forded no satisfactory or very interesting result. It is 
certain that when this plant is in health and growing in a 
sufficient degree of warmth, the leaves, upon being smartly 
touched, fold together by their leaflets, and their stalk 
sinks; the same change of position takes place spontaneously 
in them all every evening for the night; and the posture then 
assumed is, according to Linneus, that of the sleep of the 
plant. A leaf that has coilapsed either naturally or from arti- 
ficial irritation, is perceived to resume its extended state by 
a gradual vibratory motion, compared by Miller to that of 
the index of aclock. The discovery of the end attained in 
this phenomenon is most probably reserved for a diligent 
attention to the economy of these vegetables on their native 
spot. The root of all of them emits a most offensive smell, 
resembling that from a sewer at the time of impending 
rain. 
The species is marked in the Hortus Kewensis for bien- 
nial. Its stem is woody and brittle, and sometimes ac- 
quires the height of 8 feet; but must have support. Several 
new ones have been discovered in South America (of which 
country all are natives), by Messrs. Bonpland and Hum- 
boldt. 
Native of the Brazils. Introduced in 1783 by Dr. 
Houston. Varies much in the size of the leaflets. The 
drawing was made from the only living specimen we have 
seen, and which had been raised from seed received from — 
Jamaica, in the nursery of Messrs. Lee and Kennedy, Ham- 
mersmith. 
a The calyx: magnified. 6 The same dissected, to show the insertion of 
the stamens: magnified. c The pistil; showing the lateral insertion of the 
style into the germen: eatin d A flower-head, on which the bractes 
alone remain, with two unripe seed-vessels; which become.Lomenta or 
jointed pods, parting transversely by one-seeded articulations. 
