The  ternary  number  of  the  stamens,

combined  with  pentamerous  petals
and  sepals,  is  the  prominent  charac-
teristic of  tliis  Order,  which  was
formerly  included  among  Maples  by
Jussieu,  wliich  is  placed  between
Er}-thoxyls  and  Marcgi-aaA-iads  by
De  CandoUe,  but  which  is,  to  all
appearance,  much  more  neai'ly  re-
lated to  Spindle-trees,  as  BrowTi  has
remarked  ;  for  "  the  insertion  of  the
o\Tiles  is  either  towards  the  base,  or
is  central  ;  the  direction  of  the
radicle  is  always  mferior." — Congo j
427.  In  fact  there  seems  to  be
nothing  to  di\ade  Hippocrateads
from  Spindle-trees  except  the  cohesion  of  the  filaments  of  the  former  into  a  cup.  The
samaroid  fmit,  which  is  so  remarkable,  and  which  connects  the  Order  with  Malpighiads,
is  not  universal,  but  merely  characteristic  of  certain  genera.  In  Hippocratea  ovata  the
testa  and  cotyledons  are  furnished  in  the  mside  with  innumerable  spu-al  thi'eads;  the  same
economy  has  been  remarked  by  Du  Petit  Thenars  in  the  pericarp  of  Calypso.  Accord-
ing to  Endhcher,  the  genera  Eleeodendron  and  Ptelidium  among  Spindle-trees,  connect
that  Order  with  Hippocrateads.
The  piincipal  part  are  South  American,  about  one-seventh  ai'e  natives  of  Africa  or
the  Mamntian  Islands,  and  the  same  munber  has  been  recorded  as  East  Indian.
The  fi'uit  of  Tonsella  (Salacia)  pjTnformis,  a  native  of  Sierra  Leone,  is  eatable.  It  is
about  the  size  of  a  Bergamot  Pear  ;  its  flavour  is  rich  and  sweet.  The  nuts  of  Hippo-
cratea comosa  are  oily  and  sweet ;  it  is  called,  in  the  French  West  India  Islands,  Aman-
dier  du  Bois.  Martins  reports  that  several  species  of  Tontelea,  called  Saputd  in  Brazil,
have  a  sweet  mucilaguious  fruit,  which  is  eaten.  I  find  no  indication  here  of  the  emetic
and  nauseous  quahty  recorded  as  being  characteristic  of  Spindle-trees.
