(291 . 
XVII. Observations on the Linnean Genus J uncts, with the Cha- 
racters of those Species, which have been fouhd growing wild in 
Great Britain. By James Ebenezer Bichého, Esq., F.L.S. 
Read June 18, Nov. 5, and Dec. 3, 1816. 
Or all the objects to which the pages of the Linnean Transac- 
tions have been devoted, none has contributed more to the pro- 
gress of science than the monographs which have appeared of the 
different genera of animals and plants. With a view, therefore, 
of contributing a small share to the labours of the Society, I have 
ventured to communicate a few remarks for the purpose of elu- 
cidating the obscure and uninviting genus Juncus : for though an 
inaugural dissertation has been dedicated to the subject by Rost- 
kov, intitled ** Monographia Generis Junci, cum Tabulis binis eneis,” 
Berolini, 1801, it is a work not to be found in any of our botanical 
libraries; and, though containing much useful information, does 
not supersede the necessity of a further illustration of the genus. 
His arrangement of the species is indeed altogether unnatural and 
objectionable, as he has brought together into close connexion 
some of those which have the most distant relation in the whole 
genus. The French botanists have commemorated the author by 
naming after him a new genus, naturally related to the objects of 
his essay. 
The old herbalists seem to have had no other character for the 
than their grassy appearance, and their internal spongy 
structure. This comprehended an heterogeneous assemblage of 
YOL. XII. 2q plants 
