Oil the Hortus Malabaricus, Fart II. 233 



which has pomum siibrotundum, but to the D. Stramonium of Lin- 

 naeus. This mistake in the older writers has occasioned the vir- 

 tues of the Ilummatu to be referred to the D. Stramonium {Enc. 

 Meth. vii. 460.), which does not grow in Malabar : but it is not 

 unlikely, that both plants may have nearly the same powers. 



The name Dotiro, given to this plant by the Brahmans of 

 Malabar, is evidently the same with the Dutra or Dhutura of the 

 Gangetic provinces, corrupted from the Dhustura of the San- 

 scrita. This name has spread under the various corruptions of 

 Dutroa, Daticro, Datura, Datula, and Lutroa to Europe, Turkey, 

 Persia, and the great archipelago of Asia ; and, having been 

 unknown to the Greeks and Romans, would seem to show, that 

 India is the proper native country of this plant ; although other 

 species, introduced in modern times from Egypt and America, 

 have acquired the same name among botanists. 



The Hummatu is by Plukenet called the Stramonia seu Dutroa 

 fructu spinoso rotundo,Jlore candido {Aim. 358.), while its double 

 variety is his Stramonia indicajiore amplo albo pleno, a name taken 

 from Breynius. He has added to its sj^nonyma two belonging 

 to American plants, which probably should rather have been 

 referred to the Datura Stramonium : and at the same time he 

 considers as different the Stramonia s. Datura porno spinoso 

 rotunda longo Jlore {Aim. 358.). I believe that the chief diffe- 

 rence between the two plants is in the colour of the flower, 

 which in the latter is purple. This, however, in a plant half 

 cultivated, and therefore liable to considerable variation, is an 

 insufficient distinction. Among the synonyma which Plukenet 

 quotes for the Ilummatu, is the Stramonium minus s. JSlux Metel 

 jlore albo of Parkinson, who called it thus, because a kindred 

 plant is the Metel of the Arabic language. This latter was 

 called Nitx Metella or Metel by the early botanists, who pro- 

 cured it from Egypt : but it is with justice probably considered 



as 



