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Profeflbr Martyn fuppofcd the honour had been defigned 

 for Nicholas Witfen, a writer on {hells, who gave one of the 

 earlieft accounts of New Holland. (See Phil. Tranf. v. 17 

 and 20. ) Thunberg's miffion to Japan appears to have been 

 furthered by the influence of the above-named gentleman. 

 We can only rely on him for the propriety of the appellation 

 in queftion. — Thunb. Nov. Gen. 33. Murray inLinn. Syft. 

 Veg. ed. 14. 83. Schreb. Gen. 37. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 1. 

 247. VahlEnum. v. 2.47. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. Ker 

 in Sims and Kon. Ann. of Bot. v. i. 236. Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. V. I. 109. Jufl". 59. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 30. — Clafs 

 and order, Trianrlria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Enfata, Linn. 

 Ker. Irlcles, Jufl". 



Gen. Ch. Cal. none, unlefs the upper pair of the IraBeas 

 be fo confidered. Cor. of one petal, tubular, ereft : tube 

 cyhndrical, flender at the bafe, gradually dilated at the top : 

 limb fpreading, regular, in fix deep, equal, obovate feg- 

 ments. Stam. Filaments three, very (hort, inferted into the 

 mouth of the tube, at the bafe of three alternate fegments 

 of the limb ; anthers oblong, eredl. Pijl. Germen fuperior, 

 roundifh, fmall : ftyle thread-fliapcd, ereft, longer than the 

 tube of the corolla, (lightly curved at the extremity ; ftigma 

 in three (hort, equal, rather fpreading fegments. Peric. Cap- 

 fule membranous, of three cells and three valves. Seeds 

 feveral, angular. 



Eir. Ch. Calyx none. Corolla with a cyhndrical tube ; 

 limb in fix deep, equal, obtufe fegments. Stigma (lightly 

 three-cleft. Capfule of three cells, with feveral angular 

 feeds. 



1. W. maura. Downy-flowered Witfenia. Thunb. 

 Nov. Gen. 34. t. 2. f. I. Fl. Cap. v. I. 255. Willd. n. i. 

 Vahln. I. Ait. n. I. Redout. Lihac. t. 245. (Antho- 

 lyza maura; Linn. Mant. 175.) — Flowers terminal, in 

 pairs. Outer fegments of the corolla exterally downy. — 

 Native of the (hady fides of hills, at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 flowering in April and May. Sent to Kew by Mr. Ma(ron, 

 in 1790, but it does not appear to have blolTomed in that 

 coUeftion, nor elfewhere in Europe, M. Redoute's fine 

 figure being made from a dried fpecimen, aided by defcrip- 

 tion. The root is perennial and woody. Stem (hrubby, 

 ereft, more or lefs branched, two feet high, compreded ; 

 naked in the lower part, and appearing as if jointed, from 

 the fears left by former foliage ; leafy above. Leaves nu- 

 merous, alternate, feflile, two-ranked, equitant, four or 

 five inches long, compre(red, ftriated, acute, entire. Floivers 

 in pairs at the extremities of the (hort terminal branches, 

 crowded, more or lefs numeroufly, into a corymbofe tuft. 

 Corolla two inches long : its tube yellow at the bafe, dark 

 blue for a confiderable extent in the upper part ; limb yel- 

 low, fcarcely fpreading, full half an inch long, clothed ex- 

 ternally with deiife (haggy pubefcence of a very pecuUar 

 kind, confined to the tips of the inner fegments. 



2. W. corymbofa, Corymbofe Witfenia. Ker in Curt. 

 Mag. t. 895. Ait. n. 2. Sm. Exot. Bot. v. 2. 17. t. 68. 

 —Corymb many-flowered. Corolla externally fmooth. — 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. Raifed from feed by 

 G. Hibbert, efq. in 1803. A green-houfe plant, flowering 

 in fpring and autumn. The Jlem is flirubby, from four to 

 fix inches high. Leaves\i\ie the laft, but only half the fize, 

 fomewhat glaucous. Flowers very numerous, bright blue, 

 in a forked corymbofe, compound panicle, fupported by a 

 long ftalk, at firft terminal, but foon becoming lateral. 

 BraQeas two pair at the bafe of each flower, concave, ob- 

 tufe. Corolla about an inch long, including its horizontal 

 limb. 



