A paris, patens, 
there res gud bilocdlares, in 
—*' The Chinese carry this prepared resin 
in large pots from Siam and Camboja to 
Japan, where it is disposed of to great 
ofit. 
“The Japanese are the most skilful in 
preparing and ornamenting all kinds of 
wooden articles with this varnish, of which 
they annually use large quantities, and 
their black lacquered works are dispersed, 
on account of their elegance, to all parts 
of the world." 
Loureiro says, that the black lacquer is 
produced by the varnish in its natural state, 
unmixed with any foreign ingredient, and 
that it is only for producing red and other 
colours that pigments are added. He gives 
his Augia as a native of China, Cochin- 
china, Camboja, and Siam; Rumphius’ 
tree is a native of Java, Celebes, Bali, and 
other parts of the Archipelago. 
er the article Sanga, in the Ency- 
Und 
. Clopédie Méthodique, a part of Rumphius’ 
account of this tree is given, but by a sin- 
gular mistake of the reference to the plate, 
it is conjectured to be a species of Her- 
nandia, an error which the slightest atten- 
tion to the terms of the description ought 
to have prevented. In the first volume of 
the same work, the Arbor vernicis is made 
a species of Terminalia, under the specific 
appellation of 7. Verniz, and the supposi- 
tion has not been rejected by later authors. 
It is needless to add, that it has not the 
least relation to Terminalia. 
NEPENTHES. 
Diccia MoNADELPHIA. 
Mas. Calyx 4-partitus. 
Corte title Filamentum | columnare. 
here in globum compacte. 
FEM. aig: et corolla maris. Stigma 
sessile, 4-lobum. Capsula supera, 4-val- 
vis, 4-locularis, polysperma. Semina line- 
NA] cea. 
«Char. Gen. Calyz coriaceus, profunde 
Filamentum columnare, erectum, 
ım, calyce paullo brevius. An- 
DESCRIPTION OF MALAYAN PLANTS. 
269 
FEM. Ovarium superum oblongum te- 
tragonum. Stylus nullus. Stigma pelta- 
tum, 4-lobum. Capsula oblonga, utrinque 
attenuata, 4-angularis, lateribus sulcatis, 
4-locularis, 4-valvis, valvis medio septife- 
ris. Placente nulle, preter dissepimenta. 
Semina numerosa, inclusa, tunica membra- 
nacea rufescente utrinque elongata acuta. 
Albumen oblongum, embryone terete mo- 
nocotyledone longitudine fere albuminis. 
Folia apice in cirrhum urniferum pro- 
ducta. Racemi primo terminales, demum, 
crescente caule, laterales et oppositifolir. 
This remarkable genus offers little affi- 
nity with any other, and its place in the 
natural arrangement is undetermined. No- 
thing can exceed the sportive variety which 
nature has displayed in the adornment of 
these singular plants. Their chief pecu- 
liarity is the urn-shaped appendage to the 
leaf, the use and purpose of which it is not 
easy to discover. Some Naturalists, who 
think it necessary in all cases to give an 
answer to the question of “cui bono,” 
have expatiated, with more imagination 
than truth, on the benevolent provision of 
these vegetable fountains for the refresh- 
ment of the thirsty traveller in tropical re- 
gions, Into this field of speculation it is 
unnecessary to enter, or to detail the su- 
perstitious ideas entertained respecting 
them, by the ruder inhabitants of the coun- 
tries in which they grow. 
The tendril hangs from the extremity of 
the leaf, frequently twisting itself round 
some neighbouring twig, and dilates at its 
—— into an urn, which turns upwards 
such a manner as always to preserve its 
perpendieularity These urns vary in form 
in the different species, and are frequently 
tinted with the most beautiful colours. 
Some are long and tubular, and others are 
variously dilated or inflated. 
not, however, quite cylindrical, being all 
more or less flattened anteriorly, and some 
pies being there furnished with two 
ous wings or fringes. The 
et of the urns is beautifully d finely 
punctate on the inner surface, apparently 
bum be ducts or vessels, from which the water 
is secreted. The margin is finely and re- 
