ON A. LAURENT DE JUSSIEU. 55 



derives the genera, species, and nomenclature ; from Ber- 

 nard, the orders and natural families; and finally, it owes to 

 Tournefort the mode of multiplying the classes of Bernard, 

 without breaking his orders and flimilies. 



The Genera of Linnseus were the most concise tlien extant; 

 his Species the best defined; and his Nomenclature was admi- 

 rable. This nomenclature, which gave only two words to 

 every plant, the name of the species and genus, thus doing 

 away with the long phrases of Tournefort and Gaspard Bau- 

 hin, constituted in itself, indeed, an eminent reform in the 

 science of Botany. Still, when it was proposed that this 

 nomenclature should be adopted at the Jardin des Plantes, a 

 difficulty arose, owing to the prejudice cherislied by Buffon 

 against the technical department of classification. He utterly 

 discarded all Linnaean names. But M. de Jussieu having 

 pointed out to him that these names formed one of the hap- 

 piest changes that Natural History had ever undergone, add- 

 ing, that the Jardin des Plantes ought not to be behind in 

 any improvement, Buffon yielded the point, ami the nomen- 

 clature of Linnaeus, with the Natural Orders of Bernard, 

 were immediately introduced in the new establishment. 



These Natural Orders, as Bernard had imogined them, were 

 comprised in seven classes, which Laurent judiciously increased 

 to fourteen. The Lobes of the Embryo constituted the three 

 first classes; hence arises the famous division of the whole 

 vegetable kingdom into Acotyledones, Monocolyledones^ and 

 Dicotyledones. 



The Insertion of the Stamens on the pistil, on the part which 

 bears the pistil, on the calyx, or on the corolla, affords the 

 subsequent divisions. 



Thus, there are two descriptions of characters ; the first 

 derived from the embryo, the second from the relative inser- 

 tion of different parts of the flowers ; and these furnish all the 

 classes. Characters of less and less importance supply the 

 other groups, families, genera, and species; the groups always 

 holding the same respective rank in the general system as 