3. W. ratnofa. Branching Witfenia. Thunb. Fl. Cap. 

 V. I. 256. Vahl n. 2. (W. fruticofa ; Ker in Ann. of 



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Bot. v. I. 237. Ixia fruticofa; Thunb. Difl". n. 1. t. i. 

 f. 3. Lamarck Illufl;rat. t. 31. f. 4. Linn. Suppl. 93.) 

 — Stem much branched. Corolla externally fmooth ; its 

 tube capillary, twice the length of the limb. — Native of hills 

 at the Cape of Good Hope, flowering in Oftober, No- 

 vember, and December. The Jlem is a fpan high at moft, 

 remarkably woody, repeatedly branched in a corymbofe 

 manner ; naked below ; the branches compreffed, two-edged, 

 knotty or fcarred as if jointed, leafy at their extremities. 

 Leaves equitant, two-ranked, linear, narrow, one and a half 

 or two inches long, rather glaucous ; reddi(h at the bafe. 

 Floivers terminal, very few together, if not quite foli- 

 tary, blue, remarkable for the length and (lendernefs of 

 their tube, which fometimes meafures nearly two inches ; 

 the hmb is rather lefs fpreading, and more bell-(haped, 

 than that of corymbofa. BraSeas membranous, elongated, 

 brownifli. 



4. W. pum'tla. Dwarf Witfenia. Vahl n. 3. (Ixia 

 pumila ; Forfl:. Comm. Gott. v. 9. 20. t. 2. I. magella- 

 nica ; Lamarck lUuftr. v. i. 109. Morsea magellanica ; 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. I. 241, excluding Cavanilles' fynonym. 

 Tapeinia, Jufl". 59. ) — Stems fimple, fingle-flowered. — Ga- 

 thered by Forfter, Commerfon, and others, at the ftraits of 

 Magellan. Tlie root is perennial, long, branched, bearing 

 denfe tufts of numerous, fimple, leTify Jlems, an inch or inch 

 and a half high. Leaves crowded, two-ranked, awl-(haped, 

 compreffed, rtrongly ribbed, about an inch long. Flowers 

 whitilh, fmall, folitary, nearly feflile, among the uppermoft 

 leaves, which form a kind of (heath, but each appears to 

 have alfo a bivalve Jheath, or pair of hraHeas, which are 

 permanent. Capfule brown, with rather rigid, emarginate 

 valves. 



Mr. Ker obferves, that this is the only genus of its na- 

 tural order whofe habit is in any degree (hrubby. He 

 mentions, in the Annals of Botany, another fpecies, by the 

 name oi partita, feen by himfelf in Mr. Hibbert's herbarium ; 

 but without any indication of its charafters, fo that we have 

 no means of knowing how it diflFers from the foregoing. 



WITSIO, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in the pro- 

 vince of'Schonen ; 28 miles N.N.W. of Chriftianftadt. 



WITT, John de, in Biography, the fon of a burgo- 

 mafl:er of Dordrecht, was born in 1625, and educated in 

 various ufeful fciences, fo as to excel in a knowledge of 

 jurifprudence, politics, and mathematics, in the latter of 

 which he was fo great a proficient, that he wrote a treatife 

 on the elements of curve-lines, which was pubhihed under 

 the infpeftion of Francis Schooten. For further improve- 

 ment he fpent fome years in travel, and upon his return was 

 elefted to his father's poft of penfionary of Dordrecht. 

 Attached by his defcent to the principles of republicanifm, 

 and jealous of the houfe of Orange, he oppofed the eleva- 

 tion of this houfe, and diffuaded the province of Zealand 

 from conferring the office of captain-general upon the 

 young prince, William III. His conduft in tliis bufinefs 

 was much approved, and he was henceforth regarded as at 

 the head of the political adminiftration of the United Pro- 

 vinces. This was a period pecuUarly critical and interefl:ing. 

 The war with the new Enghfli republic dillreffed the ftates ; 

 it was injurious to their trade and finances ; and prefented 

 to the Oranfre party a favourable opportunity for advanc- 

 ing prince Wilham to the power and dignities poffefled by 

 his anceftors. Peace at length became abfolutely neceffary ; 

 and one of the articles concluded upon in 1654, and dic- 

 tated by Cromwell, was the perpetual exclufion of the 

 prince of Orange from the high o(Bces formerly held by his 

 family. This article was agreed to by the (lates of Holland 

 alone, and when De Witt drew up a declaration for divulging 



it. 



