C O M E S P E R M A C O M M E L I N E JE. 



7. Winter is the season during which spontaneous 

 combustion is most liable to occur, and it seems cer- 

 tain tnat the combustion in many cases has arisen 

 spontaneously, or without the contact of any ignited 

 body. 



We are not aware that any analogous phenomenon 

 has been observed among the interior animals, or in the 

 vegetable creation. The luminosity of insects such 

 as the glow-worm, fire-fly, lantern-fly, and of medusae, 

 which often illumine large tracts of the surface of the 

 sea has however been supposed to arise from the slow 

 combustion of some combination of phosphorus 

 secreted from their fluids. It is not difficult to under- 

 stand that the human body, when saturated with 

 alcohol, may be the subject of such chemical changes 

 as will render it combustible. There is a large quan- 

 tity of phosphorus in the bones, and in other parts of 

 the body, and it is easy to conceive that the excess 

 of hydrogen introduced into the system by alcohol, 

 may give rise to such a combination as will evolve 

 the perphosphuretted hydrogen, a gas which, as 

 above explained, takes fire spontaneously; and hence 

 also, water which is composed of oxygen and hydro- 

 gen does not extinguish the flame, because it becomes 

 decomposed itself, and its hydrogen uniting with 

 another portion of phosphorus, increases the quantity 

 of the inflammable gas. This theory is by some physi- 

 ologists thought inadequate to explain all the phe- 

 nomena that occur, and they therefore have recourse 

 to the calorific power of the electrical fluid. We 

 apprehend, however, that the above explanation is the 

 most satisfactory, and therefore give it a decided pre- 

 ference. The most remarkable fact connected with 

 spontaneous combustion is the rapidity with which 

 the body has, in most cases, been consumed. It is 

 well known that the ancients, in the ceremony of cre- 

 mation, or the burning of the dead, used vast quanti- 

 ties of fuel ; and, to expedite the process, added oil, 

 fat, ointments, perfumes, c. ; yet, notwithstanding, 

 the body was not consumed for a considerable time. 

 Hence Achilles is described by Homer as having at- 

 tended the burning of the bodyofPatroclus throughout 

 the whole night. We also know that in the execution 

 of those unhappy persons who were condemned by 

 the inquisition to be burnt to death, a prodigious 

 quantity of combustible materials was required ; yet, 

 in most of the instances of spontaneous combustion, 

 the body, without any fuel, and in the space of a very 

 few hours, appears to have been almost entirely 

 reduced to ashes. Were not such cases attested by 

 the most competent and unimpeachable authorities, 

 they might well be doubted ; who, however, can pre- 

 scribe limits to the mysterious operations of nature ? 

 It is easy for the ignorant or the indolent to be scep- 

 tical, and deny the possibility of every occurrence that 

 has not fallen within the narrow sphere of their own 

 personal observations ; the better informed and more 

 philosophical mind, however, will pronounce no such 

 rash judgment, but will pause, and attentively and 

 patiently examine every phenomenon which appears 

 to be well attested. 



COMESPERMA (Labillardiere). A genus of 

 evergreen shrubs, natives of New Holland, Linnaean 

 class and order, Monadelphia Octandria, and natural 

 order Pnlygalece. Generic character : calyx of five 

 sepals, deciduous ; two of the sepals wing formed ; 

 corolla of one petal, three-parted ; middle segment 

 somewhat cup formed, often imarginate ; stamens two 

 bearing anthers ; style tubular ; capsule wedge shaped, 



two celled, and two seeded. Admirable greenhouse 

 plants, which thrive well in light loam and moor-earth* 

 but should never be too much soaked with water ; to 

 preventwhich perfectdrainageof the pots is necessary: 

 increased by cuttings. 



COMFREY. Is the Symphytum officinale of Lin- 

 naeus. It is a very common British plant found grow- 

 ing on the banks of wet ditches. Some of the species 

 have tuberous roots, and all are perennials. The 

 rough comfrey, a native of Mount Caucasus, intro- 

 duced about 1799, has been lately cultivated as an 

 agricultural plant ; the leaves being found an agree- 

 able and nutritious green food for cows. The culture 

 is only eligible, when no other agricultural plant can 

 be conveniently raised. 



COMMELINA (Linnaeus). A genus of ornamen- 

 tal herbaceous plants, chiefly natives between the 

 tropics, and belonging to the third class of Linnaeus, 

 and made a distinct order by Jussieu, under the title 

 of CommelinecB. Generic character : involucrurn 

 double and cupped ; calyx of three sepals ; corolla of 

 three petals, one or more of the petals often abortive 

 or wanting ; stamens three, fertile, with three inter- 

 vening glands, crossed ; stigma simple ; seed vessel 

 three celled, three valved ; seeds one in each cell. 

 These are pretty blue flowering plants ; they may be 

 increased by seeds which ripen frequently, or by divid- 

 ing the root. Some of them flower in. the open air 

 during summer ; but if such have tuberous roots, they 

 must be taken up before winter, and kept in dry sand 

 out of the reach of frost. 



COMMELINEjE. The spider-wort family. A 

 natural order of monocotvledonous plants, containing 

 nine or ten genera, and upwards of eighty species. 

 It is allied to Xyrldece, and also to Restiaceee. 



The essential characters of the order are : perianth 

 of six divisions, in a double series, outer tripartite, 

 somewhat resembling a calyx, inner petaloid, with 

 the claws of the petals sometimes cohering at the 

 base ; stamens six or fewer, hypogynous, some of 

 them either deformed or abortive ; ovary three- 

 celled ; style one ; stigma one ; capsule two or 

 three celled, two or three valved, the valves bearing 

 the dissepiments in the middle ; seeds often in pairs, 

 inserted by their whole side on the inner angle of the 

 cell ; embryo flat and circular ; albumen fleshy. 



The plants of this order are herbs, with leaves 

 which are usually sheathing at the base. They in- 

 habit marshy ground in both hemispheres, and are 

 chiefly found in the East and West Indies and 

 Africa. None of them are known in Europe except 

 in cultivation. Many of them are elegant plants, 

 sending forth beautiful clusters of blue, reddish, or 

 white flowers. The first-mentioned colour is the 

 prevailing one of the order. 



The chief genera arc, Commetina, Calliaia, l)i- 

 chorizandra, Tradescantia, Cartonema, Cytnwtis, and 

 Aneilema. 



The genus Commelina was named in honour of 

 two Dutch botanists, called Comrnelin. It contains 

 nearly thirty species, some of which are showy, while 

 others are mere weeds. 



Callisia repens is a West India plant, remarkable for 

 its shining leaves, which are edged with purple. 



Tradescantia axillaris, or axillary spider-wort, is a 

 native of the Malabar coast. A decoction of the plant 

 is considered in that country as a useful remedy in 

 dropsy and in flatulent affections of the bowels. 

 Some of the species of this genus, which is found in j 



