156 wight's botanical letters. 



The other genus placed among the Cape Ttrehinthacece, but 

 which I have not seen, is Methyscophyllmn ; the only descrip- 

 tion given of it is by Ecklon and Zeyher, and is imperfect, 

 in so far as it does not state the number of ovules in the ova- 

 rium, and the structure of the seed. It is placed by these 

 Botanists in Burseracese; but the stamens beins as few as the 

 petals, form a strong objection to this affinity, as already 

 mentioned by Harvey ; and besides, the leaves are opposite. 

 Mr Harvey removes it to Pteleacece, a group now more cor- 

 rectly referred to Zanthoxyleae ; but to that arrangement 1 am 

 not quite prepared to agree, although I prefer it to Ecklon 



and Zeyher's. 



f To he continued) 



XV. — Recent Botanical Letters of Tin Robert Wight, arf- 

 dressed to G. A. W. Arnott, Esg., LL.D. 



[ With a Portrait of the Author.'] 

 One object which we have always had in view in conducting 

 H Journal of Botany, has been to make known some further 

 particulars in tlie lives of authors and travellers, than can be 

 gleaned directly from their publications. In those cases 

 when their career of usefulness has, unhappily for science, 

 terminated, and where materials are accessible, the duty or 

 compiling a memoir is light and easy, and, the more agree- 

 able, from a consciousness, that nothing requires to be with- 

 held from our readers out of motives of delicacy towards 

 him whose history we are commenting upon. Under these 

 circumstances we have had peculiar pleasure in bearing 

 testimony in the previous volumes of our Journal, to the 

 merits of Telfair, Barclay, Eraser, Richard, Cunningham, 

 Drummond, Douglas, Jack, Hall, Swartz, &c. It is other- 

 wise with living naturalists, and especially regarding the la- 

 bours of those of whom, as in the present case, we have hvea 

 on terms of intimacy and confidential intercourse, ^^e here 

 scarcely feel ourselves authorized in doing more than laying 

 before our readers some extremely interesting letters which 



