254 Dr. Francis Hamilton's Commentary 



work, they were known in the shops by the name of Cataputia 

 minor ; although they were sold by itinerants under the name 

 Gr'ana Dilla or Grana Tilli, which latter name by the time of 

 Plukenet had in a great measure prevailed, as the Cadel Ava- 

 nac?/ was by him called Ricinus orientalis cujus fructus sunt Pinei 

 nuclei Molucani a nobis putati et Grana Tilli qfficinarum\ Aim. 320. ; 

 Mant. 162.). 



•; The elder Burman quotes the Cadel Avanacu for his Ricinoi- 

 des Indica, folio liicido, fructu glabro, and {Thes. Zeyl. 200.) 

 gives us the synonyma of preceding authors at great length, and 

 with more care than he usually bestowed on the subject. The 

 seeds then were called Grana Tiglia ; and it had been discovered 

 that the older botanists had described the seeds by one name, 

 taking them for the production of a Pine, while the plant pro- 

 ducing the seed, without this circumstance having been known, 

 was described by the name of Lignum Moluccense or Pavana, 

 The figure which Burman gives {t. 90.) represents the leaves as 

 having three nerves meeting at their base ; but in the figure of 

 Rheede there are five nerves. We have no account of the flower 

 from the latter ; but Burman says, " flores masculini calycem 

 nullum habent, petala octo, stamina sedecim." He also says, 

 " Frutex hie caules gerit simplices, qui nascuntur sine ramis 

 lateralibus, apice flores in spicam longam collectos gerentes — ad 

 radicera spicae duo rami egrediuntur ejusdem structurae cum 

 caule, et sic continuatur secundum aetates." This implies, that 

 the plant which he described had in Linnaean language caulem 

 frnticosum dichotomum,e ramorum divaricationefructiferum, which. 

 is by no means applicable to the figure of Rheede. These cir- 

 cumstances will perhaps render it doubtful whether the plant, 

 which Burman described and figured, was actually the same with 

 the Cadel Avanacu, although Rheede agrees with Burman in 

 calling his plant a shrub (frutex), not very reconcileable with 



the 



