292 AFRICAN SPECIES OF AMOMUM. 



most valued in the BQarket, and which in so far may be regarded as the 

 trae Grains of Taradim. I can, however, by no means admit of sueh a 

 ctange, because both to Linnaeus and Sir J. Smith especially^ who have 

 described the ^. Gi^anum-Paradisiy all the species imported with any 

 aroma or pungency were " grains of Paradise " of the market, and were 

 not distinguished so nicely as they now are ; so too, all are Mdeguetas 

 (the name adopted by Eoscoe for the true Grains of Paradise), as well 

 as when he wrote ; the names were therefore unexceptionable, and the 

 descriptions and plates of these authors being admirable, both of flowers 

 and leaves, their names must be retained. To me it appears preferable 

 tbat pharmacists should systematize their fluctuating nomenclature; for 

 there are amongst Botanists established laws for precedence in nomen- 

 clature, of which all acknowledge the force, whereas there are none for 

 the nomenclature of drugs, any more than there are for the formulae 

 adopted by the various colleges in this country or on the Continent, 



This leads me to another remark, which I would make with the 

 greatest deference to the knowledge and attainments of Pharmacists, 

 which is, that there is often too much anxiety displayed by them to 

 obtain specific names to imperfect fragments of commercially valuable 

 plants ; especially to the fruits, seeds, roots, or leaves, which, botanically, 

 can never be Identified. This practice has in a gi-eat degree tended to 

 complicate Medical Botany. Systematic Botany has now become so 

 vast and so difficult a science, that it requires the undivided attention 

 of an individual to prosecute it satisfactorily ; and the same is still 

 more the case witb Pharmacy, in all its branches, I have no hesitation 

 in saying, that I know of no Botanist whose opinion on the medical or 

 economic value of a drug is worthy of any confidence, as compared with 

 that of an accomplished and experienced Pharmacist ; and it is not un- 

 reasonable to suppose that the converse is equally true. The botanical 

 value of characters afforded by the organs of plants, varies in every 

 natural order; often in every genus. But this is not all : it is a mistake 

 to suppose that a knowledge, however intimate, of one genus or order 

 alone, suffices to enable an observer to pronounce upon what characters 

 are of specific importance in that group ; these being points demanding 

 long experience and great familiarity with the Vegetable Kingdom. 

 Hence it is, that botanists of experience attach little scientific value to 

 the determinations of species of Cinchona or Sarsaparilla by characters 

 drawn from the colour, the cracks of the bark, or fracture, in the drugs 



