182 



vanilla, the pucheri, the pine-apple, the myrtus 

 pimenta, the balsam of tolu, the myroxylon pe- 

 rn vianum, the crotons, the citrosmas, the pe- 

 joa*, the incienso of the Silla of Caraccas^, the 

 quere?ne%, the pancratium, and so many majestic 

 liliaceous plants, cannot be considered as desti- 

 tute of aromatics. Besides, a dry air favors the 

 development of the aromatic, or exciting pro- 

 perties, only in certain species of plants. The 

 most cruel poisons are produced in the most 

 humid zone of America ; and it is precisely 

 under the influence of the long rains of the 

 tropics, that the American pimento, capsicum 

 baccatum§, the fruit of which is often as caustic 

 and fiery as Indian pepper, vegetates best. From 

 the whole of these considerations it follows, 1st, 

 that the New Continent possesses spices, aro- 

 matics, and very active vegetable poisons, that 

 are peculiar to itself, differing specifically from 

 those of the ancient world; 2dly, that the primi- 

 tive distribution of species in the torrid zone 

 cannot be explained by the influence of cli- 



* Gaultheria odorata. 



t Trixis neriifolia. See vol. iii, p. 500. (Baillieria neriifo- 

 lia, Nov. Gen., vol. iv, p. 227.) 



X Thibaudia quereme. (Nov. Gen., vol. iii, p. 274.) 



§ Mr. Robert Brown, in his important researches on the 

 origin of the cultivated plants of equinoctial Africa, considers 

 the genus capsicum as belonging exclusively to the New 

 Continent. (Botany of Congo, 1818, p. 52.) 



