Arrangements of Plants. 63 
similarity in the flower, root, or seed, he had founded his opi- 
nion.—Nor would it be sufficient for the ends of science, if the 
decisions of this superior being were always free from error, 
For this purpose, we must not only know, but must be enabled 
to communicate our knowledge to others; and how this could 
be done, without our giving some specific reasons for our con- 
victions, and for the assent to them which we claim, it is not 
easy to conceive. à 
These difficulties were perceived by the younger Jussieu; who, 
instead of giving us a mere list of genera, arbitrarily arranged 
in orders, characterized from some one of the principal genera 
in each order, has condescended to explain the grounds of his 
opinions by an arrangement or system, founded on the visible 
and tangible parts of the plants themselves. From this moment 
it was evident that no supernatural intelligence had dictated 
the arrangement ; which, notwithstanding its more imposing title, 
was to be judged of, like all other arrangements, only by its 
superior ingenuity, accuracy, and utility. It might indeed be 
more skilfully executed than the system of Linnzus; but still it 
appealed to the same organs of sense, and submitted to be judged 
by the same rules. 
In one view of the subject, all modern systems may indeed be 
denominated natural, as they are all deduced from some part, 
property, or peculiarity, of the plants themselves : those of Mo- 
rison, Ray, Herman, and Gertner, from the fruit; of Tournefort, 
Knaut, and Rivinus, from the corolla; of Magnol, from the 
calyx; that of Linnzus, chiefly from the number, proportion, . 
and situation of the stamina; and that of Jussieu, from the 
mode of germination, and situation of the stamina; but princi- 
pally, like that of Tournefort, from the number and disposi- 
tion of the petals. It is true, that some of these methods may 
be 
