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IV. On the Proteaceae of Jussieu. By Mr. Robert Brown, Lib. L.S. 
Read Jan. 17, 1800. 
Tue Linnean system of botany, though confessedly artificial, 
has not only contributed more than all others to facilitate the 
. knowledge of species, but, by constantly directing the attention 
to those essential parts of the flower on which it is founded, has 
made us acquainted with more of their important modifications 
than we probably should have known, had it not been generally 
adopted, and has thus laid a more solid foundation for the esta- 
blishment of a natural arrangement, the superior importance of 
which no one has — more fully impressed vith than Linneus 
himself. | | 
-There are still, however, certain circumstances respecting the 
. stamina and pistilla, which appear to me to have been much less 
attended to than they deserve, both by Linneus and succeeding 
 botanists. What I chiefly allude to is the state of these organs 
before the expansion of the flower. The utility of ascertaining 
the internal condition of the ovarium before foecundation viti 
hardly be called in question, now that the immortal works of 
Gertner and Jussieu have demonstrated the necessity of minutely 
studying the fruits of plants in attempting to arrange them ac- 
cording to the sum of their affinities, as in many cases the true 
nature of the ripe fruit, especially with respect to the placenta- 
tion of the seeds, can only be determined by this means. Its 
importance is indeed expressly inculcated by many botanists, 
| who, 
