REPORTS OF MEETINGS. IO3 



Calyx. 5 Cleft, persistant. 

 . Corolla. Funnel or salver shaped divisions, 5 plicate or spreading. 



Stamens. Five, as long as the tube of the corolla. 



Anthers. Dehiscing lengthwise. 



Stigma. Capitate. 



Capsule. Two-celled, two-valves bipartite. 



Seeds. Minute, numerous. 



As many as 57 species, most varieties have been described but the greater 

 number have no commercial value. 



The following are the species of most importance. 



N. Tabacum. Herbaceous plant growing occasionally 7 feet high, strong. 



Leaves. Acuminate oblong lanceolate sessile, lower ones decurrent some- 

 times 2-ft. long. 



Corolla. Throat inflated, segments of the limb pointed. 



Flowers. Kacemose. 



The leaves and stem covered with glandular hairs which burst with the 

 least pressure and imparts an uupleasant odour to the hand. It is a native 

 of West Indies and Virginia. Schrank describes a number of varieties vary- 

 ing in size and form of leaves as well as in colour and form of the corollas, 

 It is this species and its varieties which are most cultivated for manufacture » 

 Since its introduction into Europe it has been grown extensively on the 

 continent, and before the year 1782, in Yorkshire by a man who had been 

 employed in the American plantations, and who was thus able to cure and 

 cut it for the market ; but having been discovered, the cultivators in the vale 

 of York were severely fined and imprisoned, and suffered the loss of their 

 stock. In Scotland the plants were allowed to be cultivated, but the 

 produce could only be disposed of to government. An act in the 19th year 

 of George III., gave permission to raise tobacco in Ireland for home con- 

 sumption, but it was never grown to any extent, aad in 1828 its cultivation 

 was prohibited. The specific name Tabacum is said to be derived from^ 

 tabaco a word used by the Carribbees for the pipes in which they smoked it, 

 Hermandez transferred the name to the plant itself, and with slight variations 

 it is recognised over the world the Spaniards still retaining the old way of 

 spelling it, the Portuguese and Italians add a letter and term it tabhacco, 

 the English alter the first vowel and make it tobacco ; the Poles tabaka ; 

 Danes and Swedes tohak ; Germans, Dutch, and Russians tabak ; and the 

 French tabac; another account would, however, assign the origin of the 

 name to Tabaco, a province of Yucatan, where it is said to have been first 

 discovered. 



N, Eustica. Herbaceous plant 2 to 3 feet high. 



Stem. Square. 



