes those of both the Bau- 

 hins, which belong to the real Indigo ; for the plant of J. Bau- 

 hin, which he quotes as synonymous with the Amen, is the Co- 

 lutea foliis Anil nominal wn, and not the Anil sett Nil Indorum 

 color. Plukenet does not refer in the Almagestum to any figure 

 for this plant ; but in the Phytographia (t. 165. f. 5.) we have a 

 Colutea siliqnosa maderaspatana ad nodos caulium siliquis bigemel- 

 lis, forte Colutea foliis Anilnominatum J. Bauhin, which he there- 

 fore conjectures to be the same with the Colutea indica above 

 mentioned, and with the Ameri. This Colutea of Plukenet is 

 certainly not the Indigo plant, although quoted as such in the 

 Encyclopedic (iii. 245.), and without being certain, I rather 

 think that it is a Galega. 



Next in the Almagestum (54.) Plukenet starts the opinion of 

 there being two species of the plants from which Indigo is made, 

 one with straight legumes, and the other with crooked ones* re- 

 ferring for this last to his Colutea indica, seu Indigo sylvestris 

 polyceratos, siliquis recurvis, amcricanus (Aim. 112.), thus indi- 

 cating that the plant used in America is different from that used 

 in India ; on which idea the compiler of the Encyclopedic has 

 founded speculations not at all exact ; and the idea seems fully 



adopted 



