492 BALSAMINACE/E. [Hypogynous Excess. 



prolonged beyond the carpellary leaves i And then is not the conducting tissue 

 of a style inmost cases an extension of the placenta? and may we not consider the 

 indusium of Goodeniads, and, a fortiori, the well-known rim found upon the ; stigma in 

 Heathworts, as the expanded end of the carpellary leaves, while the stigma of those plants 

 is the upper end of the placenta ? ,.,,.»» j 



Natives of damp places among bushes in the East Indies ; 1 is found m Madagascar, 

 1 in Europe, 2 in North America, and 1 in Russia in Asia. India swarms with species, 

 all of which deserve the care of the cultivator. According to Dr. Wight, , (Madras 

 Journal, January, 1837,) at least a hundred occur in those districts from which Rox- 

 burgh described only three. Forty-seven species are named by Walhch from hilhet, 

 Pundooa, Nipal, and the Peninsula, and multitudes occur in Ceylon, and the islands of 

 the Indian Archipelago. Dr. Wight states that a moist climate and moderate tempe- 

 rature are the circumstances most favourable, if not indispensable, to their production 

 At Courtallum, for example, they most abound in shady places on the tops ol hills, with 

 a mean temperature during the season of their greatest perfection not exceeding /0 , 

 if so much. At Shevaggery, about fifty miles north of Courtallum, he found five out ol 

 seven species on the highest tops of the mountains, none of the five under 4001) ileet, 

 and three of them above 4500 feet of elevation ; the mean temperature being 65 Fate. 

 Two found at a lower elevation, were both either growing in the gravelly beds ot 

 streams, or immediately on their banks ; the temperature of which was ascertained to 

 be 65°, while that of the air at noon was only about 75°. 



The species are chiefly remarkable for the elastic force with which the valves ot the 

 fruit separate at maturity, expelling the seeds. For a supposed explanation of this phe- 

 nomenon, .see Dutrochet, Nouvclks Eecherches mr l'Exosmo>e et Endosmose. According 

 to De Candolle, they are diuretic ; it is also said that the distilled water of Impatiens 

 Nolitangere, taken in large quantity, brings on attacks of diabetes. 



GENERA. 



Impatiens, Linn. 



Balsamina, Gsertn. 

 Hydrocera, Blum. 



'Tytonia, Don. 



Numbehs. Gen. 2. Sp. 110. 



Fosition. — Chlaenaoeaj.— Balsaminace^. — Geraniacei*!. 



TroptBOlacecB. 



The root of Impatiens tinctoria, or Ensesella, consists of many fleshy oblong, 

 white tubers. In Abyssinia they are peeled and macerated for several hours either 

 alone or mixed with lemons. The liquid acquires a black colour with which the 

 inhabitants dye their hands and feet. After a time the fluid becomes reddish. A 

 kind of cake made from this tuber is given to mules and horses, which are thus 

 prevented from becoming large in the barrel.— A ch. Rkliard. 



