302 
the more so as other changes had to be made in any case. I am 
allmlimrto die circumscription of the species Androjmgon Xanh<* 
and .1. Sch'^tia-'thiiH < f Hackel's monograph. They have become 
overloaded with subspecies and varieties just as the genus 
Andr<>, ur/nn has become overloaded with subgenera, Theoretically 
there is little or no objection to the subordination of those forms 
under a group of higher rank ; but it appears to me inexpedient 
to introduce those theoretical conclusions into what I may call 
our everyday nomenclature, which shoul I be short, plain and 
direct. Tlie species as I have defined them are with few 
exceptions, geographically, morphologically, and as far as we cm 
see at present, also physio ogically tolerably well defined, and 
those which are in cultivation have proved remarkably constant. 
The complexity of the historical and argumentative part of the 
matter has obliged me to extend the volume of the paper so 
much that it is desirable to divide it into two parts. In the 
fi«t part I attempt to give a circumstantial account of the botanical 
and economical history of the oil-grasses. The second is more 
ot the nature of a resume with the addition of such data as either 
result directly from the conclusions arrived at (e.g., most of the 
synonyms) or have been thought worth including as a further 
help in the identification of the oil-grasses (e.g., the enumeration 
of herbarium specimens and vernaculars). I have not thought it 
necessary to describe the species at length, as descriptions already 
exist, although in several cases the describes have treated some 
of the urasses d erely as varieties. It has seemed to me, however, 
l p iul l ' - l 1 ■>" ' M>an led key to the species. 'I his contains all 
that is essential for naming purposes; references to more extensive 
descriptions may be found under the heading 'Descriptions.' 
L— BOTANICAL AND ECONOMICAL HISTORY OF THE 
OIL-GRASSES. 
All the oil-yielding grasses of India belong to the tribe Andro- 
pngomae, vhich is, on the whole, rich in more or less aromatic 
species. No attempt has been made to treat them comprehensively 
^ t: \ n, M'''i"r. and prarri.-allynothi.-,- is known- .f the nature 
I distribution of the < 
The oils t 
been examined 
3=S=S«SM32«SM 
'»da place in the perform.;,. . ,,'t , li,d.. s 
" medicines, in the dispensaries ot tin 
perfumes 1 1 11 c I ' ^ ^ tbe Apartment of spices and 
; of the Ancients, the "Viranam" 
"Sen-h" of the Malays are illustrative 
! " '■ i> u vy little doubt that the much discussed 
category fffhimS °i 1? ek Writers was a plant of the same 
category although ^ e have not so f !ir ',, d in fixing the 
