140 BANCROFT ON THE HOG-GUM TREE OF JAMAICA. 



to be peculiar, and as yet unknown, he created for them a 

 new genus, and named the tree Hedivigia balsamifera, at 

 page 62 of his Nova Genera et Species Plantarim, published 

 in 1788, and at page 670 of his Flora Indica Occidentalis ; 

 but in quoting the work of Pere Nicolson, he noticed only 

 one of his synonyms, and that the wrong one, i. e. Bois a 

 Cochon, and has thereby given a degree of weight and a cur- 

 rency to the previous error, which the slender pretensions to 

 botanical science of the works of M. Desportes and Pere 

 Nicolson would never have conferred on ^it, and induced 

 other botanists to adopt and disseminate that error. Of this 

 M. De Candolle is again unfortunately an example, as he 

 states, at page 80, vol. ii. of his Prodronius, Hedwigia bal' 

 samifera to be the Bois a Cochon of Pere Nicolson, omitting 

 altogether his other synonym Sucrier de Montagne. Recently 

 Mons. Descourtilz, " ancien Medecin du gouvernement" in 

 St Domingo, not aware of the mistakes above mentioned, has 

 described and figured the Hedwigia balsamifera at page 263, 

 vol. iii. of his Flore Medicate des Antilles, 1827, as being the 

 Sucrier de Montagne^ or Bois a Cochon, while Mons. Palisot- 

 Beauvois, who had seen the tree in that island, has referred 

 it to Idea heptaphylla of Aublet, Plantes de la Guiane Fran- 

 faise^ 1775, page 337, vol. i. That such a series of errors 

 concerning one and the same tree should have been commit- 

 ted both here and in St Domingo, by individuals certainly 

 possessed of superior attainments, may appear very strange; 

 yet the occurrence, as I conceive, admits of easy explanation. 

 As the Hog- Gum was always in demand, the Maroon Negroes,* 

 by whom alone it was collected, made a mystery of it, that 

 they might keep the monopoly to themselves, and purposely 



• On mentioning very lately my belief of the deception practised by 

 the Maroons as to the Hog- Gum tree to Dr Arnold, now of this city (1837) 

 he confirmed it by saying, that he had resided several years at Port Anto- 

 nio, around which the gum is found in great abundance, and had repeatedly 

 endeavoured by promises and otherwise, to prevail on Maroons to show 

 bim the tree, but had always been misled by them, so that up to that time 

 he had never seen it. 



