485 



Proper, whence it is taken to Calcutta, and is there bought up for the 

 China market under the name of Pntchuk. 



One object of the author in this paper is to show that the root of 

 Aucklandia is identical with the Costus of Dioscorides ; and into the 

 discussion of this question he enters pretty fully. The following are 

 the proofs adduced in support of this opinion. 1 . The correspondence 

 of the root of Aucklandia with the descriptions of ancient authors. 2. 

 The coincidence of names, this root being called Koot in Cashmeer, 

 the Arabic Koost being given as synonymous. 3. At the present day 

 the Chinese burn the root as an incense in their temples, and make 

 use of it medicinally ; the Costus was employed in the same way by 

 the ancients. 4. The testimony of Persian authors that the Koost is 

 not produced in Arabia, but is from the " borders of India." 5. The 

 commercial history of ihe Cashmeerian root. 



The author in conclusion makes some remarks on the probability 

 that the Aucklandia, if cultivated, " would form a valuable addition 

 to the wealth of the Hill people." He states that in consequence of 

 the lively demand for the root in Cashmeer, there is seldom any sur- 

 plus stock in hand ; and the plant being a perennial, and requiring 

 several years to mature its root, it is not likely the valley would yield 

 any considerable increase on the quantity now collected, without ul- 

 timately reducing that quantity. 



The plant is named by the author Aucklandia Costus, the generic 

 name being given in honour of George Earl Auckland ; it was met 

 with during a journey to Cashmeer, undertaken under his Lordship's 

 auspices while Governor-general of India. Full characters and a de- 

 tailed description are given. 



IV. — Description of a new Genus of Lineae. By Charles C. Babing- 

 TON, Esq., M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. 



Read January )9, 1841. 



The seeds of this interesting addition to the small order to which 

 it belongs, were collected in the interior of New South Wales by Mr. 

 Melluish, who sent them to the Cambridge Botanic Garden, where 

 at the time the paper was written the plants raised from the seeds had 

 flowered during three successive years. 



The name given by the author is Cliococca tenuifolia ; the generic 

 name refers to the indehiscent nature of the single-seeded carpels, in 

 which respect, and in an apparent tendency to the imperfect gynoba- 

 sic structure of the Malvaceae, the relationship between that family 

 and the Lineae is more fully evinced. The petals are imbricated in 



