182 LINN AN SYSTEM. 
easily discovered and well marked character. He again — 
examines the plant to find to which of these divisions or or- 
ders it belongs. This being ascertained, he has now found 
in which of the twenty-four classes his plant is described 
and in which order of the class, the number of plants through 
which he has to search for it being now reduced very much. 
On looking at the descriptions of plants belonging to this 
order, it will be found that these are subdivided in various 
ways, and by comparing his plant with the characters of the 
subdivisions, he contracts the boundaries within which the 
plant is contained, gradually descending from class to order, 
genus, and species ; fixing its genus by comparing the calyx, 
corolla, and other parts of the flower with those of the plants 
in the text book in the same class and order, and the species 
by examining the leaves, stem, root, &c. When he first 
began his inquiry, as far as he knew, the plant might be 
any one in his text book—the first step showed him that it 
was one out of a certain number : the next step reduced the 
number, and so on. 
641. This is a general view, then, of the method for dis- 
covering the name of a plant, and such is the beauty and 
wonderful simplicity of the Linnzan Method, that, though 
developed about one hundred years ago, and at a time when 
our knowledge of plants was very imperfect, it is still decid- 
edly the best (and indeed the only system) for the ee 
We shall now explain it in detail. 
642. In this arrangement there are 24 classes. The first 
- 23 include the FLOWERING or PH#NoGamic plants. They 
have, in general, a calyx and corolla, and produce their seeds 
by stamens and pistils. And these seeds consist of the gem- 
mule, radicle, and cotyledons, : 
643. The 24th class consists of the FLowERLEss or CRYP- 
| TOGAMIC plants (545, &c.), destitute of calyx, corolla, sta- 
mens and pistils. 
644. The leading or diagnostic character of the first eleven 
classes is taken from the Numper or THE sTameENs ; and the 
