the late Sir J. E. Smith. 13 



to point out the natural relations of plants to the British stu- 

 dent. He has retained the Linnaean arrangement in his Flora, 

 for this obvious reason, that the Flora of a country must al- 

 ways represent so small a portion of the whole vegetable 

 world, that even to those who are acquainted with all its indi- 

 viduals, it offers an imperfect idea of the natural arrangement. 

 How much more so then must it be so to a student, who is 

 only partially acquainted with it. There is no point on which 

 young botanists are more mistaken than in their ideas of natu- 

 ral classification : they often imagine they have only to com- 

 mence the study of natural arrangement, and become at once 

 profound philosophical botanists. This is one of the signs of 

 the times ; a desire to grasp at general results and conclusions, 

 without a previous study in detail. The error in this case is, 

 putting the natural and artificial methods in opposition to each 

 other, whereas it appears to be the object of the artificial sys- 

 tem to collect materials to form a natural one ; but it has been 

 of late spoken of rather as something quite superseded, — as 

 something to give way to a new and a nobler structure, built 

 upon a foundation entirely different. We cannot venture to 

 prolong these remarks, already so far extended, further, than 

 to remark upon the injustice of setting the Linnaean system 

 in opposition to, or as hostile, to a natural arrangement. It 

 has been said on high authority, (an article in the Edinburgh 

 Review,) that though Linnaeus was so great in advancing bo- 

 tany during its early stages, yet that his system has greatly 

 contributed to retard its ultimate perfection. But, that this 

 accusation is unjust, we may appeal to his own words in his 

 *' Philosophia Botanica,'^'' the work in which he professes to 

 lay down the principles of the science. He says, " Methodi 

 naturalis fragmenta studiose inquirenda sunt, primum et ulti- 

 mum hoc in Botanicis desideratum est." * He then proposes 

 his Fragmenta, consisting of 68 famiHes. In another place he 

 speaks thus upon the same subject : " Summorum botanicorum 

 hodiernus labor, in his sudat et desudare decet. Methodus 

 naturalis hinc ultimus finis botanices est et erit." * 



• Phil, Boi. pp. 27—137. edit. Vienn. 1755. 



