( m ) 
XXIV.«— Illustration of the Natural Family 
of Plants called Melastomacece, 
By Mr Davic Don, Curator of the Lambertian Herba- 
rium, and Corresponding Member of the Wernerian 
Natural History Society. 
{Read IQth November im^.) 
TDhE Melastomacese may, with propriety, be ranked 
among the most natural, and least understood, orders in 
the vegetable kingdom. What renders the study of this 
family extremely difficult, is, that the greater part of the 
plants which compose it are natives of tropical countries, 
and, except the few that we see in cultivation, we have no 
opportunity of examining them in a living state. And pre- 
vious to an examination of dried specimens, it is necessary 
to have an extensive assortment of different species for 
comparison, and these in different states, which is not easily 
obtained. In this respect, however, I consider myself as 
having been very fortunate, having had fine specimens, in 
various stages, of several hundred species, for examination. 
