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494 



Notes on Indian Botany. By R. Wight, M.D., F.L.S., 

 Imp. Acad. Nat. Curios. Bonn. 



(Continued from page 363.) 



On the Genus Lasianthus, Jack. 

 The genus Lasianthus was denned and published by Mr. 

 Jack in 1825, adopted by Blume in 1826, and by Sprengel in 

 his genera in 1830. In the same year, De Candolle published 

 the genus in the 4th volume of his Prodromus, under the name 

 of Mephitidia, assigning as his reason for suppressing Jack's 

 name (e non Lin. nee DC./ 5 from which it would appear that 

 both Linnaeus and he had each published a genus under 

 that name, and that at least one of them was then extant in 

 Botany. Being curious, while writing on the subject, to know 

 something of the genus in whose favour Jack's very appropri- 

 ate name had been set aside, I turned up the name in Steu- 

 dePs Nomenclator Botanicus, and was surprised to find no 

 such name emanating from DC, and that Lasianthus, Lin. had 

 been, by himself, appropriated to a species of Gordonia, an 

 older generic name for his plant. From Steudel I went to 

 other lists of genera given by Sprengel, Bartling, and Lindley, 

 but could find no " Lasianthus, DC./ 5 neither could I find 

 it in any of the volumes of the Prodromus, and as a last, and 

 rarely failing, resource, I had recourse to Endlicher's genera, 

 and there found the missing name, not however as a generic 

 one, but as a subgenus or section of Gordonia. And in that 

 capacity it seemed so little thought of by the author, (DC.) 

 that he had not deemed it worthy of a place in his Index to 

 the volume, thereby affording no clue to its existence as a 

 Botanical name : and, until resuscitated for the purpose of 

 superseding Jack's, was almost unknown in Botany. Under 

 Composite the name again occurs, and is again set aside 

 with the remark ce non DC. nee Jack." 



Having thus traced the history of the name as a Botanical 

 generic designation, the question, a grave one too, then 

 arose : Is DC, or any other Naturalist, authorized by the 



