170 Mr. D. Dow's Descriptions of new Genera and Species 
year 1788 ; but the botanical expedition for the purpose of ex- 
ploring the vegetable riches of New Granada, under the direction 
of the celebrated Mutis, was organized on a much more exten- 
sive plan. From these several expeditions there has resulted an 
immense mass of materials, the greater part of which still remain 
unpublished, although many years have elapsed since their col- 
lection. The whole of the manuscripts belonging to the Peru- 
vian expedition, having also come into Mr. Lambert's hands, I 
have been enabled to render the descriptions in some cases 
much more complete, and to add many circumstances relative 
to particular species, that could not have been ascertained from 
an inspection of the dried samples, which, however, are very 
perfect, and in most instances there are several duplicates of 
each species. Notwithstanding the labours of Humboldt and 
Bonpland, whose numerous discoveries have already been given 
to the world by my learned friend M. Kunth, through whose 
liberality, while at Paris in the autumn of 1821, I was permitted 
to examine a considerable part of the Composite contained in the 
herbarium of M. de Humboldt; a very small proportion of the 
species in this collection are identically the same with those I am 
about to describe. 
I have been successful in determining many of the Composite 
etm in the work of Hernandez; and to the kindness of my 
able friend Professor Lagasca Iam indebted for point- 
ing out to me the various genera which he himself h ' 
A. small collection from Don Pablo dela Llave has made me 
acquainted with the genera described in the ** Descriptiones 
Novorum Vegetabilium.” I have inserted a few species from 
other sources, partly with a view to point out their relative 
affinities, and more fully to illustrate the characters of certain 
ups; but although I may differ widely in regard to the 
generic distribution of = species, the trivial names given to 
them 
