like apex of the lip. It is delightful to the naturalist to catch a glimpse 
of secondary causes; but here he must meet disappointment. Man is 
sometimes permitted to discover the apphoeininty of foal appendages 
to the requirements of the plant; and but slight on to the wis- 
dom displayed in ctions of vegetables will eid the naturalist” 
doubting for a moment, the wisdom that gave to the Aristolochia tri- 
fida a lip of such length, and so fragile. 
Some doubts having existed respecting the identity of this species of 
Aristolochia, we examined the specimen contained in the Banksian 
Herbarium, and found it correspond precisely with that from which our 
drawing was taken. x grows in the Caraccas, and near Portobello, 
é 0 . 
ascertaining. — inacoticets, the Greek 
botanist, treated of one of its species; Pliny fo ed him, and com- 
mented on the same, and several others, —" to the south of Eu- 
rope, which were well known to his coun’ Subsequently, Galen 
and our own Gerard described several species, and dwelt much on their 
virtues; and the Pharmacopeeias of the present day have their prepa-_ 
rations of Aristolochia; in these, however, an American species has 
superceded those of the ancients. In the several writers mentioned we 
possess a train of comment on the present genus, from a period antece- 
dent to the Christian era, down to our own times. 
INTRODUCTION; WHERE GROWN; CuLTuRE. The Aristolochia tri- 
fida is of late introduction to this country. The original of our draw- 
ing grew ae in the hothouse 2 at Weston, Salop, the seat of the 
rd. It is a free climber, which flourishes 
when planted in a mixt re ( ‘peat and loam. 
= * ete OF THE NaMEs. 
The generie name, Aristoloc ochia, i is precisely that of Dioscorides, (Apiorodoxta) 
who described one of its species, =a sy of which were used medicina ally. 
Triripa, from the aes es being three- 
_ 
arck, in the Encyclopedie Methodique Botani- 
que, I. p. 251. sate g Bonpland, et Kunth, Nova Genera et Species Plant- 
arum, IT, p. 117, ARISTOLOCHIA, GENUs, see Sprengel Systema Vegetabi- 
tum, TI, p. 753. : 
ARISTOLOCHIA TRIF 
