( }84 ) 
The Remark of Mr. John MartjjUy F. R.S. 
are obliged to M. Garcin for his curious De- 
fcription of this Plants by which its Genus is deter- 
mined, It is however by no means a new Species^ 
having been defcrihed long ago by Acofta, and other 
Authors^ under the Name of Herba viva. I have 
feen a fair Specimen of it in Sir Hans Sloane’j- Hortus 
Siccus, with which M, GarcinV Figure agrees very 
exaHly. It was the firji fenfltive Plant known in 
Europe, and very different from thofe which are 
now brought from America, and cultivated in our 
Gardens under that Name, 
T^he Flower of the Oxyo'ides, 7 "ab,. IL Fig, 5. 
I. The Empalement. 
z. The Flower, the Petals of which are joined to* 
gether. 
3. A Petal apart. 
Remarks on the Family of Plants named Mufa. 
Almofl: all the Writers of Botany have looked on 
this Family as a Tree, on account of its Bignefs, though 
it is tender, fpungy, membranous and fucculent, not at 
all hard or woody. Its Stalk is flender and fupple, not 
able to keep itfelf upright, without a great Number of 
thick, membranous Sheaths, which cloath its whole 
Bulk, and defend it from the Injuries of the Weather. 
Belides, this Plant being annual bears Fruit but once,, 
and then by Degrees periflies. 
The 
